Chapter 51: Professional

Chapter 51: Professional

Botis’s two eyeballs had already turned deep black. Within them was frozen an indescribable terror. Merely looking at them made Klein’s heart palpitate for no reason, as though he could feel the violent emotional changes Botis had experienced just before death.

After a round of inspection, combined with divination, Klein confirmed that these two eyeballs did not contain Beyonder characteristics. However, they hid intense corruption and power from an unknown source. They could serve as media for curses, and could also directly influence a target. They were spiritual materials with an extremely long “valid period,” and they were also quite dangerous.

“They cannot be carried for long periods of time. Otherwise, one’s mind may weaken, nightmares may come every day, and the body may deform…” Klein casually summoned a square iron box and placed Botis’s two eyeballs inside.

He did not attempt purification. If he shattered the items and expelled the corruption, nothing would remain. That would be far too wasteful.

Since the Star Worms had no major problem, and were also materials Klein understood comparatively well, he soon turned his attention to the black pouch.

The divination result gave him a pleasant surprise, because this was what was known as a “spatial-type” item.

From the outside, the pouch looked large enough for only one adult man’s hand to enter. In reality, its interior was about the size of the two-bedroom apartment the Moretti family had first rented in Tingen City, allowing it to hold quite a few things.

This was something Botis had made using Secrets Sorcerer abilities. In essence, the pouch was not an item, but an entrance.

“…First, he relied on Spatial Concealment to twist and isolate a region inside the spirit world. Then, using the overlapping and chaotic nature of the spirit world and reality—where, as long as one has the correct coordinates, one can directly arrive at the destination—he opened that hidden region’s ‘Door’ inside this pouch…

“This is very similar to the sealing method for the Box of the Great Old Ones. The only difference is that one ‘Door’ is in the spirit world, while the other is in reality. This means the negative effects of sealed artifacts and mystical items placed inside the ‘spatial pouch’ can still influence the holder…

“Seen this way, it isn’t very useful. It can’t eliminate negative effects… And since I am in the Forsaken Land of the Gods and cannot connect to the spirit world, this pouch is useless to me…

“Also, the power of Spatial Concealment must be reinforced every so often, or it will gradually fail… It is only suitable for demigods of the Apprentice pathway, or organizations that have Apprentice-pathway demigods or sealed artifacts providing support…

“The name ‘spatial pouch’ is too plain. I wonder what Botis originally called this item… Let’s call it the Traveler’s Bag…”

After confirming the level of danger, Klein manifested a false hand and had it reach into the black pouch.

With a clattering rush, as that false hand withdrew, a pile of all kinds of gemstones poured out, falling across the mottled long table. The crystalline fiery reds, vivid blues, emerald greens, pale whites, deep blacks, and transparencies instantly filled Klein’s vision.

“…I should have thought of this earlier… The materials corresponding to the Apprentice pathway are gemstones. All gemstones…” Klein’s expression immediately became vivid. Smiling, he sighed a couple of times, then stretched out another hand, picked up several gems, and felt their weight and material.

Aside from these, the Traveler’s Bag also contained quite a few spiritual materials. Some were common types, while others were relatively rare.

“The Box of the Great Old Ones, the Secrets Sorcerer Beyonder characteristic, nine Star Worms, Botis’s eyeballs, the Traveler’s Bag, and a large quantity of gemstones and materials… This operation can absolutely be considered a bumper harvest. It’s enough for everyone to divide.

“Unfortunately, Botis could Record Beyonder powers and certain states, so there was no need for him to carry too many sealed artifacts and mystical items. That would only have made him suffer under too many negative effects… As a demigod, he should have had a few decent sealed artifacts. Who knows whether they were hidden somewhere in the spirit world, or at the Aurora Order’s headquarters… What a pity. Botis’s soul collapsed just now, so there’s no way to channel his spirit…”

Klein shook his head. He immediately returned to the real world, found a sheltered place, put down his lantern, and began arranging a ritual to pray for bestowment.

He wanted to test whether he could bring 0-61—the Box of the Great Old Ones—into the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

If he could, then he would be able to toyify the entire City of Silver, place it inside the first layer of that sealed artifact, and directly send it to the outside world through the ritual of sacrifice and bestowment. In that case, he would effectively bypass the Giant King’s Court and Dark Angel Sasrir, cleverly completing the Miracle Invoker ritual.

After a period of busy work, Klein, who had completed the preliminary preparations, extended his right hand, grabbed forward, and dragged another version of himself out of the air. His main body then leaped into the fog of history, hiding all the way back in the gaps before the First Epoch.

He was worried that after the Box of the Great Old Ones passed through the Gate of Sacrifice and Bestowment, it would randomly cause him, standing nearby, to die suddenly.

Within the fragments of light deep in the grayish-white fog, Klein took four steps counterclockwise in reverse and returned above the gray fog, personally answering his own prayer.

Once the mysterious, ancient Gate of Sacrifice and Bestowment took form and slowly opened, he beckoned with his hand and brought over the Box of the Great Old Ones, still wrapped in layer after layer of power. Then he threw it toward the crack of the illusory double doors, toward the deep, boundless darkness behind the gate.

At that moment, the voidlike darkness suddenly seemed to gain substance. It appeared to form an invisible barrier, blocking the Box of the Great Old Ones just after it had passed through the double doors, leaving it suspended there, unable to move forward.

Klein frowned slightly as he watched the scene. He attempted to pry open Sefirah Castle’s power and push at the level of an angel, but he still could not make the Box of the Great Old Ones break through the barrier.

“…As expected, the Forsaken Land of the Gods is sealed. It’s just that I myself have a close relationship with Sefirah Castle and can use it to respond, but that cannot exceed a certain limit.”

Klein nodded faintly, then retrieved the Box of the Great Old Ones and threw it back into the pile of miscellaneous items.

After that, he manifested The World Gehrman Sparrow and had this fake person tell Miss Hermit and Miss Justice the detailed intelligence on the Box of the Great Old Ones.

This was to remind them that they absolutely had to retrieve the Box of the Great Old Ones from reality within twenty-four hours and release Magician Forsi.

Among them, Klein told Miss Justice that, before praying for the bestowment of the Box of the Great Old Ones, she should remember to sacrifice some top-tier ice cream to a blessed of a certain Snake of Fate. As for The Hermit Cattleya, since she herself had Fleeting Luck, she did not need to seek outside help. However, she had to complete everything within a few minutes and sacrifice the Box of the Great Old Ones back above the gray fog.

…

Backlund, at the border between East Borough and the Bridge area, inside an old apartment building in disrepair.

Leonard, wearing Red Gloves and a black wool coat, was leading his team members in carefully inspecting the scene.

As the mobile force of the Church of Evernight, they were unquestionably full of vitality even at nearly ten o’clock at night.

“Captain, the walls here have severe cracks. Some places have even shattered. This apartment building might not make it through next summer’s hurricane season.” Cindy, with her wine-red long hair, approached Leonard and reported to him.

Leonard’s green eyes swept the surroundings, and he nodded gently.

“Fortunately, this place was already a dangerous building. Hardly anyone lived here anymore. Still, the fact that even homeless people aren’t here is very strange.”

Cindy thought for a moment and said, “Captain, do you mean Beyonders were using this apartment and quietly drove away the homeless people sleeping here?”

“And then they had internal strife, a fight broke out, and they set something on fire?” Another Red Gloves member, Bob, happened to be examining the base of the wall nearby and casually continued the thought.

“That possibility cannot be ruled out.” Leonard answered with considerable professionalism. “But have you noticed? Every part of this room has some traces of corrosion, and it lacks the remains of tables and chairs that ought to exist. It appears far too empty… This does not seem like something Low- or Mid-Sequence Beyonders could produce. I suspect higher-level powers may be involved.”

After a round of examination, and after discovering quite a few abnormalities, Leonard’s Red Gloves team failed to find any further clues. They could only return first to Saint Samuel Cathedral.

They had just arrived underground when a bishop came to find Leonard, telling him to bring two team members upstairs to attend a meeting.

Leonard nodded thoughtfully without asking anything. He led Bob and Cindy through a secret passage into Saint Samuel Cathedral.

Then, along a spiral staircase, under the radiance of crimson moonlight filtering through stained-glass windows, they arrived at a room containing a blackboard and crowded with people.

With only a sweeping glance, Leonard discovered many Mandated Punishers, Machinery Hivemind members, and MI9 personnel with whom he had cooperated before.

Then he noticed Horamick Haydn, Radar Valentine, and Anthony Stevenson—three demigods—as well as a black-haired, golden-eyed man who was clearly on their level.

Before Leonard could greet them, Saint Anthony, in a black robe with red patterns, stood and said in a deep voice, “A high-level battle occurred in Backlund’s outskirts. The scene contained terrible corruption and a tarot card—the Hermit card.

“I noticed that you previously conducted a certain amount of investigation into numerous incidents involving tarot cards and proposed corresponding guesses. Now, give everyone a detailed introduction.”

“…The Hermit card?” Leonard showed genuine surprise, but that was mostly because he had been assigned such a task.

Ahem. He cleared his throat, walked to the blackboard, and turned to face the demigods and Beyonders of the three great Churches and the military. Then he drew a crimson moon clockwise over his chest.

After organizing his words, this Red Gloves captain said solemnly, “In the past two or three years, incidents involving tarot cards truly entered our field of vision because of Lanevus’s death. He was involved in a conspiracy that attempted to make the True Creator descend, and his body was covered with tarot cards.

“After that, tarot cards appeared again in the Capim case. This time, however, the way the tarot cards were arranged changed, with emphasis placed on the Judgment and Emperor cards…

“…At the time, I linked these matters to an organization that suddenly appeared in Backlund, one that believes in The Fool. As you all know, The Fool is the starting card of the tarot deck.”

This bold conjecture made several demigods and many Beyonders present nod slightly, feeling that there was indeed likely to be a connection in the mysticism sense.

Leonard paused, then continued, “And beneath The Fool, this organization may have many formal members. They use tarot cards as code names—such as Judgment, such as Emperor, and such as the Hermit in this incident…”

As he spoke, Leonard picked up the tarot deck used for demonstration and casually drew a card.

He glanced at it, then chuckled.

“And also, for example, The Star.”