Chapter 96: Following the Heart’s Will

Chapter 96: Following the Heart’s Will

The Dark Demonic Wolf, who had been fiercely attacking Reinette Tinekerr, seemed to sense something. His movements slowed by a beat, and He turned His head toward the newly appeared Wraith.

His pupils, which already occupied two-thirds of His eyes, abruptly expanded, as though He had smelled some familiar and dangerous aura.

In an instant, that Wraith raised both arms.

The “power of wishes” in the surrounding area suddenly faded faster. Divinity began returning, reaching the level of Sequence 4. At the same time, pale, illusory arms emerged one after another from the soil beneath the Dark Demonic Wolf’s feet. They were densely packed like a forest, grabbing upward at Kotar’s eight legs and plunging this Miracle Invoker into an icy, deathly stillness, briefly preventing Him from breaking free.

Taking advantage of that chance, Reinette Tinekerr, whose movements had grown a little sluggish from the manipulation of Her Spirit Body Threads, made Her body turn illusory and vanish from where She had been.

Inside the Dark Demonic Wolf’s black pupils, Miss Messenger’s figure abruptly emerged, Her blond hair draped loosely around Her, Her gloomy, complicated long dress entwined with sinister vines. She completed Wraith possession.

The God of Wishes, Kotar, immediately stiffened, as if degenerating from a living creature into a puppet.

He tried to affect Reinette Tinekerr’s Spirit Body Threads to counter Wraith possession, but every so often, the pale, freezing arms created by the other female Wraith interrupted Him, making success difficult.

Seeing this, Klein maintained the loops formed by the Spirit Body Threads while slowly lifting the Staff of the Stars and aiming it at the black velvet “curtain” in cloak form.

A scene formed in his mind.

The surrounding darkness abruptly began to flow, as though it contained unimaginable secrets. Points of illusory candlelight lit up within such an environment, illuminating a long table covered in flesh and blood.

On both sides of the long table, three extremely blurry figures held the flesh and blood, devouring it hungrily.

In the next second, all three figures turned their heads at the same time, casting their gazes upon the semi-transparent black velvet “curtain.”

The maddening suction released by the “curtain” stopped abruptly. Maintaining its cloak form, it hovered in place, as though it had momentarily forgotten who it was, which side it belonged to, and what it should do.

The Banquet of Betrayal!

Fairy-tale magic: Banquet of Betrayal!

What Klein had just used was the fairy-tale magic from The Hermit Cattleya, known as Banquet of Betrayal. Its effect was to briefly awaken items in a target’s possession—or give them intelligence—making them perform a “betrayal.”

This was a Beyonder power at the Sequence 4 level. Therefore, under the earlier suppression from the “power of wishes,” it had been impossible to use.

At the same time, because the spell reproduced by the Staff of the Stars differed quite a bit from the original, and because that “curtain” did not harbor strong malice toward the Dark Demonic Wolf, it merely fell into confusion and did not launch a frantic attack on its master.

The instant Klein escaped the “curtain’s” influence, he snapped his fingers, allowing crimson flames to swallow him.

A moment later, wearing a silk half top hat and a long black trench coat, his figure appeared within a cluster of flames beside the Dark Demonic Wolf.

The crimson flame shot upward into a stream, allowing Klein to leap out with ease.

He then bent his back slightly, carrying the Staff of the Stars, and charged toward the huge, small-mountain-like demonic wolf.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Klein ran faster and faster, as though becoming a gale. What greeted him were the two front claws the Dark Demonic Wolf barely raised after breaking free of His restraints.

Smack! Smack!

Klein swung the black cane left and right, striking Kotar’s two front…