In the hall with broken pillars, a group of Nighthawks wearing black trench coats and silk top hats appeared around the ruined altar. The leader was Saint Anthony Stevenson, the Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese of the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
"Has it been destroyed?" he muttered, and without lingering, he went straight to the stone door leading to the inner sections.
A thick darkness surged, and the stone door silently opened. Saint Anthony led a few Nighthawks inside and headed deeper.
Along the way, they found no guards or anything of value. It was as if the place had been thoroughly swept clean.
Finally, they reached the deepest room, but aside from the walls and stone pillars, there was still nothing there. The dim blue light door Klein had emerged from had long since disappeared.
The light from the lanterns held by a few Nighthawks suddenly went out, and night enveloped the room.
When everything returned to normal, they found that the surrounding walls had vanished at some point, but there were no hidden doors or tunnels behind them, only thick soil and rocks or the corridor they had come from.
Saint Anthony was silent for more than ten seconds before saying, "Try divination. Search the vicinity."
...
Atchoo!
Klein traveled through the pathless cliffs and forests, lamenting that he seemed to have truly fallen ill. The residual effects of Mr. A's extraordinary abilities combined with being completely soaked in the winter cold caused him to disgracefully catch a cold.
However, he didn't dare stop to gather dead branches, light a fire, dry his clothes, or dry his banknotes, because he was afraid of being found by the Church's Beyonders.
Even though he had obtained a semi-official identity through Stanton Eisinger's endorsement at the Machine, the matter involved the highest-level cases of the Primordial Demoness's awakening and the True Creator's descent. He would inevitably undergo a strict investigation; for example, taking turns going to the Machine, the Mandated Punishers, and the Nighthawks to taste black tea, actively or passively recounting the entire process.
There were two major hidden dangers in this. First, he had an acquaintance within the Nighthawks. Although the famous detective Sherlock Moriarty's appearance differed considerably from the late Klein Moretti's, making them almost indistinguishable by photo, he still lacked confidence if they ever met face to face. Second, because of the adjacent pathways, the Church of the Evernight Goddess was not very friendly towards people and things related to the Death. Going back to the War of the Pale at the end of the Fourth Epoch, the Death fell under the siege of the Seven Gods. And the helper Detective Sherlock Moriarty "summoned" at the critical moment was a powerful descendant of the Death—a problem that could never be explained away.
"That extremely high-ranked powerhouse just now was probably in a hurry to deal with Ince Zangwill and '0-08' and had no time for a small fry like me, but I can't be careless because of that. I still have to run!
"Hmm, if I have the chance, I can write to the Machine and explain the second reason why I had to leave Backlund temporarily. That way, there might be a chance for cooperation in the future. Of course, I first have to secretly observe whether the Machine holds strong hostility towards the descendant of the Death... I wonder how Mr. Azik is doing now...
"Heh, maybe in the official announcement, Sherlock Moriarty died in a meteor strike. That wouldn't let down this identity, this name..."
Klein endured the alternating states of fever and chill, wanting to find a small town as soon as possible, to enter human society. Only when immersed in human society could the Faceless's abilities be utilized to their fullest extent.
The woman who cooperated with Mr. A... ah, she must be a demoness... went to the East Borough... Judging from the ritual, there might be a large-scale death over there... I don't know... Klein, who possessed the spiritual intuition of a Seer, suddenly felt a heavy weight in his heart.
Just then, all the colors before him became intense, as if a deity had splashed oil paints on them.
The feeling flashed by, and Klein found himself far from his original location. He saw Azik Eggers, with his bronze complexion and gentle features, appear beside him.
"Mr. Azik, are you unhurt?" he couldn't help but sigh in relief.
"I was," Azik replied frankly, then chuckled. "But for an Undying, it's not a big problem."
Klein felt relieved and then asked, "What about Ince Zangwill and '0-08'?"
"Ince Zangwill is still alive, and he still controls that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact," Azik said as he walked.
Klein struggled to keep up and couldn't help but sigh, "What a pity."
"Don't worry. He was seriously injured," Azik said seriously. "And more importantly, we now know he's secretly cooperating with the royal family. We don't have to worry about not finding him later. This way, you can focus on improving yourself, and I can try going to the places I've remembered to awaken more memories. Hehe, you're lucky. I was always secretly observing the people of the Imperial Military Intelligence Department and the royal family to determine Ince Zangwill's whereabouts. Red Rose Manor is a key point, so I always lingered around there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to rush over to save you so quickly."
Speaking of this, Klein felt a bit embarrassed. "Mr. Azik, aren't you puzzled by the fact that I didn't die?"
"I often enter my coffin and then wake up again. This is something I recalled before," Azik said nonchalantly with a smile. "And in my fragmented memories, while similar cases are rare in others, there are precedents."
Often enters his coffin and wakes up... Often? Klein suddenly discovered that the problem he was worried about was nothing in the eyes of a true big shot. As expected of an Undying of the Death pathway...
Uh, Mr. Azik said before that he stayed in this Sequence for a very long time, implying that he had been promoted long ago... Klein thought for a moment and asked with some concern, "Mr. Azik, will Ince Zangwill discover that I am Klein Moretti?"
He was afraid of the other party retaliating against Benson and Melissa.