Hearing Mr. Moon’s question, “The Magician” Fors nearly blurted out, “Clear! Very clear! I just don’t know the details of the process.”
But she controlled herself in time and cast a wary glance at “The World,” seated at the far end of the bronze long table.
Almost simultaneously, “The Hanged Man” Alger, “Justice” Audrey, and “The Hermit” Cattleya, combining their earlier speculations, vaguely guessed that the serious incident in Backlund’s East Borough was the assassination of that Aurora Order divine emissary—killed by “The World.”
And since they weren’t “Spectators,” they couldn’t read the answer from his eyes. Fors had no choice but to force a smile at “The Moon” Emlyn: “I can’t tell you exactly what it was. I only know that a demigod-level Beyonder power of the storm domain appeared at the time, and it made the Church of the Lord of Storms take it very seriously.”
She didn’t dare explain the matter on Mr. World’s behalf; she simply described what she had seen.
In her mind, if Mr. World wanted to reveal the incident, he would speak up himself.
A demigod-level storm-domain Beyonder power? “Justice” Audrey and the others were taken aback and instinctively doubted the accuracy of their guesses.
They had all assumed that “Leamano’s Travel Notes” was an item formed after the Aurora Order emissary’s death, so before assassinating him, “The World” could not possibly have recorded a demigod-level ability with the help of Mr. Fool.
Was the serious supernatural incident in the East Borough unrelated to Mr. World? No, Fors’s glance just now was enough to show he was behind it! But why did a demigod-level storm-domain Beyonder power appear? One possibility was that “Leamano’s Travel Notes” wasn’t the spoils of that assassination; it had originally belonged to Fors. Another was that a cardinal of the Church of the Lord of Storms or a Beyonder holding a corresponding sealed artefact had launched an attack…
If the former, the fact that Mr. World had used a demigod-level Beyonder power indicated that the emissary was extremely powerful and that a Saint backed him. If the latter, Mr. World’s ability to walk away from such an attack unscathed highlighted his terror…
Of course, it was also possible that he had deliberately arranged for the Church of Storms personnel to meet the Aurora Order emissary, taking advantage of the chaotic demigod-level battle to efficiently complete the assassination… Based on the various details she had noticed, “Justice” Audrey formed several hypotheses, and every single one pointed to the same conclusion:
“The World” was a Beyonder with strength, intelligence, backing, and initiative—one of the top Sequence 5s below demigod level!
How terrifying. It’s no wonder he’s Mr. Fool’s Blessed… Once I reach a place with a church, I should be able to learn the details… “The Hanged Man” Alger also made a preliminary judgment and sighed inwardly, consoling himself that with such an ally, exploring that primitive island would be much easier.
As for “The Hermit” Cattleya, she shared similar thoughts to “Justice” Audrey and planned to ask “Mystery Queen”—the owner of the “Dawn”—about the situation, as the latter had mentioned in a letter that she was currently staying in Backlund.
“A demigod-level storm-domain Beyonder power…” “The Moon” Emlyn repeated Miss Magician’s words with a slight headache.
Although he preferred to stay home and rarely go out, living in a big city and having to go to the hospital for some blood from time to time meant he had some common sense. With reminders and guidance from his elders, he actually had a fairly deep understanding of official organizations like the “Disciplinary Punishers,” “Nighthawks,” and “Mechanical Heart,” and he knew how such a serious incident would affect the surrounding area.
If he tried to sneak into the East Borough without a good disguise, he might be grabbed by the Disciplinary Punishers before he even got close to his target… While his status in the Church of the Earth Mother would keep him from being locked underground or turned into a sealed‑artefact researcher, it would still mean mission failure, and he might even lose “Leamano’s Travel Notes”… At this stage, going through the sewers was even more dangerous—who knew how many official Beyonders were lurking there… Emlyn suddenly realized that what had seemed like an easy task had become very difficult.
He quickly decided to act between dusk and before midnight. During that period, the lower‑class residents of the East Borough would be gradually returning from work. The streets, though dark, would be lively. Even if the Disciplinary Punishers had ten times as many men, they couldn’t maintain strict surveillance and identify every suspicious person under those conditions.
The next priority was to plan the operation carefully, aiming to eliminate those two artificial vampires with minimal noise… But he had to consider the possibility that a fierce fight might not be concealable… Wait—Miss Magician had just mentioned that “Leamano’s Travel Notes” contained the Beyonder ability of “Teleportation”… Problem solved! “The Moon” Emlyn sighed in relief and chuckled, “I’ll be careful.”
He said this very calmly, as if everything were under control.
Heh, that Emlyn felt troubled, then relaxed—90 percent certain it was because he remembered the “Traveler’s Door” in Leamano’s Travel Notes… If I hadn’t drawn “Travel,” I’d have added a condition: no one can use that page of the magic book before “The World” Gehrman Sparrow… Klein sneered inwardly but said nothing.
For him, since “Leamano’s Travel Notes” had only one “Traveler’s Door,” he would inevitably have to use “Creeping Hunger” when traveling to and from the primitive island. So he might as well squeeze every bit of use out of the glove. After all, he had to feed it a death row inmate either way—couldn’t waste it.
“In any case, I’ve warned you.” “The Magician” Fors said no more, just hoping everything would go smoothly for Mr. Moon.
At that moment, “The Hanged Man” Alger turned his head to the little “Sun”: “You’re still in the City of Silver?”
“Yes, my recent task is to familiarize myself with my abilities and patrol the surroundings.” “The Sun” Derrick answered without any concealment.
Alger pondered for a moment and asked, “Has that ‘Shepherd’ elder visited you recently?”
“No.” Derrick paused and added, “The ‘Council of Six’ seems to be busy with the former chief’s mausoleum. I don’t have the clearance to know the specifics.”
Klein had heard from little “Sun” about the former chief of the City of Silver—how he had built a mausoleum deep underground and moved in, never to come out again, supposedly failing in an attempt to advance to Sequence 3 of the Death pathway.
No one knows what’s happening inside the mausoleum, but my spiritual intuition tells me danger lies there… Before Klein could speak, “The Hanged Man” Alger said, “Pay attention to this matter. Studying the former chief’s mausoleum at such a critical stage won’t be simple, and it might bring you danger.”
“Yes!” “The Sun” Derrick nodded firmly. “I’ll do my best to find out the details.”