The thin human‑skin glove looked no different from before in appearance, but Klein dared not be careless. He quickly performed a rough check using divination:
"Besides the five fingers, the palm and back of the hand now each correspond to a herded soul…
"Moreover, all seven slots are currently filled, and some similar Beyonder characteristics show signs of merging…
"It also seems to have gained abilities in flesh magic…
"The speed of switching souls has increased quite a bit…
"I need to eat a person every day, otherwise it will feed on its owner. Heh, 'Creeping Hunger,' you've expanded again. Go reflect on that properly above the Gray Fog.
"I can't get any other revelations for now. I'll leave this place and do a more precise divination above the Gray Fog.
"Well, I don't know if there are any other negative effects. I can only tell that it won't harm me in the short term.
"Also, Mr. X, who is herded, remains unaffected—'Traveler's Teleport and Open Door' are still normal."
Klein sighed in relief, put the upgraded "Creeping Hunger" on his left hand, and headed straight for the church, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
And during the earlier game of hide‑and‑seek with the giant "mushroom," he hadn't forgotten to use illusionary magic to outfit himself with a trench coat and a top hat.
As for the Beyonder characteristic left behind by "Blood Admiral" Seniel, Klein suspected it was most likely in the hands of "Despair Witch" Pannatia, and this demigod had been hung in that ancient palace, under the gaze of that transparent worm.
Sigh, after all, flesh can be eaten slowly as reserves for the future, but Beyonder characteristics will irreversibly precipitate out. So much time had passed, it must have already taken shape. Even if "Despair Witch" didn't care and just tossed it somewhere, with the inability to connect to the Spirit World and divination being greatly limited, I can't quickly find it. And in this environment, nobody knows if anything will change next, if that obsidian slate will teleport away by itself. So I must seize the time to escape as quickly as possible… Klein's thoughts were very clear as he returned to the outside of the ancient church and stepped over the half‑open door.
Although he had promised Miss Sharon to sell the Beyonder characteristic of "Wraith" Seniel to Maric, firstly, this material itself was also polluted and hard to use for making potions, and secondly, his own safety was more important.
It's not that there's no way to solve it; at worst I can hunt down another "Wraith," or ask "Mercury Serpent" Will Auceptin for help to shatter the Beyonder characteristic in Maric's hands and purify it. Well, that will have to wait until a certain fetus is born… Klein muttered silently, passing under the densely hanging bodies that swayed like wind chimes, and arrived beside the stone statue.
Along the way, he also found the iron cigarette case he had previously placed on his puppet that hadn't been eaten by the "mushroom." The Azik copper whistle and Loen gold coin inside were also undamaged.
Putting these items away, Klein manipulated his "spirit body threads" to prevent them from drifting toward the top of the church, and bent down to pick up the obsidian slate.
After confirming that this important item was not damaged, he felt slightly reassured and examined Zaratul's tin‑white ash jar.
Opening the lid and looking carefully, Klein's pupils contracted and instantly froze.
The ashes in the tin‑white jar were all gone!
Not a trace remained!
Had Zaratul achieved his goal? I should say "as expected"… Klein tentatively dropped the tin‑white ash jar, stood up, and embedded the obsidian slate into the wall behind him.
That wall glowed again, became translucent, allowing one to see the ancient stone bricks, broken walls, and floating clouds outside.
Thinking of that terrifying transparent worm, Klein didn't immediately draw the symbol provided by the Antigonus family notes. Instead, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
He set fire to the trees outside the church, ready to use "Flame Jump" to get away at the first sign of trouble.
Preparations complete, Klein formed his fingers into a pen and quickly traced a vertical eye composed of many hidden symbols. Compared to before, the crescent moon and zigzag lines were swapped.
As he made the final stroke, streams of pure radiance surged, flowing along the lines of the complex eye, converging and bursting into brilliant light!
The entire church instantly became illusory, with up and down, left and right, front and back all reversed.
Klein suddenly found himself at the top of the hanging corpses, facing a pair of illusory double doors. Behind the doors was the ancient palace he knew well, with the corpses of "Despair Witch" Pannatia and others swaying slightly.
A mass of transparent tentacles covered with strange and mysterious patterns swarmed in, slapping against the doors but unable to open them. Only a little power seeped through, trying to "grab" Klein's "spirit body threads"!
Klein didn't hesitate. He snapped his fingers, pulling at his own "spirit body threads" while jumping to the fire outside the church.
Then, he snapped his fingers repeatedly, continuously teleporting, escaping to the farthest part of the foggy town.
Only when the illusion of the dark church faded did Klein stop, his brow slightly furrowing:
"It also leads to that palace with the out‑of‑control angel…
"The symbol provided by the Antigonus family notes is just as much of a trap as the one Zaratul gave!
"However, this symbol seems to only activate the 'Escape Door' but cannot open it. Otherwise, I probably couldn't have gotten away just now…
"It belongs to the 'entrance' symbol; Zaratul's was an 'exit' one?
"What do I do… how do I get out?"
Klein instinctively glanced around the deep, misty, still, and eerie town, forcing himself to calm down and think of other ways to escape:
"Maybe it's not just that wall that can be used to leave, but it's unlikely. Over the years, batch after batch of outsiders have come to this foggy town. If there were clues outside the church, they would have found them long ago."