When it came to knowledge of the Ancient Gods, Klein knew no less than many high-Sequence powerhouses. After all, behind him was the City of Silver, which had continued from the Second Epoch to the present day, preserving the corresponding myths and leaving behind many influences.
As far as he knew, Graag, the Primordial Undying Bird, was the so-called ancient Death. Heavily wounded by the Creator of the City of Silver, the very same Sun God who was cruelly devoured by the Angel Kings, she shattered and fell at the end of the Second Epoch.
However, her influence did not fade away. Traces still remained up until the current era because she was the pioneer who opened up the Underworld!
City of the Dead… "Unknown Spirit" … Ancient God… This sounds very dangerous… Klein stared at the radio transceiver before him, sinking into thought.
Clack, clack, clack. The illusory white paper spat out another section:
"Besides this, I don't really know anything else."
"Great Master, I have a suggestion. Would you like to hear it?"
Not a bad question… Klein withdrew his thoughts and nodded slightly:
"Speak."
The clacking of the radio transceiver suddenly became livelier, and a line of words quickly appeared on the illusory white paper:
"Regarding the question of Calderón, you can ask 'Red Glow' El Morya."
I can't avoid "Red Glow" after all… Klein nodded almost imperceptibly and then changed the subject:
"If I take off the 'Hell Admiral' Ludwell's mask, will there be any danger?"
"No!" An absolutely resolute word jumped into Klein's sight.
That's good… He thought for a moment and said:
"That's all for today."
"Great Master, wise Master, in just another minute or two, a gaze of observation will be cast over here! Your faithful servant Arrodes awaits your next summoning. Farewell~" The clacking of the radio transceiver didn't hesitate at all.
Another minute or two? Why didn't you say so earlier? Startled, as if seeing the countdown of a time bomb, Klein quickly used the sacrificial ceremony materials which had not yet been put away and the altar which hadn't been dismantled to conduct a sacrificial ceremony and throw the radio transceiver onto the Gray Fog.
After doing all this and confirming there were no unusual changes around him, Klein had the puppet Ludwell voluntarily walk aside to avoid the front and took off the silver-white mask on his face.
A deep, pale light gushed out, but it wasn't as exaggerated as what Klein had seen when he fought Ludwell last time. It only covered a small area around him, like a candle about to burn out.
At the same time, the cold and gloomy feeling from the nearby jungle that had disappeared when the radio transceiver was sent back to the Gray Fog appeared again, adding an indescribable horror that struck straight at the heart.
This made Klein think of a cemetery, of the legendary Underworld.
After waiting a few seconds and seeing no additional anomalies erupt, he had another puppet, "Winner" Enzo, circle around to the front of the "Hell Admiral" Ludwell, carefully observing the face that had long been hidden by the mask.
The face lacked flesh, the skin tightly stuck to the bones without a trace of color, transparent like crystal.
Beneath the "crystal", indescribable transparent shadows flowed rapidly, sometimes combining with the skull, sometimes shrinking into the gaps, and appearing on the teeth.
If it had been the first month or two after his transmigration, Klein would definitely have been scared half to death by the appearance of the "Hell Admiral", but now, he had seen too many weird and misshapen lost controls and aberrant forms to have his heart shaken by this level of appearance.
After another round of "research", Klein fully understood Ludwell's state.
This all stemmed from the special nature of the "Doorkeeper" itself:
Upon reaching Sequence 5 and becoming a "Doorkeeper", a Beyonder could use their body as a cage, an exclusive "Underworld", to contain a certain number of spirit bodies, the dead, and natural spirits. Through this, they gained various unique abilities and powerful helpers without having to drag an army of the undead everywhere they went, which would have drawn too much attention.
In many folk legends, this evolved into stories of "back spirits".
——The other meaning of "Doorkeeper", and the most ancient one, was to guard the "Underworld" within the body, preventing the contained spirits from escaping and making use of them. This was also symbolized by a pair of illusory double doors.
And after the "Ancient Death", Graag, the Primordial Undying Bird, created the Underworld, it was equivalent to granting a small portion of the Authority of the Death domain to all "Doorkeepers", allowing all Beyonders of this Sequence to gain a certain degree of power enhancement.
The reason the "Hell Admiral" Ludwell always wore that mask was because he had contained a powerful Underworld creature. On one hand, he utilized this creature, but on the other hand, it reversely eroded his body, transforming him into a half-undead, half-human existence. At the same time, this creature was always instinctively connecting to the Underworld, trying to open the gate and return there.
This, combined with the "Doorkeeper's" own abilities and authorities, and the amplification of the Ring of Death, allowed the "Hell Admiral" Ludwell to magnify the "Gate of the Underworld" and directly sail the "Black Tulip" into it.
Half-undead, half-human… No wonder Ludwell dared to enter the Underworld. No real living person could survive there for even a second… Hmm, that Underworld creature gave him the special trait of partially ghostifying his body, allowing him to extract others' spirit bodies from a distance. I had encountered this before… Klein nodded in sudden realization and had the "Hell Admiral" put the silver-white mask back on.
The function of this mask was to soothe the spirit, keeping the Underworld creature inside Ludwell's body in a relatively calm state most of the time.
Having resolved his doubts, Klein turned his attention back to the altar.