Instead of teleporting straight back to 160 Birklund Street, Klein took 'Winner' Enuni out to sea, found a hidden spot, and intoned the honorific name of 'The Fool' under his breath.
Then he walked four paces backwards, entered the realm Above the Grey Fog, and beckoned a paper figurine over.
Right after that, he picked up one of the 'Sacrilegious Cards' laid out on the long bronze table before him and absorbed it into his body.
All at once, a deep-crimson robe appeared on Klein — as if countless bloodstains, mingled with rust and gunpowder smoke, had settled into a single piece of cloth. His face was covered by a dim-gold mask of archaic bands, set off against a crown inlaid with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and other gems.
These were the changes wrought by the Red Priest card.
—After many tests, Klein had confirmed that a certain attribute of the Red Priest card meshed with the Paper Figurine Angel's interference with fate, allowing the powers tied to the mystical space Above the Grey Fog to be exerted more fully. That was why he chose it now rather than the Black Emperor or Tyrant cards.
Having finished the preliminary preparations, Klein — in his Red Priest incarnation — took up the paper figurine, gave it a flick, fused it with the surging grey fog, and cast it into the rings of light produced by his own prayer.
The paper figurine swelled rapidly, transforming into an angel bathed in golden light, with pure flame interwoven behind its back, fanning out into twelve pairs of wings.
This 'War Angel' then descended into the world along the hidden link forged by the prayer and wrapped Klein and 'Winner' Enuni in layer upon layer of fiery feathers.
Only after all this was done did Klein relax a little. He put the Red Priest card away and returned to the real world.
He first went to find food for 'Crawling Hunger', then brought 'Winner' Enuni back to 160 Birklund Street — one of them reverting to Dawn Dantès, the other becoming once more a half-blood young man.
Smoothing his hair, Klein walked to the master bedroom balcony, glanced across at the distant Macht residence, and saw that the lights there were still bright; the ball clearly had not truly ended.
Generally speaking, it would carry on into the small hours, though leaving partway through was permitted — after all, those willing to dance into the depths of the night were mostly the young.
Haaa… Amon truly is terrifying. A single fight involving a demigod of the Thief pathway is enough to draw His gaze, even with one of us in the city and the other in the suburbs… At His level, the Law of the Aggregation of Beyonder Characteristics has probably already become a near-tangible thing… Then again, I can't rule out the possibility that that demigod was on the verge of losing control and had begun to mutate, and only because of that did Amon take notice… Klein could not stop replaying what had just happened, half-afraid that the moment he turned his head he would find that lean, refined young man with the monocle sitting in his bedroom armchair, slowly sipping a glass of red wine.
What he could feel grateful for was that he had already become a demigod and could rein in the aura of grey fog, so that Beyonders of special pathways would not perceive it. Otherwise, given Amon's prior interest in the matter, His attention would surely have been on Gehrman Sparrow rather than that Thief-pathway demigod — in which case Klein's earlier teleport-and-escape would not have gone so smoothly.
Since Amon's presence in Backlund was most likely just an avatar, Klein still had a certain confidence in the Paper Figurine Angel's interference, believing that the King of Angels couldn't trace the path all the way back to 160 Birklund Street and lock onto Dawn Dantès.
Even so, he could not truly relax — because that Thief-pathway demigod was also tied up with Birklund Street!
'He' had run into the 'Blood Marshal' here and been driven by a hidden demigod to detonate his own explosives and parasitize a rat… 'He' had received a warning from the mirror here, learning that nearby there was an urgent vacancy for a Thief-pathway angel, and that 'Blasphemer' Amon was on His way… 'He' had been struck by lightning here when refusing the mirror's question, and had transferred to the Elk Manor… And on top of that, the target 'he' tried to parasitize — Hazel, ostensibly His student — had this evening been affected by a powerful illusion, exposing the teacher's state… With so many things piling up, there was a real chance Amon would come to take a look… The more Klein thought about it, the less safe this place felt.
In his view, the warning alone that there was an urgent vacancy for a Thief-pathway angel nearby was enough reason for Amon to 'settle in' on Birklund Street for a while!
Of course, there was a slim chance that the Thief-pathway demigod had escaped and given nothing away, but Klein thought this was essentially impossible. Even he himself had been confident he could handle that situation, never mind Amon, who held a certain degree of mastery over the Thief pathway!
Sigh. If only I hadn't been so wary of the old gentleman inside Leonard — if I weren't afraid that further recovery would harm Leonard, I'd surely have wrapped things up quickly just now and not drawn Amon's attention… What now? Whatever happens, I have to do something. Otherwise not only is the Dawn Dantès identity lost; it may even drag in Leonard on Pinster Street, and ordinary people on Birklund Street — who knows whether Amon would suddenly parasitize them… Klein's thoughts shifted, his expression turned grave, and he seriously began considering how to eliminate Amon's avatar.
His first idea was to contact Leonard and, together with the angel inside him, Pallez Zoroaster, work out a 'cleansing plan' — given that Thief-pathway angel's knowledge of His own pathway and of Amon, they should be able to come up with a workable approach.
Klein at once produced paper and pen, ready to write a letter — but the round-bellied steel-nibbed pen in his hand only scratched a few lines before pausing.
He felt this was not secret enough; too detailed a discussion might exert an influence on fate and let Amon sense it ahead of time!
"A safer way would be to bring Leonard up Above the Grey Fog and pass everything to him there, then use him as a relay to discuss the matter with Pallez Zoroaster… Aside from that, what else can be done? Reporting it to the Church and having them carry out a thorough 'sweep' across Backlund?" Klein set down his pen, muttering soundlessly as he considered other options.
He quickly abandoned the idea of reporting it now: Leonard had not done so the last time around, and given the knowledge the old gentleman inside Leonard had of 'Blasphemer' Amon, that route was either ineffective or carried a serious flaw — very possibly with a reverse impact on the one who reported.
"Better to ask Leonard first, get a grip on the specifics, and then decide…" Klein quickly made up his mind.