The twelfth case!
That Devil serial murderer!
The moment he saw the corpse and heard the sound, Klein's hair stood on end. He knew that he had encountered a bad situation.
Within his line of sight, the living room's decorations were mostly brilliant yellow and bright. There was nothing unusual about the coffee table and sofa. Only the carpet was stained bright red with blood as it slowly soaked through.
On the side of the wound on the female corpse's abdomen, which was completely empty, sat a large sized black dog. Its mouth was half open, revealing many sharp white teeth that sent shivers. On each tooth, there were dark red marks like iron rust. This seemed to be the result of its prolonged consumption of flesh without frequent brushing.
At this moment, the large black dog's teeth were still wrapped around blood-red small intestines, as well as bits and pieces of raw meat.
Its head turned over, and its eyes which resembled magma reflected Klein, who was dressed as a worker, and his disguised face.
"Grunt!" The large black dog let out a roar which sounded like it was showing dominance.
It really is an animal! It's a Sequence 6 Devil, a Devil which is about to advance! And none of the preparations that I made today were for it... These few thoughts instantly flashed through Klein's mind.
Suddenly, the black dog's body expanded rapidly, turning into a two-to three-meter tall monster. On its back, a pair of giant bat wings slowly spread open, and beside its ears, goat horns covered in mysterious patterns grew out.
Red and blue flames leaped from of its luxuriant fur as the strong smell of sulfur followed.
Almost at the same time, Klein stomped on the ground. Instead of retreating, he advanced, swinging his cane as he shot out at the gigantic Devil dog like a cannonball.
Schwing!
The black Devil dog quickly pounced forward. Its sharp claws created afterimages as it swiped at Klein's body.
Without a sound, its claws had penetrated the figure, as if they were piercing through the air!
Klein's figure became faint as it quickly turned transparent.
It was just an illusion!
It was an illusion created by Klein!
At this moment, he had already rolled on the ground and closed in towards the oriel window. Then, with his left hand pressing down, his entire body flew into the air, directly smashing through the glass.
After identifying the enemy, he made up his mind to escape!
Upon seeing this, the eyes of the huge Devil dog immediately lit up like magma, as if there was a raging fire inside.
It opened its mouth, which emitted a putrid smell, and said a word filled with foulness, a word that came from the Devil language, "Die!"
Oof!
Klein's body suddenly stopped, his heart felt as if it was being tightly clenched by an invisible hand.
The figure that was frozen in midair instantly became thin and dim, turning into a crudely cut paper figurine.
And this paper figurine was covered with red rust!
Smash! Clang! Two sounds of indistinguishable order sounded. Klein's figure appeared again, smashing through the oriel window and pouncing towards the stone paved street. The Paper Figurine Substitute slowly floated down as it ignited and emitted the smell of sulfur.
The Devil dog let out a low growl and pounced again, jumping onto the windowsill.
A crimson-blue fireball flew out from its mouth, blasting in the direction of its enemy's escape route.
The moment Klein landed on the ground, he immediately followed up with another roll. The crimson-blue fireball smashed to his side, but it didn't explode immediately, as if it was being affected by an invisible force as though it was being detained.
Boom!
Only after Klein had scrambled a distance away did the fireball expand and explode, shattering the surrounding stone pavements.
Seeing that the Devil dog was about to pursue him, Klein opened his mouth, having prepared for this.
He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Murder! Save me! Murder! Save me!"
His voice seemed to be augmented with special effects. It echoed far and wide through the silent night, waking the residents of the entire street and sending them into the ears of the patrollers who were two streets away.
The giant Devil dog paused in its pouncing posture. After thinking for a second, it retreated back into the room and began to clean up the scene.
Klein's sprinting figure also disappeared under the shouts of "murder" and "save me."
Inside a nearby fireplace that had long since been extinguished, the remnant charcoal suddenly reignited, and an exaggerated flame rose up.
Klein seemed to be performing a magic trick as he appeared out of the flames. With a light leap, he held his cane and jumped out.
Then, he used the Master Key to open the door, tear through walls, and quickly escaped in another direction.
Phew, at a time like this, a scream without Beyonder powers is much more useful than simulating gunshots... Klein sighed as he took out a bottle of Amantha extract and dripped a few drops on himself.
As the original race of the Devil was of the dog species, he had to be wary of its scent-tracking abilities being one of its special powers!
In this way, Klein continued on until he reached another cross-junction. Only then did he stop and look around.
Seeing that it was relatively quiet and unaffected, he hurried to the side of the street and hired a rental carriage.
It was only after the carriage had traveled a certain distance in the night when Klein finally heave a breath of relief. He knew that the Devil wouldn't catch up to him.
This Master Key is really strange... I actually got lost and found myself at the scene of the murder. I have to be a lot more careful when using it in the future... That really was a Devil transformed from an animal... Where did its potions and formulas come from? Does it have a human companion? How did it pick its target for the serial murder?
Hmm, what's gratifying is that after confirming this point, it will be much more difficult for it to commit crimes again, and the probability of getting caught will also greatly increase...
All sorts of thoughts and questions appeared in Klein's mind as the carriage sped along the wide, deserted road which was lined with gas street lamps.
Suddenly, Klein's heart skipped a beat, and an image naturally appeared in his mind.
Pea vines drooped down from the sky and interweaved to form a dense forest. However, the carriage driver didn't seem to notice and continued to drive the carriage across the green vegetation.
No good!
Without hesitation, Klein lunged for the window, about to jump into the street.
Bang! The carriage shook, and he was flung backward.
At the same time, those pea vines really drooped down!
Klein frowned as he attempted to use Flame Controlling to ignite the carriage, but no sound came from his fingers.
At this moment, the surroundings had become abnormally quiet. Even the sounds of the horses' hooves trampling and the rapid rumbling of the wheels over the green vegetation had disappeared.
Klein tried his best to calm himself down as he looked out the window and saw that the carriage had been driven into the air, following the road of pea vines.
No, this isn't Backlund... He narrowed his eyes.
At this moment, the carriage stopped. Outside the window, the pea vines had formed a hammock in the air.
A pair of feet in black leather boots drooped down, and a gentle but emotionless voice entered Klein's ears.
"What were you doing?"
It's that woman inside the museum... She's suspected to be a High-Sequence Beyonder... She doesn't seem to recognize me. After all, I had disguised myself with Azik's copper whistle... She must have heard the cry for help and came over to check... Klein's thoughts were abnormally active at that moment.
He deliberately gulped and said, "I'm a private detective. Many friends and I are investigating the recent serial murders.
"I have a mystical item called the ‘Master Key.' It can open doors and let me pass through walls, but it will cause the holder to get lost.
"It was during this process that I ran into the scene of the crime. Because I wasn't the murderer's opponent, I could only shout for help while running."
Everything I said was the truth... Klein silently added in his heart.
After he finished speaking, there was temporarily no response from the outside. However, he felt that a gaze had penetrated the carriage, passed through the obstructions, and was directly inspecting the items on his body.
Fortunately, I left Azik's copper whistle and the bookmarks above the gray fog just in case... At that moment, Klein was very glad.
Caution and carefulness were indeed useful!
After the indescribable and torturous silence, the gentle but emotionless female voice finally sounded again.
"That key has a certain curse. It must not be used unless absolutely necessary."
As soon as she finished her sentence, the surroundings changed completely. Everything—the pea vines, the road through the forest, the road to the sky—had all disappeared. The carriage continued on the streets, driving between the elegant iron-black gas street lamps.
Klein remained on tenterhooks until the carriage arrived near East Borough, where he paid the fare of 8 soli.
Under normal circumstances, a rental carriage wouldn't enter any of East Borough streets because it was likely to be robbed.
In one of the rooms on Black Palm Street, Klein changed his clothes and went straight to sleep. He didn't attempt to return to Minsk Street before midnight. The twelfth murder had just occurred, and it would only serve to make Backlund's situation tenser.
He didn't immediately go above the gray fog to study the secret of the "bookmark." He acted just as he had described himself to the mysterious woman. He was a Low-Sequence Beyonder, a private investigator with some Beyonder powers.
Tonight sure was filled with surprises. It was rather thrilling. All I did was steal something... Yes, most of the problems can be blamed on the Master Key... Klein made a self-deprecating comment and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, he breathed in the choking smog as he slowly strolled home and picked up the newspapers and letters from his mailbox.
After opening the door, he casually flipped opened the newspaper to take a look and found that the headline was as he had expected: "The twelfth case!"
"The Devil has appeared again. The police have declared that they have locked onto the murderer!"
...
As for the theft of the objects in the Royal Museum, it was only mentioned in an inconspicuous location. In fact, the article didn't even mention what the stolen object was.
The unstamped letter that came with the newspaper was a water bill that Klein had to pay for himself. He glanced at it and casually threw it on the coffee table. He then returned to the second floor to heat up water for a bath.
He waited until the water vapor filled the bathroom before he seized the opportunity to take four steps counterclockwise to enter the space above the gray fog.
Inside the immutable ancient palace, Klein sat down and picked up the bookmark that depicted the figure of Emperor Roselle.
It really wasn't easy getting you! He gently caressed the surface of the cardboard and silently sighed.
