The moment she saw the stranger appear in front of her, Lady Despair materialized a sharp, crystalline ice spear and threw it at her target.
Using the force of the recoil, she attempted to break through the back of the carriage and into the street.
With regards to this sudden turn of events, she was puzzled at this strange enemy who suddenly appeared. On the contrary, she was very confused and perplexed as to how someone could find her concealed self so quickly. It was no less difficult than destroying a large city, or teleporting directly from Backlund to the Southern Continent of East Balam.
But as a Sequence 4 Demoness of Despair, she had developed herself one step at a time from when she was an Assassin. She knew that she couldn't afford to be distracted or spout nonsense at such critical moments. It wasn't too late to think about all these matters later.
Therefore, she chose to attack directly and wanted to take the opportunity to leave.
She could already imagine how the strange woman with black hair and eyes would be frozen in the layers of sparkling light left in the frosty wake of the ice spear's trajectory. She would have to struggle to break through the obstruction in order to have the strength to chase after her.
By then, she definitely would've escaped from the street and blended into the crowd.
However, the scene she was looking forward to didn't appear. As soon as the crystalline ice spear left her hand, it silently disappeared into thin air, its whereabouts were completely unknown.
Angel! The Demoness of Despair's eyes narrowed as black flames suddenly surged from her body, spreading ailments in a bid to ignite everything around her and causing a large-scale fire.
At that moment, her body trembled in a strange manner, and she froze on the spot.
She saw her left hand disappear, one centimeter at a time, as it rapidly spread upward in an unstoppable fashion.
In her eyes, the beautiful and lifeless eyes of the woman opposite her were dark and serene, as if there was a pure darkness concealed within.
"You aren't! You are..."
The Demoness of Despair's words came to an abrupt halt. Her entire body was like a sketch that had been quietly erased with an eraser, leaving no trace behind.
Her final gaze was filled with fear and despair. The seat she previously occupied was empty, as though she had never sat in it before.
The beautiful woman with the lifeless expression pulled the hood of her classical robe, and her lips moved almost imperceptibly as her figure instantly disappeared.
...
On the outskirts of Empress Borough. On a trackless public carriage.
Triss was sitting quietly in the corner, wearing a veiled hat.
She didn't flee with the help of the river by going straight to the Tussock River, nor did she head for the nearest railroad to catch a train, as everyone thought she would.
Her choice was to return to Backlund.
Only in this city with a population of over five million, with all sorts of hidden factions and numerous Beyonders, would they be able to help her escape the subsequent pursuit of the Demoness Sect!
At this moment, she felt tense, mentally, constantly wary of the terrifying old butler, Funkel.
Suddenly, her head spun.
When her vision returned to normal, she found herself having magically left the public carriage and was standing on the muddy road outside.
Trissy's pupils contracted rapidly as she looked around cautiously.
Then, she saw a black-hooded figure in a classical robe, and she noticed the black eyes hidden in the shadows.
For some reason, it was as if Trissy had returned to being an infant, so weak to the point that she couldn't put up any resistance at all.
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead, and although her legs were trembling violently, she was unable to move.
This is the scariest enemy I've ever faced... Even the high-ranking Demoness I previously met didn't give me such a feeling... Am I going to die here... Is this finally going to end after I persisted in escaping despite failing so many times... A deep sense of despair and uncontrollable sadness filled Trissy's heart, making her feel as if she had plunged into her deepest nightmare.
Suddenly, a dim blue light flashed before her eyes, removing her "curse" of being unable to move.
Trissy looked forward again, but there was no longer any traces of that extremely terrifying figure. Everything that happened just now seemed like the most realistic illusion.
But when Trissy lowered her head, she was surprised to find that the sapphire ring on her left pinky had somehow shattered, losing all of its brilliance.
Crack. Crack. Crack. The remains of the ring and the gem fell off one after another.
...
Klein dodged and rolled around the collapsed stone pillar and the heavily injured Mr. A, who was in the process of healing, and he ran for the entrance opposite him.
As for the characteristic fragments which were slowly gathering from the remains of the Master Key, he didn't even take a glance at them, afraid that he would give Mr. A enough time to stop him.
He was well aware that even if he had all his mystical items and was well-prepared, he wouldn't necessarily be a match for the Shepherd, not to mention the fact that he was only equipped with Azik's copper whistle and three types of Beyonder bullets. He didn't even have a single match left.
Even though Mr. A was seriously injured, Klein didn't dare to take the risk. He had heard that the Rose Bishop, the Sequence prior to Shepherd, was extremely proficient in flesh magic. Its healing ability was in no way weaker to his ability of transferring his wounds.
Creak!
He pulled open the heavy door.
The natural light outside shone in, and the clouds in the sky were tinged with a thin yellow, and the sun was pale and dim.
Klein rushed out and found that he was in the middle of a mountain. He was surrounded by towering mountains that made the area extremely hidden.
Tap. Tap. Tap. He frantically ran and wasn't even taking the mountain trail. Instead, with his skills as a Clown, he ran down the steep slope, occasionally tumbling, and occasionally swinging up with the help of trees.
Splash!
He heard the crashing of the river. It was up ahead, just below him!
But at that moment, a strong gust of wind blew over, sweeping towards his back.
Klein made a prompt decision. His knees buckled and he rolled to the side.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
The location where he was originally standing and the direction he was moving in had a deep ravine carved out by the wind blades.
Mr. A dropped out of the wind, his body still draped with a cape squirming with fresh blood.
He pointed with his finger, and immediately, chunks of flesh flew out and swelled up in midair before suddenly exploding.
Boom!
Drops of blood and bits of flesh flew in every direction as Klein cartwheeled with his hands, dodging most of it before finding shelter behind a huge tree.
The projectiles bored bloody holes through the huge tree. Traces of corrosion began spreading in every direction from the affected area.
Back when Klein was running, he had already loaded his revolver. He was about to raise his hand and shoot Mr. A in the eyes when he saw a deep darkness appear within them.
All of a sudden, Klein knew that, although the scenery around him hadn't changed at all, he had been forcefully dragged into a dream.
He had once killed a Nightmare, a Nightmare at least... Klein maintained his consciousness and saw Mr. A phase to his side in a manner inconsistent with logic, turning into a blood-red blanket that enveloped him in a manner that couldn't be escaped from.
You want to rely on nightmares to scare me to the point of stopping my heart? A thought flashed in Klein's mind and he responded.
This was his dream. The lucid him could conjure anything!
Thus, a pure and dazzling golden sun appeared. Clear and blazing flames ignited everything in its surroundings in an instant.
Klein imagined the scene when he first saw the Eternal Blazing Sun during the dream divination!
Almost at the same time, he left the dream and heard a muffled grunt.
Mr. A took a step back, two streams of blood running from the tip of his nose.
The robe formed from flesh and blood began to slowly flow as though it was melting.
Pa!
Klein snapped his fingers and ignited the trees about thirty or forty meters away.
Beneath his feet, the long-withered weeds caught on fire, and the soaring flames enveloped his body.
Mr. A's originally unmanly beautiful face suddenly turned even more beautiful and feminine. A crystalline and weightless ice spear materialized in his hand as he threw it towards the burning trees a few dozen meters away.
As soon as Klein jumped out of the flames, his pupils reflected the transparent tip of the spear.
The tip of the spear became bigger and clearer, filling his eyes.
Klein threw himself to the side as his body became covered with a thin layer of frost.
The transparent spear then extinguished the flames, allowing the thick layer of ice to quickly spread in every direction.
Klein, who was still in midair, suddenly curled up into a ball, turning his body upside down.
He stretched out his left hand and lightly pressed on the layer of ice. He once again rose into the air and left the cold world. However, the skin on his palm was frozen at the point of contact; this resulted in him tearing off his skin with a ripping sound.
Rolling to his feet, Klein reached into his pocket and pulled out a self-made Slumber Charm.
As he was about to say the incantation, his nose suddenly started to itch and he sneezed.
Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
His head ached and he kept sneezing, leaving him with no strength to fight back.
I fell sick? I became infected by some sort of ailment? The moment Klein realized this, he felt countless threads that were difficult to be seen by the naked eye twirl around him, wrapping him up like a mummy in a certain sense.
He wasn't unfamiliar with this kind of experience. He knew that this was the Beyonder powers of a Demoness of Pleasure.
Back then, he had relied on the use of charms to cause all parties to fall into a deep slumber. Then, relying on his uniqueness, he escaped the effects of the charm. But now, Mr. A had maintained a distance of about 20 meters.
However, Klein was no longer just a Clown. The fingers he could still move snapped and made a crisp snapping sound!
In an instant, all the "spider silk" around him was ignited, as if it had turned into a giant torch.
Klein had just jumped out of the scarlet flames when he started sneezing again, which was then followed by a fit of violent coughing. This automatically prevented the use of many of his Beyonder powers.
At this moment, the feminine gentleness of Mr. A's face disappeared, adding a little more dignity to his loftiness.
He stretched out his right hand and clenched it lightly. Klein suddenly had an inkling that if he ran, he would only be running in circles.
Mr. A, who was wearing a blood-red robe, revealed a cruel smile. An ancient book that was transparent and illusory appeared in front of him.
An ethereal, high-pitched voice rang out, "I came, I saw, I record."
Achoo! Cough! Cough!
Klein wanted to hide, but he was powerless. At that moment, he experienced, in an unprecedented manner, the power of a Shepherd. It was truly worthy of being called the most comprehensive, most flawless, and most powerful Beyonder Sequence under the level of a demigod! Even if he hadn't made any preparations, with many mystical items being unusable, for him to be suppressed to such a state without being able to fight back, it implied that there were many problems.
