Bang!
The loud gunshot reverberated in the sparse and open region as they extended outwards. If it was an ordinary island with an ordinary forest at night, it would've alarmed the birds and beasts, sending them scattering away. But here, everything remained quiet, so quiet that it didn't seem like any living creatures existed.
As for that black curly-haired baboon, its head had burst open, splattering blood and brain matter everywhere like it was raining.
The black crystal at its head shattered as well, with not a single piece remaining intact.
Klein bent his arm and slowly retracted Death Knell which was still spewing out smoke. He watched as the mutated curly-haired baboon's stocky body, one more that was muscular than a human's, collapse to the group.
By approaching with Traveling, forcefully controlling with Wraith, and seizing the opportunity to deal a lethal strike with Death Knell, it was an instant kill!
Klein wasn't doing this to flaunt his strength, but via his observations, he believed that the mutated curly-haired baboon had unique powers. If he didn't quickly finish it off while it didn't understand anything about him, there was a very high chance that the situation would be reversed, making the battle rather tricky. Besides, on such a dangerous primitive island, it was imperative he avoided situations from escalating, for no one knew what things could be lured by an intense battle.
Therefore, after Klein possessed the mutated curly-haired baboon with a Wraith, he gave up on the more reliable and more unnoticeable method of controlling Spirit Body Threads, because it took longer. Instead, he chose to cock the gun and use Death Knell to finish it off while it was stiff and slow as a result of the Wraith's influence.
The effects were identical to his expectations. The possible accidents that could happen midway were as he imagined. With the help of Distortion and Chaos, the mutated curly-haired baboon did possess the ability to extricate itself from the unfavorable situation of the Wraith's possession, and it would allow the bullet's trajectory to violate the laws of physics and avoid its body.
Unfortunately, its efforts had come to an abrupt stop before it could change any effects. Klein had seized that brief moment of sluggishness to decisively deliver the lethal strike.
If he had switched to controlling Spirit Body Threads, the outcome might've been very different.
It's worth it to suffer a weakness for this... Furthermore, there's a higher chance of me being needed to use Death Knell later. Compared to realizing what I'm afraid of in a more dangerous environment, it's better to know the problem ahead of time and avoid similar situations. That's the better option... Klein allowed his revolver to point downward as he walked to the side of the mutated curly-haired baboon.
At this moment, under the Wraith's control, the Beyonder characteristic of the Beyonder creature rapidly appeared.
Alger held up the lantern as he watched this scene from a distance away. It took him nearly a minute to snap back to his senses. Frozen in his mind was ultimately the scene of the flare from Gehrman Sparrow's muzzle and the bursting head of the curly-haired baboon.
The Chaos they encountered in the beginning had made him understand that the Beyonder creature they had encountered was at a Sequence higher than that of the Illusory Chime Tree. It was a relatively difficult creature to deal with, one that required sufficient caution during combat. Furthermore, there wasn't any guarantee of victory. Yet, Gehrman Sparrow had finished the battle in three seconds. The speed at which it happened was as though he was engaging in target practice.
Being a Sequence 5 Beyonder as well, the difference was unbelievable!
Combining a short-distance teleportation ability and a strange power that can control an enemy for a certain amount of time, along with that astoundingly potent revolver, the effects are unimaginable terrifying... If I were to encounter it for the first time, I would definitely be killed instantly. And even if I'm prepared, it wouldn't be easy to resist it. The best solution is to use my singing to affect my surroundings indiscriminately. It will prevent Gehrman Sparrow from successfully completing a Teleport... As expected of a crazy adventurer with a bounty of 50,000 pounds. Even without Mr. Fool's help, just him alone isn't weaker than Admiral Hell. It's possible that he's even stronger... While sighing poignantly, Alger reined in his thoughts as he considered how he could deal with the situation if he were in the curly-haired baboon's shoes.
Compared to the descriptions from others and his own guesses, witnessing it himself was more convincing and shocking!
Inside the corpse of the curly-haired baboon where the shattered black crystal was, a faint blob of light quickly appeared and converged together, turning into a translucent, pitch-black fist that was tightly clenched.
Indifferently to their thoughts, the fist produced a feeling of strength and sinisterness. The palm's lines, luster, and fingernails seemed to follow ordinary principles, but they were filled with an abnormal charm. It seemed to hide large amounts of madness and chaos.
Sequence 5 Mentor of Confusion from the Black Emperor pathway? I wonder what weakness I received. I hope it's not too odd... Hmm, I can use Death Knell as much as I want in the next six hours... As Klein muttered, he bent down to pick up the Beyonder characteristic and stored it in a prepared metal container.
In fact, he could attempt to Graze the curly-haired baboon and see if he could obtain the corresponding Beyonder powers of a Mentor of Confusion so as to swap away his glove's Baron of Corruption. But ultimately, he gave up on that idea since he wasn't sure what the Beyonder creature had done that made it deserve such torture.
His encounter had been an encounter on a battlefield. Ensuring his enemy's death was nothing out of the ordinary, but Grazing was an extremely excruciating pain that left a soul yearning for liberation. Klein had his own principles and stubbornness. He didn't easily violate them, and he often cautiously chose his targets.
Of course, to him, creatures of lower intelligence were not the same as humans. Even if he attempted to Graze it, it wasn't crossing the line. However, many of his past experiences told him that persisting to keep to his principles and not relax the requirements for himself was not only a moral question but was something to prevent himself from losing himself. He couldn't keep pushing the envelope just because he thought it was nothing. As the trivialities accumulated, it would eventually result in a terrible mistake.
In this crazy and chaotic mysterious world, actions aren't for others to see, but for myself. A person can fool humans and even deities, but they can't fool themselves. Uh, I wonder if High-Sequence Beyonders from the Spectator pathway can fool themselves... As Klein's thoughts raced, he took out Groselle's Travels that he hid near his chest, intending to smear the curly-haired baboon's blood over its cover.
At that moment, his heart tensed up as the hair along his neck stood up.
This was an intense premonition of danger!
And in this premonition, no scene had surfaced in Klein's mind!
Not good! Klein instantly found his heart wrapped in layers of shadows as everything before his eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of dark glass.
Without the luxury of time to consider what was happening, the glove on his left palm turned transparent once again.
His figure turned invisible before he appeared beside Alger, reaching out to grab his shoulder.
At that instant, Alger also sensed the abnormality. His heart contracted and expanded like the source of a storm as his blood surged through his veins and arteries like a tidal wave.
Meanwhile, he saw Gehrman Sparrow's right hand which was grabbing his shoulder. From the finger nails, it was turning gray and turning dull, bit by bit, just like any stone that could be found anywhere in the dark forest. And his feet, knees, and muscles were turning stiff as though they no longer belonged to him.
The two figures quickly turned transparent as they vanished from their location and entered a saturated and clearly overlapped spirit world as they quickly traversed it in the direction of the ancient ruins.
Suddenly, the red, green, black, and other stacked colors before Klein's eyes uniformly darkened as they produced fine patterns that resembled raven black hair.
Raven black hair!
A chill rose up from their soles as Klein didn't hesitate to leave the spirit world with The Hanged Man and return to the real world where they landed in an area mixed with rubble and weed. Not far away was a mostly collapsed building.
Through the corner of his eye, The Hanged Man had already turned grayish-white from the waist down, as though he had turned into a stone sculpture!
Pa!
Klein snapped his fingers, igniting the grass tens of meters away in preparation to leap over.
At that moment, he suddenly felt his heart palpitate as his body began to tremble involuntarily.
The appearance of the soaring flames was terrifying to him!
The weakness Death Knell gave him this time: fear of fire!
Seeing the dark "glass" thicken before his eyes, Klein felt a howling wind sweep him up from below before he could overcome the fear, causing him and Alger to fly up, passing through the invisible border and entering the vicinity of the ancient ruins.
Bang!
The duo fell to the ground simultaneously, producing the sound of crashing rocks.
The thick shadow over their hearts vanished as the danger that hid in the darkness receded like the tide.
Phew... Klein heaved a sigh of relief as he saw the grayish-white color that had spread to his elbow turn faint and recede. He felt his physical condition was rapidly recovering after he left that zone.
His back was covered in perspiration that soaked his shirt.
And what left him most horrified was that he didn't know what monster had attacked him or what powers were used!
Did Death Knell's gunshot alarm some monster in the vicinity, or is it the existence that rules over this forest at night? Thankfully, it doesn't dare to enter the vicinity of the ancient ruins... This isn't necessarily good. This means that deep in the ancient ruins is something that makes it fearful... I should be prepared to retreat at any moment... Klein stretched his hands and slowly stood up.
At this moment, Alger escaped from that grayish-white layer as he turned his head to glance over.
"That zone was petrifying us."
That zone... Petrification... Klein nodded in thought as he walked towards the mostly collapsed building that was strewn with weeds and covered in vines. He then replied in a deep tone, "The problem now lies ahead."
Alger didn't speak further as he sped up his pace, steadily walking by his side.
After approaching, Klein looked at the building. His gaze swept the spires and stone columns, as well as the damaged walls that remained standing.
He stopped and asked seemingly casually, "What kind of building do you think this ruin was in the past?"
Alger remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Cathedral.
"A cathedral."
