What terrifying intuition. Despite not realizing that the "Gehrman Sparrow" in front of you is a double, you still feel that something is amiss... Hidden in a faraway building, Klein inwardly drew a gasp. His mind raced as he quickly came up with a corresponding strategy.
He controlled Senor and made the marionette reply in a deep voice, "I'm also a little worried.
"After opening the ‘door,' if you leave first, you can ambush me from the outside once I'm out. You don't even need to ambush me. You can just wait outside.
"I believe that I should be the first to leave. And before that, you need to return to me my flesh and hair. When the time comes, you can be closer to the ‘door.' This way, you will have enough time to pass through the ‘door' before your Spirit Body Threads drift to the top of the cathedral."
Panatiya listened in silence and returned with a question, "Then how do I prevent you from destroying the ‘door' after you leave?"
"This is also a problem for me," the marionette answered without giving any signs of weakness. "When I obtain that special symbol, I'll show it to you. That way, even if I close the ‘door,' you will still be able to open it again."
Panatiya closed her mouth as though she was thinking through the details, but she appeared somewhat irascible and could hardly compose herself. It was as though her inclination for insanity had filled her mind.
After about ten seconds, she said again, "I think a pure curse might not be able to harm you. Seers do not lack the means to avoid harm, just like the Paper Figurine Substitutes you used before."
She really isn't leaving behind any loopholes. Thankfully, the person in front of you is a fake from top to bottom... As Klein lampooned, he made Senor take out one paper figurine after another. Then, he burned them all in front of the Demoness of Despair.
"I can't be sure that you haven't hidden one," Panatiya said in suspicion, still somewhat neurotic.
"Gehrman Sparrow" twitched the corners of his mouth in a deadpan manner and said, "You can try divination. Aren't Witches good at that?"
Panatiya smiled impatiently and said, "The spirit world cannot be communicated with in here, and my spirituality..."
She didn't finish her sentence as the look in her eyes turned somewhat dangerous.
Klein knew what the Demoness of Despair was getting at. Her spirituality had been corrupted due to half a year of "eating." It was somewhat chaotic and crazy, making it give unreliable "answers," especially against a Beyonder that was best at divination.
The two reached a stalemate, momentarily unable to resolve the problem of trusting one another.
At this moment, on the roof to the left, a hoarse and muffled voice sounded.
"I can be your ‘witness.'"
"Gehrman Sparrow" and Panatiya turned their heads at the same time and looked over. Mr. A's figure grew out from the shadows as he wore a blood-red hooded robe.
"How will you bear ‘witness'?" Klein made Senor ask.
Mr. A pulled down his hood and said with a deep chuckle, "I'll use flesh and blood magic to drill into your body and control your condition. Once you stop controlling the Spirit Body Threads, or if you try to use Paper Figurine Substitutes, I'll immediately give a warning or attempt to stop you.
"Once that ‘door' you speak of opens, I'll leave your body and pass through the door before my Spirit Body Threads are affected."
Do you think "Gehrman Sparrow" is an idiot? Klein made his marionette curl his lips.
"Based on what I know, Rose Bishops can hide in the bodies of others, but the host will immediately die once they leave."
"No, using that method is to evade investigations; therefore, there's a need to fuse with the host's flesh and blood. But there's no need to do so in this situation. I'll silently wait inside your stomach," Mr. A explained in detail.
No, it's not my stomach. It's Senor's stomach... Klein made Gehrman Sparrow take out a gold coin and pretend to attempt a divination.
This crazy adventurer muttered under his breath as the gold coin in between his fingers was flipped.
With a ping, the gold coin flew into the air and landed in his palm.
"Gehrman Sparrow" carefully glanced at it.
"From the looks of it, you aren't lying.
"However, you will have to leave my body before I show the special symbol to Lady Despair."
If this wasn't done, "Gehrman Sparrow" might end up being murdered by their collusion. After all, if Panatiya obtained the door-opening symbol while wielding the obsidian rock, given enough time, she didn't need to worry about any anomalies with her Spirit Body Threads. Then, she wouldn't need help from "Gehrman Sparrow" at all. Mr. A's existence was only to prevent the use of Paper Figurine Substitutes.
However, "Gehrman Sparrow" didn't need to be too worried if Mr. A came out ahead of time. He wasn't even afraid that Panatiya would lose decorum after knowing the door-opening symbol, because if that happened, he could rely on Paper Figurine Substitutes to avoid certain death. On the other hand, Panatiya wouldn't carry out a pursuit in the cathedral. This was because she would end up being hung up with the passage of time; hence, she needed to seize the opportunity to escape immediately!
Besides, there was no way to take the obsidian rock. "Gehrman Sparrow" would then have no chance of any subsequent escape attempts.
Although the details of this plan were still flawed, it fully considered the situation of all three parties. Panatiya raised her hand and grabbed at the hair that was sliding down her sideburns when she suddenly asked, "If I were to escape first, aren't you afraid that I'll ambush you?"
This was also a problem that Gehrman Sparrow was previously worried about.
Klein immediately made his marionette curl his lips and say,
"I'm afraid.
"But I still have other means of escape. I'll take the risk."
Panatiya took two steps in an irritated manner before finally saying, "We shall do it as agreed then."
After making up her mind, her smile became extremely relaxed.
"You really are a special man, a man that made me see hope. After we leave, I don't mind letting you experience what extreme pleasure is if you aren't afraid."
"Gehrman Sparrow" shifted his gaze away with great effort before looking at Mr. A.
"I have no more questions."
With the sound of howling wind, Mr. A flew down and landed not far from "Gehrman Sparrow."
His figure, along with his "clothes," rapidly melted away, turning into a sticky glob of flesh and blood.
Right on the heels of that, the flesh and blood piled onto one another and kept compressing into a "tiny stream" that had the thickness of an arm. Then, it flowed towards "Gehrman Sparrow."
Far away in a building, Klein felt somewhat disgusted as he retched. Then, he made "Gehrman Sparrow" open his mouth.
The "flesh and blood" stream climbed up the marionette's body and drilled into its mouth. The slightly warm but slippery feeling passed through the gullet and entered the stomach.
It's heavy... However, Mr. A's flesh and blood is helping to hold up the stomach, preventing it from sagging too much... Klein inspected the marionette and made him look up at the shrouded crimson moon and say to Panatiya, "Let's begin."
"Alright." Panatiya, who could hardly withstand her urges, impatiently walked towards the cathedral's entrance.
Klein made "Gehrman Sparrow" follow by her side and first plucked off his hair before making two meat tendrils grow out from his arm before ripping it out. It made blood gush out.
If someone very familiar with me were here, they would definitely notice a problem because I can't deal harm to my own body so decisively... Hmm, perhaps in the eyes of others, the crazy adventurer, Gehrman Sparrow, can probably do such a deed easily... As Klein noticed a problem and gained experience from his conclusion, he made the marionette pass through the ajar main door of the ancient cathedral. He then handed the hair and flesh to Panatiya.
Panatiya slowed down her pace as she took out an ugly, palm-sized puppet and wiped the flesh over it and tied the hair around its thin neck.
She held the cursed puppet in one hand and finally stepped through the cathedral's door. Klein immediately got "Gehrman Sparrow" to control their Spirit Body Threads. As for Mr. A, as he had overlapped with the marionette, it wasn't too much of a hassle.
Hmm, even I can do it. With the powers showcased by Zaratul, "He" totally has the capability to help Beyonders that are not from the Seer pathway to resolve the loss of control over Spirit Body Threads in the cathedral. This way, as long as "He" wants the Demoness of Despair to enter, "He" could've opened the door a long time ago... Why didn't "He" do it? "He" is unable to communicate with others beyond the cathedral? That's why Seer pathway Beyonders who aren't Marionettists or higher can't walk to "Him"? Klein used his marionette's senses to analyze the situation remotely.
And inside the cathedral, the corpses remained dangling in midair. Their heads were bowed and their eyes were rolled back. From time to time, they would sway with the wind, producing the ravings "Hornacis... Flegrea..."
When Panatiya saw this scene, her body instantly stiffened, but she quickly composed herself. Together with "Gehrman Sparrow," they walked under the "gazes" of the hanged.
Before long, they saw the pitch-black altar and the statue of the ancient god's descendant.
Zaratul remained sitting diagonally behind the statue, wearing a hood and sporting a white beard.
When "Gehrman Sparrow" and Panatiya approached, "He" slowly lifted his head and chuckled.
"Very good. Beyonders from the Seer pathway need to know how to use their brain and not always think of fighting."
"He" seemed to have foreseen that all of the paper figurines of "Gehrman Sparrow" would be destroyed. "He" directly reached out "His" wrinkled palm and grasped at something. "His" grab pulled out a yellowish-brown goatskin and a quill filled with ink and a bottle of ink.
This made Panatiya involuntarily twitch her brows.
Zaratul picked up the quill and scribbled words and symbols before rolling it up and handing it to "Gehrman Sparrow."
"That's the door-opening symbol, as well as the Bizarro Sorcerer potion formula you want.
"They can only last for forty-five minutes and cannot be taken out."
Klein avoided the Demoness of Despair and unfolded the goatskin, allowing the potion formula and the door-opening symbol to appear before his eyes.
Suddenly, his pupils constricted and nearly froze.
The door-opening symbol and the symbol provided by the Antigonus family's notebook via the Misfortune Cloth Puppet were mostly the same. It was a vertical eye made up of many mysterious labels!
However, there were tiny differences in the details. A crescent pattern had switched spots with a dotted-line label!
