At his point, Klein had roughly understood the situation.
Due to the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence, he had been targeted by the Spirit World Plunderer the moment he entered Calderón City, which didn't even have ordinary dead spirits. It first moved the golden disc of unknown origins to the predicted path, allowing his marionette to see it while walking past. As such, his attention was transferred to the transformation effect Calderón City had on the living. Following that, it used the giant blacksmith, which wasn't its soul avatar, to distract him further. Finally, it secretly arrived within control distance and achieved success in "one
try."
If it wasn't because I had seen those deceased bodies that are hung up like wind chimes at the cathedral, thus having an instinctual fear of High-Sequence Beyonders of the Seer pathway, and having prepared several autonomous means to disrupt any exertion of control over me, I might've already been made a soul avatar by the Spirit World Plunderer...
Seriously, I should've thought of the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence before I came in... After carrying the Sea God Scepter, even with the Tyrant card suppressing it, I'm still a little too rash. I nearly missed out on such a crucial detail...
On the surface, I did seem as cautious as I usually am, but in fact, I had turned rash without realizing it. Yet, I didn't even believe I was being rash... Klein's thoughts raced before he raised the bone scepter-wielding arm and continued using Lightning Storm.
If once wasn't enough, make it twice. If that still wasn't enough, do it a third time. In short, he had to take this opportunity to prevent the Spirit World Plunderer from escaping from the range of his attacks!
This was the safest method, and it was also Klein's fighting style that he looked up to the most. If it wasn't because Lightning Strike had been greatly weakened in Calderón City, he even suspected that he could've gone over to pick up the Beyonder characteristic already.
And having already digested most of the Sequence 5 potion, his spirituality was sufficient enough for him to deal out such damage for a while!
At this moment, the "invisible" figure wearing a translucent white robe burst into pale-white flames. It appeared in midair several hundred meters away.
The Spirit World Plunderer had used Flaming Jump, which was many times stronger than Klein's version, instantly pulling away from him!
At the same time, in the rubble it was hiding in, a four-meter-tall bluish-black giant staggered to his feet.
The giant's chest was open, but there weren't any innards. However, it stood like a castle, standing in between the Tyrant and the Spirit World Plunderer, blocking Klein's line of sight.
And in Klein's eyes, its Spirit Body Threads were gathered together, extending far towards the Spirit World Plunderer. It was obvious that it was a soul avatar.
At the tip of the Sea God Scepter, the blue-colored gems lit up. A few bolts of lightning leapt out of thin air, mixing together into a huge silver arrow. Instantly, it smote the bluish-black giant's head.
All the invisible defenses shattered, and like paper mache, the giant's head cracked. Countless bits of charred flesh splattered as his headless body evaporated amidst white gases that were tainted with dark green spots. All his vitality was robbed away.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Klein, in his papal tiara and papal robe, raised the bone scepter even higher.
The blue light radiated in ripples as howling wind blew up his cape.
In a very large area of Calderón City's periphery, dark clouds quickly gathered. Under a suppressive layer, they made the area appear darker and more repressed.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Bean-sized drops of water smashed to the ground, releasing dust that had accumulated over time.
Splash!
The raindrops pattered at an increasing pace, forming a catastrophic storm.
The water extinguished the pale-white flames and formed a stream that gushed downwards towards the lowest point of the city, right for the end of the deep pit.
In such weather, Klein's Flaming Jump had been made ineffective, but it was likewise for the Spirit World Plunderer!
However, to a Tyrant, his spirituality could spread through the dark clouds as though he had transformed into a deity that overlooked the land.
Every dark cloud, every drop of water had become Klein's eyes. They allowed him to easily find the Spirit World Plunderer in every area that had its weather change.
This invisible figure with the translucent white robe was hiding behind a broken pale-white column. It hadn't left the periphery for the core region.
Boom!
A deafening boom sounded as bolts of lightning meshed to form a silver beam that shot out from the dark clouds, right at the Spirit World Plunderer.
Relying on its potent spiritual premonition, the invisible figure burrowed into the ground half a second early.
Three thick silver beams smote the area one after another, melting the soil away as they sank downwards, producing charred craters.
The Spirit World Plunderer emerged from another spot as it hurriedly dodged, keeping to the right at times and left at other times, as though it was carrying out a snaking dodge manoeuver.
However, regardless of where it fled to, the silver beams would chase up to it. They even blocked its path ahead of time, preventing it from attempting to leave the stormy region.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The deity akin to a Tyrant, who looked down from the dark clouds at the Spirit World Plunderer, waved his scepter and struck down again and again at his target, with success barely eluding him several times.
Klein turned more and more anxious, eager to immediately end the hunt. Hence, he unreservedly triggered the Sea God Scepter to increase the frequency at which bolts of lightning struck down.
Suddenly, he felt a strong sense of exhaustion.
This alarmed Klein for he realized that something was amiss.
The Spirit World Plunderer had the chance of retreating deeper into Calderón City at the beginning, so why is it staying around?
It's clearly a spirit world creature without a physical body. It can burrow underground to avoid the lightning and a Tyrant's notice, so why is it circling around from time to time?
It's trying to make me attack. It has noticed that I'm not a demigod through my Spirit Body Threads and my control over my marionettes. It wishes to drain me of my spirituality! Klein was alarmed. Combining it with his original encounter, he came to a realization of how intelligent the Spirit World Plunderer was. It was a rather crafty creature.
At the same time, he also thought of a problem:
Could Lightning Storm and the stormy rain attract the notice of dangerous existences in the core region of Calderón City?
I'm too rash. I keep neglecting the critical details... As thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein put away the Sea God Scepter.
The heavy storm stopped as the dark clouds quickly scattered, the weather restoring to normal.
Klein made Enzo return to his side with Word of the Sea, and he got Ludwell to protect him in the middle.
Following that, he and his two marionettes walked out as though they were trying to leave Calderón City while he still had some spirituality left.
During this process, Klein had his Spirit Body Threads vision constantly activated to prevent the Spirit World Plunderer from approaching him.
He noticed that this creature's Spirit Body Threads were somewhat special. A portion of them came out from its body and extended outwards normally. A number materialized externally and were bound together in a thick bundle, right into the translucent white robe.
Klein suspected that this was the state when a Spirit World Plunderer controlled a soul avatar, making it different from a Marionettist.
As he shifted his gaze, he suddenly saw thin black illusory threads coming out from a collapsed house. A portion of them gathered into a thick bunch with its source in the distance.
Klein didn't hesitate to raise his Sea God Scepter, creating a sonorous thunderclap.
Boom!
Amidst this sound that struck awe into one's mind and spirit, Ludwell suddenly raised his left hand.
Half his body instantly turned illusory as his arm extended out extensively, heading straight for the collapsed house.
Midway, his palm turned abnormally pale-white. An illusory face protruded out and stuck out with a snakelike tongue which had white fur covering its surface.
The tongue reached out far, penetrating the wall and stabbing at the spot where the Spirit Body Threads were gathered. It immediately sucked on a distorted and blurry soul.
Around the soul, a number of Spirit Body Threads suddenly disappeared as though they never existed.
A portion of them was none other than the gathered bundle, the ones that came from afar!
They were fake!
The Spirit World Plunderer was able to create fake, illusory Spirit World Plunderers or instantly swap location between the soul avatar and itself!
Klein suddenly turned his head and looked elsewhere. Indeed, he saw a blob of Spirit Body Threads swim over from underground at a fast speed.
He once again used Sea God Scepter, releasing a thunderclap close to the ground, one that could awe his Spirit Body.
Meanwhile, Enzo expended some of his remaining luck, adding bad luck to the target. Then, he shot out a silver bolt of lightning from the tip of the Word of the Sea.
The bolt of lightning rather luckily passed through a crack and entered the ground, striking the assailant directly. It caused a portion of the Spirit Body Threads to instantly vanish.
It was also fake!
Just as Klein reacted, his thoughts paused and his body turned numb.
Just as he opened his mouth with great difficulty to instruct the mystical item, the invisible figure in the translucent robe descended from above, landing right before him.
The Spirit World Plunderer had been hiding high in the sky, cloaking itself with the grayish-white clouds!
The moment this invisible figure appeared, maggots began crawling out of its collar where its head should be. They were maggots with strange patterns covering them.
Just one look at them sent his mind reeling. Although he broke out of the control of his Spirit Body Threads, he also lost his ability to think.
His face that was shadowed by the papal tiara began to grow meat tendrils. Each tendril was relatively transparent, like squirming worms.
If it wasn't for the Tyrant card's level supporting him, he would've fallen to the ground while struggling in pain.
The Spirit World Plunderer had a Mythical Creature form to a certain extent.
At this moment, the invisible figure inside the white robe began to control Klein's Spirit Body Threads without any obstacles in the way. In a few seconds, it was already close to succeeding.
Seeing that its prey was about to become its soul avatar, the Spirit World Plunderer suddenly saw its target open his mouth with great difficulty and say a word.
He had recovered from the state of nearly losing control faster than it had anticipated. And the word was in ancient Hermes: "Fate!"
It was the incantation for the Fate Siphon charm!
If Klein really wanted to leave, he would've grabbed his two marionettes and directly ended the summoning to return above the gray fog. He wouldn't have walked to Calderón City's entrance.
He was planting a trap for the Spirit World Plunderer!
The reason why he could recover so quickly from the injuries dealt to him by a Mythical Creature form, and why he was able to chant the relevant word, was because he had experienced such situations too many times. Besides, although he wasn't sure what method his opponent was using, there was definitely a rather well-rounded way to deal with it-make his target unlucky.
Just as Klein entered a sluggish state, his first reaction wasn't to make the mystical item sing, but to let Enzo expend all his luck, making the Spirit World Plunderer have enough bad luck!
