... The Goddess really replied... Upon seeing the words formed by the powder, Klein's first reaction had nothing to do with the content. Instead, he was shocked that this seemingly ridiculous thing had happened.
Although he was already mentally prepared and had believed that the chance of success was rather high, he still felt conflicting emotions. It took him almost a minute to accept it.
After a while, Klein exhaled slowly, raised his right hand, and tapped his chest four times in a clockwise manner.
"Praise the Lady!"
He then ended the ritual, forcing himself to focus his attention on the revelation itself.
Possessed by an evil spirit. Requires exorcism?
Ince Zangwill actually got possessed by an evil spirit? He had gone from Sequence 9 to Sequence 5 of the Death pathway. The godhood he obtained at the critical stage is also Sequence 4 Nightwatcher of the Evernight pathway, one that is good at dealing with Spirit Body-type creatures. Evil spirits and wraiths should be afraid of him, so why would he end up being possessed?
That's unless the evil spirit's level is extremely high or, at its core, is very special.
Unfortunately, I've only met one evil spirit in the truest sense of the word. It's that ancient evil spirit sealed in the underground ruins of Alista Tudor. I know little about such monsters, so it's difficult for me to grasp the details. Hmm, I can write to ask Miss Sharron. I can also get Little Sun to find out more. That Shepherd Elder Lovia had Grazed an evil spirit...
It's no wonder Ince Zangwill is trying to meet a demigod of the Numinous Episcopate. When it comes to exorcising evil spirits, aside from the Church of Evernight and Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the best would probably be the Numinous Episcopate. Uh, there's probably the Church of the God of Combat as well. Neighboring pathways often have similar traits.
There's also one point that can be gleaned from this. Ince Zangwill doesn't wish for his possessed state to be known by the royal family faction and the Demoness Sect who are in cahoots with him. Otherwise, there's no need for him to come all the way to the Southern Continent! The two factions existed before the Fifth Epoch, and they have a long legacy. It's quite unlikely that they don't have a Sealed Artifact that can remove or exorcise evil spirits. Even if they can't find one, getting the Demoness Sect to contact the Numinous Episcopate is definitely safer and more covert than getting Ince Zangwill to make the trip himself...
As his thoughts raced, Klein unfolded a piece of paper and wrote:
"The intel you have provided me made me connect certain clues from what I've previously gathered. And due to a particular great existence's help, this points to a clear conclusion:
"Ince Zangwill is possessed by an evil spirit, and he's seeking the Numinous Episcopate's help.
"Just based on this fact alone, we can make several useful judgments:
"Ince Zangwill will often manifest inconsistency in his words and actions. He will often deviate from his normal path, doing something we feel that is absolutely impossible for him to do, and to make mistakes we find incomprehensible. Before this problem is resolved, he will not stop having contact with the Numinous Episcopate. It might even become more frequent...
"Making investigations based on this might allow us to catch Ince Zangwill by the tail. However, I believe we still wouldn't be able to lock onto him. The creation of coincidences from that Grade o Sealed Artifact is insurmountable."
Upon writing this, Klein couldn't help but recall his direct encounter with Ince Zangwill.
His own investigations didn't directly point to him, but it caused their ploy to nearly fail. Hence, Ince Zangwill personally took action, sending a meteor falling from the sky in an attempt to kill Sherlock Moriarty so as to obliterate any clues. And he ultimately received Mr. Azik's help and escaped the dire situation, forcing Ince Zangwill to step into the limelight and expose himself.
Back then, if Mr. Azik had recovered to his former strength, Ince Zangwill might already be dead... But to replicate such a situation and force him to appear before me is still extremely difficult. After all, back then, not only was there Mr. Azik, a Death Consul, and my use of the gray fog to foil the coincidences, there was also Trissy Cheek and the ring which was suspected to be a Grade o Sealed Artifact. Without her suddenly escaping, Ince Zangwill wouldn't have been forced to personally take action... Klein deliberated as he wrote:
"If we can figure out the origins and primary goals of the evil spirit, there might be a chance of the situation having a favorable change..."
After writing the matters regarding Ince Zangwill, Klein's heart stirred. Just as he was about to mention something else, he stopped his pen after writing the first few letters. He raised his left hand and pinched his cheeks. He appeared to be in a serious dilemma and seemed a little embarrassed.
After muttering silently a few times, Klein finally smoothly wrote the rest:
"Even without that Grade o Sealed Artifact's help, Ince Zangwill is an enemy you and I are unable to face head-on. We need to make plenty of preparations.
"If you can provide me with some Worms of Time, I can use them to create high-level charms that can deal with demigods. It's called a ‘Fate Siphon' charm. It can swap the fates of yourself and the target for a short period of time."
Putting down his fountain pen, Klein didn't take a second look as he quickly folded the letter and seriously sealed it in an envelope.
He then took out the adventurer's harmonica and a gold coin before summoning Miss Messenger. He got her to take away the reply letter to Leonard Mitchell, but this time, it wasn't addressed to 7 Pinster Street. Instead, it was directly sent to Leonard's present address. With Leonard having just written the letter, Klein didn't believe that he had moved out of Reinette Tinekerr's detection range.
After doing all of this, Klein heaved a sigh of relief as he shook his head slightly.
Requesting the help of others is really a difficult task. It's even more so for someone as thin-skinned as me.
He quickly retracted his attention and once again modified Enzo's and Ludwell's appearances. After all, they had been seen by Angel of Fate Ouroboros during their exploration of Calderón City.
During this process, Klein suddenly had an idea. He planned on "sending' them above the gray fog and using the Spirit World Plunderer's true soul body for a disguise!
The Spirit World Plunderer could make its soul avatars take the form of its true soul body, and it could also get them to disguise themselves as other spirit world creatures. The Beyonder ingredient it left behind must've had such abilities. However, it would be difficult to use it with the poor effects and the huge negative side effects!
However, this wasn't a problem for Klein who possessed the mysterious space above the gray fog. After all, he didn't plan on using the Beyonder ingredient for actual combat. Doing some changes to his marionette didn't require too many smooth operations and great effects. Furthermore, this could be slowly adjusted. As for the negative effects that came from the godhood, it wasn't something to consider. Who wasn't obedient when left in the junk pile?
After a series of tasks, Klein sat at the high-back chair of The Fool. In his hand was the palm-sized Spirit World Plunderer's true soul body. Without looking down to look at it in detail, he extended his spirituality bit by bit into it.
There wasn't much changes to the scene before him. It was still the illusory and dense black Spirit Body Threads. However, when he tried controlling them, he discovered that not only could he control the marionettes' Spirit Body Threads, but he could also let his Spirit Body Threads extend out and penetrate into their bodies.
When both sides established such a two-way connection, Klein suddenly felt that he and his marionette was one. All his Beyonder powers could be enacted on the other party through the Spirit Body Threads, including his trick for changing his appearance and body!
Amidst a slow and difficult process, Klein felt rather groggy as he felt his emotions turned into a mess. He began showing signs of losing control. This was an inevitable outcome from having his spirituality make direct contact with godhood.
He hurriedly diverted some attention to stir some of the powers of the mysterious space above the gray fog, and he restored his condition back to its normal state.
After enduring the torment, Klein finished his attempt. Enzo had transformed into a Southern Continent native that looked like he came from a plantation. Ludwell had a mixed-blood feel to him. His ghastly face was no longer more bone than flesh. Instead, there was a plumpness to it. As for the silver mask that had the effect of placating the soul, there was no way of removing it for the time being. All Klein could do was let it stick to Ludwell's chest. This still had a certain level of effect, but it was inferior to wearing it on his face. It could barely maintain the status quo.
Unfortunately, there's no way to change this mask into other types of accessories. Otherwise, it would save me quite a bit of trouble. As Klein rushed to throw the Spirit World Plunderer's true soul body back onto the junk pile, he rubbed his temples and allowed his thoughts to wander. Right, I still have a Soul Assurer Beyonder characteristic here that can be made into a mystical item to replace that mask... No, I've always planned on returning it to the Church. I'll mail it to him when Leonard replies.
After the discomfort slowly subsided, Klein took out his golden pocket watch and opened it to check the time.
Following that, he summoned a paper figurine and stirred some of the powers of the mysterious space above the gray fog. He then threw both into a specially labeled point of light.
It was the point of light representing The Fool's only believer at present—Danitz!
From Klein's point of view, Admiral of Stars Cattleya had the Moses Ascetic Order backing her. Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina was from the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom. Anderson Hood didn't know much about Gehrman Sparrow, and being good at identifying the situation he was in, he wasn't one to put on a brave front. Therefore, when the Aurora Order did an "investigation," it was unlikely that they would be in grave danger. Danitz was the only exception. With him in West Balam and not able to return to the Golden Dream anytime soon, his lacking strength, and him often wearing the boxing glove that made him act rashly, it was truly worrisome.
Due to this fact, Mr. Fool had to work a little harder. He gave Danitz a Paper Angel's embrace every day at a fixed time, so as to disrupt any divination or prophecies about him.
Leonard never expected Klein Moretti to reply that quickly. With some level of incredulity, he opened the envelope and read the corresponding content.
"Due to a particular great existence's help... Is he referring to The Fool?
"Indeed, Klein's investigations into Ince Zangwill has already reached a significant depth. He has already figured out the truth the moment I mentioned the Numinous Episcopate...
"Possessed by an evil spirit? How did he end up being possessed by an evil spirit?
"How do we make use of it?
"Worms of Time... This..." Leonard quickly scanned through the last part of the letter as his expression suddenly became complicated.
In his mind, Pallez Zoroast maintained his silence without saying a word.
