The moment he saw the middle-aged man dressed in a priest's getup, Anderson zoned out for a second. Following that, some shackles in his mind suddenly collapsed as countless memory fragments surged through an invisible barrier. It felt like long-suppressed feelings suddenly erupted.
He remembered the things that had happened over the past two months. He remembered the mission that the demigod had given him!
Back in Bayam, he followed the thoughts in his mind to meet up with the demigod. He followed him and left the Rorsted Archipelago for a secret location.
There, he met the priest beside him. It was arranged for him to enter an ancient coffin, to lay there among Beyonder ingredients and a liquid filled with strange mixed blood, allowing them to seep into him.
After a month of this corrosive treatment, a dark red chrysalis formed inside his body. He then had his memories from this period of time sealed before being sent to West Balam. He was then psychologically cued to not leave until he recovered his memories.
This meant that he hadn't finished the demigod's mission and that it was still underway. Everything that had happened before were just preparations!
Scenes flashed through his mind as Anderson discovered that while he was playing the harmonica on the streets, checking into the hotel with Danitz, obtaining of Language Comprehension charms from the Church of Knowledge's preachers, as well as his arrival in Northern State—all of these incidents had this genial and seemingly innocent priest present beside him the entire time.
When having meals, he was sitting at a neighboring table. When he checked in, the neighboring room was his. When walking on the streets, he was walking right beside him. When playing the harmonica and putting on the ventriloquist act, this man was looking at him in a genial manner!
And Anderson hadn't noticed any of this back then. Danitz, who was beside him, the people around him
-none of them had noticed him. It was as though they had never seen this priest before!
A chill that arose from deep in his heart ran from his tail bone up his spine to his brain. He felt that the experiences he had been through were enough to drive him insane, to the point of losing control.
Danitz, who had already opened up a distance from Anderson, looked at the black-robed clergyman, Ince Zangwill, and then he looked at the simple priest who was praying with his eyes closed. He hurriedly bowed his head and used ancient Hermes to softly chant, "The Fool that doesn't belong to this era.
"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog.
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck..."
A few days earlier, he had received Mr. Fool's revelation to handle some matters as a guise to stay around Anderson. It was so that he could immediately pray if any abnormalities were to happen.
Although he didn't know what would happen, or who he had encountered, Danitz, who always cherished his life, didn't hold back and did as he was toldeven if the abnormalities that happened might very well be him being overly imaginative!
For this, he had specially worn the boxing glove made from Groselle's Beyonder characteristic. It ensured that he would act first without thinking so as to not waste any time!
At this point, Ince Zangwill had stopped walking. His dark blue, nearly black eye and the eye filled with blood vessels reflected the priest in simple white robes who had a cross hanging by his chest.
In his mind, in his mouth, a furious voice sounded:
"Adam!"
The Creator's son, King of Angels, Adam! Before Ince Zangwill could finish his sentence, the priest opposite him opened his eyes. His light-colored eyes were already pure gold in color.
Suddenly, pitch-black stone columns were erected around them, setting up a majestic cathedral.
Inside this cathedral, each column, each arch, and each dome's surface was embedded with the bones of different races. They were densely packed as they used different eye sockets to stare at Ince Zangwill. They surrounded a cross that was more than a hundred meters tall.
In front of the cross, a blurry figure stood there as though he was watching everything with compassion.
This was a cathedral of corpses, but instead of appearing eerie, it was filled with holiness!
The walls, windows, and doors of the cathedral had transparent, warped faces protruding out. It was as though countless souls were sealed inside, preventing Beyonders from sensing the existence of the spirit world or astral world!
The square and pedestrians from before had vanished. They were kept outside the corpse cathedral that had suddenly appeared.
Ince Zangwill's classic quill had already flown up as it wrote rapidly on his black clergyman's robe:
"Anderson Hood is Gehrman Sparrow's friend. Ouroboros had taken notice of him, and due to various unknown reasons, Ouroboros's appearance here was a development that adhered to logic!"
Just as the quill wrote the exclamation mark, light beams shone in from the colored-windows of the corpse cathedral, forming stacked illusory pure feathers.
Beneath the enveloping feathers, a figure with long silver hair materialized in a genuflecting, praying stance. Following that, the figure stood up straight.
"He" wore a simple linen robe and had handsome looks and soft facial features. He was none other than King of Angels, Tail Devourer Ouroboros!
Ouroboros's eyes were momentarily unfocused, but it soon reflected the genial priest's image.
In "His" eyes, at "His" feet, and on the stacked feathers of light behind "Him," a supernatural, mysterious circle was accentuated, forming an illusory river like a snake that had its head connected to its tail.
The corpse cathedral once again reverted to the point when the pitch-black stone columns erected with the surrounding square were still on the border of existence.
Taking this opportunity, Ouroboros flew out. Ince Zangwill didn't hesitate as he made the surrounding colors saturate and overlap against each other.
Just as this Nightwatcher was about to step into the spirit world, he suddenly saw a cross spanning more than a hundred meters in size plummet down from high above.
This cross impaled the middle of the unformed corpse cathedral as the blurry figure that carried the cross raised its head.
Infinite light spewed out, drowning Ouroboros and the quill-holding Ince Zangwill within.
The corpse cathedral filled with bones of different races and the countless warped souls took form once again.
Upon hearing the stacked, illusory pleas, Klein was inside his hotel and thinking about his daily miscellaneous matters and lampooning in boredom.
He suddenly stood up, went straight to the window and looked towards the nearby square.
On the square, coffins were coming and going. The fountain was still spewing, and there was reverberating music. Everything seemed normal and even felt idyllic. Here, what seemed most unharmonious was Anderson genuflecting with a stiff expression while a trembling Danitz was closing his eyes praying. Without a second thought, Klein followed the plan he had formulated above the gray fog. He controlled Winner Enzo who was a hundred meters away to enter the telegraph office. He had instructed Danitz to live beside a telegraph office!
At the same time, he took out his adventurer's harmonica and blew into it.
Reinette Tinekerr walked out of the void with the four blonde, red-eyed heads in hand. All eight eyes turned to the square.
"For Leonard, Miss Messenger. He likely hasn't left your detection range." Klein took out a letter he had already prepared and a gold coin before handing it to Miss Messenger.
What he said and did was akin to a marionette. He only followed the instructions he had prepared in advance. If he couldn't help think of something else, he would immediately use Cogitation to divert his attention.
This was the method he figured out from Will Auceptin on how to deal with 0-08. By doing the thinking above the gray fog, all he did was act according to plan in the real world.
And in a particular prayer from Danitz, Klein had used the scene that appeared to observe Anderson who was nearby. In the end, he discovered an unfamiliar priest who also felt familiar by his side.
Thinking back to the Psychology Alchemists and the Twilight Hermit Order's hidden connection, and making the connection to the content in Emperor Roselle's diary, Klein immediately realized something. He was certain about what would happen next:
The master of the Twilight Hermit Order, the son of the Creator, Angel of Imagination Adam, was conspiring to obtain 0-08!
This also meant that there was a high chance for Ince Zangwill to appear with Anderson as the target!
Then, Klein redid his plan above the gray fog, pretending as though he had never noticed anything. He continued his state as a "marionette in reality."
One of Reinette Tinekerr's heads bit onto the letter as the eight eyes looked deeply at Klein for two seconds.
Klein nodded indiscernibly without a word, watching Miss Messenger return to the spirit world.
In the Cookawa telegraph office, Winner Enzo handed over the telegram, address, and verl gold he had already prepared for the staff, urging them to send it immediately.
"West Balam, Northern State, Cookawa. Ince Zangwill has appeared."
The radio waves quickly spread, sending the message to the major bases of the Church of Evernight in West Balam and East Balam.
East Balam.
"Why are you always active around the cathedral? Why don't you go further to carry out the investigations?" Daly asked Leonard.
Leonard thought and said frankly and seriously, "Awaiting news."
Daly nodded in thought without prying further.
She turned silent, no longer playing jokes on Leonard. It was as though she was waiting for something as well.
Suddenly, Leonard's spiritual perception was triggered as he turned to look left.
As a Gatekeeper, Daly had already cast her eyes in that direction.
A letter had appeared at some point in time, landing underneath a gas street lamp.
Leonard didn't avoid Daly as he hurriedly picked up the envelope and opened it.
The content of the letter was very simple. There was only one line:
"West Balam, Northern State, Cookawa, Revival Square. Coordinates..."
Leonard's expression turned heavy as he turned to Daly and said, "Ma'am, please help me to cover my tracks."
As he spoke, his left glove had turned transparent. He stuffed his right hand into his pocket and grasped the Fate Siphon charm.
Daly fell silent for a second and said extremely seriously, "Bring me along.
"Back then, you managed to at least fight, but I didn't have the time to do anything."
Leonard's expression changed as his mouth gaped slightly. Finally, without saying a word, he grabbed Daly's shoulder.
The two then vanished from the rather empty streets.
As he watched Miss Messenger leave, and once he confirmed that the telegraph office had at least sent one telegram, Klein immediately took four steps counterclockwise and entered above the gray fog. He directly sat at the high-back chair of The Fool and beckoned for the Tyrant card, the Sea God Scepter, and a silver-gray charm.
Immediately, he was wearing a papal tiara with a papal robe draped over him with a bone scepter in hand.
Amidst silver bolts of lightning, Klein spread his spirituality towards the point of light where Danitz was.
