The ice-cold potion slid down his throat, bringing Klein numbness, one that reached deep into his soul.
He had already stopped dancing. His mind seemed to be lifted as though he was high in the air, looking down at the ruined Revival Square, at Cookawa City which had been left in shambles by the repeated lightning strikes.
At this moment, he felt his emotions rouse up for some baffling reason as all the pedestrians below seemed to be connected to him by some invisible threads. They could be happy, angry, or sad, making all kinds of actions based on his directions.
Klein often had such feelings recently. He knew that this was the vision of a "director." By viewing all participants as marionettes or actors, he attempted to control or guide them into putting on a grand performance.
Using that hint of familiarity, Klein hurriedly adjusted his state of mind, completely separating his emotions from it, and viewing everything in a cold, aloof manner, so as to prevent himself from being affected by the play.
As a "director," he followed the script, referred to reality, and rationally made an analysis to choose according to the circumstances. He allowed emotions to build up, allowing himself to push matters forward and use the clues that had developed.
Once his state of mind settled, he felt the potion's power spread across his body, like a sharp threaded net.
Suddenly, Klein felt that his Soul Body was connected to his physical body. They were split into countless parts, and without being able to hold it in any longer, he let out a cry from deep within his soul.
"No!"
His thoughts were diced apart, turning into fragments as they fused with different pieces of flesh as he gained his own sentience.
These included Klein with pain, Klein with arrogance, Klein with coldness, Klein with gentleness, Klein who could amusement himself, as well as Zhou Mingrui, Sherlock Moriarty, Gehrman Sparrow, and Dwayne Dantès!
His entire Spirit Body seemed to be thrown into a grinding machine.
Not far away, Leonard, whose cheeks were streaming with unconscious tears, first saw Captain Dunn, who was embracing Daly Simone, transform back into Klein Moretti. Following that, he noticed his face, neck, and the back of his hands. Pale-colored tendrils protruded out as though they had a life of their own. They kept growing outwards, turning into a transparent maggot. And beneath his clothes, there were also signs of squirming.
This made Leonard have the feeling that Klein would collapse into a cluster of transparent maggots the next second as they raced in different directions!
Just as he wanted to do something, he felt dizzy. He instinctively closed his eyes and didn't dare to keep watching
The transparent maggots that grew out of Klein's body shimmered under the sunlight, producing three-dimensional layers of mysterious symbols. They connected to higher and lower levels, directly presenting the abstract concepts of bizarreness, madness, change, strength, and wisdom.
Amidst howling cold winds, black illusory threads rose up around Klein as they bonded together, forming strange "tentacles."
The tentacles flailed as his Soul Body, Astral Projection, Body of Heart and Mind, and Ether Body were reduced to fragments as they fused with the different maggots that represented Klein's various thoughts, turmoil, and dilemmas. As they wafted between them gently, they seemed to fly up to an infinite height where there were countless illusions hugging huge distorted buildings. They were either playing wind instruments, giving speeches, growling, or raving.
Amidst Klein's countless chaotic senses, everything around him stacked together as though they turned into the spirit world. However, there were living people coming and going with the stars shining upon them.
At this moment, the fragments filled with thoughts had similar memories appear-fresh memories:
It was of King of Angels Adam praying with his eyes closed. It was the scene of his shocking appearance;
It was him using Death Knell against Ince Zangwill as he pulled the trigger to blast open his head;
It was when he revealed his Clown's smile, saying in a deep voice, "This shot is for Captain";
It was when Spectator Adam used an extremely clear and innocent eye to take in the ending of the performance;
It was of him turning into Dunn Smith, inviting Daly Simone to dance the closing dance.
They were all so fresh on his mind, especially the gaze of a Spectator. There was a seemingly corporeal feedback that felt like a magnetic force. It made Klein gradually discover his sense of self-awareness once again.
I...
Who am I?
This was a question that Klein had an answer to when he was still a Faceless. He didn't need to think too much about it as he quickly understood his identity:
A person from Earth, a person who had been reconstructed from Klein's memory fragments;
A person whose experience as a Nighthawk deeply influenced him;
A person who played safe and was afraid of danger, but was able to persist and give up everything;
A guardian and a miserable wretch.
Strange sensory organs that didn't come from the Body of Heart and Mind or Soul Body were extracted bit by bit from the fragments, condensing Klein's new thoughts—coldness, calmness, spectating, and overlooking. They were thoughts that allowed him to view the world from even more angles and dimensions.
He knew that this could possibly be godhood. Without putting up any resistance, he chained the original Spirit Body fragments with black threads, allowing him to slowly take form again.
At this moment, he realized the purpose of the advancement ritual.
It was a mark, an anchor. Compared to other pathways, the Bizarro Sorcerer, who experienced the fragmentation of their Soul Bodies, required an anchor much earlier!
However, this didn't require the support of any faith. On the contrary, faith was a numerous and jumbled affair with too many personal feelings involved. During the fragmentation during this ritual, it easily wiped away the humanity of the advancer who was only Sequence 5, leaving behind godhood.
A grand and profound performance under the watch of countless spectators was enough to make up this anchor!
Although the spectators were few in number, as the pinnacle existence of the Spectator pathway, Adam could match thousands of ordinary spectators. He could even imagine a theater of spectators to create the effect.
With his entire body taking form, all kinds of knowledge surged out from the depths of his demigod Spirit Body, embroiling Klein's mind and giving him an indescribable impact. It felt as though his brain was about to explode.
However, with some level of godhood and his rich experience, he could view this in a detached manner and rather easily pass through this stage.
The transparent maggots on his face, hands, neck, and beneath his clothes returned into his body, turning back into the black-haired, brown-eyed Klein Moretti.
Looking at Daly Simone, who was still in his embrace and slowly turning cold, he lifted her up and walked to Leonard Mitchell. He bent down and placed her on the ground.
Daly no longer had pitch-black scales or white feathers. She had been restored to normal and her eyes were closed. The corners of her mouth were curled up like she was having the deepest and sweetest dream.
Klein stood up and looked at Leonard, who had opened his eyes again, and said heavily, "She has returned to the Goddess's kingdom, just like Captain."
He had turned her into a marionette to reverse Daly's mutation, allowing her to die like a human before releasing his control over her.
Leonard tried to force a smile as he whimpered a sound of acknowledgment. Tears were streaming down his face.
Klein gently nodded his head.
"To her, this might not be the worst outcome. She returned as a human to the embrace of a deity she believes in, and that's where Captain and the others are."
As he spoke, he subconsciously and sincerely raised his right hand and tapped his chest four times in a clockwise fashion.
Leonard instinctively drew the sign of the crimson moon. He was momentarily taken aback as his expression turned odd.
Klein surveyed the area and said, "Take Ma'am Daly back with you to East Balam. Make it known that she died due to Ince Zangwill's attack and had made exceptional contributions in causing Ince Zangwill's death.
"Don't worry, no one will investigate you. Of course, you can take this opportunity to leave the Red Gloves."
"I-I'm used to the Church," Leonard said heavily.
Klein took off his hat and bade farewell with a bow.
Holding his hat, he turned to walk to Ince Zangwill's body and took a card that had a chariot and a red priest on it.
The red priest wore the face of Roselle Gustav.
Leonard's lips quivered as he suddenly asked, "A-aren't you returning to the Church?"
Klein didn't turn around as he wore his silk top hat and headed for another exit of the square.
After a few steps, he paused and replied to Leonard with his back facing him:
"I can't return anymore..."
Can't return anymore... Leonard stared in a daze as the familiar figure gradually distanced himself and vanished.
After a while, a few Beyonders flew to Revival Square. One of them was wearing the clergyman robes of the Church of Evernight. She had a head of beautiful raven-black hair and an exquisite face.
No one could tell her age, because no one cared. They could only notice the eyes that seemed to contain countless stars within.
This lady was floating in midair as she looked at the square. All she saw was Ince Zangwill's sorry corpse that could hardly be recognized. Covering his cracked head was a commonly-seen tarot card.
It was The Star.
Above the gray fog, Klein placed the Red Priest card by his left hand and closed his eyes to rest for a moment.
He had a basic grasp and understanding of the powers of a Bizarro Sorcerer.
On the one hand, he could transform into animals that weren't too disparate in size. In a Spirit Body state, he could completely ignore this point. He could transfer wounds from either himself or others onto a paper figurine. He had also gained the enhancement of the Flaming Jump ability that now spanned nearly a thousand meters. The might of Air Bullet reached that of a cannon.
On the other hand, he could now obtain initial control of one's Spirit Body Threads in three seconds. He could turn a target into his marionette within fifteen seconds. His control range was 150 meters. At the same time, he could switch Spirit Body Threads, allowing his marionette to obtain all his Beyonder powers. Within a thousand meters, he could switch locations with his marionette as he wished.
Due to this point, and the maggots he separated as a Mythical Creature form, as well as the disguise from the Spirit Body Threads, Klein obtained a higher level of body doubles. This also meant that, as long as any one of his marionettes were alive, a Bizarro Sorcerer would never die!
The enemy often found it difficult to know if the one killed was the Bizarro Sorcerer or his marionette. What was real and what wasn't was difficult to determine.
After confirming his state and resting for a moment, Klein immediately walked deep into the mysterious space above the gray fog. He headed for the staircase of light that seemed to lead to heaven.
As he expected, there was another step, one formed of light.
This time, Klein believed that he could use this sixth step that resembled a giant's to step onto the condensed gray cloud.
One step, two steps, three steps... He came to the end and, with a leap, stepped onto the cloud formed by the gray fog.
Reflecting in his eyes was a door of light tainted with a bluish-black luster. It was formed from countless layers of spherical light, and each spherical light enveloped squirming maggots. Some of them were transparent, others translucent. This was the scene Klein saw through Enzo's eyes, but the objects were very blurry, as though something was obstructing his vision.
In addition, above the door of light, there were thin black threads that hung down. They were hanging up what seemed like completely transparent cocoons.
These cocoons were gently swaying, wrapping different souls. They looked to be of all descentsAfrican, Asian, Caucasians, etc. Some were wearing jeans, others holding cell phones. Some had beautiful clothes, others having beautiful facial features. All of them had the aura as though they were living, but their eyes were tightly closed.
Klein's gaze froze as though he had returned to Earth and had walked onto the streets which were filled with people.
Then, he noticed that three cocoons had opened. They were empty and were swaying with the wind.
Raising his head, Klein took in this sight as he observed in silence.
