Scrutinizing the bronze cross in hand, Klein was certain that it was at least a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.
Apart from its purifying effects, this mystical item also possessed Flaring Sun and other demigod-level spells of the Sun domain. As for its negative effects, they weren't a problem to resolve if one used it properly. For example, helping people who stumbled into the Beyonder world and hoped to escape this madness to become normal humans again. It could also be used for people who consumed additional potions to secrete the Beyonder characteristic—though this required precise timing; otherwise, it easily caused one's Sequence to drop.
Of course, the body and soul that had been reconstructed by potions would definitely suffer from frequent conflicts with an ordinary human's essence. Beyonders who relied on this bronze cross to retreat from this "circle" would undoubtedly suffer residual effects, and the exact circumstances would be different depending on their pathways and Sequences.
This made Klein sigh. This was the most useful and valuable negative effect he had ever seen.
To him, the only problem was that this bronze cross couldn't be carried with him for extended periods of time. He couldn't hand it to his marionette either, as it would expel the marionette's Beyonder characteristic and drop its Sequence. And a marionette could no longer consume potions for advancements, as their Spirit Bodies were essentially dead.
As for letting ordinary creatures turn into marionettes, they would "praise the Sun" by wearing this cross for extended periods of time and escape his control.
I can only leave it above the gray fog and take it out when I need it... To a Bizarro Sorcerer, this side effect isn't much. After all, I don't perform unprepared... I'll later confirm if it corresponds to an Unshadowed. If it does, I'll sell it to Little Sun after he finishes digesting the Priest of Light potion. I believe that the City of Silver's six-member council's Chief wouldn't be miserly to not exchange it with a Sealed Artifact of equal value. The Sun pathway is clearly more suitable for the Forsaken Land of the Gods than the other pathways... Klein thought in a good mood as he placed the bronze cross back on the long mottled table.
He didn't immediately make a confirmation and planned on leaving it until he returned to 160 Boklund Street. When that happens, he would also use dream divination to figure out the origins of the Sealed Artifact. As Maygur Manor was too close to the underground ruins, he was afraid that the royal family's angel or maybe even Adam was observing the area. If his experiments were to trigger some change and create a stirring in the gray fog, his biggest secret might be exposed.
Even if this Sealed Artifact doesn't correspond to an Unshadowed, it's definitely from the Sun pathway. At most, it's mixed with other Beyonder characteristics. No, it will be expelled, and the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun's trademark is a Sacred Emblem made of gold, an abstract sun, having nothing to do with a cross. Hmm, after eliminating this possibility, the only one related to the Sun domain is the City of Silver's Creator, the ancient sun god, Adam and Amon's dad, the suspected transmigrator...
It appeared in the hands of Viscount Stratford, so does this mean that, in a particular sense, it's the Twilight Hermit Order who's cooperating with the royal family, and the Psychology Alchemists is just a ruse? Of course, there are too many other possibilities. It might've been found by the Augustus family since they're quite a famous angel family in the Fourth Epoch and have a long history. Finding certain items of the ancient sun god is rather normal...
If this Sealed Artifact really was provided by Adam, could it be part of "His" arrangements?
Faced with Demoness Trissy, who is clearly involved with an evil god, and her partner, Viscount Stratford, who chose to use this purifying cross and gave up using other items. That arrangement is very reasonable. Upon deciding to eliminate Shermane, since he wasn't sure if she had been corrupted by an evil god and was afraid of accidents happening, he didn't use any direct offensive means and instead wasted time activating this Sealed Artifact. That too is also very reasonable... Yes, it's all very reasonable. I'm just not sure if there are signs of this outcome being arranged...
With this in mind, my phobia for 0-08 has reared its head again... Yes, Miss Magician and Miss Judgment had privately discussed Adam before. It involved matters regarding the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the Giant King's Court, and King of Angels...
This... even if it was arranged by Adam, why does "He" want to give this item to them?
Klein felt his scalp tingle as he thought about it. Composing himself, he decided to do further experiments after returning to Boklund Street.
He didn't hesitate and immediately returned to the real world.
As for the items on Qonas Kilgor, he relied solely on his divination powers without the gray fog's enhancements to gain an initial grasp on the situation.
Apart from the Concerto of Light and Shadow which Church of Evernight ascetic leader, Arianna, had taken, and the badge used to open the underground ruins, Qonas Kilgor had two other mystical items.
One of them was Rever's Shout of Despair which Arrodes had mentioned. It originated from a failed sacrifice and had two modes. One was an ordinary shot, its might was slightly weaker than a Clown's Air Cannon. The other was a machine gun sweep. It could spew out large numbers of bullets in one to two seconds. These two modes came with the shout of despair, having a certain level of influence on demigods at the saint level, but it wasn't too effective. Of course, not every demigod could withstand such an attack. Just like Klein himself, he didn't have a ridiculous body or defense to withstand it head-on.
The other item was Lucky Grass. It looked very simple, a four-leaved clover that had been made into a protective charm. Its power was to accumulate one's chance of success after a subsequent failed attempt. The negative side effect
Klein's appraisal on it was to change its name to "Mother of Success."
These two mystical items were of little value to Klein. He continued keeping them on Qonas Kilgor's person.
Instead, it was this demigod marionette that was his greatest harvest.
Lawyers had an acute grasp and knowledge of how to make use of loopholes in law, with the ability to guide and convince the target; Barbarian provided strength and a constitution that broke the rules; Briber had "Bribe"; Baron of Corruption had "Distortion"; Mentor of Disorder had "Disorder"; and Earl of The Fallen had "Bestowment,""Magnify," and "Exploit." They were all pretty good powers. If he hadn't obtained detailed information from Arrodes and made sufficient preparations and formulated a plan, together with the help from an angel of Concealment, Klein believed that he had no way of restraining Qonas Kilgor even if he had items like Fate Siphon.
In fact, instead of turning him into a marionette, using Creeping Hunger to Graze Qonas Kilgor would be a lot more discreet, making it harder to be discovered. But if that's the case, I can only use three of the Earl of The Fallen's Beyonder powers... As Klein thought about it, he walked out of the bathroom and returned to the bonfire party.
On the lawn, Macht was standing in front of the roasting rack, trying hard to make East Balam-styled roasted meat while sweat dripped down his forehead. Hazel was standing a short distance away, her eyes looking on brightly. She no longer had the arrogance from before and had a few black marks across her face—a result of the smoke. Portland Moment was holding a cup of wine, smilingly watching the relatively "young lad" being busy. From time to time, he would raise a metal skewer with chunks of meat and bite at it.
Upon seeing this scene, Klein's heart suddenly calmed down.
On Sunday afternoon, the group of people who went to the Boklund Street suburbs returned to Boklund Street.
Before dinner, Klein headed above the gray fog once again and picked up the bronze cross.
He first confirmed that the cross corresponded to the Sun pathway's Sequence 4 Unshadowed and had, rather uncreatively, named it Unshadowed Crucifix. Following that, he picked up a pen and wrote a new divination statement:
The origins of this cross."
Klein didn't immediately divine if Unshadowed Crucifix had any traces of being "arranged," afraid that it might point to Adam and place "Him" in a state of vigilance. He planned on investigating the situation by figuring out the Sealed Artifact's origins. If the Unshadowed Crucifix's owner or former owner was Adam, the truth of the matter would undoubtedly point towards a "deliberate arrangement."
Putting down the pen, Klein looked down at the cross and exhaled heavily.
"I'm courting death again..."
He suspected that the Unshadowed Crucifix originated from the City of Silver's Creator, the ancient sun god, a powerful deity that was stronger than the ancient gods like Dragon of Imagination. Sneaking a peek at "Him" would cause damage that exceeded Klein's previous divination of Groselle's Travels.
However, things were no longer the same. Klein was now a Sequence 4 Bizarro Sorcerer, a demigod. The damage he could withstand as well as the amount of power of the mysterious space above the gray fog that he could use far exceeded his previous state back when he was a Sequence 5.
After spending a few seconds to calm his emotions, he leaned back in his chair, holding the Unshadowed Crucifix in one hand and holding the piece of paper in the other. He softly repeated the divination statement.
Over and over again, Klein used Cogitation as a jumping board to enter a state of deep sleep.
In the hazy world, a building whose original form was obscured by layers of grayish-white stood in a pitch-black environment. Surrounding it were monsters.
A crack opened up on the grayish-white building's surface as a palm that had almost white skin reached out.
A figure walked out—a man. He wore a black clergyman robe and had a silver crucifix hung on his chest.
This man's hair wasn't long and was mainly raven-black in color. There was a faint hint of blond at the roots of his hair. His eyes were pure gold in color, and his skin was rather white. He had a deep outline and pronounced eye sockets. He looked quite similar to the people of the Northern Continent.
He took two steps forward, reached his hand out, and grabbed the very ordinary crucifix. His eyes gradually lost their look of confusion as the ends of his lips curled up slightly.
He said in a deep voice, "Let there be light!"
The pitch-black surroundings of the grayish-white building were immediately pierced by bright lights, revealing what it really looked like.
This was a deep valley where nothing could be seen above it; yet, the infinite light filled every corner.
And there was light.
The image of the next scene flashed.
A drop of golden blood that emitted light and heat dripped onto the silver cross.
Above the drop of blood seemed to be a figure that was formed of dazzling light. The face that he couldn't see clearly was looking up, seemingly being effused with pain and a sense of distortion in a very real manner.
He cast his gaze over towards the area above the gray fog, casting it at Klein, who was seated at The Fool's high-back chair. His deep voice sounded once again:
"Mysteries..."
Suddenly, without any forewarning, Klein's thoughts erupted with a boom.
