Klein didn't have the time to think about such trivial matters. After having his existence "concealed," he immediately got Enuni to switch places with a new marionette who was formerly a pirate.
Immediately following that, he activated Creeping Hunger and brought Enuni and Qonas to the secret mausoleum in Awwa County.
As he could only maintain three images from the Historical Void at the same time, it was impossible for him to abandon his marionette and directly come over by using a summoned projection. It would occupy a crucial spot. As for the remaining marionettes in Memorial Square, they wouldn't die on the spot in half an hour. They would only appear to be in a daze. However, this wasn't something that would attract too much attention while listening to a speech. Finally, if he didn't return, the Red Gloves team from the Church of Evernight would clean up his tracks.
At the same time, outside the secret mausoleum in East Chester County, there was a young lady in a yellow layered dress and a black, old-fashioned bonnet. Pea vines grew out of nowhere as they appeared.
Her chestnut hair cascaded down naturally. Her eyebrows were long and straight, and her eyes appeared as though they were filled with a blue sea.
Looking at the mountain wall in front of her, Queen Mystic extended her right hand and quickly formed a symbol in the void.
Following the movement of her fingertips, drops of bright red blood that resembled shattered gems seeped out and froze in midair.
Soon, a complicated symbol formed from layers of "doors" appeared. They trembled slightly and seemed to resonate with something somewhere else.
In the blink of an eye, the blood-colored symbol extended into an illusory translucent door. Through it, one could vaguely see a gigantic mausoleum formed from black rocks.
Bernadette immediately walked through the illusory door and arrived inside a dim and dark area.
The light here came from the lights of stone pillars and strange underground moss growing on the cliff walls. Together, they illuminated the secret mausoleum in the light fog at the bottom.
The symbol provided by Mr. Door was really useful!
At this moment, as a ritual was being held deep underground, faint lights gathered, forming a figure midair in the darkness.
The figure had a square face, black hair and blue eyes, a high nose bridge, and a thick beard. He looked rather solemn.
His appearance and image wasn't unfamiliar to many citizens of the Loen Kingdom. This was because he had been printed on the front side of ten-pound notes. Of course, people who had never touched ten-pound notes in their entire lives could also see his statue or portraits at Memorial Square.
He was the Loen Kingdom's Founder and Protector, the first king, William Augustus I.
This was an entity referred to as "He"!
With the help of the ritual, "He" had come here directly from Backlund!
Bernadette remained impassive. With a flip of her hand, a new item appeared.
The item was golden in color, like a miniaturized water flask. However, a candlewick extended out from the mouth of the flask.
As Bernadette caressed the surface of the item with her right hand—one that was covered in mysterious and complicated symbols—the candlewick silently ignited.
The light it emitted was like a sticky water stream that sprayed upwards, forming a blurry and twisted golden figure.
"Eternal Genie of the Lamp, my second wish is to obtain the strength of a Knowledge Emperor for one day." Seizing the opportunity when William Augustus I had yet to fully descend, Bernadette spoke in a solemn voice.
The item in her hand was called "Magic Wishing Lamp." It might've come as early as the First Epoch. Although it had never been obtained by the seven Churches, it had the corresponding Grade 0 Sealed Artifact number.
"0-05"!
This item could grant its owner any ten wishes, but this was either done in a distorted form, or it came with unpredictable and terrifying outcomes.
None of its previous owners had a good ending, including Roselle Gustav.
This emperor had warned his daughter that she could use the proper choice of words and make preparations to avoid the harm brought about by the first two wishes, but she absolutely couldn't make the third wish. Absolutely not!
...
Meanwhile, the concealed Klein arrived near the secret mausoleum in Awwa County without alerting anyone.
Although time was tight, he didn't rashly approach the mausoleum by drawing the symbol and opening the door. Instead, he reached out his right hand and grabbed at the air in front of him.
After five consecutive attempts, the muscles on his arm suddenly tightened, as if he was pulling something extremely heavy.
As he retracted his right hand, a figure quickly appeared.
The figure's skin was bronze in color. He had a medium build, black hair, brown eyes, and soft facial features. Beneath his right ear was a very thin mole. It was none other than Azik Eggers.
However, unlike the Mr. Azik that he knew, the figure's gaze was cold. He wore a deep black robe embroidered with golden threads. He wore a golden bird-shaped crown, as though he was looking down on all living creatures.
This was the former Death Consul, a former Sequence 2 angel!
Without sizing him up further, Klein reached out again and "grabbed" into the void.
This time, he didn't seem to have pulled anything out, but in fact, he had summoned the former him from ten seconds ago, the him who was in a concealed state!
Then, Klein threw a small metal bottle at his projection and made himself enter the gray fog's Historical Void.
In his past self, his consciousness suddenly came alive and became extremely agile.
This concealed Klein brought the projection of Death Consul Azik and came to the secret mausoleum where the entrance couldn't be seen. He took out a small metal bottle and used his spirituality to draw with the blood that shimmered like gems. In midair, he quickly outlined the symbol that Mr. Door had given.
The symbol rapidly formed and resonated with a particular point in the mausoleum, expanding into an illusory door.
In a concealed state, Klein and Death Consul Azik passed through the door and entered the corresponding secret mausoleum.
At that moment, the guards inside had already discovered that there was an intruder and had activated the ritual they had prepared in advance. However, all they could see was the lofty Death Consul.
Somewhere in Backlund, the former, former Duke of Southville, Dlink Augustus, was just about to use a ritual to open a passageway and descend into that secret mausoleum when a man beside him suddenly frowned and said, "That's Azik Eggers. No, ‘He' is very rigid. It's like a historical projection summoned by the Secret Order's Scholar of Yore.
"Your Highness, let me go over. Stay here and be wary of the Scholar of Yore who's lurking in the dark. Although they aren't angels, they're quite troublesome."
Dlink Augustus was a slightly arrogant elder. His black hair was mixed with silver threads, and he was clean-shaved. Upon hearing that, "He" laughed and said, "Isn't the Scholar of Yore just beside ‘Him'? Although he's in a concealed state, I've already discovered him through the disorder of the surrounding area.
"He's misleading us, making us think that he's deliberately attacking with a historical projection while his true body has gone elsewhere. In fact, he's hidden beside Azik's projection. Once this Death Consul attracts the attention he wants, and when we place our main forces elsewhere, he'll use the concealed state to approach the mausoleum to cause destruction.
"Besides, regardless of the reason, since he's summoned an angel's projection, you won't be able to kill the target in a short period of time even if you carry a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. If this implicates the mausoleum, our efforts and persistence would've been in vain.
"If that Scholar of Yore has done three levels of misdirection and really went to another mausoleum, he won't be able to summon an angel from the Historical Void. You can easily eliminate him."
While he said his first sentence, Dlink Augustus had already entered the passage through the ritual's activation. The rest of "His" words were spoken by the phantoms that "He" had left behind.
Inside the secret mausoleum in Awwa County, Azik Eggers scanned the area with an indifferent expression. "His" body suddenly swelled and transformed into a giant serpent that covered the area above the mausoleum.
This giant serpent was both illusory and real, as though it was formed by something incomprehensible to humans. Its entire body was covered with huge dark-green scales. White feathers grew out from the gaps, and each scale and feather had strange symbols of different shapes. Just the mere sight of them made one's flesh decompose, turning them into zombies.
This was "Quetzalcoatl," the serpent spoken of in Southern Continent myth. "His" eye sockets were burning with pale-white flames as an exaggerated, thick pair of wings spread from "His" back.
Amidst the howling wind, the feathered serpent in midair lunged forward with its upper body and spat out a pale-white flame that covered the entire mausoleum.
...Mr. Azik's Historical Void projection is definitely much weaker than before, but it's still very powerful... As expected of the biological son of Death, the consul of the Balam Empire... Although the concealed Klein had done a summoning experiment previously at sea, he never expected that Azik's projection would be so powerful.
At that moment, points of faint, gloomy glows flew out of the mausoleum, putting an end to the tidal-like pale-white flames' advancement.
Following that, they formed a figure. It was none other than the Sequence 2 Balancer, Dlink Augustus.
The moment the concealed Klein saw "Him," he suddenly turned rigid and stiff. He began acting based on instinct—a result of him returning to the Historical Void and being outside the secret mausoleum.
Then, he teleported to a secret mausoleum under the Tussock River and took out another small metal bottle. In a concealed state, he used his spirituality to draw the blood out to outline the symbol.
A few seconds later, the symbol resonated and turned into a door. With his marionettes, Qonas and Enuni, he walked in.
Of course, in the river and forest outside, he still had marionettes he just converted.
...
A figure appeared near the Ruins No. 1 in the outskirts of Backlund.
Her raven hair was radiant, and her face was slightly round. She looked beautiful, with a hint of sweetness and an outstanding bearing. She was none other than Demoness Trissy.
After Trissy approached Ruins No. 1, she also took out a small metal bottle and drew the symbol provided by Mr. Door with the blood.
An illusory door rapidly took shape.
