Upon hearing the bishop's instructions, Leonard was first taken aback before he inwardly sighed.
Mr. Fool's prophecy was really accurate...
No, it's not a prophecy. "He" was already aware of everything.
Leonard quickly reined in his thoughts and followed the procedures to get Bishop Saint Anthony to give him an official document. Then, he returned underground and brought two members into Chanis Gate.
After waiting for the Keepers to check the documents, he came to Emlyn White's room which was illuminated with shining silver candles that were covered with engraved patterns. He opened the heavy stone door with a brass key.
Ghostly blue light entered the cell, "stabbing" Emlyn White's eyes to the point of him instinctively closing his eyes.
His face was much paler than before, and his body was much thinner. He exuded a feeling that a gust of wind would lift him up at any moment.
Thinking of Mr. Fool's answer, Emlyn suddenly felt confident in his current situation. Without opening his eyes, he slowly stood up and chuckled.
"I knew you would take the initiative to send me out."
Would you be disappointed if I said that it was just a routine investigation? Leonard lampooned inwardly and replied without any expression, "I'll give you thirty seconds. If you don't leave Chanis Gate within this period, I'll take it as you voluntarily choosing to stay behind."
As a slightly more senior Nighthawk and a captain of a Red Gloves team for several months, Leonard had rich experience in dealing with prisoners.
Emlyn's expression froze. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he ultimately maintained his silence. He walked past Leonard and his two teammates and walked out of Chanis Gate.
Outside, he suddenly shuddered, as if he wanted to purge the chill in his body.
"Once you return, getting some sunlight would fix you up. Oh, the sun is a rare commodity in Backlund's winter, and you vampires don't enjoy sunbathing... Aren't you an Apothecary? You can concoct some medicine from the Sun domain yourself." Seeing this, Leonard casually reminded him.
Emlyn's condition wasn't the best. On the one hand, he hadn't drunk any spirituality-containing human blood for days. He could only rely on the blood of animals as a substitute. On the other hand, it was because he had stayed behind Chanis Gate for too long. The power of Evernight that supported the seal had eaten into him a little, making him require the effects of medicine from the Sun domain to remove the residual effects.
As a Potions Professor, Emlyn was aware of his physical and mental condition. He didn't retort or nod. He only emphasized the word "Sanguine" before asking, "Where's Father Utravsky?"
"He still needs to stay a little while longer. I hope this bloody war will end soon. Don't worry, we'll let him come out twice a week to get some sunlight. As for which days they'll be, it'll depend on the weather in Backlund." Leonard gave a simple response before sending Emlyn White to the ground and onto the streets.
Emlyn hesitated for a moment before asking again, "Where's the nearest hospital?"
"What do you want to do?" Leonard asked in a professional manner.
"Get a blood transfusion." Emlyn raised his chin slightly, trying his best not to change his expression.
Blood transfusion... more like drinking blood... Leonard didn't call him out. He pointed in one direction and gave him the address.
After watching the Sanguine Viscount leave, he returned underground and began to discuss a recent case with his team members.
...
After several days of traveling, Klein finally arrived near the Nois City ruins in the north.
This was equally a desolate plain. The dried riverbed left traces of itself on the ground.
Looking at the dark, shadowy city that was filled with a thin fog, he was in no hurry to get close. Instead, he found a hidden spot and muttered the honorific name of Mr. Fool.
Following that, he took four steps counterclockwise and recited the incantation before entering the world above the gray fog. To return to Sefirah Castle with just a thought, he needed the prayers of the Tarot Club members to stack together, forming a strong and firm anchor. That way, it would provide The Fool with the sufficient summoning power.
With the help of the prayer light, Klein used his "true vision" to check the situation of the Nois ruins from afar. He discovered that the thin fog was slowly dissipating, but it couldn't completely dissipate. On the surface of the city, there wasn't a single Spirit Body Thread. The people who were dressed in linen robes or animal hides were lying in different spots on the streets. They weren't as lively and busy as the time the City of Silver's expedition team visited.
After the angel or Sealed Artifact that occupied this city discovered that "Their" whereabouts were exposed, they chose to migrate? As Klein made a guess based on the situation in front of him, he retracted his gaze and looked at the grayish-white fog that held up Sefirah Castle.
He was trying to prevent the Miracle Invoker, or Attendant of Mysteries, or the corresponding Sealed Artifact from hiding in the Historical Void and ambushing the Beyonders of the ancient Nois City. He didn't wish to directly encounter a cluster of translucent maggots that twisted into a huge vortex when he leaped into the fog of history, nor did he wish to be pursued by those terrifying tentacles.
The ambush that Zaratul had laid for him still left Klein feeling a lingering sense of fear. From time to time, he would have nightmares, hoping to seek Miss Justice for another round of treatment for psychological trauma.
This stimulus was worse than seeing his marionette, Enuni, wear a monocle in front of him while his body remained completely immobile. This was because he had implicated the Hounds of Fulgrim.
After confirming that the Historical Void was safe, Klein returned to the real world. He stretched out his hand, grabbed, and pulled out his former self. This former self was also wearing a silk half top hat, a black trench coat, and holding a simple glass lantern.
In the next second, he "jumped" into the grayish-white fog and followed the illuminated spots in the Historical Void, running all the way to a period before the First Epoch, in that city of a long-dead civilization.
To him, this was a very ingenious "safe house." This was because, aside from him, no Scholar of Yore could trace back to this lost piece of history.
Of course, to him, coming all the way here had required him to expend a lot of his spirituality. He could only stay there for another fifteen minutes at most, and that was only if he didn't make any burdening attempts at summoning Historical Void projections.
After hiding his true body, Klein's projection in the real world moved forward, quickly arriving outside the Nois ruins.
He didn't blindly approach or enter. After circling to a small mound opposite the dried riverbed, he raised his right hand and summoned his original marionette—the cold Earl of The Fallen Qonas Kilgor with dark blue eyes.
Qonas's body squirmed and instantly transformed into Gehrman Sparrow. Then, he reached out and took out a lantern from the Historical Void.
The historical projection who summoned a historical projection had "Disordered" the distance under the dim yellow light of the lantern. In a few steps, he arrived outside Nois City, alone.
With the lantern in hand, he passed through the rotting buildings and passed through the thin fog before entering the ruins.
Compared to using his "true vision" above the gray fog, actual contact made him discover more details.
The humans and monsters lying in different spots had signs of decay, as though they had been abandoned for some time.
Some of them sat on chairs under the eaves of the house, others slumped beside stoves. Some held moldy bread while others held hands. There were some leaning against the walls and sitting on the ground, their lips pressed against a bone flute...
This allowed Klein to imagine the situation in the city back when they were "living."
Some of them were slacking off and resting. Some were baking food, and others were shopping along the streets. Others were focused on music as some came and went, laughing nonstop. There were also others fighting monsters in an arena...
This was such a lively and bustling scene, but in reality, everyone had already died and were no longer in possession of their souls. They were only repeating predetermined actions.
And one day, this strange scene froze with time, and everyone collapsed without any warning.
A city formed by marionettes, the most realistic theater... Back then, the foggy town was in a similar situation... Although I'm also a Seer, I still have to say that, in terms of horror, terror, and bizarreness, our pathway is definitely ranked amongst the top three... Could it be that I'll be acting in the same manner in the future? Attendant of Mysteries? With the lantern in hand, Klein walked through the streets that were littered with corpses. He followed his spiritual intuition and headed for the ancient Nois City's center.
The situation here made him believe that the person who had once ruled the Nois ruins definitely had enough intelligence. After the City of Silver's expedition team broke the peace and serenity here, the entity didn't choose to kill or destroy any clues. Instead, this place was abandoned without hesitation before the entity migrated elsewhere.
The reason why the City of Silver wasn't silenced probably had to do with an Amon parasite following behind. Yes, it could also be because of the True Creator... As he casually let his thoughts wander, Klein quickly arrived at a relatively intact cathedral.
Inside the cathedral stood a statue of a demonic wolf with eight legs. It was covered with short and dark hair.
There was a tuft of grayish-white fur at the top of the statue head. Its pitch-black pupils covered at least three-quarters of its eyes.
It's not Flegrea... The Dark Demonic Wolf that occasionally appeared in the Third Epoch, the God of Wishes? "He" has been in the Forsaken Land of the Gods for thousands of years and has finally found that Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic? Just as this thought flashed through his mind, Klein suddenly heard footsteps coming, resounding one after another.
Standing sideways, he immediately cast his gaze outside the cathedral. He saw a figure slowly walking through the thin fog before its outline quickly formed.
He was nearly 2.3 meters tall, with a slight hunch to his back. With grizzled hair, wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and a scar at the corners of his mouth, he looked like an old priest or bishop while donning a long black clergyman's robe.
His dark brown eyes were calm, unlike the monsters deep in the darkness who were bloodthirsty and zero intelligence.
However, in the long, quiet night of low-frequency lightning, this clergyman didn't carry any animal hide lanterns or have any fire lit. He just quietly walked through the thin fog.
