"Monster"

Following the bartender's directions, Nimrod passed smoothly through the billiard room guarded by two men, then through a secret door and several rooms before entering a fairly large space.

It was about the size of a tiered lecture hall. People had set up stalls on either side, their wares piled high with bottles and jars. Since it was still early, some spots remained empty.

Most of the items on these stalls gave off faint glimmers that indicated their value. Glows that signified genuine Beyonder power, however, were quite rare-only one in several dozen items had that sort of radiance.

People dressed like occult scholars from a bygone era wandered among them, making Nimrod feel as though he had stepped back into the Middle Ages.

Nimrod scanned his surroundings and spotted a pale young man curled up in a corner of the tiered hall. His eyes were open most of the time, as though he was awake, yet still sleeping within a dream.

And, as everyone knew, the only person who fit that description in the first volume of Lord of the Mysteries was Ademisaul, a half-"Monster."

"A Beyonder of the Wheel of Fortune Pathway... I thought I wouldn't get to meet him." Nimrod spoke as if to himself. "But thinking about it, this 'Monster' is probably here because the Church of Storms needs to keep an eye on someone with half a Sequence 9 Beyonder Characteristic..."

As he spoke, Nimrod walked toward Ademisaul and addressed the Celestial Worthy, whose voice had not sounded in his ear for quite some time. "Speaking of which, Celestial Worthy, I have a question."

[What question? Let's hear it. I might be quite willing to answer.]

"Why can a Sequence 9 'Monster'-no, half a Monster-sense something as terrifying as 'Sefirah Castle' on someone?" Nimrod asked casually.

"Logically speaking, they shouldn't be able to perceive an existence of such a high standing. That seems far beyond their abilities."

[It seems you know something? There are probably two reasons for what you're asking.]

The Celestial Worthy readily answered such a simple question.

[First, if a true higher existence wishes to conceal themselves, they won't be able to detect anything special about them. Second, the 'Key of Light' is similar to us-a part split off from the 'Original Creator.']

"I see." Nimrod nodded, using his will to rein in the illusory aura of Sefirah Castle around him. "Then I'd better be careful not to accidentally blow his brains out."

While chatting with the Celestial Worthy, Nimrod had already reached the side of Ademisaul, the "Monster," and gently shook his shoulder.

"Wake up."

As he shook Ademisaul awake, Nimrod took the opportunity to cast several instances of Thought Interference on the nearby stallholders.

After digesting most of the Mystery Pryer Beyonder Characteristic, he could already cast Thought Interference faster than other Mystery Pryers-even faster than Amon at the same Sequence, approaching the Celestial Worthy's speed.

Looking at the faint glimmers flickering all around him, Nimrod resolved to finish digesting the Marauder Beyonder Characteristic that very day.

Of course, he preferred to steal from those who harbored malice toward others. His second choice was wealthy people who would not mind losing a little money or a few possessions.

As for those who depended on their meager savings to survive or save their lives, they fell outside Nimrod's "hunting grounds."

He was not the Celestial Worthy, after all. He could not do something like that.

"What is it...?"

Ademisaul felt the vigorous shaking of his body as well. He shakily opened his eyes and asked in confusion. His gaze gradually focused on the stranger before him.

"I just saw you lying here and thought something might have happened to you."

Without the slightest concern for his expensive suit, Nimrod sat down naturally beside Ademisaul. He extended a finger and added some illusions to his Thought Interference, causing the surrounding people to overlook him and Ademisaul to a certain extent.

Although the combination of Thought Interference and illusions fell short of the Spectator Pathway's Psychological Invisibility, it was more than sufficient for the ordinary people and Low Sequence Beyonders around him.

"...Ah." Ademisaul responded sluggishly, then continued as though talking to himself. "I, I'm fine. It's just that I saw some, some very terrifying things again..."

His eyes, which had finally managed to focus, grew unfocused once more, as though he was about to sink back into a vortex of madness. Just then, however, Ademisaul heard a bone-chilling voice beside him.

"Something like this?"

Ademisaul instinctively raised his head in bewilderment and saw the gentleman in the black suit beside him abruptly change his appearance, becoming something like a twisted, bizarre gray shadow.

The instant he saw that shadow, dense waves of chaos flooded Ademisaul's mind. His eyes immediately ached, and he nearly screamed.

However, the shadow appeared for only a brief instant before vanishing completely from before him. Ademisaul reached up to touch his cheek, as though checking whether blood had dripped from his eyes. Immense terror filled his heart.

-He remembered the stories he had heard at the orphanage, and the eerie monsters in them.

And now, it was as though one of those monsters had appeared right before him!

What would happen to me next?

But while Ademisaul was touching his cheek, he heard the monster beside him speak again.

"Being unable to control your Beyonder powers all this time must be painful, isn't it?"

"The Church doesn't have potions for your Pathway and can't offer you salvation. But I can tell you how to control your Beyonder powers..."

"Otherwise, in your current state, once you encounter something truly dangerous and bizarre, you'll soon die without so much as a burial."

As the gentleman spoke, Ademisaul suddenly felt that he was very trustworthy. There was an inexplicable charm to his words.

"You, sir, how do you know what state I'm in?"

"-I'll be here until tonight. Before I leave, if you want to escape your current state..."

Nimrod did not answer Ademisaul's question. He merely curled his lips slightly, rose without hesitation, and walked away.

"Come find me."