Three Evil Gods Hunt Lanevus

91

"Money always ran out before you knew it," Edward sighed.

"Indeed," the True Creator replied solemnly as he basked in the sun beside him.

In the next room, Saint Tenebrous kept his eyes lowered as he checked the accounts. An air of poverty permeated the Aurora Order, making life unbearable for its god.

Over a month had passed since the Descent of the True Creator. His vessel had grown rapidly and now looked like a child of about two. His distinctive black-and-gold hair had become even more striking, the gold spreading downward to gradually occupy a third of his hair-a considerable improvement over being confined to the roots at the beginning. His red eyes remained unchanged. Out on the street, people would probably mistake him for someone with Vampire ancestry... Would someone capture him for use as a spirituality ingredient... How much could a Vampire sell for? Edward's thoughts began to wander.

"You seem to be thinking something rather rude." The True Creator gave him a sidelong glance. "You've been quite idle lately. No longer in a hurry to advance?"

"Being in a hurry won't help," the Devil replied. "Young Zaratul's been stuck at Miracle Invoker for years too. He still hasn't found an opportunity to advance, even after all this time since the Fourth Epoch. If a Seer can't manage it, it'll certainly be harder for me."

The other changed the subject. "The Aurora Order's recent transformation has been going smoothly. Everyone is very motivated. Have you made any progress tracking down Lanevus?"

"Who's Lanevus?"

"..." The True Creator restrained himself. "The one I bestowed my flesh and blood upon."

"Oh, that swindler." Edward thought for a moment. "Nothing so far. Mr. Z's subordinates and the church members in the East Borough are doing their best to find him. But one detail in their reports interested me: the Bounty Hunters and even private detectives tracking this Lanevus have been hunted down in secret and tortured to death."

The True Creator caught on. "Torture killings. A Devil or a Prisoner?"

"Unclear. But someone using such crude, reckless methods to vent their malice certainly isn't High Sequence. I'm not particularly interested."

Edward lit a cigarette and let it burn quietly between his fingers. "I think it's a Devil. If this one's a Devil too, then considering Backlund's current serial killings, isn't the concentration of Devils here a little high?"

The True Creator looked over with an indescribable expression. His left eye said, There's a Devil right beside me, and his right said, What are you even talking about?

"At present, Lanevus seems to be operating in the East Borough, since most of the people searching for him died in its secluded corners." Edward rested his chin on one hand, seeming to talk both to himself and to the True Creator. "If it really is a Devil or a Prisoner, I could pay a visit. How could private detectives and Bounty Hunters be as effective as aggregation of extraordinary characteristics? The question, though, is how Lanevus got involved with either of those two pathways."

"That doesn't matter. What matters is recovering my flesh and blood from Lanevus," the True Creator said. "We can't waste resources."

"You can't sense your flesh and blood at all?"

"I can, but there are hundreds of sources. He used some method to spread my corruption. He probably distributed his own blood to other people."

"Checking them one by one will take ages, and we can't gather them all for a mass screening... Fine. I'll go spend some time in the East Borough."

92

Xio wore shoes with considerably raised soles and had stuck on a thick beard, making herself look like a short man. She arrived at the agreed meeting place and waited a few minutes before seeing Maria approach, also disguised, with most of the scars on her face concealed.

"I know it's you, Xio," Maria said without preamble. "I've received fresh intelligence. Another body has been found. Five people tracking Lanevus have died already. Are you sure you still want to continue?"

"How could this happen... Lanevus is an absolute lunatic!"

The death toll was certainly higher than five. Xio thought of Williams, who had died horribly just for learning about the matter, his face destroyed so thoroughly that his body couldn't be identified. It was perfectly normal for Bounty Hunters to disguise themselves and vanish for three to five days while pursuing bounties of various sizes. Lanevus seemed to know that too, which was why he always mutilated their faces after brutally murdering them, then dumped their bodies in extremely secluded corners. Had Xio not been unable to find Williams, an information broker she knew, anywhere, she would probably have remained oblivious and foolishly continued her investigation.

The Arbiter burned with anger, yet could do nothing. "Miss Maria, I cannot forgive such devilish acts! I want this man to face the punishment he deserves, no matter what. I won't let a single opportunity slip by!"

"But you're not capable enough," Maria said mercilessly. "If I hadn't identified those bodies for you in time, you'd probably be one of them by now, openly investigating as you were! Who gave you this bounty? Do you know nothing about this man?"

Xio bit her lip. Although she felt some confusion and resentment, she still did not mention Miss Audrey's name. "I took it on myself. At the time, I just thought it was an old bounty that wouldn't be particularly difficult..."

"Then you should stop immediately. Continuing could very well put your life at risk."

"What about you, Maria?"

"I don't want to investigate this anymore either, even if his bounty is several hundred pounds."

It's the Aurora Order's business anyway, not my job. Irritated, Maria kicked a pebble by her foot and watched it fly out of the alley. "Besides, I have plenty of other things to do! The textile factory introduced new machinery and laid off nearly half its female workers. The girls all need new jobs, but there simply aren't that many openings in the East Borough! Some idiot encouraged them to go back, smash the machines, and stage a protest, and human traffickers even took the opportunity to abduct people-I really don't have time to deal with a swindler!"

Xio clenched her lips. Maria turned her head away without a word, and for a moment, the alley fell deathly silent.

"...Perhaps we could consider reporting this to the major churches," Xio said with difficulty. Maria's expression remained grim. After a moment, she cursed bitterly. "Fine, go report it. Let's hope the gods really do care whether the people of the East Borough live or die!"

That's our only option. Feeling utterly powerless, Xio followed Maria out of the alley. Suddenly, her forehead struck Maria's back, as though she had run into an iron plate, making stars dance before her eyes. Puzzled, Xio peeked out from behind Maria and saw a very familiar-looking brown-haired gentleman passing the mouth of the alley in the distance-it was Fors's editor, the man who had helped them during the Qilingus incident, Mr. Edward Vaughan!

What was he doing here? Why would such a respectable gentleman come to a place like this? Oh, right, the last time we ran into him was in the East Borough too. He seems particularly fond of gathering material from life, which is why most of his work consists of realist tragedies...

Xio did not notice anything unusual about Maria. Her disguise was unsuitable for greeting him, so she lowered her head, pulled up her collar, and quickly left.

Only after she had gone did Maria recover from her rigid state. She drew several deep breaths and continued forward.

-Yet the instant she stepped out of the alley, she saw Edward Vaughan, who had seemingly passed by without a care, standing beside it in a blind spot at the entrance, watching her with a smile.

"You were afraid of me just now," Edward said with interest. "Fear, surprise, delight. You know me, and you even showed a trace of joy. Are you from the Pilgrimage Church? Sequence 6, in charge of the East Borough?"

"Lead... No, Your Highness, Abyss Angel. His Highness Richard showed me your portrait." Between her instinctive fear of a High Sequence being and the years of terrifying descriptions of this leader within the church, Maria had to muster every ounce of strength to get those words out. She thought she was shouting, but her voice was actually as faint as a mosquito's whine, inaudible even a meter away. "Yes, I, am, the Pilgrimage Church's Backlund, representative... East Borough... I..."

"No need to tell me your name. I'll forget you soon enough."

Edward asked, "You felt delighted. Have you run into difficulties?"

Maria hesitated, then decided to tell the truth. "Yes. I'm pursuing Lanevus in a personal capacity, while also investigating human trafficking. The former has already killed five people, but I still have no leads. I'm almost certain Capim is responsible for the latter, but there's no evidence."

"I'm looking for Lanevus too." Edward took a sheet of paper from his coat pocket. It was the East Borough section cut from a map of Backlund, densely covered in hundreds of little red dots. More than a dozen had already been crossed out. "I should be able to finish checking them all today."

Maria looked at the crossed-out marks, imagined the true meaning behind "checking," and did not dare speak.

Without waiting for Maria to say anything else, he looked around, then pointed in a certain direction. "Does Capim live over there?"

"Yes."

"Resentment and sin gather there. The bloody hue is more pronounced than elsewhere." Edward glanced into the distance. "But something else is sharing part of his burden. He has backing. It's only natural you have no evidence... Since he's such a heinous sinner, he qualifies as an offering to me. If you can sacrifice him to me, I'll reward you."

"?! Please-"

Maria startled, but while she was trying to find her words, the Abyss Angel had already turned and left, disappearing into the crowd. The representative who had abruptly been assigned a task covered her face with one hand, taking several seconds to finally regain her composure. There are already so many problems. One more is tolerable... Maria sighed deeply, rallied her spirits, and headed for the Dockworkers' Association as planned.

93

Three in the afternoon.

Klein left Mrs. Sammer's luncheon and headed to the East Borough again. Combining the intelligence Miss Justice had passed on with Tyler's information, he now had a relatively clear objective: disguise himself as a reporter and enter the Dockworkers' Association on legitimate business to investigate Lanevus's situation.

He had brought none of his Mystical Items or equipment, merely dressing as an ordinary investigative reporter. He knew neither Lanevus's current condition nor the identities of his savage, cruel accomplices. Caution came first, so Klein had brought nothing that might arouse suspicion.

Approaching the two-story building, Klein lowered his hat brim. He sensed no suspicious gazes-unless he counted the large black dog dozing in the sun outside the association's entrance, its eyes half closed.

As he prepared to push open the door, the large black dog raised its head to look at him. Its humanlike gaze and the faint bloodstains on the fur around its mouth sent a chill through Klein. Remembering Miss Justice's golden retriever, which he suspected was a Spectator, Klein couldn't help wondering, Could this be a Beyonder dog too?

He paid the dog no further attention and pushed the door open. The association's interior was extremely basic: just a somewhat spacious concrete building, with no decorations or reception staff and only a handful of chairs. The stairs stood in the center, and the doors of the many offices on either side were shut. A man in worn, thin clothing stood by the door. Klein approached him.

"I'm a reporter from the Backlund Daily. I'd like to interview your association's staff to learn about your demands and aspirations."

At the word "reporter," the man's eyes immediately turned wary, and he answered hurriedly, "No! We haven't been organizing anything lately..."

"You don't need to answer him." A woman's voice interrupted the man's slightly panicked words. A woman with distinctive black hair and scars descended the stairs, her gaze sharp as she spoke. "I'm sorry, but we aren't accepting interviews from any reporters at present. Please leave, sir."

"-I believe you've misunderstood, ma'am."

Klein's mind raced. From the man's obvious relief and the woman's response, she clearly held a leadership position in the association-probably the Miss Maria Tyler had mentioned. Drawing on his Clown Beyonder ability, Klein did everything he could to make his gaze appear more sincere. "I'm sympathetic to your cause. I intend to write a feature describing what the association does to help workers and the practical difficulties it faces. Please believe me."

Maria narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly weighing the truth of his words. A sheen of cold sweat silently formed on Klein's back. After a long while, she finally spoke. "We face far too many difficulties. Since you've come for an interview, you should already have some understanding of the actual situation."

"Mr. Reporter, which issue do you wish to interview us about?"

Klein momentarily froze. He desperately searched his memory for the news, large and small, that he had recently read in the papers, cobbling together a plausible answer within two seconds. "The New Poor Law."

The moment the words left his mouth, he wanted to slap himself hard. The Poor Law had been enacted months ago. Why would anyone wait until now to investigate its social impact? Seeing the puzzled look on the man beside him, Klein regretted it even more. But he had already spoken, so he could only pretend nothing was wrong and keep looking at her with determined sincerity.

Miss Maria seemed startled by the answer too. She fell silent, opened her mouth, then closed it again. After two seconds of thought, she said, "I see. Very well. This isn't a convenient place for an interview. Come to my office."

I-it actually worked? Klein was inwardly dumbfounded, but his outward response was prompt. He thanked her repeatedly and followed her upstairs. At the turn in the staircase, Klein suddenly felt his spirituality stir and, as if compelled by some unseen force, glanced through the small window-

He saw a figure who was unfamiliar yet extraordinarily familiar.

Although the man's skin had become bronze, his ordinary round face had turned angular, and his round spectacles had been replaced with elongated gold-rimmed ones, Klein still felt a sense of familiarity through his Seer's spiritual intuition.

The figure lingered outside the association for a few seconds, briefly interacting with the large black dog at the entrance before leaving. Having witnessed it all, Klein began to tremble, barely able to hold his pen and notebook.

TBC

The ritual for advancing from Sequence 2 to Sequence 1: massacres that make people pale at their very mention (foreshadowed earlier). At least three, with nine giving the best results, along with the blood sacrifice of an Angel.

Edward's progress: 5/9, 1/1.

Even after more than a century, all five massacres he had committed could still be traced precisely to Edward Vaughan (in history books). Horror stories modeled on him still circulated in border regions across various countries (a Devil would come take children away if they refused to sleep at night (?), or places haunted everywhere because too many people had died there). The rituals Edward had already completed were extremely effective. He could absolutely advance now, but his chance of success was only around sixty percent. If he advanced, however, the Mother Tree, Farbauti, and other orthodox gods would inevitably intervene to stop him. There was no guarantee how much effort the True Creator would put into helping him. A success rate of around sixty percent could not withstand any risks, and he might very well fail.

That was why he was in no hurry to advance, continuing instead to seek opportunities to perfect his ritual.

And most importantly: ↑ everything above was an act for other people. In truth, Decay could melt a Sequence One in his mouth.