It was an ordinary origami crane, which burst into flames as soon as it flew away, leaving behind a few ashes.
Looking at Amon in mid-air, he suddenly turned his head to look at the paper crane carrying fiery flowers, and raised his palm again.
The eyes behind those monocles had long since gleamed with a chilling light.
Suddenly, the flames on the surface of the origami crane disappeared, Klein's ability to Marionette Swap disappeared, his ability to " Flame Manipulation " disappeared, his ability to " Flame Jump " disappeared, and his ability to " Air Cannon " disappeared!
In that instant, he had six extraordinary abilities Stealing, including four of the most important ones!
If Amon were to commit a few more Stealing, Klein might just become an ordinary person.
This is "stealing" at the Angel level!
In the dim firelight, the origami crane slowly drifted away.
Inside a black baby carriage at Doctor. Allen's house in Backlund.
Will Auceptin Ceres wiped his mouth and eyes, muttering:
Life is so hard...
Before he finished speaking, he produced from somewhere an object resembling the head of a cane, inlaid with transparent gemstones.
A pure, clear light then shone forth, illuminating the calendar in the room with crystal clarity.
Today is Tuesday. (Note 1)
160 Böklund Street, in Dawn Dantès's garden.
The origami crane, already burned beyond recognition and mostly charred, suddenly froze in mid-air. One after another, complex silvery symbols jumped out from it, instantly forming a huge, illusory, scaleless serpent.
The surface of this silvery-white Serpent is covered with dense patterns and symbols that form interconnected concentric rings, each ring surrounded by different markings.
With a sweep of its cold, crimson eyes, the Serpent leaped into the air, hovering above Böklund Street, where it coiled its body and bit its own tail.
Its shadow enveloped the entire block, like a mysterious and exaggerated spinning wheel.
Suddenly, in the living room of 39 Böklund Street, Congressman Macht, Madam Liana, and several male and female servants stopped smiling, simultaneously raised their hands, removed the monocles they wore, and let them transform into beams of light in their palms.
Immediately afterwards, they either put their decorative glasses back on, pinched their eye sockets, or leisurely looked out the window, returning to their previous state.
Hibbert collapsed to the ground, shaking her head in despair as she watched the scene unfold, supporting herself with her hands as she stumbled backward.
The man wearing the " Winner " Enuni Amon, Amon's eyes had lost their coldness, and his crystal monocle was slightly tilted, no longer giving off that feeling of looking down on Klein.
Furthermore, something was being slowly extracted from his body, forming a clear, thick, yet transparent and mysterious " Worm of Time " above his head.
And this " Worm of Time," in its " Concealment " state, swiftly materialized into a figure with black hair, black eyes, a broad forehead, and a thin face.
This isn't Böklund Street time rewinding, because Klein and Leonard were unaffected; it's Amon's own condition returning to what it was a few minutes ago!
" The Snake of Fate ", " Restart!"
Although Will Auceptin's Fate of the ups and downs of fate was slightly off, arriving a little later than expected, His influence, though seemingly from afar, was remarkably timely.
In exchange for the " Snake of Fate's " help, Klein not only fed it five scoops of ice cream of different flavors, but also promised to compensate it with extra rewards. Their initial agreement was that Klein would find a way to create at least two items that could temporarily restore Will Auceptin's strength during his weak period!
When Amon suffered this unexpected blow, Klein did not hesitate for a moment. He drew his " Death Knell " revolver, pulled back the hammer, flicked the wheel, and aimed at the enemy.
Bang!
He calmly and decisively pulled the trigger of the " Death Knell " revolver, firing the " Spirit Control Bullet " that he had prepared beforehand.
A streak of silver-black light flashed out and accurately struck the phantom of Amon, who was wearing a pointed soft hat and a classic black robe. It also struck the " Worm of Time," which was thicker and clearer than any " Worm of Time " that Klein had ever seen before!
A faint light dissipated, and the illusory image of Amon in mid-air trembled, freezing in place, unable to make any expression.
At this moment, Leonard, who had already arrived directly above, followed the Old Man's instructions, stepped on the " Words of the Sea " staff, Levitation in mid-air, and slightly stretched his arms to relax his spirit.
His green eyes immediately reflected a slightly dim " Worm of Time " with twelve semi-transparent segments.
These two " Worm of Time " followed one after the other, forming identical circular rings vertically.
The ring slowly rotated, casting a huge, ancient, and mottled phantom image behind Leonard.
The phantom was like the face of a stone-carved clock, divided into twelve sections, each section either grayish-white or bluish-black, interspersed with each other, clearly defined, and possessing different symbols. Klein only glanced at it and felt as if his life was rapidly slipping away.
when!
It was as if the tolling of a bell, seemingly carried across history, echoed far and wide in the "empty" Concealment world.
Everything that Klein saw slowed down, including the phantom of Amon above the head of " Winner " Enuni.
An indescribable, invisible torrent surged forth, carrying the phantom of Amon towards the enormous, illusory stone bell.
In reality, it was the " Worm of Time," and Amon's clone, wearing a monocle, suddenly reached down and aimed his palm at Gehrman Sparrow.
Suddenly, Klein saw the skin on the back of his hand dry out rapidly, wrinkle little by little, and develop faint age spots.
The speed at which Amon's phantom was absorbed slowed down, but it was still unable to interrupt the process. In the end, it shrank back into the shape of a small insect, flew behind Leonard, and entered the illusory ancient stone clock.
when!
Another chime rang out, and a new, mottled hand appeared on the gray and dark blue-green clock face.
The hands jumped down several notches, making the chimes echo even more urgently.
Inside 39 and 160 Böklund Street, multiple dazzling beams of light shot out, drawn and attracted, and merged into the illusory, ancient stone clock.
The Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence!
It utilizes the extraordinary properties of the connection between the clones and the stronger gravity of the clones themselves, forming a convergence law!
when!
Several streaks of light flew over from different parts of Backlund City.
Once everything calmed down, Klein naturally pictured his current appearance in his mind:
His hair was mostly white with little black, and he had obvious wrinkles on his forehead, around his eyes and mouth. His cheeks were slightly sagging and had some age spots. He looked like an old gentleman who could pass away at any time.
Just then, the bells rang out once again.
On that ancient, illusory stone clock, the mottled gray hands began to turn in reverse!
One square, two squares, three squares— Klein saw his skin quickly regain its luster, and the blemishes gradually faded and disappeared.
In just a few seconds, he returned to his original appearance, as if his life had never been lost.
The power of Angel is truly almost divine... I was merely affected, and I nearly Aging and died... I wonder if I can be resurrected... Klein assessed his condition, quickly raised his head, and said to Leonard Mitchell in mid-air:
How can we save those who have been Parasitism by Amon?
At that moment, the illusory ancient clock behind Leonard quickly faded, turning into beams of light that entered his body.
Leonard tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something, and after a while said:
" The Beyonder Characteristic of the ' Worm of Time ' within them have all been extracted. Some of the remaining parts have been extracted, while others remain, but they won't cause too much of an impact. Well, the Old Man wasn't saying it was too much; perhaps it's only not too much compared to Angel. In any case, you can have them pray to their respective gods to see if a complete Purification can be achieved. However, they can't explain what happened, and the gods might not respond. If you're worried about any aftereffects, you can consider guiding them to... well, that person, to pray that everything extracted will be yours."
Perhaps it was because he had personally "experienced" the battle at the Angel level and seen the phantom of the " Snake of Fate " that Leonard's excitement and trembling were difficult to calm down.
The people in this neighborhood are mostly believers of the goddess, how could I let them pray to the " The Fool "? I don't want to be dragged back into that Foggy Town... Hmm, the goddess knows this very well. If they pray to the goddess, they'll most likely get some response, and then, I can ask Princess Arianna to return the " Worm of Time " they spat out... Uh, I can share some with Her... As Klein's thoughts raced, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He casually asked another question:
"After a thorough Purification process, will there be any side effects?"
Although he had experience with Little " The Sun ", this boy from City of Silver was no ordinary person.
Leonard listened for a while longer before speaking:
"Even if a normal person is cured, there will still be some residual effects in certain aspects, because it is a deep-seated ' Parasitism,' and for example, they may still prefer monocles."
"Alright, you can go back now. I'll handle the rest." Klein nodded, extremely relieved that none of the parties involved in this battle were particularly destructive; otherwise, not only Böklund Street, but even the North Borough might not have been intact.
In Pritz Harbor, a young man with dark hair and eyes, a thin face, and wearing a monocle rode a bicycle leisurely and wobbly back to his doorstep.
With a clear smile, he opened the mailbox and took out the newspapers and letters inside.
After entering the house, the young man adjusted his monocle over his right eye, opening and closing envelopes as he walked, reading the contents until he found an unsigned letter:
"If we've all lost contact with Backlund, it means that Pallez Zoroast is likely hiding near Böklund Street in the North Borough."
Don't ask us why we take risks; life always needs some excitement, fun, and anticipation.
Note 1: To make the plot flow smoothly, a Tarot Club reading was included, and Will's prediction was somewhat off because Amon was able to exploit loopholes in Fate.
PS1: This seems to be a five-star work. Thank you everyone, thank you all.
PS2: Two chapters have been delivered today. Please vote with monthly tickets and recommendations on Monday!