On the outskirts of Tingen, a house surrounded by a lush green lawn.
It has gardens that begin to wither in early September and dark red chimneys.
Behind the bedroom window in this house was a desk with an ordinary notebook spread out on it.
A slightly pale hand turned the notebook to the Original page, then quickly flipped through it again.
Amidst the rustling of paper, lines of text faintly appeared:
" The Secret Order member Ray Megus, under the combined influence of exhaustion and hallucinations, mistakenly sold the Antigonus Family Notebook as an ordinary ancient book—a logical coincidence."
"Drawn by the bloodline of the Antigonus Family, the notebook subtly influenced its various owners, eventually ending up in Tingen, where it fell into the hands of Sirius Arapis and Hynas Vincent, members of the Aurora Order."
After reviewing the contents of the notes and copying down the corresponding Potion recipes, Sirius and Hynas were worried that the cryptic Divination Secret Order track them down. After discussing it, they decided not to take the risk and resell the notes to someone else.
"They did not wait for Mr. Z's reply, perhaps because he resides in Enmat Port."
"Through Sirius's introduction, Hynas met Welch McGovern, a history student at Hoy University, and sold him the Antigonus Family Notebook as an ordinary ancient book."
"Afterwards, Sirius became fascinated by the potential treasure on the Main Peak of Hornacis and began frequenting the Deville Library, looking through relevant materials. He left his real address and name without thinking there was anything wrong with it, which is very much in line with his character."
"It was during this process that he met Lanarvus, who was trying to carry out a fraud scheme by reviewing iron ore data."
Sirius greatly admired Lanarvus's hidden madness and cunning, and decided to recruit him as a member of the Aurora Order. Of course, prior investigation was inevitable.
Sirius secretly revealed to Lanarvus the evil ritual of invoking the ' True Creator ' to send offspring, but he knew the latter's chances of success were slim, as the ritual was extremely difficult and required very strict conditions. Lanluus, however, expressed strong interest and was extremely tempted by the potential divine rewards, planning to complete the ritual while simultaneously establishing the steel company.
The cunning Lanarvus saw through Sirius Arapis's scheme, but for his own purposes, he did not expose him.
He visited Hood Eugen again in the mental hospital; they had known each other for a long time and knew some things about each other.
"After a Black Divination, the power of the Antigonus Family Notebook was fully awakened. Welch and his classmates died, and the survivor, Klein Moretti, driven by the notebook, delivered it to Riel Bieber's house—a predetermined ending."
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"What's puzzling is that, without sufficient reason, Klein did not commit suicide and successfully survived."
"Through Welch's case, he met Dunn Smith and joined the Nighthawks team."
"While this goes beyond Ince Zangwill's description, it doesn't seem to affect the development of the story."
" Bacus and his brothers' luck turned sour; they lost their last chip at the gambling table and were heavily in debt. They decided to get some money and decided to kidnap and extort a wealthy businessman."
"When they chose their final hiding place, they coincidentally chose the room opposite Riel Bieber's house."
At this point, Riel Bieber was already drawn to the power of the Antigonus Family Notebook and hoped to digest the gifts of his ancestors.
"However, blinded by rage and in a semi-mad state, he failed to make the best and safest choice. He abandoned his deceased mother but remained in Tingen City, only to find a more secluded place to perform the digestion ritual. It's truly pathetic. If he had been even slightly more astute, the story would have become much more complex. But his choice was also consistent with his state of mind at the time and the underlying logic."
" Bacus and his men purchased weapons and targeted Elliott, the youngest son of tobacco merchant Vickroy."
"Ultimately, they successfully carried out the kidnapping, bringing Elliott back to the Riel Bieber's. Vickroy's old butler, Cully, accepted his master's request and began seeking help from a security company."
"Due to the impact of Welch's death, security companies and the private Detective industry are facing manpower shortages. Cully happens to meet a deliveryman and coincidentally learns of the existence of Blackthorn Security Company."
" Leonard Mitchell and Klein accepted the commission and, relying on their Beyonder abilities, quickly rescued Elliott. Unfortunately, Klein failed to immediately discover the clues to the Antigonus Family Notebook hidden on the other side."
"However, his intuition reminded him in his dream that the Tingen City Night Watchers team had obtained relevant clues."
" The Sealed Artifact '2-049' arrived in Tingen. Using this Antigonus Family Puppet, Dunn Smith led the Nighthawks to find Riel Bieber and interrupted his digestion process."
" Riel Bieber turned into Monster, and the situation spiraled out of control."
"Finally, the skilled Nighthawks dealt with the Monster Bieber, but they immediately faced an attack from members of the Secret Order."
(Many lines have been scribbled over, making it difficult to see the original content):
"Just as Leonard, harboring a secret, was about to close the matter without any suspicion, Klein, who should have been dead, once again inexplicably killed Sequence 7 member of the Secret Order."
"This didn't affect the story's progression. Dunn Smith accessed the Antigonus Family's notes, read through their contents, and was subtly corrupted a little!"
"Having completed all preparations, Lanarvus seduced Hood Eugen, persuading him to perform a ritual, using his deceived fiancée Megose as a vessel to conceive the offspring of the ' True Creator.'"
" Lanarvus has almost no chance of success. The most serious problem is that even with the protection of ritual power, Megose cannot withstand intercourse with the illusory projection of the god; it will kill her on the altar."
"At this time, the kind-hearted Ince Zangwill secretly helped Lanarvus by sharing half of the Death Descendant traits he had collected and implanting them into Megose's body some time ahead of schedule."
" Hood Eugen put Megose into a semi-comatose state, making her mistake the illusory projection of the ' True Creator ' for Lanarvus. Nourished by the resentment accumulated day and night in the Factory Borough, and catalyzed by the tangible darkness and oppression, the ritual succeeded. Megose became pregnant with the ' True Creator's' child. This deity saw the coincidence, but, hoping to break through the Seven Gods ' seal, He did not refuse."
" Hood Eugen has been infected."
"After the ritual succeeded, the mad Lanarvus regained his senses. He knew perfectly well that if the children of the gods were truly born into the real world, he would become one of the sacrifices. How could a mortal possibly become the father of the children of the gods? This was a grave blasphemy!"
" Lanarvus decided to leave Tingen ahead of schedule and tell the Nighthawks, the Mandated Punishers, and the Machinery Hivemind about the 'bomb,' so they could deal with the consequences. Madness always comes at a price."
"However, Lanarvus did not write directly to those Beyonder squads, as he thought that would make him look like a fool."
He decided to leave the letter in one of his rented rooms, pretending to play a game with the official Beyonder, and in doing so, he didn't warn Hood Eugen about the infection issue, while taking all the spoils with him.
"To be on the safe side, he also informed Sirius Arapis of the situation in a discreet manner, who was somewhat skeptical but also sensed a possibility of success."
" Selena Wood accidentally and coincidentally saw the true incantation for ' Magic Mirror Divination ' from her occult teacher, Hynas Vincent."
"Her daring attempt happened to run into Klein Moretti, who successfully solved this supernatural case that could have caused serious casualties."
" The Nighthawks team used this to track down Hynas Vincent, but since he Aurora Order Dunn Smith coincidentally saw a clear image of the ' True Creator ' in his dream, and was greatly harmed."
"However, he didn't get infected because of this, which would have been noticed by the higher-ups on Nighthawks watch."
"This injury has exacerbated the infection Dunn Smith has contracted from the Concealment of the Antigonus Family Notebook, intensifying his delirium and omissions. He will gradually fulfill Ince Zangwill's demands."
(Many more lines were crossed out)
"It's unbelievable! Klein Moretti sensed Ince Zangwill's hidden influence and saw that dark red chimney."
"This is because of the reminder from Azik, a history professor at Hoy University, that he harbors many secrets."
"Even so, it's still quite surprising and inexplicable that Klein was able to find specific clues."
Whatever the reason, Ince Zangwill did not stop his actions; the story continues.
" Klein encountered Sirius in the library and killed him without hesitation, thus cutting off half the trail in the Lanarvus case and delaying the discovery of the problem."
" Klein encountered Megose, but his Spirituality prevented him from observing, and he didn't notice the subtle anomaly afterwards. This makes perfect sense; our story isn't made up."
"He gathered information on the red chimneys, but he always chose routes that didn't include his target. Perhaps two or three months later, on the last batch, he wouldn't be able to find the real 'red chimney houses'."
(Line after line of text was crossed out, more than all the previous lines combined.)
" Dunn Smith's problem has eased! His condition is clearly improving! He's even mastered the ' Acting Method '!"
"And this is what Klein Moretti taught him; he found Spirit Intuition in the examples of Daly Simone and Old Neil. No, Ince Zangwill doesn't believe it, but he can only slightly alter the original plan."
"The story has taken a new turn."
In order to retrieve his past memories, Azik decides to travel to Backlund.
"It didn't take long for Klein and Dunn to get a clue from Hood Eugen."
"To completely pit the Conservative Party and New Party in Tingen City against each other, and to vent the madness that had been building up since her physical transformation, Madam Shermane decided to risk killing Councilor John Maynard."
"Her reasons weren't strong enough, her motives weren't strong enough, but she still went ahead with it. Everyone has moments when they're not clear-headed, and she was in that phase right now, and she was confident she wouldn't be discovered."
"Congressman Maynard's wife contacted Blackthorn Security Company through tobacco merchant Vickroy, and they did not disappoint, quickly discovering Madam Shermane's unusual behavior."
"With strength approaching Sequence 6, Dunn decided to take the initiative and entrusted the Sealed Artifact '3-0271' to Kenley."
"The two of them, along with Klein, returned to Madam Shermane's place, where Dunn attempted to control the target by remotely dragging them into Dream Divination."
"That's not a problem, but unfortunately, Madam Shermane happened to have placed the statue of the ' Primordial Demoness ' next to it."
"Thus, the Nighthawks's plan failed, and in his nervousness, Kenley looked in the light and saw himself."
" Madam Shermane was dealt with, and Kenley was also dead. Dunn felt extremely guilty and, as was his custom, ingested the Beyonder Characteristic left behind by the other party. His digestion process was thus interrupted and stalled, and his mental state became quite unstable."
"Under these circumstances, Leonard and Klein discovered the letter left behind by Lanarvus."
" Megose, however, was inexplicably drawn to Zouteland Street and entered the Blackthorn Security Company. Her unborn child was at a critical stage, and she was unable to resist her impulse."
" Dunn made detailed and correct arrangements, but he made one mistake. If he was determined to deal with Megose immediately, he should have lured her behind the Chanis Gate and used the advantages of the environment and resources to fight her. If he intended to wait for help, he absolutely must not have taken out Saint Selena's ashes."
"Unfortunately, due to recent events, Dunn was in a bad state and mentally confused, and in his haste, he failed to think of a crucial point: the offspring of the gods can sense the threat of the Saint's ashes. As a result, the latter was stimulated and began to desperately absorb the mother's power, attempting to be born prematurely, even if it was not truly mature."
" Azik is in Backlund, and since he's not a ' Planeswalker,' it'll be difficult for him to get back in such a short time."
(Several lines were crossed out)
" Megose transformed into Monster, the battle began, and with the help of the Saint's ashes, the ' Blood Vessel Thief,' and strangely appearing high-level talismans, Megose died, the child of the gods was expelled, Dunn Smith died as a result, and the power of Saint Selena's ashes was also severely damaged, which perfectly matched Ince Zangwill's idea."
" Ince Zangwill didn't get a chance to perform, but that didn't stop him from achieving his goal."
"He killed Klein Moretti, the guy who always messed up his plans, and took Saint Selena's ashes."
" Ince Zangwill used his remaining Death Descendant traits to perform the ritual, consuming Saint Selena's ashes, successfully advancing from Sequence 5 ' Gatekeeper ' of the ' Death ' pathway to Sequence 4 ' Nightwatcher ' of the ' Evernight ' pathway, thereby gaining divinity and becoming a powerful Demigod."
The Sun still shines on the earth, and almost no one in Tingen City realizes that they have luckily escaped a huge disaster. ' Monster ' Admisol would be very puzzled by this.
The notebook was turned to the last page. The middle-aged man, with dark gold hair, one blind eye with a deep blue-black pupil, a high nose bridge, tightly pursed lips, and sculpted features, was without a single wrinkle. He solemnly picked up an antique quill pen with his slightly pale hand and wrote words clearly without dipping it in ink.
He simply uttered one sentence:
"The story of Tingen City ends here."
The pages flipped rapidly, then the manuscript snapped shut, leaving only the brown cover facing out. (8)