Having already arranged emergency contact with Hugh and Fors, Audrey quickly relayed Mr. The Fool's tip to the two ladies through her golden retriever, Susie, as if it were information she had obtained from another source.
In a corner of an old church, Hugh pondered how to confirm Lanarvus's identity, how to create chaos, and how to seize the opportunity to avenge Williams, while unfolding the crumpled paper.
... No need for confirmation, that was Lanarvus? Hugh's eyes widened suddenly, and he quickly scanned the following content, where it was clearly written on the paper:
"We can only report this to the Church of the Evernight Goddess."
"Remind them that Lanarvus possesses the divinity of a ' True Creator '."
"Divinity? The divinity of the ' True Creator '?" Hugh blurted out, looking in astonishment at the golden retriever in front of him who was responsible for delivering the message, only to find that the other dog was also completely bewildered.
"What?" Fors listened for a while, then suddenly felt something was wrong, and quickly grabbed the paper and started reading.
After a moment, she murmured, unsure whether to laugh or be angry, "..."
"This... this must be a joke, right?"
"How did we get involved in matters concerning evil gods and divinity?"
This is just the arrest of a cunning con artist worth £200!
To Fors's question, Susie could only give him an innocent look, implying that she was just a dog and didn't know what was going on.
Fors didn't expect a dog to answer her questions. She turned to Hugh and said:
"Miss Audrey is probably not as naive and innocent as we imagine; she has quite a few secrets."
"This may be a game between the nobility and the church, and between the church and cults."
"However, it's quite obvious that she didn't know about divinity before, and she was used by someone. Hmm... the person who used her might be her father, Earl Hall."
"Fortunately, that's the end of it. You don't need to take any more risks. After you inform someone, you can collect the bounty with peace of mind."
Xiu paused for a moment and said:
"Yes..."
"Hopefully, I hope the Nighthawks can help Williams get revenge. They're so powerful, they definitely can, they definitely can..."
Before she finished speaking, she suddenly turned her head to look to the side, as if talking to herself:
"I'm still too weak."
"Too weak..."
Hugh suddenly raised his hand and covered his mouth and nose.
I'm still too weak... Otherwise, I would have chosen to take revenge myself, but now I can only settle for second best... Not to mention the " Giant " around Lanarvus and those hidden helpers, just the fact that he has obtained "divinity" is something I probably wouldn't be able to handle... As long as I receive the intelligence, given the Nighthawks ' reaction speed, they should make their move tonight. Backlund Parish is second only to the Church Headquarters, with many Sealed Artifact and many powerful individuals, so there's no need to wait for additional help... After giving his instructions, Klein returned to the real world, put on some beard, changed his hairstyle, and stared blankly at himself in the mirror for several minutes.
He felt a mix of anticipation, excitement, melancholy, and helplessness.
Before evening fell, he left the Cragg Club and returned to Minsk Street, stopping at a grocery market along the way. He randomly picked a very busy stall and bought several masks, including one of Clown.
He decided to go and observe the operation to capture Lanarvus tonight!
He wanted to see with his own eyes the other party pay the price for their previous madness!
Of course, given his strength, he could only gaze at it from a very, very far distance, without even the right to approach it.
By 11 o'clock, when many people had already Dream Divination, Klein changed into a gray-blue worker's uniform, disguising himself as he had the night before. Then he put on a baseball cap, walked around a few blocks, took a horse-drawn carriage, and headed to the Backlund Bridge Area.
Once there, he switched to walking and made his way to the East Balam Dock.
His interview questions yesterday included "Where are you currently living?" and "What is the surrounding environment like?", so he was well aware that Lanarvus would be staying in the dormitory provided by the Dockworkers' Association at night.
However, Klein did not approach that place, but carefully avoided it, his target being the clock tower of the East Balam Dock.
In Backlund, besides large churches that come with towering, iconic bell towers, many government buildings also have one as an extra feature. These don't necessarily have to be too tall, grand, or ornate; their primary function is practicality, like the one at the East Balam Dock.
Compared to the surrounding buildings, which are only three stories high, it stands like Giant, towering into the night and overlooking the area.
Klein easily vaulted into the clock tower and sped up the seemingly endless spiral staircase in the darkness.
Finally, he arrived at his destination, above the enormous wall clock, surrounded by a deep yellow fence, with a pointed roof that he could reach out and touch.
Klein took a few steps forward, hid in the shadows, and, after assessing the location, looked towards the Dockworkers' Union ' dormitory.
It was a two-story brick-red building, which, in Klein's eyes, was almost a black dot to the occasional passerby.
He stared for a few seconds, then took a step back, blending even further into the darkness.
At the same time, he took out the newly bought mask and put it on.
This is a Clown with upturned corners of his mouth and red paint on his nose.
A happy Clown.
Klein stood there in the deep darkness, wearing the Clown mask, patiently waiting for the show to begin.
They waited for two hours.
As the hands of the large wall clock below passed 1 o'clock, he suddenly saw something flying towards him from a distance.
It was a huge airship with a deep black paint job!
If it weren't for the faint moonlight, it would be indistinguishable from the night. Unlike the exaggerated mechanical roars described in newspapers and magazines, its propellers spun quietly, as still as a vulture that had spotted its prey but hadn't yet found its opportunity.
A sturdy yet lightweight alloy supports the cotton frame, with a box below suspending the muzzle of an organic gun, a throwing port, and a cannon—it exudes an air of intimidation.
There was no sound... Was this some kind of temporary fix using extraordinary means? Wearing the Clown mask, Klein watched the slowly descending airship and had a certain guess in his mind.
At this moment, his biggest question was that an airship had been dispatched for a small-scale, extraordinary battle in a densely populated urban area!
Aren't you worried about causing widespread injury to nearby residents? Aren't you afraid of causing panic?
Soon, the airship hovered about 10 meters in the air, which meant Klein no longer needed to worry about being discovered, as his position was much higher!
Observing the situation below, he suddenly had a guess: the airships would most likely not be used in combat, but rather to monitor the scene from the air, providing the personnel with a better view and preventing accidents or the target's possible escape.
At that moment, three figures dressed in black trench coats quietly appeared in front of the two-story brick-red building.
The leader wasn't wearing a hat; he had short, golden-brown hair and dark green eyes as deep as a still, windless lake.
His shirt and trench coat collars were turned up high, and his hands were covered with gloves as red as blood!
A silver-white metal briefcase was wrapped around his left hand by a chain of the same color.
This was none other than Crestet Cesimir, one of the nine high-ranking deacons of the Nighthawks of the Church of the Evernight Goddess. He was also one of the three leaders of the " Red Gloves " team, and he happened to be in Backlund at this time.
Cesimir glanced ahead, then turned to his left and said:
"Use the Sealed Artifact '1-63'."
"Yes, Your Excellency Cesimir." The Nighthawks knelt down and helped Cesimir untie the chain binding the silver briefcase.
Throughout the entire process, Crestet Cesimir's muscles were extremely tense, as if he were fighting against something.
The Nighthawks on the left took a silent breath, then pressed down sharply, causing illusory ripples to appear on the surface of the silver-white box.
The surrounding light vanished abruptly, as if it had all been sucked into the box. A bone sword, less than a meter long, emitted a lustrous, Pure White light and slowly Levitation.
Its blade rests on an antique, silver-plated mirror.
The images reflected in the mirror layer upon layer, endlessly overlapping.
The Nighthawks on the left picked up the mirror and pointed it at the brick-red building.
The small building is clearly reflected inside, and everything seems unchanged.
Cesimir slowly exhaled, extended her left hand, and grasped the bone sword, which was less than a meter long.
The surrounding light subsequently returned somewhat.
"Let's go in." He started walking, approaching the entrance of the brick-red building.
The three Nighthawks opened the door and entered the gloomy, dimly lit house, their sights set on the stairs leading to the second floor.
Just then, a tall but thin figure emerged from the shadows in the corner. He was dressed in a black priest's robe, with light yellow, slightly curly hair and beast-like dark brown eyes.
"Are you the Sword of the Goddess?" the nearly two-meter-tall " Giant " asked in a deep voice.
At the same time, his right palm clenched tightly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The union members inside the brick-red building exploded one by one in their sleep, before they even had a chance to scream.
Their bodies were torn apart, turning into thick, sticky flesh and blood. Half of it surged toward the " Giant " to weave a cloak that could resist magic and reduce damage, while the other half coalesced into a giant carpet of long hair, covering the three Nighthawks.
Crestet Cesimir simply watched quietly, doing nothing.
Silently, the flesh and blood dissipated and collapsed, falling like raindrops, but without staining the floor red.
Inside each room, figures reappeared, still fast asleep.
"This is a world within a mirror, Mirror World only for the Beyonder. The Flesh Bomb you pre-set in the bodies of ordinary people are all illusions here." Cesimir handed the sacred bone sword to his right hand and raised it, and the surrounding light completely disappeared.
"Hmph! The Giant suddenly grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand, ripped the entire arm off, and threw it forward, bone and blood still attached!"
Boom!
His arm exploded like a bomb, turning into a rain of blood that drenched the three Nighthawks.
At the same time, at the site of his severed left shoulder, the flesh began to writhe wildly, slowly growing a new arm, a bloody arm without skin for the time being.
Clap clap clap!
Sizzle!
The blood-red raindrops precisely avoided Cesimir and the others, landing on the floor and quickly Corrosion deep, black marks.
But no matter how hard they tried, they were always just a hair's breadth away from the three Nighthawks, as if it were destined.
"My enemies are often unlucky." Cesimir's lips curled slightly, and with a swift movement, she instantly Blink in front of the " Giant."
The Giant's gaze sharpened, and his body suddenly melted like a candle, turning into viscous flesh and blood that quickly seeped into the floor.
Cesimir knelt down on one knee and plunged the sacred bone sword in her hand into the ground.
"No!"
In the deep darkness, a roar filled with pain and fear suddenly erupted, only to be completely swallowed up by peace and silence.
Cesimir straightened up, drew her bone sword, and saw a drop of dark red blood slowly dripping from its tip. On the floor, flesh seeped out and solidified into a face of despair—the " Giant " with its slightly downturned lips.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
Three shadows appeared around Cesimir in succession, but they all inexplicably fell down, forcibly pulled down by many invisible things!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Another Nighthawks fired, the silver bullet seemingly engraved with the emblem of the Evernight.
The three attackers who had been hiding in the shadows to carry out the assassination revealed themselves, convulsing and losing their breath.
"' The Rose Bishop,' ' The Hermit '... the Aurora Order." Cesimir frowned, speaking in a low voice without turning to her companions, "Something's not right about this. It's strange. You need to be careful."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the peace and silence.
Immediately, he saw Lanarvus, wearing a linen shirt and with a sharply defined face, walk down the dimly lit stairs, his expression indifferent and calm, without the slightest fear.
"I'm puzzled. To the Aurora Order, you should be a blasphemer. Why would they send people to protect you?" Cesimir asked casually, seemingly oblivious to anything amiss.
Lanarvus flashed his signature mocking smile and said:
"That's very simple."
"Because I am no longer the pure Lanarvus."
He paused, his gaze suddenly turning cold:
"Now I am even more so, the ' True Creator '!"
He abruptly ripped open his linen shirt, revealing the deep red flesh and blood of his bare chest and abdomen.
These pieces of flesh and blood, joined together, formed an upside-down human figure!
In an instant, the surrounding void shattered like glass, and the entire scene collapsed.
This is the aura of the gods.
P. S.: I will update earlier, around midnight.