Backlund, in a basement that resembles a temple.
Mr. A, dressed in a hooded black robe, knelt quietly before the upside-down Giant statue, remaining motionless for a long time.
Suddenly, he tilted his ear, as if listening to something.
After a brief pause, Mr. A suddenly raised both hands and snapped off his right index finger with his left palm.
He shoved the bloody finger into his mouth and chewed it like a snack, making a crunching sound.
Glug!
Mr. A swallowed the crushed finger after his throat moved.
His body suddenly trembled, as if he were being grabbed and shaken by an invisible person.
In this state, Mr. A stretched out his right hand and used the blood flowing from his wound to write words on the ground.
Those words were not the Jotun or Dragonese that could manipulate the forces of nature, nor the Hermes used for sacrifices, but the most ordinary and common Loen language.
The bright red color quickly coalesced, and the individual words pieced together to form several sentences:
"Turn up:
" The Fool That Doesn't Belong to This Era ";
" The Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog "
" The King of Yellow and Black who holds the key to good fortune."
" Blessed and believers, in Backlund."
As the "divine revelation" ended, Mr. A stopped trembling, and a brand new finger began to grow from the wound.
He lowered his head, carefully looking at the words he had just written, a slight smile creeping onto his lips in the shadows.
"I will obey your divine decree!" Mr. A humbly prostrated himself on the ground, seemingly having found a reason for his existence again.
The City of Silver, upper part of the Round Tower.
Lovia walked to the window, looking down at the flickering candlelight in the darkness, her expression gradually softening.
She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard a knocking sound at the door.
"Your Excellency, Chief?" Lovia turned around gracefully and asked with a smile.
The door opened automatically, even though there was no wind.
Standing outside was Colin Iliad, the " Demon Hunter," wearing a brown coat and a leather belt with hidden compartments around his waist.
" Lovia, the abnormality of the exploration team members has been confirmed," Colin stated bluntly. "As the captain, regardless of whether you have any issues or not, you must spend seven days in the dungeon to receive the ' Crown of Glory ' baptism. You should know very well that this is the rule."
Lovia showed no anger, and calmly smiled:
"I know, I'm prepared to stay in the dungeon for a long time. If you're still worried when it's over, I'm open to any arrangements."
As she spoke, she walked towards the door, passing " Demon Hunter " Colin face to face.
Colin silently turned around and followed her diagonally behind, descending the spiraling stairs step by step.
Halfway there, the two heard heart-wrenching cries and shouts.
"Has it started again?" Lovia asked, looking slightly confused.
Colin nodded and replied in a deep voice:
"Yes, this is our inescapable fate..."
At this very moment, in a large hall on the middle level of the round tower.
The exploration team members and the few City of Silver residents they had additionally contaminated were pinned to the spot by a divine light that seemed to be tangible, unable to move, as if they were carrying a giant mountain on their backs.
A couple in their forties, with dark skin, each carrying a straight sword with intricate patterns, walked up to a young man in his early twenties.
The young man's body had collapsed, resembling a pile of minced meat, but his head remained intact, except for the thin, blood-red whiskers that had grown from it.
Seeing the couple approaching, he cried out in terror:
"Dad, Mom, what are you going to do?"
"Didn't we agree to have grilled scorpions together tonight?"
"Dad, Mom, I caught a lot of iron scorpions for you..."
The couple turned their heads away in pity, but held their straight swords high in their hands.
After two soft thuds, the young man stopped crying, first convulsing, and then completely lost all signs of life.
On the other side, a girl of about ten years old also raised a straight sword with intricate patterns and, with tears streaming down her face, stabbed her sister.
The woman lying on the ground suddenly chuckled and said in a gentle tone:
"From today onwards, you'll be living on your own. Stop being naive..."
The girl's vision blurred with tears, and the straight sword in her hand froze in mid-air.
However, a strong and powerful hand pressed down on the back of her hand and pushed her forward sharply.
puff!
The girl stood there, stunned, seemingly unable to hear or see anything.
This is the ancient curse that hangs over everyone in City of Silver: only by personally killing one's own blood relative can one prevent them from becoming a terrifying and bizarre Evil Spirit after death.
Therefore, even though Dark had completely transformed into Monster and was corrupted by an unknown entity, making him unworthy of interrogation, the "Shadow" monitor did not dare to kill him on the spot. Instead, he tried his best to control him and bring him back to the Round Tower to wait for his parents, otherwise things would have become even more complicated.
The exploration team members, who were also contaminated, were undergoing the same treatment that had remained unchanged for over two thousand years. Although no one knew whether they would mutate after death in this state, no one dared to take the gamble.
Fortunately, City of Silver doesn't have a large population, and since they are all confined to one place, thanks to the arrangements made by the higher-ups over generations, there are quite a few people who are related by blood. Even if we have to limit it to within three generations, we can still find quite a few.
For this reason, when compiling the patrol squad roster, the Beyonder in charge must first consider blood ties to prevent unexpected situations from occurring.
The requirements for exploration teams are not as strict, because their missions often venture deep into the darkness, far from City of Silver, so even death or mutation will not affect everyone's safety.
Once a resident no longer has any blood relatives within three generations, he will be subject to strict surveillance. If he becomes seriously ill or shows obvious Aging, he will be immediately sent into the depths of darkness, far away from City of Silver.
When the former exploration team leader Yudel, who was previously isolated in the dungeon, underwent his transformation, there were actually three elders inside the Round Tower. However, in the end, only the "Chief" Colin Iliad could take action; otherwise, they would have had to attempt to seal him away.
Because that Yudel was his own brother.
" Shepherd " Lovia and " Demon Hunter " Colin silently entered the bottom level of the round tower, and accompanied by several Dawn Paladin, they arrived at the depths of the dungeon.
Soon, the two stopped outside a cell, while the Dawn Paladin were scattered in the distance.
Lovia showed no unusual behavior and walked slowly into the room, which contained only a bed, a table, and a lit candle.
Before the metal door closed, she turned around, looked at " Demon Hunter " Colin with her pale gray eyes, and said calmly:
"Your Excellency, you once told me that the residents of City of Silver, when they die far from here in the depths of darkness, will not immediately transform into Evil Spirit; they will have to wait several days. Therefore, the rest of the exploration team has ample time to create distance."
Colin nodded, indicating that this was indeed the case.
Lovia closed her eyes briefly, revealing a smile tinged with sadness:
"During an expedition two months ago, one of my team members died in front of me."
"I pretended to be separated from the other team members and waited there for five days, but he didn't transform into Evil Spirit."
" The Demon Hunter " Colin looked at her silently, saying nothing, until the metal door slammed shut, and the seal was formed.
Above the Gray Fog, inside the ancient palace.
Klein waited for a while, and seeing that the deep red star symbolizing the little " The Sun " showed no change, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It must have been a success... He rubbed his temples, enveloped himself in Spirituality, and returned to the real world.
The moment Klein became aware of his body, he tasted the cold.
He sneezed, quickly dispelled the Wall of Spirituality, and crawled back into bed.
Sadly, his bed was already cold.
Fortunately, my body was somewhat protected after entering the Gray Fog, otherwise I would probably catch a cold tomorrow... Klein wrapped himself tighter in the blanket and sighed.
His current state reminded him of a witty saying he had heard in his past life:
Heating is basically achieved by shivering...
Before the bed warmed up again, he could only let his thoughts wander aimlessly, considering all sorts of problems.
Hmm, I don't seem to have anything too urgent lately. I've finished summarizing the " Magician Code," and even if I stop challenging the impossible and just do normal "performances," I can still digest the Potion step by step around the New Year. My main plan now is to collect the extraordinary materials for the " Faceless " Potion and accumulate the corresponding amount of money, but this can't be rushed... Klein's tense nerves gradually relaxed, and he suddenly had the idea of taking a break for two or three days.
As the blankets warmed up, he fell asleep without realizing it. When he woke up, he heard the church bells ringing eight times.
Klein stretched out his arm, felt the cold outside, and silently pulled it back in.
It seems to have gotten colder again today... There's nothing urgent to do, so it seems like I can sleep in... He relaxed and closed his eyes again.
But after only a short while in bed, he heard his stomach rumbling and felt his lower abdomen bloating.
Life is full of difficult choices... Klein muttered.
After struggling against those two sensations for about ten minutes, he finally gave up, abruptly threw off the covers, got out of bed, and rushed to the bathroom next door.
After changing his clothes and washing up, he went downstairs, found the ingredients, and prepared to make Feynapotter pasta.
This time, he didn't plan to use the store-bought meat sauce. Instead, he wanted to try the minced meat sauce he had made just two days ago. This was a minced meat sauce that he had carefully selected ingredients to stir-fry based on his memory of the taste. Although the taste was difficult to truly replicate due to the slight differences in certain ingredients between the two worlds, Klein thought it was still pretty good after tasting it.
Before long, he was eating Feynapotter noodles with sauce and minced meat, and thought it was a wonderful morning.
Adhering to the traditions of this world, he ate while flipping through the newspaper, first confirming that the " Eye of Wisdom " gentleman had not yet placed an advertisement.
Based on his thoughts from last night, Klein decided to have some fun today, so he considered whether to go to a concert, an opera, or a play.
Tickets for many concert halls in the West Borough, Hillston Borough, and Cherwood Borough cost at least 6 Soli, and for famous musicians, they could even be in pounds. Professional concert halls for the general public cost 6 to 9 pence, while those open to the wealthy poor in the East Borough cost only 1 pence... Klein flipped through the relevant information to select his entertainment for the day.
Just then, he heard the doorbell ring.
Ding-ding-dong.