Everything around me seemed like a phantom, its colors rich, overlapping, and rushing past.
Just as Klein came to his senses and began to observe and experience this wondrous journey, he felt Mr. Azik's hand, which was gripping his arm, tremble slightly.
Before he could react, he experienced a strong feeling of weightlessness, his body began to fall uncontrollably, and he even started to spin.
The surrounding red, yellow, white, and black colors faded rapidly, and Klein fell heavily onto the solid ground, his head spinning and his insides churning.
Through his vision, streaked with golden stars, everything he saw had returned to normal. To his left was a dark, bottomless abyss, like the legendary Devil's Abyss, and to his right was a gray stone wall that stretched upwards, seemingly supporting the entire area.
There is no the Sun, no clouds, and no fog here. The faint light comes from glowing moss growing in different places. Darkness and profundity are the main colors of this "world".
Klein braced himself with his left hand and nimbly leaped up, discovering that beneath his feet was a well-maintained road paved with stone slabs, wide enough for two carriages to ride side by side, and certainly not naturally formed.
The road spirals downwards at one end, deep into a dark crevice, and at the other end leads upwards, where one can occasionally see domed corridors and halls nestled within the rock walls.
Klein looked up, but couldn't see the highest point; his view was completely obscured by the gray stone wall.
Suddenly, he realized that he and Mr. Azik had "fallen" underground and were in the ruins of an ancient civilization.
Is it another area, or still near Backlund? Klein's mind had barely formed when he heard Mr. Azik say in a deep voice:
"Leave here first, head upstairs."
Huh? Before Klein could grasp the meaning of those words, he saw a flash of light Blink his side, instantly outlining a phantom double door.
The gate seemed to be made of bronze, not quite real, yet unusually heavy, its surface covered with countless strange patterns and unintelligible symbols.
With a creak, the door cracked open, and pale, bloodied arms eagerly stretched out from inside. In addition, there were bluish-black vines with baby faces and slippery tentacles with bulging eyes.
This is very similar to the effect of Miss Sharron's magical item... In a flash of thought, Klein noticed that the arms, vines, and tentacles were no longer frantic, but had quieted down and pressed themselves against the ground, a stark contrast to their previous behavior after they frantically dragged a Sequence 6 " Living Corpse " into the door.
Immediately afterwards, the gap in the illusory door widened considerably, and a figure walked out from inside.
The figure was dressed in a pure black clergy robe, with features as distinct and deep as a classical sculpture.
He had dark gold hair, deep blue eyes, a high nose, and wore a soft hat favored by the elderly. His temples were somewhat gray, which seemed out of place with his middle-aged appearance.
Looking at the other person's completely lifeless eye, Klein immediately knew the name of the newcomer:
Ince Zangwill!
He orchestrated the Tingen incident, severely damaging the former archbishop of the Nighthawks squad and the wielder of the Sealed Artifact "0-08"!
Almost simultaneously, Klein turned around and, following Mr. Azik's instructions, ran wildly uphill.
He knew very well that if he, at Sequence 6, remained in the confrontation with Demigod, he would only be a hindrance and a distraction for Mr. Azik.
In such a race against time, false modesty and affected words are unnecessary and will only harm yourself and your companions!
Thump, thump, thump. Since there was nothing underground to ignite, Klein could only grit his teeth and run with all his might, while Azik's calm and gentle voice reached his ears:
"Keep escaping from here."
"Don't worry about me. I've remembered a lot of things and know that I was in a Sequence for a long time, a Sequence called ' The Undying '."
Klein strode around the cliff face and entered a dark corridor with a dome, the walls on both sides of which were covered with many mottled murals.
Just then, he heard a deep, authoritative voice echo from where he had been standing:
Teleportation is prohibited here!
Beside Ince Zangwill, a figure appeared out of nowhere, Levitation in mid-air defying the laws of physics, wearing a magnificent mask that looked as if it were cast in gold.
However Ince Zangwill did not launch an attack immediately. Instead, he glanced at the corner where Klein's figure had disappeared.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess, Sequence 4 " Nightwatcher," can inflict Misfortune upon others to a certain extent, but Ince Zangwill had just silently "blessed" Klein, discovered that Klein had not experienced anything like slipping, falling, or plunging into a deep valley.
Moreover, Ince Zangwill seemed to be hallucinating, seeing some thin, ethereal grayish-white mist.
Without time to think further, he turned his gaze back to Azik Eggers.
Thump, thump, squeak... Klein, who was running at high speed, suddenly braked. His Spirituality intuition told him that there were people ahead, Beyonder, and most likely the guards of this place!
After a moment's thought, he reached out his left hand and wiped his face. At the same time, a series of cracking sounds came from his body, and he grew seven or eight centimeters taller.
Once his left palm left his face, he had transformed into a middle-aged man with dark gold hair, a high-bridged nose, and One-Eyed eye —Ince Zangwill!
Recalling the other person's expression, Klein used Illusion magic to disguise his clothes, then strode forward, rounded a corner, and entered a large hall.
There were four guards there, all dressed in full black armor, their eyes sharp.
Klein walked over with a stern face, deliberately speaking in a deep, hoarse voice:
Someone has infiltrated this place, and I'm looking for him.
Have you found any clues?
The lead guard first scrutinized them, then lowered his head and said:
"Mr. Zangwill, there's no sound here."
"Hmm." Klein nodded slightly, walked past them, and left the hall.
Throughout the entire process, although he was highly nervous and sweat was beading on his back, he remained calm and composed, indistinguishable from Ince Zangwill.
Using the abilities of the " Faceless " combined with his own running speed, he quickly passed through three checkpoints and arrived at the end of the building.
There was a phantom gate there, composed entirely of Blue Light; otherwise, it was completely sealed off.
Although worried about Mr. Azik's battle with the Demigod like Ince Zangwill, Klein still hid in the shadows outside the room and patiently observed for a while, discovering that some people arrived through the Blue Light, and others left using it.
He noticed that those leaving had to present an emblem-like item before they could receive permission from the four guards to enter the Door of Light.
There was no time to wait for the next person with the "crest," so he had to take the risk... The battle over there could end at any moment... Even if it didn't, the search order for me would soon be delivered here... Klein made a quick decision and once again entered the room as Ince Zangwill.
"Something's happened outside." He wasn't sure if the former archbishop's voice was accurate, so he deliberately spoke in a hoarse voice to show that he had just been through a fierce battle.
Distracted by the news, the guards didn't react until Klein approached, and they reached out to stop him.
"Mr. Zangwill, where is your pass?"
"Don't waste time!" Klein said, taking a badge from his pocket and putting it into the other person's hand.
This composed demeanor immediately put the other guards at ease.
Just as the guard who had received the "pass" looked down to check it, Klein suddenly lunged forward!
As soon as he landed, he quickly rolled over and disappeared into the dark blue Door of Light!
Then, the guard noticed that the emblem in his palm was fading rapidly, turning into a sticky note.
The upper left corner of this note also features a commonly seen blessing:
"Happy New Year!"
The Abyss -like dark fissure was filled with an illusory, pitch-black liquid, and the surface of the water was constantly rising, with pale arms reaching out wildly.
Ince Zangwill had a general understanding of Azik's abilities and was neither surprised nor afraid, because he now had a Demigod- like helper.
His biggest concern was another issue: the "0-08" scenario, which he had forced forward with the story, could backfire on him at any time.
At that moment, a glance out of the corner of his eye revealed to him that the quill pen "0-08" had somehow left his pocket and Levitation in front of the gray rock wall, frantically writing lines of words:
"... In the heat of battle, all sorts of unexpected things can happen, like Ince Zangwill's belt breaking and his pants falling down."
A deep blue light filled Klein's eyes, creating a passage of overlapping light layers between the deep darkness and the roaming, invisible creatures.
Klein didn't bother to observe his surroundings; he tumbled and rolled his way to the end of the passage.
He stood up, straightened his clothes, resumed Ince Zangwill's serious expression, and stepped into the ripple-like curtain of light.
After a moment of disorientation, he found himself in another room, which was also guarded by a considerable number of guards.
"There's a problem underground. Keep an eye on this area and don't let anyone in," Klein calmly instructed, walking slowly towards the door.
"Yes, Mr. Zangwill!" the guards replied respectfully.
Just then, the guard from before emerged from the Blue Light and shouted:
"There was something wrong with Zangwill just now!"
All eyes turned to the door, but Klein was nowhere to be seen.
With a series of thuds, the guards immediately split into several groups, scattering to search for the target and notifying their companions, creating a rather chaotic scene.
One of them had just rounded the corner when he saw Ince Zangwill's back.
Instinctively, he drew his sword, which was crackling with electricity, and slashed at it.
puff!
The figure floated away weightlessly, transforming into fragmented paper figures.
At the same time, two loud bangs rang out, and pale golden bullets pierced through the visor that hadn't been pulled down, accurately striking the guard in the head.
Before he could even scream, the guard collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitching twice.
Klein emerged from the shadows of the corner, expressionlessly shoving the revolver back into his armpit holster.
He burned the paper effigy, quickly took the guard to an empty room, changed him into black armor, and transformed him into the other's appearance.
Then, he picked up his sword, which was crackling with electricity, walked out of the room, closed the wooden door, and fled in a panic.
He was to inform every guard along the way that Ince Zangwill was in trouble!