In a hotel room in Gurain City.
Klein sat in his armchair and reached out to take the black tea with lemon slices that " the Winner," Enzo, had brought him.
On his other side, " Admiral of Hell " Ludwell, wearing a mask and with a rapier at his waist, stood straight, like the most loyal bodyguard.
Only now, having fully calmed down, did Klein have enough energy to analyze what had happened inside the Death's Mausoleum. His primary concern was who had helped Mr. Azik escape his predicament at the crucial moment, and he offered three options:
First, the female voice;
"Secondly, this matter is definitely beneficial to 'her,' otherwise no one would travel such a long distance to provide assistance. Of course, if someone just happened to be passing by and offered help out of kindness, that would be understandable and acceptable. But the problem is that the mausoleum is a product of the combination of the god's power, characteristics, corpse, and natural environment when the Death fell. Without the corresponding 'key,' even the gods cannot discover it Door Opening. How could anyone possibly just happen to pass by?"
"Furthermore, Mr. Azik's actions were very sudden. He didn't first go to the members of the Spirituality Religion who were carrying out the Artificial Death Project to 'ask' for information. He went directly to the Raging Sea and entered the ' Death's Treasury'. If it weren't for the ability to locate either of us or to have a strong precognitive ability, almost no one could have arrived so quickly and in such a timely manner."
Finally, it is almost certain that Salinger, who returned from Mr. Azik's body, is the Death of the Fourth Epoch who said, "I've gone mad, and I'm stronger now." The female voice even called him by his name without any respect.
"This..."
As Klein was carefully analyzing the situation, a guess suddenly came to him, but he couldn't help but want to avoid that possibility.
As far as he knew, the three Beyonder Pathway — Evernight, Death, and Giant— belonged to the same group and could be interchanged at High-Sequence. In addition to occupying a portion of the Moon's authority through the title " Lady of Crimson " or a possible specific "0" level Sealed Artifact, the Goddess also held the title " Lord of Repose and Silence," which could point directly to the Underworld and the realm of Death.
Klein's previous experience in the Foggy Town, his own experience of using the Holy Sword to make a vow in Tingen City under the witness of the goddess, and the fact that the goddess clearly still possessed the power of Misfortune, led Klein to believe that he might have been put on the other party's "special attention list," just like he used the " Sea God Scepter " to mark certain believers.
"Make bold assumptions, verify carefully; if she really is a goddess, then almost all questions can be answered:"
"As one of the seven great gods, and as one of the final victors of the 'Pale Age,' He has sufficient rank and status to directly address Death by name..."
"Since I was marked by Him, if anything unusual happened to me, such as entering a strange place like the ' Death Treasury,' He would definitely notice and take action. And because there must be a cycle involved, He couldn't arrive in time to stop me from the beginning..."
"For Him, the Artificial Death, or the ' Uniqueness ' of the nascent activated ' Death ' pathway, can significantly strengthen His authority over 'sleep and silence,' even allowing Him to directly encroach upon the realm of the Death, just as the ' Mother Tree of Desire ' did to the ' Chained God '..."
"When ' Death ' fell, the three Sequence 1 copies should have actively separated, and it's unknown who obtained them. If the Goddess were to collect them again, perhaps her title would need to include 'Ruler of the Ancient Underworld, Monarch of All the Dead' or something similar..."
"Although Mr. Azik has been tracked by High-Sequence members of the Church, he has never been truly threatened. It seems that the Goddess has been waiting for today's events to happen..." Thinking of this, Klein suddenly felt guilty.
He raised his right hand with considerable piety, at least outwardly so, and tapped his chest four times clockwise, drawing a Crimson Moon, while muttering to himself:
"Praise the goddess."
This reminded him of the answer he received when he asked " Snake of Fate " Will Auceptin about how he obtained the " Seer's " High-Sequence Potion recipe:
"... You'll have to find the mad Zaratul, or go to the Hornacis Mountain Range. If you're Blessed of the Evernight, then disregard what I said."
After the incident in the Foggy Town, Klein had already realized that going to the Hornacis Mountain Range and finding Zaratul were the same option, as Stealing the Antigonus Family Notebook from the basement of Saint Samuel Cathedral. But only today did he realize that the latter half of the seemingly pointless statement might not be entirely meaningless.
He raised his hand and stroked his chin, muttering to himself:
"Perhaps, maybe, possibly, I truly am Blessed of the Evernight..."
Klein wasn't actually too opposed to this:
On the one hand, he spent his early years in the Night Church in Tingen City with the Night Walkers, where he had a group of good teammates and colleagues, a relatively warm life, and a set of beliefs that he agreed with. Even now, he still often thinks back to those days. So, although he can't say he worships the "Goddess of the Night," he has the highest level of recognition for this deity.
On the other hand, at least so far, the " Evernight Goddess " has not shown any malice, but has instead bestowed some "gifts". Klein thought that since he had been specially marked and could not get rid of it in a short time, he could only learn to accept it and make full use of it.
Of course, the necessary vigilance is also essential... In addition, there are already too many enemies, such as the " Mother Tree of Desire ", the " True Creator ", the " Primordial Demoness ", the " The Moon Primordial ", the " Blasphemer " Amon, and the " Angel of Fate " Ouroboros. Some of them may even be able to track me down at any time. Without finding a powerful backer, the future will be very difficult! Having faced too many things, Klein quickly adjusted his mindset.
As long as the goddess marked him from the moment she made the vow with the holy sword, rather than earlier, and not from the moment she was constantly "monitoring" him, he could accept it.
At least judging from the markings on special believers by the " Sea God Scepter," the claim of constant "monitoring" is unfounded... Well, Mr. Azik will be in a slumber for a long time. The goddess can't just "descend" whenever she wants; there will inevitably be corresponding obstacles and difficulties. Otherwise, the seven great gods would have already "descended" all over the world to solve all sorts of problems. So I need to keep a low profile and be honest in the Southern Continent, and try not to place my hopes on external forces... Klein reminded himself of these words, then turned to examine the new Marionette, " Admiral of Hell " Ludwell.
To be honest, he had always been quite curious about the face hidden under that silver mask, but remembering the strange changes that occurred when Ludwell removed the mask during the last battle, he suppressed his curiosity and decided to leave the city and try again in the jungle or other uninhabited areas.
After some busy work, Klein has made a preliminary understanding of the new Marionette's Sequence and abilities.
Ludwell is Sequence 5 " Gatekeeper " of the " Death " pathway and is not a normal human.
The corresponding Sequence 9 is " Corpse Collector ". Klein already knew the specifics when he was in Tingen City. He knew that they would have certain corpse characteristics. They would appear rather sinister and have a low body temperature, thus avoiding being attacked by Wisdom undead. At the same time, they would also have improved physical fitness, be able to withstand the corrosive effects of decay, cold and death, naturally possess Spirit Vision, and understand the characteristics and weaknesses of many undead creatures.
Sequence 8 is the " Gravedigger." Corpse Collector who advance to this level are physically stronger, have more powerful Spirit Vision, and are more agile. They can communicate with a small number of nearby spirits and ask them for help. In addition, even when facing unfamiliar undead and Spirit World creatures, the " Gravedigger " can quickly find their weaknesses through "observation," a skill known as the " Eye of Death."
Sequence 7 " Spirit Medium " represent a transformative stage. Beyonder will master various mystical rituals related to spirits, enabling them to communicate directly with natural spirits and wandering souls in the real world. For them, informants are everywhere.
At the same time, they can use different spirits to perform various kinds of magic and create all kinds of supernatural phenomena, making them quite comprehensive.
Sequence 6 " Spirit Guide " and Sequence 5 " Gatekeeper " are not substantially different from " Spirit Medium," except that the scope of communication is expanded: " Spirit Guide " begins to venture into the Spirit World and can "recruit" messengers on their own to obtain the help of certain Spirit World creatures, while " Gatekeeper " can sense the entrance to the Underworld and command the spirits inside, as if guarding the interval between life and death.
Starting with the " Spirit Medium," with each advancement in the Sequence, the quantity and quality of natural spirits, undead creatures, and Spirit World beings that Beyonder can control and command experience explosive growth. The " Spirit Guide " also gains the additional ability to bypass the protection of the flesh and blood body through the " Words of the Dead," elevating communication with spirits to the level of control and even enslavement. The " Gatekeeper " can, to a limited extent, utilize the mysterious gate between life and death—the gate to the Underworld!
"If it weren't for the Azik Copper Whistle's natural restraint on the ' Corpse Collector ' pathway's control over spirits, I might not have even been qualified to fight the ' Admiral of Hell.' And even now, without the ' Travel ' ability as a safety net, even using Demigod- level powers, I probably wouldn't be able to defeat Ludwell Ince Zangwill in the future, I need to keep that in mind; he used to be the ' Gatekeeper.'" Klein nodded slightly as he picked up his cup and took a sip of red tea.
As for Ludwell's weapon, called " Harris Rapier," it originated from an ancient prince of the Southern Continent. It doesn't directly correspond to any particular path or Sequence; rather, it's closer to the product of the irregular aggregation of similar characteristics, like that of " King of the North," Yurizan.
It possesses only one extraordinary ability: to bring absolute destruction upon what it pierces.
As the pirate general with the highest bounty, Ludwell possessed more than just this one magical item. Unfortunately, his most precious Death Ring was taken by Azik, and Klein was unable to remove the silver mask he wore for research in the short term.
"Also, he really doesn't love money, he has no need for money at all..." Klein put down his cup, looked away, and decided to leave Gurain City while there was still time, and go somewhere else to wait for Danitz to finish his investigation.