When it comes to understanding the ancient gods, Klein knows no less than many High-Sequence powerhouses. After all, he has a City of Silver behind him that has continued from the Second Era to the present, where corresponding myths are passed down and many influences remain.
As far as he knew, the Phoenix Ancestor, Greta Garley, was the so-called Ancient Death Goddess. She was severely injured by the Sun God, who was devoured by the King of Angels, and shattered and perished at the end of the Second Age.
However, His influence did not disappear. Even in the present day, some traces still remain, because He is the creator of the Underworld!
The City of the Dead... "Unknown Souls"... Ancient Gods... This sounds dangerous... Klein stared at the radio receiver in front of him, lost in thought.
Tap tap tap, another section of the illusory white paper emerged:
"Apart from these, I don't know much about the others."
"Great master, I have a suggestion, would you like to hear it?"
That's a good question... Klein snapped out of his thoughts and nodded slightly.
"Explain."
The clicking sound of the radio receiver suddenly became lighter, and a line of words quickly appeared on the imaginary white paper:
"Regarding Calderon, you can ask ' Red Light ' Al Moria."
Ultimately, it all comes down to the " Red Light "... Klein nodded slightly, then asked:
"Would it be dangerous if I removed the mask of ' Admiral of Hell ' Ludwell?"
"No!" A resolute and certain word caught Klein's eye.
That's good... He thought for a moment and said:
That's all for today.
"Great master, wise master, just a minute or two, and watchful eyes will be on you! Your loyal servant Arrodes awaits your next summons. Goodbye~" The radio receiver's clicking sound did not hesitate at all.
"A minute or two left? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Klein was startled, as if he had seen a time bomb countdown. He quickly used the materials from the altar that had not yet been dismantled and had not yet been put away to perform a sacrificial ritual, throwing the radio receiver onto the Gray Fog.
After doing all this and confirming that there were no unusual changes in the surroundings, Klein had the Marionette Ludwell move aside to avoid facing him and remove the silver-white mask from his face.
A deep, pale light burst forth, but unlike the exaggerated light Klein had seen during his last battle with Ludwell, it only covered a small area, like a candle about to burn out.
At the same time, the eerie, gloomy feeling that had disappeared from the nearby jungle after the radio receiver was sent back above the Gray Fog returned, this time with an added, indescribable yet chilling sense of terror.
This reminded Klein of a cemetery, and of the legendary Underworld.
After waiting a few seconds and seeing no further anomalies, he had another Marionette, " Winner " Enzo, walk around to the front of " Admiral of Hell " Ludwell and carefully observe the face that had been hidden by a mask for so long.
The face lacked flesh and blood; the skin clung tightly to the bones and was colorless, transparent like crystal.
Beneath the "crystal," indescribable transparent shadows flowed rapidly, sometimes merging with the skull, sometimes shrinking into the gaps, and appearing on the teeth.
If it were just a month or two after he transmigrated, Klein would definitely have been scared half to death by the appearance of the " Admiral of Hell ". But now, he has seen too many bizarre out-of-control individuals and mutants, and he will not be moved by this kind of appearance at all.
After another round of "study," Klein completely understood Ludwell's condition.
This all stems from the unique nature of the " Gatekeeper ":
Upon reaching Sequence 5 and becoming a " Gatekeeper," Beyonder can use their body as a cage, creating a unique " Underworld " that can accommodate a certain number of souls, the dead, and nature spirits. Through this, they gain various unique abilities and powerful allies, without needing to carry an army of the undead wherever they go, making them very conspicuous.
This has led to the development of stories about "spirits behind the body" in many folk tales.
Another meaning of " Gatekeeper," and its oldest meaning, is to guard the " Underworld " within the body, preventing the spirits contained within from escaping, and to utilize them. This is also symbolized by a double-opening illusory door.
After the "Ancient Reaper," the Phoenix Ancestor Greta Garley, created the Underworld, she essentially granted a small amount of authority over the Reaper's domain to all the "Gatekeepers," allowing all the extraordinary beings in this sequence to gain a certain degree of power enhancement.
The reason why " Admiral of Hell " Ludwell always wore that mask was because he harbored a powerful creature from the Underworld. This creature was used by him on one hand, and on the other hand, it corrupted his body, transforming him into a half-dead, half-human being. At the same time, this creature was always instinctively connecting with the Underworld, trying to open the gate and return there.
This, combined with the Gatekeeper's own abilities and authority, and the amplification from the Death Ring, allows " Admiral of Hell " Ludwell to amplify the " Gate of the Underworld " and directly pilot the " Black Tulip " into it.
Half-dead, half-human... No wonder Ludwell dared to enter the Underworld. No living person could survive there for even a second... Hmm, that Underworld creature gave him the special ability to partially become a ghost, allowing him to extract other people's spirits from a distance. I experienced that myself... Klein suddenly realized and had the " Admiral of Hell " put the silver-white mask back on.
The mask's purpose is to soothe the soul, keeping the Underworld creatures within Ludwell in a relatively calm state most of the time.
Having resolved his doubts, Klein turned his attention back to the altar.
He's going to try to "connect" with the Seven Lights of the Spirit World.
In this regard, there are special Mysticism Ritual and corresponding Spirit Channeling rituals to choose from. After consideration, Klein chose the latter because in the Mysticism Ritual, he himself had to open his heart and soul to contact the being he was referring to, thereby gaining certain knowledge, power, help, or Spirit Body. This would cause his own thoughts and secrets to also open up to that being.
There are two types of Spirit Channeling rituals: direct communication and requesting the spirit to descend. Because the Seven Lights of the Spirit World are of extremely high status, Klein could not guarantee that the other party would respond in accordance with the requirements of the ritual. Therefore, although he was thinking of " Spirit Channeling " through communication across space, he also made additional preparations for "spirit descent" to show his sincerity.
Klein lit the three candles, added peppermint oil and other liquids, and then took out a paper figure, placing it on the altar as a vessel for the "spirit possession." If there was no similar object, the target of the prayer would be "possessed" on them, just like when Danitz asked " Vice Admiral Iceberg " Edwina to possess him. This could be done in two ways: either the possessed person completely lost consciousness and was controlled by the corresponding being, answering questions, or the possessed person remained conscious and could control certain parts of their body, thus engaging in a question-and-answer session with the spirit possessor. The simplest example was one person speaking and the other Manipulation their hands to write.
Klein quickly completed the first part of the ceremony, stepped back, opened his mouth, and recited in Ancient Hermes:
"I!
I pray in my name:
"I pray to communicate with 'the undying light of the Spirit World, the embodiment of endless knowledge, the red of authority and will'..."
The biggest difference between this Spirit Channeling ritual and the normal ones is that you cannot pray to the gods. Neither the " Evernight Goddess " nor the " God of Knowledge and Wisdom " can appear in the ritual, otherwise it will inevitably lead to failure.
From a mystical perspective, this means that the Seven Lights of the Spirit World do not belong to or serve any deity.
As he uttered each word that could communicate with the spirits of nature, Klein saw the three candle flames expand simultaneously, merging into one with a soft crackling sound, as if opening a Door of Light.
The area around the altar suddenly fell silent and dark, and pairs of strange eyes looked over from different directions.
A cold wind suddenly blew by, and all the items on the altar except for the three candles Levitation into the air. Among them, the paper figure stood up shakily, its surface suddenly stained with a rich, clear, and not at all bloody red.
"Hello." Klein said, recalling the Seven Lights of the Spirit World described in some occult books, while following the correct interaction pattern he had summarized.
He acted as if he were facing a teacher.
The bright red paper figure's head moved slightly, emitting a faint yet authoritative voice:
"Hello."
"Quite polite... Sure enough, the Spirit Channeling turned into a spirit possession. Luckily, I was prepared..." A flurry of thoughts flashed through Klein's mind as he spoke sincerely and respectfully:
" Al Moria, I have a question for you."
"You may call me Al Moria, please." The paper figure floating in mid-air seemed to be competing with Klein to see who was more polite.
"I want to know information about Calderón City." Klein didn't change his attitude; after all, there's a saying in the Great Foodie Empire: "It's never wrong to be polite."
The bright red, almost transparent paper figure hesitated for two seconds before saying:
May I know your purpose?
Klein didn't hide anything and said frankly:
"Hunting Spirit World Plunderer "
The paper figure's head moved slightly as it said:
"It's true that it's only easy to find them in Calderón City. In other places, the Spirit World Plunderer are like a drop of water in the ocean, very difficult to distinguish. Even I can only find them occasionally and cannot lock onto them for long periods of time."
"They are partly active in the core area of Calderón City and a small number scattered in the outer areas. As long as you don't try to go deep inside, there shouldn't be too much danger. Unfortunately, certain special features there prevent us Seven Lights from entering, otherwise we could provide some substantial assistance."
"Was that the former divine realm of the ancient goddess Gregrace?" Klein asked, confirming his suspicions.
The bright red paper figure said:
"Yes, the Ancient Death hoped to be resurrected through this ' City of the Dead,' but he failed completely, and his authority was seized by Balam, the Death."
"However, this also makes Calderón City more dangerous, because the arrangements left behind by the ancient gods have changed after the failure, and I don't know exactly what they've become."
I see... Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, then asked several more questions from different angles, all of which received relatively satisfactory answers.
Outside a house near the port in Bayam.
Alger and " Admiral of Stars " Cattleya were patiently waiting for the people inside to enjoy their dinner.