His Trail

Something had happened upstairs!

Both of them realized it at the same time.

Klein's expression changed slightly, and he quickly ran toward the stairs leading up, not forgetting to tell Leon, "Watch the Chanis Gate. I'll go take a look."

Without waiting for Leon to answer, he rushed upstairs with his gun.

Compared to the panicked Klein, Leon seemed much more relaxed.

He wasn't surprised at all. It would have been strange if nothing had happened today!

He didn't hurry after Klein, instead glancing at the tightly shut Chanis Gate.

The black iron gate stood there silently, its seven holy emblems gleaming dimly under the gaslights.

Suddenly, a bold idea flashed through his mind.

Could it be that the notebook was never sent out?

Perhaps he could take this chance to go inside and have a look.

But he dismissed the idea as soon as it arose.

There was no way the Nighthawks hadn't left any safeguards in place. Stirring up trouble right under the Goddess's nose was a little too brazen.

So he turned and followed Klein.

Klein gripped his revolver tightly and hurried up the stairs.

Rozanne's voice cut off abruptly.

The sudden silence was more unsettling than any scream.

There were only two Nighthawks in the entire building, plus the newcomer Leon. If the enemy was too strong, things could get even worse.

They had actually dared to attack the Nighthawks' base directly while the captain was out leading the team.

Things had suddenly taken an unexpected turn.

Klein pushed open the last door before the partition, and the sight before him made his heart tighten.

Firelight flickered faintly from the reception hall beyond the partition.

Madam Royale had already arrived from the recreation room, white smoke rising from the revolver in her hand.

Her posture was still elegant, but her usually impassive face was now filled with gravity.

"Rozanne, get down!"

The normally composed lady let out a loud, uncharacteristically undignified roar.

Klein rushed past the partition and raised his revolver. Just as he aimed in the direction Royale was pointing her gun-

A Spirituality warning of danger exploded in his mind.

Perhaps seeing Leon's reaction speed underground earlier had given him a reminder.

This time, he reacted with incredible speed. The moment the warning appeared, he rolled to the side to dodge.

Bang!

A strange gunshot rang out. Almost simultaneously, Royale pulled the trigger, returning fire in the direction of the shot.

Klein looked at where he had just been standing. A bullet hole had appeared in the wall at the height of his upper body.

Its edges were neat, as though a red-hot iron nail had passed through butter, yet there was no trace of a shell casing.

He quickly ducked behind the side of the partition and surveyed the hall.

Rozanne lay on the floor, her condition unknown. Fortunately, there were no obvious external injuries, but the solid wood reception desk had been smashed to pieces, and flames burned on the debris.

The front door had become a gaping hole that let the wind through, with darkness and gaslight pouring in from outside.

The intruder was presumably just outside the door.

Klein immediately tapped his left teeth together twice, activated Spirit Vision, and looked out at the dark street.

As a Sleepless, Royale could see better in the dark. She kept firing outside, reloading the cylinder round after round.

Flashes flared and faded at her muzzle, illuminating her tense profile.

After dodging two more bullets, Klein finally located their opponent with Spirit Vision.

A man wearing a black tailcoat and a half-height silk top hat appeared at the side of a rooftop.

However, his face was painted red, yellow, and white, with the corners of his mouth drawn high in a "clown's" expression. The absurd contrast between his formal dinner-party attire and his comical face was anything but funny.

"That's the clown? Shouldn't he be going after what the captain and the others are escorting... Look out!"

Klein cried out.

The first part was his shock at recognizing the man; the second was an instinctive warning when he saw the clown in the tailcoat suddenly vanish.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before he had finished speaking, the clown in the tailcoat vanished from where he stood and reappeared on a rooftop in the opposite direction, firing three shots in quick succession.

This time, under the gaslight, Klein saw what he was doing. He had no weapon; he merely snapped his fingers, producing sounds like gunfire.

Royale was first to dive left, rolling repeatedly to dodge. Klein remained behind the partition, his heart pounding like a drum.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two seized the intervals when the clown changed positions, each raising a gun and firing aimed shots. The clown in the tailcoat darted left and right, retreating and rolling, his movements as agile as an acrobat's. Every shot barely grazed the hem of his coat.

Meanwhile, outside the Leon Private Detective Agency at 27 Besik Street.

A staggering figure pushed open a window that had not been fastened securely and climbed inside.

Ten minutes later, Leon's bedroom was a complete mess.

Drawers had been pulled open, the bed boards lifted, and books from the shelves scattered across the floor.

But the figure, having failed to find what he wanted, did not leave. Instead, he turned toward another, secluded room.

In the darkness, a pair of eyes flickering with sparks slowly opened and stared at the sleeping girl.

The firelight illuminated a charred face, an enraptured smile on its lips.

Even though his eye sockets had long since been burned black, leaving only two hollows flickering with sparks, he still seemed immersed in some kind of boundless ecstasy.

He stared at the silver-white handbell by Martha's bed and murmured with a beaming smile.

"I found it... I found traces of Him. Praise the Lord... Praise the Lord!"

He reached out, fingertips covered in black char slowly approaching the bell.

Just before he touched it, perhaps the scorching heat, or perhaps a premonition of danger, jolted Martha awake.

She opened her eyes and saw the terrifying face.

A scream and the clear ringing of the bell sounded at once, echoing throughout the building and startling the crows perched on the eaves into flight.

The ringing faded.

A mass of liquid appeared out of thin air, silver light shining from within it, growing brighter and brighter. It landed on the floor, and the light burst outward. Pitch-black liquid poured out of the void, rapidly expanding and solidifying-

A figure identical to Leon stood behind the intruder.

Leon, who had been following Klein, suddenly paused as he stepped through the door and turned toward home.

The Spirit Calling Bell he had left Martha for emergencies had been triggered.

Leon curled his lip.

Just as he had expected, whether it was the Erdtree Church or some other force, someone had come after all.

Leon looked away and turned to the battle in the hall. Klein and Royale were still maneuvering against the person outside, gunshots sounding one after another.

He had to deal with the situation in front of him first. As for what kind of character had broken into his home-

Leon wasn't worried in the slightest. What he had put inside the Spirit Calling Bell was the Mimic Tear, which had roughly 3.3 times the strength of his current body.

By his estimate, without a sneak attack, the strength he could currently bring to bear was on par with a Sequence 8 skilled in combat, and that wasn't even counting his fighting skills.

The Mimic Tear possessed his fighting skills perfectly.

It was a pro max plus version of Leon that didn't have to worry about damaging its body by overusing its original power and ignored all negative effects. To avoid being silently dealt with by him-

Leon estimated that one would have to be at least Mid-Sequence. If dangerous people like that could enter Tingen so casually, the city's official law enforcement personnel might as well find a crooked tree and hang themselves.

He squeezed past Klein, stood at the side of the partition, and looked at the figure leaping through the darkness outside.

"Need a hand?" Leon asked, eager to try.

Klein had no time to look back and only said quickly, "Why did you come up here? Get back downstairs, it's not safe here!"

Leon didn't move.

He watched the clown's movements for a while. This was his first time seeing a fight involving Beyonder Abilities in real life.

That bunch of cultists didn't count. A head-on fight with preparation was different from an encounter battle.

The one before him was well prepared. His movements were indeed impressive, every change of position perfectly timed, the gunshots like notes flicked from his fingertips.

But Leon noticed one detail-there was a certain pattern to the places where he disappeared and reappeared.

It was clearly some kind of Sequence ability, rather than a simple reliance on speed.

"Klein, there's a tiny flash of fire before he appears each time," Leon suddenly said.