Chapter 1025: Random Anomalies
The full-body mirror's silver words seemed to have a life of their own
as they vanished and reformed:
"The Concerto of Light and Shadow is a pocket watch. It can restrict
certain actions in a particular area, and it can also strip certain
Beyonder powers from the target. When the two are put together, the
limitations that are created far exceed the two types.
"The Concerto of Light and Shadow is also able to 'gift' certain
negative side effects to the target, making him sluggish; eager;
avaricious; or lose their fighting spirit, only capable of focusing his
attention on money.
"Apart from these effects, the Sealed Artifact's wielder would have the
ability to distort the target's speech, actions, intentions, and
attacks. It can reduce a lethal blow into a serious injury, or it could
repel an attack, turning progression into retrogression, escaping into
leading a charge.
"The negative effects of Concerto of Light and Shadow are rather
serious. Amongst them, the main negative effect to take note of is that
once it's brought into combat, all the Beyonder effects produced in a
certain region would intermittently experience random anomalies. It
wouldn't distinguish between friend or foe, making it hard to control
and unpredictable. That also means that Lightning Strike might still
create a bolt of lightning, but it might splash the target with a blast
of cold water or summon unknown spirit world creatures.
"Due to this reason, Qonas Kilgor has deliberately sought out a mystical
item that can make him sufficiently lucky at critical moments, hoping
that the random intermittent effects will benefit himself. It's
definitely useful to a certain extent, but it's not that great.
"..."
"Qonas Kilgor also has a strange revolver. It originated from an anomaly
during an evil god's sacrifice. It's called 'Réver's Shout of
Despair'... It can shoot without bullets, and each shot possesses
immense strength... It can shoot at a rapid pace like a miniature
machine gun... Targets who are hit by it will suffer Réver's shout of
despair before he died. They will suffer different levels of pain,
dizziness, and confusion...
"The biggest problem with the revolver is that the wielder will also
hear the shout of despair. It just won't be too frequent.
"..."
"As an Earl of The Fallen, Qonas Kilgor no doubt has a qualitative
change when it comes to 'Distortion' and the unreasonable 'Bestowment.'
In addition, he can also 'Exploit' laws and 'Magnify' effects, and use
'Disorder' to disrupt order.
"Exploit can extend certain states for longer periods of time or end it
ahead of time. It will make the rules more beneficial to himself. For
example, after jumping into midair, the state of being away from the
ground can be extended, achieving the effect of floating.
"Magnify can boost the effects or influence of his actions. It can make
an ordinary attack become an execution. It can turn a hug from a
distance away into a restriction.
"Disorder will influence the structure of objects, the standards of
measurement, and the accuracy of attacks. It will make a seemingly
massive building collapse, causing what seems like a huge distance to be
shortened to that of a few paces, as well as allowing attacks that are
aimed at him to miss their mark.
"Through Magnify, Exploit, and Distortion, Beyonders of the Lawyer
pathway can achieve certain things that only Beyonders of the Arbiter
pathway can accomplish.
"Of course, Low- and Mid-Sequence Beyonder powers of the Lawyer pathway
like Bribe are equally possessed by an Earl of The Fallen and are even
stronger.
"..."
"Great Master, I've finished answering your question. Is that okay?"
*Your answer is like a guidebook. You must've been gathering information
from the spirit world while delivering it...* Also, must you
seek praise even for matters such as this? Klein lampooned and nodded
slightly.
"That's right."
After answering Arrodes's question, he quickly got into the zone as he
analyzed the powers and traits of the powerful Sealed Artifact which the
demigod, Qonas Kilgor, had.
*An Earl of The Fallen is indeed a Sequence 4 demigod existence. There
are qualitative changes in various aspects. Be it
"Bestowment,""Distortion,""Exploit," and "Magnify," none of them are
easy to deal with. I might suffer if I'm careless...*
*Rather, Disorder isn't terrifying. It's basically an enhanced version
of the Sequence 5 Mentor of Disorder's power...*
*The Concerto of Light and Shadow does have traits of the Arbiter
domain. And the most frustrating aspect about it is the negative side
effects... To a Beyonder of the Seer pathway, my combat style is
definitely closer to one of preparation, precision, and control. Once
the battle begins, the moves will chain one after another. During this
process, if a random deviation were to happen, the entire plan can
easily be messed up and not be accomplished... It's very
dangerous...*
As he thought, Klein discovered that the main problem stemmed from the
Sealed Artifact named Concerto of Light and Shadow.
As a Beyonder who liked setting up traps for his enemy, Klein didn't
wish that after throwing himself into a perilous situation through his
painstaking planning and hard work, he would realize that the item would
summon a rabbit just as he was using the Fate Siphon charm to switch
fates with his target to turn the tables and finish off his opponent. Or
perhaps it would turn into fireworks to celebrate the death of the user.
*Qonas Kilgor can reduce the effects by raising his luck, but I can't do
it. Fortune or Misfortune that's not at the angel level won't be
effective on me... However, I have the marionette, Winner
Enuni...* Klein thought as he gave Arrodes the second question:
"How can the intermittent random anomalies of that Sealed Artifact be
avoided?"
Silver words appeared out of the ripples of the deep mirror, forming a
new sentence:
"There's no need to avoid it!
"Qonas Kilgor just needs to become unlucky, and for this, the demigods
of the Evernight pathway are experts."
*Makes sense... According to the theory of relativity, as long as Qonas
Kilgor is more unlucky than me, I'll be the lucky one. Ma'am Arianna
said that "She" can provide me with assistance... To "Her," secretly
slipping some misfortune onto Qonas Kilgor before creating the concealed
state should be very simple and easy...* Klein immediately
nodded cheerfully.
"Very good. That's it for today. I'll summon you again if there's
anything else."
"Yes, Master! No problem, Master! Goodbye, Master\~" On the full-body
mirror's surface was a simple drawing followed by silver words.
Seeing the mirror instantly return to normal, Klein retracted his gaze
and quickly simulated the battle that would happen in his mind.
Gradually, he came up with an idea, and grabbing onto that flash of
inspiration, he proceeded forward in refining it.
After having a few tentative plans, Klein walked to the balcony and
looked at the garden in the night sky, whispering, "Can you inflict
misfortune onto Qonas Kilgor before the battle?"
After a brief silence, a calm and ordinary female voice rang in his
ears:
"Yes."
"Then it's fine on my side," Klein immediately replied.
Tranquility quickly returned to his surroundings.
A rather cold breeze blew by, and Klein expressionlessly stared at the
manor for a few seconds. Then, he pressed down on his silk hat, pulled
the human-skinned glove on his left hand, and drew Death Knell from his
underarm holster.
Right on the heels of that, he flicked his thumb and made the iron-black
revolver's cylinder spin.
The night grew darker as the crimson moon occasionally tore through the
clouds. Maygur Manor was completely in a state of deep sleep.
At this moment, a figure stealthily came from the Tussock River's south
bank, taking two to three steps to return to his room.
He was none other than the deputy director of MI9, Qonas Kilgor, who
wore a white shirt and black trousers.
This demigod with a stout look surveyed the area and didn't notice any
abnormalities. He gradually revealed a smile and walked to the bar
counter in the guest room. Getting a cup, he picked up a bottle of
Maygur red wine. He prepared to pour some for himself to celebrate the
wonderful night.
At this moment, his spiritual perception was triggered as he looked up
abruptly.
He saw the buildings with a few grayish-white chimneys suddenly become
covered in shadows as if they were dyed with ink.
To the side of the chimneys, on one of the steeple landmarks of Maygur
Manor's main building, it was equally dark. The bright red moon was
silently hanging behind the chimney.
The clouds and stars high in the sky had vanished. Apart from the
gigantic crimson moon, there was pitch-black darkness.
Under the night sky, the flowers and trees were clearly in front of him,
but they lacked any signs of life. They were dim, as though they were a
great distance away.
Black and red, shadows and buildings, and the silence and plants
presented themselves in front of Qonas Kilgor in such a strange state.
This... The demigod's pupils dilated as he didn't hesitate to
respond.
He reached his left hand into his clothes and extended his right hand
under his armpit, taking out two items.
Amongst them, he held a strange revolver in his right palm. It was
entirely gray in color, bigger than an ordinary revolver. It looked like
it was half the size of a sledgehammer that was used in classical
battles.
Another unusual trait of the revolver was that it had six barrels, each
rather thick. The mouth was dark, and its cylinder was embedded with
more than ten ugly rivets, making it have a rather crude beauty.
Qonas Kilgor's left hand held an iron-skinned pocket watch. On the
watch's face, half of it was filled with neatly arranged symbols that
followed the order of time, while the other half was a chaotic mess. It
even intruded into the neighboring region. On both sides, it seemed
impossible to see the machinery behind them as they formed into a
structure that looked even more complex and headache-inducing.
Almost at the same time, a figure emerged out of the gigantic crimson
moon. It glided over at an extremely fast speed.
He grew bigger and clearer. He was a young man with black hair, brown
eyes, and cut features.
The young man was wearing a silk top hat and a black trench coat. He
held a unique revolver in one hand, and a transparent human-skinned
glove covering the other. Under the bright illumination of the
surroundings, he seemed to be burdened with the weight of the gigantic
crimson moon.
Gehrman Sparrow.