Chapter 1284: Limitation Loophole
In the present era of this world, belief in a deity was common. The
difference was which deity they believed in. Therefore, even if Roy,
Pasha, and company didn't understand the meaning of angels in mysticism,
they had more or less heard of legends about angels from the priests,
bishops, and seniors around them. They knew that they were the servants
of deities, and were powerful creatures that were qualified to be
addressed as "Him" or "Her." Every action of theirs could create
miracles. They were definitely not something ordinary people could
compare with.
In the hearts of these four Beyonders, angels were of a whole different
level, holy spirits of another world. Under normal circumstances, "They"
lived in the divine kingdoms and wouldn't descend into the real world.
"They" could be treated as true legends without considering the meaning
"They" had in reality. Just like the battles they had experienced in the
past, although they would occasionally encounter Beyonders today who
struck terror in their hearts, like today, them being angels was the
last thing on their mind.
The two weren't on the same level!
But today, a wandering and mysterious "magician" had informed them that
the chief shepherd of the Church of the God of Combat was an angel who
walked the land.
Phil and the others believed in the mysterious gentleman, who had shown
all kinds of amazing feats, from the bottom of their hearts. Firstly, he
had granted their wishes and was friendly enough. Secondly, they didn't
believe that they were qualified enough to be deceived in such matters.
To them, the chief shepherd was an angel or an abnormally powerful
Beyonder. In essence, there was no difference between the two.
The reality of this world far exceeds our imaginations... The
words that Pasha often said flashed through her mind.
Roy made further connections.
He remembered that the lady, whom Mr. Magician had invited from thin
air, mention that she was pursuing the chief shepherd of the Church of
the God of Combat. Furthermore, she seemed to be qualified to see the
Evernight Goddess's revelation.
*The only person who can track an angel is probably another angel...
With Mr. Magician's performance in front of that lady, his level can't
be that much lower...* Roy hurriedly retracted his gaze from
Klein's back and didn't dare to look at him directly.
He looked left and right and realized that Phil had come to a similar
guess as well. A complicated feeling emerged from his pale face, one
that was a result of his blood loss.
Biles held his breath and only spoke after a few seconds.
"No wonder there's such an inexplicable change in Belltaine..."
"It's not the time to feel poignant about this. Let's hurry up and
leave. The curfew is about to take effect," Klein reminded with a smile
without any signs of nervousness.
Pasha quickly looked at the noticeboard and imprinted the contents into
a brand in her mind.
"...From eight at night to eight in the morning. Free movement and
assembling in the streets are forbidden..."
"Where should we go?" she blurted out.
Under the double restrictions of the curfew and the no trespassing
clause, it appeared as though they could only await punishment.
Klein smiled and said, "Only movement and assembly in the streets are
forbidden."
As he spoke, he pointed at a nearby manhole which led to the sewers.
Biles's eyes lit up.
"Yes, it didn't say that we can't pass through the sewers!
"When curfews were in place previously, the tramps hid in the sewers or
abandoned buildings."
Roy and the others didn't hesitate any longer. They immediately went
forward and used the advantage of their strength to push open the
manhole cover and climbed into the sewers.
In the pitch-black darkness, a dim yellow light lit up as a lantern
appeared in Klein's hand.
As they followed the mystical "magician," Phil said thoughtfully, "We
can head to a hotel next.
"Biles is a local. He won't be attacked, so he can get a room. Then, we
can climb through the window and enter from the outside. As we have
gotten permission from the owner, we wouldn't be considered as
trespassing on private property.
"In that case, we can stay until dawn and wait for the curfew to end."
"It's a very interesting idea, but our goal isn't to survive until
dawn," Klein replied with a smile as he walked ahead of them with the
lantern in hand.
Roy nodded and said, "If we don't do anything and stay in the hotel, the
rules will increase one by one, becoming so detailed that guests aren't
allowed to stay in hotel rooms."
"Actually, the most interesting thing about that proposal isn't the
finding of loopholes to the restrictions, but that it reminded me of
something." Klein turned his body slightly and looked at Biles. "As a
local from Belltaine, he actually didn't attempt to capture us
foreigners."
In other words, he wasn't affected by the yellow paper's orders.
This... Pasha and the others all turned warily to look at
Biles, clearly showing suspicion on their faces.
Their encounter earlier had made them certain that the citizens of
Belltaine City had lost their minds in the foreigner-arresting affair.
"I don't know why either..." Biles also murmured in confusion.
"Are you still a Belltaine citizen?" Klein asked casually as he slowly
walked in the damp and smelly sewer.
Biles followed behind him and answered with some certainty, "Of course."
Klein thought and asked, "On the one hand, you are a citizen of
Belltaine. On the other hand, you are a standard foreigner. Two of your
attributes overlap, causing a contradiction. Under that order, you will
neither be attacked, nor will you have your rationality affected."
"If we can create such a 'contradiction,' does it mean we will be able
to escape the limitations of the rules?" Phil asked spiritedly.
Pasha shook her head.
"But such a 'contradiction' is very hard to create. At least I can't
think of any possibility right now..."
She suddenly paused and hesitated before saying, "The most important
thing is that we're far away from the noticeboard. We don't know what
other laws will follow. We have no way of avoiding them."
When that happened, they wouldn't dare to do anything!
Klein smiled and said, "Don't worry. This mirror can help us see the new
content on the noticeboard."
He casually displayed the magic mirror that had slipped into his left
palm.
Pasha heaved a sigh of relief and asked curiously, "Isn't this a crime
of peeping?"
On the surface of the silver mirror, words that resembled dripping blood
appeared:
"The way I look at the noticeboard is like looking at the sun in the
day. There's no need to peep."
Klein retracted his magic mirror and added with a smile, "Besides, this
is just an item. How can it commit a crime?"
That really makes sense... Biles and Phil couldn't help but
nod.
After Roy figured it out, he exhaled and asked, "Next, the most
important thing is to find that item, but we don't have any clues. As a
book, it can be anywhere. We can only carpet search the entire city, but
we clearly lack the time to do that."
"Indeed, we don't know where 0-02 is. We don't even have any clues, but
there's an existence that knows the answer very clearly," Klein replied
leisurely as he heard the footsteps echoing in the sewers.
Pasha's heart stirred.
"You mean that chief shepherd?"
Klein smiled and nodded.
"0-02 is either in 'His' hands, or it has been hidden by 'Him'
somewhere. And a 'book' is clearly unable to move on its own. This isn't
something that the current rules can help it achieve."
"But how do we find that chief shepherd?" Biles blurted out.
Perhaps it was because the magical Mr. Magician was by his side, he
wasn't that afraid of searching for the Grounded Angel.
Klein calmly held the lantern and said, "As long as 0-02 doesn't provide
the chief shepherd immunity, 'He' too would have to abide by the laws on
the notice.
"'He' was originally from Feysac, so 'He' is undoubtedly not a citizen
of Belltaine. 'He' is unable to enjoy the treatment of the locals.
Similarly, although 'He' is an angel from elsewhere and not a foreigner
in the narrow sense of the word---he isn't human, 'He' too will be
pursued by the citizens. This can be confirmed."
"In short, that chief shepherd has to abide by the curfew and not
trespass private residences. He can't hide in a public area that isn't
open to the public at night. At the same time, as a fugitive, 'He'
likely doesn't have companions who have dual traits like Biles. Tell me,
where do you think 'He' will be?"
Roy's eyes darted around as he gave several answers:
"Sewers, cemetery, cathedral before midnight, abandoned buildings..."
"You can't enter the cemetery at night. The abandoned buildings are
owned by someone or some group by virtue of its property rights," Pasha
reminded.
"Yes. Once the sewers are restricted, we will head to the cathedral to
search for the chief shepherd or wait for "Him," Klein said in a relaxed
tone as though he was deciding on a trivial matter.
Roy, Phil, and the others were stunned. They hadn't expected that they
would be able to lock onto their target so easily.
It just took a few words of discussion to expose an angel's whereabouts!
"However, there are quite a few cathedrals in Belltaine. We have to act
in concert to save time. Also, the cathedral might be able to forcefully
resist the punishment by relying on 'His' level as an angel and his
powers." With that said, Klein lowered his head and said to the magic
mirror in his hand, "Arodes, monitor the entire city and pay attention
to any anomalies."
After giving his instructions to the mirror, Klein once again dragged
Ma'am Arianna out of the fog of history and asked "Her" to be in charge
of the cathedrals of the Church of Evernight.
After doing so, he turned around and said to Roy, Pasha, and company,
"If we still can't find the chief shepherd after all that is done, it
means that 'He' has either left Belltaine, leaving 0-02 behind to attack
the enemy, or he has already gained control of 0-02 to a certain extent.
In short, we can proceed by means of elimination for now."
Roy and company nodded in unison as they continued following Klein in
the sewers.
After a few minutes, the ancient silver mirror reflected a scene:
On the signboard, there was another piece of paper with new rules:
"...Because of municipal maintenance works, no living being is allowed
to enter the sewers from now on."
"Content is being added at an increasing rate..." Klein frowned
indiscernibly as he muttered to himself before taking out a
human-skinned glove.
Immediately after, he gestured for Pasha and the others to hold hands.
Then, he grabbed one of them by the shoulder and led them out of the
sewers to "Teleport" to the nearest Storm cathedral.
During this process, the four Beyonders first saw the rats and
cockroaches in the sewers twitching as they died one after another.
Following that, they were attracted by the strange and abstract spirit
world, as though they had suffered some sort of catharsis at the mental
level.