Chapter 1295: The Aftermath from the War's Frontlines

"Don't save me... Don't save me..."

Being located in Sefirah Castle and having accommodated The Fool's card,

Klein already had the status of a King of Angels. He no longer suffered

any direct corruption from Mr. Door's cries, but the contents of the

cries made his scalp tingle. His pupils dilated, and he couldn't help

but feel a sense of horror surging in his heart.

He originally believed that Mr. Door was constantly shouting for help,

but what he heard now was:

"Don't save me!"

Amidst Klein's silence, the weak, wispy voice pierced through his Spirit

Body like needles. After shouting for more than ten seconds, it suddenly

changed.

"Help me... Help me..."

This time, there was a certain change in the language used.

"..." Klein expressionlessly leaned back into his chair and listened for

nearly ten seconds.

Following that, he removed his control over the Master Key and the

Scarlet Lunar Corona's Historical Void projection, allowing the

atmosphere of the space above the gray fog to completely return to

silence.

Phew... He exhaled as he tapped the edge of the long mottled

table out of habit and muttered to himself, *Mr. Door is indeed

half-mad, but the mad part isn't the "Him" who is desperately screaming,

but the "Him" who appears calm, the one that's able to communicate with

people rationally... The latter can influence the former to a certain

extent, distorting the contents of "His" shouts?*

*When Mr. Door is lucid, "He" actually shouts "don't save me"... To a

King of Angels who had been imprisoned for more than a thousand years,

this definitely isn't a normal reaction. Unless "He" feels that "He"

will bring a disaster that "He" doesn't wish to see upon returning to

reality... A King of Angels that has completely lost control?*

*Together with Mr. Door's communication with the Emperor, and how "He"

had been constantly enticing him to visit the moon which is occupied by

an Outer Deity. There is another possibility to this matter:*

*Mr. Door, who was exiled, lost the protection left behind by the

original Creator. "He" encountered the corruption of a particular Outer

Deity and lost most of "His" rationality. "His" condition is only

slightly better than the Chained God...*

*The Apprentice pathway can wander the cosmos at Sequence 3. Mr. Door's

honorific name also includes the title of "Guide of the endless

cosmos"... Does this mean that before this King of Angels was exiled,

"He" might have already made contact with Outer Deities and came under

some influence?*

*Yes, what does Miss Magician's final glimpse of the crimson land,

pyramid-like buildings, and cosmos in a different area represent? This

doesn't seem like it's in the current solar system, but it's a little

different from the mausoleum that a Black Emperor needs... It's the lair

of some Outer Deity who affected Mr. Door; or should I say that when Mr.

Door became a Planeswalker and left legends behind on other planets with

living beings, this is one of "His" anchor points? It's highly likely

the latter, because when Miss Magician saw this scene, she didn't

encounter any corruption from the cosmos...*

The more Klein thought about it, the heavier his heart became. This was

because it was possible that this was a reflection of how the apocalypse

would dawn.

The apocalypse was definitely not something that wouldn't happen by not

thinking about it or pretending not to know!

*It's no wonder Yellow Light Venithan had prophesied that the day when

the curse is removed is the beginning of the true disaster for the

Abrahams... Mr. Door keeps calling for help, causing the Abraham family

to be unable to produce another demigod. Perhaps it's a certain form of

protection... Although this will make the Abraham family lose their

status and most precious items, making them mediocre, it can at least

save their bloodline... Heh heh, in the prophecy, the solution to

resolving the curse is in the hands of an Apprentice who has obtained

the help of a secret existence...* Klein chuckled softly and had

an idea about the response to give Miss Magician.

He planned on getting Fors to give a half-truth when informing her

teacher.

Firstly, it was to emphasize that Mr. Door was already half-crazy and

extremely dangerous. Even communicating with "Him" implied tremendous

risks. Secondly, it was to not mention the second ritual for the curse

removal. All she would say was about the sacrificing of a Seer, a

Marauder, and an Apprentice demigod.

With the first point, the Abrahams could understand why their ancestor

was insistent on calling for help. This was because "He" had already

lost "His" mind and could do all sorts of terrifying things.

This could effectively eliminate the anxiety of the Abrahams, preventing

them from helping Mr. Door escape, and allowing them to quickly start

believing in The Fool.

The second point was to dispel the small number of extreme Abrahams who

wanted to try their luck. This was because they lacked the ability to

complete such a ritual.

At the same time, informing the Abrahams of the ritual increased the

trust they had in Fors.

*Ignoring the small number of Secrets Sorcerers available, those who can

become Bizarro Sorcerers are definitely very difficult to capture.

Furthermore, most of them are concentrated in the Secret Order. To deal

with them is to provoke Zaratul. Even if the Abrahams have a demigod,

and can use a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact for a short period of time, it's

impossible for them to complete the ritual so easily. Yes, dealing with

a Parasite is the most dangerous. If they aren't careful, they might end

up targeting Amon's avatar. When that happens, it will be equivalent to

serving Amon desserts...*

*Also, I'll use The World's Gehrman Sparrow in the future to remind Miss

Magician to keep her guard up against the Abraham family's

extremists...* Klein thought for a moment before replying Fors's

prayer.

After returning from the fog of history to the real world, Klein boarded

a steam locomotive and arrived at the capital of Midseashire. In the

past, it was the second-largest city in Loen, and also the frontline of

the recent war, Constant City.

...The damage suffered here is very serious... After getting

off the train and leaving the platform, Klein stood up high and looked

at the industrial city.

Although it was his first time here, he had seen all sorts of pictures

of Constant in newspapers and magazines.

Those photos were all black and white, and they recorded the various

aspects of this city.

Among them, there were three points that left a deep impression on

Klein:

Firstly, it was filled with chimneys and tall blast furnaces. It was as

though it was a man-made forest. It gave a striking visual impact, one

that was more representative of industry than Backlund.

Secondly, the majority of the buildings used concrete and steel. They

were more densely built than their counterparts in Backlund.

Thirdly, there were many places that were stained with coal ashes,

including the bodies of humans, but the air quality was better than

Backlund because the sea breeze was strong.

And now, the towering blast furnaces, chimneys, and tall buildings had

become rather sparse. All that was left was a pile of ruins.

However, in comparison, the damage dealt to the factory district was

lesser than the residential areas. This was because there were many

steel and military factories that were equally important to Feysac.

The death toll here is definitely more than 100,000... Klein

sighed inwardly. He carried his luggage and walked down the stairs to

the steam locomotive station and entered Constant City.

On the way to the hotel, he continued his acting as a Miracle Invoker

and randomly chose a young, burly man in his thirties.

"I'm a wandering magician. My best magic trick is to grant anyone's

wishes. Do you want to try it?" The previously thin-skinned Klein was

now able to strike up a conversation naturally.

The burly man glanced at him and waved his hand impatiently.

"Can you let my father, mother, two brothers, and a child be revived?"

With that said, he didn't wait for the magician to respond as he walked

towards the nearest public carriage station in a slightly irritable

manner. He struck his left chest with his right fist.

Klein stood where he was and maintained the smile on his lips as he

quietly watched the man leave.

He recalled a magazine he had read on a steam locomotive. It contained

several pages of images reflecting the current state of each cemetery in

Constant City.

The tombstones were similar to the original chimneys and blast furnaces.

The racks that held up urns of ashes resembled tall buildings that had

collapsed...

The entirety of Constant City seemed to be buried in a cemetery.

Retracting his smile, Klein walked around the already dried-up fountain

and walked to a nearby inn.

Along the way, he heard many pedestrians discussing haunted places and

the places with terrifying monsters.

"When I was passing by the Maris River, I heard a lot of people crying

in the water. I didn't dare to look and ran back into the city like the

wind..."

"That's nothing. I saw something even scarier on 9 Hyacinth Street!

There was a face plastered on the window there! A very pale face!"

"A few passersby disappeared behind my house, and the blood continued

all the way to the nearest ruin, but the police couldn't find the

bodies..."

"How terrifying. May the Goddess bless us!"

"Holy Lord of Storms. Let these ghosts and monsters stay away from us."

"By the way, City Hall has posted an announcement that we are to report

it to the police the moment such things are discovered."

*From the looks of it, the meatgrinder-like war made it impossible to

placate many corpses, allowing them to turn into ghosts. Phew, most of

the time, some of the dead might not even have their bodies left

intact... Yes, there are definitely many Beyonders who lost control due

to a mental breakdown or from losing their limbs... Also, most of those

who didn't consume the potion according to the normal procedures also

easily lose control... The Nighthawks and Mandated Punishers will

definitely clear up these matters, but at least in Constant City, people

might have encountered plenty of Beyonder matters for quite a long

period of time. After all, some ghosts and monsters are good at evasion

and hiding. They are innately very cunning...* Klein walked

straight and gained a new understanding of Constant's situation.

Here, encountering supernatural events was no longer a coincidence.

Instead, it was a daily occurrence with a certain probability.

At this moment, Klein saw a group of Nighthawks wearing red gloves and

black trench coats walk across the crossroad ahead of him. However, he

didn't recognize any of them.

*Indeed, the Cathedral of Serenity has sent the Red Gloves team to

help... Uh, what's happening nearby?* Klein nodded indiscernibly

and, following his spiritual intuition, cast his gaze to a particular

apartment building behind a pile of ruins.

On the fourth floor, behind an oriel window, a greatly rotting face was

plastered to the window, looking out through the glass. Pale yellow

liquid with black hints slid down the window one after another.