Chapter 159: Bestowment and Sacrifice

Messy Chinese sentences were scribbled on the yellowish-brown goatskin.

"2nd August. This goes deeper than I imagined. History sure is something

that can be manipulated easily.

"5th August. I witnessed the abilities of a High-Sequence Beyonder

today. It was scary indeed. There's a qualitative change that has

happened to them in a particular aspect, it was as though they've

transformed into a deity. It's no wonder that we describe them as

'Demigods', though I think calling them 'Legendary beings' is more

fitting.

"6th August. There's something strange going on. Why would the Seven

Major Churches adopt such a strange attitude towards the potions? At the

low to middle Sequences, they not only provide the main ingredients to

those who managed to advance, but they're also generous enough to share

the formulas and demonstrate the process needed to create the potion.

They would also explain in detail if a ritual is needed to create the

medicine, yet finished potions are the only things they provide to those

who are advancing to the higher Sequences.

"This isn't logical. Shouldn't they keep the formula a secret for the

lower Sequence potions and give the candidate the completed potion since

it's relatively easy to gather the necessary ingredients and create the

potion? As for the higher Sequence potions, shouldn't they share the

formula and make the promising members search for the ingredients due to

the difficulty of obtaining the main ingredients?

"There must be some hidden secret to this.

"9th August. The events of the past two days have made me feel

uncomfortable. I started the Industrial Revolution with my own hands and

personally ushered in the Age of Steam and Machinery, but this will only

become the hotbed for the descending of an Evil God upon this world?"

*What does he mean? The conditions necessary for the Evil God to descend

upon this world?* Klein knitted his brows, his index finger

tapped on the edge of the ancient table.

*Did Mr. Fool encounter a difficult problem? Anything that can trouble

him must be something of another level...* Audrey looked at the

leader obscured by the thick fog and interpreted his state through his

body language.

Klein was indeed pondering over the problem related to the upper

echelons, but he didn't arrive at an answer. He considered the

possibility of using divination to gain some sort of revelation.

*Yes, it would be impossible to divine something of use with such simple

sentences. I'm not a prophet... What if I divine with the statement,

"the conditions necessary for the Evil God to descend upon this world"?

It feels too risky... The Evil God might not be as horrifying as the

Eternal Blazing Sun, but its abilities might be much more mysterious. It

might be able to trace the divinations back to me. There's also no way

to divine how large of a risk I'll be taking if I were to divine that

statement. After all, just divining if something poses any danger is

dangerous once it has deities involved...*

*I'll keep this question in mind and put more effort into

observation.*

*The arrangement of the Churches regarding potions is indeed mysterious.

I wonder what kind of secrets they're hiding? Perhaps I'll receive some

hints about that once Spirit Medium, no, Spirit Guide Daly is made

Archbishop or a high-ranking Deacon and enters the core of the

Church...*

*Roselle's description does make me look forward to the power of

High-Sequence Beyonders...*

Many thoughts flashed through his mind before Klein stopped tapping on

the edge of the ancient table and looked at Justice, The Hanged Man, and

The Sun.

"You can start your discussion freely now."

Alger immediately said, "Mr. Fool, Miss Justice, I received a new piece

of information. Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos infiltrated Backlund to

complete a difficult mission. He might stay for an extended period of

time and create an appalling tragedy. Also, I know that this incident

involves a very important item, an item that would allow Qilangos to

quickly become a High-Sequence Beyonder."

"Quickly become a High-Sequence Beyonder? Does he not fear losing

control of himself?" Audrey asked, adopting the posture of a Spectator.

Qilangos was only a Sequence 6 Wind-blessed, so there was still a

Sequence between him and Sequence 4.

Alger had expected this question. He answered honestly, "That's why the

object is important to him."

"Of course, those are simply my deductions. The information I received

goes like this: Qilangos believes that once he completes the commission

and obtains the object, he will be the equal of Nast, the King of the

Five Seas. The Four Pirate Kings would then become the Five Pirate

Kings, and the Seven Pirate Admirals will be reduced to six.

"The average person might not aware of this, but as Beyonders, we should

know that Pirate Kings are either High-Sequence Beyonders or are able to

reach the combat strength of a High-Sequence Beyonder with the use of

Beyonder ships and mysterious items. For Qilangos to be acknowledged as

their equal, he must reach standards that are close to that. That's my

deduction."

*All I know is that the King of the Five Seas, Nast, is a Sequence 4

Beyonder, but I'm not sure of the name of his potion...* Klein

listened on silently, not giving his opinion.

The Sun, Derrick Berg, didn't understand anything The Hanged Man said.

He didn't know who was who, but he still listened attentively. He felt a

new door had presented itself in his world.

*Pirates? The place they live in has seas that are mentioned in books?

Then, the environment these people live in is very different from the

City of Silver... They don't seem to be very worried about the curse or

the attacks of the Things of the Dark. It definitely makes me very

curious... But, Mr. Fool once instructed me not to ask about the secrets

of others. It's a very rude gesture...* Derrick thought in his

heart, once again observing The Hanged Man and Justice.

"You deduction is very reasonable. Of course, that could also be a

mysterious item that could hold its own against a High-Sequence

Beyonder," Justice replied with a smile.

The Hanged Man looked at the fog-enshrouded Fool, pondered over his

words, before he looked at Justice and emphasized, "There are two key

points in what I said just now, the first being the fact that Qilangos

will stay in Backlund for some time. The second is that the incident

involves a very important and very mysterious object."

*So, Mr. Fool, are you not tempted? There is ample time for you to send

your Blessed to Backlund...* Alger added in his heart but didn't

dare say it out loud. All he could do was beat about the bush.

*Mr. Alger, you don't need to emphasize this repeatedly, I know what you

are getting at... But my abilities do not allow me to interfere in these

matters. Furthermore, I can't leave Tingen without

permission...* Klein leaned back and thought in frustration.

*Ignoring the Blessed, I can actually find two relatively strong

Beyonders to help...*

*One is Daly, who has advanced to Sequence 6, but I cannot tell her

everything. The most I can do is mention that I've gotten some

information that Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos has infiltrated

Backlund and is living at a particular street and what he plans to do.

That way, Daly might directly enlist the help of the Nighthawks, making

the situation very complicated and troublesome... If you guys cannot

find anybody to help you when the time comes, then I can try that to

prevent a tragedy...*

*The second person is Mr. Azik, but I cannot expose my identity as The

Fool to him. I don't have a proper reason to get him to interfere with

this incident...*

Many thoughts flashed through his mind as Klein replied slowly, "I'm

aware."

Seeing how The Fool continued to not place much importance in the matter

regarding Qilangos, he sighed and held back his disappointment. He

started asking about the investigation Miss Justice conducted last week.

"...In conclusion, we have more or less targeted the general area

Qilangos will be at, and we'll soon start the next phase of

investigations." Audrey first gave a simple summary, then with the

attitude that she was doing something important, said, "We need more

information, preferably the hobbies and habits of Qilangos."

Alger recalled, "He loves to fish, especially fish from the sea. He

would slice it and eat it raw...

"He also likes hard liquor, and despises champagne, red wine, and the

like...

"He will often look for women to relieve his needs whenever he heads to

shore, and with his strong body, one woman will not be enough to satisfy

him...

"He's used to using cold weapons and avoids hot weapons.

"He cannot be away from water for long periods of time. What I mean is

that he needs to swim or dive once every couple of days."

Audrey committed these facts to memory, creating an ample character of

Qilangos in her mind.

"Let's hope that the investigation will be a success. It's a pleasure

working with you." She smiled after Alger was done.

"My pleasure." All Alger could do was force himself to believe in Miss

Justice, who had considerable power in Backlund.

Throughout the interaction, Klein seemed to be listening intently, but

in reality, his thoughts had been diverted to another question. That was

the question of how to deliver ingredients to Sun if he did manage to

obtain them.

Now that he had a passable understanding of the field of mysticism,

Klein instinctively followed the line of thought of using ritualistic

magic. This reliance was natural given the successes he had when using

ritualistic magic.

*When I was previously flipping through the confidential information of

the Nighthawks, I came across records of the Goddess bestowing holy

items to her followers. There were also records of items descending in

rituals involving evil gods or devils... Does this mean that I can

"bestow" someone something when responding to their prayers, and

transfer materials that way?*

*In previous attempts, I could only reply with thoughts containing

pictures and voices. But that doesn't mean that it'll always stay that

way... There could be some new changes when I advance to Sequence

8...*

*There's also something important to consider. Can I bring material from

the real world into the world above the gray fog? And... Hmm... Oh

right, there's often a step for "sacrifices" in rituals involving evil

gods and devils! Can I consider "sacrificing" something to

myself?*

*In that way, perhaps I can bring some material from the real world into

the world above the gray fog...*

*If this attempt is successful, I can get items directly from Justice,

The Sun, and The Hanged Man, and then bestow them to myself.*

*Yes, "sacrifice" is considered a more advanced ritual, so I won't be

able to learn of it for now...*

The most important thing to do now is to improve my abilities!

Klein reined in his thoughts, and once again listened in on the

conversation of the other members. He listened as their discussion

changed from Qilangos to the characteristics of particular monsters.

Sometime later, he smiled.

"Let's end it here for today."

"By your will." The Sun, Justice, and The Hanged Man stood up at the

same time.

After severing the connections of the members, Klein quickly descended

from the fog and left the mysterious space.

When he returned to his room, he dispelled the wall of spirituality and

pulled back the curtains by the oriel window, allowing the sunlight to

shine in.

*There are two important things to do this week. The first is to get

examined and advance to Sequence 8. The second is to make Flaring Sun

Charms. Its powers might be even higher than that of Sequence 7 or

6...* Klein looked outside with anticipation.

*Tomorrow. I should be able to receive the report of Mr. Azik's

paranormal disturbances tomorrow!*