Chapter 322: The Thrilling Night

The twelfth case!

That Devil serial murderer!

The moment he saw the corpse and heard the sound, Klein's hair stood on

end. He knew that he had encountered a bad situation.

Within his line of sight, the living room's decorations were mostly

brilliant yellow and bright. There was nothing unusual about the coffee

table and sofa. Only the carpet was stained bright red with blood as it

slowly soaked through.

On the side of the wound on the female corpse's abdomen, which was

completely empty, sat a large sized black dog. Its mouth was half open,

revealing many sharp white teeth that sent shivers. On each tooth, there

were dark red marks like iron rust. This seemed to be the result of its

prolonged consumption of flesh without frequent brushing.

At this moment, the large black dog's teeth were still wrapped around

blood-red small intestines, as well as bits and pieces of raw meat.

Its head turned over, and its eyes which resembled magma reflected

Klein, who was dressed as a worker, and his disguised face.

"Grunt!" The large black dog let out a roar which sounded like it was

showing dominance.

*It really is an animal! It's a Sequence 6 Devil, a Devil which is about

to advance! And none of the preparations that I made today were for

it...* These few thoughts instantly flashed through Klein's

mind.

Suddenly, the black dog's body expanded rapidly, turning into a two-to

three-meter tall monster. On its back, a pair of giant bat wings slowly

spread open, and beside its ears, goat horns covered in mysterious

patterns grew out.

Red and blue flames leaped from of its luxuriant fur as the strong smell

of sulfur followed.

Almost at the same time, Klein stomped on the ground. Instead of

retreating, he advanced, swinging his cane as he shot out at the

gigantic Devil dog like a cannonball.

Schwing!

The black Devil dog quickly pounced forward. Its sharp claws created

afterimages as it swiped at Klein's body.

Without a sound, its claws had penetrated the figure, as if they were

piercing through the air!

Klein's figure became faint as it quickly turned transparent.

It was just an illusion!

It was an illusion created by Klein!

At this moment, he had already rolled on the ground and closed in

towards the oriel window. Then, with his left hand pressing down, his

entire body flew into the air, directly smashing through the glass.

After identifying the enemy, he made up his mind to escape!

Upon seeing this, the eyes of the huge Devil dog immediately lit up like

magma, as if there was a raging fire inside.

It opened its mouth, which emitted a putrid smell, and said a word

filled with foulness, a word that came from the Devil language, "Die!"

Oof!

Klein's body suddenly stopped, his heart felt as if it was being tightly

clenched by an invisible hand.

The figure that was frozen in midair instantly became thin and dim,

turning into a crudely cut paper figurine.

And this paper figurine was covered with red rust!

Smash! Clang! Two sounds of indistinguishable order sounded.

Klein's figure appeared again, smashing through the oriel window and

pouncing towards the stone paved street. The Paper Figurine Substitute

slowly floated down as it ignited and emitted the smell of sulfur.

The Devil dog let out a low growl and pounced again, jumping onto the

windowsill.

A crimson-blue fireball flew out from its mouth, blasting in the

direction of its enemy's escape route.

The moment Klein landed on the ground, he immediately followed up with

another roll. The crimson-blue fireball smashed to his side, but it

didn't explode immediately, as if it was being affected by an invisible

force as though it was being detained.

Boom!

Only after Klein had scrambled a distance away did the fireball expand

and explode, shattering the surrounding stone pavements.

Seeing that the Devil dog was about to pursue him, Klein opened his

mouth, having prepared for this.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Murder! Save me! Murder! Save me!"

His voice seemed to be augmented with special effects. It echoed far and

wide through the silent night, waking the residents of the entire street

and sending them into the ears of the patrollers who were two streets

away.

The giant Devil dog paused in its pouncing posture. After thinking for a

second, it retreated back into the room and began to clean up the scene.

Klein's sprinting figure also disappeared under the shouts of "murder"

and "save me."

Inside a nearby fireplace that had long since been extinguished, the

remnant charcoal suddenly reignited, and an exaggerated flame rose up.

Klein seemed to be performing a magic trick as he appeared out of the

flames. With a light leap, he held his cane and jumped out.

Then, he used the Master Key to open the door, tear through walls, and

quickly escaped in another direction.

*Phew, at a time like this, a scream without Beyonder powers is much

more useful than simulating gunshots...* Klein sighed as he took

out a bottle of Amantha extract and dripped a few drops on himself.

As the original race of the Devil was of the dog species, he had to be

wary of its scent-tracking abilities being one of its special powers!

In this way, Klein continued on until he reached another cross-junction.

Only then did he stop and look around.

Seeing that it was relatively quiet and unaffected, he hurried to the

side of the street and hired a rental carriage.

It was only after the carriage had traveled a certain distance in the

night when Klein finally heave a breath of relief. He knew that the

Devil wouldn't catch up to him.

*This Master Key is really strange... I actually got lost and found

myself at the scene of the murder. I have to be a lot more careful when

using it in the future... That really was a Devil transformed from an

animal... Where did its potions and formulas come from? Does it have a

human companion? How did it pick its target for the serial

murder?*

*Hmm, what's gratifying is that after confirming this point, it will be

much more difficult for it to commit crimes again, and the probability

of getting caught will also greatly increase...*

All sorts of thoughts and questions appeared in Klein's mind as the

carriage sped along the wide, deserted road which was lined with gas

street lamps.

Suddenly, Klein's heart skipped a beat, and an image naturally appeared

in his mind.

Pea vines drooped down from the sky and interweaved to form a dense

forest. However, the carriage driver didn't seem to notice and continued

to drive the carriage across the green vegetation.

No good!

Without hesitation, Klein lunged for the window, about to jump into the

street.

Bang! The carriage shook, and he was flung backward.

At the same time, those pea vines really drooped down!

Klein frowned as he attempted to use Flame Controlling to ignite the

carriage, but no sound came from his fingers.

At this moment, the surroundings had become abnormally quiet. Even the

sounds of the horses' hooves trampling and the rapid rumbling of the

wheels over the green vegetation had disappeared.

Klein tried his best to calm himself down as he looked out the window

and saw that the carriage had been driven into the air, following the

road of pea vines.

No, this isn't Backlund... He narrowed his eyes.

At this moment, the carriage stopped. Outside the window, the pea vines

had formed a hammock in the air.

A pair of feet in black leather boots drooped down, and a gentle but

emotionless voice entered Klein's ears.

"What were you doing?"

*It's that woman inside the museum... She's suspected to be a

High-Sequence Beyonder... She doesn't seem to recognize me. After all, I

had disguised myself with Azik's copper whistle... She must have heard

the cry for help and came over to check...* Klein's thoughts

were abnormally active at that moment.

He deliberately gulped and said, "I'm a private detective. Many friends

and I are investigating the recent serial murders.

"I have a mystical item called the 'Master Key.' It can open doors and

let me pass through walls, but it will cause the holder to get lost.

"It was during this process that I ran into the scene of the crime.

Because I wasn't the murderer's opponent, I could only shout for help

while running."

Everything I said was the truth... Klein silently added in his

heart.

After he finished speaking, there was temporarily no response from the

outside. However, he felt that a gaze had penetrated the carriage,

passed through the obstructions, and was directly inspecting the items

on his body.

*Fortunately, I left Azik's copper whistle and the bookmarks above the

gray fog just in case...* At that moment, Klein was very glad.

Caution and carefulness were indeed useful!

After the indescribable and torturous silence, the gentle but

emotionless female voice finally sounded again.

"That key has a certain curse. It must not be used unless absolutely

necessary."

As soon as she finished her sentence, the surroundings changed

completely. Everything---the pea vines, the road through the forest, the

road to the sky---had all disappeared. The carriage continued on the

streets, driving between the elegant iron-black gas street lamps.

Klein remained on tenterhooks until the carriage arrived near East

Borough, where he paid the fare of 8 soli.

Under normal circumstances, a rental carriage wouldn't enter any of East

Borough streets because it was likely to be robbed.

In one of the rooms on Black Palm Street, Klein changed his clothes and

went straight to sleep. He didn't attempt to return to Minsk Street

before midnight. The twelfth murder had just occurred, and it would only

serve to make Backlund's situation tenser.

He didn't immediately go above the gray fog to study the secret of the

"bookmark." He acted just as he had described himself to the mysterious

woman. He was a Low-Sequence Beyonder, a private investigator with some

Beyonder powers.

*Tonight sure was filled with surprises. It was rather thrilling. All I

did was steal something... Yes, most of the problems can be blamed on

the Master Key...* Klein made a self-deprecating comment and

quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, he breathed in the choking smog as he slowly strolled

home and picked up the newspapers and letters from his mailbox.

After opening the door, he casually flipped opened the newspaper to take

a look and found that the headline was as he had expected: "The twelfth

case!"

"The Devil has appeared again. The police have declared that they have

locked onto the murderer!"

As for the theft of the objects in the Royal Museum, it was only

mentioned in an inconspicuous location. In fact, the article didn't even

mention what the stolen object was.

The unstamped letter that came with the newspaper was a water bill that

Klein had to pay for himself. He glanced at it and casually threw it on

the coffee table. He then returned to the second floor to heat up water

for a bath.

He waited until the water vapor filled the bathroom before he seized the

opportunity to take four steps counterclockwise to enter the space above

the gray fog.

Inside the immutable ancient palace, Klein sat down and picked up the

bookmark that depicted the figure of Emperor Roselle.

It really wasn't easy getting you! He gently caressed the

surface of the cardboard and silently sighed.