Chapter 400: The Growth of the "Rookie"

In a dark and sturdy room, Derrick Berg, who had feigned

unconsciousness, suddenly rolled to his feet.

His Axe of Hurricane had already been taken away by someone and sent for

inspection. Every pocket on him had also been emptied out, leaving

nothing behind.

Derrick took a breath and looked around steadily.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up with two sun-like beams, causing everything in

the room to be reflected clearly in his eyes.

The furniture here consisted of only a table and two chairs. Apart from

these, there was also a stone-paved floor with strange patterns on it.

A half used candle was placed on the table. This was standard issue for

rooms in the City of Silver because monsters could suddenly appear if

the darkness prevailed for too long.

Without any hesitation, Derrick sat down and reached for the candle.

Then, he broke the candle and divided it into three sections---one was

three-quarters the length of the original piece, and the other two were

halved from the remaining quarter.

After Derrick's modification, the three candlesticks' cores were

completely exposed.

Pa!

He rubbed his fingers together, creating a golden flame that lit up the

three candles.

The two at the top represented Mr. Fool, and the remaining one

symbolized Derrick himself.

After finishing his preparations, Derrick didn't continue to burn the

herbal powder according to the normal processes. Instead, he poured in

the essential oil and leaned back, softly chanting the honorific name of

The Fool and quickly entered Cogitation.

He read it over and over again, monotonously, as if he were hypnotizing

himself.

With the help of Cogitation, Derrick entered a strange state where his

mind was in a deep sleep and the spirituality was dispersing. He felt

adrift, but also seemed to maintain a strange lucidity. His psyche kept

dispersing upwards as it rose in height.

This was "artificial sleepwalking."

Derrick, with the permission of Mr. Fool, could simplify some of the

unnecessary steps.

Above the gray fog, within the towering, ancient palace.

Klein, who was fiddling with the All-Black Eye, suddenly saw the crimson

star that symbolized Little Sun burgeon with light, condensing into a

human shadow, and the power of the mysterious space was stirred a

little.

Upon seeing this, he couldn't help but feel relieved. This meant that

Little Sun had already completed the relatively dangerous part of the

operation, and he only needed to "round up" the situation.

Klein didn't delay, and he immediately put down the All-Black Eye and

picked up the Black Emperor card.

He instantly rose in level and authority, forcing the stirred power in

the gray fog to submit to him.

Then, he picked up a paper figurine, flicked his wrist, and threw it

towards the crimson star corresponding to The Sun.

The paper figurine and the flowing power intertwined and quickly

expanded into a gigantic angel with twelve pairs of pitch-black wings.

The angel pierced through the crimson light and overlapped with the

illusory figure of Little Sun.

It silently combusted, turning into ashes in less than a second.

At this point, Klein could no longer affect the situation of the City of

Silver. As for whether his "angel substitute" could help Little Sun pass

the subsequent inquiries and investigations, he lacked absolute

confidence. He could only sigh inwardly.

*With what has to be done completed and with all the hard work put in,

all you can do is wait for fate's arrangement. Hopefully, it will be a

good result...*

In a daze, Derrick saw an angel descend before him with an aura that

covered the heavens, wrapping him with twelve pairs of black wings.

He suddenly came to his senses as three candles burned quietly in front

of his eyes.

After sincerely thanking Mr. Fool, Derrick finished the ritual and

extinguished the two candles which were part of the original quarter.

Then, he pulled them out and created a bright, golden flame in his palm.

Drip, drip, drip. The two candles quickly melted, dripping its

wax onto the remaining candle or the area surrounding it.

When the candle burnt away completely, there was only one candle left on

the table. It was shorter than before, but it wasn't very obvious. It

seemed like it had only been burning for a short time.

After removing the remaining traces, Derrick extinguished the last

yellow-flamed candle.

He sat up in silence, staring ahead. For a long time, he didn't do

anything.

He was worried that the six-member council wouldn't react fast enough,

allowing the exploratory team members to corrupt more residents of the

City of Silver with "mushrooms" and "Doom fruits."

He was afraid that the Chief and the others would find additional clues

elsewhere, thwarting all his preparations.

He hated those "outsiders," who lurked in the depths of the darkness,

constantly carrying strong malice, including Amon and the Fallen

Creator.

He felt guilty that he had avoided the expedition without warning Darc

and the rest, causing them to turn into corrupted monsters.

He had painfully eliminated a classmate who could be considered a friend

with his own hands.

Although Derrick didn't see Darc's ultimate end, he believed that a man

who had transformed into that state was already no different from dead.

Derrick didn't know how long he waited while experiencing those mixed

feelings. Midway, he even rekindled the candle.

Finally, he heard the sound of the seal being removed and the door

opening.

Turning his head to look, he saw, with the aid of the dim yellow

candlelight, a woman in a black skirt walk in. She had her hair tied up

in a ponytail and it hung down to her vest.

"Ma'am Aiflor," Derrick subconsciously called out.

Aiflor was a pretty woman, but she had wrinkles at the corners of her

eyes. She smiled and nodded in response, then she walked over with light

footsteps and sat down across him.

"Do you have anything you wish to say?" she asked gently.

Derrick instinctively lifted his head and looked over, only to suddenly

discover that her pupils had somehow turned into golden vertical slits.

His mind went adrift as he seemed to enter a sleepwalking state.

Aiflor adjusted the candle flame, letting the dim yellow light

completely shine on the boy's face.

Her pale golden pupils became increasingly indifferent, just like an

emotionless audience.

Suddenly, rings after rings of faint light appeared in those pale golden

vertical pupils. It seemed to form a vortex and constructed a maze.

In his stupor, Derrick felt himself drifting away into the endless

darkness and countless bright colors.

At that moment, he suddenly became clear-headed. He felt as if something

had ingeniously caught him in that state of reverie.

He saw the flickering yellow candlelight and Aiflor sitting across him

with her pale gold vertical pupils.

In a corner's shadow, a grizzled Chief, Elder Colin Iliad, walked out.

After nodding to the Chief, Aiflor asked Derrick, "What have you been

doing all this time?"

Derrick remembered his training and maintained the same state of mind as

before.

"I don't know. I've always been in a daze as if I was in a dream. Only

occasionally will I have clearness of mind..."

At the same time as his reply, two complex dark green symbols appeared

in Demon Hunter Colin's eyes.

Aiflor continued, "Do you know that you had a conflict with Darc

Regence?"

"I only remember that we were fighting... I felt like I had seen a man

hanging upside down on a cross and a man in a pointed hat and a crystal

monocle. Yes, I saw him back at the dungeon... He had opened his mouth

and spoke with a smile...." Derrick told a long story.

Aiflor looked at the Chief and pressed, "What did he say?"

"I can't remember. I can only remember one thing... He said with a

smile, 'Fallen Creator, True Creator... Shepherd...'" Derrick almost

failed to control his excitement.

He had taken such a risk just to tell the Chief the name of the Fallen

Creator and that a Shepherd was suspicious!

"The Fallen Creator... The True Creator... It matches with the content

on the murals at the bottom of the temple." Colin nodded slightly and

whispered with a frown, "Shepherd..."

"And then?" Aiflor's voice remained abnormally gentle.

Derrick answered in his stupor, "After that, they clashed, and there was

a lot of light, very bright lights. Then, I woke up and kept

coughing..."

The dark green symbols in Colin's eyes didn't fade this entire time as

he motioned for Evelyn to ask about the details.

Derrick answered selectively, and he had pushed the blame onto Amon

according to his script. He claimed amnesia on anything that went beyond

that.

Finally, Aiflor asked, "Where did you get the axe? Where did you get the

Sun pathway's potion formula?"

"I bought the axe from an underground market. That person was masked,

and I could only tell that he was male... The Sun pathway potion formula

was left to me by my parents. They had discovered it during an

expedition..." Derrick answered confidently.

These were points of suspicion that had always been there, so The Hanged

Man had assumed they were bound to ask them while he was questioned.

Therefore, he had made Derrick to repeatedly rehearse the answers.

Although the City of Silver's underground market was semi-open, there

were still people who tried to conceal their identities for a variety of

reasons. This provided the best explanation for Derrick.

After Aiflor finished seriously listening to him, she turned her head

sideways to Demon Hunter Colin and said, "He's not lying. There's no way

he can lie. I'm using the powers of Glory Crown.

Colin nodded his head and said, "In this state, he doesn't show any

traces of evil, degeneration, or corruption."

Discovering these traits was a special ability of a Demon Hunter.

As a High-Sequence job, Demon Hunters were the best at concealing their

movements and intentions, making it impossible for them to be detected

by targets who could foretell danger.

Therefore, every Demon Hunter was a Devil's nemesis.

After some thought, Colin got up and left the room. He said to the

shadow in the corner outside, "I'll release Derrick later. I think he's

fine for the time being.

"However, secretly monitor him for a while. If Amon is able to produce

two avatars, he might be able to create a third."

"Yes, Chief," the shadow responded respectfully.

After Derrick "woke up," the interrogation chamber was empty, with only

words informing him that he was free to leave.

He secretly heaved a sigh of relief as he began walking out. While doing

so, he thought of Mr. Hanged Man's advice: *"You can't relax just like

that and end up careless. The secret surveillance will definitely

continue for some time; otherwise, your Chief is lacking!"*

*Yes, I can't even recite the honorific name of Mr. Fool anymore for the

time being...* Derrick muttered to himself as he walked down the

spiral staircase.

As he was walking, he suddenly saw a familiar figure dressed in a

purple-striped black robe. It was the beautiful Shepherd Elder Lovia.

Her pale gray eyes swept over Derrick, and a gentle smile appeared on

her face.

Back in her room, with an indifferent expression, Lovia walked to the

desk and unfolded a piece of parchment that was made from leather.

Her left hand pinched the index finger of her right hand and snapped the

tip of her finger. However, not a single drop of blood dripped. It was

as if her blood had been gathered onto the surface of her finger.

With this finger, she drew a complex symbol on the piece of paper. It

was made up of a Pupil-less Eye which represented concealment, and the

Contorted Lines which represented change.

After careful examination, she wrapped the finger with this piece of

paper, stuffed it into her mouth, and bit on it noisily before

swallowing it all.

With only four fingers left, flesh and blood suddenly squirmed around

the wound on her right palm. It quickly grew into a new index finger,

one that looked slightly pale.

She lowered her head, looked at her palm, and whispered a phrase, "The

Fool?"