Chapter 416: Two Rights Make A Wrong
Kacha!
When Klein saw Isengard Stanton's back cave in, even he felt a faint
pain in his spine.
Isengard fell to the ground with a thud, seemingly instantly losing
consciousness from the pain.
Kaslana, on the other hand, stood in her original spot, gasping for
breath with a blank look in her eyes. Her forehead was covered in cold
sweat, and there was no follow-up attack.
It was as if she had just awoken from a long nightmare caused by her
emotions. All the strength in her body had completely disappeared from
her previous outburst.
Huff! Puff! Kaslana's body swayed, on the brink of collapsing.
Klein's eyes narrowed as he rushed up to Isengard Stanton in two steps.
He kneeled and tried to help him up.
Isengard, who was sprawled on the ground, cried out in pain, "Run!
"Don't worry about me!"
Obviously, he didn't think that a three-person group which instantly had
one heavily injured member and another losing all her strength could
retain the Desire Apostle. Thus, he told Klein to immediately escape and
meet up with the official Beyonders; otherwise, all three of them would
die there and then.
At the same time, Isengard raised his right hand with difficulty,
attempting to use some of his Beyonder powers so as to attract the
attention of the official Beyonders who were quite a distance away.
As for the tiny "telegraph" with the trumpet, it had long since flown to
the wall because of Isengard's fall.
Klein showed hesitation and just as he was about to make a decision, he
saw a thick black "liquid" flowing down from the ceiling, quickly
forming a pitch-black figure.
The figure seemed to be completely wrapped in a black curtain, only
exposing a pair of cold blue eyes.
At the sight of him, Klein felt as if he was seeing the most intense
emotions and desires of a living creature: fear, wrath, greed, jealousy,
hunger, lust, etc.
The Desire Apostle didn't waste the situation he painstakingly created,
and he entered the activity room almost immediately.
At this moment, out of the three-person team of detectives, Kaslana was
exhausted from the outburst of emotions, while Isengard Stanton's spine
was severely injured, causing him to lose his ability to partake in
combat. Only Klein was left unscathed.
However, other than his revolver and Beyonder bullets, all of his
mystical items were above the gray fog. Besides, he was facing a
Sequence 5 Desire Apostle, a powerhouse capable of nurturing a Devil
dog!
At that moment, the corners of Klein's lips curled up slightly.
His right hand, which had been placed on the wound on Isengard's back,
abruptly swiped, causing the obvious depression to shift to the side and
onto a rib!
The Magician's most miraculous Beyonder power: Damage Transfer!
It allowed a wound to be transferred once on a body, turning a serious
injury into a minor injury, but it was unable to transfer the damage to
other people or items!
When Klein saw that Isengard Stanton was injured, he had already thought
of the subsequent countermeasures.
By first acting as if they were out of solutions to make the Desire
Apostle appear, and then transfer the great detective's wound to leave
him with only a slight fracture in his ribs, Klein believed that
Isengard would then be able to deal with the Desire Apostle with him. It
was a struggle for survival that all humans on instinct.
In this way, even if the Desire Apostle realized that something was
amiss, it would be too late for him to escape. Once Klein completed the
"treatment" and joined forces with the great detective, they would be
able to stall the target until the official Beyonders arrived!
Almost at the same time, the ring that Isengard had pointed outwards
began to produce greenness that was filled with vitality. A faint glow
soon enveloped Isengard's body, allowing his wounds to quickly heal.
The fracture on his ribs was instantly healed.
The great detective's pain was real, but his helplessness was just an
act!
However, this overlapped with Klein's help.
When the Desire Apostle who was about to take action saw this scene, his
eyes suddenly widened, and his body stopped abruptly.
Being free from any ensnarement, he turned around and ran towards the
window.
During this process, his body quickly collapsed into a sticky black
liquid.
The liquid seeped into the ground, penetrated the wall, and disappeared.
Klein raised his right hand just in time to snap his fingers.
The Air Bullet went through the open window and shot outside, sending
sparks flying everywhere. However, the Desire Apostle had completely
disappeared.
*He ran really fast, without any hesitation at all... Are you a Devil or
not?... This will only make things worse in the future...* The
corner of Klein's mouth twitched as he turned to look at Isengard
Stanton who had rolled around and stood up.
The great detective happened to look at him.
"You're capable of healing wounds?"
"You're capable of healing wounds?"
The two of them opened their mouths at the same time and asked the same
question.
After looking at each other, Isengard shook his head and smiled
bitterly, "I never expected that the trap I set would allow him to
escape."
As he spoke, his ring began to glow, and he looked around to confirm
that the Desire Apostle had already left.
Isengard then gave a brief explanation.
"I didn't have the chance to mimic the healing ability this afternoon.
Later, I believed that I could use this to set a trap and make the
Desire Apostle appear by making him think that I'm injured. Therefore, I
deliberately bundled my wound in an exaggerated manner."
He pointed to the cushion that elevated his left arm to his shoulder.
"Sure enough, it worked. But I didn't expect you to be able to deal with
serious injuries, and..." Isengard sighed softly.
As a result, both of them putting "healing" the injuries as their top
priority. No one held back the Desire Apostle, so the moment he realized
that something was wrong, he immediately fled.
*Both Stanton and I had trump cards that the Desire Apostle didn't know
about, and we wanted to use that to trick him. Who knew that we would
cancel each other out and allow him to flee... Is this the so-called two
rights make a wrong?* Klein helplessly laughed.
"This is because we don't know each other well enough, and we didn't
have good teamwork."
"No, it's my fault," Isengard said sincerely. "When I saw that you
didn't run away or defend yourself, and instead came over to help me, I
should've deduced that you weren't flustered, that you had the
confidence and means, but unfortunately while wearing this ring, my
brain remained in a highly-taxed state. I wasn't able to consider
anything else."
*So Sealed Artifact 2-081 will passively reduce one's
intelligence...* Klein smiled and said, "Mr. Stanton, it's not
the time to discuss who's responsible. The Desire Apostle has already
fled. We should consider our subsequent actions."
Isengard took off his ring and turned to the door of the activity room.
"The official Beyonders are arriving soon. I'll go outside to calm
Stuart and the others. After that, we can come up with a plan. Are you
joining me, or do you plan on handling some of your matters?"
*The official Beyonders... Mr. Stanton previously mentioned the
Nighthawks, the Machinery Hivemind, and the military... Please don't be
an acquaintance... Yes, my spiritual intuition hasn't warned me, so it's
probably not... Mr. Stanton is giving me a chance to clean up and
dispose of any sensitive items so that I don't get into trouble with the
unfriendly official Beyonders...* Many thoughts flashed through
Klein's mind as he asked, "Mr. Stanton, when you grasped the Desire
Apostle's location, where was he?"
Isengard thought and said, "Your bedroom. He was sitting in front of
your desk."
...How arrogant... Klein pointed out the door and said, "I'll
head over there to investigate. I'll see if he left behind any traces.
"If we can figure out what the Desire Apostle truly looks like, it'll
definitely make apprehending him much simpler.
"I'll leave the rest to you."
"Alright." Isengard moved to the side and helped up the weak Kaslana.
Seeing this, Klein suddenly found it amusing.
*Having discussed so much and made preparations to set up a trap, we
still failed to retain the Desire Apostle and ended up in this state...
There are always more accidents than preparations... That's why Magician
is just a Sequence 7...*
After leaving the room, Klein went straight to the second floor and
entered his bedroom.
The arrangement inside remained unchanged, and even the distance between
the chair and desk was no different from before. However, Klein seemed
to see a figure wrapped in a pitch-black liquid.
He sat there, looking straight ahead, waiting patiently and calmly for a
chance.
As expected of a Coldblooded... Klein looked at the glass
panes of the oriel window and felt that he could divine if it had
reflected something.
*The Devil pathway is good at crime, so it wouldn't be so easy for him
to leave clues behind... However, I can try going above the gray fog to
give it a try...* Klein inspected the area and began to burn
some of the mysticism notebooks he wrote in passing.
Not long after he finished dealing with the items, he saw a few
strangers coming up to the second floor.
The leader of the group was a man with a stiff face but a head of
frizzled, messy, and stubborn brown hair.
In his hand was an ancient silver mirror with strange patterns. On both
sides of the mirror there were black gems which were decorated as
"eyes."
"Hello, Mr. Moriarty. I am Ikanser Bernard of the Church of the God of
Steam and Machinery. Can I inspect this place?"
Klein immediately nodded and said, "No problem."
He then politely said, "Do you need me to follow you and answer any of
the questions you might have?"
"Alright. Sorry for the trouble. Mr. Stanton has mentioned to me about
your situation," Ikanser said with a smile.
Several of his team members followed behind him. They treated him
differently---some ignoring him, some curious, some filled with
hostility.
*My situation? How exactly did Mr. Stanton introduce me and what story
did he make up?* As his thoughts raced, Klein followed Ikanser
into the bedroom again, while the rest of the official Beyonders paired
up, each responsible for a different zone on the second floor.
"This is where the Desire Apostle sat?" Ikanser pointed at the chair in
front of the desk.
He had clearly asked Isengard Stanton.
"Yes," Klein answered frankly.
Without another word, Ikanser raised the silver mirror and stroked its
surface three times with his right hand.
After a short pause, he said in a deep voice, "Honorable Arrodes, my
question is: 'What did the Devil who was previously sitting here look
like?'"
The lights around them suddenly turned dark, as if enshrouded by mist
after a rainstorm. A strange aqueous glint appeared on the surface of
the silver mirror, forming a scene: a man covered in a sticky black
"liquid" sat on a chair with his back to the window while he faced the
bed.
Immediately after, the scene changed. The mirror in the corner vaguely
reflected the dark shadow's side profile which was similarly covered by
the "pitch-blackness."
But he could vaguely make out an outline.
The Desire Apostle had very high cheekbones and a pair of cold-looking
blue eyes.