Chapter 549: High Elf

As the layered sounds of the illusory pleas rang in his ears, Klein felt

as though he possessed a corporeal body. The deepest part of his head

throbbed with pain, so much so that he yearned to slam his head into the

wall to alleviate the pain with more pain.

The scenes of different people praying to him made him feel an

uncontrollable and abnormally terrifying sense of dizziness. It was as

if he was walking the edge of a deep abyss and could fall down at any

moment.

It was only because he had his Spirit Body reinforced with the Black

Emperor card and Azik's copper whistle, as well as being accustomed to

being prayed to, which had prevented him from losing control straight

away like other non-demigod Beyonders. They would've already collapsed

to the ground in pain, turning into a monster or erupting into a mess of

flesh and blood.

*All of the Beyonder characteristics in this area have combined together

to form a Sealed Artifact with the help of the serpent fang. Moreover,

the degree of danger and negative effects have far surpassed that of a

Grade 2 Sealed Artifact...* Klein didn't rashly move forward but

instead took a few steps back and left the area where the praying voices

were concentrated, to ease the pain and dizziness that would've caused

his Spirit Body to collapse.

He stood next to Kalvetua's mashed body which resembled slush, and he

stared at the white scepter that was embedded in the half-collapsed

pillar. He considered how he could take it away.

At the same time, he naturally chose a name for the Sealed Artifact: Sea

God Scepter!

*Yes, from the feelings and reaction just now, I can barely get close to

it and pull it out, but I can only last a few seconds. There's no way

for me to hold it or use it... However, it doesn't matter. Once I have

it in my hand, I'll terminate the summoning ritual and return above the

gray fog. There, I can effectively block the thousands of prayers and

any of the still-unknown negative effects. It will allow me to study it

with ease...* Klein quickly came up with an idea.

In his wraith state, he could instinctively communicate with the spirit

world to receive a revelation without the need to toss a coin.

His spiritual intuition told him that doing so wouldn't be too

dangerous.

After making up his mind, Klein began to clean up the mess and take the

opportunity to see what he could find in the ancient elven ruins.

He first headed to the corner and picked up the translucent Biological

Poison Bottle, screwed the lid back on, and stuffed it into his body.

Then, he turned around to find an iron cigar case that was half-hidden

beneath the slushy remains of Kalvetua.

*This... I thought it had been swallowed by Kalvetua and corroded into

dregs...* Klein clicked his tongue in wonder and quickly walked

over.

Because he had been left feeling numb from the discharged electric

currents from the seawater, he raised his right hand, allowing the iron

cigar case to float slowly in the air before landing in his palm.

Klein glanced around and saw that the surface of the iron cigar case was

covered with corrosion marks. However, it was still barely usable. As

for the other items that were sucked away by the seawater whirlpool back

then, there were no signs of them.

*The aura of the gray fog made Kalvetua uncomfortable, so it vomited it

out right away, or has this iron cigar case undergone some sort of

mutation that makes it not prone to corrosion, allowing it to survive

until Kalvetua died?* Amidst his puzzlement, Klein placed the

cigar case into his body, planning to study it after he left.

Under such circumstances, he was in a race against time. He couldn't

afford even the slightest delay, because Klein didn't know when the

Church of Storms and the kingdom's military would find this place!

He walked around the half-collapsed pillar from a distance and entered

the rear of the hall which had almost completely collapsed.

There should've been many murals here, but with the destruction of the

walls, they had all disappeared. Klein flew all the way to the end

before seeing about a third of an exquisite throne being buried by

stones and pillars.

On the left side of the throne, there was half of a mural that depicted

a confrontation between two figures.

Looking down on the enemy from above was a man treading waves with dark

clouds above him. He seemed to have storms draped over him as he had

relatively softer features. His contours had an oriental trait from

Klein's past life. He held a spear formed of pure lightning in his hand

against an ocean that had drowned everything.

Beneath the man was a man wearing a simple white robe. His face was

blurry, and it was difficult to discern his age. It was only barely

possible to tell that he was a man.

There was a halo behind the head of the white-robed man. It quietly

emitted a bright light like the sun.

Beneath his feet was an illusionary circle with twelve segments. Each

segment had symbols representing different times.

Behind him was a shadow that was like a curtain, and within the shadows,

it appeared as though there was an eye peeking out from it.

Relying on his solid foundation in mysticism and rich knowledge from

many sources, Klein quickly made an interpretation.

*Waves, storms, dark clouds, lightning... This should be the ancient

god, Elf King Soniathrym... Indeed, he's just like the legends, with the

rather soft facial features of an elf... This ancient Lord of Storms

doesn't give off any irascible vibes, and his looks are surprisingly

good. Heh, this is a mural in an elven ruin, so it's normal for them to

beautify their own deity...*

*The sun-like halo and the twelve circular segments that symbolizes

time, this... Isn't this the father of Amon and Adam, the Creator who's

known in the outside world as the ancient Sun God and is revered in the

City of Silver as the omnipotent and omniscient God? There's a shadow

curtain behind him, and behind it hides an eye... Yes, one of the images

of the True Creator is the Eye behind the Shadow Curtains!*

*As expected, this is the Creator who took back the ancient gods'

authorities with eight King of Angels following him?*

*Is this mural a depiction of Elf King Soniathrym's battle against the

Creator?*

Klein retracted his gaze and began searching for something of value.

Following his spiritual intuition, he came to the throne, reached into

the base of the collapsed stones and pillars, and pulled out an object.

It was a flattened golden wine cup.

Its surface was engraved with intricate patterns, and its wine leg was

already bent. At the bottom was a row of elven words: "Calamity,

Cohinem."

*The original owner of this ruin is a high elf named Cohinem? Did he, or

should I say "He" have the title of Calamity? Hmm... It matches the Book

of Calamity that Leticia and company found. Both ruins should belong to

the high elf, Cohinem, and there should be some kind of miraculous

connection between them... Unfortunately, this golden wine cup is just a

simple wine cup. It carries a bit of spirituality simply because it's

inscribed with the true name of the high elf... If Cohinem hadn't

fallen, just a real name would imbue the wine cup with extraordinary

powers. What a pity...* Klein initially judged that Cohinem was

completely dead because Sea God Kalvetua had inherited his powers.

However, Klein couldn't be too sure, because despite it being hundreds

or thousands of years later, the Book of Calamity still had the quality

of driving Leticia, a Beyonder whose Sequence wasn't too low, to lose

control.

*Furthermore, it doesn't seem like it's something Sea God Kalvetua was

capable of... Could the high elf, Cohinem, have the ability to split his

Beyonder characteristics? Kalvetua only inherited a portion. Most of the

remaining Beyonder characteristics is the source of the Book of

Calamity's unique quality?*

Cohinem is dead, but he hasn't completely perished?

*Of course, Kalvetua, who swallowed Cohinem's Beyonder characteristic,

was just a beast without intelligence. No one knows what happened at

that time; perhaps some of the characteristics were lost and formed a

Sealed Artifact. After Kalvetua's defeat, it fell into the hands of the

Church of Storms...*

*Yes, I'll ask Little Sun via The World at the Tarot Gathering next

week. He should know who Cohinem is. Actually, there's no need to ask;

he'll be offering two pages of ancient god legends. Perhaps there might

be a detailed description of high elves next time...*

After thinking it through, Klein stuffed the wine cup into his body.

After all, this was made of gold, and even if the high elf, Cohinem,

wasn't dead and had some sort of connection with the wine cup, the gray

fog could still block him out.

After a thorough check, and seeing that there was nothing of note, Klein

quickly flew back outside and picked up the black hardwood cane before

wiping out any traces of the battle.

Then, he took out a paper figurine. With a casual shake, he threw it

into the seawater, causing it to quickly turn soggy before reducing to

dust.

*The earlier parts can be interfered with, but I won't have the time or

opportunity for the rest... Luckily, I am now disguised as Black

Emperor... As for the remains of Kalvetua, his flesh no longer have any

value, and his bones are too heavy. It might affect my ability to wield

the Sea God Scepter...* With the help of Cogitation, Klein

stabilized his state and quickly flew towards the white bone staff on

the half-collapsed pillar.

Again, the sounds of illusory pleas filled his ears. Either pious,

crying, fanatic, or numbed worshipers filled his vision, and the

throbbing and dizziness became more and more intense.

Relying on his rich experience and the Spirit Body reinforcement from

using the Black Emperor card and Azik's copper whistle, Klein barely

managed to hold on until he finally arrived beside the Sea God Scepter.

He extended his right hand, and he grasped the middle section of the

white-boned scepter.

As soon as the two made contact, the scene before Klein's eyes became

clear, and the buzzing sound beside his ears instantly became real.

He saw the bald, wheelchair-bound rebel, Kalat, collapsed on the ground,

struggling to reach the shattered figurine of Kalvetua, chanting its

honorific name over and over, his eyes filled with despair.

He saw Edmonton, with his blue sea serpent tattoo, prostrating himself

in front of another Kalvetua figurine which was strangely bleeding,

constantly knocking his head against the ground, creating a bloody mess.

In the slums, he saw believers hiding in their homes, weeping and

praying numbly.

Klein's black armor couldn't support his body anymore as it quickly

collapsed.

At the same time, his solidified "muscles" tightened as he exerted

strength with his hands. Amidst the layers of resonating prayers and

numerous clear scenes, he suddenly pulled out the short white bone staff

that symbolized the Sea God's authority!

Whoosh!

The seawater in the ruins surged violently, either churning or

transforming into a whirlpool.

Klein calmly held onto the Sea God Scepter with his pitch-black crown

before immediately vanishing. He directly returned above the gray fog.

When the familiar towering palace entered his sight, the sounds of

praying and the hallucinatory scenes in front of him had already

disappeared.

Sitting on the high-back chair belonging to The Fool, Klein lifted his

right hand and examined the Sea God Scepter inlaid with blue gems and

stained with some darkness and the light of dawn.

Countless points of light floated around the Sealed Artifact. Each point

of light seemed to correspond to a praying believer. This caused the

milky-white body of the scepter to glow with psychedelic and holy

streams of light.

At this moment, Klein felt like this scepter was the true body of the

Sea God!