Chapter 664: Every Second Counts

Mermaids?

Klein felt delighted as anticipation and excitement filled him.

Having left Backlund for nearly four months and experiencing a series of

events, he finally arrived at the destination of his travels. He was

completing the last condition needed for him to advance to Sequence 5

Marionettist!

His irascibility and frustrations had been constantly growing ever since

he entered these waters, and it was all thanks to the waiting. The

various ridiculous and humorous matters on the Future, the matters that

seemed abnormally harrowing on careful thought, and the dangers and

unknown things contained within the night, noon, and dreams in the ruins

of this war of gods had left him even more mentally tense. He lived

through every minute and hour with great torment.

Now, the pressure from these emotions finally had a chance of being

released!

Phew... Klein slowly heaved a sigh of relief. He directly

returned to the cabin and entered the room that belonged to him.

Without being flustered or letting the joy get to his head, he followed

the planned sequence of taking out Azik's copper whistle and Will

Auceptin's paper crane to interfere with the possible spying of Queen

Mystic.

After taking out the remnant spirituality of ancient wraiths, the pair

of eyes from a six-winged gargoyle, drago bark, and a metallic bottle

containing Sonia Island's Golden Spring from his suitcase, he spread

them across his desk, entered the bathroom, and locked the door. He then

familiarly set up the bestowment ritual.

After setting up the ritual, he wasn't in a rush to go above the gray

fog to respond to the prayer. Instead, he set up another ritual of

summoning himself!

While taking four steps counterclockwise and chanting the incantation,

Klein arrived above the gray fog. He responded to the summoning ritual

and used his Spirit Body state to come to the real world. He then

brought Tinder back to the mysterious space.

After doing all of that, Klein didn't relax. He came to the seat of The

Fool, conjured a pen and paper, and quickly wrote the divination

statement: "The singing ahead comes from mermaids."

Taking off his topaz pendant, he used divination to confirm the

situation.

The singing ahead of the Future was from mermaids!

After calming his emotions, Klein summoned the iron cigar case from the

junk pile and made it land on the ancient, mottled bronze table.

With a snapping sound, he opened the lid and saw the pupil-less

All-Black Eye sitting there in silence. He could sense the extreme

madness and danger from it, but it appeared to be in deep slumber.

After observing it for two seconds, Klein took out Tinder and slowly

wore it on his right hand.

After completing all of this, Klein didn't hesitate and reached out his

right palm and spread his fingers.

All sorts of blobs of light surfaced before his eyes. Grayish-white,

bronze-green, dark red, and black colors formed the foundation of this

mysterious space.

And inside the All-Black Eye, there was a flaring and flailing

iron-black beam lingering around the remaining colors.

Without using his spiritual intuition, Klein knew with certainty through

his understanding of objects that the True Creator's mental corruption

was represented by this iron-black light!

Feeling extremely wary, he closed his fingers and grabbed at the target

before turning his wrist.

The iron-black light was instantly extracted as it fused with Tinder.

Immediately, the illusory, evil, terrifying, and indescribable ravings

boomed in his ear like déjà vu.

This destroyed his line of thought as it ground at his psyche. It

brought about a fracturing pain to his brain, but it was soon repressed

by the gray fog's power and turned completely silent.

Klein didn't think further. He followed his plans and reenacted the

trial runs that he had practiced numerous times by grabbing Tinder with

his left hand, pulled it off, and threw it onto the stone ground of the

magnificent palace.

Right on the heels of that, Klein grabbed the All-Black Eye which was

now completely fine. He quickly replied to the bestowment ritual and

passed the Marionettist Beyonder characteristic through the illusory

door and into the altar in the bathroom.

He didn't dare delay any further. All he did was glance at the

evil-exuding Tinder which was tainted with an iron-black color as its

fingers twisted and its palm cracked opened. He then used his

spirituality to envelop himself as he stimulated a plummeting sensation

to return to the real world.

Klein opened his eyes, grabbed the All-Black Eye on the altar and ran

out into his room. While doing so, he had a thought. *If I allow

Creeping Hunger to watch what happens to Tinder and its outcome, I

wonder what its thoughts would be...*

Coming before the desk, from the side, Klein took out an iron pot that

originally belonged to the Future. He then poured 80 milliliters of

Sonia Golden Spring into it.

As the pale gold liquid slowly spread out in a clear and transparent

state, it made him subconsciously feel thirsty, as if he wished to drink

a cup of it to quench his thirst.

The items---drago bark, eyes of the six-winged gargoyle, and the remnant

spirituality of an ancient wraith---were thrown into the pot by Klein,

causing different reactions. Finally, the potion turned into a pale gold

color, but it looked ethereal as though it was weightless.

At this critical juncture, Klein became abnormally calm instead. He

steadily picked up the pupil-less black eye and dropped it into the

potion.

He had already confirmed that the True Creator's mental corruption

hadn't penetrated the gray fog or returned inside the All-Black Eye!

And this was something he had expected.

The All-Black Eye was instantly submerged by the pale gold liquid as the

surface began bubbling.

Every bursting bubble made the potion turn blacker. About ten seconds

later, all the changes came to a halt.

Inside the pot, the potion took form as a completely black liquid.

Inside, it seemed to contain countless tiny worms that were squirming

about, worms that couldn't be seen by the naked eye.

Klein took out a gold coin and made a quick divination as a

confirmation.

After receiving the revelation that it was a success, he heaved a sigh

of relief and poured the Marionettist potion into a metallic bottle he

had prepared and stuffed it into his pocket.

He didn't act in a fluster or rush. He followed the process he had

planned by quickly clearing up the altar in the bathroom, and he

retrieved Azik's copper whistle and Will Auceptin's paper crane.

At this point, he walked out of the cabin and onto the deck.

At this moment, the symbols and magical labels on the Future had once

again lit up, forming a resplendent sea of stars. It significantly

reduced the mermaids' singing.

Rumors claimed that the singing of mermaids could make humans lose their

reasoning and turn irrational. They would then jump off their ships to

become food for the mermaids.

Klein subconsciously nodded at the window corresponding to the captain's

cabin.

Admiral of Stars was standing there as her body swirled with starlight.

The gaze she sent back at him appeared mixed.

*Have you recalled what you said and how you acted in the

dream?* Klein lampooned as he said with a calm expression, "I

need a dinghy."

"It has already been prepared." Cattleya pointed towards the shipboard

without any signs of surprise.

Gehrman Sparrow had mentioned that his purpose was to seek out mermaids

back when he hired the Future!

Soon, Klein left the Future and the protection of the resplendent sea of

stars. He headed into the ocean on his tiny dinghy.

As the singing grew louder, a voice seemed to drill into his Spirit

Body, numbing his body, making him wish to hear more of it.

This was far from sufficient for Klein. Besides, his spiritual intuition

told him that he needed to be closer to make the singing clearer so as

to satisfy the requirements of the ritual.

"Storm!"

Klein took out a charm made of tin, and he summoned a controllable gale

that could push the dinghy ahead.

After an unknown period of time, the mermaid's singing increased in

volume. They were so clear, it was as though they were singing softly by

Klein's ears. Each tone stirred his Spirit Body, and the melody was

intoxicating.

Klein felt his mind adrift as he nearly jumped into the sea and swam

towards the source of the melodic singing.

He tried his best to control himself and discovered many reefs ahead.

Figures were seated at its edge as they sang.

These creatures with a human head had quite some beauty in their clear,

pure eyes. Their breasts were lifted up high, but they were also covered

by dark red scales. The lower halves of their bodies were comprised of

massive fishtails as they rhythmically struck the reef.

The mermaids looked different and had different colored scales. From a

human's standpoint, they were all a different kind of beauty.

Klein relinquished his control of the dinghy, raised his right hand, and

reached into his pocket for the potion.

At that moment, the mermaids sensed his approach and looked over.

Then, these creatures, who were also known as sirens, stopped singing

out of shock. All of them leaped into the water with a splash.

Don't go... Klein feebly reached out with his right hand.

*Isn't it said that you use your singing to attract humans for food? Why

are you running with a human here? I'm not a bad guy. I'm only here to

listen to your singing...* At this moment, Klein's heart was

filled with "what the f\\k" emotions.

He soon discovered that the mermaids' singing didn't completely stop.

Further away on the reef were a few mermaids with their backs facing

him. They didn't discover the fleeing of their companions, due to the

crashing of the winds as they continued boldly singing.

Klein's mind stirred as he thought for a moment and took out a charm.

This was the charm from the Sea God domain that gave the user affinity

with underwater creatures!

"Storm!"

Amidst the incantation, blue flames enveloped the tin plate, making it

vanish from the real world.

Although the remaining mermaids noticed him, they didn't flee in fear.

Immediately, Klein took out the metal bottle containing the Marionettist

potion and unscrewed the lid.

He made every second count so as to prevent any mishaps!

As he gulped the potion down, a somewhat bitter potion with a mustiness

surged down his throat, into his gullet, and into his stomach.

Suddenly, Klein found himself abnormally stiff. He felt as though he had

returned to Tingen, back when he was being controlled by the strange

puppet known as Sealed Artifact 2-049.

He tried moving his joints, but he felt as though they were filled with

lead.

At the same time, he felt that tiny worms were boring into every one of

his cells and into his Spirit Body.

His thoughts slowed down as his brain reflected the gradual loss of

control over his body.

The mermaids' singing floated over, stirring those desires, the

accumulated fanaticism and infatuation, allowing Klein to hold onto his

final lumps of emotions. Through this temptation, he slowly escaped the

state of petrification.

A grayish-white fog quickly surfaced before his eyes as he heard the

illusory ravings of "Hornacis... Flegrea... Hornacis... Flegrea..."

Compared to his advancement to a Seer, Clown, and Magician, these

ravings appeared staccato, as though they were being disrupted by

something.

*It's different from when I became a Faceless. The ravings are clearly

much stronger. It can intermittently break through the obstacles

produced from the fusion of the powers of the gray fog and reality... I

can think again!* Klein was delighted as he attempted to raise

his arm.

His joints still felt heavy, but the feeling was weakening!

At the same time, Klein "saw" his present appearance.

His skin was yellowish-brown, like a puppet that had been buried alive

for years with old bandages.

Fleshy tendrils were hidden beneath his skin as they squirmed,

separated, and fused.

Klein immediately outlined the countless spherical lights in his mind,

and he used Cogitation to calm his present state.

During this process, the mermaids' singing continued to reverberate in

his ears, allowing his joints and muscles to twitch before the numbness

slowly receded.

After an unknown period of time, Klein opened his eyes, his body having

completely restored to normal.

He took a deep breath and silently sighed.

Finally...

I'm finally a Sequence 5!

I'm finally a Marionettist!