Chapter 921: Politeness First

When it came to the understanding of ancient gods, Klein knew as much as

many High-Sequence Beyonders. After all, he had the City of Silver who

had continued on from the Second Epoch to this day behind him. The

corresponding myths that were passed down the ages had left plenty of

influence.

Based on what he knew, Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace was a so-called ancient

goddess. Because of the City of Silver's Creator, the ancient sun god

who eventually ended up being consumed by the Kings of Angels dealt

heavy damage to "Her." Eventually, "She" perished towards the end of the

Second Epoch.

However, "Her" influence had yet to dissipate to this day. Signs of

"Her" existence remained because "She" was the founder of the

Underworld!

*City of the Dead... Unknown Soul... Ancient goddess... It sounds very

dangerous...* Klein looked at the radio transceiver in front of

him and fell silent.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Another piece of illusory white paper spat out:

"Apart from that, I'm unsure of the rest.

"Great Master, I have a suggestion. Would you like to hear it?"

That's a nice question... Klein reined in his thoughts and

nodded gently.

"Speak."

The clacking of the radio transceiver became increasingly brisker as a

new line of text quickly appeared on the illusory white paper:

"Regarding Calderón City, you can ask Red Light Aiur Moria."

I still have to ask Red Light in the end... Klein nodded

slightly and switched to asking, "Is there any danger if I were to

remove Admiral Hell Ludwell's mask?"

"No!" A decisive answer appeared before Klein's eyes.

That's good... he thought and said, "Let's end it here for

today."

"Great Master, wise Master, in another one or two minutes, a gaze will

be cast here! Your loyal and humble servant, Arrodes, will await your

next summoning. Goodbye\~" The radio transceiver began tapping without

any hesitation.

Another one or two minutes? Why didn't you say so earlier?

Klein was alarmed as though he was seeing a countdown timer on a bomb.

He hurriedly used the altar and material he had yet cleared to set up a

sacrificial ritual. He then threw the radio transceiver above the gray

fog.

After doing all of this and confirming that there weren't any anomalies

around him, Klein made Ludwell walk to the side and not face him

directly as he took off the silver mask.

Gloomy pale-white light spewed out, but it wasn't as exaggerated in his

battle between Klein and Ludwell. It only enveloped a small region like

an extinguishing candle.

Meanwhile, as the radio transceiver had been sent above the gray fog,

the gloomy, cold feeling that had disappeared in the nearby forest

appeared again. Furthermore, it had an indescribable sense of horror

that struck at the heart.

This reminded Klein of a cemetery and the legendary Underworld.

After waiting a few seconds, seeing that there weren't any additional

abnormal developments, he made his other marionette, Winner Enzo, to

circle to Ludwell's front and carefully observe the face that had been

masked for extended periods of time.

The face lacked flesh; its skin clung tightly to his bones without any

colors. It was as translucent as crystal.

Beneath the "crystal," transparent and indescribable shadows quickly

flowed out, at times fusing with the skull, and at other times they

shrank in gaps, surfacing on his teeth.

Compared to the first one or two months of his transmigration, Klein

would've been shocked by Admiral Hell's appearance, but now, having

already seen all kinds of odd Rampagers and mutated bodies, he wasn't

shocked by such looks.

After another round of research, Klein completely figured out Ludwell's

condition.

All of this stemmed from the unique traits of him being a Gatekeeper.

At Sequence 5, after becoming Gatekeeper, Beyonders could use their

bodies as cages that belonged exclusively to the Underworld, allowing

them to contain a certain number of souls, deceased, and natural

spirits. As such, they obtained all kinds of unique powers with powerful

helpers. There was no need to bring a huge undead army around in an

eye-catching manner.

This was the origin of many folk tales.

Another purpose of a Gatekeeper was an ancient role: to guard the

Underworld in their bodies, preventing the souls contained within from

escaping, and to use them. This similarly had the symbolism of a pair of

double illusory doors.

And after ancient Death, Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace, created the

Underworld, it was bestowing a small amount of the Death pathway's

authority to all Gatekeepers. This made Beyonders of this Sequence

receive an enhancement in strength.

The reason why Ludwell kept wearing the mask was because he had

contained a powerful Underworld creature in him. On the one hand, this

creature could be used by him, and on the other hand, it was eroding his

body, turning him into a half-human, half-dead existence. At the same

time, ultimately, this creature was innately connected to the

Underworld. It was attempting to open the door and return.

This was a combination of a Gatekeeper's own powers and authority, and

with the augmentation from Death's ring, it allowed Admiral Hell Ludwell

to enlarge the Door to the Underworld, allowing him to steer the Black

Tulip directly inside.

*Half-human and half-dead form... No wonder Ludwell dares to enter the

Underworld. A real living person probably can't survive a second

inside... Yes, that Underworld creature gives his body some traits of a

dead soul, allowing him to extract the Spirit Bodies of others remotely.

I had suffered from that back then...* Klein thought in

enlightenment as he made Ludwell wear the silver mask again.

The mask's purpose was to placate the soul. It allowed the Underworld

creature in Ludwell's body to be in a relatively calm state most of the

time.

After resolving his puzzlement, Klein cast his gaze back onto the altar.

He wanted to attempt to contact one of the spirit world's Seven Lights.

In this aspect, there were special secret deed rituals and the

corresponding spirit channeling ritual he could choose from. After some

consideration, Klein chose the latter. This was because a secret deed

ritual required him to open up his mind and spirit, allowing the

targeted existence to make contact and thus obtain certain knowledge,

strength, help, and a spiritual experience. This also meant that his

body's thoughts and secrets were open to that existence.

And through the spirit channeling ritual, there were two types---direct

communication and praying for a soulfall. As the spirit world's Seven

Lights were extremely lofty existences, Klein couldn't guarantee a

response based on the ritual's request. Therefore, although he wished to

communicate remotely via spirit channeling, he had to make preparations

for a soulfall to show his sincerity.

Lighting three candles and dripping liquids like mint essential oil,

Klein specially took out a paper figurine and placed it on the altar for

the vessel for the soulfall. If there wasn't anything similar, the

supplicating target would soulfall onto him, just like how Danitz had

requested Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina's soulfall back then. There were

also two scenarios. First, the possessed body would lose all their

senses, and they would have the corresponding existence control a

certain part of their body so as to facilitate providing a question and

answer. The simplest example was one using the mouth to speak while the

other controlled a hand to write.

Klein quickly completed the first part of the ritual before he took a

step back, opened his mouth, and chanted in ancient Hermes, "I!

"I summon in my name:

"I pray to communicate with the inextinguishable light of the spirit

world, the embodiment of infinite knowledge, the Red who wields

authority and will..."

The biggest difference between this spirit channeling ritual and

ordinary ones was that it couldn't be directed to deities, be it the

Evernight Goddess or the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, "Their" honorific

names couldn't appear in the ritual or else it was bound to fail.

From a mysticism angle, this meant that the spirit world's Seven Lights

didn't serve any deity.

As the words that facilitated the communication with natural spirits

were said, Klein saw the three flames burgeon as light splattering

sounds connected together as though a door of light was opening.

The area around the altar suddenly turned silent and dark as pairs of

unknown eyes looked over from different areas.

A cold, gloomy air blew past. Apart from the three candles, all the

items on the altar floated in midair. Among them, the paper figurine

staggered straight as its surface was tainted with a thick, clean red

that didn't look bloody at all.

"Greetings." As Klein recalled the description of the spirit world's

Seven Lights from some mysticism books, he spoke by following the

correct way of interacting that he had concluded.

He acted like he was facing a teacher.

The bright red paper figurine's head moved slightly as it let out an

illusory but stern voice:

"Hello there."

*Quite polite... Indeed, spirit channeling became a soulfall.

Thankfully, I made preparations...* Various thoughts flashed in

Klein's mind as he earnestly and politely asked, "Your Excellency Aiur

Moria, I have a question I would like to ask you."

"You can just call me Aiur Moria. Please go ahead and ask." The paper

figurine floating in midair seemed to be competing with Klein about who

was more polite.

"I wish to get information on Calderón City." Klein didn't change his

attitude. After all, in the Foodaholic Empire, there was a proverb:

Nobody will find fault with extra courtesy.

The bright red, nearly transparent paper figurine pondered for two

seconds and said, "Can I know your purpose?"

Klein didn't conceal his purpose. He frankly said, "To hunt a Spirit

World Plunderer."

The paper figurine's head moved slightly.

"That's indeed something that can only be found in Calderón City with

ease. Elsewhere, Spirit World Plunderers are like a drop of water in the

ocean. They are very hard to distinguish, and even I will occasionally

discover them. I'm unable to lock onto them for long periods of time.

"A number of them are active in the core region of Calderón City. A few

are scattered in the periphery. As long as you don't attempt to go too

deep inside, it's actually not too dangerous. Unfortunately, due to

special reasons, us Seven Lights are prohibited from entering;

otherwise, we could still provide you with some actual help."

"That's formerly the divine kingdom of the ancient goddess, Gregrace?"

Klein's heart settled down as he asked as a form of confirming the

answers.

The bright red paper figurine said, "Yes, the ancient Death wished to

revive 'Herself' using this City of the Dead, but 'She' failed

completely. The authority was taken by Balam's Death.

"However, this also makes Calderón City more dangerous because the setup

left by the ancient goddess underwent an anomaly after the failure. As

for what it has turned into, I'm not too sure."

Is that so... Klein nodded indiscernibly. He raised a few

questions about other matters and received a rather satisfactory answer.

Bayam. Outside a house near the harbor.

Alger and Cattleya were patiently waiting for the people inside to

finish their dinner.