Chapter 928: Misdirection
At his point, Klein had roughly understood the situation.
Due to the law of Beyonder characteristic convergence, he had been
targeted by the Spirit World Plunderer the moment he entered Calderón
City, which didn't even have ordinary dead spirits. It first moved the
golden disc of unknown origins to the predicted path, allowing his
marionette to see it while walking past. As such, his attention was
transferred to the transformation effect Calderón City had on the
living. Following that, it used the giant blacksmith, which wasn't its
soul avatar, to distract him further. Finally, it secretly arrived
within control distance and achieved success in "one try."
*If it wasn't because I had seen those deceased bodies that are hung up
like wind chimes at the cathedral, thus having an instinctual fear of
High-Sequence Beyonders of the Seer pathway, and having prepared several
autonomous means to disrupt any exertion of control over me, I might've
already been made a soul avatar by the Spirit World
Plunderer...*
*Seriously, I should've thought of the law of Beyonder characteristic
convergence before I came in... After carrying the Sea God Scepter, even
with the Tyrant card suppressing it, I'm still a little too rash. I
nearly missed out on such a crucial detail...*
*On the surface, I did seem as cautious as I usually am, but in fact, I
had turned rash without realizing it. Yet, I didn't even believe I was
being rash...* Klein's thoughts raced before he raised the bone
scepter-wielding arm and continued using Lightning Storm.
If once wasn't enough, make it twice. If that still wasn't enough, do it
a third time. In short, he had to take this opportunity to prevent the
Spirit World Plunderer from escaping from the range of his attacks!
This was the safest method, and it was also Klein's fighting style that
he looked up to the most. If it wasn't because Lightning Strike had been
greatly weakened in Calderón City, he even suspected that he could've
gone over to pick up the Beyonder characteristic already.
And having already digested most of the Sequence 5 potion, his
spirituality was sufficient enough for him to deal out such damage for a
while!
At this moment, the "invisible" figure wearing a translucent white robe
burst into pale-white flames. It appeared in midair several hundred
meters away.
The Spirit World Plunderer had used Flaming Jump, which was many times
stronger than Klein's version, instantly pulling away from him!
At the same time, in the rubble it was hiding in, a four-meter-tall
bluish-black giant staggered to his feet.
The giant's chest was open, but there weren't any innards. However, it
stood like a castle, standing in between the Tyrant and the Spirit World
Plunderer, blocking Klein's line of sight.
And in Klein's eyes, its Spirit Body Threads were gathered together,
extending far towards the Spirit World Plunderer. It was obvious that it
was a soul avatar.
At the tip of the Sea God Scepter, the blue-colored gems lit up. A few
bolts of lightning leapt out of thin air, mixing together into a huge
silver arrow. Instantly, it smote the bluish-black giant's head.
All the invisible defenses shattered, and like paper mache, the giant's
head cracked. Countless bits of charred flesh splattered as his headless
body evaporated amidst white gases that were tainted with dark green
spots. All his vitality was robbed away.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Klein, in his papal tiara
and papal robe, raised the bone scepter even higher.
The blue light radiated in ripples as howling wind blew up his cape.
In a very large area of Calderón City's periphery, dark clouds quickly
gathered. Under a suppressive layer, they made the area appear darker
and more repressed.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Bean-sized drops of water smashed to the ground, releasing dust that had
accumulated over time.
Splash!
The raindrops pattered at an increasing pace, forming a catastrophic
storm.
The water extinguished the pale-white flames and formed a stream that
gushed downwards towards the lowest point of the city, right for the end
of the deep pit.
In such weather, Klein's Flaming Jump had been made ineffective, but it
was likewise for the Spirit World Plunderer!
However, to a Tyrant, his spirituality could spread through the dark
clouds as though he had transformed into a deity that overlooked the
land.
Every dark cloud, every drop of water had become Klein's eyes. They
allowed him to easily find the Spirit World Plunderer in every area that
had its weather change.
This invisible figure with the translucent white robe was hiding behind
a broken pale-white column. It hadn't left the periphery for the core
region.
Boom!
A deafening boom sounded as bolts of lightning meshed to form a silver
beam that shot out from the dark clouds, right at the Spirit World
Plunderer.
Relying on its potent spiritual premonition, the invisible figure
burrowed into the ground half a second early.
Three thick silver beams smote the area one after another, melting the
soil away as they sank downwards, producing charred craters.
The Spirit World Plunderer emerged from another spot as it hurriedly
dodged, keeping to the right at times and left at other times, as though
it was carrying out a snaking dodge manoeuver.
However, regardless of where it fled to, the silver beams would chase up
to it. They even blocked its path ahead of time, preventing it from
attempting to leave the stormy region.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The deity akin to a Tyrant, who looked down from the dark clouds at the
Spirit World Plunderer, waved his scepter and struck down again and
again at his target, with success barely eluding him several times.
Klein turned more and more anxious, eager to immediately end the hunt.
Hence, he unreservedly triggered the Sea God Scepter to increase the
frequency at which bolts of lightning struck down.
Suddenly, he felt a strong sense of exhaustion.
This alarmed Klein for he realized that something was amiss.
*The Spirit World Plunderer had the chance of retreating deeper into
Calderón City at the beginning, so why is it staying around?*
*It's clearly a spirit world creature without a physical body. It can
burrow underground to avoid the lightning and a Tyrant's notice, so why
is it circling around from time to time?*
*It's trying to make me attack. It has noticed that I'm not a demigod
through my Spirit Body Threads and my control over my marionettes. It
wishes to drain me of my spirituality!* Klein was alarmed.
Combining it with his original encounter, he came to a realization of
how intelligent the Spirit World Plunderer was. It was a rather crafty
creature.
At the same time, he also thought of a problem:
*Could Lightning Storm and the stormy rain attract the notice of
dangerous existences in the core region of Calderón City?*
I'm too rash. I keep neglecting the critical details... As
thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein put away the Sea God Scepter.
The heavy storm stopped as the dark clouds quickly scattered, the
weather restoring to normal.
Klein made Enzo return to his side with Word of the Sea, and he got
Ludwell to protect him in the middle.
Following that, he and his two marionettes walked out as though they
were trying to leave Calderón City while he still had some spirituality
left.
During this process, Klein had his Spirit Body Threads vision constantly
activated to prevent the Spirit World Plunderer from approaching him.
He noticed that this creature's Spirit Body Threads were somewhat
special. A portion of them came out from its body and extended outwards
normally. A number materialized externally and were bound together in a
thick bundle, right into the translucent white robe.
Klein suspected that this was the state when a Spirit World Plunderer
controlled a soul avatar, making it different from a Marionettist.
As he shifted his gaze, he suddenly saw thin black illusory threads
coming out from a collapsed house. A portion of them gathered into a
thick bunch with its source in the distance.
Klein didn't hesitate to raise his Sea God Scepter, creating a sonorous
thunderclap.
Boom!
Amidst this sound that struck awe into one's mind and spirit, Ludwell
suddenly raised his left hand.
Half his body instantly turned illusory as his arm extended out
extensively, heading straight for the collapsed house.
Midway, his palm turned abnormally pale-white. An illusory face
protruded out and stuck out with a snakelike tongue which had white fur
covering its surface.
The tongue reached out far, penetrating the wall and stabbing at the
spot where the Spirit Body Threads were gathered. It immediately sucked
on a distorted and blurry soul.
Around the soul, a number of Spirit Body Threads suddenly disappeared as
though they never existed.
A portion of them was none other than the gathered bundle, the ones that
came from afar!
They were fake!
The Spirit World Plunderer was able to create fake, illusory Spirit
World Plunderers or instantly swap location between the soul avatar and
itself!
Klein suddenly turned his head and looked elsewhere. Indeed, he saw a
blob of Spirit Body Threads swim over from underground at a fast speed.
He once again used Sea God Scepter, releasing a thunderclap close to the
ground, one that could awe his Spirit Body.
Meanwhile, Enzo expended some of his remaining luck, adding bad luck to
the target. Then, he shot out a silver bolt of lightning from the tip of
the Word of the Sea.
The bolt of lightning rather luckily passed through a crack and entered
the ground, striking the assailant directly. It caused a portion of the
Spirit Body Threads to instantly vanish.
It was also fake!
Just as Klein reacted, his thoughts paused and his body turned numb.
Just as he opened his mouth with great difficulty to instruct the
mystical item, the invisible figure in the translucent robe descended
from above, landing right before him.
The Spirit World Plunderer had been hiding high in the sky, cloaking
itself with the grayish-white clouds!
The moment this invisible figure appeared, maggots began crawling out of
its collar where its head should be. They were maggots with strange
patterns covering them.
Just one look at them sent his mind reeling. Although he broke out of
the control of his Spirit Body Threads, he also lost his ability to
think.
His face that was shadowed by the papal tiara began to grow meat
tendrils. Each tendril was relatively transparent, like squirming worms.
If it wasn't for the Tyrant card's level supporting him, he would've
fallen to the ground while struggling in pain.
The Spirit World Plunderer had a Mythical Creature form to a certain
extent.
At this moment, the invisible figure inside the white robe began to
control Klein's Spirit Body Threads without any obstacles in the way. In
a few seconds, it was already close to succeeding.
Seeing that its prey was about to become its soul avatar, the Spirit
World Plunderer suddenly saw its target open his mouth with great
difficulty and say a word.
He had recovered from the state of nearly losing control faster than it
had anticipated. And the word was in ancient Hermes: "Fate!"
It was the incantation for the Fate Siphon charm!
If Klein really wanted to leave, he would've grabbed his two marionettes
and directly ended the summoning to return above the gray fog. He
wouldn't have walked to Calderón City's entrance.
He was planting a trap for the Spirit World Plunderer!
The reason why he could recover so quickly from the injuries dealt to
him by a Mythical Creature form, and why he was able to chant the
relevant word, was because he had experienced such situations too many
times. Besides, although he wasn't sure what method his opponent was
using, there was definitely a rather well-rounded way to deal with
it---make his target unlucky.
Just as Klein entered a sluggish state, his first reaction wasn't to
make the mystical item sing, but to let Enzo expend all his luck, making
the Spirit World Plunderer have enough bad luck!