Chapter 932: Thin-Skinned

...The Goddess really replied... Upon seeing the words formed

by the powder, Klein's first reaction had nothing to do with the

content. Instead, he was shocked that this seemingly ridiculous thing

had happened.

Although he was already mentally prepared and had believed that the

chance of success was rather high, he still felt conflicting emotions.

It took him almost a minute to accept it.

After a while, Klein exhaled slowly, raised his right hand, and tapped

his chest four times in a clockwise manner.

"Praise the Lady!"

He then ended the ritual, forcing himself to focus his attention on the

revelation itself.

Possessed by an evil spirit. Requires exorcism?

*Ince Zangwill actually got possessed by an evil spirit? He had gone

from Sequence 9 to Sequence 5 of the Death pathway. The godhood he

obtained at the critical stage is also Sequence 4 Nightwatcher of the

Evernight pathway, one that is good at dealing with Spirit Body-type

creatures. Evil spirits and wraiths should be afraid of him, so why

would he end up being possessed?*

*That's unless the evil spirit's level is extremely high or, at its

core, is very special.*

*Unfortunately, I've only met one evil spirit in the truest sense of the

word. It's that ancient evil spirit sealed in the underground ruins of

Alista Tudor. I know little about such monsters, so it's difficult for

me to grasp the details. Hmm, I can write to ask Miss Sharron. I can

also get Little Sun to find out more. That Shepherd Elder Lovia had

Grazed an evil spirit...*

*It's no wonder Ince Zangwill is trying to meet a demigod of the

Numinous Episcopate. When it comes to exorcising evil spirits, aside

from the Church of Evernight and Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the

best would probably be the Numinous Episcopate. Uh, there's probably the

Church of the God of Combat as well. Neighboring pathways often have

similar traits.*

*There's also one point that can be gleaned from this. Ince Zangwill

doesn't wish for his possessed state to be known by the royal family

faction and the Demoness Sect who are in cahoots with him. Otherwise,

there's no need for him to come all the way to the Southern Continent!

The two factions existed before the Fifth Epoch, and they have a long

legacy. It's quite unlikely that they don't have a Sealed Artifact that

can remove or exorcise evil spirits. Even if they can't find one,

getting the Demoness Sect to contact the Numinous Episcopate is

definitely safer and more covert than getting Ince Zangwill to make the

trip himself...*

As his thoughts raced, Klein unfolded a piece of paper and wrote:

"The intel you have provided me made me connect certain clues from what

I've previously gathered. And due to a particular great existence's

help, this points to a clear conclusion:

"Ince Zangwill is possessed by an evil spirit, and he's seeking the

Numinous Episcopate's help.

"Just based on this fact alone, we can make several useful judgments:

"Ince Zangwill will often manifest inconsistency in his words and

actions. He will often deviate from his normal path, doing something we

feel that is absolutely impossible for him to do, and to make mistakes

we find incomprehensible. Before this problem is resolved, he will not

stop having contact with the Numinous Episcopate. It might even become

more frequent...

"Making investigations based on this might allow us to catch Ince

Zangwill by the tail. However, I believe we still wouldn't be able to

lock onto him. The creation of coincidences from that Grade 0 Sealed

Artifact is insurmountable."

Upon writing this, Klein couldn't help but recall his direct encounter

with Ince Zangwill.

His own investigations didn't directly point to him, but it caused their

ploy to nearly fail. Hence, Ince Zangwill personally took action,

sending a meteor falling from the sky in an attempt to kill Sherlock

Moriarty so as to obliterate any clues. And he ultimately received Mr.

Azik's help and escaped the dire situation, forcing Ince Zangwill to

step into the limelight and expose himself.

*Back then, if Mr. Azik had recovered to his former strength, Ince

Zangwill might already be dead... But to replicate such a situation and

force him to appear before me is still extremely difficult. After all,

back then, not only was there Mr. Azik, a Death Consul, and my use of

the gray fog to foil the coincidences, there was also Trissy Cheek and

the ring which was suspected to be a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. Without

her suddenly escaping, Ince Zangwill wouldn't have been forced to

personally take action...* Klein deliberated as he wrote:

"If we can figure out the origins and primary goals of the evil spirit,

there might be a chance of the situation having a favorable change..."

After writing the matters regarding Ince Zangwill, Klein's heart

stirred. Just as he was about to mention something else, he stopped his

pen after writing the first few letters. He raised his left hand and

pinched his cheeks. He appeared to be in a serious dilemma and seemed a

little embarrassed.

After muttering silently a few times, Klein finally smoothly wrote the

rest:

"Even without that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact's help, Ince Zangwill is an

enemy you and I are unable to face head-on. We need to make plenty of

preparations.

"If you can provide me with some Worms of Time, I can use them to create

high-level charms that can deal with demigods. It's called a 'Fate

Siphon' charm. It can swap the fates of yourself and the target for a

short period of time."

Putting down his fountain pen, Klein didn't take a second look as he

quickly folded the letter and seriously sealed it in an envelope.

He then took out the adventurer's harmonica and a gold coin before

summoning Miss Messenger. He got her to take away the reply letter to

Leonard Mitchell, but this time, it wasn't addressed to 7 Pinster

Street. Instead, it was directly sent to Leonard's present address. With

Leonard having just written the letter, Klein didn't believe that he had

moved out of Reinette Tinekerr's detection range.

After doing all of this, Klein heaved a sigh of relief as he shook his

head slightly.

*Requesting the help of others is really a difficult task. It's even

more so for someone as thin-skinned as me.*

He quickly retracted his attention and once again modified Enzo's and

Ludwell's appearances. After all, they had been seen by Angel of Fate

Ouroboros during their exploration of Calderón City.

During this process, Klein suddenly had an idea. He planned on "sending"

them above the gray fog and using the Spirit World Plunderer's true soul

body for a disguise!

The Spirit World Plunderer could make its soul avatars take the form of

its true soul body, and it could also get them to disguise themselves as

other spirit world creatures. The Beyonder ingredient it left behind

must've had such abilities. However, it would be difficult to use it

with the poor effects and the huge negative side effects!

However, this wasn't a problem for Klein who possessed the mysterious

space above the gray fog. After all, he didn't plan on using the

Beyonder ingredient for actual combat. Doing some changes to his

marionette didn't require too many smooth operations and great effects.

Furthermore, this could be slowly adjusted. As for the negative effects

that came from the godhood, it wasn't something to consider. Who wasn't

obedient when left in the junk pile?

After a series of tasks, Klein sat at the high-back chair of The Fool.

In his hand was the palm-sized Spirit World Plunderer's true soul body.

Without looking down to look at it in detail, he extended his

spirituality bit by bit into it.

There wasn't much changes to the scene before him. It was still the

illusory and dense black Spirit Body Threads. However, when he tried

controlling them, he discovered that not only could he control the

marionettes' Spirit Body Threads, but he could also let his Spirit Body

Threads extend out and penetrate into their bodies.

When both sides established such a two-way connection, Klein suddenly

felt that he and his marionette was one. All his Beyonder powers could

be enacted on the other party through the Spirit Body Threads, including

his trick for changing his appearance and body!

Amidst a slow and difficult process, Klein felt rather groggy as he felt

his emotions turned into a mess. He began showing signs of losing

control.

This was an inevitable outcome from having his spirituality make direct

contact with godhood.

He hurriedly diverted some attention to stir some of the powers of the

mysterious space above the gray fog, and he restored his condition back

to its normal state.

After enduring the torment, Klein finished his attempt. Enzo had

transformed into a Southern Continent native that looked like he came

from a plantation. Ludwell had a mixed-blood feel to him. His ghastly

face was no longer more bone than flesh. Instead, there was a plumpness

to it. As for the silver mask that had the effect of placating the soul,

there was no way of removing it for the time being. All Klein could do

was let it stick to Ludwell's chest. This still had a certain level of

effect, but it was inferior to wearing it on his face. It could barely

maintain the status quo.

*Unfortunately, there's no way to change this mask into other types of

accessories. Otherwise, it would save me quite a bit of

trouble.* As Klein rushed to throw the Spirit World Plunderer's

true soul body back onto the junk pile, he rubbed his temples and

allowed his thoughts to wander. *Right, I still have a Soul Assurer

Beyonder characteristic here that can be made into a mystical item to

replace that mask... No, I've always planned on returning it to the

Church. I'll mail it to him when Leonard replies.*

After the discomfort slowly subsided, Klein took out his golden pocket

watch and opened it to check the time.

Following that, he summoned a paper figurine and stirred some of the

powers of the mysterious space above the gray fog. He then threw both

into a specially labeled point of light.

It was the point of light representing The Fool's only believer at

present---Danitz!

From Klein's point of view, Admiral of Stars Cattleya had the Moses

Ascetic Order backing her. Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina was from the

Church of Knowledge and Wisdom. Anderson Hood didn't know much about

Gehrman Sparrow, and being good at identifying the situation he was in,

he wasn't one to put on a brave front. Therefore, when the Aurora Order

did an "investigation," it was unlikely that they would be in grave

danger. Danitz was the only exception. With him in West Balam and not

able to return to the Golden Dream anytime soon, his lacking strength,

and him often wearing the boxing glove that made him act rashly, it was

truly worrisome.

Due to this fact, Mr. Fool had to work a little harder. He gave Danitz a

Paper Angel's embrace every day at a fixed time, so as to disrupt any

divination or prophecies about him.

Leonard never expected Klein Moretti to reply that quickly. With some

level of incredulity, he opened the envelope and read the corresponding

content.

"Due to a particular great existence's help... Is he referring to The

Fool?

"Indeed, Klein's investigations into Ince Zangwill has already reached a

significant depth. He has already figured out the truth the moment I

mentioned the Numinous Episcopate...

"Possessed by an evil spirit? How did he end up being possessed by an

evil spirit?

"How do we make use of it?

"Worms of Time... This..." Leonard quickly scanned through the last part

of the letter as his expression suddenly became complicated.

In his mind, Pallez Zoroast maintained his silence without saying a

word.