Chapter 944: The Fourth Act
On the heavily scuffed and damaged Revival Square, the environment
turned dark as a gloominess and eeriness filled it in a seemingly
corporeal manner. Even the blinding silver lightning wasn't able to
dispel this feeling.
Daly Simone acutely sensed that an unknown creature was crossing the
spirit world and approaching. An ominous feeling rose up in her as
though she could already see Ince Zangwill using such an accident to
easily escape, never to be found.
She felt ice-cold in a manner that couldn't be resisted, just like when
she first became a Beyonder.
Back then, due to a particular accident, as a nineteen-year-old, she had
lost her family and ended up drinking a potion by mistake. She ended up
becoming a Corpse Collector and was placed into a Nighthawks team.
The influence of the potion and the wounds from losing her family had
made her enjoy gloominess and coldness. She couldn't help but approach
corpses, often loitering in cemeteries and sleeping there.
This made her appear odd, with people instinctively avoiding her. This
not only dropped her body temperature, but it also slowly froze her
heart and soul as they turned ice-cold.
She was afraid of this feeling. She still hoped to live as a person;
hence, she instinctively used how men coveted her for her looks and body
to gain a boyfriend. She wanted to use the warmth of a body to stop her
soul from turning cold.
In this decadent and surreal life, she met that man, a man who always
warmly listened to her. He was a man who always stayed by her side and
provided her help. He was a man who became embarrassed when faced with
jokes involving the two sexes. He was a man who accepted all the flaws
and weaknesses of his teammates with a sincere attitude. He was a man
who fumbled in helplessness when she jested at him again and again. He
was a man who hid the pain and sorrow in his heart, to the point of
suffering an early receding hairline. He was a man who was the first to
step forward when encountering danger, putting himself in between the
danger and his teammates.
She changed. She began putting on makeup that made her appear older. She
stopped mixing with other men but kept her jokes to deliberately express
that she hadn't changed in an obvious manner.
However, she still didn't make it in time. She didn't manage to witness
the man master the acting method, digest potions, and advance to
Sequence 6. She didn't manage to see him reach out his hand to invite
her to an opening dance or be able to participate in his final battle.
She didn't manage to tell him her feelings in time.
*I was wrong. I failed to do anything in time. Today, I'm not having it
repeat again...* Daly's expression turned sorrowful as the
corners of lips curled bit by bit with tenderness and sweetness.
With her eyes closed, she suddenly pulled out a small metal bottle from
a hidden compartment. She threw the stopper and gulped the liquid
inside.
Her blue eyeshadow and blush instantly brightened, and even her skin
turned slightly translucent. Her coiled up hair was instantly released,
pushing her hood back as they fluttered.
"Spirit wandering the void, higher-order creature that leave one with
awe, the unforeseeable creature," Daly chanted with simple and forceful
ancient Hermes, "I, I shall sign a contract with you in my name, pray
that you leave this place!"
Behind the eight-"legged," the white-feathered Ince Zangwill, a figure
appeared. It was a blood-colored piece of flesh with countless eyes on
it and arms of different races.
Just as it was about to grab Ince Zangwill and drag him into the spirit
world, it suddenly paused. It then turned its gaze towards Daly Simone.
Pitch-black snake-like scales instantly appeared on Daly's skin, and
within the gaps of the scales, white feathers grew.
Her knees buckled as she knelt down in pain, but she ultimately
maintained her spirit channeling posture.
That quill began writing autonomously on Ince Zangwill's body.
*"The unknown existence descended upon Revival Square and was just about
to take Ince Zangwill away---but no, it was attracted by Daly Simone.
Its sense of aesthetics was inclined towards humans. Oh no, it abandoned
Ince Zangwill. It decided to listen to Daly Simone's suggestion and
ended up leaving.*
*"How surprising that when it came to spirit channeling, Ince Zangwill,
a demigod, would actually lose to Sequence 5 Daly Simone. Although this
lady had consumed the Flower of Spirit and paid an immense price, she
had little chance to defeat Ince Zangwill who was barely using the Quill
of Alzuhod.*
*"Ince Zangwill was just too unlucky. He actually encountered a matter
with nearly zero probability!"*
Amidst the lightning strikes, blood-red beams lit up in Ince Zangwill's
pitch-black eyes that were covered with mysterious symbols before
calming down. His "hand" which held the quill wrote on his body once
again:
*"Another unknown existence was lured into the vicinity and attempted to
enter the real world..."*
Just as he wrote that, the quill suddenly paused as it continued
writing:
*"Incoming! Incoming! It, no---'She' was Reinette Tinekerr! No, Reinette
Tinekerr chased away all the surrounding creatures in the spirit world.
'She' gave Ince Zangwill a glance, looked away, and left, continuing
'Her' patrol of the surroundings.*
"Ince Zangwill is too unlucky, just too unlucky!"
Ince Zangwill's rapidly-moving body suddenly paused as though he had
suffered a terrible blow.
Boom!
A thick bolt of silver-white lightning smote the eight-"legged" monster.
It sent Ince Zangwill flying up as he let out an inhuman cry.
In his pitch-black eyes, the blood-red beam spread out like an
explosion, turning into two bloodthirsty, cruel, and maniacal blobs of
light.
*"Ince Zangwill could no longer control his emotions and maintain a good
state of mind. He lost most of his reason..." The more the slightly
damaged quill wrote, the darker it became until it slowly
stopped.*
With a scream that left one with goosebumps, an endless darkness
blanketed the area, pulling Daly Simone and Leonard Mitchell into a
dream.
However, the thunder booms and lightning snapped the dreamers awake.
Ince Zangwill took a step back with his eight "legs," leaving behind an
afterimage in his spot. He rapidly ran towards Daly Simone who was on
the brink of losing control, hoping to rip apart the Nighthawk who had
foiled his plans for escaping.
Boom! Boom!
Ridiculous bolts of lightning blasted down, stopping his attempts to
escape.
Boom! Boom!
The eight "legs" that were covered with white feathers, which now had
signs of being charred, moved one after another as he kept his body low
while he circled the square, dodging the lightning in search for an
opportunity to kill Leonard and Daly.
With time, he realized there was a problem with the remaining reason
that he had. The frequency of the lightning was dropping!
The person that kept casting Lightning Strike had apparently reached his
limit, and his spirituality was almost drained!
Ince Zangwill's heart stirred as a cruel smile was plastered across his
face. He ran at high speeds as he muttered in ancient Feysac, "All of
you will die!"
He had apparently forgotten of his need to escape.
All of you will die... Leonard Mitchell could do nothing
despite hearing that sentence. It was because he couldn't even open his
eyes. He couldn't determine where Ince Zangwill was, nor use his
spirituality to lock onto him.
At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to Tingen, back to the
Blackthorn Security Company, back to the day where they engaged Megose
in an intense battle. He had returned to the time when he was weak and
helpless, unable to stop anything himself.
Back then, he clearly wanted to help Captain and Klein. Despite
overcoming his horror, despite having Old Man to provide him with help,
he quickly fainted due to his low Sequence and lacking strength; thus,
failing to participate in the subsequent battle. All he could do was
wake up to see two corpses and use the pain of meeting family members to
resolve the blame he placed on himself.
He always cherished his leisurely life in Tingen City, the feeling of
not needing to take any responsibility as if he was the protagonist.
However, the more he cherished those memories, the more he hated his
former self, wondering why he hadn't worked harder.
With his eyes tightly closed, figures of light were darting around, and
all he could do was ball his hands into a fist as he hurriedly shouted,
"Old Man!
"Old Man!"
This time, there wasn't any response in his mind. No one provided him
any help, as Pallez Zoroast was still in a deep sleep.
Leonard's breathing turned heavy as he couldn't help but move his head
from side to side with the darting of the light. Then, with a slightly
hoarse voice, he shouted in clear anxiety, "Old Man!
"Old Man!
"Old Man!!"
His voice gradually softened, drowned by the thunder. Leonard hung his
head bit by bit, his face filled with shame and pain.
His lips quivered as he relaxed his hand and gripped it tight again. His
entire body froze for several seconds.
Suddenly, he wore a firm expression. With a grimace, he opened his mouth
and chanted softly in ancient Hermes, "The Fool that doesn't belong to
this era.
"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog.
"The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck!"
Just as he said the prayers, he magically saw a scene in his mind.
Ince Zangwill, who had seemingly turned into a spider or some deformed
feather wolf, was running frantically and dodging the lightning strikes.
From time to time, he attempted to attack him and Daly Simone.
And unlike normally, Ince Zangwill's figure appeared rather blurry in
this scene. It was almost completely represented by red light, and it
could only be used to determine his location.
Leonard was first taken aback as he immediately laughed. Teardrops
flowed down as he laughed.
Without any hesitation, he raised his left palm, pressed the glove to
his temple, and then tightly gripped the Fate Siphon charm with his
right hand.
"Fate!"
The incomprehensible, mysterious word in ancient Hermes resounded as a
transparent book appeared in front of Leonard. It flipped to a page
amidst the ethereal chanting of "I came, I saw, I record," as he locked
onto the eight-"legged" monster with white feathers growing all over
him.
Silver bolts of lightning blasted as Leonard Mitchell threw out the
charm with a hideous expression, shouting, "Die! Ince Zangwill!"
He had waited to say this for a very, very long time. He had played this
scene in his head so, so many times.