Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
One by one, the bullets sliced through the air—either swirling with a golden luster or emitting resplendent beams—as they hit Steve’s head.
Thanks to a Clown’s control over his body and his persistence in practicing his marksmanship, Klein’s six bullets which were augmented with Cleave of Purification accurately hit the same spot, the same spot as the first two bullets!
They were like fists from a giant of light, repeatedly pounding at the left of Steve’s face!
With a series of bangs, Steve, who had been entangled by the strange arms and the dark-green vines, failed to phase away to avoid the attack. His head was whipped to the side repeatedly as his body trembled. His cheekbones quickly caved in, breaking out into sharp white bones!
Bang!
The last bullet completely tore through, splashing the Sequence 5 powerhouse’s dark red blood. This opening allowed the resplendent and golden flames to continuously drill in, burning into bursts of dark-green mist.
In the holy light, Steve’s clothes were ignited. His body was quickly charred as he dripped with grease.
However, he was still alive!
Compared to Nimblewright Master Rosago, the survivability of a Sequence 5 from the Mutant pathway was clearly much better!
However, the heavily injured Steve could no longer resist the strange tugging arms. His legs moved forward uncontrollably, almost flying towards that bronze door and into the deep crack that had opened. He was thrown into the darkness where pairs of eyes lurked.
At this moment, Sharron suddenly clenched her right hand, her forehead covered in sweat.
The illusory and subtle rays of light were abruptly severed, and the indescribably mysterious bronze door lost the source of its existence.
It swayed, and before Steve entered, it reluctantly pulled back its long arms which were either filled with teeth or blood and sealed the crack.
Creak!
The door closed, quickly becoming transparent before it disappeared!
Steve’s leaning body was rigid in place, blackened, and shriveled, like a mummified corpse that had been burned for a long time.
With her right fist tightly clenched and the Scarlet Lunar Corona on her, Sharron’s figure rapidly turned incorporeal. She took a step forward and overlapped with Steve.
Klein’s Spirit Vision instantly lost sight of her. However, the charred Steve raised his fists and abruptly smashed them against his already severely injured head.
Bam!
His head turned into a pulp like that of a rotten tomato, and milky white spots sprayed out before splattering to the ground.
A translucent figure was also expelled. It rapidly spread out, turning into something that looked like a giant jellyfish. Within it was an dreamlike liquid that was swishing and a pair of deathly pale eyes that were condensing!
Sharron was forced out by this strange object, and she reappeared beside it.
She suddenly stretched out her left hand, letting out a silent shriek.
The ground suddenly turned black, as if it had turned into a muddy deep sea. Twisted bloody vines grew out from it, splitting into many sections, with each section having four sharp teeth and an eye.
The blood-red vine wildly grew upwards, immediately locking onto the jellyfish-like phantom as it greedily sucked the dreamlike liquid within.
The phantom quickly collapsed, and the blood-red vine once again retreated back into the muddy deep sea.
But with this delay, the headless, charred Steve began running. He tore across the clearing and headed for the way out.
He still wasn’t dead despite already losing his head!
Steve had only run a few steps when a sudden crisp sound cracked in the silence.
Pa!
Klein, in a black double-breasted frock coat with a matching half top hat, turned to him and snapped his fingers.
Boom!
The dirt beneath Steve’s feet was violently lifted, and scarlet flames soared.
It spread upward, and when it reached its highest point, it spilled down like beautiful fireworks.
Steve’s body was torn to pieces from such fireworks. His charred hands, feet, guts, and blood splattered everywhere. One of his fingers rolled to Klein’s feet, and the brown, translucent Biological Poison Bottle fell in another direction.
The mutilated body, which was the last traces of Steve’s existence, squirmed a few times before finally becoming still.
In the scene with the blooming fireworks, Klein felt his spirituality become more active, and the powers that still wasn’t completely his had become more attuned to him.
In response to this sensation, he passed the revolver to his left hand. He took off the silk half top hat from his head with his black-gloved right hand, and he pressed it to his chest, and bowed slightly at Sharron.
Sharron’s blue eyes looked over.
She looked past Klein to the carnage of Werewolf Tyre and Maric.
Sharron’s figure disappeared, and Tyre’s eyes reflected her image.
Tyre stood there stiffly, his black hair standing on end.
He raised his arms with great difficulty and pressed them against his head.
Kacha!
He twisted hard, and his eyes soon saw his spine which were underneath the cover of his torn clothes.
Pa!
Tyre twisted and pulled again, pulling his head out of his torso!
Throughout the entire process, he didn’t let out a single scream or a single word.
He held his head, letting the blood constantly drip down. The corpse which had lost its head was still standing straight, without toppling.
Sharron didn’t immediately leave Tyre’s body. She appeared to be attempting something.
Very soon, bits of dark-green light emerged from Tyre’s head and body, quickly condensing onto one of his fangs as its core.
It seems like Miss Sharron has a way of accelerating the separation of a Beyonder characteristic… The prerequisite to doing so requires her to possess the target, kill the person, and have complete control of the body… Enlightened, Klein bent down and picked up the shells that had fallen to the ground, stuffing them into the metal square box, one by one.
He was afraid that the investigators, which would subsequently arrive, would find the Artisan through the uniqueness of the shells and, hence, find the woman who had purchased the Briber and Barbarian formulas from him. Then, they would lock onto Eye of Wisdom’s gathering, causing his safety to be threatened.
As for the bullets, they had long been sacrificed to the corresponding deities in the holy light and flames, just like the materials in charms.
Putting the revolver away, Klein was about to take a step forward when Sharron appeared beside the Biological Poison Bottle with an exaggerated speed. She made it float up and land on her palm.
Before Klein could think of anything else, the pale woman flicked her wrist and threw him a translucent brown bottle and a dark-green fang.
… To save time, she’s helping me pick up my spoils? Klein was startled. He instinctively pulled out a piece of paper and covered the two items. He didn’t come into direct contact with them!
At this moment, he could see that Sharron’s complicated black regal dress had lost its usual tidiness and cleanliness. It fluttered gently in the wind, and a few strands of her light blonde hair were stuck to the side of her face, making her feel more like a person.
Hmm… This Biological Poison Bottle comes with its own lid… I just wonder what negative side effects it has… Klein lowered his head and examined his spoils of war. He used the black cap hanging on the side to reseal the Biological Poison Bottle so that it wouldn’t continue to do him harm.
As for the dark-green fang, it was the Beyonder characteristic left behind by Werewolf Tyre.
As Klein placed the two items into a small metal box he prepared, and he used Holy Night Powder to create a wall of spirituality, blocking off the influence they had on their surroundings. He watched Sharron’s figure disappear from the corner of his eyes. Steve’s remnant flesh squirmed and produced a nearly translucent point of light.
Similarly, he was still on guard against Maric, lest he suddenly went crazy.
Amidst this vigilance, he discovered that the healing powers of a Zombie was truly astonishing. The bone-deep wounds from a moment ago had now basically closed!
Maric also gave him a profound look. It was as though he had remembered something and understood something.
When he was done, Klein walked a dozen steps away, picking up the square metal box that had been dug up by the zombies and shadows. Then, he found Azik’s copper whistle and the Master Key which were surrounded by human-shaped “candles.”
He glanced at it and awkwardly realized that he didn’t dare to pick them up.
The effects of the Scarlet Lunar Corona were still radiating through the clearing!
This was the last trap he had set up, one that would never be used unless all other means were exhausted. For this, he had taken the time to visit a hospital’s morgue and test out what the corpses would do after they had gotten their hands on Azik’s copper whistle. It allowed him to design a corresponding plan.
“Ahem. Can you stop the influence of the Scarlet Lunar Corona?” Klein turned to look at Sharron who had materialized again.
She already had an additional translucent doll in her hand.
Without saying a word, Sharron placed the Scarlet Lunar Corona to her chest with her other hand.
The circle of rubies quickly dimmed, and the light from the full moon disappeared from the abandoned land.
Only then did Klein lean over and grab the keyring with his fingertip, raising up Azik’s copper whistle and the Master Key. Then, he stored them in the square iron box with concave bullet marks and quickly created a seal.
Meanwhile, Maric circled around and dealt with the scene.
Sharron pulled up her small black bonnet, and her figure disappeared before reappearing in front of Klein.
“The Book of Secrets is in your room,” Sharron said calmly.
That is to say, no matter what the end result is, as long as I can make it back alive, I will be able to get a portion of the reward. I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble for nothing… Klein smiled and bowed.
“Thank you for your generosity.
“The official Beyonders will arrive any time soon. We have to leave.”
Sharron nodded and asked, “Do you need any help?”
“There’s no need.” Klein chuckled. “I still have lots of fireworks which I haven’t released.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The remaining explosives exploded, one by one, sending flames up into the sky.
They clustered around the largest and most eye-catching one in the center, producing a dreamy and beautiful scene.
Sharron’s gaze was instinctively attracted to it for a second, and when she looked back, Klein was no longer there. There was only a spark that gradually dissipated.
Away from the clearing, he took a small detour northwest, preventing him from running into any official Beyonders on the way. One match after another was lit on the road, and the flames quickly soared up and then quickly disappeared.
Klein’s figure constantly emerged from within them as he leaped across the flames and departed the West Balam dock.
Immediately following that, he took out a special bottle of extract and wiped it over his face. With a gentle wipe using a piece of paper, he removed all the paint.
Pa!
Klein shook his wrist and burned the paper to ashes.
Then, he picked up the cane he had hidden nearby, straightened his clothes, and walked out into the street like an ordinary person.
Not long after, Klein arrived at a cathedral. Its name was: “Lever Cathedral.”
As many devotees weren’t rich, they might not be able to rest on Sundays and were usually busy during the day. Thus, the cathedrals of the various Churches typically opened until the early hours of the morning, giving most believers the opportunity to pray and repent.
Klein looked up, tapped the steps with the black cane in his hand, and stepped inside.
He intended to avoid the subsequent round of inspections of the surroundings people.
…
A few minutes later, a Machinery Hivemind team appeared at the clearing surrounded by abandoned warehouses.
There were a total of five of them, each armed with different kinds of Beyonder weapons. However, all of them frowned when they saw the cleaned up scene.
After looking for a moment, they began putting in effort to gather clues.
…
Lever Cathedral.
Since it wasn’t even 11 yet, there were quite a few people here. However, not a single person spoke. The entire prayer hall was so peaceful and holy that no one wanted to break the silence.
Klein sat in the third pew along the aisle. He leaned his black cane forward and took off his silk half top hat.
Wearing a black double-breasted frock coat, he clasped his hands against his lower jaw and closed his eyes. His expression was abnormally calm as he faced the triangle-shaped Sacred Emblem in front of him.
