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Leonard Mitchell was standing where Mobet had been, looking somewhat dazed, until Dunn called out to him again, bringing him back to his senses.
Leonard awkwardly scratched his unkempt, messy short hair, coughed lightly, and replied, "Sorry, Captain, I was just thinking about something and got a bit distracted."
"According to eyewitnesses, the source of this Beyonder incident, the person suspected to be a powerful Beyonder, disappeared instantly as soon as he appeared."
"This kind of teleportation-like Beyonder ability is clearly not something low-Sequence Beyonders can possess. If it's a Sealed Artifact, it would at least be a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact or even stronger."
"I strongly agree with Old Neil's opinion. Furthermore, given the teleportation Beyonder ability, I believe we can cooperate with the Punishers team and the Machinery Hivemind team to conduct a city-wide search of Tingen City."
The Nighthawks team usually only handles incidents related to the Goddess's believers in Tingen City. If there are believers of different faiths, they are divided by region.
The Nighthawks primarily handle supernatural incidents in the North Borough, West Borough, and Golden Wattle Borough of Tingen City; the Punishers team, affiliated with the Lord of Storms Church, is responsible for the Dock District, East Borough, and South Borough; the University District and the outskirts belong to the Machinery Hivemind team.
If Beyonder cases involving a wide and complex area arise, the Beyonder teams of the three major Churches will also cooperate with each other.
Dunn nodded, closed the notebook in his hand, and walked towards the carriage by the roadside.
Seeing that everyone's attention had finally shifted from him, Leonard let out a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to walk to an unoccupied corner, he heard the Captain's voice.
"Wait a moment, there's one more thing."
All Nighthawks members, including Leonard, stopped in their tracks. Many even showed expressions that seemed to say, "I knew it."
Dunn stood in front of the carriage, frowning as he pressed his temple and said, "In this incident, many residents were inexplicably corrupted, including many believers of the Goddess."
"Besides those who will continue the investigation, the remaining members will assist the Church's priests in handling the aftermath."
All members drew a scarlet moon on their chests and responded in unison, "Understood, Captain."
Leonard had just turned to leave when he cautiously half-turned his body and deliberated before speaking, "Captain, there's nothing else, right?"
Dunn thought for a moment, then the hand rubbing his temple suddenly slapped his slightly receding hairline on his forehead, and he said apologetically, "My memory has indeed declined a bit. I actually forgot to tell you about such an important matter."
"Your advancement application has been approved by the Church. At the earliest, this week, Daly will return to Tingen to hand over affairs and bring back your Sequence 8 Midnight Poet potion."
At this point, a hint of melancholy flashed across Dunn's face, and then he calmly continued, "Daly should have already been promoted to Sequence 6 Spirit Guide when she returns from Backlund this time. She will likely join the Red Gloves team and be transferred to the Backlund Diocese."
When they heard that Leonard was about to be promoted, the other team members weren't too surprised. After all, Leonard had been a Nighthawk for over two years. However, the news about Daly was somewhat shocking to them.
It took her one year to go from Sequence 9 Corpse Collector to Sequence 8 Gravedigger, another year from Gravedigger to Sequence 7 Spirit Medium, and less than two years to be promoted to Sequence 6 Spirit Guide.
This speed made these low-level Nighthawks, who were promoted step by step, feel incredible. Leonard's eyes flickered slightly. Seeing the Captain get into the carriage, he turned and left.
Walking to an empty corner, he lowered his voice, a hint of curiosity on his face, as if speaking to the air, "Hey, old man, did Miss Daly master the method you mentioned?"
An aged voice immediately echoed in his mind, "You're becoming more and more impolite. I wanted to teach you before, but what about you?"
"'This is a Demon's bargain; a true protagonist would never succumb to a Demon…' You should still remember that, right?"
The aged voice even replicated Leonard's arrogant and unrestrained tone, causing Leonard's face to instantly flush red. He mumbled a defense, "Any normal person would react this way if a voice suddenly appeared in their head, alright?"
"What's more, you wouldn't even let me report it to the Church. Who knows what your true intentions are, and I don't even know your name. If I don't call you 'old man,' what should I call you?"
Without waiting for the voice in his mind to reply, he cleared his throat and changed the subject, asking, "Alright, that's enough about that. What did you mean by 'familiar aura' earlier? Was that incident just now related to you?"
The aged voice chuckled with a hint of peculiarity, "Can't people have a little more trust in each other? These young people nowadays…"
"That was a demigod from the Aurora Order just now. As for what I meant by 'familiar,' hehe, you're not qualified to know yet."
"Don't try to probe me with your petty cleverness. You won't become a protagonist by relying solely on petty cleverness."
Leonard's face stiffened, and no matter how he called out afterward, the voice in his mind no longer responded.
A blurry figure, imperceptible to the naked eye, appeared above Leonard's Spirit Body. Its deep eyes looked towards the eastern suburbs of Tingen, and it whispered, "Coincidence? Trap?…"
-----------------
The tall Black Knight in full black armor, who had burst out of the shadows, was cut in half at the waist, and the two deep red lights flickering in its eye sockets gradually dimmed.
The Black Knight, "recorded" by Botis from Kisma, the "Saint Tenebrous," was defeated by Cavendish Lancer Pinto's projection, but the projection itself became much more ethereal.
Even with the aid of the Sefirah and the black emperor card, a sub-consciousness maintaining A Scholar of Yore and its summoned Angel projection for a few minutes was already its limit.
With unreduced momentum, Botis, who was behind the Black Knight, stiffened for a moment before rapidly collapsing and disintegrating, turning into countless shimmering "Worms of Star."
Some of these Worms of Star disappeared directly, some devoured each other, and some merged in the distance, recombining into Botis.
Botis's eyes had completely lost all rationality, his body was continuously collapsing, and he was on the verge of manifesting an incomplete, extremely weakened mythical creature form.
He sensed something, and the madness in his eyes receded. He looked to his side, and emotions of shock and fear surged in his eyes.
The "Box of the Great Old Ones," silver-black on the surface and inlaid with various gems, had opened its first two layers at some unknown point. The third layer was entirely blood-red, and a crack had now opened, seeming to contain a sea of blood.
Drip, drip. One light cluster after another slipped from Botis's body. They touched the ground and transformed into countless insects formed from brilliant starlight.
These insects curved their bodies into semicircles, enclosing a strange glow, like one illusory Door after another.
Botis, who had instantly begun to shift into an incomplete mythical creature form, immediately turned his head, enduring the dizziness in his mind and the endless whispers, allowing a giant silver-white serpent without scales to condense in his eyes.
This giant serpent was so immense that it filled Botis's eyes. Its surface was covered with dense patterns and symbols forming numerous mysterious rotating wheels.
It connected head to tail, converging with countless illusory rivers, evolving into a blurry, somewhat unreal, slowly rotating giant wheel. Around the wheel, various symbolic representations depicted different futures.
Suddenly, the distorted insects falling from his body flew up one by one, recombining into Botis. Blood-red patterns appeared on the "Box of the Great Old Ones," seemingly resisting the power of fate.
A faint golden glimmer appeared, and the blood-red patterns were suddenly suppressed by some force. The "Box of the Great Old Ones" closed layer by layer.
Everything returned to before the "Box of the Great Old Ones" was about to completely open.
"Restart of Fate"!
This was one of the rewards "Saint of Secrets" Botis had gained from overthrowing the Abraham family previously—a Sequence 1 Beyonder ability "recorded" from Angel of Fate Ouroboros.
Of course, this definitely had a huge difference from the original version, only able to "restart" reality within three seconds, but this was already Botis's most precious possession besides the "Box of the Great Old Ones."
Moreover, having used the "Restart" personally bestowed by Angel of Fate Ouroboros, even if trapped and unable to pray, that great being could still pinpoint his location through the fluctuations of fate.
The silver River of Fate swept everything backward. Before Botis's distorted smile could even appear, he witnessed an incredible scene:
A giant paper crane, carrying a young man, emerged from the Spirit World, traversing the River of Fate where all things were frozen, flying towards him.
An ancient longsword covered in blood-red patterns magnified in his pupils. Botis's eyes were filled with despair and disbelief:
Why?
As the last thought surfaced, Botis saw his headless body and the severed Worms of Spirit.
Will Auceptin's paper crane then ignited with invisible flames, its fragments merging into the surging River of Fate around them. Aaron retrieved his "Sword of Judgment," and combined with the "Death" decree, he finally slew Botis, who was caught in the Restart of Fate.
Without looking at Botis's corpse, Aaron quickly walked to the "Box of the Great Old Ones," looking at this terrifying Sealed Artifact, which had strangely returned to calm. Aaron frowned, feeling uncertain.
Just as he frowned, Cavendish Lancer Pinto, who had returned from the historical fog to reality, also arrived. He took out various spiritual materials and began to set up the ritual Aaron had taught him around Botis's corpse.
Time was running out. Even with the protection of Concealment and the help of Will Auceptin, this place couldn't be hidden for long. Trouble would arrive very soon.
Taking a deep breath, Aaron was about to sacrifice the "Box of the Great Old Ones" onto the dark golden mist to personally suppress it, when both the Darkness Mark and the life mark simultaneously emitted faint light. The two powers instantly enveloped the "Box of the Great Old Ones."
Aaron was dazed for a second; it seemed as if golden flakes detached from the "Box of the Great Old Ones." What was this?
This thought had just surfaced when it strangely subsided, but the sub-consciousness within the Sefirah was not affected and remembered this scene.
Aaron's body paused, and then he set up a simple sacrificial ritual, sacrificing the "Box of the Great Old Ones" onto the dark golden mist.
As soon as this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was sacrificed, the entire Nation of Disorder stirred, like boiling water.
Vast power spontaneously activated like steam, converging into a torrent that completely submerged the "Box of the Great Old Ones." Black and green interwoven patterns spontaneously appeared, wrapping it layer by layer, binding it tightly.
At this moment, the gem-inlaid, silver-black three-layered "jewelry box" seemed to have become a small insect trapped in amber, with no room to move at all.
"Next time, I should sacrifice some water to let the 'Box of the Great Old Ones' play with microorganisms. The negative effect of random disappearance seems to require praying to Will Auceptin."
After dealing with this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, Aaron looked at Cavendish Lancer Pinto, who had already set up the ritual. Without further ado, the life mark emitted light and merged into the ritual array.
Botis's corpse rapidly withered, and green light surged out, merging with the spiritual materials that formed the ritual, converging into the life mark. That would be the next "Stone of Life."
Aaron picked up the Beyonder characteristic left behind by "Saint of Secrets" Botis. It was shaped like a crystal, with countless rays of light refracting within, evolving into one illusory and brilliant Door after another.
After sealing it, along with more than twenty Worms of Star and the black pouch that had fallen to the side, Aaron and the other figure vanished from the spot.
As the afterglow of the setting Sun fell, a figure appeared where the "Box of the Great Old Ones" had been.
It was a simple, gentle priest, dressed in a plain white robe, with a light golden beard that covered the lower half of his face, and eyes as clear and pure as a baby's. A cross pendant hung from his chest.
Strands of golden dust emerged from the void, forming a golden scale that merged into the simple priest's body.
His pure eyes looked up at the sky, where a silver-haired Angel with countless wings appeared, her face gentle with a hint of indifference, as if looking down at a river, looking down at fate.
Beneath her feet, there was a winding, shimmering river.
The river constantly turned, looped back, flowed into itself, and became the source!
-----------------
Backlund, Empress Borough, East Tucker Family Villa.
Mobet, who had been released from the "Box of the Great Old Ones" by Aaron, stood with his head bowed opposite the desk, his expression somewhat tearful.
He truly felt that he was incredibly unlucky. He had been hiding and fleeing to Tingen, but not only did he not find the old man, he didn't even see the lucky person the old man had Parasite.
As soon as he arrived in Tingen, he was targeted by the Lunatic of the Aurora Order and had no choice but to pray to the great Lord of Order for help.
Aaron glanced at the dejected Mobet but did not explain the existence of the Quill of Alzuhod. Without special means, the more one understood it, the easier it was to become a part of the story and die inexplicably.
However, given that he had just acquired a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact and had probed the current situation in Tingen, Aaron still took out a strange crystal item that resembled a baby's palm.
Its five small fingers were spread open, and numerous Worms of Time with seven or eight segments swiftly swam and wandered inside, their skin color constantly changing due to the Convergence of light and shadow and the different environments.
Under Mobet's surprised gaze, Aaron pushed this Parasite Beyonder characteristic, which originated from Flora Jacob, towards him, then calmly said, "Your strength is not yet sufficient to complete the mission. Prepare for your advancement ritual as soon as possible. This is considered an advance reward."
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