"So it was you who cursed me last time!" Ince Zangwill took a deep look at the Hero Bandit, the "Black Emperor," as if trying to imprint his appearance and aura into memory.
But at this moment, his "Spirit World Traversal" ability had already completed, and with the battle of a King of Angels occurring right at hand, Ince Zangwill did not dare linger at all. He therefore suppressed the thought of killing the other party immediately.
"May you teleport straight into the faces of official Beyonders!"
After Ince Zangwill's figure disappeared, Klein did not dare remain in such a dangerous place either. Out of habit, he "blessed" the other party with a sentence, then ended the "summoning" of his own spirit body and returned to the mysterious space above the gray fog.
At the same time, Leonard Mitchell, who had been hiding in the shadows and witnessing all the changes, withdrew his gaze and asked anxiously, "Old man, just now Klein seemed to use something to hit Ince Zangwill…
"That was the opportunity you mentioned?"
Pallez's aged voice quickly sounded, "Yes… he encountered extreme 'misfortune'… Just sensing it briefly made even me feel alarmed. I have no idea where your former colleague found such a terrifying, extraordinary item.
"Also, because of 'misfortune,' Ince's teleportation this time is doomed to fail, and I secretly did a few things as well… If nothing goes wrong, he'll be forced to leave the Spirit World on Oates Street not far away. If you chase him now, there's still time… With his 'misfortune,' he won't be able to use the Spirit World to escape for a while.
"However, because of this move, I need to sleep for a period of time. The rest of the battle will have to rely entirely on you…
"The wand Rhine made for you works very well. If Ince turns into an 'incomplete mythological form,' you can also rely on 'transformation' to gain the ability to look at him directly for a short time…
"Oh, right… before catching up to Ince… remember to report to that 'Fool' and request help…"
After saying this, Pallez fell silent.
Leonard called out "Old man" several times but received no response. He lowered his head and thought for a few seconds. In the end, he gritted his teeth, grabbed the wand, leapt out of the exhibition hall, and ran toward Oates Street.
Of course, he did not forget the old man's instructions. While running, he reported the situation to Mr. "Fool."
On the other side, Anderson and Danitz, who had been swept into the core battlefield of the struggle between Adam and the "Angel of Fate" Ouroboros, who had been descended into by the "True Creator," were far less fortunate.
Anderson was relatively fine. Having always been extremely "unlucky," he was very alert. The moment the heavy curtain appeared, he closed his eyes and retreated into a corner, desperately reducing his sense of presence.
Of course, he was still loyal enough. While retreating, he also pulled Danitz, who was still in a dazed state, along with him.
However, because he had not experienced the adventure of Groselle's Travels, nor had he been forced to hide and flee everywhere due to Gehrman constantly causing trouble, Danitz ultimately lacked some experience compared to the original story. As a result, he did not close his eyes immediately and instead directly "looked at" the fully descended heavy "curtain."
His eyes instantly became bloodshot, his body surface rapidly swelled and rotted, disgusting pus flowing out. Even the item granting the "Faceless" ability he wore was unable to adjust.
Thus, he quickly lost control and died in this agony, not even having time to think about his captain…
But the next moment, he came back to life, once again returning to the state where he had just witnessed the "curtain," his eyes bloodshot. Then he painfully died again, and returned once more to the beginning.
After repeating this several times, Danitz finally grew numb. Although the pain remained, his brain at least recovered some ability to think, allowing him to recall the note that "Gehrman Sparrow" had handed him earlier at the passage entrance:
"After seeing something you shouldn't have seen, use Hermes—preferably Ancient Hermes—to recite the following honorific name…"
Thus, he struggled to move his swollen lips and recited in a low voice:
"The Fool who does not belong to this era;
"The mysterious ruler above the gray fog;
"The Yellow and Black King who wields good fortune…"
...
Inside a private room of a café on Oates Street.
Not long after Dunn and Daly finished reporting the situation of the Church of the God of Combat at "Calderón City" to Mr. "Fool," they discovered that something had gone wrong at the Pitt Hotel. Immediately afterward, the strange sight of thunderclouds and the sunset confronting each other in the sky entered their view.
"Something seems to have happened…" After observing solemnly for a moment, Dunn was just about to take his wife back to the Church of the God of Combat's cathedral, since it was safe enough there.
But at that moment, on the street below the café, many blocks of color suddenly overlapped irregularly. In the next instant, a rather disheveled figure was outlined.
It was a man in tattered clothes, his pants fallen down to his ankles, his thighs bare. He held a feather pen in one hand and a broken belt in the other, looking extremely ridiculous.
But no matter how much this person provoked the urge to complain, Dunn and Daly still recognized him at the first moment—Ince Zangwill!
Dunn's gray eyes instantly grew deeper. Even though he already knew that Klein had not truly died due to Mr. "Fool's" favor, he still could not forgive Ince for the harm done to the Tingen Nighthawks team!
At the very least, Old Neil had died because of his "arrangements." If not for the intruding "Witch" Lina, Cohen Lee would probably have died as well… Not to mention the enmity of himself and the internal guards who had died in the final battle, which absolutely had to be avenged!
"And he doesn't look to be in good condition…"
Thinking of this, Dunn did not hesitate at all. The "Iron Man" armor instantly equipped itself. Then, borrowing the ability of the "nature spirit" he had subdued, he "blinked" behind Ince in a flash, and the "Storm of Light" condensed in his palm struck out in one motion!
Seeing this, Daly did not try to dissuade her husband.
She understood Dunn's choice, because Ince was not just her husband's enemy, but the shared nemesis of the entire Tingen Nighthawks team, herself included.
However, she did not possess armor like Dunn's that combined offense and defense and even carried a demi-god–level "Twilight Decay" attack. Rushing to assist rashly would instead become a burden to her husband.
What she needed to do now were three things:
First, hide herself well and avoid becoming Dunn's weak point;
Second, dispatch the "undead" she controlled to cooperate with her husband in harassing Ince;
Third, pray to Mr. "Fool" and request help!
Thinking this through, she immediately stood up and entered the café's washroom. Using the "undead," she concealed herself, then adopted a prayer posture and recited:
"The Fool who does not belong to this era…"
...
Above the gray fog, Klein, who had just ended the spirit body summoning and sat back down in the position of the "Fool," saw several stars light up simultaneously, continuously contracting and expanding.
Some of them were unfamiliar, some familiar, and some were directly members of the "Tarot Club."
(end of chapter)