Indo Port, Oates Street.
When Leonard Mitchell arrived here following the old man's final hint, he saw from afar the scene of Ince Zangwill narrowly avoiding the lightning strike, gradually transforming into a "monster," and preparing to counterkill "Iron Man."
Leonard was not unfamiliar with "Iron Man." Back when he had been investigating organizations that worshipped "The Fool," he had even listed him as a key suspect.
Although after joining the Tarot Club, he had not found any member who matched "Iron Man's" conditions, at this very moment, the other party just happened to appear here to block Ince Zangwill—this could not be a coincidence… The other party was very likely to support sent by Mr. "The Fool"!
And afterward, the appearance of the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor" further confirmed his guess. So when he sensed that Ince Zangwill was about to pursue "Iron Man," he directly released "spider silk," barely restricting the movements of the "Nighthawk" who had turned into a "monster."
But Leonard also knew that his restraint would not play a very big role. After all, the "monster" he spoke of was actually a demigod's "mythical form." If he himself had not transformed using the "wand," merely looking at it once would cause him to lose control immediately!
That said, speaking of this "transformation"… Leonard lowered his head and glanced at his waist, chest, and hips, which looked "slender" but were actually even more robust than before the transformation. He could not help but feel indignant, thinking that he had been jointly screwed over by the old man and that old monster Rein…
But at this point, he could no longer care about that. Without the effect of "transformation," he could not even directly face his enemy, let alone take revenge!
"Fortunately, my facial structure has changed quite a bit too. Others probably won't recognize me—otherwise I'd probably be… well, 'socially dead'!" Leonard muttered inwardly, then stopped letting his thoughts run wild.
With a powerful enemy before him, he could not afford any distraction.
What Leonard did not know was that the moment he appeared, Dunn had already felt a sense of familiarity in his slightly altered facial features:
"This half-giant seems to be Leonard…
"And coming all this way so desperately to intercept Ince—this really might be Leonard… Is this the effect of some kind of beyonder item?"
At the same time, Klein, who had rushed over from Backlund, finally arrived at the battlefield. Just like when he had faced the offspring of an evil god on the fifth floor of the Dream Labyrinth Tower, he had Sharron watch over his body inside a nearby building, incidentally providing cover for him.
As for himself, he relied on summoning his own spirit body, transforming into the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor," and arrived at the battlefield on Oates Street carrying numerous items.
The very first thing he did upon arrival was to activate a "talisman" with one hand, raise "Death Knell" with the other, bend his arm back, aim at his own temple, and pull the trigger.
With a bang, Klein's spirit body's head suffered no damage at all, but Ince Zangwill—who had just broken free of the "spider silk"—let out a shriek that no longer belonged to a human!
Klein's attack on himself had actually caused a section of Ince's head to cave in, yet he was still alive. In his pitch-black eyes, blood-red brilliance exploded outward, transforming into two light clusters filled with bloodlust, cruelty, and madness. His emotions grew ever more violent, as if he had lost all reason.
Seeing this, Klein frowned. He knew he had still underestimated the defensive power of a mythical form. A single "fatal strike" from "Death Knell," transferred via the "Theft of Luck Talisman," had only inflicted this much damage on Ince…
—Ever since Ebner had handed Klein the Sequence 2 "Trojan Horse of Fate" beyonder characteristic obtained from Amon for safekeeping, Klein had been able to stably produce "Theft of Luck Talismans" by combining it with the "Error" card. He now carried three of them on his person alone.
"But even if 'Death Knell' hits the same spot three times in a row, it might still not be able to completely kill him… And we're short on time—we have to withdraw before the Feysac authorities free up their hands…"
"So we need a stronger, more lethal attack!"
As thoughts flashed like lightning, Klein had already come up with an idea. He took out another "Theft of Luck Talisman" and began making preparations.
Different from the "Luck Thief" of the original story, this "Theft of Luck Talisman" obtained from Roselle, although stronger and broader in application, required several seconds of preparation time—this was already the result after Ebner had simplified it as much as possible.
Just now, it had been successfully activated thanks to a preemptive strike. But now, trying the same trick again, even though Ince Zangwill had lost most of his rationality, he had already sensed the danger. With a single push from his eight legs, he left an afterimage in place and charged at extreme speed toward the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor," who was still in the middle of preparation, intending to tear apart this guy who had injured him.
Yet Klein was not panicked in the slightest—not only because he still had many backup plans, but also because he trusted that his two companions would not allow Ince to attack him freely.
Of course, Sharron, as his final insurance, was also a major source of confidence.
Sure enough, after realizing that the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor" possessed bizarre methods capable of injuring Ince Zangwill, Leonard did not hesitate to use the "earth"-type spell that came with the "magical girl" form after transformation.
The ground beneath Ince's feet suddenly collapsed, causing all eight of his hind legs to kick into empty air at once.
Immediately afterward, the afterimage disappeared, and Ince stumbled again—just like when he had previously been tripped by his pants… except this time, all eight of his legs were tripped at once.
The violent, frenzied aura could no longer be restrained. His heart was filled with furious emotions and an urge to vent.
Ince Zangwill was originally an extremely prideful and fiercely competitive person. That was why, after failing his advancement and being abandoned by the Church, he had stolen a sealed artifact and embarked on the path of betrayal.
A large part of everything he had done was to prove something to the Church—to prove that he was stronger than the other archbishops! That the Church was wrong to abandon him!
However, such a humiliating blunder as this was something Ince simply could not accept. As a result, his remaining shred of rationality completely dissipated, and he let out a hiss that made people break out in goosebumps.
Immediately afterward, endless darkness spread outward, and slender strands of hair that surged out from the darkness, from dreams themselves, simultaneously wound toward Klein and Leonard.
These strands were of extremely high level. The "black-flame spider silk" Leonard released fell into deathly stillness the moment it made contact, as if it had suddenly "dropped dead."
Seeing this, Klein also felt that things were rather tricky. Being pulled into a "dream" did not scare him—he could remain lucid within dreams—but those "slender strands" were somewhat similar to the Tingen team's sealed artifact "3-0611," yet of a far higher level, and they carried the scent of "death."
He was about to activate one of the two demigod-level abilities contained within "Creeping Hunger" itself—"Shadow Domination"—to temporarily slow those "strands," buying himself time to complete his preparations, when suddenly, orange-yellow light belonging to "Dusk" lit up, instantly dispersing the darkness.
Those strands, the undead entwined around them, and even the "darkness" itself all simultaneously fell into "decay."
Dunn activated once again the "Light Storm" imbued with decay power within the "Iron Man" armor.
However, since the previous activation in the dream could not be considered a true activation, this was the genuine second time.
Boom! After dispersing all the "darkness," the "Light Storm" struck Ince Zangwill's body. He merely swayed slightly, suffering no substantial injury.
After all, by the time it hit him, this "Light Storm" was already at the end of its force, with little power remaining.
But because of this strike, Ince Zangwill changed his target, as if he had completely forgotten that the chivalrous thief "Black Emperor" was still preparing a "big move."
He even revealed a cruel smile and roared, "I want you dead!"
At this moment, however, Leonard—who had originally intended to step in and help—suddenly stopped and withdrew, while Dunn also "blinked" away, fleeing toward the distance.
This was because Klein's "Theft of Luck Talisman" had finally finished its preparation. After signaling the Tingen team's unique evasion code to the two of them, he locked onto Ince Zangwill with his spirituality.
At the same time, he opened his mouth and chanted a word in Giant language:
"Leodero!"
At this very moment, under the circumstances where Indo Port was enveloped in the divine power of the Lord of Storms, among all the attack methods Klein could think of, there was none stronger than this "little trick" taught by Mr. "Tower"!
Rip—
The sky, already thick with dark clouds, instantly burst with bolts of lightning of different colors. They bared their fangs and claws, expanded recklessly, and seemed to engulf the entire sky in an ocean of thunder.
Rumble!
Before the deafening sound spread, those lightning bolts poured down like a torrential rain toward Klein—at least ten times more than those that had struck the undead just now.
The stone-paved ground around him was instantly shattered, the soil beneath turning pitch-black in the blink of an eye…
The scene even startled Klein himself. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he felt that the Lord of Storms might be deliberately targeting him.
Fortunately, the effect of the "Theft of Luck Talisman" was far more powerful than the "Luck Thief" of the original story. Even such terrifying lightning strikes caused no harm to Klein, instead being entirely transferred onto Ince Zangwill.
And this time, Ince no longer had a second "umbilical cord of an evil god's offspring"…
(End of the chapter)