Inside the captain's cabin of the Black Death, the "Vice Admiral of Ailment," Tracy, relied on the "luck" Ebner had bestowed upon her, as well as the protection of her mother, the "Saintess of White," Katarina, to narrowly but safely avoid the influence of the "Abomination."
However, most of the crew aboard her ship did not possess such "luck." By now, they had suffered devastating casualties, and even those still "alive" were on the brink of losing control, forcing Tracy to execute them helplessly.
Therefore, when she saw Ebner appear before her, Tracy directly threw herself into his arms, seeking comfort.
Ebner did not push this "Demoness of Affliction" away, because he realized that being "arranged" this time was not without its benefits…
For example, Tracy right in front of me—when viewed by those hidden existences—will naturally make them think that since I was willing to personally come for her, my relationship with her must be extremely close.
This is equivalent to indirectly protecting Xio and Fors… After all, people are accustomed to repeating successful experiences. Since using Tracy as bait worked, they won't bother testing others again.
Moreover, Xio and Fors have long lived in Backlund and each have their own backgrounds, so they aren't easy targets to begin with.
Although scheming like this makes me seem quite "scummy," the stereotypical villain in the female-oriented fiction of my previous life, firstly, Tracy doesn't actually like me… The reason she's showing dependence is because she was affected by my secret art, "Human Allurement"…
Once that spell is lifted, she'll probably come after me with murderous intent right away… so there's no real question of being scummy or not.
Secondly, in this ambush against me, although the "Saintess of White," Katarina, wasn't the mastermind, she was a key link in luring me into the trap. Now that she's run away, letting her "daughter" come to "repay" this debt isn't unreasonable.
And besides, I'll still do my best to ensure Tracy's safety… just like this time.
As his thoughts turned, Ebner activated the "Pure White Eye" and scanned the captain's cabin of the Black Death. He did not find Katarina's figure and confirmed that she had truly left.
In fact, when the "Saintess of White" saw the power of the Hidden Sage hovering above Ebner's head without descending, she sensed that something was wrong and decisively chose to flee.
At that time, the angels were confronting one another, and none of them had the leisure to pay her any attention.
Of course, Katarina had the sense not to take Tracy with her. She knew very well that her daughter had methods arranged by Ebner Bryan on her body and could easily be located.
After comforting Tracy for a while, Ebner brought her and the Black Death together and teleported them near one of the sub-fleets under the "Vice Admiral of Ailment."
After Tracy replenished sailors from the sub-fleet and the Black Death recovered its ability to sail, Ebner bid her farewell and returned to "Alvin's Traveling Palace."
At this time, Klein and Dunn and the others had already soaked in the hot springs. The latter's hairline had visibly receded quite a bit.
Seeing Ebner return, they were all extremely grateful, with only Leonard's expression not looking very good.
After exchanging a few modest remarks, Ebner took out the card that sealed "Enzo" and handed it to Klein, saying, "This is a congratulatory gift for your promotion to demigod."
Klein did not stand on ceremony with Ebner. He casually accepted it and probed it with spirituality, then asked in confusion, "Enzo? This is a person?"
"To be precise, a Sequence 5 'Winner'… He's a member of the Rose School of Thought and counts as a pretty good 'marionette,'" Ebner explained with a smile.
Upon hearing "Rose School of Thought," Klein did not ask further and accepted it with peace of mind.
—This organization had now fallen into the hands of the "Indulgence faction." Not only was it Sharon's enemy, it was also a lackey of evil gods. Every member's hands were soaked in blood, and none deserved pity.
"Oh, right—Ince Zangwill's extraordinary characteristics have already fused together with those fragmented pieces of flesh and blood. It will probably take some time to separate them… And among them, I have use for both the 'Nightwatcher' characteristic and the 'Gatekeeper' characteristic. Why don't you just sell them to me directly…" Ebner recalled the previous spoils of war and made his request.
The "Nightwatcher" characteristic was something he planned to leave to Elaine, allowing her to have more time each day to create value;
as for the "Gatekeeper," it would be used to craft a "vessel" to carry Cohinem's soul.
Klein pondered for a while, then glanced at Dunn and Leonard. Seeing both of them shake their heads and leave the decision to him, he spoke solemnly, "Ince's 'Nightwatcher' characteristic came from Saint Selena's ashes. It was our dereliction of duty that allowed it to be lost… Now it should rightly be returned to the Evernight Goddess, returned to the Church."
"I see…" Ebner nodded slightly. "Don't worry, I'll speak to the Evernight Goddess about it."
Hearing him mention the Evernight Goddess in such a casual tone, Klein was already used to it. Leonard had often heard the old man talk about Rhine's glorious past, so he was somewhat mentally prepared.
But Dunn and Daly were greatly shocked. They had never imagined that someone who claimed to be a follower of The Fool and had received the blessing of the Earth Mother would actually seem to be so familiar with the Evernight Goddess as well…
Just who exactly was this Ebner Bryan?!
After that, they chatted idly for a bit more, and Ebner sent them back one by one.
Klein had originally wanted to take the opportunity to return the Fallen Morningstar to Ebner, but after thinking it over carefully, he felt it would be better to let Mr. Fool personally return it at the next Tarot Gathering. That would also show greater regard for him.
When Ebner finally sent off Dunn and Daly, however, based on the fate he had observed, he congratulated them in advance. "Dunn, it won't be long before you receive a reward from the Church of the God of Combat and advance to 'Nightwatcher' or 'Demon Hunter.'"
Dunn and Daly were startled upon hearing this. After all, only Lady Arianna knew about their disguising themselves as the "Foger" couple to infiltrate undercover. They had not even told Klein or Leonard…
It was only at this moment that Dunn truly believed that Ebner was probably genuinely very familiar with the Evernight Goddess.
Daly's focus, however, lay elsewhere. She asked cautiously, "Why would the Church of the God of Combat reward us?
"In the Indho Port incident this time, we exposed quite a few flaws."
In response, Ebner merely smiled enigmatically and did not answer.
In reality, from the gods' perspective, your infiltration into the Church of the God of Combat was an 'open card' from beginning to end.
It's just that the connections used to insert you there came from the Church of the Earth Mother, so the God of Combat would only think that you were people of the Earth Mother and had a certain connection to Mysteries, naturally making you excellent 'pieces.'
And in the Indho Port incident, the Earth Mother clearly stood on the side of the God of Combat. As a return, the God of Combat would very likely cultivate you.
Under such circumstances, letting Dunn advance across pathways to become a 'Demon Hunter'—both allowing influence to be exerted on him from a higher pathway and deepening ties with the Earth Mother and Mysteries—is a very good choice.
This is both a blessing and a "curse"…
Unfortunately, the God of Combat probably didn't anticipate that he himself might fall in the upcoming divine war…
…
Backlund, North Borough.
After returning to his mansion, Klein stabilized his state and immediately entered the washroom, walked four steps backward, ascended above the gray fog, and moved deeper into that mysterious space, toward the staircase of light that led to heaven itself.
Just as he expected, there was one more step there—a step condensed from light.
This time, having become a demigod, Klein was certain that he could rely on these six steps, belonging to that giant, to ascend onto the condensed gray clouds.
One step, two steps, three steps… He walked to the end, leapt forward, and landed on the clouds formed by the gray fog.
What entered his view was a resplendent gate of light tinged with traces of cyan-black. It was composed of countless overlapping spheres of light, and the true form of each sphere was a mass of twisted worms huddled together. Some were transparent, others semi-transparent.
In addition, from above the gate of light, strands of black threads hung down, each suspending an almost completely transparent "cocoon."
Those "cocoons" swayed gently, each wrapping a different soul. Some had black skin, some yellow, some white; some wore jeans, some held mobile phones; some had flamboyant clothing, some had beautiful features. All bore the aura of life, yet all had their eyes tightly shut.
Klein's gaze froze at once, as if he had returned to Earth, walking down a street filled with every race.
Then he noticed that three of the "cocoons" had already broken open, empty within, swaying in the wind.
Raising his head, Klein silently gazed upon all of this, quietly watching.
…
Inside the bedroom on the third floor of the mansion at 160 Buckland Street, Sharon—who was sitting before a full-length mirror "switching" outfits—suddenly heard a knock at the door.
She hesitated for a moment, but still got up and opened it.
Then she saw a Sherlock filled with gloom, dejection, confusion, and depression—completely different from his usual self.
Although she did not know what he had experienced, Sharon still pulled him into an embrace, letting him lean against her chest…
…
(End of chapter)