Chapter 921. Politeness First |
When it came to the understanding of ancient gods, Klein knew as much as many High-Sequence Beyonders. After all, he had the City of Silver who had continued on from the Second Epoch to this day behind him. The corresponding myths that were passed down the ages had left plenty of influence.
Based on what he knew, Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace was a so-called ancient goddess. Because of the City of Silver’s Creator, the ancient sun god who eventually ended up being consumed by the Kings of Angels dealt heavy damage to “Her.” Eventually, “She” perished towards the end of the Second Epoch.
However, “Her” influence had yet to dissipate to this day. Signs of “Her” existence remained because “She” was the founder of the Underworld!
City of the Dead… Unknown Soul… Ancient goddess… It sounds very dangerous… Klein looked at the radio transceiver in front of him and fell silent.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Another piece of illusory white paper spat out:
“Apart from that, I’m unsure of the rest.
“Great Master, I have a suggestion. Would you like to hear it?”
That’s a nice question… Klein reined in his thoughts and nodded gently.
“Speak.”
“Regarding Calderón City, you can ask Red Light Aiur Moria.”
I still have to ask Red Light in the end… Klein nodded slightly and switched to asking, “Is there any danger if I were to remove Admiral Hell Ludwell’s mask?”
“No!” A decisive answer appeared before Klein’s eyes.
That’s good… he thought and said, “Let’s end it here for today.”
“Great Master, wise Master, in another one or two minutes, a gaze will be cast here! Your loyal and humble servant, Arrodes, will await your next summoning. Goodbye~” The radio transceiver began tapping without any hesitation.
Another one or two minutes? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Klein was alarmed as though he was seeing a countdown timer on a bomb. He hurriedly used the altar and material he had yet cleared to set up a sacrificial ritual. He then threw the radio transceiver above the gray fog.
After doing all of this and confirming that there weren’t any anomalies around him, Klein made Ludwell walk to the side and not face him directly as he took off the silver mask.
Gloomy pale-white light spewed out, but it wasn’t as exaggerated in his battle between Klein and Ludwell. It only enveloped a small region like an extinguishing candle.
Meanwhile, as the radio transceiver had been sent above the gray fog, the gloomy, cold feeling that had disappeared in the nearby forest appeared again. Furthermore, it had an indescribable sense of horror that struck at the heart.
This reminded Klein of a cemetery and the legendary Underworld.
After waiting a few seconds, seeing that there weren’t any additional abnormal developments, he made his other marionette, Winner Enzo, to circle to Ludwell’s front and carefully observe the face that had been masked for extended periods of time.
The face lacked flesh; its skin clung tightly to his bones without any colors. It was as translucent as crystal.
Beneath the “crystal,” transparent and indescribable shadows quickly flowed out, at times fusing with the skull, and at other times they shrank in gaps, surfacing on his teeth.
Compared to the first one or two months of his transmigration, Klein would’ve been shocked by Admiral Hell’s appearance, but now, having already seen all kinds of odd Rampagers and mutated bodies, he wasn’t shocked by such looks.
After another round of research, Klein completely figured out Ludwell’s condition.
All of this stemmed from the unique traits of him being a Gatekeeper.
At Sequence 5, after becoming Gatekeeper, Beyonders could use their bodies as cages that belonged exclusively to the Underworld, allowing them to contain a certain number of souls, deceased, and natural spirits. As such, they obtained all kinds of unique powers with powerful helpers. There was no need to bring a huge undead army around in an eye-catching manner.
This was the origin of many folk tales.
Another purpose of a Gatekeeper was an ancient role: to guard the Underworld in their bodies, preventing the souls contained within from escaping, and to use them. This similarly had the symbolism of a pair of double illusory doors.
And after ancient Death, Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace, created the Underworld, it was bestowing a small amount of the Death pathway’s authority to all Gatekeepers. This made Beyonders of this Sequence receive an enhancement in strength.
The reason why Ludwell kept wearing the mask was because he had contained a powerful Underworld creature in him. On the one hand, this creature could be used by him, and on the other hand, it was eroding his body, turning him into a half-human, half-dead existence. At the same time, ultimately, this creature was innately connected to the Underworld. It was attempting to open the door and return.
This was a combination of a Gatekeeper’s own powers and authority, and with the augmentation from Death’s ring, it allowed Admiral Hell Ludwell to enlarge the Door to the Underworld, allowing him to steer the Black Tulip directly inside.
Half-human and half-dead form… No wonder Ludwell dares to enter the Underworld. A real living person probably can’t survive a second inside… Yes, that Underworld creature gives his body some traits of a dead soul, allowing him to extract the Spirit Bodies of others remotely. I had suffered from that back then… Klein thought in enlightenment as he made Ludwell wear the silver mask again.
The mask’s purpose was to placate the soul. It allowed the Underworld creature in Ludwell’s body to be in a relatively calm state most of the time.
After resolving his puzzlement, Klein cast his gaze back onto the altar.
He wanted to attempt to contact one of the spirit world’s Seven Lights.
In this aspect, there were special secret deed rituals and the corresponding spirit channeling ritual he could choose from. After some consideration, Klein chose the latter. This was because a secret deed ritual required him to open up his mind and spirit, allowing the targeted existence to make contact and thus obtain certain knowledge, strength, help, and a spiritual experience. This also meant that his body’s thoughts and secrets were open to that existence.
And through the spirit channeling ritual, there were two types—direct communication and praying for a soulfall. As the spirit world’s Seven Lights were extremely lofty existences, Klein couldn’t guarantee a response based on the ritual’s request. Therefore, although he wished to communicate remotely via spirit channeling, he had to make preparations for a soulfall to show his sincerity.
Lighting three candles and dripping liquids like mint essential oil, Klein specially took out a paper figurine and placed it on the altar for the vessel for the soulfall. If there wasn’t anything similar, the supplicating target would soulfall onto him, just like how Danitz had requested Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina’s soulfall back then. There were also two scenarios. First, the possessed body would lose all their senses, and they would have the corresponding existence control a certain part of their body so as to facilitate providing a question and answer. The simplest example was one using the mouth to speak while the other controlled a hand to write.
Klein quickly completed the first part of the ritual before he took a step back, opened his mouth, and chanted in ancient Hermes, “I!
“I summon in my name:
“I pray to communicate with the inextinguishable light of the spirit world, the embodiment of infinite knowledge, the Red who wields authority and will…”
The biggest difference between this spirit channeling ritual and ordinary ones was that it couldn’t be directed to deities, be it the Evernight Goddess or the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, “Their” honorific names couldn’t appear in the ritual or else it was bound to fail.
From a mysticism angle, this meant that the spirit world’s Seven Lights didn’t serve any deity.
As the words that facilitated the communication with natural spirits were said, Klein saw the three flames burgeon as light splattering sounds connected together as though a door of light was opening.
The area around the altar suddenly turned silent and dark as pairs of unknown eyes looked over from different areas.
A cold, gloomy air blew past. Apart from the three candles, all the items on the altar floated in midair. Among them, the paper figurine staggered straight as its surface was tainted with a thick, clean red that didn’t look bloody at all.
“Greetings.” As Klein recalled the description of the spirit world’s Seven Lights from some mysticism books, he spoke by following the correct way of interacting that he had concluded.
He acted like he was facing a teacher.
The bright red paper figurine’s head moved slightly as it let out an illusory but stern voice:
“Hello there.”
Quite polite… Indeed, spirit channeling became a soulfall. Thankfully, I made preparations… Various thoughts flashed in Klein’s mind as he earnestly and politely asked, “Your Excellency Aiur Moria, I have a question I would like to ask you.”
“You can just call me Aiur Moria. Please go ahead and ask.” The paper figurine floating in midair seemed to be competing with Klein about who was more polite.
“I wish to get information on Calderón City.” Klein didn’t change his attitude. After all, in the Foodaholic Empire, there was a proverb: Nobody will find fault with extra courtesy.
The bright red, nearly transparent paper figurine pondered for two seconds and said, “Can I know your purpose?”
Klein didn’t conceal his purpose. He frankly said, “To hunt a Spirit World Plunderer.”
The paper figurine’s head moved slightly.
“That’s indeed something that can only be found in Calderón City with ease. Elsewhere, Spirit World Plunderers are like a drop of water in the ocean. They are very hard to distinguish, and even I will occasionally discover them. I’m unable to lock onto them for long periods of time.
“A number of them are active in the core region of Calderón City. A few are scattered in the periphery. As long as you don’t attempt to go too deep inside, it’s actually not too dangerous. Unfortunately, due to special reasons, us Seven Lights are prohibited from entering; otherwise, we could still provide you with some actual help.”
“That’s formerly the divine kingdom of the ancient goddess, Gregrace?” Klein’s heart settled down as he asked as a form of confirming the answers.
The bright red paper figurine said, “Yes, the ancient Death wished to revive ‘Herself’ using this City of the Dead, but ‘She’ failed completely. The authority was taken by Balam’s Death.
“However, this also makes Calderón City more dangerous because the setup left by the ancient goddess underwent an anomaly after the failure. As for what it has turned into, I’m not too sure.”
Is that so… Klein nodded indiscernibly. He raised a few questions about other matters and received a rather satisfactory answer.
…
Bayam. Outside a house near the harbor.
Alger and Cattleya were patiently waiting for the people inside to finish their dinner.
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