Chapter 285 - Midnight Bell Tower
Panda Novel
Audrey, who had set up an urgent communication method with Xio and Fors, quickly passed on Mr. Fool’s message to the two ladies through the huge golden retriever, Susie, claiming that the information she had received came via other sources.
In the corner of an old church, as Xio was thinking about how to confirm Lanevus’s identity, or how she should create chaos and avenge Williams, she unfolded the ball of paper.
… There’s no need to confirm. He’s Lanevus? Xio’s eyes widened as she quickly skimmed through the rest of the paper’s content. The piece of paper clearly wrote:
“The only choice is to notify the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
“Alert them that Lanevus has the godhood of the True Creator on him.”
“Godhood? The True Creator’s godhood?” Xio blurted out as she looked at the golden retriever in front of her in shock, only to realize that she was equally dumbfounded.
“What?” Fors was listening when she suddenly felt something was amiss. She hurriedly reached out for the piece of paper and scanned it.
After a moment, she curled her lips and said at a loss, “This… this must be a joke, right?
“How did we get involved in a matter that’s tied to an evil god’s godhood?”
This was meant to involve the capture of a cunning swindler worth only 200 pounds!
In response to Fors’s question, Susie could only express the notion that she was only a dog and that she didn’t know what was happening either with her innocent eyes.
Not expecting a dog to answer her questions, she turned her head to Xio and said, “I’m afraid Miss Audrey isn’t as naive and innocent as we thought. She has many secrets.
“This might be a power struggle between a cult, the nobles and the Church.
“However, it’s evident that she didn’t know about the matter of godhood prior to this. She’s also being used by someone. Hmm… That person could be her father, Count Hall.”
“What’s fortunate is that this matter ends here. You don’t need to take the risk anymore. After you get someone to make the report, you just need to wait to collect the bounty in peace.”
Xio was startled and said, “That’s true…
“Hopefully, those Nighthawks are able to avenge Williams. They’re so strong, so they’ll definitely be able to do it. Definitely…”
Before she finished speaking, she suddenly turned her head to the side and spoke as if she was talking to herself, “I’m still too weak.
“Too weak…”
Xio jerked her hand up, covering her mouth and nose.
…
I’m still too weak… If not for that, I would’ve chosen to take revenge myself, but right now I can only take a step back… Not to mention there’s ‘Giant’ and those hidden helpers around Lanevus. With just his godhood, he isn’t someone I can deal with… With the reaction speed of the Nighthawks, they’ll likely take action tonight once they receive the report. The Backlund diocese is second only to the Church’s headquarters. They have many Sealed Artifacts and many powerful Beyonders. There’s no need to wait for any additional helpers… After completing his task of informing Audrey, Klein returned to the real world. He stuck on a beard, changed his hairstyle, and stared into the mirror for several minutes.
He felt anticipation and excitement, as well as depression and a sense of powerlessness.
Before the evening arrived, he left the Quelaag Club and returned to Minsk Street. On his way, he went to the grocery market and found a stall that was bustling with its great business. He bought several masks, including a clown’s.
He had decided to watch the hunt for Lanevus tonight!
He wanted to see the other party pay the price for his madness with his own eyes!
Of course, with his strength, he could only watch from a distance and not even have the right to approach them.
By eleven o’clock, when many people were in their dreams, Klein changed into his grayish-blue worker’s uniform and disguised himself as he had the night before. Then, he put on his cap, walked a few streets away, and took a rental carriage to the Backlund Bridge area.
Once there, he switched to walking and walked all the way to the East Balam Dock.
His interview yesterday included questions such as “where are you staying now” and “how’s the environment like.” Therefore, he knew very well that Lanevus would be staying in the dormitory provided by the Dock Union at night.
However, Klein didn’t go near it. Instead, he carefully went around it. His target was the clock tower of the East Balam Dock.
In Backlund, in addition to the large church with its tall, iconic clock tower, many government buildings were also equipped with one. However, they weren’t necessarily tall, grand, and not ornate. It was mostly built for pragmatic reasons, such as this one in the East Balam Dock.
Compared to the surrounding buildings that reached a maximum of three stories, it was like a giant that stood high in the night sky as it overlooked the entire area.
Klein easily entered the interior of the clock tower and went up the endless flight of spiral stairs as he moved quickly in the darkness.
Finally, he arrived at his destination. He arrived at the top of the gigantic wall clock. It was surrounded by a dark yellow fence, and at the top of his head was a steeple that could be reached by stretching his hand.
Taking a few steps forward, Klein hid in the shadows, got a sense of his bearings, and looked towards the Dock Union’s dormitory.
It was a two-story, brick-red building, and the occasional pedestrian resembled a black dot in Klein’s eyes.
He stared for a few seconds, then took a step back, and sank into the darkness.
At the same time, he took out his newly bought mask and wore it.
It was a clown with the corner of its mouth sharply raised and a painted red nose.
A happy clown.
…
Wearing a clown mask, Klein stood in the rich darkness, patiently waiting for the predetermined show.
He waited for two hours.
When the hands of the large wall clock passed one o’clock, he suddenly saw something flying from the distance.
It was a huge airship covered in dark black paint!
If it weren’t for the faint moonlight, it would’ve been indistinguishable from the night sky. Unlike what was described in the newspapers and magazines, depicting them as machines that emitted exaggerated mechanical noises, its oars rotated quietly, as silent as a vulture who had found its prey but hadn’t found a chance.
The solid, light alloy supported the cotton frame, and below it hung the compartment for guns, projectile launchers, and cannons. At a glance, it appeared to be a powerful deterrent.
It’s silent… Is this a temporary result caused by Beyonder means? Klein, wearing his clown mask, looked at the slowly descending airship and made a guess.
At this moment, he was most puzzled over the dispatch of an airship for a small-scale Beyonder battle in a densely populated area of the city!
Aren’t they afraid of dealing collateral damage to the surrounding citizens? Aren’t they afraid of causing panic?
Very soon, the airship hovered about 10 meters in the air. This way, Klein was even less worried about being discovered. His position was much higher than them!
Observing the situation below, he suddenly had a hunch. It was likely that the airship wouldn’t engage in combat, but rather provide air surveillance of the area to give the personnel involved in the operation a better view and prevent the target from escaping if any accidents occurred.
Right at this moment, three figures dressed in black robes suddenly appeared in front of the two story brick-red building.
The man in the lead didn’t wear a hat, revealing his short golden brown hair and blackish-green eyes which appeared to be as deep as a windless lake.
The collars of his shirt and windbreaker were propped up high, and his palms were covered with a layer of gloves that were as red as blood!
A silver-white metal suitcase was wound around his left hand via a chain of the same color.
This was one of the of the nine high-ranking deacons of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, Crestet Cesimir. He was also one of the three powerhouses of the Red Gloves and he happened to be in Backlund.
After looking straight ahead, Cesimir turned his head to the left and said to his subordinate, “Use Sealed Artifact 1-63.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” The Nighthawk crouched down and helped Cesimir untie the chain around the silver suitcase.
Throughout the entire process, Crestet Cesimir’s muscles were very tense, as though he was fighting something.
The Nighthawk on the left took a deep breath and pressed down suddenly, causing the illusionary ripples on the surface of the silver box to crack.
The surrounding halo suddenly disappeared as if it was completely sucked into the case. A bone sword, that was less than a meter-long, emitted glossy, pure white light as it slowly floated up.
Its blade had an ancient silver-coated mirror attached to it.
The scenes reflected in the mirror were layered and superimposed without end.
The Nighthawk on the left took the mirror and pointed it at the brick-red building.
The building was clearly reflected in it, and nothing seemed to change.
However, Cesimir slowly exhaled, stretched out his left hand to grasp the short bone sword.
The surrounding halo was somewhat restored.
“Let’s go in.” He started walking towards the entrance of the brick building.
The three Nighthawks opened the door and entered the dark building and targeted the stairs that led to the second floor.
At that moment, a tall, thin figure emerged from the shadows in the corner. He wore a black priest’s uniform, and he had curly, pale yellow hair and beastly dark brown eyes.
“You’re the Goddess’s Sword?” The nearly-two-meter-tall “Giant” spoke in a deep voice.
At the same time, he clenched his right palm.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Union members in this small brick-red building exploded one after another in their dreams, without even having the chance to scream.
Their bodies split into pieces, turning into thick, sticky flesh. Half of their bodies rushed towards the “Giant” to weave into cloaks that could reduce magical damage. The other half condensed into furry giant rugs that blanketed the three Nighthawks.
Crestet Cesimir only watched silently without doing anything.
Silently, the flesh and blood dissipated and collapsed before falling down like rain, but the raindrops didn’t stain the floor red.
In each of the rooms, figures emerged once more, still sleeping soundly.
“This is the world within a mirror, a mirror world that only targets Beyonders. The flesh bombs you planted in the bodies of the ordinary people are only illusions in here.” Cesimir raised the Holy Artifact bone sword in his right hand, causing the light around him to disappear.
“Hmph!” the “Giant” suddenly grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand and tore off his arm. He then threw the blood arm forward!
Boom!
His arm exploded like a bomb, turning into a rain of blood that rained down on the three Nighthawks.
At the same time, the flesh on his left shoulder began to squirm madly as he slowly grew a new arm which was still bloody without any skin.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Sizzle!
The blood-colored raindrops accurately avoided Cesimir and the others before falling to the ground and quickly corroding into deep, dark traces.
But no matter how hard they tried, they always missed the three Nighthawks by a hair’s breadth, as if they were fated to do so.
“My enemies aren’t always lucky enough.” The corners of Cesimir’s mouth curled up, and with a slip of his foot, he instantly appeared in front of “Giant.”
Giant’s eyes narrowed as his body suddenly melted like a candle, turning into sticky flesh and blood that quickly seeped into the floor.
Cesimir immediately kneeled and plunged the Holy Artifact bone sword into the ground.
“No!”
In the rich darkness, a roar filled with pain and horror instantly sounded, and it was immediately swallowed up by tranquility and serenity.
Cesimir stood up and drew out the bone sword. A drop of dark red blood was slowly dripping down its tip, and on the floor, flesh and blood were seeping out, congealing into a face of despair. It was precisely the “Giant” who had a slightly drooping mouth.
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Three shadows appeared around Cesimir in succession. However, they all mysteriously collapsed to the ground, having been forcefully taken down by many invisible entities!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Another Nighthawk fired, and the silver surface of the bullet seemed to bear the Evernight Sacred Emblem.
The three attackers hiding in the shadows suddenly revealed themselves, twitching as they lost their breath.
“Rose Bishop, Shadow Ascetic… People from the Aurora Order.” Cesimir frowned and said in a low voice without turning to his companions, “There’s something wrong about this. It’s very strange. All of you be careful.”
Before he could finish his words, he heard the shuffling of footsteps which echoed in the silence and serenity.
Immediately, he saw Lanevus with his chiseled face dressed in a linen shirt walking down the dark staircase. He appeared calm and placid without any signs of fear.
“I’m very curious. To the Aurora Order, you should be a blasphemer. Why would they send people to protect you?” Cesimir didn’t seem to notice the abnormality as he asked casually.
Lanevus showed his trademark taunting smile and said, “That’s simple.
“Because I’m no longer just Lanevus.”
He paused for a moment, and his gaze suddenly turned cold.
“Now, I’m even more of the True Creator!”
He yanked open his linen shirt, revealing the dark red flesh of his skinless chest and abdomen.
The flesh and blood were conjoined together, forming the figure of a hanged man!
All of a sudden, the void around them shattered like glass, and all the scenes around them crumbled.
This was the aura of a deity.
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