Chapter 1296 — Amateur Astronomer

Eric had become a captain of a Red Gloves team during the later stages of the war, as well as advancing to Sequence 5 Spirit Warlock.

He had witnessed the deaths of the ex-captain and ex-ex-captain. He knew that a higher Sequence wasn’t a guarantee that he would be safer. Care and caution was what mattered.

To the elite Red Gloves of the Nighthawks, this was a concept that almost everyone believed in. This was because ordinary Nighthawks might only encounter ordinary problems that looked like supernatural events. Occasionally, there would be slip-ups, and it was highly likely that they would rely on their Beyonder powers to turn the situation around. As for Red Gloves who worked on various important cases, their hidden targets were definitely rather dangerous.

At that moment, Eric stood on the fourth floor of the apartment on 14 Priya Street. Facing the tightly-shut dark brown wooden door, he surveyed the area and said, “Two Nighthawks have already gone missing here. We must not be careless.”

Initially, several residents of this apartment block reported it to the police. They claimed that Unit 403 had a stench, and the tenants of Unit 303 often heard heavy footsteps from above.

The policemen in charge of the area took two days before coming to investigate. However, they didn’t walk out of Unit 403.

After the police confirmed this, they immediately transferred the case to the Church of Evernight. However, the two Nighthawks who came to deal with it also disappeared. The door to Unit 403 remained tightly shut.

Due to this premise, the Church of Evernight’s archbishop of the Midseashire diocese entrusted the matter to Eric’s team and allowed them to apply for a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact as support.

“Yes, Captain.” The members of the Red Gloves team either nodded or spoke in response.

Eric didn’t say anything else as he stood in front of the dark-brown door of Unit 403 which remained tightly shut. He raised his red-gloved left hand and knocked on one of his teeth.

A blurry figure suddenly appeared in front of him. As though it had no substance to it, it passed through the gap in the door and entered Unit 403.

Eric’s expression was unusually focused, as if he was observing the situation in the room through that blurry figure.

It was a natural spirit that he controlled. It wasn’t especially powerful but it had special abilities. It usually lived on his left front tooth.

Under the current situation, Eric believed that they shouldn’t barge in directly. It was best to do reconnaissance first. Even if his team had a good mix of powers and a powerful Sealed Artifact to help them, they had to be cautious.

If he could figure out the situation inside and prepare for it in a targeted fashion, he believed that things would be much easier.

Right at this moment, tiny blood vessels protruded in Eric’s eyes, and some of them even exploded.

When his vision turned bright red, Eric heard a heavy creak.

The dark-brown door suddenly opened!

There were a total of six figures in the room. Three police officers wore black-and-white uniforms. They were sitting on high-back chairs, high stools, and the sofa. Two of them were wearing half top hats, black trench coats, of which one was standing by the door, and the other was standing behind the oriel window. His face was pressed to the surface of the glass as if he was watching the streets downstairs.

There was also a figure sitting on a high stool at the edge of the balcony. In front of him was an exquisite astronomical telescope.

The skin of the six figures began to swell, as though they had been injected with gas. Some parts of the body had even cracked and were highly decomposed, but they still hadn’t dried up. They exuded a bluish-black glisten as light-yellow liquid with hints of black flowed out.

Sensing the door open, the six figures turned to look at Eric and the others.

The first was the Nighthawk standing in front of the door. The last was the man wearing a cotton shirt behind the astronomical telescope. He had one of his eyeballs—its blacks and whites separated clearly—glued to the telescope’s lens, allowing him to only use his remaining black, empty socket to scan the Red Gloves team outside.

A faint stench drilled into the noses of Eric and the others as an indescribable coldness filled the surroundings.

Eric instinctively raised his hand to hit his teeth, releasing more spirits. Then, he used his Nightmare Beyonder powers to forcefully drag all his targets into a dream.

However, no matter how he tapped his teeth, he didn’t release his soul. His Spirit Warlock Beyonder powers seemed to have vanished instantly.

At the same time, a Nightmare in the Red Gloves team also discovered in surprise that he was unable to pull someone into a dream!

At that moment, apart from the enhancement in their physique brought by the potion, their Beyonder powers mysteriously vanished.

“Leave this place!” Eric ordered without hesitation.

He had never encountered such a strange situation before. All he could do was get the team to retreat first before choosing a Sealed Artifact to handle the situation in a targeted manner.

However, he and his team members didn’t move despite his orders. It was as though their bodies were no longer taking orders.

Eric instinctively lowered his head and looked at his lower body. His legs were swollen and his pants were torn.

In addition, he could clearly feel that his skin was decaying, rotting, and running with pus.

He and his Red Gloves team had yet to truly come into contact with their target, but they had fallen into a “nightmare” of watching themselves die, swell, and rot bit by bit with no way to escape.

Right at this moment, Eric’s bloodshot eyes reflected a normal palm. He held the handle and gently pulled it.

Thud!

The dark-brown door of Unit 403 closed once again, separating Eric and his Red Gloves team from the creatures in the room.

They instantly regained control over their bodies. However, their legs seemed to have suffered significant injuries. It was a little difficult to move them, be it raising their feet or bending their knees.

Eric didn’t bother checking on his injuries. He quickly cast his gaze on the palm that closed the door, and its owner.

It was a young man wearing an ancient hat and a long black robe. His facial features were ordinary, making it impossible for one to have a deep impression of him. It was a face that one forgot in seconds.

“I sincerely advise you to return now and leave the matter to the archbishop or high-ranking deacons to handle. Of course, you have another choice. That is to ask me to grant a wish. I’m a wandering magician named Merlin Hermes. My specialty is granting the wishes of others.” Klein spared no effort in enticing others to make a wish.

When he saw the rotting face on the oriel window earlier, he suddenly had an ominous feeling, so he specially came over to confirm what had happened.

Grant wishes... Eric recalled the education he had received during his training in the Holy Cathedral:

A High-Sequence Beyonder might be in a state of being imprisoned or sealed. They will pretend to be mystical items that can grant wishes, and they will entice you into helping them escape. The corresponding examples include: granting three wishes and wishing pools...

Is this a High-Sequence Beyonder? But he doesn’t look like he’s imprisoned or sealed... Eric looked left and right and deliberated for a few seconds before probing,

“If we don’t ask you to grant us our wishes, will you not resolve the abnormality in the room?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the wandering magician who called himself Merlin Hermes fall deep in thought, looking a little troubled.

A few seconds later, Klein raised his hand to stroke his tall top hat. He smiled and sighed.

“Even if you don’t make the wish, I will still attempt to resolve it.”

“...Do I need to read your honorific name or your true name to have my wish granted?” Eric asked after exchanging glances with his team members.

Klein shook his head.

“No, just tell me your wish.”

This wouldn’t create a mysticism connection... Eric probed in a joking tone, “Then I wish the abnormalities in this room will be resolved and will no longer affect the surroundings.”

Klein curled his smile and gently clapped his hands.

“Your wish will come true.”

Without waiting for Eric to respond, he smiled and said, “The abnormalities inside can suppress Beyonder characteristics, causing the corresponding powers to be ineffective, but that isn’t absolute.

“Typically in such cases, my suggestion is...”

As he spoke, Klein reached out with his left hand and took out an eyeball-shaped glass ball. He then twisted the handle with his right hand, opening the door a little.

Then, through a crack, he threw the glass ball into Unit 403.

As the glass ball flew, it constantly absorbed the surrounding light and gave off a brilliant, pure, extreme sunlight that resembled a miniature sun.

The next second, Klein closed the door with his right palm, lest Eric and company’s eyes couldn’t take it.

“My suggestion is to use a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact in the Sun domain to purify the entire area.” While saying that, Klein recalled the Mutated Sun Sacred Emblem behind Tingen City’s Chanis Gate. Although it was only a Grade 3 Sealed Artifact, it could still deal with the rotting creatures inside given enough time.

Just as Eric was about to say that they had brought a similar Sealed Artifact, but just didn’t have the chance to use it, he saw Mr. Merlin Hermes open the door to Unit 403.

The six figures inside had vanished into thin air, and the different Beyonder characteristics were slowly condensing. The originally cold and sinister stench had been completely melted by the warm feeling.

“It’s been resolved?” Eric asked after some hesitation.

Klein shook his head with a smile.

“No, the root of the problem is still here.

“Have you investigated the owner of this place?”

Eric replied immediately, “He calls himself John, an amateur astronomer. He likes to study the cosmos using specialized telescopes at night.”

Studying the cosmos... Klein walked into the room without batting an eyelid, and he casually instructed:

“Search the area and find any possible clues.”

For some reason, Eric suddenly felt that Mr. Merlin Hermes was the captain from back when he first joined the Nighthawks. He was professional, calm, and trustworthy.

He nodded at his team members, signaling them to follow his instructions.

As for him, he continued following Klein. It was both to provide him help, and also for necessary precautions.

Klein ignored him as he swept his gaze and approached the exquisite astronomical telescope. Then, he bent down and drew his eyes towards the lens.

This might be dangerous... Eric had planned to warn him, but he fell silent when he thought about how high the other party’s level and status expressed.

At that moment, through the telescope, Klein saw a resplendent, dream-like dark night sky. Every star there was blinking slightly.

Suddenly, his vision was occupied by a huge eye.

The eye seemed to be directly attached to the lens on the other end of the telescope. It was grayish-white with a pale-yellow iris. Veins swelled outwards and seeped out disgusting translucent pus.