Chapter 288 — A Scene Filled with Symbolism

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

In the dark sewer, Klein wiped his neck and turned his attention back to Lanevus’s cracked head and decapitated body before turning to the two tarot cards that were stuck in Lanevus’s eyes.

He originally wanted to retrieve all the projectiles that he had thrown and wipe the scene of any clues. However, he realized a very real and extremely serious problem.

He didn’t have the vision to see in complete darkness.

He had relied on his Spirit Vision to rush through the pitch black sewers and engage in the intense battle with Lanevus!

He could see the colors of Lanevus’s aura, the spirituality radiance of all sorts of critters, and could faintly use the lights “illumination” to distinguish the path.

Unfortunately, the tarot cards he was currently using weren’t the same as the ones that had originated from the Nighthawks. It didn’t have any spirituality or silver engravings, and it was completely ordinary with no special characteristics.

In such an environment, Klein could use his own aura’s color and spirituality radiance to create a tiny radius around him where he could distinguish things. However, he couldn’t see the cards stuck in the walls and ground, as well as the cards that had scattered everywhere. In the intense battle with Lanevus, they hadn’t restricted themselves to a particular spot.

Of course, he believed that as long as he had enough time, it wouldn’t be difficult to find all the cards he had thrown out, but the main problem was that the Nighthawks and the military on board the airship would arrive at any minute!

I can’t be too careless regarding this... I’ve been wearing gloves all this time... This deck of tarot cards was bought before coming to Backlund and is standard across the nation... I don’t usually use it... Most of the time, even if I have it with me, it’s placed together with Mr. Azik’s copper whistle... Regardless of what methods are used, it would be very difficult to locate me through them. At most, they would be able to restore a portion of the battle scene; I donned a mask, and my shoes are padded... All sorts of thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind, and he quickly came to a decision.

He turned to the headless corpse and crouched down. Reaching out with his black-gloved right hand, he quickly searched for any items left behind.

Klein didn’t have the intention of carrying out a mediumship ritual. Firstly, the feeling of the evil god’s descent had left a deep impression on him, so he didn’t dare to blindly channel Lanevus’s spirit unless he brought it above the gray fog with him. Secondly, with the situation of the Nighthawks and military arriving at anytime, he didn’t feel that he had enough time to set up the ritual of summoning himself, responding to himself, and then going up above the gray fog and channelling the spirit.

I should give up when it’s necessary... Klein silently muttered to himself, and he withdrew his hand from Lanevus’s body.

This crazy swindler seemed to be in a hurry when escaping. He didn’t bring any cash, materials, or charms. He only had an eye-sized badge on him which coruscated a faint spirituality radiance.

Klein wasn’t afraid that this item could be used to locate him as he planned on throwing it above the gray fog later to study it slowly. Therefore, he stood up and put the badge in his pocket.

He stole a glance at Lanevus’s corpse, and without waiting for the Beyonder characteristic to appear, he used his left black-gloved hand to remove the remaining tarot cards.

Then he stretched out his left arm and placed his palm directly above the Lanevus’s corpse.

All of a sudden, Klein released his grip, allowing the tarot cards to fall, like leaves cascading over the headless corpse. Some of them faced up with pictures and numbers printed on them, whilst others had dark red patterns on their backs.

After doing all of this, Klein took out Azik’s copper whistle and tossed it a few times. Then, without looking back, he ran deep into the sewers.

After almost two minutes, figures finally arrived at this place. Some of them were wearing thick black windbreakers, while others were wearing well-tailored military uniforms.

The leader of the group was Crestet Cesimir, who was carrying a pure white bone sword. His red gloves were smeared with dust, and his determined face showed obvious signs of fatigue and frailty.

They stopped a few meters away from the body, and through the means of their night vision, they could see Lanevus’s corpse and his head against the wall.

There were two tarot cards stuck in his head. One was The Emperor and the other was Wheel of Fortune.

The headless body was covered with even more cards, each separately depicting The Chariot, The Hermit, Death, and more cards of different suits comprising of chalice, scepters, etc.

On the walls and on the ground around him, there were also tarot cards such as The Devil, The Sun, and Judgment.

It all looked like the scene of some bizarre ritual, and Lanevus was the sacrificial offering that was destined to be sacrificed.

Crestet Cesimir drew a silent gasp as he knitted his brows tightly. The Beyonders around him fell into a momentary daze at the sight of this frightening and mysterious scene in the darkness.

...

Far away from the scene of Lanevus’s death, Klein quickly found an exit and left. He took off his clown mask and, in the shadows of the gas lamps, walked quickly towards East Borough.

Before that, he had already dealt with the stains on the soles of his shoes.

It was only when he reached Black Palm Street in the East Borough did he breathe a slight sigh of relief. Then, he quickly held the ritual of summoning himself inside his rented one-bedroom apartment and responded to himself.

In his spiritual body state, Klein moved all the clothes he had worn tonight, as well as the remaining charms, herbs, and essential oils, as well as the badge he had obtained from Lanevus to the space above the gray fog. Then, he used a spiritual flame to burn the corresponding clues.

Phew... He exhaled and finally had time to take a look at what the badge he had taken from Lanevus looked like.

This badge was only the size of an eyeball. On the front was a symbol that depicted fate and concealment, and behind it was a ring of tiny and compact words in ancient Hermes.

“You can join if you have this item.”

What does it mean? Was Lanevus also a member of some secret organization? Klein rubbed his temples. In a situation where he was physically and mentally exhausted, along with the fact that the timing wasn’t right, he decided to give up on his research and leave it til after the Tarot Club’s gathering.

He quickly left the mysterious space above the gray fog, changed into another set of clothes, and removed his disguise.

However, he was in no hurry to return to Minsk Street. He planned to sleep for the night before leaving. This was because it was easy to be inspected after midnight, especially when such an accident had just occurred.

He lay down on the bed, looked out the window at the moonlight’s encroaching of the darkness, and gradually calmed down.

After completing his initial revenge, he felt that he had relieved himself of a lot of his burdens and lost a lot of his pressure. His mental state was clearly much better than before.

The present me isn’t capable of handling Ince Zangwill and Sealed Artifact 0-08. Besides, the gap between us is huge. Only after becoming a High-Sequence Beyonder, a demigod, would I have the qualifications to involve myself in such matters... Before advancing to Sequence 4, I’ll act as though they don’t exist...

Yea, for the foreseeable future, my goal is to work hard to improve myself. Now that I’ve completely digested the Clown potion, I can advance to Magician once the Beyonder ingredients are gathered.

There’s still Faceless, Nimblewright Master, and the corresponding Sequence 4 which I don’t know the name of.

Other than that, I’ll just be an ordinary detective.

Klein’s mind was calm and peaceful, and his thoughts were scattered as he thought about his future arrangements. He was no longer cranky or that depressed.

As he thought about it, the corners of his lips curled up slightly as he silently muttered to himself.

Captain, Benson, Melissa, I believe all of you would prefer to see me like this...

...

At dawn, a group of people wearing surgical hats and white masks came to the Dock Union’s dormitory. They were all dressed as doctors.

The elder in the lead appeared to be rich in experience as he said to the puzzled and confused residents, “We’ve discovered an infectious disease in this building. A person named Kevin has already passed away because of it.

“We will provide free treatment. This infectious disease has a special drug, and as long as you take it in time, you’ll be fine.”

“Kevin?” One by one, the guests exclaimed in astonishment as they looked around for their colleague named Kevin. However, they didn’t find him at all.

That was Lanevus’s alias.

Seeing that the charity medical team was accompanied by police officers, the residents no longer had any doubts and began to line up nervously to collect their medicine.

The first was a middle-aged man with a bushy beard. He nervously asked all sorts of questions, afraid that a single bottle of medicine wasn’t potent enough to fight off the infectious disease.

It wasn’t until the doctors showed their impatience that he drank the blue bottle of medicine.

Then, he was helped to the side and aimed his mouth at a hole that was of the same size.

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

The man suddenly felt nauseous as he violently vomited a putrid blob of a bloody substance.

He was about to prop himself up and cast his gaze to see what he had just vomited when two strong nurses yanked him away.

The mouth-sized hole was located above an iron-black metal barrel. The bottom of the barrel was dark and deep, with almost no light coming from it.

And right there, a pool of yellowish-green liquid was quietly resting at the bottom. In the middle of the pool was a small piece of blood-colored meat.

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

One by one, the residents took the medicine and vomited in front of different metal barrels.

...

In Empress Borough, the opulent villa of Count Hall.

“Why did you suddenly visit so early?” Audrey looked at the sky outside, then she looked at Viscount Glaint.

Glaint looked around and only found a golden retriever sitting beside him. Hence, he whispered, “I was planning to go to the turf club, but I met Kance on the way. He told me something very interesting. It’s truly interesting. Since I was passing by here, I thought of coming to share it with you.”

“What is it?” Audrey asked with interest.

Glaint didn’t deliberate over his words as he replied, “You should’ve heard of the Aurora Order, right? It was the Aurora Order that assassinated the Intis ambassador. They were caught, with several important members killed, and a very large ploy was foiled as a result.”

I thought it was something related to the godhood of the True Creator. Xio and Fors sent someone to report the information yesterday evening, and it just so happened that an operation was held last night... Wait, the Aurora Order apparently worships the True Creator! Audrey’s eyes lit up. She pressed in a reserved tone, “What ploy?”

“I don’t know, Kance refused to say. He just told me that the person in charge of this ploy was once a wanted swindler, a swindler named Lanevus.” Glaint spread out his right hand.

As expected... Audrey nodded indiscernibly. She didn’t conceal her curiosity and asked, “Was he caught?”

“He’s dead, but he wasn’t killed by our people.” Glaint paused for a moment. “This is what I meant by interesting. When his body was found, it was covered with many tarot cards. Same for the surroundings. You can imagine that scene...”

Tarot cards? The body was covered with tarot cards? Audrey was startled at first before it hit her.

This was done by our Tarot Club!

It was Mr. Fool’s adorer!