bookpub Chapter 117 A Belated Realization
Chapter 117 A Belated Realization
Chapter 117 A Belated Realization
In the surging darkness, countless hair-like threads extended out.
They seem to emerge from dreams and darkness; some are invisible and can only be sensed by powerful spiritual intuition, while others are as black as night but have a glimmer of light.
In mid-air, Cyril's figure "flashed" rapidly, creating countless realistic phantoms that kept the fine threads rushing towards him busy.
During the stalemate, the howling wind suddenly softened, gaining a harmonious rhythm, as if someone was singing in a low voice.
The moment the sound entered his ears, Sirion's movements slowed considerably as he "flashed" in mid-air and on the ground.
His spirituality was slowing down, his thoughts were becoming blurred. What he heard was not the sound of the wind, but the singing of "God's Singer" Ace Snake!
As soon as his "Flash" speed decreased, the surging darkness around him and the thin lines extending from it rushed towards him.
The figures that Cyril had "flashed" into were all frozen in place the moment they were touched by these thin lines.
Even though they were just phantoms, they became quiet and peaceful at this moment, as if separated from him, no longer wanting to resist, wanting to just fall asleep in the darkness.
Then, these phantoms were swallowed up by the silent, surging darkness, dissolving into it and becoming part of it.
Soon, the darkness receded, the swirling winds subsided, and the lightning that had been flashing through the clouds calmed down.
St. Anthony looked at the now quiet street and said in a deep voice:
He's gone.
"The Singer of God," Ace Snake, said with an annoyed expression:
"An 'apprentice' at the demigod level—if he hadn't deliberately stayed here to fight us, we wouldn't even have had a chance to see him."
"What is his purpose?" Saint Anthony pressed.
As they spoke, a transparent natural spirit carrying an ancient, silver-plated mirror that looked as if it had been cleaved by an axe floated to Saint's side and handed back the sealed artifact that could open a special mirror world.
Saint Anthony's eyes twitched slightly as he looked at the diagonal crack on the mirror.
He brought this seal because he sensed the commotion here and wanted to use that special mirror world to separate the extraordinary from reality.
To avoid causing greater chaos.
But he didn't expect that the person he would fight here with was a high-sequence "apprentice" who easily destroyed the mirror world created by 1-63 and even damaged the sealed artifact by unknown means.
He sighed silently, looked at the "Singer of God" of the Storm Church, and said in a deep voice:
"1-63 is damaged, so the original plan to ambush the demon hounds will have to be temporarily shelved, at least until we find a way to replace or repair 1-63."
"Can't it repair itself?" asked Ace Snake, the "Singer of God," in bewilderment.
Sealed objects composed of extraordinary properties, even if they are not alive, should be able to repair some damage as long as they are not completely destroyed.
Saint Anthony shook his head slightly, his tone somewhat helpless:
"The damage on 1-63 is strange; it seems to affect the extraordinary properties that make it up, and it's more like a contamination."
As the two were talking, a "portal" covered with mysterious patterns and twinkling with starlight appeared in mid-air.
"The Singer of God" Ace Snake and Saint Anthony looked over at the same time. The wind that had been fading suddenly picked up, and darkness began to surge.
Under their gaze, a handsome man with black hair, golden eyes, a sharp suit, and a mature and refined demeanor emerged from the "portal".
Sensing the two archbishops' wariness, he hesitated for a moment, then landed on the ground and politely inquired:
"Gentlemen, what happened here?"
"A demigod on the 'Apprentice' pathway just left in front of Anthony and me," Ace Snake said with a grim face.
Based on the commotion created by the lightning and storm just now, almost all the high-sequence extraordinary beings in Backlund knew that it was him who made the move. He also mentioned Saint Anthony of the Church of the "Goddess of Night" in his words, so it wasn't his problem, but rather that the demigods of the "Apprentice" pathway were too flexible.
The sound of steam rose from afar, and then an old man carrying a jetpack descended from mid-air to the ground.
He was dressed in a white pastor's robe and wore a clergy cap, with a gentle and kind expression.
It was Archbishop Horamik Hayden, head of the Backlund diocese of the Church of the "God of Steam and Machinery" and a member of the Pre-Divine Council.
"Anthony, Ace, Selt?"
Horamik looked at the three demigods who had arrived before him with slight surprise, then looked around and asked curiously:
"What happened here? I see traces of a storm and darkness, but there's no sign of any third party who fought you."
Upon hearing Horamick's words, Ace Snake's expression changed drastically. He belatedly realized why Cyrion had chosen to stay and fight them even though he could have left much earlier.
"That 'apprentice' demigod did it on purpose; while fighting us, he was secretly cleaning up the remaining aura of the evil god!"
"What evil god?" Saint Anthony frowned and asked.
When he arrived, Ace Snake was already locked in battle with the "apprentice" demigod. So, after observing that there was no ambush, he joined the battle directly, without noticing any evil god aura at all.
Upon hearing St. Anthony's question, Ace Snake turned around with a grim expression, looking at the cheap apartment he had wrecked beyond recognition.
"It was in this apartment that I sensed an extremely high level of evil god's aura erupting, and that's when I rushed here."
"But when I arrived, the problem here had already been resolved by that demigod through the 'Apprentice' pathway."
"I originally planned to provoke him first and then investigate what happened here, but we ended up having a conflict. He probably did it on purpose to make it easier for him to cover up some traces that we couldn't find during the process."
"This isn't difficult for a high-ranking 'apprentice,' especially considering he maintained a high frequency of 'flashes' throughout the game."
Faced with the belated deduction of "God's Singer" Ace Snake, the three present remained silent.
If it weren't for the other party's status and reputation, they probably wouldn't have been able to resist loudly questioning the other party: why did they insist on waging a demigod war in the city area when they could have used their power to intimidate and buy time?
The three demigods present exchanged glances and then moved on from the topic.
This wasn't the first time they'd encountered something like this; it was very much in line with the Storm Church's style—problems that could be solved with action weren't really problems.
"Perhaps, there are some clues at all."
St. Anthony suddenly spoke, raising the 1-63 in his hand to draw the attention of Horamik and Selt to the damage on the mirror.
"This is...pollution?" Horamik asked uncertainly.
Saint Anthony nodded slightly, then shook his head: "It's not certain yet; it requires the goddess's revelation."
"If we are ultimately unable to remove it using our own methods, we may need your help to repair this item. It is an important seal in the Backlund parish, and it will be used in subsequent serial murder cases."
"No problem." Horamik nodded gently.
Whether out of consideration for the relationship between the Church of the True God or his curiosity about the sealed artifact, he had no reason to refuse the request.
Seeing that Saint Anthony and Horamick had finished their conversation, Ace Snake then spoke up:
"That demigod 'apprentice' just now left behind two prophecies. I can't tell if he was lying, but my gut feeling is that they might be true, or at least part of them are true."
Before he finished speaking, Saint Anthony and the others had already turned to look at him.
"What prophecy?"
At 15 Minsk Street, Klein, who had just emerged from the gray fog, still looked somewhat incredulous. He hadn't expected to witness a battle between demigods in such a way.
...The high-ranking "apprentice" is really amazing; he can take on two opponents at once and still handle it with ease.
As the thought crossed his mind, he turned the handle and pushed open the bathroom door.
"What... are you doing here?"
When Klein saw Sirion sitting on the living room sofa, his expression visibly panicked; even the Joker's abilities couldn't save him.
He subconsciously glanced around, deeply worried that a violent flash of lightning or a silent, surging darkness might suddenly erupt from some corner and affect him, an innocent passerby.
Noticing Klein's actions, Sirion calmly explained:
"With no danger following me, I took a stroll through the spirit world. My spirituality couldn't hold on any longer, so I had to make an emergency landing in a familiar place."
Is this the airport where you made an emergency landing?
Klein mentally scoffed, then naturally put on a curious yet bewildered expression and asked:
"So, what exactly happened?"