Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 405: Fortune Teller’s Tea Party

726
"Ah!" "Ah!" "Ah!"

In the dark world echoing with the cries of crows, the corpses hanging in the black spire church all fixed their eyes on the appearance of Klein.

At the same time, there was a sound of slow footsteps coming from the depths of the church, as if an elderly person was walking slowly out of the church.

Klein could figure out who the approaching person was without having to use his brain. While maintaining the special state of the "Spirit Line", he quickly snapped his fingers.

Snapped!
A ball of blazing white flame burst out from his wallet. This flame was the collective blessing of the "Red of War" and instantly covered him. However, the white flame flashed a few times in the black church before quickly extinguishing. Klein remained where he was, unable to jump out.

The "War Angel" is too far away from me! I can't jump out just relying on this little mystical connection. If He is nearby, or if there are members of the "War Red" nearby, I should be able to use this fire jump to move to a slightly farther place...

He showed no sign of frustration and immediately activated "Creeping Hunger" and tried "Teleport".

Klein's body suddenly became transparent and reappeared, unable to move a step.

His starting point and end point seemed to be strangely connected.

"Grafting"? "Grafting" of the "Thief" pathway? Or a high-sequence Beyonder ability of the Fortuneteller pathway? Klein's thoughts raced. He had long known that he would never be able to escape from Zaratul without spending some blood, so without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed the talisman in his inner pocket that could be used once more.

The talisman was emitting a warm power, which gradually calmed Klein down.

But at this moment, the footsteps from the deepest part had already arrived in front of Klein, less than ten meters away. A beam of light came from somewhere, illuminating the interior of the black spire church a little, and Zaratul's figure appeared before Klein's eyes.

This ancient Sequence One angel, who had always made Klein fear and be wary, was old and mysterious. The classical black robe he wore was plain-looking, but it seemed to be embroidered with a star map as a dark pattern. His gray beard seemed to have been groomed, and swayed slightly with his movements and breathing.

Klein judged others by his own experience and felt that the Zaratul in front of him must also be a projection of history.

For him, whether it was the historical projection or the person himself, it was enough for him to die twice. Just as Klein was about to use the talisman to catch someone's historical projection to help, he suddenly saw Zaratul raise a hand and make a "pause" gesture.

Zaratul's beard trembled, and there was a smile in his voice:

"Come and talk to this old man, young man."

"Don't you want to? In the small town on the top of the mountain, you not only talked to me a lot, but also played several tricks with the old man."

Of course, Klein would not believe Zaratul's lies. He pretended to use the power of the spell to grab the historical projection in the air, but in fact he was ready to light the paper cranes Will gave him, let good luck come first, and then try to grab Medici's historical projection!
Zaratul didn't care about Klein's vigilance and distrust. He smiled slightly and waved his raised hand in the air.

In an instant, the black spire church changed its appearance and turned into a spacious and bright apartment. Soft cushions and blankets were placed on the wooden seats, and the stew pot in the kitchen exuded a lingering aroma. Zaratul and Klein suddenly changed their positions. They sat face to face at the dining table, and there was warm tea on the table.

Klein found himself sitting on a chair and struggled as if he was scalded. Zaratul happily sat down and extended his hand as a "please" gesture:

“You can refill your tea yourself.”

"..."

Klein didn't respond, nor did he take any action. He scanned the new environment around him warily.

He didn't think that what Zaratul presented to him would be without purpose. He frowned and carefully looked at the details of the apartment he was in - there were new gas lamps in this apartment, and hardcover books on the bookshelves. These were not things from history.

Moreover, the furniture and ornaments are quite tasteful, with selected popular styles, at least the products of the past twenty years.

The interior of the house is most likely modeled after a real house, but it is unlikely to be Zaratul's residence, because it is filled with various small items needed for living, such as sewing kits and seasoning bottles, and is full of the breath of life.

The location where Zaratul materialized was in the restaurant. There was food for two people on the table in the dining area, and the tableware was also for two people.

The living room in the distance has a floor-to-ceiling window with good lighting, and golden sunlight falls on the bookshelf against the wall next to the sofa.

Two bedrooms, no servant room, no obvious characteristics of the residents, the residents should be two people, and if people in this salary class do not hire servants, it means that they have a place to solve their daily meals, such as a canteen...

Although it was not big, such a house with exquisite furnishings and expensive furniture, based on Klein's living experience in Backlund, could only be lived in by a family with a weekly salary of more than 4 pounds.

Klein suddenly saw something and his pupils shrank suddenly.

He suddenly realized where this place was and became furious.

There is a book called "Foundations of Mechanics: Introductory Theory" on the bookshelf!
This is the school textbook he bought for his sister Melissa when he was still in Tingen with his salary as a Nighthawk! !

Benson's salary could barely support their three meals a day, and he was not able to pay for Melissa's tuition. In order to give his sister Melissa a chance to go to school and be admitted to Backlund University, he bought books that were very expensive in that era!

The veins on the back of his hand that was clutching the talisman on his chest suddenly bulged, and his temple was throbbing with pain. He was almost unable to calm down and questioned the old man in front of him!
If Zaratul had never seen Melissa in person, how could he have concretized this scene and put this book on display?

"Calm down, young man. I haven't done anything yet. I just met that lady under the guidance of fate."

Zaratul poured himself a cup of tea, and a faint floral scent filled the air. He held the cup in his palm, looking like he wanted to take a sip, although from Klein's perspective, he could hardly find the location of his mouth through his thick beard.

"...You are plotting against Sefirah Castle. This is a matter between us."

Klein's eyebrows were knitted tightly together. His mind was more confused than ever. Benson and Melissa's smiling faces appeared in his mind one moment, and then the home he could never return to. He also thought of the ticket to The Return of the Count that he had bought in time for the date. He was in a state of confusion, but he insisted on staying rational.

"If I lose to you, I will just think that it's because of my poor skills and bad luck... I admit that using them to threaten me and make me hand over Sefirah Castle is indeed the fastest way, and I have no other choice."

After saying this, Klein completely relaxed and leaned back on the soft cushion of the seat, waiting for the other party's answer.

When he realized that this was Benson and Melissa's new home in Backlund, Klein lost his will to fight. He knew that he had to hold on to Sefirah Castle tightly to get what he wanted, but if the price of getting those things was to lose his loved ones -

——Then there is a high probability that he will choose to give up.

……

City Square in Hillston.

"Almost... Haha, he's still struggling to survive, delaying death for just a few dozen seconds. Humans' desire to survive is really strong."

George III is still fighting with Him for control of potions and rituals.

His mood became a little unhappy. The delayed time might bring new changes. So he turned around, picked up the wishing lamp from the high platform at hand, and fulfilled the wishes of the people.

The people's wish is to be "restored to their original state", and miracle workers can accumulate these wishes and use them on themselves.

At this moment, thunder suddenly exploded in the sky!

At this time, the sound of musical instruments like thunder rang out, and someone was playing music praising the Lord of Storms. The distant organ music was swept in from the direction of the Holy Wind Cathedral, exploding in the hearts of everyone participating in the speech, spreading great fear!
Everyone shuddered collectively at this moment, fear grew involuntarily, and they were forced to break out of their state of devout prayer!
Even He Himself subconsciously paused for a second. The "Black Emperor" who had not yet completed his formation had the spirit of the old days, but His container was incomplete and would be intimidated by fear from the tyrants on Earth!
In this gap of one second, Pope Gad II appeared beside him at lightning speed and snatched the magic lamp from his hand!

The Pope held a scepter in one hand and a golden wishing lamp in the other, looking at the phantom in front of him with a dignified gaze.

He wears a triple crown inlaid with sapphires, emeralds and other gems, and a dark blue, almost black robe embroidered with patterns of lightning, storms, and oceans in gold and silver silk threads. He looks deep and majestic, as if a huge storm is blowing in His face!

"Restore!" Gad II held up the wishing lamp in his hand!

A silver-white lightning tore through the sky, as if the thunder was repeating this sentence!

God actually came down to snatch away my chance to realize my wish? This thought suddenly occurred to Him.

Now that it has been discovered, the next step must be to use the wishes of tens of thousands of people to restore this phantom to its original state, and for the gods to intervene and forcibly terminate this deification ceremony - oh, how could I let you succeed like this! It only takes a strong combination, and my "Judge" uniqueness will impact the underground sealing room of the Church of the God of War, and I will immediately twist the seals of all the sealed objects. Either take care of the sealed objects, or die. You just wait to run around until you die - in a flash, He was well prepared, but suddenly noticed one thing:

Gad II didn't even light the wick.

Just as he thought of this, a giant lightning bolt as thick as ten people hugged fell straight from the sky, hitting him accurately and with the intention of tearing everything apart!
Then, brass eyes appeared everywhere, and the stacked pages formed a barrier, isolating the communication between the spiritual world and the astral world.

With the thunder as the center, countless lightning bolts jumped to form a cage, intending to seal the shattered phantom inside!

The people in the audience stared at the stage in a daze, their eyes blank.

With the tacit cooperation of the Pope of the Church of Evernight, the moment Gad II was transferred, he had already woven a huge dream covering all of Backlund, transferring everyone's consciousness into the dream world.

In that world, the speeches continued and Queens was being rehabilitated at a rapid pace.

Suddenly, the Pope of the Night widened his eyes.

The difference between the dream and reality that He constructed to protect the people was suddenly distorted, the speech in the dream was suddenly interrupted, and the figure of George Augustus was no longer under His control. The Pope immediately erased George III from the dream, but His extraordinary ability suddenly went out of control for a moment, and began to complete the Black Emperor Ritual in the dream!

Then, His body was erased like an eraser.

He was hidden. The dream came to an abrupt end.

With the help of the God of Thunder, the distorted dream was forcibly interrupted, and dark clouds began to gather above the nine mausoleums at the same time.

The people who didn't know what was going on were still looking around in confusion and panic. Then, they saw that there was no one on the platform, but a huge hole appeared on the marble surface. They screamed:
"His Majesty the Emperor has been assassinated!"

With this sentence as the fuse, the crowd suddenly boiled up like boiling water, and they moved around in panic without a backbone. The church's extraordinary people rushed over quickly, using various extraordinary abilities to calm the emotions and maintain law and order.

The chairman of the Psychological Alchemist Society also gritted his teeth and joined the team to maintain law and order.

In the crowd, the "Medici" spy lowered his hat and quietly retreated from the crowd, leaving the chaotic square. "It's really meaningless to fight to the death like this."

In a mausoleum, a lawyer turned his head and looked at the dark sky above. His tone was frivolous and he did not seem anxious at all:
"Once my godhood ritual begins, it cannot be stopped. This is what I said, so you can't stop me now. At most, you can delay the time when I return to the throne of god. This will cause you to lose your subjects, your believers, and your anchor, but it can't kill me, ha."

In Backlund, an MI9 arbitrator shrugged:

"I'm out."

"I am the best lawyer and the best law maker. I only act according to my interests and will not necessarily become your enemy."

The next moment, lightning struck from the sky, and without alerting anyone else, it electrocuted the two Beyonders who were talking, causing them to foam at the mouth and shiver on the ground, frightening the people and animals around them.

A bit of plant burned by lightning turned into ashes, and a line of words fell beside them:

"Shut up, Outer God."

……

"Medici is looking for you? Looks like the outside world has begun."

Edward, who was reading in the library of Silver City, raised his head, closed the Silver City Creation Myth in his hand, and pushed it in front of Ouroboros: "Then I should go too. It's boring to chat with you. You are much more boring than the real Creator."

After saying this, He stood up and suddenly sneezed.

……

Zaratul nodded and took a sip of his tea.

"You didn't get furious right away, and then break through the limit of your Beyonder Characteristics to automatically fly over here, or think of some ancient ritual magic to fight back, or directly summon the gods to kill me? You should have a way to directly contact the Creator, you are His most important favored one at the moment."

Klein was stunned for a moment, not realizing what Zaratul was teasing him about. In addition, the True Creator specifically told him not to recite His name or pray anymore, so Klein just thought that the other party was trying to figure out how many cards he had in his hand.

So he shook his head directly:
"You have already discovered Benson and Melissa. I don't believe there are no secret dolls lurking around. You only need a moment to turn them into your secret dolls. No matter what I do, it will be too late."

Even his hand that was holding the talisman on his chest gradually loosened, as if he had completely lost his fighting spirit in front of Zaratul.

Although he appeared to have given up thinking and was ready to be slaughtered, Klein's spirit was not relaxed at all.

Zaratul didn't take Klein's appearance seriously. He didn't think the protagonist would be left with nowhere to go.

"Aren't you afraid that after I obtain Sefirah Castle, I will turn you and your brother and sister into secret puppets?"

Zaratul found Klein's answer very interesting. He didn't seem like the protagonist of the stories he remembered. "You should know that you are a threat to me only if you own Sefirah Castle. Once Sefirah Castle is in my hands, you can't guarantee your life. You shouldn't put your life at the mercy of the strong."

He pointed to his head and said, "You threw a bullet here before. In this world, the more things you value, the more weaknesses you have. Actually, you can threaten me like this, but I don't have any family anymore."

Klein took a deep breath, then he reached into the historical projection and pulled out his own citrine pendulum.

Then he poured a pot of hot tea, lowered his head, dipped his fingers in the tea and wrote a line on the tablecloth.

Zaratul watched his actions and asked curiously:

"You have changed from a historical projection back to a physical entity. What do you want to divine?"

"Source Castle has given me a powerful divination ability. I want to divine the life span of my brother and sister." Klein lowered his head and said calmly without looking at the fortune teller opposite him, "I will use this divination to find out your true intentions. If you want to stop me, do it now."

Zaratul paused as he was bringing the cup to his lips. He thought that the only grudge between him and Klein was over Sefirah Castle and the Sequence One Beyonder characteristic, not a blood feud. At most, he would have to deal with the incident when he harmed him in the small town on the top of the mountain. But Zaratul felt that it had nothing to do with him because he didn't know what the correct exit symbol was. The symbol he gave could only connect the inside and the outside for a short while. He was also very curious about how Klein opened the door with the real key. He took a sip of the light scented tea and looked at Klein with a little curiosity:
"Are you really willing to give up Sefirah Castle just like that?"

Klein finished writing the sentence on his hand and wrote "60", "70", "80", "90" and other words below. The yellow crystal pendulum hung straight in the air and whispered, "Of course I am unwilling, but I don't have the ability to escape from your hands again."

"I need Sefirah Castle to gain the power to protect others, but if I have to use Sefirah Castle in exchange for the people I want to protect, I will give up."

Zaratul nodded slightly with feeling and fell silent for a moment.

"I—I don't really want to protect anything." The old man said calmly, "I started to miss the past when I got older, but there's nothing to miss. I have nothing left. The last of my bloodline was eaten by me when I went crazy. There is no other way except to go up."

"Don't you think about connecting with others?"

Klein said casually, "I have seen a high-ranking person who had an unbeatable enemy, but he did not go to extremes or become cynical about the world. He still talked with kind-hearted juniors and guided them to go further."

Zaratul's beard began to tremble again: "Then he must be very weak to be trapped by these emotions."

"Young man, you were not born in the Fourth Epoch, otherwise you would know that showing human emotions is a sign of weakness. Just like you, you are already Sequence 3, but there are still many things you can't let go of. Your enemy can easily make you lose everything."

Klein asked back:
“But if I give up everything, what I value, what I love, and move forward only for power, am I still myself?”

“But that’s a sign of strength and growth.”

Zaratul once again felt that the man in front of him was quite naive.

"So, we should abandon everything and just move forward for strength?"

"Getting power is a sacrifice in itself. You have to sacrifice what you have on the altar. You will get what you give. Logically, we all know that there is no gain without labor. Why don't you understand this when you drink the potion?"

The topaz pendulum was spinning on a few numbers. Klein lowered his head and his tone became a little strange:
"Becoming a true god means that your spirit will be eroded, and you will gradually become unlike yourself. Anchors cannot completely improve your condition... Is there anything you don't want to forget? Even if you die slowly like that, you won't feel sorry for it?"

"Young man, you still don't understand anything." Zaratul smiled, "If I don't ascend, others who ascend will come to kill me. Don't pin your life on the kindness of others."

Seeing the topaz pendulum stop at a certain number, Klein breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed his body movements slightly:
"I now believe that you have no intention of killing Benson and Melissa. You just want to get Sefirah Castle. So that's it."

Zaratul nodded:
"Tell me how you control Sefirah Castle. Don't lie to me, or I will have no choice but to turn you into a secret puppet."

Klein lowered his head and wiped his fingers: "I know what is important."

"The first sentence is, Blessings be born in Xuanhuang Tianzun——"

Blessed be the Heavenly Venerable… Zaratul heard this term spoken in the ancient Hermetic language. He felt that it seemed to have some connection with the "Lord of Mysteries" and that there were infinite mysteries in it. He could not help but listen, waiting for the next words.

"The second sentence is..."

Klein wiped his fingers clean and raised his head. An illusory and transparent figure with Feysac blood appeared in his brown eyes.

A transparent hand suddenly stretched out from between Klein's eyebrows and pressed on Zaratul's face.

In an instant, Zaratul's body twisted and turned into a puppet with a white beard like Santa Claus.

"Transfiguration curse!"

The puppet widened its eyes, struggled a few times, and sank into the mist of history.

Klein felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if he was being hung up. But the next moment he was cursed, and the connection between his spirit and body became extremely tight. The thread of his spirit was wrapped around Klein's body like a zongzi. If anyone tried to remove the thread, Klein would be pulled away with him!
In this way, Zaratul's position was exposed.

The surrounding layout disappeared and turned back into a dark and gloomy spire church.

Bang, the angel in the "ghost" state turned from virtual to real, and Richard landed lightly on the ground:
"I guess I came at the right time?"

"Yes, I didn't expect you to find me first."

Klein nodded and said to the swaying puppets above:
"Don't do anything to my relatives."

"If you don't attack them, I can swear on Sefirah Castle that I will not kill you even if I defeat you."

The puppets rolled their eyes and turned to Klein. As they swayed, the whispers in their throats merged into one sentence:

"I can……"

"Keep...watching them..."

It seems that Benson and Melissa will have to endure the harassment of crows for a while... Klein breathed a sigh of relief, and then a smile rose on his tense face: "I think what you said is very right. Gaining power is a sacrifice. Sacrifice what you have. What you throw out is what you get. But the flames burn more and more vigorously, until finally you throw yourself into it and become its fuel."

"But I still hope that when I fall into the flames, I can smile with relief and think that I have gotten what I wanted."

"Instead of feeling that it was the ending I was looking for after I had no other options and no longer cherished life."

TBC
------

Richard patted Klein on the shoulder and exclaimed:

"You are a very creative kid. Aren't you from the Secret Order? Are you interested in learning more about the New Rose School?"

(End of this chapter)