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Tuesday morning, the Crown graveyard.
Leyton changed into a slightly more formal black woolen overcoat and stood at the edge of the crowd with Klein, holding freshly bought flowers.
They quietly watched Talim's coffin being carried over, receiving the Requiem, and then slowly being buried in the earth.
"Why did you come to Talim's funeral? You two aren't that familiar, are you?"
Klein slightly tilted his head, asking in confusion.
Leyton's expression was indifferent, as if grieving Talim's passing, but his lowered voice spoke with a hint of curiosity:
"I'm somewhat curious about what kind of accident 0-08 will arrange."
"You're so sure all of this was arranged by 0-08?"
Klein's voice was hoarse, masking the sadness and anger within his tone.
A living person, an optimistic and cheerful friend, suddenly died because of a ridiculous script written by someone else, and those who knew couldn't even seek justice for him.
"Trust your intuition."
Leyton said with words that held unclear meaning.
Klein stopped speaking and quietly scanned the entire scene. He saw Talim's Mother standing there with swollen red eyes, wanting to speak several times but choking back tears.
His father's hair was gray, and his expression was haggard; even though he stood there without moving, he seemed to be trembling.
Klein slightly tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
Only after the funeral attendees had successively left did the two walk over and place the plain white flowers they held onto the pile of existing flowers.
Then, they stepped aside. As they were about to leave, Mike, a reporter Klein was familiar with, and Doctor Aaron approached.
"It's truly regrettable, I never thought Talim would... alas."
Mike murmured with a pained expression, his words unfinished.
The usually aloof Doctor Aaron took off his glasses, wiped the corners of his eyes, and sighed softly:
"He was an enthusiastic fellow."
While Klein was talking with his friends, Leyton's gaze indifferently swept across the entire scene.
He saw a female figure wearing a heavy black dress and a veiled mask.
She was walking unhurriedly towards Talim's grave, her gaze seemingly scanning the surroundings inadvertently, searching for someone, holding a bouquet of white flowers.
Leyton moved slightly away from Klein and the others, lowering his voice to whisper softly.
His voice was very light; even someone standing nearby couldn't clearly hear what he said.
But these sounds rippled outwards like water, reappearing in the place he had anticipated as indistinct whispers, too blurry to discern gender.
"Trissy?... Let me tell you something interesting... One of the Hunter Pathway's Sequences can allow a person to change from female to male. I think you must..."
Trissy, who had just placed a bouquet of white flowers for Talim, paused.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Consecutive explosions, along with screams from the crowd, came from nearby.
Leyton frowned slightly, turning his head to look. Something mechanical seemed to have gone out of control nearby, causing a power explosion, and it had also startled the nearby horses.
A gaze filled with intense malice swept across the entire scene, finally landing on him. Leyton's intuition was triggered; he felt that the owner of this gaze was likely a Demigod.
Then, he casually turned his head back to look in Trissy's direction; the female figure in the heavy black dress who had been standing there had already disappeared.
"0-08, did it not target me but chose to create an accident to get Trissy away?" Leyton mused inwardly.
He only relaxed slightly once the malicious gaze shifted away from him.
A barely perceptible purple light flashed in his eyes as he looked around, but he found nothing.
Withdrawing his gaze, Leyton shook his head helplessly, "I wonder how much Trissy heard of what I just said. The little interlude arranged by 0-08 must have prevented her from hearing everything."
He then slowly walked to the edge of the graveyard, preparing to wait for Klein.
After waiting for a while, just as he saw Klein coming out, a carriage with a black compartment stopped in front of him. The emblem on the carriage was skillfully disguised, making it impossible to tell which noble it belonged to.
"Prince Edessak. There was a sudden change just now. Did he not take Trissy with him when he left? No, it's also possible that only the butler remained."
After waiting a little longer, Klein emerged from the carriage. He quickly glanced around and saw Leyton still waiting for him not far away.
He quickly approached, and seeing no one around, he lowered his voice and said:
"I just saw the one who killed Talim. The ring she was wearing on her hand is very likely a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact."
Leyton began walking out of the graveyard, responding softly:
"In Backlund, it's not at all surprising to casually encounter a Saint or an Angel. Even a dog passing by could be a Beyonder, and of no low Sequence."
Klein fell silent for a moment; he didn't know how to respond to that.
After making a joke, Leyton seriously answered Klein's question:
"I've already greeted that Ms. Trissy, but unfortunately, it was interfered with by 0-08. I don't know how much she heard."
"0-08? The explosion and accident just now?"
"Did you really just say hello, and not do anything else?"
Klein asked with some suspicion.
Leyton gently shook his head and said:
"The explosion just now seemed to have disturbed a passing Demigod; their gaze was locked onto me."
He hailed a carriage by the roadside, and the two returned to Minsk Street in Cherwood Borough.
In the evening, Leyton was traversing the Spirit World.
Today was the full moon. He planned to find Lawrence before dark and have him chant the The Fool's honorific name to request protection. If that didn't work, he would ask the Hidden Sage for help.
In a daze, he unexpectedly fell out of the Spirit World.
"Lost? Heh ~ A shoddy script!"
He knew almost without thinking that he had been set up again.
A sense of vigilance secretly rose in his heart, and he looked around with a serious gaze for a while... The surrounding buildings seemed familiar; I should have been here before.
Williams Street, located at the junction of Backlund West Borough and Empress Borough... He quickly remembered where this was. Leyton instinctively looked at the ground beneath his feet.
"Are you looking for me?"
A playful voice sounded beside Leyton.
The next moment, his figure instantly became transparent, as if turning into a statue made of countless starlight.
The statue then shattered, brilliant starlight surging forth, rushing towards the other side.
Blazing flames suddenly shot up, forcing the surging brilliant starlight to stop.
The flickering fragments of starlight rapidly converged inwards, revealing Leyton's figure, his gaze fixed on the flamboyant red figure emerging from the flames.
"Yo! It's the Dragon's Blessed. No wonder you didn't enter the ruins in your true form last time. You're truly as timid as the God you believe in!"
Leyton felt that he didn't have the true reverence of a believer for the God of Knowledge, but when Medici's Wraith said those words, an inexplicable surge of anger welled up in his heart, making him want to rush forward and beat the opponent down with his fists.
A hazy light-blue glow filled Leyton's eyes, and his rationality instantly took dominance, suppressing the anger and other emotions within him.
"I hate that Dragon, and now I don't like you much either."
Medici's voice was full of oppression. He slowly approached, like a Hunter toying with prey with nowhere to escape.
Leyton felt his body and soul were locked onto by the opponent, his body trembling instinctively... The Hunter's gaze?
"Leo—. de—"
"Shut up!"
A sharp, soul-shaking sound suddenly rang out.
Medici's evil spirit's two faces each tore open a mouth. This was the sound of Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn roaring simultaneously, far more terrifying than the shriek of a Sequence 5 Wraith.
Leyton's mind went blank for a moment. Intense stinging pain and dizziness assailed him, and crimson blood oozed from his nose and ears.
He hunched over, feeling his vision blur. He endured the dizziness and stinging pain in his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
But there was only the scorching, dazzling red coming towards him.
"The power of knowledge."
The honorific name in his mouth had just begun to be chanted when he could no longer make a sound.
Leyton felt his soul being scorched and pricked.
"Meow~Wahhh!"
A deafening sound suddenly rang out, somewhat like a small cat's stern roar, but upon closer distinction, it felt like a giant dragon roaring.
It seemed to come from the depths of the soul, and yet it seemed to echo from infinitely high places.
"It's you... betrayal."
A faint sound seemed to rise, but quickly subsided.
When he came to his senses, Leyton found himself by the Tussock River. A blue-gray bobtail cat sat proudly on a stone pillar, its bright, amber-like eyes quietly watching Leyton.
The moment he saw the bobtail cat, Leyton collected his thoughts and respectfully bowed to the other party, saying:
"Thank you very much for your help."
"You are very bold to intend to directly call out the Tyrant's name. Even if this is Backlund, He would not be concerned, especially when facing you and Medici's Wraith."
Leyton was silent for a brief moment, then frowned deeply, his voice somewhat hoarse:
"I also don't know why my first reaction was such a suicidal method."
The bobtail cat slightly tilted its head, looking as if Leyton was disappointing, and said:
"The Spectator's influence does not directly force a change in your thoughts. You yourself had such a thought the moment you saw that Wraith. The influence from the Spectator merely magnified it, affecting your judgment."
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