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After the Tarot Club meeting concluded today, seeing that Klein had no immediate intention of sending over the Human-skin Shadow characteristic, Leyton took out the Desire Apostle characteristic and continued to research the ability to manipulate emotions and desires.
Lost in his research, an unknown amount of time passed until a knocking sound briefly echoed, then quickly faded away.
"You're a little late."
He leaned back in his chair, sighing softly.
Not long after, the door to his study was pushed open from the outside, and Klein walked in, holding a small iron box.
"This is the Human-skin Shadow characteristic."
"And a strand of hair. I remember you're also skilled at divination. Can you help me divine Talim Dumont's true cause of death?"
Klein's voice was uncharacteristically heavy as he spoke.
Leyton raised an eyebrow and looked over, noticing the strand of hair tightly pressed against the surface of the iron box, hidden extremely well. He said with some confusion:
"You should be more skilled at divination than I am."
Phew~ Klein sighed deeply, his voice low as he said:
"I've already divined it. I just want to compare multiple different divinations. I have some guesses about what's interfering with the divination, but I can't be sure yet."
"I saw Talim at the Quelaag Club not long ago. He was perfectly normal, very healthy, with no signs of sudden illness."
"Hmm." After a slight nod, Leyton took the small iron box and the strand of hair that Klein handed over.
Holding the hair horizontally in his palm, he closed his eyes and softly chanted:
"The true cause of Talim Dumont's death."
"The true cause of Talim Dumont's death."
He silently repeated it three times, then entered meditation.
In the revelatory dream brought by the divination, he saw the Quelaag Club he had once visited, and saw Talim Dumont clutching his heart, his expression distorted, as he collapsed.
Upon closer inspection, a faint, not very obvious, wisp of black aura could be seen circling his heart.
After a short while, Leyton reopened his eyes and said with a solemn tone:
"A curse?"
"You can divine that?" Klein quickly pressed.
Leyton gently shook his head:
"I can only vaguely see something unusual. His death is not normal, but it's been concealed by someone or something."
"I understand." Klein wasn't too surprised by this answer.
He frowned, nodded, then bade farewell and left.
Watching Klein leave, Leyton also rose from his chair and went to the adjacent room, picking up the framed painting wrapped in a dark, viscous, liquid-like curtain.
"It's time to go make a deal with Old Man. There's so much time collected by Amon in here; it can't be wasted."
As he spoke, Leyton raised his hand and made a light knocking motion in mid-air, causing a ripple like water light to spread out.
In the void ahead, Leyton opened a Door connecting to an unknown area of the Spirit World.
As this Door materialized, he stepped into it, his figure suddenly vanishing from the room.
North Borough, inside a detached house.
Amidst layers of rippling water light, an invisible Door opened, and Leyton emerged, holding a framed painting wrapped in a dark, viscous, liquid-like curtain.
A layer of purple luminescence spread across his eyes. He scanned the room, finding no living creatures or signs of parasitic traces.
Of course, I'm not like Amon, that guy with monocle OCD; I wouldn't notice abnormalities with ordinary parasites.
Muttering to himself, Leyton casually sat on the sofa, waiting for Leonard to return.
Before coming, he had already performed a divination to determine the appropriate time to visit, ensuring he wouldn't run into Leonard's colleagues.
After about two or three minutes, footsteps approached from outside the door, but then paused, as if the person had discovered a stranger in his house.
But it quickly returned to normal. The main door creaked open, and Leonard, with black hair, green eyes, and outstanding looks, pushed it open and entered.
He closed the door behind him and approached a few steps, saying with a hint of displeasure in his tone:
"Do you just casually break into a Nighthawk's home like this? At least I'm a Church Nighthawk; aren't you afraid I'll report you to the Church and have you locked behind Chanis Gate?"
Leyton raised an eyebrow slightly, his voice like a statement as he said:
"There are quite a few Sealed Artifacts and material behind Chanis Gate. What you said actually makes me a little tempted."
"So many potion formulas and Sealed Artifacts, enough to get rich overnight…"
"You can certainly try." Leonard said provocatively.
Leyton waved his hand, no longer pursuing the topic:
"I came to find Old Man today."
As he spoke, he handed over the portrait of Amon he was holding, saying:
"Do you need me to remove this layer of seal?"
"Is it something from The Marauder pathway? Remove it. In front of me, nothing from that Pathway can cause trouble."
An old voice, unsuited to his age, came from Leonard's mouth.
Leyton smiled:
"Of course. A few days ago, I ransacked a tomb Amon left behind here."
As he spoke, Leyton separated the bone staff from the framed painting. The dark, viscous, liquid-like shadow, as if losing its support, suddenly scattered across the floor and merged into the surrounding shadows.
On the framed painting, with the shadow gone, Amon's portrait was fully revealed.
Leyton noticed Leonard's pupils contract almost imperceptibly.
Old Man's psychological fortitude isn't good enough. It's just a portrait.
"Hmph! Don't have too many thoughts in front of a high-Sequence Marauder."
The old voice rumbled like a warning.
Truly, honest advice grates on the ear.
He muttered in Chinese to himself, then stopped his thoughts from wandering further, bringing the conversation back on track:
"This framed painting contains time, or rather, life, lifespan, collected by Amon? I think you should need it."
"What do you want to gain from me?" Pallez said through Leonard's body.
"A favor."
"But not now. Within two years, I'll need you to help me steal something. This painting is the down payment."
Leyton calculated the timing of the war in his mind… Only when everyone's energy is tied up in the war can I easily slip into the Eternal Blazing Sun's cathedral and take that Knowledge Emperor characteristic.
"I refuse! My condition isn't as good as you think."
"Which Orthodox Deity's cathedral do you want to go to? Evernight? Or the Lord of Storms? Or something else?"
Pallez cautiously rejected Leyton's condition, even speculating which Orthodox Deity's cathedral his target was.
It seems I can't move this Worm of Time without offering some enticing chips. After a moment of thought, Leyton said leisurely:
"The Eternal Blazing Sun's cathedral. However, this matter will, of course, wait until you have recovered your state."
"Moreover, no matter the circumstances, you won't have to face that dazzling Sun. The God of Knowledge will block him."
"The conflict between you and Amon is unavoidable, and there isn't much time left. Having a Sequence 1 ally, from your perspective, seems like a more advantageous thing, doesn't it?"
Pallez fell silent, but still controlled Leonard's body, leaving the poet, who had many questions, to quietly observe.
After a long silence in the living room, Pallez's old voice once again spoke through Leonard's body:
"Offending a True God, and very likely leaving traces for Amon, a Sequence 1 ally alone isn't enough."
Pallez's reaction indicated that he was tempted by the deal. Leyton narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice tinged with seriousness and solemnity as he said:
"Plus the blessing of... a Great Old One!"
"... Great Old One? Which Great Old One?"
"The one representing knowledge!" Leyton smiled, giving an ambiguous answer.
Upon receiving the answer, Pallez said no more, reaching out to take the portrait of Amon from Leyton's hand.
A massive, ancient, mottled illusion of a grandfather clock quietly appeared above Leonard's head.
This illusion was divided into twelve segments, each either grayish-white or bluish-black, intermingled but clearly defined, with different symbols.
An indescribable, formless torrent surged forth, as if traversing long history.
The ancient, mottled hands abruptly rotated one segment counter-clockwise. "Dong~" An ethereal, illusory, yet long and lingering chime echoed in Leyton's mind.
He was momentarily dazed, as if the time before him had become slightly chaotic, but he quickly recovered.
The next moment, he saw the portrait of Amon, held by Leonard's body, rapidly decay. Within mere seconds, it lost all color and turned into fragile fragments, scattering onto the floor.
"Not bad. This not only contains the time Amon stole, but also some of the characteristics he left behind when making this portrait…"
Pallez's old voice seemed to have more vitality.
"It seems your condition has recovered quite a bit."
Leyton sighed softly.
Leonard's eyes were blank for a moment, but quickly recovered. He looked around at the scattered fragments on the floor, then slightly curled his lips:
"The old man has gone to sleep. He said he needs to properly digest today's gains."
As he spoke, Leonard had already walked to the sofa and casually sat down, asking with considerable curiosity in his voice:
"Was that Amon on the portrait just now?"
"What are you trying to steal from the Eternal Blazing Sun's cathedral? And you absolutely need the old man's help…"
Leyton shrugged slightly casually:
"A Knowledge Emperor characteristic. When it comes to stealing, Marauder are more skilled."
"In Trier, there might be additional dangers for me, so Pallez's help is very necessary for me."
His voice paused slightly, as if he had thought of something, and a helpless curve appeared at the corner of his mouth:
"Pallez must have already anticipated the subsequent developments when I took out that framed painting. He isn't resistant to this transaction; he's just bargaining with me."
"What a troublesome old man…"
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