"I'm going to the washroom, and then we can leave." After the dance ended and they returned to the side of the ballroom, Snow suddenly spoke. Trissy looked at him suspiciously, her lack of trust evident.
"You aren't planning to leave me behind and escape on your own, are you?"
"Why don't you come with me then? Oh, sorry, I forgot it's not appropriate for you to enter the men's room right now." Snow raised an eyebrow, his punchable attitude on full display.
Trissy muttered a curse in her hometown tongue, took a deep breath, and spat out, "If I get caught, I won't hesitate to sell you out."
"Yes, yes, I understand!" Snow nodded without a hint of sincerity. He strolled boldly up to a military attache of the embassy and, under Trissy's stunned gaze, asked for the location of the washroom.
'Is this guy really that confident?'
...
"The Holy Spirit who pursues knowledge."
"The Lighthouse of the mysterious world."
"The Eye that peers into fate."
"The Queen above the great sea."
"The saintly Bernadette Gustav..."
Without any extra prayers, Snow cut off the connection after reciting the honorific name. He believed Huang Beibei would know what to do next.
After slightly adjusting his spiritual concealment and ensuring the True Creator wasn't watching, he once again recited a familiar honorific name.
"The Fool who doesn't belong to this era, you are the mysterious ruler above the gray fog, the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck. I pray for your hearing. I pray for your gaze. Lanevus has escaped according to plan, and additionally, Bakerland Jean Madan is dead."
...
Trissy watched the direction of the washroom with a tense gaze, her mind racing with whether she should run. Though there was a high probability of being noticed if she left mid-dance or used her invisibility, she was at least using a fake identity. Once she made it out of the embassy and washed her face, she would be fine. But if she stayed and Bakerland's corpse was discovered...
"What are you thinking about!" Snow's voice suddenly rang out behind her. Were it not for the composure she had built up as an Instigator and an Assassin, she might have jumped.
"When did you get here?!"
"I just walked over." Snow maintained that punchable smile,three parts mockery, three parts teasing, and four parts pure mischief. He patted her shoulder. "Let's go. We can leave now."
...
Above the gray fog, Klein, who had just finished a spirit-channeling session with Master Rosago, felt the star belonging to Mr. Devil pulsing. He couldn't help but complain.
"Mr. Devil's dinner is quite late today!"
Even so, he extended his spirituality to touch the star, and the overlapping prayers immediately filled his ears.
'Bakerland is dead? Mr. Devil killed him? No, more importantly, Lanevus!' Klein immediately realized what he needed to do. He touched the stars of Justice, The Hanged Man, and Miss Magician. Although he felt notifying Miss Magician would be enough, he sent the message to all three for the sake of Mr. Fool's impartiality.
He truly wanted to witness Lanevus's end, but considering there was a sleeping Miss Body of Heart and Mind in the real world, he could only descend back to reality and begin dividing the spoils from today's work...
...
"Mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhmm..."
Lanevus hummed a tune as he strolled through the streets of the West District. Because his posture was so relaxed and his clothing was clearly expensive, even the patrolling police failed to realize he was a dangerous fugitive. He wandered casually, planning to use the money he'd pick-pocketed from the police to hire a carriage.
He was in an excellent mood. Thanks to that "lullaby," he could keep the True Creator's consciousness stable. Furthermore, through the process of obtaining the song, he had completed his digestion of the Cryptologist potion. As long as he could advance to a Deceiver, he could begin "stealing" the True Creator's consciousness within him. If it didn't work the first time, he'd try again. Even if he couldn't "steal" the consciousness and divinity at Sequence 6, it would accelerate his digestion and lead him to Sequence 5.
With this song to soothe the True Creator, he could minimize the risk of theft and finally enjoy a good night's sleep. He just needed to find a recording studio and turn the song into a record. Then he wouldn't have to worry about waking up in a slum like the East District.
Once he succeeded, he would leave Backlund to find an opportunity to become a demigod. Once a demigod, the evil god's consciousness would no longer be pollution but a massive gift!
"First, let's find a recording studio..." Lanevus hummed as he walked toward a nearby carriage. But there was something strange about this carriage.
He immediately grew alert, but before he could react, a lady in a yellow tiered dress and an old-fashioned black bonnet gracefully stepped out of the magnificent carriage. Under normal circumstances, Bernadette would have used "Jack's Beanstalk" to create a sealed space. However, she needed the feedback of a "Sage," and she wasn't certain if the True Creator's divinity would interfere with her "Manifestation of Mystery." Facing a projection of an evil god, even if it was just an incomplete consciousness, was not something to be taken lightly.
"I..." Lanevus didn't know the other's identity, but he understood she was a powerful Beyonder. He tried to explain, but Bernadette had no intention of letting him speak.
A pale mask was placed upon her face, leaving only her eyes visible. The sight of it brought a strange sense of horror. Lanevus discovered his body was slowly dying.
"Dammit!" Lanevus tore his shirt to shreds, revealing an inverted shadowy figure composed of muscle and blood vessels,as if the skin had been peeled away,on his chest.
The aura of a deity instantly shattered the spiritual seal Bernadette had set. The carriage that had brought her similarly fell apart, leaving behind the corpses of several small mice and a shattered pumpkin.
Lanevus suddenly burst into an impassioned melody, and the once-silent True Creator's consciousness immediately woke. The veins on the back of Bernadette's hand began to twist unnaturally, but then, an intense wave of sleepiness suddenly flooded Lanevus's mind.
"It's useless! Right now, I am the True Creator!" Lanevus shouted. The consciousness on his chest grew increasingly manic because its music had been interrupted. Unfortunately, it was merely a projection of consciousness with a hint of divinity, not even a clone.
Aside from the pressure and aura of a deity, the True Creator's consciousness couldn't provide Lanevus with any practical help. He could only watch helplessly as an extremely complex three-dimensional rune manifested before Bernadette. The pure essence of death within it caused even the insects struggling in the early autumn chill to die.
Boom!
As if the world itself were wailing, Lanevus's body suddenly exploded. Bone and blood splattered, leaving deep gouges in the ground.
Bernadette felt the stir of spirituality. Vines suddenly descended from the void, carrying this saintly figure,who didn't seem to belong to the mortal world,into the sky.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: Deceiver (诈骗师) - Sequence 8 of the Marauder pathway.
T/N: Instigator (教唆者) - Sequence 8 of the Demoness pathway.
T/N: Assassin (刺客) - Sequence 9 of the Demoness pathway.
T/N: Sage (贤者) - Sequence 0 of the Savant pathway.
T/N: Manifestation of Mystery (神秘再现) - A high-level ability of the Savant pathway.