Ten minutes after Lanevus's death, Horamick Haydn arrived in the West District with a team of Machinery Mind elites. They looked at the messy scene, which was filled with filth, resentment, and the aura of death, and their expressions grew complex.
A few minutes later, Ace Snake and Anthony Stevenson also arrived. Sensing the residual pollution from the evil god in the air, their expressions turned solemn.
Ace Snake, who had managed to be late for an unknown number of times within a single month, let out a furious roar. "Dammit, what exactly is going on? Why are there high-sequence powerhouses fighting in the West District?! Horamick! Did you forget the priority of ensuring the impact doesn't spread?"
"It wasn't our doing." Though he felt a surge of dissatisfaction at the "God's Singer's" interrogation, Horamick replied in a gentle voice. "We received a report saying a vessel for the True Creator's descent had appeared in the West District. By the time we arrived, it was already like this."
"A report? Where is that person?" Ace Snake immediately asked. Reaching the West District from Saint Cyrlan's Cathedral in the southeast corner of Backlund would take a demigod of the Church of Knowledge at least twenty minutes without causing a panic. Only ten minutes had passed since they had first sensed the clash of divinity.
Horamick shook his head, his voice remaining gentle. "It was delivered by a child on the street. Because it was an emergency, we haven't had time to track them down yet. However, the accuracy of such anonymous reports is questionable even with divination. Moreover, the reporter likely isn't with the demigod who acted. Even if we use a Sealed Artifact, the clues we find will be limited."
"How do you know they aren't together?" Ace Snake, who had been frustrated by the series of events this month, snapped back without thinking.
But at that moment, Anthony, who hadn't spoken since arriving, suddenly chimed in. "The person who died is Lanevus. The divinity within him belongs to the True Creator, and he was the culprit behind the evil god's spawn incident in Tingen. And the person who acted used the power of the Corpse Collector pathway."
"Corpse Collector?" Ace Snake finally calmed down. He suddenly recalled the incident with Qilangos twenty days ago, and his gaze instantly sharpened. "The one who killed Qilangos also seemed to be a high-sequence Beyonder of the Corpse Collector pathway."
"Could this be related to the assassination of Duke Negan?" Horamick frowned, though he felt a secret sense of relief. If it truly was an issue involving Duke Negan, then it could be handed over to the Church of Storms.
However, Anthony shook his head. "No, perhaps this incident is merely a 'coincidence.' A 'coincidence' where Lanevus was discovered and had to be killed by a passing high-sequence powerhouse."
...
While the Archbishops of the three major churches in Backlund gathered, Snow was busy examining the bone inverted cross in his hand. This exquisite mystical item possessed a very interesting core beneath its artistic exterior.
First, it had powerful anti-divination capabilities. Any divination involving it would be countered. This counter-measure wasn't limited to mere interference; it could also track the other party's location or even choose to play a "True Source Recording" of the True Creator directly into their ears.
Second, it could convert the holder's spirituality into a spiritual blade. It possessed a characteristic similar to the Black Knight's spirit-flesh blade, capable of ignoring the defenses of beings with fallen thoughts.
Additionally, it could accommodate Beyonder characteristics. As it absorbed more characteristics, its extraordinary powers would also improve.
There was no doubt that even without considering its growth potential, this was an exceptionally powerful mystical item. However, for Snow,who wasn't particularly keen on combat,the true value of this Sealed Artifact didn't lie in its extraordinary powers, but in its "living" nature.
Perhaps because the powers of the "Death" pathway had simultaneously killed the consciousness of the True Creator and Lanevus, the "Resurrection" authority belonging to the Hanged Man pathway within the divinity had been activated. This allowed the True Creator's consciousness to form something akin to an evil spirit, anchored by Lanevus's characteristic and the True Creator's divinity, which in turn formed this mystical item.
The so-called "living" characteristic was actually the manifestation of the evil spirit carrying the True Creator's consciousness. Interestingly, compared to the True Creator, this spirit was much more "simple" and "easy to satisfy." As long as it heard music for an hour every day, it would remain quiet. But if it weren't given its music, or if the song played wasn't to its liking, it would choose to sing for itself. Well, you know what the True Creator's original recordings are like.
As for why the True Creator had been so eager for Snow to retrieve this item... it was mainly because this spirit could also serve as a vessel for the True Creator's descent. However, compared to a living vessel, this mystical item seemed to require more "cultivation." After all, the evil spirit currently inside was merely a simpleton with an obsession for music. Making it accommodate the True Creator's full consciousness would be quite difficult.
Once he had familiarized himself with the cross's abilities, Snow opened his cigarette case and pulled out the "Conspirator" characteristic, which looked like a devil fruit. He placed it upon the vertical eye at the center of the cross.
At this action, the thorn-like patterns on the cross began to writhe slowly, creeping over the characteristic. With a wave of bizarre contractions, the characteristic,which was slightly larger than a fist,was swallowed by the half-palm-sized cross.
Immediately, the vertical eye at the center of the cross began to twist and bulge, as if a person in a full bodysuit were struggling to climb out of a pool of slime. This grotesque scene lasted for ten full minutes. When everything finally came to a halt, the eye had been replaced by a humanoid figure with a single-eye ornament on its chest.
It hung upside down upon the cross, its features somewhat resembling Bakerland,whom Snow had pinned to the embassy wall,though it would be more accurate to say it was a version of Bakerland whose appearance had been improved by one hundred and fifty percent.
To Snow's surprise, the cross's current state wasn't simply having "grazed" a Conspirator; it had independently grazed four Beyonder characteristics: Hunter, Provoker, Pyromaniac, and Conspirator.
Snow tried to mentally convey the intent to "extract one Hunter characteristic," and immediately a red jelly-like substance was squeezed out from the small figure. However, the figure itself didn't change as a result. He tried extracting other characteristics until the cross conveyed a sense of impatience. Then, he stopped and sat at the piano, playing the tune Lanevus had "left" him to please both the cross and the True Creator while he pondered the meaning of this phenomenon.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
T/N: Machinery Mind (机械之心) - The Beyonder organization of the Church of Steam and Machinery.
T/N: God's Singer (送神者) - Sequence 3 of the Storm pathway? No, it's a high-sequence title.
T/N: Corpse Collector (收尸人) - Sequence 9 of the Death pathway.
T/N: Black Knight (黑骑士) - Sequence 4 of the Hanged Man pathway.
T/N: Death (死神) - Sequence 0 of the Death pathway.
T/N: Hanged Man (倒吊人) - Sequence 0 of the Hanged Man pathway.
T/N: Hunter (猎人), Provoker (挑衅者), Pyromaniac (纵火家), Conspirator (阴谋家) - Sequence 9 to 6 of the Red Priest pathway.