Lord of the Mysteries

The front door to Jason Patrick’s house suddenly burst open, and a group of Nighthawks in black tweed coats jogged inside.

They wore vigilant and alert expressions, as though they were facing an extremely terrifying enemy.

Tap! Tap! Tap! A person decked out in full silver armor walked in.

The armor exuded a feeling that made it seem like it was abnormally heavy. Various details about it adhered to an ancient style, and from its left shoulder, all the way diagonally to the abdomen area, it was stained with a splash of dark red blood that appeared impossible to remove. Coupled with the sputtering red spots in other places, it created a very queer and beautiful scene, as if it was a unique and magnificent decoration.

Soul Assurer Soest took out his pocket watch and gave it a look.

“Change.”

The silver armor stopped, lifting its visor to reveal the wearer. It was a handsome man with black hair and green eyes.

“Leonard, hot water has been prepared in the master bedroom’s bathroom on the second floor. Don’t delay any longer; otherwise, you’ll only be able to return to the embrace of the Goddess,” Soest exhorted him.

“Yes, Captain Soest.” Leonard Mitchell, with the help of the rest of the Nighthawks, removed his heavy blood-stained silver armor.

With red gloves on, he didn’t say anything, nor did he hesitate as he rushed to the second floor and found the bathtub still billowing with white steam.

Leonard quickly stripped off his clothes and lied down in the hot water without even exposing his nose.

His skin quickly turned red like a cooked lobster, and strange, scar-like silver lines gradually started to appear on the surface of his skin.

Those silver lines were like pure blade beams which constantly spread outwards and fused with the hot water.

In less than ten seconds, the steam disappeared and a thin layer of transparent ice formed on the surface of the hot water!

Only when all the silver lines dispersed did Leonard sit up, panting heavily.

He cocked his head slightly as if he was listening to something. Then, he said with a lowered voice, “Old Man, do you know the origins of 1-42?”

An elderly voice rang out in his mind.

“You are getting more and more impolite.

“I don’t know where that strange armor comes from.”

Without waiting for Leonard to ask further, he let out a chuckle.

“But I think I recognize the owner of the blood.”

“Who is it?” Leonard asked curiously.

The slightly aged voice said in a low, deep voice, “An ancient god before the Cataclysm.”

…

South of the Bridge, Rose Street, Harvest Church.

As soon as Klein stepped into the quiet prayer hall, he saw Father Utravsky and Vampire Emlyn White, one in the front and one in the back, sitting on chairs of different heights. Their hands were placed in front of their mouths and noses, with their fingers clasped together and palms empty.

This was the unique prayer position of the Church of Mother Earth.  ( AllNovel )

Right now, Emlyn White’s expression was gentle and calm, without any trace of the arrogance and vexation which he had before.

Klein slightly moved the corner of his mouth as he silently drew a triangular Sacred Emblem on his chest.

He took a seat at random, waited until the prayer was over, and then walked over to Emlyn White. He said with a smile, “You are especially pious today.”

“What?” Emlyn snapped to his senses as he muttered to himself while his expression was pale. “What have I done, what have I done…”

His voice trailed off, as though recalling what he had just done.

“Maybe it’s not a bad thing.” Klein consoled the vampire in an utterly unconvincing manner before sitting down next to him.

“I don’t want to hear others say something like that. Although I feel my resistance is weakening…” Emlyn wore a livid expression and he said with a tone filled with despondence, “But I don’t want to betray the moon!”

Klein didn’t continue with the topic that depressed the vampire as he casually asked, “Do you Sanguines worship the Primordial Moon, or a particular deity that represents the moon? Or perhaps, the two of them can be considered the same?”

“All of them.” Emlyn slightly raised his chin, “To a pure-blooded Sanguine, we obviously believe in the deity that represents the moon. of course, it is the god who represents the moon. Her name is Lilith, and she is the ancestor of us Sanguine, an ancient deity. And when humans become Sanguine, they tend to worship the Primordial Moon. Under normal circumstances, the two can be considered equivalent, but there are times when they do not overlap and there are differences.”

“A human becoming a Sanguine?” Klein wasn’t surprised that Emlyn White was able to say the name of an ancient god from the Second Epoch. Instead, he was more concerned about the tidbit about humans becoming Sanguine.

Is this the Vampire Sequence that Mr. Azik had mentioned? he thought.

Emlyn said with a slightly complicated expression, “Yes, there are two types. One is transformed from a bestowment from a powerful Sanguine, and the other is transformed from consuming a corresponding potion. The latter is our most hated enemy.”

“Why?” Klein vaguely guessed at the answer.

Emlyn gritted his teeth and replied, “The main ingredient of their potion is our blood essence.”

As expected… Klein turned his head and sized up Emlyn a few times.

The gaze left Emlyn feeling a little nervous as he snorted.

“You’re already a Beyonder; there’s no way you can switch pathways!”

It’s only because this is my first time seeing a walking, no—a living, no—talking Beyonder ingredient… However, in a certain sense, every human Beyonder is also such an ingredient… Klein originally only wanted to inwardly make a casual joke, but soon he felt a strong sense of sadness.

At this moment, Emlyn looked at the Bishop Utravsky, who was carefully polishing the Sacred Emblem of Life, and said in a low voice, “I found two ingredients that you wanted.”

“What are they?” Klein didn’t attempt to hide his joy.

Emlyn responded smoothly, “Thousand-faced Hunter’s mutated pituitary gland and blood. The asking price is 2,000 pounds for the former and 300 pounds for 100 milliliters of the latter.”

2,300… Klein blurted out, “Can I get a discount?”

After receiving his bail money back, he had a total of 2,185 pounds in cash.

For a member of the middle class, this was already quite an abundant amount of savings. Perhaps some people might not be able to save that much money in their entire lifetime, but Klein found that it wasn’t enough…

“No, if it weren’t for me, he would’ve wanted 2,800 pounds, and according to the agreement, you would’ve paid me an extra 150 pounds for a total of 2,450 pounds,” Emlyn said while shaking his head.

Looking at Klein’s expression, he quickly added, “In this era, dragons are rare. Other than the long-lived Sanguine, it is very difficult to find similar Beyonder ingredients elsewhere. Even if they exist, they would be more expensive than ours.”

I’m still short of 265 pounds… Having saved up so much money with such great difficulty, it will be emptied out at once. Yet, I still don’t have enough… I hope Mr. Hanged Man will be able to sell the Werewolf Beyonder characteristic as soon as possible… After this, there’s still the characteristic of a Human-skinned Shadow and a Deep-sea Naga’s hair. It wouldn’t be any cheaper… There’s no way to confirm Little Sun’s side of things, with him needing to conduct himself properly. The amount he owes me is probably best repaid by using the means to remove a Rampager’s mental corruption in a mystical item. That would be a better form of concealment… Many thoughts instantly flashed through Klein’s mind as he felt the light outside the window dim significantly.

He took a deep breath and said, “Okay.

“However, this deal will be delayed for some time. I recently provoked a fellow and am now being protected by official Beyonders. You don’t wish for that seller to be locked up in the cathedral’s basement, right?”

And I still have to gather the rest of the money… Klein tilted his head slightly to look at the cathedral’s dome.

“Official Beyonders?” Emlyn White jumped up and looked around.

Klein glanced at him and said, “Don’t worry about it. You’re now a priest of the Church of Mother Earth, and you have legal status. Moreover, Bishop Utravsky will protect you.”

“I’m not…” Emlyn’s denial was exceptionally weak.

He sat down again and suddenly thought of something as he said, “Can the official Beyonders resolve the problem of a psychological cue?”

“Maybe.” Klein almost burst out laughing. “But in that case, you will most likely become a believer of the Evernight Goddess, the God of Steam and Machinery, or the Lord of Storms. Of course, you can also choose to become a member of the military’s special department. They might be able to send you overseas as a spy to seduce some noble woman.

“I only like puppets and pure, beautiful girls!” Emlyn immediately emphasized.

I can tell that you’re a little interested, but only a little… Klein switched gears and asked, “Do you know any members of the Beria family?”

“Beria? That crazy family that worships devils? No, they are devils themselves!” Emlyn blurted out. “Why are you looking for them?”

Klein helplessly said, “I’ve offended one of them, Jason Patrick Beria, due to a serial murder case.

“Help me find out his recent whereabouts and acquaintances in your circle. If you have any accurate information, I will pay you, depending on the importance of the information.”

Of course, this could also be claimed from the Nighthawks, the Machinery Hivemind, and the military… Klein thought with relief.

Emlyn nodded thoughtfully.

“You actually dared to provoke a real devil.

“When you have exact information about him, he will know that you will bring him a great deal of harm.”

“It’s alright, I have the protection of the authorities,” Klein replied indifferently.

After a few seconds of silence, Emlyn said, “Well, I’ll try. The payment for information needs to be at least twenty pounds.”

After finalizing this matter, Klein didn’t stay any longer, and he walked out of the cathedral.

His mind was filled with the question of how he was going to gather the money.

Miss Magician’s new book is about to be published. She should receive a sizable amount of money for it. There will still be royalties later on. Perhaps I can promote the Astrologer potion formula to her; however, she hasn’t even gathered all the potion ingredients of Trickmaster… Miss Justice has joined the Psychology Alchemists, and I have no formulas to sell her. Sell her knowledge?

The Werewolf Beyonder characteristic is worth about 1,300 pounds, perhaps even lower… Must I produce a mystical item? Or should I think of a way to get Emlyn White to become a believer of The Fool, receiving tributes at the cost of offering to remove the psychological cue…

Right, Jason Beria carried a lot of cash, jewelry, and precious metals. If he can be found, perhaps I might get a share!

As his thoughts raced, Klein walked out of the cathedral and saw the dark sky and the thin fog.

He sighed and said, “I’m really short on money…”

…

Back at Minsk Street, Klein walked into the bathroom with a thick stack of newspapers in his hand, as if he was about to fight a protracted war.

He wanted to head above the gray fog and use Jason’s handkerchief to divine his whereabouts!