With the blessings of the wind, Qilangos relied on his "flight" ability to shake off his pursuers.
He looked around, intending to pretend that he had sneaked into the Tussock River and fled, before turning to run into the financial center of Backlund, the Hillston Borough.
At that moment, his vision suddenly blurred. He realized that he had stopped and was floating in midair. Beneath his feet was a dark water surface that was constantly rising. Under the water were pale-white palms that were grabbing outwards.
Right on the heels of that, a huge humanoid skeleton suddenly appeared. This Skeleton was four meters tall, and its eye sockets were burning with pitch-black flames. Its bones were illusory and blurry.
When Qilangos saw this, the corners of his mouth curled up into a sneer. Then, the glove on his left palm bloomed with a brilliant light, as if it was made of pure gold.
A streak of pure, blazing brilliance suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping the huge skeleton. The pale-white hands under the dark water evaporated one after another.
This was the Priest of Light's Light of Holiness.
The radiant pillar of light dissipated, and the pitch-black flames in the huge skeleton's eye sockets were extinguished. Then, it turned transparent and dissipated in the air.
But before Qilangos could heave a sigh of relief, similar skeletal monsters appeared around him one after another. One, two, three… There were more than a hundred of them!
More than a hundred pairs of eyes burning with pitch-black flames cast their gaze at him.
Qilangos's expression froze when he saw this.
When everything was over, there was a figure with a unique wide jaw and brown ancient warrior's hair bun.
However, at that moment, the figure's dark green, cold eyes appeared extremely empty… The glove he wore on his left hand had vanished.
…
In a hotel in Backlund's Cherwood Borough.
Azik, with his bronze skin and mole beside his ear, sat under the gas lamp and stared at a glove placed in front of him.
He looked at it for a while before revealing a painful and twisted expression. He muttered to himself,
"I-I think I've cooperated with them before…"
Before he finished his sentence, he suddenly stood up and shouted in a cold tone, "Who is it? Come out!"
As an invisible force descended, a bird holding onto a bottle staggered out of the void. She stared at the pained expression on Mr. Azik's face as a look of concern appeared in her eyes. She then flew in front of him and even threw the beloved bottle aside.
However, when she came close, many questions surfaced in her tiny, round head. She didn't seem to understand why she was so close to the person she had just met.
Mr. Azik seemed to have a similar feeling in his heart as his expression subconsciously eased. Seeing Silika's tiny body pounce over, he hurriedly extended his right hand and allowed it to land on his fingers.
The bird, Silika, didn't recover from her confusion until she stood on Mr. Azik's fingers. She tilted her head and chirped.
Mr. Azik seemed to be able to understand what she was saying. After listening quietly, he smiled and said,
"Is that so? You think I'm very close too? Heh heh, I feel the same way too…"
With that said, he raised his finger and placed it in front of his eyes. He seriously sized up the bird with silver illusory feathers and asked with a gentle smile, "What's your name?"
The silver-feathered bird didn't cry this time. Instead, a line of Loenese words condensed above its head: "Silika."
This line of text had an obvious personal style to it, so much so that even Mr. Azik couldn't help but feel dazed when he saw it.
"This is my handwriting!" Mr. Azik said to himself with great certainty.
The bird, Silika, cocked its head once again and chirped.
"Is that so? This line of text is your only memory after awakening in the Underworld? So you used it as a name?"
Mr. Azik nodded thoughtfully and closed his eyes. He kept muttering the names "Silika," as though he was trying to recall something.
Soon, the image of a black-haired young lady hugging his arm and wheedling appeared in his mind. However, when he tried to recall more, his head began to ache once again…
Seeing the gentleman in front of her, who she felt extremely close to, reveal a pained expression, she couldn't help but fly up and grab the bottle of Amantha extract that had fallen to the ground. She then brought it to the man's nose.
She knew that this medicine not only tasted good, but it could also quickly restore peace and serenity.
A refreshing fragrance entered his nostrils, and Mr. Azik quickly extricated himself from the maze of memories. He looked down at the concerned look on the bird's face, and his eyes softened. He emphasized, "Thank you, Silika."
Seeing that he was fine, Silika stuffed the bottle's lid back into place and carefully protected it under her illusory wings.
This was an apology gift from the bad guy who had bullied the little bird. It was unknown what materials and techniques he used to concoct it, but the taste was much better than what Cullen had concocted.
When Mr. Azik saw her actions, he couldn't help but smile. "When I'm free, I'll make some for you as a gift."
Upon hearing that, Silika nodded happily before flapping her illusory wings and chirping.
"He asked me if I thought of something? Heh heh, I did get something, but I can't be sure…" Mr. Azik chuckled and answered vaguely. Then, he asked Silika, "By the way, how did you find me?"
Silika's eyes darted around as a line of Loenese text appeared above her head again. "I'm helping someone track down the Wind-blessed."
Even though she felt that Mr. Azik was very close to her, she didn't forget the "mission" that was given to her by Ebner. After all, the book and the medicine were too tempting.
"Tracking Vice Admiral Hurricane Qilangos… Is your friend an official Beyonder?" Mr. Azik asked in surprise.
Silika shook her head and used the fog to conjure the name of Ebner.
She wasn't acting on her own accord. Instead, she was acting according to one of the plans that Ebner had previously exhorted her to do.
"Ebner Bryan… Hero Detective?" Mr. Azik pondered for a moment and finally made up his mind. He requested to Silika, "Can you take me to see your friend? You know that I'm searching for my memories. Perhaps he can help me remember something."
Upon hearing that, Silika immediately took off and chirped a few times, signaling the other party to follow.
Mr. Azik didn't expect her to agree so readily. He was stunned for a moment before he shook his head with a chortle. Then, he followed behind Silika and entered the spirit world.
…
In the lounge of Duke Negan's mansion, Audrey was discussing the assassination attempt with her mother, the other noble ladies, and the heroic act of Detective Bryan stepping forward to save the people on the dance floor at the critical moment.
"Speaking of which, I think I saw the Hero Detective leave the duke's mansion? Did he follow Qilangos?" Emma, who was following her mother, asked seemingly unintentionally.
She was actually a little depressed. The assassination of the duke was such a huge event, and yet, as a Cryptologist, she didn't notice it at all… And it was very likely that Ebner had long seen through Qilangos's disguise and warned the duke. That was why the duke had made preparations in advance.
Could a Detective really be that much better at observation than a Cryptologist?
Just as Emma was secretly sighing, a noble lady who didn't like her happened to see her leave the second floor of the ball in a rage. She covered her face with her fan and chuckled.
"It was Miss Macht who was dancing with Detective Bryan at the time of the incident. She seemed to be in shock, and the detective chose to send her home. This was approved by the duke and His Grace, Spellsinger of God."
"What a gentle gentleman."
I envy Miss Macht for personally escorting such a hero… Why wasn't I the one dancing with Detective Bryan?
…
Upon hearing the words of the young ladies, Audrey smiled and thought worriedly,
I heard that the detective has a very close relationship with Miss Xio… But he seems to be a bit of a playboy… Should I persuade Miss Xio to maintain a certain distance when dating him?
Yes, I can directly persuade them that I'm trying to sow discord… The next time I meet Xio and Fors, I can pretend that I accidentally told them the story of the ball…
At this moment, Audrey, who had just made up her mind, suddenly saw her father with his beautiful mustache appear at the door. She found a reason to leave the lounge and went to the balcony of the hall outside.
Then, she learned from her father about Qilangos's death and the person who killed him.
Audrey instantly guessed that it was done by Mr. Fool's Blessed, and she became excited.
When Earl Hall saw his daughter's expression, he couldn't help but give her some serious advice. He also instructed her not to be too curious about secret organizations.
After receiving Audrey's obedient promise, the earl informed his daughter in a good mood. Due to her contribution, she was about to receive a total of 30,000 pounds as well as a vacation manor in Desi Bay that was privately gifted to her by Duke Negan.
Amidst her joy, Audrey suddenly thought that if she were to really take the bounty, she would probably be recognized by the other members of the Tarot Club. Hence, she acted pitifully and begged her father not to divulge any information about her, lest she attracts danger.
Earl Hall felt that what his daughter said made sense. After some thought, he said with a smile,
"I'll inform Duke Negan to hide this matter and get him to get someone else to collect the bounty, and then I'll compensate you in private… As for why the duke noticed it ahead of time… I'll get someone to hint to the reporter to push the hero detective out… What do you think?
"I guess Duke Negan will agree. After all, the detective helped him save many of his guests' lives. It's only right to compensate him for his reputation."