Whoosh!
The stone slab was pushed open, and the coffin lid was pushed open. Klein sat up and looked around blankly.
His memory was still fixated on the pair of hands that held Saint Selena's urn and the Fallen Morning Star. It was as if he had fallen asleep without a dream.
Instinctively, he lowered his head, unbuttoned his clothes, and looked at his left chest. He saw that the hideous wound and the missing heart were squirming as they healed. It was just like how he had seen the bullet hole in his temple rapidly heal back then. The only difference was that it was even slower and more difficult this time.
After nearly a minute, Klein buttoned his suit, pushed himself up, and stood up. He discovered that his Clown powers had yet to disappear.
The best elder brother… The best younger brother… The best colleague… Klein looked at the tombstone and read the inscription silently. His heart winced as he seemed to experience the despondent feelings Melissa and Benson had.
This might be worse than me witnessing Captain's impending death without being able to save him… He sighed and retracted his gaze. He squatted down and closed the coffin lid.
Although his thoughts were still a little scattered, Klein knew that he had to quickly deal with the scene and not be discovered by anyone.
Resurrection wasn't something ordinary people could play with!
…
At the same time, in a hotel in Tingen City's Iron Cross Street, in an attempt to simulate the powers of a Faceless, Ebner, who had changed his face, looked at the crimson light outside the window and muttered to himself, "At this time, Klein should've been resurrected, right?"
He had actually arrived in Tingen on Friday afternoon. He had even observed Klein's and Dunn's burials from a distance, but he had no intention of watching Mr. Fool lift his coffin.
Once I meet Klein, with his high spiritual perception and my connection with Sefirah Castle, it will definitely give him a sense of familiarity and even vigilance. When that happens, I'll be exposed if he casually divines it… That wouldn't be beneficial for me to dig up Dunn's corpse. It might even cause a misunderstanding.
Of course, this was also because the powers of a Faceless were learned from the Clown Mask. It was considered a low-quality combination. It could only change facial features and adjust the face shape to a certain extent. Even the hair couldn't be changed, let alone the height and aura of one's body.
How could such a disguise fool the spiritual perception of a Seer augmented by Sefirah Castle?
Retracting his gaze from the night sky, Ebner used the light from the gas lamp to read the information Bishop Utravsky had gathered for him about Tingen's Beyonder events from the past two months.
As he read the information, he recalled the original story, hoping to confirm if there had been any major changes to the "plot."
Trissy's crimes were discovered ahead of time, and she even instigated Joyce to attack his fiancée? This… This is probably the fault of Xio and me, right? Did our actions in the Dream maze tower affect the surviving members of the sea in the real world? Yes, Madam Daly's new assistant, Miss Chely, who was rescued by Xio in the dream, seems to have a baffling sense of familiarity towards Xio and me.
Ebner nodded thoughtfully and picked up the next set of documents.
Eh? Leena actually came to Tingen? She even helped Klein kill Madam Sharon… This is for the Beyonder characteristic… Could it be that this change was caused by me as well? Or could it be that someone is behind all of this… Hmm, I'll ask Shoko after I return. Perhaps he will know something.
…
In a corner of the Raphael Cemetery, Klein filled his grave with soil and covered it with a stone slab. Only then did he clap his hands and stand up again.
During the process, his spiritual perception had sensed the existence of Azik's copper whistle, so he dug it out and wiped it clean.
However, Klein didn't intend to summon the messenger immediately. He decided to first pay his respects to the Captain.
He removed the topaz pendant that was still wrapped around his wrist and did a few simple divinations before finding Dunn's grave.
Klein looked at the black-and-white photograph of the Captain. He had a gentle expression, a high hairline, and the grayness of his eyes were faintly discernible. He looked no different from his usual self.
Under the photo was Dunn's name, date of birth, date of death, and epitaph.
"A true guardian;
"The most trusted partner;
"The Captain forever."
Klein watched in a daze as his vision blurred for some reason. Tears streamed down his face as he finally shouted with a choking voice,
"Captain… I miss you too!"
After a while, Klein felt a cold wind blow past him. He wiped his eyes and sniffed.
Recovering his silence, he found a secluded spot and prepared to board the gray fog. He wanted to use divination to figure out the person who killed him that day, to figure out the true murderer behind all of this!
But at that moment, he suddenly heard a series of chaotic footsteps and a few words floating in the wind.
"Ms. Kapusky…"
"…Are we really digging…"
"…The resurrection of the dead?"
Klein immediately stopped in his tracks. Using his agility as a Clown, he quickly climbed up a nearby tree and stood in the treetop, looking at the open and flat area not far away… The voice came from there.
Kapusky… That name sounds familiar… Ah, I remember. Melissa had once mentioned that a new teacher came to her school. That's the name…
When he thought of Melissa, Klein's expression immediately softened. He recalled that night. Melissa and her friend had apparently had their differences because of this teacher, so they were very unhappy. Benson and himself had even tried to help her vent her anger…
Right, back then, Melissa said that she didn't agree with some of the teachings… I didn't ask what they were either… And he brought so many people to the cemetery in the middle of the night… Could he be a cult member?
At this thought, Klein's heart tightened. He decided to observe. If there really was something wrong with this teacher, then he had to get rid of him no matter what to get rid of this latent problem for Melissa.
At this moment, a few young boys and girls had already dug out a corpse under the command of a black-robed man and had circled around it.
Following that, the black-robed youths began to dance around the corpse, twitching slightly as they danced a strange, slightly crazy dance.
As far as Klein could see, the girl was tossing her long hair, and the boy was kneeling on the ground, reaching out his hand. These scenes had a subtle connection with the surroundings, as though they had a sense of mystery or a natural rhythm.
It really is a Spirit Dance… Ritualistic magic that even ordinary people can participate in… Klein shifted his gaze away and looked at the black-robed man who was chanting an incantation beside the corpse. It was very likely that he was Melissa's teacher.
The Spirit Dance that the young boys and girls were dancing was clearly guided by him!
He should be a member of the Numinous Episcopate, and there's a high chance that he's a Beyonder… Klein nodded indiscernibly. He planned on watching how the other party held the resurrection ritual to determine his level.
If he's only a Low-Sequence Beyonder, I'll finish him off… If I can't deal with him myself, I'll think of a way to report it to the Church… Hmm, I'll send Miss Judgment a mission when the time comes. The reward can be exchanged for the diary that Mr. Tower owes me. I believe Miss Judgment will be very willing to do so…
Wait… Mr. Tower… Fallen Morning Star! Mr. Tower's Fallen Morning Star seems to have been taken away by the mastermind! This… How should I explain this to Mr. Tower…
Just as Klein finally realized the problem he had neglected since his resurrection, the dance on the other side reached its climax. The adult black-robed man suspected to be Kapusky raised his head and took off his wig, revealing a few strange tattoos engraved on his bald head.
He raised his hands and shouted,
"Death!
"Honorable Death!
"About to return!"
After the shouting, the dance stopped. The seven or eight youths stood on either side, looking lost and expectant, excited, and fearful.
Then, the black-robed man bent down and opened the iron cage by his feet, taking out a black object.
Klein snapped back to his senses and suppressed his slightly flustered emotions. He focused his gaze and discovered that it was a green-eyed black cat.
Th-that works? He was clearly taken aback as he suddenly recalled the various folklore regarding the black cat. For example, if the black cat, which symbolized the evil emissary of hell, jumped over a corpse, the corpse would be awakened.
This was the first time Klein was seeing someone use such a method in a ritual.
The black-robed man took a step forward and stopped the black cat from struggling before tossing it towards the corpse.
Meow!
The black cat's fur stood on end as it roared and leaped over the corpse.
At that moment, Klein felt that he understood cat language. He believed that it was definitely saying one word:
"Fuck!"
As the black cat fled, the corpse actually sat up!
But before the group of youths could rejoice, it opened its mouth, as if it was going to pounce on the girl closest to it and bite her.
Thankfully, the girl's reaction was very fast and she was very agile. She dodged the attack by a hair's breadth.
As for the black-robed adult man, he seemed to be stunned by the scene before him. He tried his best to use Hermes to give some instructions, but it was to no avail.
Klein, who was watching this scene from afar, was similarly dumbfounded. He thought, Is that it? Is this Teacher Kapusky a real rookie?!
However, seeing that the corpse was about to pounce on the young boys and girls who were killed, Klein naturally couldn't sit back and do nothing. He calmly removed the spirituality seal on Azik's copper whistle and threw it far away.
The corpse immediately stopped lunging forward. Then, it shrugged its shoulders and ran in the direction of the copper whistle.
Klein took this opportunity to return to the ground, took four steps counterclockwise, and stepped into the gray fog.
He quickly took out a hooded robe from the junk pile and draped it over his body. Then, he grabbed a Slumber Charm and returned to reality.
It was a charm he had previously made and had left unused above the gray fog.
Using his agility as a Clown, he quickly caught up to the corpse. Without any hesitation, he raised the silver charm and shouted a word in ancient Hermes,
"Crimson!"
Feeling the silver sheet in his palm turn cold, Klein injected his spirituality into it and threw it out.
A dark red flame lit up his eyes as a light explosion reverberated through the forest.
A gentle power emanated out, bringing with it an irresistible fatigue. The running corpse immediately swayed a few times, closed its empty eyes, and plopped to the ground.
Klein quickly picked up Azik's copper whistle, took four steps counterclockwise, and brought it along with the gray fog.
Without Holy Night Powder by his side, he was temporarily unable to create a wall of spirituality. He could only send it to the gray fog to prevent the corpse from suffering further stimulation.
After leaving the world above the gray fog and carrying the corpse back to its original position, Klein discovered that only a few young boys and girls remained in their spots in shock. As for the black-robed adult, he had already fled.
However, Klein wasn't worried. He had left too many things here, making it easy to divine his whereabouts.
Looking at the children who were clearly about Melissa's age, Klein, who had his face hidden in his hood, asked them about the black-robed man who had escaped.
"H-he's our language teacher, Kapusky Reid…"
"He claims to have a deep understanding of death and wants to lead us in finding the mysteries of immortality."
The few youths answered in unison.
It really is him… The mystery of immortality? There's no need to pay taxes when bragging… From his performance just now, he's probably not even a Sequence 9… Is he really a member of the Numinous Episcopate? Is that all the Numinous Episcopate does?
Klein decided to confirm it with the teacher again, so he warned the children and told them to tell their parents before leaving the cemetery. Then, through dowsing, he quickly found Kapusky's location.
Eh? He didn't return to his rented apartment but came to a hotel? Iron Cross Street… It's so close to Daffodil Street…
…
Ebner, who was reading the documents in front of his desk, suddenly felt his spiritual perception trigger. He acutely noticed that the room next door seemed to be sealed by spirituality.