In the city about two kilometres away from Cologne Cathedral, there was a small alley called Kettengasse, which was usually closed to cars, and was lined with restaurants, small galleries, tattoo parlours, and other small shops, with very little traffic, so the alley was always very quiet.
In the middle of the alley, between the modern style shops, there is an old house that is not in line with the surrounding buildings, which is a typical German traditional house - a half-timbered house. The house is more than three hundred years old, just one look at it can already make the gaze of the gazer travel through three hundred years of history.
The cabin was no longer inhabited and was more often seen as a protected heritage building.
Shaun walked up to the house, it was almost midnight and there were no people around. The inside of the cabin was dark without any light, and the spiked appearance even reminded Shaun of the building in the vision just now.
This was the location of the Spirit Realm Portal in the downtown area of Cologne.
Shaun walked to the door, this building was old and had been preserved in its original form, the door was very short, it was unknown if the height of the Germans three hundred years ago could be deduced from this, or if it meant that Cologne's commerce and trade was booming at that time, so taxes were also collected based on the size of the door like in Amsterdam was unknown.
With the original secret stone in Shaun's duffel bag resonating with some kind of seal on the door, Shaun felt that some invisible shackle on the door was opened.
Shaun reached out and pushed the door, and it opened in response.
It was dark inside the door, but Shaun had some night vision and could see that the furnishings inside the house tried to recreate as much as possible the scenes of the lives of ordinary city dwellers in Germany three hundred years ago.
Shaun turned back and closed the door behind him, then walked towards a small wooden door next to a narrow staircase deep in the room, which was just plugged in with an ancient-looking bolt and was not locked. Pulling the bolt open, inside was a flight of steps leading down to the basement, with a faint shimmering light coming from the end of the steps. "Could there be someone down there sitting next to the portal and guarding it as well?" Shaun muttered darkly and walked up the downward steps. This was the first time he had entered theSpirit Realm through this portal.
This step was not rotating, it led straight to the basement, and in the basement there was indeed a table next to a black door, and there was an old man sitting next to the table with his legs crossed on the table, and a bottle of beer was placed on the table.
Seeing someone coming down, the old man didn't stand up, but just picked up the beer, gestured towards Shaun, and said in Cologne dialect:"Greetings!"
Shaun responded to the old man:"Greetings!"
Approaching the black gate, the portal that had created an association with the original secret stone gradually changed into a state of energy fluctuation.
Shaun lifted his leg and walked into theSpirit Realm, entering the familiar pure white space.
"Agent 22, what is your business entering theSpirit Realm?" The light ball gatekeeper appeared in the air as usual.
"Hello Gatekeeper, 17 has been kidnapped by forces suspected of being agents of demonic spirits, the other party's request is for me to find the short sword unearthed in Cologne that is stained with Attila's blood, 17 and I have tentatively deduced that the other party is going to use this to set up Attila's demonic spirit boundary. The other party has more than one supernatural being. I need help." Shaun reported the situation and expressed the claim as briefly as possible, he guessed that Lola didn't have time to come here to report to theSpirit Realm. That would give Deacon Andre, who was next to Lola, the best suspicion of being a church defector.
The light sphere gatekeeper was silent and seemed to be thinking about the handling options.
"TheSpirit Realm will assign other agents to Cologne as soon as possible, until then if you find the short sword, you can just hand it over to them in exchange for the safety of the 17th. The other agents will handle the latter, and you will continue your peripheral support work." After a few moments of thought, the Light Orb Gatekeeper said.
"Okay." Shaun said.
"Agent 22, do you have anything else?" The Light Orb Gatekeeper asked.
Shaun thought for a moment and said, "Is the spirit of Saint Ursula within the Spirit World, and if so, can I visit her? If not, could I ask her to answer one question:Did she stab Attila with her own short sword of defence before she was killed?"
The keeper of the sphere of light was silent for five minutes before he said, "Saint Ursula does not wish to see anyone; she says that the earthly world is no longer her concern, and that she only wishes to be alone in her own knot of purification. The answer to that question is:yes."
Shaun nodded: "Thank you, Light Orb Gatekeeper."
The gatekeeper replied: "You're welcome be safe."
Shaun walked out of the portal, the old gatekeeper was still crossing his legs and drinking his beer, when he saw Shaun come out he smiled at him and held up his bottle and said, "See you later!"
Shaun returned the goodbye and left the cabin.
Standing on the quiet street, Shaun was tempted to go back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep before he said anything. But then he felt sorry for Lola.
Shaun felt like he had felt the weight of this job more in one day today than he had in the past five years combined.
"No wonder others can find the secret stone, it's all about lives." Shaun muttered in his heart.
After thinking for a while, he took out the phone and dialled Lola's number, and sure enough the other party answered, Shaun said: "I will find the short sword as soon as possible, and then the short sword will be exchanged for someone else, and until then if Lola is harmed in any way, the deal will be cancelled." After saying that Shaun hung up the phone without waiting for the other party to answer.
Then Shaun looked away in the direction of the hotel he was staying in for a moment and gave a sheepish expression before finally shaking his head and walking in the other direction.
In fact, in the first time to hear Hoffman curator said "modern starlight wrapped in the ruins" that sentence, the Cologne museum is very familiar with Shaun's heart the first time to think of a place, at that time, in order to be careful, he did not tell Laura this idea, not because of the lack of trust in Laura, but because of a want to do their own first to confirm, to save the shame of wrong judgement. Confirmation, so as not to lose face if the judgement is wrong. Secondly, Shaun knew that there were all kinds of strange abilities in this strange world, and perhaps his conversation with Lola at that time was being overheard by someone else with some kind of ability.
Shaun turned into Ehren Street from Kettengasse and followed it for about 1.5 kilometres to Shaun's destination.
But there was one more problem that needed to be solved, Shaun dialled Father Schwartz's number as he walked : "Hello Father Schwartz, I'm sorry to bother you this late, there is an emergency and your help is needed. It's very simple, please send a staff member immediately with the keys to the Kolumba Museum and Church to meet me at the entrance to the museum, I need access to the museum and church."
"No problem, I will take the key and go there myself." Father Schwartz said.
Shaun froze slightly and said, "Okay, thanks!"
Ten minutes later, Shaun reached his destination first:Kolumba Museum in Cologne.
For Shaun, the Kolumba Museum was his favourite of the many museums in Cologne, not only because of the museum's rich collection, but also because the museum building itself was an outstanding piece of work and had the handiwork of two masters in one building.
It was because of his love and familiarity with the Kolumba Museum that Shaun was first reminded of it by Father Giovanni's message.
The museum is located on the site of the original church in the St. Kolumba area of Cologne, which was bombed to rubble in World War II, but the statue of the Virgin Mary in the church miraculously remained intact.
After World War II, the German architect Gottfried Böhm built a chapel on the ruins of the church, which he called "Our Lady of the Ruins".
Between 2003 and 2007 another designer, Peter Zumthor, designed the current museum on the basis of the ruins of the church and the new chapel.
Peter Zumthor's design is so ingenious that he wrapped the entire ruins of the church and the new chapel into the museum, making the ruins and chapel part of the museum.
Zumthor wraps the ruins in a modern brick façade with square holes, which allow sunlight to shine through the holes in the brick wall and into the ruins of the museum. As the light changes, these dappled spots of light shine like starlight on the millennia-old ruins.
"Modern day starlight wrapped in ruins. The odds are that this is the place. Guess in his haste Father Giovanni couldn't think of a better location or riddle." Shaun thought.
As Shaun was thinking, Father Schwartz arrived. The Kolumba Museum had been under the trusteeship of the Church since 1989, so the Church had a right to the keys to the museum. After all, the museum held many treasures of the Kolumba diocese.
Shaun looked around, the streets were empty after midnight and Shaun didn't see any spirits.
"It seems that those people from the Magic Spirit Agent are certain that I wouldn't dare to think otherwise. Or, another possibility is ..."
"Father Schwartz, thank you for coming in person at this hour, I understand the pain of having your beauty sleep disturbed. I'm all too eager to get back into bed and get a good night's sleep now." Shaun joked.
"That's okay Mr Shaun, it's safer for me to come by myself, after all it is Ms Lola's safety that is at stake." Father Schwartz unlocked the door to the museum with his key.
Shaun was shocked in his heart, but on the surface he didn't move and asked in an offhand manner, "Why didn't Deacon Andre come over?"
Father Schwartz froze for a moment and responded, "I haven't seen him tonight, maybe he went back to rest, there is no need to call him over."
Shaun suddenly asked, "Then how do you know something happened to Laura?"
Shaun hadn't said anything about Lola's capture on the phone, and if Father Schwartz had said he hadn't seen Deacon Andre, then he knew about Lola ahead of time from another source. And the only person who knew about it at the moment, other than Shaun, was the person who had kidnapped Lola.
Hearing Shaun's question, Father Schwartz, who had just opened the door to enter the museum, stopped and turned towards Shaun and smiled, his smile as warm as ever: "It doesn't matter anymore, does it?"
Shaun nearly punched him in the face and thought to himself:Â "Is this going to be an explicit rip-off?" With his mouth, he asked:Â "You're the betrayer in that church? You are not hiding too deeply."
Father Schwartz didn't mind Shaun's mockery and smiled, "That depends on how one defines betrayal. Mr Shaun, please do your own thing."
Shaun asked Father Schwartz as he walked towards the museum, "Have you been undercover the whole time, or did you go rogue halfway through? Didn't think there was anything wrong with you when I worked with you last year."
Father Schwartz smiled: "I'm not an undercover agent of any kind, and I can't say I've gone rogue. I've served the Lord all my life, been faithful to Him, and everything I've done has been the Lord's will. There have been times when the Church has done things that have departed from the Lord's intention, and I now have the opportunity to put it right. I am doing the right thing."
"Killing Father Giovanni, killing Izzy and the others is also what you call the right thing to do?" Shaun asked rhetorically, while his eyes surveyed the museum.
"Izzy? No, Izzy's death has nothing to do with us." Father Schwartz said.
Shaun froze at that, remembering the results of his earlier analysis with Lola, that it was probably another force that killed Izzy, or at least another assassin that did it. Now hearing Father Schwartz say that, it was like confirming that there was indeed another force present in this matter.
At that moment, a man greeted him. Not the museum's security personnel, Father Schwartz made a gesture towards him, and the man kept a certain distance from them, looking at them with a cold light in his eyes.
"It's not the one who just created the illusion for me, or the scary one Toren said he was. It was to come over and take care of the security guards first and set up an ambush?" Shaun thought, "Looks like they came prepared, no wonder Lola was caught so easily."
Shaun said, "We need to get to the area of the ruins." After saying that, he and Father Schwartz walked ahead, with the later one following. Shaun vaguely sensed that there was still an abnormal flow of breath in the dark corners of the museum where the lights didn't reach.
"Father Schwartz, who do you work for?" Shaun asked as he walked.
"As I said, I am only loyal to the Lord, and if I do something for someone else, it is ultimately for my Lord." Father Schwartz said, "In fact, Father Giovanni was also a devout believer, and even after being tortured like that, he didn't reveal the whereabouts of the short sword. But he was on the wrong side and went down the wrong path with the Church, and I now see the hope of correcting that wrong." Fr Schwartz said.
"The Kolumba Museum is indeed a very good place to hide things, this museum above the ruins." Father Schwartz admired as he walked around.
As they entered the area of the ruins, some of the spotlights inside had been switched on and it was dark outside the walls, so they couldn't see the light of the day shining through the square holes in the ruins.
Shaun walked around the entire ruin, looking at a few places of note, but found nothing.
Shaun thought for a moment and said, "Let's go, check out the chapel."
The chapel was built by architect Gottfried Böhm after the Second World War for the original church statue of the Virgin Mary, which was kept intact during the Second World War, and behind the statue there is an ingenious and beautifully designed window. After the new museum was built, Gottfried Böhm was still unhappy with the design of the museum, which he felt interfered with the light effect of the windows in his chapel. "Our Lady of the Ruins, that's what the modern starlight is wrapped around the ruins for, isn't it?" Shaun looked at the statue of Our Lady in the chapel as he walked towards the shrine and circled around it, and sure enough, he found the short sword wrapped in a piece of flannel behind it.
"Father Giovanni hid it in such a hurry!" Shaun sighed with emotion, picked up the short sword, through the light Shaun took a closer look, only to see that the body of the sword is very intact, there are mottled rust marks on the surface, some parts of the body can also be reflected through the light of the ghostly metal luster, in addition to that, on one side of the short sword, there is a nearly black blood mark on the sharp edge of the blade part: "It's this one, right. Here it is, where is the man?"
Father Schwartz beckoned, a huge figure slowly came out of the darkness, a bald giant man close to two metres tall, different from the fat giant in the previous phantom, the giant man in front of him, although he was wearing a suit, you could also see the lines of muscles graving up underneath the suit, the whole person was like a muscle monster.
The muscular giant man was carrying a person in each hand, looking at the clothes and appearance it was Lola and Andre.
Father Schwartz said, "You called me and I made some arrangements. Please hand over the short sword, Ms Lola and Andre are not our targets, there is no need to hurt them. Just hand over the short sword and you can take them away."
Shaun shrugged his shoulders and said in his mind, "Do I have a choice in the current situation?" Taking the short sword, he walked towards Father Schwartz about to hand it over.
That's when the change suddenly happened.
Suddenly everyone felt a sense of trembling at the same time, a murderous aura that seemed to come from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood filled the entire field, causing everyone's body to stiffen for two seconds.
During these two seconds, a dull light flashed in Andre's hand, which was originally held in the giant man's hand, and one of the giant man's legs was broken at the knee.
Blood flashed, and as the giant man roared violently, Andre landed on the ground, braced himself with both hands, and flipped over to Shaun in a cartwheel.
Shaun was still in the midst of an intense two-second wariness feeling, but he knew instantly that Andre at this moment was the dreaded man Toren had spoken of. No wonder there had been no word on the whereabouts of this man, as he usually had the identity of Deacon Andre.
Shaun's spirit was in great fear, but his mind was still spinning: "Too powerful! Not an opponent! Will die!" Seeing Andre lunging over, knowing that if he got close to him, he would immediately be torn apart, so Shaun immediately threw his short sword to Andre.
Andre's body grabbed the short sword in the air and suddenly froze when he landed on the ground, and another person appeared in another dark corner, his eyes staring at Andre with death.
This person was none other than the one who had created an illusion of Shaun at the Cologne City History Museum.
Seeing this person appear from the corner, Shaun knew that Andre was frozen still because of the illusion in front of him.
At the same time the suit on that giant man who had half of his leg cut off disintegrated and the surface of the exposed skin was surprisingly covered with a layer of black scale armour, and the giant man's head had been deformed, taking on the characteristics of an amphibious reptile.
The mutated giant man leapt on one leg, still very agile, and pounced on Andre.
The first person who appeared in the museum, on the other hand, had his hands hanging down to the ground, stretching out like tentacles, the surface of the tentacles were not suction cups but dense hooks and thorns, and they wrapped themselves around Andre's legs like a python, with extremely fast speeds.
The three attacks happened in almost indistinguishable time. And Andre was still in a state of rigidity caused by the phantom.
"Two long range attacks and one melee attack, a good match!" Shaun watched this from the side, but did not stop thinking in his head.
Suddenly a clump of black fire rose around Andre, raising his steps to meet those tentacles, just in time to avoid the one-legged giant's lunge behind him.
The phantom attacker screamed miserably and covered his eyes with both hands screaming, "My phantom pupils!"
The tentacles that were wrapped around Andre's legs broke off after two flashes of dark light in Andre's hands, splitting into segments that tumbled and telescoped on the ground.
Shaun quietly moved towards Lola on the ground while thinking, "This ability is called the Pupil of Illusion, it seems to create illusions through the eyes. Earlier in front of the city museum I did have eye contact with him first before the illusion appeared. Just now I guess the eyes met because he caught Andre's attention when he came out from the corner."
At this time, the change started again, the one-legged giant man had changed into a huge lizard with shredded clothes and scales covering his entire body, and after the first pounce fell short, he opened his huge mouth and a thick tongue with fishy slime rolled towards Andre.
And several sections of the ground was Andre cut down tentacles originally in the ground rolled curled, one section suddenly popped up, rolled in Andre's hand short sword, opposite the tentacle man's broken arm a pull, the broken arm and tentacle between as if there is a silk thread connected, tentacles instantly rolled short sword back to the tentacle man's broken arm.
At the same time, the lizard giant's tongue also hit Andre, generating a huge tensile force, temporarily stopping Andre from walking towards the tentacle man.
Another tentacle grows from the tentacle man's broken arm and takes hold of the short sword. Next to him Father Schwartz made a quick gesture towards him. The tentacled man turned and ran, holding the short sword.
Andre's body black flame flourished, the lizard giant man screamed in pain, but his tongue was still stuck to Andre's body, and amidst the black flame, the tongue rotted at a speed visible to the naked eye. The lizard giant man approached Andre with quick steps, waving his huge claws with long nails as sharp as knives, grabbing Andre's back.
"Do not, blaspheme, Lord Attila!" A dark aura flashed in Andre's hand, and a dark, mute light flew out as the tentacled man was penetrated by the light and fell to the ground. Andrei almost transformed into a black flame and turned to face the lizard giant man, both of his hands stretched out and grabbed the huge claw that was grabbing at him at high speed, and with a bared sound, the lizard giant man's entire one arm was torn off, and dark red blood splattered everywhere.
The lizard giant man as if he did not know the pain, swung up his other claw to grab at Andre, a flash of black flame in front of his eyes, but lost Andre's trail, could not help but look up.
Only to see Andre had instantly leapt into the air, when the lizard giant man tilted his head to look at him, he picked up the broken arm of the giant man that he had just torn off, and instantly plunged it into the lizard giant man's shocked and open mouth.
The huge body of the giant man collapsed with a loud bang.
Andre was covered in black flames as he walked towards the tentacled man's corpse.
Suddenly Andre's footsteps stalled, not voluntarily stopping, but as if his advance had been terminated by some force.
Shaun by now had nearly moved to Lola's side, felt Lola's pulse, it was still beating strongly, it seemed that it had not suffered any injuries, it was only unconscious.
Shaun breathed a sigh of relief and looked towards the battlefield. He saw Father Schwartz mouthing words, one hand resting two fingers against his forehead.
On the opposite side, Andrei looked like he wanted to move forward but couldn't, black blood oozing from all five features of his face.
Shaun's mind turned sharply, ran towards the body of the tentacled man, leaned down and picked up the short sword from the side of the body, and rushed towards Andrei with both hands holding the sword as fast as he could.
With a soft sound, the short sword pierced into Andre's body.