For Crestet Cesimir, tonight's experience was nothing short of a rollercoaster.
Whether it was confronting the divinity of the True Creator with a holy artifact or encountering the Angel of Secrets that followed, Crestet Cesimir felt he would never forget this night.
After the Angel of Secrets departed, even though he trusted that the angel wouldn't lie and someone from the Evernight Church had indeed gone to handle the situation, Crestet Cesimir still led the Nighthawks in pursuit of Lanevus as soon as he regained his mobility.
It wasn't long before they found Lanevus's corpse in a section of the sewers.
However, the sight that greeted Crestet Cesimir was beyond anything he had expected. He had imagined that Lanevus might be dealt with swiftly, but he hadn't anticipated witnessing what looked like a ritual scene:
Lanevus's body lay on the ground, decapitated. Two tarot cards, "The Emperor" and "Wheel of Fortune," were stuck into his head.
More tarot cards were scattered over his body, including major arcana and number cards such as "The Chariot" and "The Hermit."
Around the walls and floor, other cards like "The Devil," "The Sun," and "Judgement" were also present, either stabbed or lying around.
Despite the eeriness of this ritualistic scene, it was imbued with a warm and holy force, akin to sunlight. This residual power added a sacred and shocking aura to the scene. Crestet Cesimir silently gasped, thoughts racing through his mind, while most of the Nighthawks behind him were still processing what they were seeing.
What Crestet Cesimir didn't realize was that the reason he witnessed such a mysterious, eerie, holy, and fallen scene was that they had arrived too quickly. Klein hadn't had time to clean up and didn't want to expose the existence of "Creeping Hunger," so he hastily arranged the scene before fleeing.
At the same time, Lynn was contentedly using his camera to capture the scene, planning to turn the photos into paintings later for safekeeping.
These future records could be crucial for helping the Fool regain his humanity!
While Lynn was busy recording the Fool's black history for future critical moments, and the Nighthawks were wrapping up the "Lanevus Divine Descension Vessel Incident," where was the Fool himself, who had just dealt with Lanevus?
Klein was, of course, in a safe house he had prepared in advance in East Borough, gazing at the moon outside while considering which heinous gang member he would select the next day to feed "Creeping Hunger."
Indeed, Klein hadn't fed "Creeping Hunger" immediately after using it again—he hadn't done so since his battle with Rosago. At that time, due to having to explain things to the Church and with Leonard around, Klein had chosen to suppress it with the gray fog.
This time, Klein had intended to use Lanevus as food for "Creeping Hunger," but Crestet Cesimir and the others arrived too quickly. So, Klein didn't have time to feed it and chose to offer "Creeping Hunger" to the gray fog for suppression instead.
"Creeping Hunger": ...
Not hungry, not hungry anymore, never dare to be hungry again.
"Phew, I guess I've avenged Megose and the near-total annihilation incident. My mind feels much clearer." Having settled the feeding issue, Klein sighed and felt a bit more relaxed.
Although he wasn't living as oppressively as in the original novel after almost being wiped out, Klein still cared deeply about the Tingen incident.
It's like narrowly escaping death due to someone's evil actions; even if you survive, you're likely to remember the close call for a long time.
So, after personally killing Lanevus, the second biggest culprit of the Tingen incident, Klein felt a sense of clarity.
"I've also digested part of the Clown potion. Is it because I subconsciously acted like a clown when killing Lanevus? Or because I faced the True Creator's divinity with fear and helplessness but chose to smile?"
Klein pondered, even though he hadn't fully digested the Clown potion yet. Given the current progress, he might fully digest it within a month and attempt to advance to Sequence 7.
"In any case, it's a good thing." Klein smiled, then frowned slightly, "But what is the fellow Transmigrator planning? Does he have a grudge against the True Creator?"
Klein certainly noticed Lynn, disguised by an illusion, entering the dockworkers' dormitory. Although he didn't know what happened afterward, the fellow Transmigrator clearly hadn't helped the True Creator; otherwise, Crestet Cesimir and the Nighthawks wouldn't have pursued Lanevus so quickly.
Klein didn't quite understand why the fellow Transmigrator let Lanevus go on purpose.
Could it be left for him to deal with? Haha... Uh, could it really be that?
Klein suddenly felt uncertain. He remembered the fellow Transmigrator greeting him as he entered the dockworkers' dormitory, and his expression became complex.
"If Lanevus was indeed left for me to deal with, then this really resembles a drama, where I'm the protagonist, guided by others to kill the enemy..."
Klein considered this, trying to put himself in the fellow Transmigrator's shoes, analyzing everything.
Despite their few meetings, and gleaning some information indirectly, Klein had a hunch—his fellow Transmigrator might really enjoy drama or writing scripts.
Both Ince Zangwill and Lanevus's deaths had a theatrical element—Tingen as the stage, Ince writing the script, unknowingly observed by the fellow Transmigrator, who ended it all abruptly at the climax.
Lanevus, too, initially escaped Ince's script, became a vessel for the True Creator, and was ultimately killed by Klein in revenge.
And all this was due to the fellow Transmigrator's influence and direct intervention.
(End of chapter)