When Klein opened his eyes again, the threats and pleas in his mind had vanished. The light-blue flame before his eyes continued burning on that pitch-black wick.
He seriously inspected the state of his Spirit Body and confirmed that the signs of chaos were gone. His aura’s colors had turned pure and were no longer spotted.
He didn’t immediately return to the real world. He sat quietly above the gray fog as he used the silent palace to calm the remnant negative emotions that his inner heart couldn’t vent.
After this matter, Klein gained a deeper understanding that the path of a Beyonder was a path that constantly fought with madness. All Beyonders would be pushed to the brink of losing control, or they would have psychological problems if they weren’t careful due to internal reasons or external stimuli. And once the symptoms appeared, not resolving them in time might leave them in a situation that would be abnormally difficult to resolve.
Just as he returned to his body, Klein felt his mind and spirit were a lot more relaxed. It felt like a dusty window had been carefully wiped clean, and the additional Faceless potion he had consumed was fully digested.
He could clearly sense that his self-recognition and self-acknowledgment had deepened. The constant sense of disidentification had greatly weakened as a result.
To be frank, just one instance of a split personality was rather dangerous and unresolvable for anyone else. Since he was aware of where to acquire the Mental Terror Candle, the essence of the problem, and his experience in resolving it in the past, he was able to eliminate the latent risks and not allow his split personality to strengthen itself. Otherwise, the best outcome would be the state in which Bishop Utravsky was in, and the worst outcome would be a gradual loss of control until it became an inevitability.
He recalled what he had encountered during the day, and from there, he obtained the points that he needed to take note of in the future.
He was summoning Arrodes.
The full-body mirror in the master bedroom suddenly undulated with invisible waves as silver light appeared, forming Loenese text:
“Exalted Great Master, your loyal and humble servant, Arrodes, is constantly at your service.
“My actions from before had caused a certain damage to your image. I-I’m very appalled and ashamed. Will you accept my apology?”
“Alright!” The full-body mirror presented new words. “How may I be of service?”
“There’s something.” Klein deliberated and said, “The Keepers of the Church of Evernight are contaminated by the core seal’s power behind Chanis Gate. They are in different conditions from the typical Beyonder. Is there any way to perfect a disguise?”
The silver words changed and outlined new text:
“Great Master, there’s only one method—to sacrifice your marionette and allow it to receive the contamination of the core seal. It will gradually change and become identical to the Keepers. Then, you can hold it in your body to fool the core seal.”
Typically speaking, a Wraith marionette might be detected by the seal before being forcefully purified and dispelled just as it approached Chanis Gate, or even just appear in the prayer hall.
The full-body mirror’s waves stirred again as it accentuated a figure.
The figure wore an old-fashioned veiled hat. She was tall with long, chestnut hair. She was none other than Queen Mystic, Bernadette.
“Great Master, you can seek her help,” Arrodes explained with a sentence made from silver words.
“Yes, Exalted Great Master. Your humble servant, Arrodes, awaits your next summoning.” As a silver line of text appeared, Arrodes outlined a palm with a handkerchief in hand as it shook it.
The corners of Klein’s mouth twitched as he looked at it, momentarily unsure how to respond.
…
West Borough, within the Odora family’s villa.
Emlyn White wore a faint smile as he randomly found a single-seater to sit in the activity room.
Diagonally across him, another Sanguine Baron, Rus Báthory, was holding a wine cup filled with blood. He was observing him with narrowed eyes, without concealing his disgust and hatred. Rus Báthory had not only been injured during the hunt for the first Primordial Moon believer, but he also had Emlyn steal away his spoils of war.
Cosmi forced himself to ignore Emlyn’s gaze as he walked to the fireplace and said to all the Sanguine present, “I’m gathering all of you today because the final victor has emerged for the hunting competition.”
Most of their gazes landed on Rus Báthory, with no one believing that it could be Emlyn White. Only Rus Báthory had a hunch as he looked in surprise at the darn fellow.
Cosmi secretly sighed and said, “Emlyn White has already hunted three targets, automatically clinching victory.”
“What?” a young Sanguine blurted out in disbelief.
The Sanguine was a race with fewer members than humans. In Backlund, they were all part of a smaller community; therefore, they weren’t unfamiliar with each other.
Everyone knew what kind of Sanguine Emlyn was!
