528 Grazing (1/2)

It was early in the morning, and the sky had just brightened up slightly. Most of the alleys were dark and quiet.

With the aid of Danitz's cloak, Klein blended into the shadows and quickly moved about. He felt as if his surroundings were grayish-black and transparent, with reality being blurred. All sounds seemed to come from the depths of the starry sky, empty and distant.

After staying as far away from Amyris Avenue as possible, he acquired his bearings and ”grew” out from the shadows. He appeared in an empty alley filled with broken stones.

Klein's hands shook, throwing Steel Maveti's peacock-blue Flying Carpet out in front of him. He wanted to finish the Grazing before Maveti's Spirit Body began dissipating.

Throwing away the Flying Carpet, he took a step forward, stretched out his left hand, and extended his five fingers, aiming from above at the corpse that was still warm.

Creeping Hunger revealed its original appearance——a thin material that looked like it was made up of human skin.

Two eyes had split open in the middle of its palm. Its pupils were bright red, as though they were dyed in blood.

Whoosh!

A bone-chilling breeze suddenly blew through the alley. It swirled around Steel Maveti's corpse, twisting into an almost transparent human figure. One could vaguely see thick lips and curled hair that resembled steel beads.

Maveti's Spirit Body wore an abnormally pained expression as he tried his best to resist the suction of the Creeping Hunger. As for the grayish-white and blackish-green dots of light, they were like a surging galaxy, quickly flying out from his body and merging into the transparent figure.

No!

Maveti let out a soundless scream, already being too late to beg for mercy. All he could do was desperately slip into the human-skinned glove, becoming attached to an empty finger, and revealing his Beyonder characteristic that connected with the environment to a certain extent.

This connection determined what powers would be usable when Grazing Steel Maveti's soul. Perhaps it would be one, two, but no more than three powers. Klein had no choice over the number and details before they became fixed, as it was purely random.

Creeping Hunger quickly blanketed its paleness and finally returned to its former disguised state: a plain black glove.

Klein closed his eyes and sensed the changes for a few seconds before letting out a profound sigh.

This time, his luck wasn't bad, but it wasn't too good either.

He had succeeded in acquiring three Beyonder powers belonging to Steel Maveti, but he didn't receive the body as hard as steel; the tenacious vitality of being impervious to gunfire, flames, or a certain degree of explosives.

The first is the power of a Zombie, which allows me to unleash a critical attack, making up for my previous flaws of only having a nimble combat style. The second is mastery over ice. Although it's impossible to condense an ice spear or create a blizzard like that of the Demoness pathway to inflict a direct attack, I can freeze the surrounding ground, lower the temperature of the air, and effectively affect the movement of my enemy. If there's any physical contact, then I can even freeze the enemy's body or stiffen his flesh and blood. It's a perfect match for my combat ability. The third is the manipulation of zombies. Heh heh, I no longer need to be afraid of not being able to have partners for a round of cards... Klein thought for a moment, then he bent down to inspect the items on Steel Maveti's person.

He quickly found 26 pounds, 11 soli, and 8 pence in cash, as well as a collection of strange things that seemed normal, such as candles, clips, a thorny whip, and so on.

Considering the fact that Steel Maveti was a member of the Rose School of Thought and belonged to the type of people who indulged in their desires, Klein vaguely understood what was going on. Spitting on the ground, he only took the cash.

Werewolf has supernatural healing powers. Zombie has a body like steel. There's really no need for him to carry any healing related medicine or items... It's as Danitz concluded, Maveti doesn't have any mystical items... That's right, mystical items are few in number to begin with. Many have clear flaws and negative effects. Not everyone can have one even if they want one. Previously, in the group consisting of a Wraith, Zombie, and Werewolf, there were only two mystical items—Scarlet Lunar Corona and Biological Poison Bottle... Klein nodded and took out a folded piece of paper.

He unfolded the yellowed piece of paper and placed it on the body of Steel Maveti, covering his face.

It was a bounty notice with a portrait of Maveti and the corresponding bounty reward: ”6,000 pounds!”

Klein straightened up, took a step back, stepped on the peacock-blue carpet, and pulled out a paper figurine.

Pa!

With a swing of his arm, his wrist shook, and the paper figurine was thrown out. It burst into flames before scattering into ashes.

Soon after, he phased into a shadow and disappeared into the alley along with the items.

Two or three minutes later, Cordoba Roye rushed over with a portion of the Mandated Punisher team, just in time to see a cool breeze blow up the bounty notice, revealing Steel Maveti's dissolving flesh and blood dissolving, his eyes wide open.

Whoosh. The bounty notice fell to the side and remained facing up.

Having lost track of their target, Cordoba and the others silently brought Steel's corpse back to the area where the battle had taken place.

Glancing at the team members who were inspecting the site, the deacon, Cordoba, restrained his emotions and asked in a deep voice, ”A believer of the Sun?”

This was the most important question for him and his diocese.

The Mandated Punisher team member responsible for finding clues via supernatural means to recreate the truth wasn't a Beyonder of the Storm pathway, but a Sequence 7 Knowledge Keeper corresponding to Reader, also known as Detective. He didn't rush to answer, but instead came over and squatted down to examine Maveti's corpse.

After a while, he looked up and said, ”It's not a believer of the Sun, probably a result of using the powers of a mystical item.” ”Reason?” Cordoba asked with a frown.

The Mandated Punisher said, ”There's an evil feeling within that stems from flesh and blood. One of the corpses was devoured in such a manner, leaving only a body's traits and items. If it's a Sun believer, they wouldn't do something like that even if they relied on items. To them, things in the domain of the True Creator are sacrilegious and require immediate purification or sealing. They likely wouldn't borrow its powers.”

After thinking for a few seconds, Cordoba agreed with this conclusion and asked, ”Someone from the Aurora Order?”