932 Thin-Skinned (1/2)
…The Goddess really replied… Upon seeing the words formed by the powder, Klein's first reaction had nothing to do with the content. Instead, he was shocked that this seemingly ridiculous thing had happened.
Although he was already mentally prepared and had believed that the chance of success was rather high, he still felt conflicting emotions. It took him almost a minute to accept it.
After a while, Klein exhaled slowly, raised his right hand, and tapped his chest four times in a clockwise manner.
”Praise the Lady!”
He then ended the ritual, forcing himself to focus his attention on the revelation itself.
Possessed by an evil spirit. Requires exorcism?
Ince Zangwill actually got possessed by an evil spirit? He had gone from Sequence 9 to Sequence 5 of the Death pathway. The godhood he obtained at the critical stage is also Sequence 4 Nightwatcher of the Evernight pathway, one that is good at dealing with Spirit Body-type creatures. Evil spirits and wraiths should be afraid of him, so why would he end up being possessed?
That's unless the evil spirit's level is extremely high or, at its core, is very special.
Unfortunately, I've only met one evil spirit in the truest sense of the word. It's that ancient evil spirit sealed in the underground ruins of Alista Tudor. I know little about such monsters, so it's difficult for me to grasp the details. Hmm, I can write to ask Miss Sharron. I can also get Little Sun to find out more. That Shepherd Elder Lovia had Grazed an evil spirit…
It's no wonder Ince Zangwill is trying to meet a demigod of the Numinous Episcopate. When it comes to exorcising evil spirits, aside from the Church of Evernight and Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the best would probably be the Numinous Episcopate. Uh, there's probably the Church of the God of Combat as well. Neighboring pathways often have similar traits.
There's also one point that can be gleaned from this. Ince Zangwill doesn't wish for his possessed state to be known by the royal family faction and the Demoness Sect who are in cahoots with him. Otherwise, there's no need for him to come all the way to the Southern Continent! The two factions existed before the Fifth Epoch, and they have a long legacy. It's quite unlikely that they don't have a Sealed Artifact that can remove or exorcise evil spirits. Even if they can't find one, getting the Demoness Sect to contact the Numinous Episcopate is definitely safer and more covert than getting Ince Zangwill to make the trip himself…
As his thoughts raced, Klein unfolded a piece of paper and wrote:
”The intel you have provided me made me connect certain clues from what I've previously gathered. And due to a particular great existence's help, this points to a clear conclusion:
”Ince Zangwill is possessed by an evil spirit, and he's seeking the Numinous Episcopate's help.
”Just based on this fact alone, we can make several useful judgments:
”Ince Zangwill will often manifest inconsistency in his words and actions. He will often deviate from his normal path, doing something we feel that is absolutely impossible for him to do, and to make mistakes we find incomprehensible. Before this problem is resolved, he will not stop having contact with the Numinous Episcopate. It might even become more frequent…
”Making investigations based on this might allow us to catch Ince Zangwill by the tail. However, I believe we still wouldn't be able to lock onto him. The creation of coincidences from that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact is insurmountable.”
Upon writing this, Klein couldn't help but recall his direct encounter with Ince Zangwill.
His own investigations didn't directly point to him, but it caused their ploy to nearly fail. Hence, Ince Zangwill personally took action, sending a meteor falling from the sky in an attempt to kill Sherlock Moriarty so as to obliterate any clues. And he ultimately received Mr. Azik's help and escaped the dire situation, forcing Ince Zangwill to step into the limelight and expose himself.
Back then, if Mr. Azik had recovered to his former strength, Ince Zangwill might already be dead… But to replicate such a situation and force him to appear before me is still extremely difficult. After all, back then, not only was there Mr. Azik, a Death Consul, and my use of the gray fog to foil the coincidences, there was also Trissy Cheek and the ring which was suspected to be a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. Without her suddenly escaping, Ince Zangwill wouldn't have been forced to personally take action… Klein deliberated as he wrote:
”If we can figure out the origins and primary goals of the evil spirit, there might be a chance of the situation having a favorable change…”
After writing the matters regarding Ince Zangwill, Klein's heart stirred. Just as he was about to mention something else, he stopped his pen after writing the first few letters. He raised his left hand and pinched his cheeks. He appeared to be in a serious dilemma and seemed a little embarrassed.
After muttering silently a few times, Klein finally smoothly wrote the rest:
”Even without that Grade 0 Sealed Artifact's help, Ince Zangwill is an enemy you and I are unable to face head-on. We need to make plenty of preparations.
”If you can provide me with some Worms of Time, I can use them to create high-level charms that can deal with demigods. It's called a 'Fate Siphon' charm. It can swap the fates of yourself and the target for a short period of time.”
Putting down his fountain pen, Klein didn't take a second look as he quickly folded the letter and seriously sealed it in an envelope.
He then took out the adventurer's harmonica and a gold coin before summoning Miss Messenger. He got her to take away the reply letter to Leonard Mitchell, but this time, it wasn't addressed to 7 Pinster Street. Instead, it was directly sent to Leonard's present address. With Leonard having just written the letter, Klein didn't believe that he had moved out of Reinette Tinekerr's detection range.