Part 2 The Faceless Men Chapter 262 Lady Despair
Mr. A? Mr. A of the Aurora Society? Crane, who had intended to move slowly along the wall and into the shadows, to the doorway, wordlessly shrank back again.
Ince Zangwill should be cooperating with a certain faction of the royal family ……The power that can excavate and hide such a large underground relic near Beckland must be one of the dominant players in the Kingdom of Ruin ……
The addition of Ince Zangwill and “0-08” can directly rule out the Church of the Goddess as an option, although the Storm Lord’s people are a bit reckless and macho, but it is unlikely that they will cooperate with the Witch Cult, at least so far, there is no suspected “sailor” path of the extraordinary people. At least so far, there is no suspected “sailor” path of the extraordinary …… By the same token, the Church of Steam and Machinery is also not very suspicious ……
The Auroras are involved? What exactly do they want to do?
Klein pressed his back against the corner of the wall and slowed his breathing, thinking and listening to the conversation coming from the center of the hall.
After a short silence, a deep, hoarse voice rang out:
”Okay.”
The reply was succinct to the point that Klein couldn’t hear what they were plotting at all.
The soft, pleasant voice from earlier gave a low chuckle and said:
”You don’t seem to trust us quite yet?”
”Right.” Mr. A responded nonchalantly.
”Oh, then let me frankly describe our purpose and why we seek your cooperation.” The clear and soft female voice said without any annoyance, “We have done something that has left certain traces that must be removed accordingly before they are discovered by Darkness, Storm, the Steam Church, and the military, and that requires your help, er, it seems that you haven’t really understood what I’m talking about, so I’ll give you an example, let’s say, let’s say that, let’s say that I’ve committed a serious crime, such as murder, inside a house. What is the best way to eliminate evidence and clues?”
”It isn’t necessary, and having someone else witness such an act is exactly what is intended.” Mr. A said indifferently.
…… Not bad for the Aurora Society …… It’s all a bunch of crazy people …… Klein was prima facie certain that the male who spoke was Mr. A, the one who killed Ambassador Intis.
”…… Assuming it’s me, not you.” The clear, soft female voice had a not-so-subtle change of breath.
After a second, Mr. A replied:
”Burn down that house and bury all the clues in it.”
The clear, soft female voice took on a smirk:
”That is exactly the idea; I will be responsible for the ‘arson’ and you will use the opportunity to expand the trend and create a passage or vessel for that Lord of yours to descend into the world.
”And the only price you pay is to carry all the infamy and gain the maximum hatred of the military and the three main churches, but I don’t think you should mind.”
”As long as we can welcome the Lord’s return, even if we are hated by all the powers, we won’t have any trepidation.” Mr. A’s tone was no longer so indifferent and detached.
Arson? Aurora will take advantage of the opportunity to complete the ceremony of the coming of the “true Creator”? This is the third time, right …… How was it met by me again …… This is a fucking sinful fate ah …… Klein couldn t help but burst out a foul mouth in Chinese in his heart.
At this moment, he was extremely curious and full of caution about what a certain faction of the royal family was planning in cooperation with the Witch Cult and Ince Zangwill, which was already so terrible that it needed to use the coming of the “real Creator” as a shield!
Perhaps they have left a hidden agenda, and will end up sabotaging the Aurora Society’s ceremony, taking out all the forces except themselves. …… Klein thought tensely and calmly.
”It seems you have no more questions.” The clear and soft female voice laughed lowly, “This place is very secluded and is set up accordingly, so you can safely perform the ceremony without worrying about being disturbed before it succeeds, and we’ve already prepared the outside part of the room, very, very early, just waiting for me to light the first ‘flame’, so if you still have any doubts. You can check again.”
Just as Mr. A opened his mouth, Klein heard a clunk, the movement of the door being opened.
”Who let you in? Didn’t I order no one to come near here?” The clear, soft female voice said with suppressed anger.
”Ms. Despair, there is an emergency! The underground has been infiltrated! I’ve been sent in from above to arrange for a follow-up and close the appropriate passages.” A male voice with a distinctly Becklander accent responded in a very fast voice.
The so-called “Lady Despair” was silent for a few seconds, seemingly communicating with an unknown being to confirm the situation.
Finally, in a voice and tone unchanged, she said:
”Go inside, don’t come out again, and don’t let anyone else out, and wait for a follow-up announcement.”
”Yes, Ms. Despair!” The man stomped off at a run, heading straight for this side of the stone door with a clunk in the background.
From where Klein was hiding, he could see the stone door leading to the back area more clearly, and he waited for seven or eight seconds before a figure of average height, not too fat, not too thin, appeared there.
Huffing …… the man gasped, stretched out his hands, bared his teeth with a grim expression and pushed open the heavy stone door.
In this instant, Klein has completely included his appearance and features into the line of sight, not the slightest omission, which is precisely the “faceless man” affiliated with the extraordinary ability!
The man’s skin was brownish-red, with obvious southern continent ancestry, and his features were so featureless that it was hard to remember.
Because of the grin, his teeth are partially exposed, the upper left third flashes gold, is a false teeth.
This …… Klein, who possessed the spiritual intuition of a diviner, frowned and inexplicably felt familiar.
Soon, he used his skills to recall the source of the familiarity:
The “Hanged Man” had once asked members of the Tarot Club to look for a man with a brownish-red complexion, missing the third tooth on his left side, and with a thick Birkeland accent.
The man’s name was Barron, and he had been implicated in the escape and disappearance of slaves from many of the colonized islands!
At this moment, the man in front of Klein’s eyes is nearly identical to the Barron described by “The Hanged Man”!
”The disappearance of slaves from the colonized islands ……
”Tribes on the southern continent have evaporated into thin air. ……
”Barron appeared here ……
”Karpin, who holds a large share of the underground slave trade, is protected by four extraordinary individuals suspected to be in the path of the ‘Arbiter’, the strongest of whom are Sequence 6 and even Sequence 5 ……
”Karpin insists that the targets of kidnapping are the more innocent and naive girls ……
”The passage of the Grain Bill and the improvement of textile machines caused a great deal of unemployment ……
”A number of female textile workers were offered new jobs and left the East End quietly, leaving no clues ……”
A scattering of dots instantly strung together within Klein’s mind, pointing straight to the depths of the earth!
What were they doing that required such a large population, and so many pristine young girls? A ritual? A ritual so horrible that it had to be done in secret and for a very long time? Klein’s pupils contracted sharply.
Creak …… bang! The stone door closed and Baron disappeared from his sight.
There was silence in the hall for a few seconds before Mr. A’s deep, hoarse voice sounded again:
”I smell an accident, let’s get started, before it arrives.”
Ms. Despair responded low and slow:
”That’s exactly what I was thinking.
”But I need you to get me to the East End.”
The East End? Klein had another bad feeling.
”No problem.” Mr. A replied with a lack of emotional ups and downs.
Wearing a hood, a transparent and fuzzy tome quickly appeared in front of him, accompanied by a long, ethereal chant:
”I come, I see, I record.”
The tome flipped quickly and settled on one of the pages, which then blossomed into a light blue and illusory light.
The light wrapped Lady Despair, who was wearing a pure white robe, making her figure first blurry and then invisible.
Ms. Despair instantly saw uncountable transparent shadows of indescribable forms, and found that at the highest point there was a bright and pure light that contained an endless knowledge-like glow.
Her body was dragged forward by strange forces, weaving quickly, and it didn’t take her long to leave her spot and come to the corner of a secluded, deserted, dirty and disgusting alley.
She pulled down her veil to cover her face and looked up into the mid-air, only to see that the afternoon sun was heavily obscured by clouds and fog, becoming pale and dull.
The yellowish haze wasn’t particularly thick, settling over every part of Berklund with a slightly choking smell, cold and wet.
Unfortunately, there was no waiting for the fog to be at its worst and most still …… The accident on Tris, the sudden and brief loss of control of “0-08”, the appearance of Aztec, the “Black Emperor” The previous destruction had made things bigger and bigger, becoming noticeable, and the operation could only be brought forward to today …… Ms. Despair looked around and stepped out of the alley and into the street.
Her pace was slow, as if she was wandering through a sea of fog.
Where she passed, the fog imperceptibly thickened a bit, tinted with a slight iron black color, and the visible distance quietly became smaller.
After she left the street, a homeless man in a stale jacket with a waxy face suddenly coughed and coughed so violently that he fell to the ground.
The two paupers in close proximity to the tramp backed away in horror and whirled around, covering their throats and making ho-ho-ho-ho noises, as if they had a serious lung disease or bronchitis and were already gasping for air.
An iron-black and yellowish haze descended on the East End, on the docklands, on the smoky factories, and spreading over the whole of Birkeland.
Distant scenes were “drowned”, even the towering clock tower was only a pale shadow, one by one the workers, one by one the poor people had an unbearable feeling, the vagabonds who were struggling against the cold and hardship around the lady’s route, one by one the disease fell, the human life is as fragile as the foam in the laundry.
Ms. Despair’s expression was calm and soft, as if she was completing a work of art.
She walked amongst the passersby without any abnormalities, the corners of her mouth slightly hooked as she laughed in a low voice:
”The history of the Rune Kingdom will remember this day:
”The Great Haze Incident of Beckland.”
……
The dark valley had been completely covered by the dark, illusory water, but the writing of “0-08” did not stop.
It was frantically making up absurd, ridiculous and frightening horror stories wherever it could put pen to paper:
”…… The dropping of his pants did not affect Ince Zangwill’s play, for he wore robes, and perhaps he had anticipated a similar mishap ……
”The ‘Mage of Law’ had shocked Azik Aegis into place, temporarily depriving him of two powerful and extraordinary abilities that were truly good, but the gateway to the overlap between the Spirit World and the Underworld was attracted by Azik’s traits and was knocked by the force of their battle, and underwent an unpredictable change.
”At this time, an unknown being was attracted and passed by, and K used this to extend his hand into the real world, and oops, K grabbed Ince Zangwill!”
In mid-air, two blood-yellow arms covered in writhing, rotten flesh suddenly poked out from behind Ince Zangwill, who wore the black robes of the clergy!
They grabbed Ince Zangwill’s shoulders and dragged him into the void and into the spirit world with one hand.