Part 4 The Undead Chapter 152 The Doomed Encounter
The Rune military demigod with golden eyes nodded approvingly:
”Indeed, much in the style of some of the guys in the Intelligence Agency of Intis.
”However, he took the mass of clay just a few seconds before the Tutansis II mummy disappeared, it should be too late to complete the ritual.”
Ms. Evening Gown looked down at the crown of thorns stuck around her neck and said with a slightly delayed response:
”Perhaps he, or they, had already done the other steps of the ritual, and as soon as they teleported back, they immediately threw the mass of dirt into the altar, completing the final step.
”Of course, it doesn’t have to be a ritual, it could be some sealing object that can achieve some effect with the help of bodily fluids, there are so many possibilities in that regard.”
Although the main effects and negative effects of the sealings would roughly follow the sequence characteristics of the 22 pathways, and the researchers were able to reluctantly make certain guesses, but, just as each person had a different personality, the sealings, depending on the conditions of what they were combined with, the environment at the time of their formation, the aura of the Higher Power that might have existed, or the curse of the original possessor, respectively, had a wide variety of strange and bizarre characteristics, and, without actually testing them. No one could have thought of it ahead of time and listed them one by one.
The golden-eyed demigod pulled out his chair and sat down, saying:
”This aspect is very difficult to investigate, you can not consider it for the time being, however, you have just said that you missed a direction of investigation.
”Do you still remember that ‘tornado’? It rolled up the coffin of Tutansis II’s mummy, causing the leakage of the ritual materials inside, that is, the body fluids, and allowed the mummy to roll out and gain the conditions for vivisection, in short, it laid the foundation for the subsequent development, so it is completely confirmed that this was done by that mysterious person or his helpers.”
The laxity in the evening gown lady’s eyes faded a bit as she slowly removed that crown of thorns and said:
”What you mean is that the Storm Church holds the high sequence formula and most of the extraordinary properties of the ‘Sailor’ pathway, and there can’t be too many extraordinary people or magical items that don’t belong to them but can create ‘Tornadoes’ to follow that line of track it down?”
The golden-eyed demigod nodded:
”And as I recall, not long ago, there was a case in the Eastern District where Mr. X of the Aurora Society was killed outright in a party he had called for himself, and there were ‘lightning storms’ and ‘tornadoes’ used at the scene.
”This has caused the Storm Church to be highly concerned and has been searching for clues.
”Two consecutive ‘tornadoes’ not belonging to an official organization in the same area in a short period of time can’t be a coincidence, I think we can tentatively determine that this is intrinsically related, the one who killed Mr. X and stole the mummy is most likely a group of people, it’s necessary for us to join forces with the Church of the Storm to investigate together. ”
Ms. Evening Gown put down the Crown of Thorns and thought for a moment:
”This is a good direction.
”Also, we can analyze the situation from their purpose and motivation, it is unlikely that someone who simply treats the mummy as a material for living corpses would risk such a high level of risk to try to steal it, and I suspect that for that group, the Tutansis II mummy has an additional important meaning.”
”The key to the ritual?” The golden-eyed demigod said with deliberation, “Judging from the scene, the one holding the special item that attracted the mummy to chase it should be a ‘resentful spirit’ or have a corresponding magical item, and combining the purpose and motive, I have a guess… …”
Ms. Evening Gown’s heart fluttered and she blurted out:
”A renegade Temperance in the Rose School?”
”Right.” The golden-eyed demigod nodded gently, “Although mummification has been influenced by various aspects such as death beliefs and sun worship, the fact that the Rose School did not prohibit this burial practice after they took dominance in places such as the Highlands and River Valleys is enough to show that mummification should serve a purpose for them, perhaps it is required for a certain sequence of rituals. ”
At this he gave a low laugh full of self-deprecation:
”There is another possibility, showing off and performing.
”The group may not have really wanted the mummy, they just did a grand show because they just happened to fulfill the conditions and had the opportunity to steal it, and for certain sequences of certain pathways, it was the key to digesting the magic potion.”
As a demi-god and half-human being, he had seen quite a lot of things commissioned, and naturally thought of more possibilities.
Ms. Evening Gown deliberated for a moment and spoke in a hushed voice:
”I suspect that it is not a single possibility, but a mixture of factors.
”Let’s use that as a base to investigate.”
……
Bakerland, Chorwood District, near the Tassock River.
”The Silent One” McHarms spoke in a low voice as he sat at the square table covered with a dining cloth, looking at one of the golden nails laid out on it:
”Zatwin, who do you think stole that Kardev mummy?”
Not far behind him, on the piano bench, a figure quickly outlined itself.
The figure wore black clergy robes and a black glove on his left palm, his face was thin, with brownish skin, his eyes were sunken as if they were dry, and the roots of his mustache were black with a white outward extension, spreading from both sides of his mouth to the side of his ears, though they were not thick and were rather too short to appear starched.
Zatwin, whose eyes were close to his skin color, of a light brown, and who clearly had the air of a priest, yet gave the impression of being grim and frightening, and seeming to pervert in his silence, said thoughtfully:
”Those who desire the mummy of Kadev and are willing to risk their lives in the battle of the demigods can be counted on one hand, and of these, the only one hidden in Berkland is Sharon.
”She should have had the help of Renette Tynicol, otherwise she couldn’t have succeeded.”
McHumbs picked up a golden nail covered in fine patterns and said after a few seconds of silence:
”Who is that one who specializes in teleportation?
”Doesn’t it look like Germaine Sparrow …… Sharon hired additional help?”
”Maybe.” Zatwin coughed twice, his face white in color, “I think we still need to find a way to make a prayer to the Mother Tree, that should yield some insight.”
McHames nodded softly and stuck the golden spike in his palm to his mouth, running it across his upper and lower lips.
Seeing this, Zatwin covered his mouth and slowly got up, with some difficulty, and descended to the first floor, ready to leave the area and return to his hiding spot.
On the first floor location, he saw the dark environment and flickering candlelight, while the aroma of food wafted over from everywhere, filling the air – the houses in the nearby streets were all townhouses, and the ground floor of the street front belonged to a store, and this contact point of the Rose School was ostensibly a restaurant, focusing on the southern continent’s specialties.
Because he was badly injured during his previous action, Zatwin was less inclined to remain in his Evil Spirit state all the time, which was a larger burden for him at the moment, so he who had changed into his black clergy robes had to take only one step towards the door.
Just then, a customer came in at the front door of the restaurant.
This customer was in black formal attire with black pants and black shoes, had black eyes and a thin face.
He had a wide forehead, wore a monocle and a very high bowler hat, and his eyes landed on Zatwin as he casually scanned the room.
Glancing at the black glove Zatwin wore on his left palm, the customer’s mouth curled up in a very small range, smiled, and shook his head as if a little disappointed.
He then entered the restaurant, brushing past Zatwin, who was returning from a malice-filled stare.
Zatwin didn’t pay much attention, and walked outside to the street.
A cool night breeze blew in the glow of the gas street lamps, and the Rosicrucian demigod suddenly shivered.
Zatwin knew that this was a sign of touched inspiration, his heart tightened, and he was busy looking down at his hands, and was shocked to find that the black glove he was wearing on his left palm was gone!
Gone!
As a half-god, half-human being, Zatwin didn’t even know when the seal he wore on his hand had disappeared!
He turned his body violently and looked inside the restaurant, and the image of the man from just now appeared in his mind in a flash.
Soon, he locked on to his target’s scent and realized that the other party was still inside the restaurant, and even greeted the waiter and asked for a menu.
Zatwin wanted to directly “mirror flash”, possessing the past, but for some reason, his hands involuntarily trembled, vaguely feel that the surrounding area is hiding one after another dangerous and horrible hard to detect the enemy!
Thoughts flashed through, Zatwin subconsciously took a step to the side, toward the end of the street, as if nothing had just happened.
……
Jorwood District, inside a house.
Forsyth was flipping through the latest issue of Ladies’ Aesthetic when he suddenly heard the key twist and the front door open.
”So late today?” She looked up at Hugh in the doorway.
Hugh rubbed his short blonde hair and said:
”Almost back when I saw the MI9 meet sign, it was urgent.”
”What is it this time?” Forsyth put down the magazine in his hands with interest.
”A continuation of the last murder of Mr. X.” Hugh said casually as he bent down to change into his house slippers.
Foerth’s expression stuttered, and his eyes rolled slightly as he said:
”Got a clue?”
”Can’t call it a clue, uh, there was a demigod level ‘tornado’ that appeared at the scene at that time, which is not common outside of the Storm Church, and earlier tonight, a pier in Prize Harbor was also hit by a small-scale ‘tornado’ attack, and a pharaoh’s mummy was stolen in the chaos as a result.” Hugh explained briefly, “MI9 suspects that the same people are responsible for both incidents, so they are urging us informants to work harder to gather intelligence and look for clues.”
…… There’s also a Tornado on my “Lemano Travel Notes” …… Germaine Sparrow Mr. Sparrow? What’s he stealing pharaoh mummies for …… Forsyth forced a laugh:
”Maybe the Church of the Storm did?”
Hugh gave her a blank look and walked quickly into the kitchen, searching for food.
……
160 Birklund Street in the early morning hours.
Crane had just finished washing up, and before he could open the door to let Richardson, his valet, in, inspiration struck and he saw the headless form of Miss Messenger carrying four heads out of the void.
One of them bit into an envelope of considerable thickness, and one opened its mouth and spat out a large pile of gold coins with a crash.
Finally the debt is going to be paid …… Klein glanced at the half neck of Renette Tynecol that was not connected to the body under the four heads and sighed with relief:
”I remember that I’m still short of your 3,413 gold coins, and now you can take this last part of what you owe.”
At the same time, he inexplicably felt that the pile of gold coins looked a bit familiar, but he didn’t pay too much attention to it, as he looked at all of them.