Lord of the Mysteries

However, when she thought about how she was about to begin hunting the Saint of Secrets, she felt a pang of nervousness. After all, he was a demigod, a saint who had reached Sequence 4 about one or two years ago. It was unknown if he was already at Sequence 3 now.

Although the mastermind behind the operation is Ma’am Hermit, as the bait, I still need to worry about my own safety... Besides, the Aurora Order still has Rose Redemption backing them, as well as angels and a King of Angels... Fors didn’t regret agreeing to Gehrman Sparrow’s request. This was something she had wanted to do in the first place. However, due to the high risk involved, it was inevitable for her to feel flustered and uneasy.

This made her think of another possibility:

If Mr. World could participate in the operation and lead it, I’ll definitely feel less nervous and worried.

It wasn’t that Fors didn’t believe in Ma’am Hermit’s strength and experience, but that the results from The World Gehrman Sparrow were laid bare for all to see. His hunts didn’t include one or two demigods, so having him run the operation would make one feel at ease.

Xio, who was sitting beside the fireplace, glanced at her friend and asked, “Is the hunt about to begin?”

“Yes.” Fors nodded solemnly before saying, “It won’t be too soon. Everyone needs some time to prepare.”

Hunting a demigod wasn’t akin to fox hunting in the suburbs during autumn. Setting off wasn’t as simple as bringing the equipment and gathering friends. This required a precise and meticulous plan. Fors believed that Ma’am Hermit had to come to Backlund personally, or live in another kill box that she had decided on for some time. Only by figuring out the exact situation could she come up with an effective plan.

As for Miss Justice, she was still speeding up the digestion of her Dreamwalker potion. This might take another one to two months or even longer.

For Fors, she could afford to wait. She also wanted to finish digesting her Scribe potion, set up the ritual, and become a Traveler before the actual operation began.

The only thing she wasn’t sure of was whether The World would rush them.

I will try my best to convince him—no, let Miss Justice convince him. That’s what a Spectator is best at... Just as Fors mumbled, she saw Xio turn around and hesitantly say, “The liaison officer from MI9 suggested that I should officially join them today. And they said that, with the new king in place, there are many matters from the past that I don’t need to worry about. People like me and him have the chance to have importance placed on them again.”

Fors listened attentively and said after some deliberation, “That isn’t some sort of investigation that’s targeted at us, right?

“This will likely make them discover that there’s a faction behind you.”

Xio nodded and said, “They believe that I was abandoned after that incident. Also, they suspect that that faction belongs to a Church—the Church of Evernight.”

Xio believed in the Evernight Goddess, so mentioning the Church was undoubtedly referring to the Church of Evernight. However, considering that her good friend was a believer in the God of Steam and Machinery, she made an emphasis to prevent any ambiguity.

“Heh heh, that’s what Mr. World told us to disguise ourselves as,” Fors stroked her hair with a relaxed expression and said with a smile.

She then made herself look serious and mature.

“Xio, this is an opportunity for you. ‘Acting’ as a Judge clearly requires the support of the officials. Your current strength and level aren’t enough to be a Judge in the underground world in Backlund. You also lack sufficient support.

“If you can really enter a court of law, rotate between the different courts, and serve in a criminal court for a few months, your potion should be completely digested. Oh right, I heard that MI9 has a ‘Paranormal Court’ within it, one which specializes in Beyonder cases. If you become a Judge there, you might be able to attempt to be a Disciplinary Paladin by February or March next year.”

Seeing Xio clearly being moved by her speech, Fors hurriedly added, “Once you make enough contributions, you might be able to restore your father’s reputation to a certain extent. Anyway, George III is already dead. As long as it doesn’t affect his reputation, Jevington II might not stop it.”

Jevington was the eldest son of George III. He had worn the crown as Balam’s emperor and was now the new king of Loen.

Xio fell silent for a while before she slowly nodded.

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Yes, after things settle down, you can bring your mother and brother to Backlund. Although the situation is tense now and food prices are rapidly rising, you definitely get food rations from MI9. You can provide for them!” The more Fors spoke, the more she felt that joining MI9 was a good thing.

After persuading Xio, Fors entered her bedroom and prayed to Mr. Fool, asking “Him” to forward her message to Mr. World.

Immediately following that, Fors extracted the important points of her teacher’s reply and described her thoughts, hoping that Gehrman Sparrow could be more patient.

Just as she finished her prayers and was about to leave the room, her vision suddenly blurred. She saw a crimson tide surge out of the void, instantly drowning her.

Fors immediately discovered that she had arrived in the ancient palace and was sitting on her usual high-back chair. However, there was no towering figure that was shrouded in gray fog at the long, bronze table’s seat of honor.

At that moment, there was only her and The World Gehrman Sparrow around the long mottled table.

“...” Fors’s mind suddenly tensed up as her thoughts raced suddenly. “Mr. World, I meant, just now, that it’s best if you have some patience. This will make things simpler. It’s actually fine if you don’t. We will begin hunting as soon as possible.”

Klein let out a soft chuckle.

“Don’t worry, I’m not in a hurry.”

When his ultimate goal had become an angel-level potion formula and Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, he had enough patience regarding this matter.

Phew... Fors secretly heaved a sigh of relief and asked curiously, “Then why did you look for me?”

Klein replied calmly, “Didn’t you wish to digest the Scribe potion as quickly as possible?

“Apart from the customs of different places, I think you still need to record all kinds of Beyonder powers. The higher the corresponding level, the better the digestion’s effect.”

Fors’s eyes lit up when she heard that.

“Yes... Yes!”

After blurting it out, she found her attitude highly questionable. She hurriedly and fearfully added, “Is this the advance payment you mentioned before?”

Klein nodded slightly and said, “Let’s begin. Be prepared. I’ve borrowed a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact from Mr. Fool. It corresponds to the level of a saint.”

To a Sequence 6 Scribe, the chances of successfully recording an angel-level Beyonder power was extremely low—nearly impossible. Therefore, Klein didn’t attempt to summon Miss Messenger and Mr. Azik from the Historical Void to showcase their “skills.”

Fors sat up straight and nodded heavily.

“Yes.”

In the next second, she saw The World Gehrman Sparrow raise a white bone scepter covered in blue gems.

Amidst the bright light, bolts of lightning leaped out of the void and interwove together, forming a forest of lightning that emitted an aura of destruction.

Fors’s eyes turned silvery-white as her body and mind were left in awe.

After the Lightning Storm calmed down, she was stunned for two seconds before timidly saying, “It failed...”

“Again,” Klein calmly replied.

“Lightning Storm” descended again and again in the ancient palace above the gray fog. After an unknown period of time, Fors exhaled and leaned back in her chair. She couldn’t hide her joy as she said, “It’s a success! It’s a success...”

She had finally “Recorded” Lightning Storm once.

It’s finally over... Fors immediately relaxed. Then, she heard The World say without emotion, “Alright, next Beyonder power.”

...Next? Fors saw the crazy adventurer at the bottom of the long, mottled table extend his right hand and grab at the grayish-white fog. Out of nowhere, he took out a long, thorny cross that was covered in bronze.

Record this cross’s ability? Fors tried hard to make her expression appear normal.

After she digested the Scribe potion to a certain extent, the godhood powers that she could “Record” had increased from one to two.

“No.” Klein glanced at Miss Magician and said, “Record my summoning of the Unshadowed Crucifix.”

“...It failed,” Fors said softly.

The reason for her failure this time was that she didn’t have time to “Record” it.

Dispelling the maintenance of Unshadowed Crucifix, Klein once again reached into the fog of history and pulled out an iron-black revolver.

“It didn’t succeed...” Fors replied with a complicated expression.

All she wanted to do now was to return to the real world and digest what she had just received, but the ringing of the bell to mark the end of “class” just didn’t happen.

Nearly thirty times later, when Fors’s head throbbed in pain and her mental strength was beginning to run dry, she finally “Recorded” Historical Void Summoning once.

At that moment, she felt her tears fill her eyes, but she still held back her fatigue and tried her best to show the attitude of a good student.

“This can summon people and objects that one is related to through the Historical Void?

“When the time comes, who should I summon, or what item should I summon?”

Klein looked at Miss Magician and coldly replied, “Me.”

“...” Fors forced a smile and asked, “From which period?”

“The last time we met.” Klein had already thought of an answer.

It was the him who had deliberately sent Miss Magician back from the world of ice and snow to Backlund before he destroyed George III’s ritual. He had already become a Scholar of Yore by then.

Fors nodded solemnly and subconsciously asked, “What if I fail? For me to summon someone who exceeds my own level, the probability of failure should be very high...”

“Come again tomorrow to record this ability. Use Leymano’s Travels,” Klein said calmly.

Will two times be enough to succeed? Fors instinctively had such a question. However, she didn’t dare to speak when she saw how certain The World Gehrman Sparrow was about it.

She raised her hand and gestured.

“Then, can I go back now?”

With a terse answer, he allowed Miss Magician to leave Sefirah Castle with a delighted expression.

...

In a primitive forest on Sonia Island.

Alger Wilson led his subordinates into an elven ruin that was seldom visited.