Prelude

"Sefirah Castle!"

After saying this word, the black spots on the man's face miraculously peeled off, revealing a handsome face.

After a few seconds, the man's brown eyes became lively and no longer as rigid as before.

Sefirah Castle is indeed the nemesis of my corruption… Just using some of the remnant aura on this pendant to stir the power emitted by Sefirah Castle has allowed me to temporarily regain my lucidity…

The man, who still had some dark spots on his cheeks, muttered to himself before checking his condition. He then said thoughtfully,

That cursed item that possesses me seems to have been corrupted by something of an extremely high level. It actually reached a strange balance with the underground corruption in my body… That's why I have the chance to control my body…

"Aston, my decision back then was correct. After sleeping together in this era, we finally have the possibility of escaping the corruption…"

After ranting for quite a while, the man looked in the direction of Cherwood Borough once again and said with some regret, "Unfortunately, Sefirah Castle disappeared after an instant. We didn't manage to pinpoint its exact location…

But it doesn't matter. The direction is correct…

"Aston, you can't wait to meet me again, right?"

…

Backlund, in a villa at the harbor.

The Machinery Hivemind and MI9's high-ranking members sat on both sides of a long table in the hall, quietly waiting.

And at the seat of honor, there were three chairs, and now two of them were occupied. They were the Church of Steam's archbishop, Horamick Haydn, and a Saint wearing a golden mask from MI9.

A few minutes later, Deacon Ikanser walked in from the outside. He took off his hat, pressed down his fluffy but not soft hair, and sat in the first seat on the left. His hands were already occupied by the members of the Machinery Hivemind.

Opposite him, diagonally across him were MI9 high-ranking officers. They had all been summoned by the Backlund archbishop, Horamick Haydn, and the military saint for a meeting.

The archbishop, who was dressed in a white priest robe, looked like an ordinary old man. He glanced at the empty seat beside him and asked the military saint, "Why hasn't His Excellency Snake arrived yet?"

"The Church of Storms seems to be searching for Vice Admiral Hurricane's whereabouts recently. Perhaps they've been held back by something," the golden-masked military demigod said with a chuckle.

Archbishop Horamick looked at his watch again and nodded. "It's time. Since His Excellency Snake hasn't arrived yet, let's not wait for him. We can report the results to the Mandated Punishers after the meeting."

With that said, he looked around and gently said,

"Let's start with Ikanser. Tell me in sequence about the investigation over the past few days."

Ikanser Bernard pulled at his hair, took out the ancient silver mirror, Arrodes, from a special pocket in his clothes, and placed it in front of him.

Upon seeing this mirror, the members of MI9, who had experienced the previous incident at the dock area's workshops, subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Only Kance Leerhsen, who was seated for the first time by the military saint, sized up the silver mirror in puzzlement. He didn't understand why his colleagues would reveal such serious expressions.

As Ikanser flipped through the thick documents, he succinctly reported,

"Your Grace, Your Excellency, we are in charge of the missing members of the Secret Order and the dock area. After a thorough investigation and with the help of the corresponding Beyonder methods, we have confirmed that 1-025's target is a person named Regence from the Secret Order… To be precise, he bought an antique from Constant City. As for the other members of the Secret Order, they were only implicated.

According to the information provided by the Church of Storms's high-ranking deacon, Mr. Stuart, that antique was even exchanged from the Antigonus family's notebook… Although Regence regretted it greatly afterward and even sent someone to Tingen to retrieve the lost notebook, he didn't succeed.

However, even if it was just a spur of the moment, it also means that the antique isn't simple. Otherwise, how could a high-ranking member of the Secret Order stationed in Loen so easily make such a decision?

At the mention of Stuart, Ikanser suddenly sighed. This gentleman was actually quite a nice person. Back when he was punished by Arrodes's lightning, it was the other party who had treated him… Unfortunately, he hadn't reminded him out of some psychological reason, which completely destroyed his reputation among the two Churches and the military.

Regardless, Mr. Stuart's "sacrifice" pointed us in the direction of our investigation. Otherwise, we wouldn't know what 1-025 really cares about… Ikanser slowly exhaled and continued his report.

"As for the investigation of the dock area and the factory district, the situation isn't ideal. As the personnel flow is too high, we are unable to accurately know who disappeared recently…"

Horamick listened quietly and muttered to himself, "It can't always be like this in the dock area and the factory district. It seems like the necessary reforms are necessary."

"That's something that requires the Cabinet and parliamentary gentlemen to consider." The military saint shrugged. Then, he signaled to Kance with his eyes to report on the progress of his side.

Upon seeing this, Kance stood up and bowed. Then, he solemnly reported,

"We have also obtained preliminary results from our investigations of the identity of the target of 1-025's possession. As 1-025 was lost in Delaire Forest, the target of its possession should be around there. And the black spots on its body, as well as the characteristics of a Gatekeeper, we guess that it's the result of a Beyonder from the Corpse Collector pathway losing control… Therefore, it's very likely that it possesses a demigod corpse of the Corpse Collector pathway in an ancient tomb.

"After further investigation, we narrowed down the target to three.

"First, more than a hundred years ago, a Beyonder named John once lived in the town of Conva. The hotel in the town was built according to his specific style… According to our investigations, although there are no Beyonder traces, this building has an extremely strong ritualistic style.

"As for this man named John, his whereabouts were unknown, and he might've died near the town of Conva.

"Second, it was Baron Conva before and after the Battle of the Violated Oath. This baron's fief was around there, and he died in an extremely bizarre manner. His castle and fief were buried by a landslide… However, this baron only had the strength of a Mid-Sequence Beyonder when he was alive, so it's unlikely that he affected 1-025. Therefore, we don't think it's very likely."

"The third is the captain of Duke West's guard, who was at the same time as Baron Conrad. The records say that the duke's wife went missing, and the duke sent his captain to search for her, but she also disappeared in Delaire Forest."

After hearing him, Archbishop Horamick pondered for a moment, looked around at the members of the gathering, and concluded,

"…From the looks of it, we haven't fully grasped the situation. There are three things that cannot be confirmed. First, 2-111 previously indicated that 1-025 possesses a very high level of intelligence. Therefore, is the one controlling that body 1-025 or the body's consciousness? Second, what is the antique that the Secret Order member bought? What's so special about it? Third, what is its goal! Since it has intelligence, it can't be doing things based on instinct like before."

2-111 referred to the magic mirror, Arrodes.

Everyone fell silent as they considered the archbishop's question.

At this moment, the golden-masked military demigod suddenly said,

"Kance, ask 2-111 who's controlling that body?"

Is it finally my turn to perform? Your Excellency previously asked me if I was willing to sacrifice myself because you need me to use a Sealed Artifact?

So that's how it is. From the looks of it, the negative effects of this Sealed Artifact can be very painful… That's why my colleagues were so afraid just now.

Looking at his superior and then at his colleagues, Kance's blood boiled. He stood up straight and replied,

"Yes, sir."