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  Chapter 606 Interrogation and Herding

  Bang -

  To Angel's surprise, Triss actually resisted using a substitute and took William's punch with her body. She slammed heavily against the wall, knocking the decorative paintings off the nails. Her beautiful face was twisted in pain, but her eyes were still firm. The

  invisible thread that William tore off instantly changed its position, ejecting her like a slingshot, and she moved around in the small bedroom. The position she left was covered by the newly generated golden flames in the next second, and the sacred breath suppressed the haze of the "witch".

  Angel hiding in the mirror world has seen William's potion sequence. His ability to turn Triss's escape behavior into approaching obviously belongs to the "lawyer" or "black emperor" path, and based on his ability to easily reverse the behavior of the "pain" witch, it is very likely that he is sequence 5.

  I wonder if he has any special features besides the abilities of the "corrupted baron", the kind of majesty that makes people want to surrender?

  The golden flames were obviously the light fire of the "Sun Priest", similar to the ability of Klein's "Sun Brooch", perhaps the effect of William's pocket watch.

  While she was watching the fire from the other side, Triss had returned to the bedroom door while constantly changing her position. The invisible silk thread was like her other hand, instantly opening the door, and she was about to get out of the room and retreat to the wider living room.

  But with a "click", her idea of ​​opening the door was tampered with to "lock the door tightly and seal this place". Not to mention the door, even the window on the other side was closed, and the whole room became a closed whole.

  Another golden flame followed, and this time Triss had no time to dodge, and her figure was quickly surrounded by the "light fire", burning like a torch more than one meter high.

  Boom -

  the flames suddenly exploded, mixed with the black curse flames, and the delicate body was ignited by the two flames, and the next second it became a short stick covered with flames.

  Wand substitute!

  Triss appeared at the other end of the bedroom, unscathed. Black flames flew out from under her skirt, drew elegant arcs, and surged towards William. However, under the influence of his "distortion" ability, they moved irregularly like headless flies, either flying to the ceiling or hitting the bed, unable to hit directly.

  The bedroom seemed to be crumbling under the bombardment of black flames, but it maintained the last bit of "closedness" and did not transmit any sound or movement.

  Seeing that the long-range attack did not work, Triss's face sank, and in a blue light, a hard ice spike condensed in her hand, like a dagger, and quickly stabbed towards William under the pull of the silk thread.

  The latter was not in a hurry, raised one hand, and easily blocked the "pain" witch's charged attack, and clenched the other hand into a fist, and hit Triss's shoulder with an ordinary blow.

  This seemingly simple punch knocked the opponent away and fell directly on the door. If it were not for the concept of "blockade" that was confused by him, it would probably have been broken by now.

  No, even if you are a Sequence 5 "Lawyer", you can't have such power to block the full force attack of a witch of the same sequence with your bare hands... Angel and Klein, who had fought against the "Corrupted Baron", had shared combat experience and knew that this path was not conducive to close combat.

  Unless... She immediately thought of the coat that Triss handed over to William when they first entered the bedroom, and thought of another rather shameless ability of the "Lawyer" path: bribery.

  This ability can be obtained from Sequence 7, and will continue to strengthen with promotion. As long as you give the target certain things, it can be money, treasures, or wine glasses, coats, and then you can weaken and confuse the target.

  Obviously, when William entered the bedroom, he had already judged that the woman who deliberately approached him was an enemy, and took the opportunity to hand over the coat to "bribe" Triss, weakening her attack and defense!

  No wonder, the battle had already started for so long, and the "disease" that Triss must have released did not even make him feel uncomfortable. This might also be related to "weakening"...

  Angel frowned in the mirror and began to consider whether to join the battle and help Triss who was at a disadvantage.

  There were good reasons to help: to quickly resolve the battle so as not to be discovered by outsiders; to prevent Triss from losing control due to serious injuries, or even end up like Megose who mutated; even if it was a cooperative identity, more effort would give her a say in the allocation. There was

  only one reason not to help:

  Triss was still full of fighting spirit and had no intention of calling for help.

  The moment she was hit by the door, she adjusted her body posture, her legs touched the door, and turned the impact force into power like a spring, and bounced herself towards William who was standing next to the bed in the middle of the bedroom. She still held the Frost Blade in her hand and launched another "charged attack".

  Even though the "bribery" shortened the close combat ability between the two, William did not dare to take such attacks continuously. He turned sideways to try to avoid the ice spikes, and used "twist" to guide Triss's attack to the other side. Just

  as he was about to dodge, Triss's face, which had been slightly downward and hidden in the shadow of her bangs, suddenly lifted up. The perfect curve outlined by her smooth neck and slightly round chin made William's heart jump and his lower abdomen feel hot. He suddenly remembered another battle with his mistress.

  His thoughts diverged in an instant, and then quickly converged in the spiritual reminder.

  But this moment of hesitation was enough for Triss, whose attack was twisted to the other side, to kick William's knees.

  Bang, he was caught off guard and his knees were swept one after another. He felt a sense of weightlessness and fell to the ground with his head heavy and his feet light.

  Swish, the ice spike in Triss's hand swung out like an arrow. At the same time, William opened his right palm and pointed it at Triss. His figure split, as if a transparent Triss overlapped with him, constantly alternating, as if the two had a strange connection in mysticism.

  Puff, the same two muffled sounds of sharp blades entering the flesh came, and William's left shoulder was nailed directly to the carpet. Strangely, there was not much blood due to the huge wound. Triss, who was

  attacking him, paused, and a huge wound also appeared on her left shoulder. Blood flowed from under the black skirt that exposed half of her shoulder, as if she had been cut by an invisible sharp blade and had a deep scar that could be seen to the bone.

  But except for her face twisted in pain, she did not hesitate at all. Her uninjured hand condensed another ice blade and pounced on William, nailing his other shoulder to the carpet, even if she had to pay the same price for it!

  In just a few seconds, the battle situation in the bedroom was reversed instantly. Triss exchanged injuries for injuries, severely injuring William Sykes, who had no stand ability and was not in outstanding physical condition, and ended the battle.

  Poof, William, whose shoulders could not move and frost spread to his neck, spit out a mouthful of almost black dirty blood, his face was pale and flushed.

  Under the influence of time and injuries, his "disease" finally broke out.

  Seeing that the opponent had lost his fighting power, Triss slowly knelt down beside William. She was weakened in the "bribery" and was connected to the opponent's body. She suffered the same injury and was almost exhausted at this time.

  But the "witch" has the ability to recover from her own injuries. Frost gradually condensed on the wounds on her shoulders, and black flames seemed to be constantly gushing out from inside. Her flesh and blood grew rapidly in this "injury", and the bleeding slowly stopped. Although it was not as fast as "flesh and blood control", this deep bone injury could be healed in a day at most.

  Watching the other party gradually recover his strength, William's face, which was twisted by pain, turned a little paler.

  Of course, the last straw that broke the camel's back was the figure that appeared in the half-length mirror next to him.   

  There was another enemy here all along?

  He completely gave up accumulating strength, waiting for an opportunity to escape, and collapsed with powerlessness.

  Angel came to reality from the "mirror world". Looking at Triss, who was pale due to blood loss but was forcing herself to take out the magic mirror for divination, he whispered:

  "Let me do it."

  This was suspected of "robbing the spoils", but before the action, the two had determined their responsibilities. Angel was only responsible for monitoring whether there were other people to help, and William should have been dealt with by Triss herself.

  Therefore, the latter hesitated for a moment and nodded, put down her magic mirror, and recovered from her injuries.

  When she came to William, Angel did not take out the magic mirror. She did not intend to use time-consuming and laborious divination, but planned to directly "communicate with the spirit".

  Generally speaking, psychic communication is conducted on the spirit of the dead, but when the spirituality and will of the two are too different, "communicating with the spirit" can also be used directly on the living to inquire.

  Angel has been promoted to Sequence 4, and William, a Sequence 5, is seriously injured and weak-willed, making him a good target for experimenting with psychic communication with living people.

  Angel easily entered a semi-meditative state. In front of Angel, William was lying on the ground. The seriously injured William showed a weak aura, and his etheric body was dim. He was quickly controlled and synchronized by her, and fell into a state of confusion.

  "Who are you?"

  Angel tried to ask a simple question first.

  "William Sykes."

  As if "communicating" with the spirit of the dead, William's face was wooden and he answered honestly.

  After asking a few more simple questions and confirming that William had no ability to resist, Angel quickly got to the point:

  "Do you know how your last employer, Count Rustin, Edessac Augustus, died?"

  "Yes," William's answer was so straightforward that it surprised the two. "On the surface, he committed suicide because he colluded with the cult and raised witches, but in fact, someone needed to make him completely "shut up", so he gave me a few bullets that could annihilate spirituality and asked me to kill him."

  "Did you do it?"

  Triss on the side asked immediately without caring about her injuries.

  Fortunately, William had entered the state of being "spiritual". He turned his head to look at Triss, shook his head and said:

  "It's not me. It's difficult for me to approach His Royal Highness alone, so I handed the bullet to his chief butler Finkel, who will supervise the process of 'suicide'."

  Hearing "suicide", Triss's beautiful face twisted instantly, and then returned to normal, but her tense shoulders showed that her heart was not yet calm.

  Glancing at her, Angel continued to ask:

  "What happened after that? All the people who knew about it seemed to have died in the fire. Why did you survive?"

  "Everyone who was not at the scene survived. Most of them were sent away to other places. I found another job, which is now the butler of the manor... But it seems that someone is following and monitoring me."

  Sure enough, the forces behind him would not let him go easily, but why didn't they kill him? Could it be, as a bait?

  Thinking of this, Angel immediately asked:

  "Who ordered you and Finkel to kill Edsak?"

  This question seemed to touch the secret in William's heart, causing some pain on his originally wooden face. Fortunately, he was seriously injured and unable to resist. Soon his expression became calm and he answered:

  "Viscount Stratford, the chief of the royal palace guards, my current employer."

  Sure enough, the royal family was directly involved in the conspiracy of the "Great Smog", and in order to silence him, they actually killed a prince... Angel felt that this answer was expected, but he was a little alert. The

  royal family did not kill William to silence him after the incident, but arranged him to work under the chief of the palace guards. The main purpose must be surveillance, but it is also likely to use him as bait to attract the attention of some people who want to investigate in depth.

  Then, they will wait and see!

  Thinking of this, Angel no longer hesitated. She quickly ended the spiritual communication and looked at Triss on the side. The latter also quickly thought of this and began to summon the black curse flame with gritted teeth, carefully cleaning her own blood on the ground to avoid leaving evidence for people to track.

  But what about William Sykes... Angel looked at William who was gradually regaining consciousness. He knew that he must not be spared today. However, if the royal family conducted spiritual communication afterwards, Triss's identity would be exposed. Although she was disguised, she might also be included in the tracking list, which would inevitably cause trouble.

  Of course, the solution was very simple...

  She chuckled and felt that she had just returned to Backlund for half a month, and seemed to have lost the mentality of traveling on the sea for half a year.

  With spiritual concentration, Angel immediately controlled the gradually worsening disease in William's body, as if an invisible hand grasped his pounding heart, causing his heart to stop in a few seconds. He collapsed with fear and confusion on his face.

  Then, she took off the "Rose Necklace" from her neck and pressed it directly on William's forehead. The spreading spirituality poured into the necklace, and three lights of different colors emerged from it.

  They represent the three souls that have been herded, "Apostle of Desire", "Judge" and "Wind Lover".

  Without much hesitation, Angel chose the soul of the "Judge". A male soul with long cheeks and a painful face roared silently and dissipated. The extraordinary characteristics with bright yellow light quickly condensed next to the necklace. The

  "Judge" characteristics of Heras, who died at the hands of Angel, reappeared in the world.

  At the same time, an invisible cold wind blew beside Angel, Triss and William who died of a heart attack. It pulled William's spirit out of the corpse and sucked him into the bright red gem of the "Rose Necklace" with a desperate howl. An evil and noble black color appeared on the surface of the gem, quickly retreated and disappeared.

  She has successfully herded this "Chaos Mentor".

  (End of this chapter)

  Chapter 607 New Abilities and New Problems

  "Black Emperor" Path Sequence 5, "Chaos Mentor", is undoubtedly very strong in single combat capability. This can be seen from the fact that William can fight back and forth with Triss, the "Original Witch", the vessel of God's descent, who is almost equivalent to the God's Blessed One. If it weren't for the witch's anger for revenge and her willingness to exchange injuries, I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to take him down easily.

  Moreover, when William's shoulders were nailed to the ground, Angel could feel that he still had the strength to fight. He appeared directly to make him give up his last struggle and cooperate with the inquiry in order to survive.

  Of course, now he is lying in the necklace at ease, and there is no need and no opportunity to regret his choice.

  Angel now has no time to check the specific ability of grazing in the "Rose Necklace". Since she finished grazing, she can feel that the magic mirror close to her is gradually emitting an indescribable warning, which seems to be there and not there, but is obviously gradually increasing.

  "It is very likely that other Beyonders are on their way. It seems that William Sykes has indeed been under surveillance. I don't know whether it was death or 'spiritual communication' that triggered this warning. Ha, he probably doesn't even know that he is just a bait."

  She put the necklace back on her neck and reminded Triss softly.

  The wound on the latter's shoulder had not yet healed, and her face looked pale and weak due to the battle and blood loss. She looked around and found that her blood was spilled everywhere, and the traces left by frost and black flames were extremely glaring. She had briefly cleaned it with black flames before, but it was just a drop in the bucket. So she smiled bitterly and said,

  "There is no chance to clean it up. Let's leave quickly. You didn't appear in your true face, so you shouldn't be tracked. As for me..."

  "You leave in stealth first, I'll take care of it, and then leave from the mirror. I'm confident that my anti-divination will make them gain nothing."

  Triss's words were interrupted by Angel. She looked at the latter with curiosity and surprise. After a moment, she pursed her lips and nodded,

  "Okay, I won't go back to my original residence, so as not to be searched... I'll contact you again."

  She pressed her shoulder with one hand and waved the other hand lightly. Her figure quickly faded and disappeared.

  Angel's body was ablaze with majestic black flames, which then spread from her feet, quietly covering the carpet, walls, ceiling, and the double bed in the middle of the bedroom. It burned silently, burning away all traces of the battle, such as the broken wand and the splattered blood, without causing any additional flames.

  After a while, the bedroom was as clean as new except for a few dents on the walls and doors. The ice spikes on the shoulders of William's body on the ground also melted and evaporated, leaving only two holes that slowly ooze blood.

  Angel did not intend to take William's body away, because he could not communicate with spirits without a spirit body. Leaving this body would also give the other party the trouble of destroying the body and making them suspicious. Taking him away would give the other party a chance to track her down.

  She only took the pocket watch in William's pocket that could attract the fire of light and obviously belonged to the "Sun Priest", and then walked to the only half-length mirror in the room, stretched out her hand to spread the spirituality, and directly entered the "mirror world".

  In a space similar to the spirit world, Angel's divination ability has also improved accordingly. The sense of danger that was not obvious before has suddenly become stronger. She can sense a chaotic and evil force approaching quickly not far away. It will take only 20 seconds at most to enter this hotel and come to William's room.

  Unfortunately, I am still a step behind me... She chuckled and left the West District along the spider-web-like passage.

  ————

  Bang——

  The door opened by itself, and a tall man wearing a hooded cloak and a flamboyant golden mask on his face stepped into the bedroom. In front of him, William Sykes' eyes were wide open, his mouth was open, and he lay on his back, no longer breathing.

  The man was not surprised. When the ban on William was triggered, he knew that this person must be hopeless. The only question was, who did it?

  He first came to the body, half squatted down, stretched out his arms that were much longer than ordinary people, and quickly confirmed that William's cause of death was a heart disease caused by a combination of serious illness and blood loss.

  The extraordinary characteristics he possessed had disappeared without a trace, and his spirit was not nearby, so he could not communicate with spirits or divine. The only magical item he had was taken away, leaving only a handful of coins in his pocket. There were

  some traces of fighting on the walls and carpets. The two piercing wounds on the carpet corresponded to William's wounds one by one, but other clues had obviously been cleaned up, and it was difficult to determine which extraordinary person caused it in a short period of time.

  "The resentful spirit possessed him to speed up the extraction of characteristics, the spirit was swallowed by some seals, or... the shepherd?"

  Based on the existing clues, the man analyzed to himself, his voice coming from behind the mask, weak and distorted.

  He was not proficient in divination, and knew that blind guesses were not as good as confirmation through mystical methods, but the other party could clean up the traces, so he must have done the corresponding counter-divination. Unless he blocked the hotel and asked his own people to come here to divine the battle process before the police arrived, otherwise he would be more likely to expose his identity when the official extraordinary people intervened.

  "Is this why he deliberately left the body?"

  With a light snort, the man quickly searched William's body. After finding that there was no other evidence against him, he went directly to the window, jumped from the window to the third floor, and left from the alley below. The window closed by itself, as did the door, turning William's bedroom into a primitive scene.

  ————   

  That night, Angel returned home after a literary salon. After washing up with the help of the maid, she went into the bedroom and took out the "Rose Necklace" to check the ability of the grazing soul inside.

  Her actions during the day were all carried out under the disguise of the "hypocritical" ring. She was not worried about the so-called "alibi", but since she had an appointment with others and returned early because the action went smoothly, she naturally did not want to break the appointment.

  Originally, this literary salon was just a small gathering of young nobles and young people who wanted to get in touch with the nobles. Everyone talked about the latest novels and chased fashion trends, but Angel found that Backlund had recently become popular with a set of adventure novels with the theme of sea adventure, and one of them was actually created based on her!

  To be precise, it was based on "Angelica Sage" and the title of the book was "The Great Pirate Angelica Series: The Fountain of Youth".

  The Fountain of Youth is undoubtedly one of the "Six Legends of the Sea", but Angelica... Angel thought of the young and beautiful female pirate who was entangled with the pirate generals in the whispers of the young women in the salon, and felt that everyone was talking about herself.

  "When I have some free time, I must use divination to find out who wrote this, crawl along the mirror, and make him stop writing..."

  Angel thought bitterly, locked the bedroom door, sat on the bedside, took out the "Rose Necklace", spread the spirituality inside, and sensed the spirit and ability of William who was herding today.

  The moment the spirit entered the necklace, she could know the other party's potion sequence, so she confirmed that this was a sequence 5 "chaos mentor", but it was not until now that she knew which abilities she had "extracted".

  Unlike "Creeping Hunger", which can herd up to five souls but has a random number of abilities, the "Rose Necklace" will obtain three fixed abilities, and it is also impossible to choose by yourself, but Angel has always had good luck, especially after the "Good Luck" revolver returned to the extraordinary characteristics.

  The most important of the three abilities is "chaos", which is likely to come from sequence 5. It can cause irresistible chaos in the target or surrounding area, making it difficult for attacks to land on you, and making it easy for the enemy to make the wrong choice.

  Secondly, there is the ability of "bribing", but it does not weaken the enemy, but "association". It also requires giving money or objects to the target in advance as a "bribe". After it takes effect, the user and the target's body will be linked together, and the attack or extraordinary ability effect will take effect on both of them at the same time, just like William and Triss today.

  Finally, there is a new ability she has never seen before, "corrosion". This ability can make the hearts of people within ten meters around become darker little by little, and they are prone to greed and irrational choices.

  "I don't know if William used this ability in the daytime battle... The range can definitely cover the entire bedroom, but maybe before he could show the effect, he was solved by Triss. It seems that this ability is not suitable for use in combat, but in "socializing" or "negotiation", the effect may be more obvious, especially with my "instigation"..."

  Angel classified the last ability into the non-combat category and ended the exploration of the "Rose Necklace".

  Overall, she was quite satisfied with the three abilities she had obtained this time. Chaos could completely replace most of the restrictions of the Judge, making it difficult for the enemy's attacks to take effect, especially when fighting with multiple people. Bribery was a good way for her to recover from her injuries with the Rose Necklace, while Corrosion was yet to be evaluated.

  After releasing the soul of the Judge Heras, Angel also obtained his extraordinary characteristics. If she could find a buyer, it would mean 3,000 pounds in the account, which was also a considerable gain.

  Together with the magical pocket watch, the money she earned today would be enough to cover her expenses in Backlund for two years... She thought happily.

  Most importantly, she got a key name from William today: Viscount Stratford. He was the chief of the palace guards, a palace title that could be inherited, but without fiefdom. However, this did not mean that he had no wealth and power. Judging from the fact that he had his own manor in the suburbs, Stratford obviously had other ways to make money.

  "Could it be the profit of human trade... Moreover, he dared to deal with a prince, so there must be an equal force behind him, another prince, or another member of the royal family?

  "This also explains to some extent the reason why the military is involved in this matter. After all, they obey the royal family, even if this can be called a civil war among the royal family members..."

  Thinking of this, Angel had a headache. She was not good at detailed analysis, and there was too little information at present. She couldn't come to a useful conclusion even if she racked her brains. It would be easy to arouse suspicion if she rashly inquired about the other party's identity, especially during the period when his manor steward died tragically in the hotel.

  Let's wait for Triss to find clues. Anyway, she is very motivated and can't wait to find the real murderer who killed Prince Edessak within a day... Angel stood up from the bed and walked to the balcony. The moonlight outside the window was a little dim, and the buildings on Burningham Road were shrouded in the deep night.

  "Triss's injury probably won't heal in one night. I forgot to ask her if she had any other safe houses... She didn't even want the spoils. A witch shouldn't be without money to rent a house..."

  Subconsciously, she was worried about her temporary partner.

  As if responding to Angel's concerns, the magic mirror on her chest had some reaction.

  She took out the small dressing mirror, and the black communication potion on it was activated as it was yesterday, but Triss's figure did not appear on the other side. There was only a hazy black and intermittent, difficult to hear words.

  Suddenly, the voice from inside became clear, and Angel immediately heard a short sentence followed by other voices:

  "... Save me..."

  (End of this chapter)

   Chapter 608: Sewer Beauty

  Late at night, a sneaky figure carrying a small basket climbed over the outer wall of No. 160 Böklund Street, bent over and hunched his back, moving through the shadows between the walls, and soon came to the nearby sewer entrance. He carefully removed the manhole cover, crawled in, and restored the cover.

  High up in the house, Klein frowned and pulled open the gap in the curtains, watching his butler Walter in a tuxedo, doing all this with agility, feeling the absurdity of watching a play.

  Just two days ago, after he attended Senator Macht's ball, the congressman's daughter, the arrogant and unkind Hazel Macht, crawled into the sewer from the other side of the street in almost the same posture, and conducted a "late-night exploration" in the intricate underground.

  They are all very skilled at drilling into the sewers, unlike me, who would never go in with my current status and expensive custom-made dress...

  He secretly laughed at his nouveau riche mentality, and then picked up the cigarette box with the gold coin of the "Blood Admiral" secret doll from the bedside table, released this "ghost", manipulated him to jump to the glass surface of the street lamp next to the sewer, and then took advantage of his intangible advantage to drill into the sewer and silently follow Walter.

  At the same time, Klein double-lined his body to move closer to the sewer, making sure that Senior's ghost would not be more than 100 meters away from him, so as not to lose this precious secret doll.

  During this period, he was surprised to find that Hazel sneaked out of her house again in the middle of the night and drilled into the sewer from another entrance, and was about to run into the sneaky Walter. He had no choice but to use the ghost to "possess" this girl who had the magical item of "thief", ignored her struggle and self-rescue efforts, and "sent her back" to Senator Macht's home.

  "It was almost over 100 meters. If that was the case, in order to avoid losing the doll, I would have to use fire to jump out of the bedroom and onto the street. That would violate the rules of the 'Master of the Secret Doll' and expose myself as the man behind the scenes..."

  Klein muttered silently, watching Hazel circling in fear at the door of her house, trying to find the person who possessed her. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she returned to her home along the original route. Only then did he feel at ease to control the "ghost" to sink into the ground and return to where Walter was.

  During this delay, his butler had arrived at a gloomy and secluded fork in the sewer and talked to someone in a low voice:

  "What's going on? The police came here this afternoon and questioned people who had contact with William Sykes. They said that he died in a hotel in the West District. It was a murder... Didn't you say that we should make a careful plan and accomplish all this quietly?"

  In the shadows deep in the fork, just within the 100-meter control range of the "secret doll", a weak and hoarse female voice was heard:

  "He will return to the manor in the suburbs tomorrow. There must be extraordinary guards there. Today is the best opportunity."

  "Then why are you still injured? Why don't you even dare to go back to your residence?"

  Walter's voice was full of worry.

  The female voice replied intermittently:

  "William is stronger than I thought. He is Sequence 5 and has a magical item that can restrain me. This is consistent with his secret identity and is also the reason why he dared to come to the city alone. Fortunately, I still defeated him and got the key clue...

  "Go back quickly, don't let your new employer find out. This sewer often has strange Beyonders coming and going. It is safer than the ground. I will hide for one or two days and leave after I recover."

  Walter was silent for a moment, nodded, and handed over the basket he had been carrying. Klein saw that it contained several flat objects wrapped in paper and a cup with a lid.

  That was the Dixie pie I asked the chef to make this afternoon, and the sweet iced tea... He opened his mouth slightly in the bedroom, and Senior, who was in the state of a resentful spirit, also reacted in the same way.

  After handing the basket to the woman in the shadow in the corner, Walter reminded again:

  "I will continue to send some food over tomorrow. You can recover with peace of mind. If you leave due to an accident, contact me in the old way. "

  The female voice chuckled and said with emotion:

  "When he was alive, he had so many subordinates and so many friends, but after he died, only a few were willing to take risks for him."

  "As a royal noble, he can treat me sincerely, and I am willing to be loyal to him forever."

  Walter replied in a muffled voice, and then turned and left along the same path.

  Klein, who was hiding in the dark, quickly understood everything based on these conversations and combined them with his own guesses.

  William Sykes once served the deceased Prince Edessak, and the mysterious woman took the risk to contact William in order to investigate the truth of the prince's death. She was injured and hid in the sewer. Walter was also a member of this "investigation group", but he did not participate in direct affairs, but instead inquired about information and provided help in public.

  Then, based on the content of Angel's letter, the identity of this woman can be confirmed...

  Klein manipulated Senior to approach the shadow in the form of a resentful spirit. , stopped at the edge of his control range, and saw a pale-faced woman in a black dress sitting in the corner. Her shoulders were simply bandaged but still bleeding.

  She had a slightly round chin and a very beautiful face. It was Triss Chick who almost killed him in Tingen City, hid in Backlund, and finally escaped in the big haze!

  If he suddenly saw this woman who was likely to be related to the "Original Witch", Klein would probably be scared and directly recall the secret doll, but with Angel's previous hint, he now just felt that "it was reasonable".

  At the same time, Triss's slender eyes looked over here, as if she saw the invisible "ghost" Senior, chuckled, and said:   

  "After watching for so long, she should show up, right?"

  She found me?

  Klein's heart skipped a beat, but he thought that the witch had a spiritual intuition that was no less than that of a fortune teller, and the man in front of him was "Chik", so there was little point in hiding, so he showed up directly and answered indifferently:

  "Since you have already discovered me, why didn't you point it out before the man left?"

  "If you have bad intentions, leaving him behind will only result in one more death. Would Mr. 'Blood Admiral' Senior be worried about an ordinary person?"

  "Do you know me?"

  While manipulating Senior to ask back with surprise, Klein was also thinking about how to "deal with" this witch with blood on her hands.

  He has not forgotten the tragedy of the Clover, nor the series of deaths in Tingen City.

  But at this time, Triss was focusing on the truth of Prince Edessak's death because of some kind of emotion in her heart, and this incident would inevitably lead to the secret behind the "big haze" and the unknown royal faction. From this perspective, Triss is a "mine clearance soldier" for him and Angel, and a voluntary one.

  Since Angel is involved in this matter, let her decide... Just as Klein made the decision, he heard Triss continue to say:

  "Of course, I have also traveled on the sea, and I have been paying attention to the news of pirate generals recently."

  If you really pay attention, you should know that "I" have died in the hands of crazy adventurers... Klein laughed secretly, trying to play the role of a "ruthless and taciturn" pirate general, and did not respond.

  Seeing him like this, Triss moved in the corner of the wall, reaching into her clothes with one hand and pulling the collar with the other hand, as if she wanted to cover her exposed shoulders, but she inadvertently exuded the charm of a witch, with a dim look in her eyes and a weak expression.

  It's a pity that there is only a dead "secret doll" in front of you, which is equivalent to throwing a wink to a blind man...

  "Put away your tricks, or do you want me to "kill" you now?"

  "Senior" said coldly, completely unmoved.

  In the senses shared by Klein and the doll, the sewer space beside Triss was filled with countless invisible threads, like a huge spider web. The nearby accumulated water slowly froze, forming mirrors of varying sizes. She sat in the middle of the spider web in a black dress, like a poisonous spider waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.

  "Then do it, Mr. Senior. Or, do you think that a witch as destitute as me will be saved by anyone?"

  Triss' tone became increasingly sad, as if she had really given up struggling.

  "I don't mind having one more witch's extraordinary characteristics in my collection, but I'm also a little interested in what you just said. If the information you provided is valuable enough, maybe I'll spare your life."

  Although you don't tell me now, I can learn everything from Angel's letter in two days, but I don't know what other secrets this woman has, such as how she became the vessel of the "Original Witch", and who else is in her "investigation group"...

  Klein waited for Triss's answer leisurely. He appeared in the form of a secret doll at this time, and he was still a secret doll that could be transformed into a resentful soul at any time. He could attack when he advanced and report when he retreated. Naturally, he was not afraid of a wounded witch. Triss

  seemed to have the same judgment. She waved her hand to retract the invisible spider silk, leaving only frozen puddles, and a faint smile on her face again:

  "If you are willing to listen, I can tell you everything, including the secret of Prince Edessac Augustus' death and the infighting among the royal family members, but first..."

  Her smile became more and more obvious, and Klein frowned behind the secret doll, and he had a vague ominous premonition in his heart.

  "...First of all, you have nowhere to escape!"

  The moment her voice suddenly rose, a place in the sewer that had already solidified and was smooth enough to reflect reflections became dark and deep, with countless reflections stacked up inside, as if it had become a passage to another world.

  A graceful figure emerged from the ice surface, first outlining the outline, then filling in the color, and finally his familiar yet unfamiliar black hair, purple eyes, and a faint smile.

  "It's him, a pirate general worth 40,000 pounds!"

  As if complaining to a parent, Triss's anxious and gloating words echoed in the sewer.

  Angel, who came out of the mirror world, and Senior, the expressionless "Blood Admiral" wearing an old tricorn hat and a dark red coat, looked at each other and were speechless for a while.

  (End of this chapter)

  Chapter 609: "Misunderstanding" Resolved

  Angel hurried from the "mirror world" to the location of Triss's magic mirror, and soon found that the other party had already prepared the ice surface for her to appear.

  Her spirituality did not warn of excessive danger, so the one who attacked Triss was most likely not a demigod, but just a Sequence 5 Beyonder. Of course, after being injured during the day, it was normal for Triss to be unable to deal with Beyonders of the same sequence, so she asked her for help.

  Thinking of this, Angel got out of the mirror directly, looked around, and confirmed that he was in the Backlund sewer that was very familiar to him half a year ago. After the great plague more than ten years ago, it was expanded several times to form the main roads and various branches that crisscrossed the city, like an independent underground world.

  Triss was leaning against the deep fork of the main road. Her face was still pale, but it had improved a lot compared to the daytime. About 10 meters in front of her, stood a man wearing a dark red coat and a triangular captain's hat. His face was even paler than Triss's. His light brown eyes in the sunken eye sockets were looking at Angel steadily.

  This, isn't this the "Blood Admiral" Senior who has become Klein's secret puppet... Angel almost laughed out loud. She turned her head to look at the "Pain" witch who was secretly asking for help using the magic mirror. The latter's eyes were full of joy because of the support. She pointed to the "Wrathful Soul" in front of her and said with a smile:

  "That's him, the pirate general worth 40,000 pounds!"

  In fact, it was 43,000 pounds...

  Angel turned her eyes back to the secret puppet controlled by Klein. The latter had a blank expression, but her eyes conveyed the deep doubts of the "Master of Secret Puppet".

  ——Why did her expression suddenly change as if she had summoned a savior, but it was you who came?

  This short silence finally made Triss realize that something was wrong. The smile on her mouth disappeared, and her eyes moved back and forth between the two, finally stopping at the "Despair" witch who had her back to her.

  She secretly leaned behind Angel.

  Why do I feel like a parent helping a child? Fortunately, the opponent is also an old acquaintance... Angel finally couldn't help laughing and said:

  "What's going on? Didn't you hide to recover from your injuries? How did you get involved with this 'Blood Admiral'?"

  She looked at Triss behind her and motioned for her to answer. At the same time, she relaxed her whole body, easing the tense atmosphere around her.

  "I didn't dare to go back to my residence in the East District, so I simply hid in the sewers in the North District. I thought it was a quiet hiding place, but I didn't expect it to be more lively than the market in the middle of the night. There were curious girls, enthusiastic housekeepers, mysterious resentful spirits, and me, a wounded witch..."

  Triss laughed from her throat and answered. Since Angel appeared, she no longer pretended to be weak, but returned to her daytime flamboyance, which made her witch charm fully exude, making her more eye-catching than Angel who often hides his attractiveness.

  Is it really not because you have a trouble-making physique? In Tingen, he caused a lot of chaos. In Backlund, he became a vessel for the gods to descend. He could hide near the house of the puppet master by going into the sewers...

  Angel opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not provoke Triss's fragile heart. He turned to look at Senior and asked,

  "What about you? Why did you go into the sewers in the middle of the night?"

  Her unreserved tone immediately made Triss frown, but then she relaxed.

  The "Blood Admiral" puppet replied expressionlessly,

  "I was just passing by. I thought I could get a trait of the witch of 'pain', but I didn't expect it to be someone you know."

  His words almost admitted that he knew Angel, but from Triss's expression and relaxed posture, she had almost guessed it, so there was no need to hide it.

  "She and I are currently cooperating to a limited extent. Regarding the truth of the 'Great Smog' and the murder of Prince Edessak..."

  Angel told Klein the information he got from William Sykes, the "psychic" during the day, and finally said:

  "Viscount Stratford is obviously also under someone's orders. We can let her investigate and contact them first, and we hide behind the scenes to avoid being noticed by 'him'."

  She was referring to Ince Zangwill and "0-08". It was reasonable for Triss, who escaped from the manipulation of the other party, to pursue the truth out of hatred, but "Christine Theresa" and "Dawn Dantes" had no such reason.

  "You told her to be the bait in front of her?"

  Senior looked at Triss coldly and asked back. This tone made Angel feel that the other party was acting in some way, perhaps to fit the "personality" of the "secret doll" itself. Therefore, Angel just chuckled and replied:

  "She volunteered."

  This obviously sarcastic remark did not make Triss angry. Instead, the latter showed the most heartfelt smile since entering the sewer.

  She doesn't have any mental illness, does she? I was just joking when I said she volunteered, but looking at Triss like this, she seems to really be willing to do something for the dead Edessak... Well, she is happy because there is a powerful pirate general among her "cooperators", which is understandable...

  Angel watched Triss's changing expression from the corner of his eye, sighed, and said to Senior:

  "You leave first, I will take care of the rest."

  The secret doll nodded silently, and its figure immediately faded, entering the real "ghost" state. Angel guessed that this position was already the limit of Klein's control of the secret doll at home, so he stood there pretending to be profound. He could only move directly through the wall, otherwise there would be a risk of losing it.

  And the loss of the secret doll means permanent loss. The "Blood Admiral" is already in a state of death. If it is out of control, it will die immediately, and there is no chance of "secret dollization" again.

  This might be the biggest weakness of the "Master of Secret Dolls"... Angel pondered, and waited until the "ghost" completely disappeared before turning around to look at Triss, whose expression gradually calmed down and whose posture was extremely low and submissive. For a moment, he was not sure which state of publicity, excitement, or obedience was the real her.   

  Perhaps after Edessak's death, no one will be able to see the real her...

  "Then, let's talk about your problem," Angel said when Triss lowered her head and said nothing. "You must have seen that I have a certain degree of cooperation with this 'Blood Admiral'. Our goal is to find out the truth behind the great smog, so I will give you some help. But at the same time, our enemies will also be waiting in the dark for an opportunity to strike, so most of the clues still depend on you to obtain them."

  "As long as Viscount Stratford doesn't like men, I will have a way to make him speak."

  Even if he likes men, you can also switch to the "Red Priest" path. Compared to killing a demigod personally, it may be easier to train a team of like-minded subordinates... Angel grumbled in his heart and nodded:

  "If you need help, you can still use the communication potion to contact us, but I can't guarantee that I can appear like this every time... In addition, don't you really plan to hide somewhere else?"

  Seeing that Triss actually sat back in the depths of the fork in the road, she reached out and brought a small basket to her side, took out the Dipsy pie and sweet iced tea in it, and added unhappily.

  "The cowardly thief lady has been driven away, and the 'Ghost' is one of us. This place is probably much safer than other places in Backlund.

  " "I'm curious why you would cooperate with the 'Blood Admiral'. I heard that he is an executioner who kills for fun, slaughtering passengers and sailors on the ship and smearing their blood on the deck..."

  Triss elegantly spread out the wrapping paper in the basket, her voice erratic.

  "You'll understand if you read more recent newspapers. "

  Angel answered vaguely, she knew that even if she didn't point it out, Triss would definitely investigate the current situation of "Blood Admiral" Senior, and would certainly find out that this pirate general had died in the battle between the Rose School and the unknown faction a month ago, and even his fleet was divided up by his subordinates.

  By then, she would know that Senior today is actually a dead man... Angel stopped persuading and prepared to leave with the help of the still unthawed ice, but before leaving, she looked at Triss again, hesitated for a moment and said:

  "When investigating Viscount Stratford and getting close to the mastermind, you must pay attention to the 'coincidences' you encounter. "

  Coincidence..."

  Triss's hand holding the pie froze in the air. She looked at Angel with doubt and a hint of fear, but she only caught a glimpse of him entering the mirror world.

  Coincidence!

  She thought of everything that had happened since she came to Backlund. She was lucky enough to run into the "Witch Cult", and happened to have a mission that required her. She happened to be "love at first sight" by Edessak, and repeatedly encountered various accidents when escaping from him...

  She sat there for a long time with a confused mind, then shook her head, took out the pie that had long been cold, and filled her stomach with sweet iced tea. At

  this moment, the witch curled up in the shadows looked extremely vulnerable.

  ————

  Entering the mirror world, Angel quickly found the location leading to 160 Böklund Street in the complex passage. The bright ones were the ready-made mirrors, such as the dressing mirror and the full-length mirror, while the dim ones were the glass windows and the calm water surface.

  If you want to return to reality quietly, it is undoubtedly better to choose a mirror that can reflect real objects, but glass and water are not unusable. The only difference is the size of the noise and the consumption of spiritual energy.

  Of course, since the witch Triss was nearby, Angel did not think of getting out of the mirror and entering Klein's bedroom. She just circled the three-story building, left the North District, and returned to her home in the Hillston District.

  After several weeks of exploration, she has basically figured out the situation of the "mirror world" in several nearby districts. Of course, there were accidents during the period. She accidentally entered the spirit world during her exploration and accidentally got out of the stained glass on the exterior wall of the church of the God of Steam and Machinery. Fortunately, she got back to the mirror world before being discovered and did not cause a tragedy.

  "As I become more familiar with this world, I can almost reach any place in the city instantly. Although it is not as fast as Mr. Azik's spiritual world travel, I can observe the outside world through the mirror at any time...

  "I didn't tell Klein the details in front of Triss just now. I will write a letter tomorrow to explain and let him continue to focus on the notes. I will be responsible for keeping an eye on Triss..."

  Angel muttered to herself as she walked out of the full-length mirror in her bedroom.

  As soon as her feet stepped on the solid ground, she noticed that the light in the bedroom was dimmer than usual. The crimson moonlight outside the window seemed to be isolated outside. The wall lamp that was lit for a long time without any scruples could only illuminate a small area next to the lamp stand. The whole building seemed to fall into dead silence, with only the sound of her footsteps on the carpet.

  In Angel's dark vision, the center of this quietness was located next to the coffee table on the balcony of the bedroom. A man with short golden brown hair and a black windbreaker sat on the back chair. His right leg was crossed over his left leg, his hands were placed between his knees, and a silver-white metal box was placed beside him.

  "I didn't expect you to be gone for half an hour. If I had known, I would have come back later."

  "Goddess Sword" Crestai Cecima chuckled, and the magnetic voice came out from the mouth hidden behind the collar of the windbreaker.

  (End of this chapter)

   Chapter 610 Goddess Troops

  .

  Angel's heart skipped a beat.

  She subconsciously thought that she was no longer in her bedroom, but was pulled into a dream led by this Beyonder of the Insomniac Path.

  But as a high-sequence Beyonder, her spiritual intuition and the "secret holy emblem" hidden under her sleeves told her that this was not a dream, but reality, and the person in front of her was not hostile, otherwise she would not have stepped out of the mirror and returned here from the mirror world. "

  It is not the behavior of a gentleman in Loen to break into a woman's bedroom late at night. Please leave here before I call the servants to come. I can not pursue the problem later."

  Frowning, Angel quietly took two steps back and came to the door. She spoke very quickly, pretending to be brave when facing a strange man, but actually a little afraid.

  She is now "Christine Theresa" who returned to Backlund from Trier, not Angel Granger who knows the "Sword of the Goddess"!

  Cecima laughed again, pointed to the full-length mirror behind Angel, and said,

  "If you had walked into the bedroom from the front door instead of coming out of the mirror, you might have looked more like me, Miss Granger."

  He knew it was me... Angel breathed a sigh of relief, feeling ashamed of having to perform awkwardly in front of an acquaintance.

  After a moment, her expression returned to calm and composed, and her hair color and facial features disguised by the "false" ring returned to normal.

  Although her height and appearance had changed slightly, and her temperament was completely different, her hair color and eye color showed that she was Angel Granger.

  "Sword of the Goddess, Lord Crestai Cecima."

  She read out the other party's full name and nodded slightly as a greeting.

  "Your prayers have reached the ears of the goddess' servant, the head of the Night Monastery, Ms. Arianna, but due to the agreement between the three major churches, the royal family, and the military, He should not appear in Backlund at this time, so I came here from Beldan to meet you."

  Cecima explained the reason for her visit. When she mentioned Ms. Arianna, she quietly put her legs back on the carpet and sat up straight.

  Beldan in Jianhai County is a full day's drive away... Angel's mind appeared with a map of the Kingdom of Loen, and he quickly confirmed that Cecima came here "specially" and spent a lot of energy.

  Did he and Ms. Arianna confirm the matter of the "man in the mirror"?

  Seeing her face change, Cecima's right hand naturally dropped to the edge of the chair, touched the silver-white metal box, and continued:

  "The content of your prayer is too bizarre. First, I need you to tell me again in front of the holy object. Is that okay?"

  The holy object called "Goddess's Sword". I have made a vow in front of it. This is the second time... Angel looked at the metal box containing the white bone sword and nodded. Then he watched Cecima put the box on her knees and opened it towards Angel, just like when she was tested in Tingen City. The

  surrounding gas lights, which had become dim because of Cecima's presence, almost completely disappeared, and the bone dagger in the box emitted a pure white glow.

  At that moment, she seemed to feel the joy of passing the test again, the excitement of sharing the role-playing method with her teammates, and the shock and regret when she learned that Old Neil had lost control.

  Fortunately, she had once lost consciousness after looking directly at the holy object, and her strength was no longer what it used to be. Without Cecima's help, Angel quickly recovered from her abnormal state, took two steps forward, and stretched out her hand to press on the holy sword.

  As the familiar name of the goddess was chanted, her connection with the holy object and the existence in the infinite distance deepened again.

  After gaining a trace of true divinity, Angel had already realized that the existence was the goddess of night.

  After seeing Angel promised that she would not lie next, Cecima carefully put away the holy object, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and invited her to sit on another chair as if she was the master of this house, and listened carefully to her story.

  Para Island, the jump path, the senior deacon who lost control during the promotion process, the nightmare covering the entire town, Pierce Turner's last words before his death, another Pierce in St. Samuel's Church, and the possibility of the "Man in the Mirror"... The more

  Crestai Cecima listened, the more serious his expression became. He knew that after taking the oath, Angel in front of him could not lie, at least not quietly, but when these "truths" were placed in front of him, he still felt a little suffocated as a senior deacon.

  Of course, even if he couldn't lie, Angel didn't tell everything. His "disaster" spell, the discussion with "World" Klein in front of Mr. Fool, and Laura, the source of the knowledge of the "Man in the Mirror", were all content that did not need to be reported and did not affect the authenticity of the incident.

  "I understand, your caution is correct. Even if you report it directly to St. Samuel's Church, this matter is likely not to be passed on to the upper level."

  After a period of silence, Cecima spoke.

  "Before I arrived in Backlund and came to see you, I had already met the senior deacon Pierce Turner deep inside the church. His appearance, conversation, and behavior were exactly the same as what I remembered. If I hadn't received any information before I came, I wouldn't have thought he was suspicious at all.

  "Also, he is in charge of managing the intelligence sent here from all over the world in Backlund, distributing it to the Nighthawks and the Red Gloves. I think your previous letter must have been intercepted by him, and it was discarded as useless information without even passing through his hands."   

  Of course, the dead Pierce mentioned in the letter was standing next to her. No matter who it was, they would treat this information as garbage... Angel was somewhat amused. When she sent the letter on Pala Island, how could she have thought of such a thing as the "Man in the Mirror"?

  "What about now? With my testimony, it should be confirmed, no, at least suspected that this Pierce is the 'Man in the Mirror'?"

  Angel asked.

  "Even if you didn't lie, you might be affected by subjective views, or misled by wrong information... If the description just now is correct, you should have decisive evidence in your hands."

  The senior deacon said calmly, shaking his head as if it was fixed in the collar of the windbreaker.

  Evidence...

  Angel immediately thought of the extraordinary characteristics of the "Night Watcher", and was somewhat fortunate that Mr. Azik cleared its pollution in time and returned the complete characteristics to her.

  She took out the metal box containing the characteristic from the small bag that she almost never left, broke through the spiritual wall, controlled the breath that could not escape, which made people feel calm and almost fall into sleep, and handed the box to Cecima.

  This high-sequence extraordinary characteristic must be replenished with the spiritual wall almost every day, otherwise it cannot be carried with you at all, and it may even merge with the container and become a strange seal.

  After receiving the extraordinary characteristic, Cecima, who was also a sleepless path, instantly confirmed that the one in his hand was the hope of promotion that Ince Zangwill was willing to defect to obtain, and also the "night watchman" of his subsequent sequence.

  "No high-sequence extraordinary characteristic is redundant within the church, and it is almost impossible for unowned characteristics to exist in the outside world... It seems that the one currently in Saint Samuel's Church is indeed not the original Pierce." Taking

  a deep breath, Cecima said slowly.

  "Since it has been confirmed, let's catch him quickly. According to the time when the real Pierce was in trouble, he has been lurking in the Goddess Church for more than half a year. I don't know what conspiracy he is brewing."

  Seeing that he finally gave in, Angel also breathed a sigh of relief and put forward his own request.

  "That's why it's not appropriate to take action now," Cecima shook her head again, "I returned to Backlund this time in the name of investigating the 'Aurora Society'. He should think that he has not been exposed now, so there is no need to rush... I will pray to the goddess first, report to Ms. Arianna, and then decide how to deal with it. Even as a member of the Goddess Army, I cannot deal with a senior deacon without authorization."

  Asking the goddess when in doubt is a devout believer... Angel smiled secretly, but then remembered that he also prayed to the goddess for help as soon as possible, but unfortunately He did not respond to him...

  No, maybe Ms. Arianna sent Lord Cecima to see me, which was the arrangement of the goddess?

  Angel was a little confused, and then noticed a word in Cecima's words:

  "Goddess Army?"

  She had never heard of such a term in the church scriptures and in the communication of the night watchmen.

  "This is a unit of Extraordinary Persons directly under the management of the Holy See, and is dispatched by Ms. Arianna. There are very few of them, and they usually complete their work at their posts. They only show up when they need to carry out certain tasks independently."

  The Holy See is the honorific title for the Pope within the church. Of course, it generally refers to the location of the Holy See, which is also the power center of the church.

  "So, 'Sword of the Goddess' is one of them?"

  Angel thought of Cecima's title.

  "Yes, there are several others, 'Eye of the Goddess', 'Heart of the Goddess', 'Shadow of the Goddess', and a few members who have not yet been given code names... Their existence is also top secret within the church. Most people only know that I am 'Sword of the Goddess', but they don't know the existence of this special unit."

  Cecima pressed the metal box containing the holy sword with one hand, and her tone was solemn.

  "Since it is absolutely confidential, why tell me, who has left the church system? Do I have the right to know these things?"

  Moreover, I always feel that you are dragging me into the water by telling me so much... Angel asked back, while criticizing the "Sword of the Goddess" in front of him.

  The next second, her bad premonition came true.

  "First of all, the church and the Nighthawks never thought that you left us, even if most of them don't know you are alive yet," Cecima stood up from the chair, carrying the box, with her back to the moonlight outside the window, "Secondly, you certainly have the right to know all this..."

  "...The Shadow of the Goddess, Miss Angel Granger."

  (End of this chapter)