The Night Before

Klein didn't want to believe a single word of what the Demoness had said, but regardless of her motives, it was a fact that she had saved Kenley. Therefore, before she showed any animosity, he wasn't willing to attack her.

Of course, this was also related to the Captain being temporarily unconscious after being hit by Madam Sharon's curse before his death. He was the only Nighthawk left at the scene.

After remaining on guard for about a minute, it was unknown what Beyonder method Leena used to purge Madam Sharon's Demoness of Pleasure characteristic.

She appeared calm as she carefully sealed the Beyonder characteristic before standing up. She smiled at Klein and said, "The Nighthawk is alive. It's time for me to leave… We shall meet again if fate permits it."

With that, she disappeared in front of Klein. She then nimbly jumped out the window, went over the wall, and headed for the Tussock River.

Although he saw her leave, Klein didn't dare to be careless. As he kept his gun on alert, he undid the silver chain on his sleeve with one hand and let the topaz pendant fall naturally.

After carefully swapping the positions of the revolver and spirit pendulum, Klein waited until the topaz stabilized. He immediately closed his eyes and entered a state of Cogitation. He then silently chanted the divination statement:

"Leena has already left this house."

…

After seven times, he opened his eyes and saw the pendulum spinning clockwise.

"she really left…" Klein's heart calmed down. He put away his spirit pendulum and walked to Kenley's side to check on his injuries.

Previously, he had secretly used Holy Light Summoning and Placate on the Morning Star to treat Kenley before the Captain arrived. Otherwise, he would've been killed by the evil spirit in 3-0271 even if he hadn't been hit by Madam Sharon's Black Flames.

Although he suffered some mental damage, he managed to escape the evil spirit's mark… It shouldn't be a big problem… When the Mystery Pryer from the Holy Cathedral is transferred to Tingen, I can get him to design a ritual to slowly treat Kenley.

Since Kenley's life was no longer in danger, and the Captain could wake up at any time, Klein didn't intend to use the "Fallen Morning Star" again to avoid explaining himself.

After hesitating for a moment, he came before Madam Sharon, who only had half her head left. He took out all sorts of materials and quickly set up an altar to channel her spirit.

I've already wasted some time. If I wait for Captain to wake up before channeling his spirit, I might not be able to get anything.

Moments later, Klein opened his eyes after watching a huge bed film titled "Madam Sharon takes you to Tingen's Upper Circles."

Through spirit channeling in the dream, he learned a lot. For example, Maynard's death was backed by the current mayor… or the potion formula for some of the Sequences of the Demoness pathway.

However, there was also a new question. Madam Sharon's motive for killing Maynard was too hasty. It didn't seem to match her usual modus operandi.

Just as he was deep in thought, Captain Dunn suddenly sat up straight and opened his eyes. He first surveyed his surroundings with his sharp eyes. When he saw the situation clearly, he heaved a sigh of relief and pressed his glabella. His expression was somewhat pale.

Despite not being injured, he seemed to have lost a lot of blood.

"Captain, are you alright?" Klein was delighted to see him wake up.

"It's nothing… Madam Sharon's final curse wasn't completed yet, and she didn't have the medium to curse me, so she wasn't very powerful… Well, at most, she can disrupt my mental state. When Mass is over the weekend, the Goddess's grace will be able to completely heal my injuries."

Having said that, Dunn stood up and walked slowly to Klein's side. He said in an abnormally deep voice,

"I made a mistake. I was fooled by Madam Sharon. I didn't expect her to secretly leave the dream long ago… If it wasn't for another Demoness, we probably wouldn't have been able to keep her here…"

If it wasn't for my uniqueness, I would've died along with Kenley about ten seconds after the battle began… Klein turned his head to look at Kenley who was silently lying on the ground and exhaled.

"Captain, Kenley…"

"I know…" Dunn replied hoarsely. "But you have to get used to it. It's normal for Nighthawks to die during missions. Perhaps I'll be next."

"No, Captain… I mean, Kenley isn't dead yet… Back then, it was Leena who saved him." Although Klein was very wary of Leena, she had saved Kenley no matter what, so he didn't want her to be wanted by the Nighthawks, so he directly mentioned her contribution.

Dunn was taken aback when he heard that. Then, his pale face revealed a gentle and relaxed smile. "Is that so? That's great!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but draw a crimson moon on his chest. At the same time, he said, "Goddess, bless me!"

Klein could understand the Captain's feelings. Whenever he thought about how Kenley would die tonight, how he would face his family, how his parents would look at him with grief, and how his fiancée would look like she had lost her soul… Klein felt fear from the bottom of his heart… He was afraid of hearing the sobbing!

At that moment, he actually agreed with what Leena said. He just needed to change it.

In the stories of the guardians, there shouldn't be any sorrow!

Amidst his joy, Dunn subconsciously wanted to take out his cigarette case and smoke. However, he remembered that he hadn't brought his cigarette with him for some time, so he gave up. However, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Leena? Do you know that Witch?"

Captain, is your brain thinking too much, or has your forgetfulness worsened? I thought I didn't need to use the excuse I prepared just now.

After lampooning inwardly, Klein shared what he knew about Leena with Dunn. Finally, he added, "Most of this was told to me by Madam Daly during our last casual chat. You were there as well."

Dunn thought about it seriously before nodding in enlightenment. "From the looks of it, Maynard's wife and sister were the ones who instigated them to find us… Her goal is Beyonder… It's the remains that Madam Sharon left behind."

Captain, I already know what a Beyonder characteristic is. You didn't even hide it from me when you came to concoct the Clown potion with Her Excellency's Sword of the Goddess… You don't have to be so careful.

After lampooning, Klein told Dunn everything he learned from the spirit channeling. Then, he expressed his doubts about Madam Sharon's murder of Maynard.

"Pleasure really doesn't need to kill someone of a higher status… Hmm, we have to find out where Madam Sharon has been all these years and find out her true background… Of course, we have to report this to the Holy Cathedral and let them arrange it. We can't leave Tingen as we wish." Dunn nodded slightly. When he mentioned reporting this to the Holy Cathedral, he deliberately didn't mention the matter of "Leena."

Then, he looked around and said, "Clean up the scene and then get someone from the nearest police station to come over. Oh, and make a trip back to Zouteland Street and get Frye to help."

"Yes, Captain."

…

Outside a village downstream of the Tussock River, a moist figure emerged from the river and disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was like a water ghost from folklore. The drunkard who happened to see this scene jolted awake from his fright and ran back to the village in a panic.

It was none other than Leena. She stared at the drunkard's back and sighed after a long while. She muttered to herself, "Forget it… He didn't see my face… Besides, no one will believe it even if I tell them… Killing him might attract attention."

Following that, she got her bearings and ran towards a small mountain southeast of the village.

As wild animals were almost extinct, there was an abandoned hunter's hut halfway up the mountain. It was a safe house that Leina had prepared long ago.

After entering the cabin, Leena quickly took off her drenched clothes and changed into a male hunting suit she had hidden in the moonlight. Only then did she sit down. As she took out the food she had prepared, she thought with a serious expression,

The Fallen Morning Star is actually on that Nighthawk of the Seer pathway… Didn't I get Shook to hand it over to Detective Bryan? Why would it be in Tingen? Did Detective Bryan sell the necklace to the Nighthawks?

"If… If I hadn't transferred it to The Fallen Morning Star back then, it would most likely be me bringing it to Tingen, right?

Was it really my own judgment when I heard about Madam Sharon's style at Backlund's gathering and deduced that she might be a Demoness of Pleasure? Or could it be that someone is behind it…

Could it be that the mastermind's goal is only to have the Fallen Morning Star arrive in Tingen?

No… It's not that simple. I'm afraid something major will happen in Tingen…

I happened to become Maynard's sister's teacher, and Madam Sharon killed Maynard…

The Nighthawks who instigated Ma'am Maynard to hire an official Beyonder team chanced upon the Nighthawks who possessed the Morning Star of Fallen…

There are too many coincidences… I never noticed it before!

No, I have to leave as soon as possible! The further the better!

Having made up her mind, Leena rested for a few hours. At dawn, she immediately got up and rushed to a nearby town with a steam locomotive station.

…

In the Tingen suburbs, in a house with a red chimney.

The middle-aged man with dark golden hair and one blind eye looked at the latest content written by the quill.

"After receiving the Beyonder characteristic, Witch Leena sensed the hidden danger in Tingen and decided to leave this city."

He pondered for a moment and didn't make any additional changes. This Witch was also very strange. She had previously changed the story she had written. It would be a change if she could leave.

However, there were too many variables in Tingen!

The middle-aged man glanced at the words "Klein Moretti," and his expression turned nasty. He flipped another page of the notebook and pointed at the word "Stuart." Then, he walked around the room and muttered to himself,

I can't delay any further. The Church of Storms's Mysticism Magister will likely come to investigate next Monday. If something were to happen to him midway, it will probably be difficult to push it to an accident. He will definitely suspect that there's been some sort of interference and subsequently lock onto me and 0-08…

Therefore, on Sunday… I have to take action before Mass!

At this moment, he seemed to come to a decision. He stopped in front of the table, picked up his quill, and wrote on his notebook:

"Leonard and Klein found a letter left behind by Lanevus during a search."

Megose was summoned for some baffling reason. She came to Zouteland Street and entered the Blackthorn Security Company. The baby in her stomach was in a critical period and couldn't stop her urges.

Dunn made a detailed arrangement, the correct arrangement, but he made one mistake. If he had made up his mind to take care of Megose immediately, it would be best to lure her behind Chanis Gate and use the advantage of the environment and items to engage in combat. If he was waiting for help, he definitely couldn't take out Saint Selena's ashes.

"Unfortunately, Dunn, who was in a daze due to the repeated curses and corruption, didn't think of the most important point. The son of a deity could sense the threat of the Saint's ashes. Hence, the latter was triggered and began to absorb the power of his mother's body in an attempt to be born ahead of time, even if it wasn't fully matured.

At this point, the man recalled the history teacher who had spoiled his plans several times. He added,

Azik isn't in Loen. Even if he recalls the Spirit World Traversal, it will be difficult for himto rush back in a short period of time.

After reevaluating the content he had written, the middle-aged man placed the notebook and quill into his pocket and left the house.

…

On Sunday morning, just as I was about to enter the learning space after breakfast to analyze and learn the abilities related to Zombie, Ebner was suddenly stopped by Mr. Skade, and a telegram was stuffed into his hand.

Bishop Utravsky is looking for me? He wants me to go to the Harvest Church…