Chapter 96: Countdown to Meeting Azik

TN: Add it to your library so we can get into the Collection Rankings.

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"Ah..." Lynn displayed a surprised expression. He looked at Klein, then at the Creeping Hunger in Klein's hand, and muttered, "It shouldn't be like this. Your teacher gave you 'Creeping Hunger' and seems to value you highly. Why didn't he tell you about the Artificial Death? Is it because you're on the Seer pathway, so he doesn't consider you as an heir?" As he said this, Lynn's gaze towards Klein carried a theatrical hint of pity.

Klein: ...

Klein's mouth twitched. He naturally wouldn't explain the peculiar relationship he had with Mr. Azik. Instead, he asked, "So what exactly is the Artificial Death?"

Klein's intuition told him this might indeed be related to Mr. Azik.

"This is a long story..." Lynn tossed the Artificial Death's Copper whistle in his hand, looked at Klein, and smiled. "But knowledge has a price. In the past, I might have told you for free, but now... heh, what will you trade for this knowledge?"

Detective, you bear a grudge... Klein felt a bit helpless, but he was indeed at fault regarding the matters related to the Fool. So he could only ask, "What do you want?"

"Hmm..." Lynn pondered, finally saying, "I want to meet your teacher."

"Meet my teacher?" Klein was stunned for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Why?" He thought of something and asked, "Is it another request from that Angel?"

"Not exactly..." Lynn shook his head, then hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "I just want to confirm something. You probably guessed it too. The information about 'Creeping Hunger' and the Hurricane Lieutenant dying at the hands of an unknown high-sequence Beyonder of the Death pathway was indeed given to me by that one."

"When he told me this, he said something that I found very intriguing."

"What was it?" Klein's curiosity was piqued.

"I asked him if he knew who the high-sequence Beyonder of the Death pathway who killed Qilangos was..." Lynn displayed a recollective expression, paused, and then said, "He said, 'Of course I know who that is. In fact, that person is an old friend of yours.'"

Old friend? Could it be that Lynn knew Mr. Azik in the past?

Klein's spirits were lifted, and he asked, "What else?"

"That's all, nothing more." Lynn irritably scratched his head, "But I still think he was just talking nonsense. Until today, I hadn't considered looking for that high-sequence Beyonder of the Death pathway. But since that person is your teacher... I want to meet him."

The reason Lynn said this was twofold. First, it provided a reasonable pretext to get Klein to introduce him to Mr. Azik. Second, it prepared for the possible memory synchronization with Azik.

Just as Medici could recognize Lynn despite his changed appearance, high-sequence Beyonders identified people by their Spirituality, not just their looks. If Azik did synchronize with memories from the Fourth Epoch, Lynn was almost certain that Azik could recognize him. In such a case, a preemptive explanation was necessary: "I am indeed someone you met before; I, like you, lost my memory."

This would align with the script Lynn had devised for his main identity: "a mysterious angel who lost memory and power due to certain reasons," enhancing the script's credibility.

From this perspective, Lynn was also curious whether Pallez recognized him. But whether Pallez saw through "Lynn Sotos" as the angel who appeared in Tingen, he clearly chose to remain silent. This was within Lynn's expectations. Even if Pallez did not stay silent, Lynn wasn't worried about being exposed—having the same soul Spirituality for both the split and the main body was perfectly reasonable.

After listening to Lynn, Klein was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I can't decide this matter, but I will write a letter to ask my teacher. If he agrees, I will arrange for you to meet."

If this matter indeed related to the past Mr. Azik was searching for, Klein really couldn't decide. He could only inform Mr. Azik in detail and let him decide personally.

"I expected that. But it's good you're willing to ask. I hope your teacher will agree to this meeting."

Hearing Klein's response, Lynn wasn't surprised. He nodded and said, "Since you've agreed to help me ask, let me explain what Artificial Death is. First, do you know about the Numinous Episcopate?"

"I only know some basic information, not much more." Klein shook his head. His time in this world was still short, and merely learning the basics of mysticism had already consumed a lot of time. He hadn't specifically studied the Numinous Episcopate, which didn't have a strong presence in Loen.

Then Klein saw Lynn looking at him with an expression that said, "Are you really a student of a high-sequence Beyonder of the Death pathway?" Feeling embarrassed, Klein coughed and pretended not to notice.

A history teacher is still a teacher, no problem!

"Alright then, let me give our great detective a little introduction to the Numinous Episcopate." Lynn started slowly, "The Numinous Episcopate is a secret organization passed down since the Fourth Epoch. It originated from the royal family and the survivors of the Church of Death of the once unified southern continent's Balam Empire. The Numinous Episcopate has many factions, with the strongest being the royal family faction that supposedly possesses the bloodline of the God of Death."

At this point, Lynn paused and gave an example: "In fact, the most powerful entity in the Numinous Episcopate should be the leader of the royal family faction, the Pale Queen, Sia Palenque Eggers."

"This Pale Queen is likely an angel. It's just unclear whether she is Sequence 2 or Sequence 1. Even if she is only Sequence 2, she probably has a Sequence 1 level sealed artifact."

Sia Palenque Eggers... Eggers?

This familiar surname made Klein's eyebrows twitch, and he couldn't help but speculate about Mr. Azik's identity.

Lynn continued, "Besides Sia Palenque Eggers, another angel in the Numinous Episcopate is Heiter of the Artificial Death faction. But I've heard that this angel's condition is very poor..."

"Aside from these two angels, the Numinous Episcopate has at least eleven demigod-level combatants. Some are true saints, and others wield saint-level Sealed artifacts, allowing them to exhibit saint-level power. So although they can't compare to official Churches, the Numinous Episcopate is undoubtedly a top-tier secret organization."

(End of Chapter)