~3030 words
In Empress Borough, inside an inconspicuous house tucked away between rows of grand residences, the Beyonder gathering organized by Mr. A proceeded as scheduled.
Before arriving, Kiyotaka had already altered his appearance.
His features had changed into those of a lean young man with neatly parted brown hair and matching brown eyes. The face looked youthful, no older than seventeen or eighteen, with an unassuming appearance.
After confirming there were no flaws, he donned an iron mask shaped like the face of a baboon.
The baboon's mouth was wide open, exposing four unusually long canines, while two pairs of horns protruded from the top of its head. It was an absurd-looking mask by any normal standard.
However...
It blended in surprisingly well with the gathering. As Kiyotaka stepped inside, his gaze swept across the attendees.
Some of them were wearing masks depicting beasts, others demons, ghosts, or creatures that had never existed outside mankind's imagination. Their attire varied just as wildly.
There were luxurious robes embroidered with mysterious patterns, old-fashioned tuxedos, hooded cloaks, and garments.
The gathering possessed an indescribably bizarre atmosphere and it reminded Kiyotaka of the exaggerated secret societies portrayed in films he had seen during his time in ANHS.
The only difference was that this gathering wasn't fiction and almost every other person seated here was a genuine Beyonder.
Without lingering near the entrance, Kiyotaka randomly chose an empty seat and quietly sat down. He had barely settled himself before his attention shifted toward the figure seated at the front.
He saw Mr. A of the Aurora Order. He was wearing an exaggerated robe and was seated on a single sofa. He parted his lips and said hoarsely. "Help me find people who believe in the so-called 'Fool.'"
"The Fool?"
The Beyonders who attended Mr. A's gathering either ruminated over the phrase or conversed with their companions to discuss whether they had ever met anyone who had a similar faith.
"When did such a cult appear?" someone asked in a low voice.
At this point, Mr. A made the attendant beside him hold up a blackboard with a few lines of words written in the Loen language.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era, The mysterious ruler above the gray fog, The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck."
'Good approach. They used the Loen language which is incapable of invoking the forces of nature. Or else the wrath of Mr. Fool would've been upon them.'
He joked inwardly. It wasn't particularly funny nor did it make him smile. Yet ever since his third year at Advanced Nurturing High School, dry observations like these had gradually become a habit.
They rarely amused even himself, but they appeared regardless, here and there.
As the attendees examined the blackboard, Mr. A said in a hoarse and jarring voice, "Do not use Hermes to read what's written here. Even more so for Jotun, Elvish, Dragonese, and ancient Hermes. You shouldn't even write the corresponding descriptions; otherwise, there is a high probability that something terrible will happen.
Help me find believers in The Fool. Of course, they might also be followers of the mysterious ruler above the gray fog or the King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.
As long as there's a clue, inform me immediately. The reward I'll provide will be so handsome that it will far exceed your imagination!"
"This description... It sounds like an incredible existence. I've only seen similar descriptions in the ancient texts of the seven gods!" a gathering member exclaimed.
His companion shook his head and said, "The beings which many cults believe in have similar descriptions."
"Is it really a cult?" The other gathering members were stunned when they heard their discussion.
'It is a cult, in all honesty. A cult that has a high chance of having a huge impact in the future. Sherlock's luck is quite terrifying.'
"Likely. Typically, when we summon a creature from the spirit world, we might have three lines describing it, but one of the lines would be about 'the blessed one of someone' or 'that who belongs to.' It wouldn't be in this format!" A gathering member who was well-versed in mysticism gave an explanation.
Just as there was a lot of riff-raff, Kiyotaka raised his hand. "I might have the corresponding information. However, I am not a hundred percent confident about it."
Mr. A looked at the source of the voice and smiled serenely. "If your information is truly valuable, then consider your future secure. Wealth, influence, mystical resources... whatever lies within human ambition or beyond it, I can provide."
Kiyotaka placed a fist on his chest. "I will be back with the information soon!" He added some enthusiasm to his voice, however, it still sounded quite flat.
However, it could've been attributed to the voice not sounding as it should have due to the metallic mask. And hence, no one really paid much heed to it. But people certainly were interested in the newcomer who instantly knew about the cult.
After that, there were many transactions that took place. Kiyotaka was able to sell Barbarian and Provoker Potion formula for £650 and £450 each, resulting in £1.100, boosting his wealth to £1.600
Other than this, he was also able to sell Arbiter Potion Formula for £300. The reason why the prices for Barbarian and Arbiter were higher than usual was due to them being controlled by MI9 and the Royal Families.
When the buying and selling of items was done, Kiyotaka raised his hand as Mr. A nodded, prompting him to talk.
"I have gathered information about the recent terror attacks in Backlund. It's the work of someone from Feysac. If anyone is able to provide information regarding that, I am willing to provide potion formulas for the Hunter Pathway in exchange."
A lot of people turned to look at him. A lot of them re-evaluated their opinion about the strange man. Seeing as how stacked with information he was, a lot of them even had negative thoughts, wishing to capture him.
However, no one replied. It seemed like there was no one who knew about the Conspirer.
Just as Mr. A was about to motion for the meeting to end, a rather sharp voice cut through the previous silence. Standing in a seat faraway from Kiyotaka, a woman who was seated with a reptile's mask on her face called out.
"I am interested."
Kiyotaka's lips pursed. "Interest is not enough payment."
"My network has gained information on them so I can give you a narrowed out zone. However, the potion formulas are not what I am interested in. I want something else."
"You can write it on a piece of paper and give it to Mr. A's attendee. This way we don't tarnish the genuinity of Mr. A's meetings."
Mr. A did not give a reaction to Kiyotaka's attempt at buttering him up. Instead, the woman replied. However, her voice made Kiyotaka frown. "That works for me."
She took a piece of paper and wrote something on it. When it reached Kiyotaka, he heaved a sigh of relief and wrote her requirement before it was sent back to Mr. A, who looked at it and then gave it back to the woman.
Consequently, the woman also drew a specific place and circled an area, writing "here" with an arrow over it in the Formal Loen.
Kiyotaka looked at the handwriting and then at the piece of information before stuffing it inside his pocket. He had a frown over his face due to Guile amplifying the negative side of his mental state.
The meeting reached its conclusion after that and Kiyotaka left the place.
He took a few alleys and changed his appearance back to normal as his unstable state returned to normal as well. His clothes were common enough to not draw attention.
As he began to walk back home, he looked up and saw countless grey fogs covering the sky with streaks of blue snaking through them. Cold wind began to blow, whisking up dirt and people began to press on their heads to not let their hats fly away.
Kiyotaka removed his hat and began to walk back home with hurried steps. Looking back, he saw three people following him.
From a preliminary judgement, he could tell that these were not people from the meeting. Even if they had employed divination methods, it would've been quite impossible to narrow down on him so quickly.
However...
Kiyotaka touched the paper inside his pocket. There was no lingering spirituality inside the paper. However, in the world of divinations, for a pathway that could be centered around such things could definitely allow them to divine about Kiyotaka without a medium or some kind of spirituality mark.
Suddenly, Kiyotaka bolted.
The moment Kiyotaka broke into a sprint, the three men abandoned any pretense of blending into the crowd. "He's running!"
Their footsteps thundered against the damp stone pavement as they gave chase.
The pedestrians walking along the street instinctively stepped aside, startled by the sudden commotion. A carriage driver cursed loudly while pulling on his reins to avoid colliding with the fleeing figures.
Kiyotaka's eyes rapidly swept across the streets ahead, committing every alleyway and intersection to memory while calculating the shortest route to escape.
As he heard the sound of boots nearing, without warning, Kiyotaka suddenly stopped and pivoted on his heel. His right hand slipped into his pocket and a bronze-colored copper penny flashed through the air.
It spun rapidly as it shot toward the man leading the pursuit who was a short-haired man. The man reacted almost instinctively and raised his hand, slapping the coin aside.
Clang!
The copper penny ricocheted against the stone wall, however, the man's expression immediately twisted in pain. The force behind the seemingly insignificant coin had left a deep indentation in the bones of his palm.
"Agh!" He cried out as his arm went numb, collapsing onto one knee while clutching his injured hand.
Bribe-Weaken!
Without sparing him another glance, Kiyotaka closed the remaining distance to the second pursuer.
The second man barely had enough time to widen his eyes as Kiyotaka's fist appeared next to his face.
Bang!
His knuckles crashed squarely against the man's jaw. At the same instant, Kiyotaka used the "punch" as the "bribe," activating his Beyonder power once more.
The man's defensive capability instantly plummeted and his body was launched backward in an almost cartoonish fashion before crashing violently into the side of a brick building while dust and fragments of mortar scattered across the street.
Before the third pursuer could draw his revolver, he suddenly froze as a strange sensation washed over him.
The violence filling his mind rapidly receded, as though someone had quietly extinguished the desire to fight.
His fingers hesitated and breathing slowed as all thoughts of violence unnaturally left his mind.
Bribe-Charm!
By the time he managed to shake off the unnatural feeling, Kiyotaka was already gone. He had made sure to pick up the penny he had Bribed them with him as well.
Kiyotaka didn't bother looking behind him as he ran while the distance between himself and his pursuers continued to grow. Only after weaving through several intersections and narrow alleys did he finally slow his pace.
His breathing remained steady, thanks to his enhanced physique.
After confirming there were no footsteps behind him, Kiyotaka reached into his coat. He unfolded a small sheet of paper, took out a pen and swiftly wrote several lines upon it before setting it on fire underneath a shade.
Orange flames spread rapidly across the paper and within moments, it had been reduced to black ash that scattered into the wind.
He turned around and was about to leave, when suddenly a cold raindrop landed on the back of his hand and then a heavy rain poured over Backlund without warning.
The cold water soaked through his clothes almost instantly, washing over the stone streets and gradually clearing away the ever-present layer of smog that hung above the city.
Kiyotaka suddenly narrowed his eyes.
Through the curtain of rain, he saw someone. The figure was standing motionless several dozen meters away. A long coat was draped over his body with its hem swaying gently beneath the downpour.
This strange man's hands rose slowly.
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
The applause echoed strangely through the rain. "What a wondrous escape."
A smile spread across his face. "Not quite what I expected from my killer. Or well this guy's, ugh, it's complicated but you get what I mean. I was praising your cowardice."
"Its not complicated at all! You're just dumb!" Another voice resounded from the same man.
Kiyotaka took an instinctive step back. The danger premonition from Ember was making his mind explode.
Furthermore, even from this distance, he could smell him. The stench of rotten flesh mixed with spoiled eggs drifted through the rain, overpowering the smell of fresh rain on soil.
The man in question appeared to be in his early forties who had light blue eyes and brown hair plastered against his forehead by the rain.
However...
His face scarcely resembled that of a living person with much of the flesh being rotted away, exposing patches of white and brown bone beneath and the shriveled skin stretched loosely across his skull, and through the cracks, grey matter could be seen beneath the decayed flesh.
He continued smiling in a provocative manner and held his arms out.
Kiyotaka's intuition told him that attacking the...thing would have no effect. Unlike before with the goons who were just normal humans, this thing was miles above his own capabilities.
Just as he was about to turn around, the thing, or the formerly Rafter Pound, called out again. "Well that's not fun. Don't run away. This vessel won't contain me for long so hear me out."
Kiyotaka stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder. He did not say anything, however, he was ready to run away at a moment's notice. If there was any malicious intent, the thing would've attacked him when he was taken off-guard already.
"Good boy." The thing said with a smirk.
Kiyotaka almost felt a hint of irritation at the comment, however, after dealing with the destructive thoughts of Ember, Cyst and Gloom, he did not let it show and recovered almost instantly.
"What do you want?"
"Smart, good, good. I almost thought you were a bag of bricks with how publicly you killed this guy." The thing guffawed.
Kiyotaka stared at him, his entire body tense.
"Well, I have a deal for you. I presented the same proposal to the other guy and the blonde woman. Help me get the blood from direct descendants of Einhorn, Sauron and Medici families, and I will give you something that you've never imagined. Of course, the reason why I present this deal is because I know you are close to the other dimwit."
'Sauron, Einhorn and Medici? As in Red Angel Medici? One of the Kings of Angels under Ancient Sun God? From the diary entries, it's known that Sequence 0 of Hunter Pathway is called Red Priest. And Sauron and Einhorn families were aristocrats, possessing the Hunter Pathway.
If the blood is needed for this, then that means... And by dimwit, does he mean Sherlock and Miss Sharron?'
"How did you escape the underground ruins?" Kiyotaka instead posed a question.
"Thanks to the filthy Tudor you kil—"
"Not important. What's important is that you help us, and then I can give you a Card of Blasphemy. I can tell you have your fingers quite deep. You must know how priceless the item is." The thing stuttered and the body began to wobble, as if losing its coordination.
"I will think about it." Kiyotaka replied. Before the thing could say anything, Kiyotaka turned around and ran away.
The evil spirit seemed to want to follow him, however, suddenly the entire body collapsed into a heap of flesh and bone.
****
After running for quite a while in the heavy downpour, Kiyotaka soon arrived at the Whitethorn Security Company.
As the doors flew open, Roxanne who was about to leave yelped and reached out for a nearby mop. However, when she saw the face of the intruder, she calmed down.
"Mr. Williams?"
Kiyotaka, who was not out of breath, removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair, slicking them back. As water dripped from his clothes, he stared at the blue-eyed girl before parting his lips. "I wish to see Soest, Daly or any high ranking member. It's very urgent."
Roxanne was taken aback. Removing her handbag, she set it down and nodded. "Kindly close the door and sit down. I will call for them."
Kiyotaka nodded his head and bolted the door.
'This is out of my scope and something I should not involve myself with. Blood Emperor Tudor had made a shift to a non-neighboring pathway and there were three seats in the underground ruins when I visited it with Sherlock.
Which means that the non-neighboring Pathway was the Red Priest Pathway. He had to kill three Sequence 1's and forcefully advance. That can be the reason why the three powerhouses of Sauron, Einhorn and Medici were fused into a single evil spirit.
Which is also why they must need the blood of direct descendants of these three families. It all makes sense now. The forceful advancement must have been done by Alista Tudor by being in cohorts with some other Angels... which are unknown for now.
That resentment resulted in the birth of a triple consciousness evil spirit. That should explain the second voice I had heard back then.
It's a good choice to report this to the Church. If anything, they'll deal with it accordingly. And seeing the condition of the vessel, it's highly unlikely that they will be able to come after me very soon.
At my current pace, it'll take around a year, or a year and a half, to become a Demigod. I need to hide myself properly until then. Even this entire Conspirer thing needs to be done by another identity of mine.'
As Kiyotaka's thoughts raced, he heard a quick clipping of heels and the echoing sound of boots coming from beneath the ground floor. He stood up and turned towards the room which led to the underground channel of tunnels.
There, in front of him, was Soul Assurer Soest and Madam Daly.