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At night, the lights in the Harvest Church were somewhat dim. Father Utravsky sat before the Holy Emblem of Life at the front of the church, his eyes closed, his hands clasped under his chin, silently praying.
A figure stealthily entered the church from the side. Father Utravsky opened his closed eyes, his gaze fixed on the hidden location of the figure, and spoke in a low, gentle voice:
"The Church of the Earth Mother does not refuse anyone. Why did you not use the main entrance?"
From a dark corner, Klein emerged, his face smeared with greasepaint. He looked at the Father, who was like a small giant in front of him, and said:
"You are Bishop Utravsky?"
"I prefer to be called Father."
Father Utravsky looked at Klein and said in a calm tone.
Outside the church, Leyton, who had returned at some point, stood in the shadows in front of the church with Bugs Bunny.
Leyton held several light-yellow papers in his hand. On them was drawn a cat with greasepaint on its face, wearing a top hat and a bow tie, stealthily entering a church with the symbol of the Church of the Earth Mother.
"It's a good thing I noticed Klein heading this way earlier, otherwise I would have missed this scene."
Leyton muttered to himself quietly in his mind. He was now very much looking forward to Klein's expression when he discovered that Father Utravsky's commission had already been completed by someone else.
Inside the Harvest Church, Father Utravsky, who had been talking with Klein for a while, asked:
"Why have you come?"
"I heard you have something you wish to commission, and the reward is an Apothecary formula?"
Klein stated directly.
To his surprise, Klein saw Father Utravsky slowly shake his head:
"Although I don't know where you heard that, that commission no longer exists. You are a step too late; I canceled that commission last week."
The greasepaint on Klein's face could not hide his surprised expression. He inwardly complained about the Apothecary's outdated information, then said:
"My apologies for the disturbance, I shall take my leave."
With that, Klein walked out without looking back.
Stepping out of the Harvest Church, Klein's expression froze again. He saw Leyton in the shadows ahead, holding several light-yellow papers, and Bugs Bunny standing at his feet, also holding several light-yellow papers.
"Why are you here?"
Klein's intuition gave him a premonition that the other party's presence here seemed to be related to him.
Leyton and Bugs Bunny walked out of the shadows, a barely concealed smile on his face, and said:
"I came to pick Bugs Bunny up, and I happened to see you sneaking over here, so I waited for you for a while."
Klein looked at the other party expressionlessly. He focused his gaze on the light-yellow papers in the hands of the other party and Bugs Bunny. They were all watercolors of a Kuroneko with greasepaint on its face, wearing a tall top hat and a bow tie, and a church with the Holy Emblem of Life drawn on it.
"You were waiting for me here because of these paintings, weren't you!"
Klein said, looking as if he had seen through everything.
Leyton handed over the watercolors in his hand: "Do you want to see them?"
"No!" Klein refused without thinking.
Klein took a deep look at Leyton. He always felt that the other party was very different from him, which was why he had never revealed his identity as a Transmigrator to him.
Compared to himself, the other party's mindset was closer to Emperor Roselle, treating everything as a game.
Leyton casually lifted his hand and threw all the light-yellow papers into the Spirit World.
These were all papers torn from the Book Messenger. Any content that appeared on them would be automatically recorded by his own Book Messenger, so there was no need to worry about losing them.
"Heading back to Minsk Street?" Leyton asked.
After thinking for a moment and realizing he had nothing else to do, Klein nodded.
Leyton took Klein's hand with one hand and Bugs Bunny's with the other, stepped into the Spirit World, and soon returned to the house at 15 Minsk Street.
As Leyton was about to take Bugs Bunny back to the house across the street, Klein called out to Leyton:
"Was the commission from Father Utravsky at the Harvest Church completed by you?"
Leyton didn't expect Klein to ask him this question. He had thought the other party wanted to inquire about clues regarding the Devil. He nodded slightly:
"Yes, I have some connection with the Church of the Earth Mother. Not long after I arrived in Backlund, I received news that Father Utravsky needed help."
Klein nodded, not dwelling on the question. It was just a lost opportunity to obtain an Apothecary formula. When he wanted to cultivate subordinates or raise a Beyonder animal, he could just buy it from the other party.
"During last night's Blood Moon, someone else was killed by that Devil."
Klein changed the subject.
Leyton pondered for a moment upon hearing this, then took out the Master Key he had obtained from Father Utravsky and threw it to Klein.
Klein took it and carefully examined the ancient-looking brass-colored key. Its design was very simple, just an ordinary key. Its spirituality was completely contained, making it difficult to discern any difference from a normal key.
"It's called the Master Key. It can open all locks that do not contain mystical power, as well as a small portion of locks with extraordinary effects attached."
"Even in places without locks or doors, it can still open a passage that does not belong to reality, as long as there are no Beyonder power restrictions and the barrier is not too thick."
Klein nodded slightly and asked: "What is its negative effect?"
"It causes the holder to randomly get lost, and prolonged use can lead to getting lost in more dangerous places," Leyton smiled faintly and continued:
"If you use it frequently, there's a high probability you'll directly stumble upon the Devil's murder scene."
Klein's expression slightly froze. He wanted to throw the Master Key back to Leyton:
"I don't want to encounter that Devil's murder scene; it would only add another corpse to the scene."
Leyton gave Klein a meaningful look before continuing:
"I don't need it. Ordinary locks and obstacles can't stop me at all. Keep it with you, whether you use it or not is irrelevant."
Klein asked with some confusion: "Why? Is there anything special about it?"
After a slight pause, Leyton continued:
"If you're talking about special, there is indeed a little. It has Mr. Door's corruption on it. Holding it allows you to converse with Mr. Door during the full moon."
"However, I'm giving it to you so you can familiarize yourself with it. When you reach Sequence 3, you will gain the ability to summon historical projections."
Klein's eyes lit up. He understood the other party's meaning and no longer had any doubts, so he put away the Master Key.
Of course, he would only keep it and not use it. Both Mr. Door's corruption and the characteristic that causes the user to encounter dangerous scenes made Klein unwilling to easily use this Master Key. He certainly didn't want to actually stumble upon the Devil's murder scene.
Leyton told Klein about the Devil's information and reminded him that the Devil creating the serial murders might have accomplices:
"Devils find it difficult to control their own desire for slaughter, especially during rituals. The fact that this serial killer has not been exposed for so long indicates that he most likely has accomplices."
"Moreover, Devils have the ability of malicious perception; once someone harbors ill will towards him, he can quickly lock onto the target."
Klein fell silent again. He understood Leyton's meaning: the Devil was difficult to actively capture; one could only wait for him to fall into the trap himself.
This meant that this serial murder case was more dangerous than he had thought, and he somewhat regretted accepting Detective Isengard Stanton's invitation.
Returning to the house across the street, Leyton rummaged for ingredients and quickly prepared a simple dinner for himself.
After dinner, Leyton went up to the second-floor bedroom and quickly fell asleep through meditation.
He wanted to see if he could communicate with the blurry figure who called himself Sasrir in his dream.
He drifted into sleep, and after an unknown period, Leyton felt the sunlight in front of his eyes was a bit dazzling, and his consciousness gradually awoke.
Leyton curiously looked around. The hazy white light made the surrounding scenery appear somewhat blurry; he could only vaguely tell that he was on a mountaintop by the sea.
The blurry figure, bearing eight pairs of transparent wings made of light, slowly approached by stepping through the air. Once the figure was close, its voice echoed in Leyton's ear:
"What do you wish to discuss with me?"
Leyton was momentarily stunned, but remembering that the mass of flesh was parasitic on his left forearm, it wasn't strange that it knew some of his thoughts.
He briefly organized his words, then said:
"After you recover to an Angel status, will you in turn influence the True Creator, allowing Him to gradually regain His sanity?"
The blurry figure shook its head slightly, its voice calmly narrating:
"I cannot make Him regain His sanity through reverse influence, after all, I am merely a split shadow. Doing so would only lead to me being assimilated by the madness on Him."
"But as long as I exist, the True Creator will have a perfect anchor, and His state will gradually improve, allowing Him to break free from madness and regain His sanity."
Leyton frowned slightly. He felt that this clone's humanity seemed to be insufficient.
"The relationship between me and the True Creator is not that independent. In order not to be corrupted by the madness on Him through the connection, I must constantly maintain a state of rationality."
The blurry figure seemed to be able to read Leyton's thoughts, providing an answer before Leyton even asked the question.
"Can I… can I directly say His name here?" Leyton stopped speaking, cautiously confirming with the blurry figure.
"Yes, Adam cannot peer into this dream. I didn't expect you to even know Adam's identity. Was it deduced from the Knowledge Moor? Or did the Key of Light see something from the River of Fate?"
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