That morning, Klein received a sudden notice from Captain Dunn. Leonard, while investigating a conman named Lanevus, had uncovered clues and needed the assistance of a Seer pathway Beyonder.
Despite a nagging bad feeling, Klein couldn't refuse the task. He soon arrived at the mission site, where he and Leonard found a letter left by Lanevus.
The letter confirmed Klein's unease. In it, Lanevus boasted about planting a "bomb" in Tingen. From the context, Klein deduced it was a mystical bomb, though its power was unclear.
This was no small matter. Klein and Leonard hurried back to Blackthorn Security Company to report to Captain Dunn.
As Klein began to relax, a familiar visitor arrived at Blackthorn... Miss Megose, Lanevus's former fiancée.
That wasn't the issue. The real shock came when Klein noticed her belly. What should've been a less-than-two-month pregnancy looked seven or eight months along. When he considered using his spiritual vision to inspect her, his spiritual intuition screamed: Don't look... you'll die!
Klein froze. In an instant, every coincidence and piece of knowledge he'd gathered flashed through his mind, coalescing into one phrase: You cannot gaze upon a god!
The child in her womb was likely an evil god's spawn!
That was Lanevus's "bomb"!
…
For Ince Zangwill, today was a day of reaping rewards.
Months ago, the renegade former bishop of the Evernight Church had arrived in Tingen with 0-08, orchestrating a plan to seize Saint Selena's ashes from the Tingen Nighthawks. His schemes included leaking the Antigonus Family Notebook, arranging the deaths of the original Klein and his classmate, stealing Azik's son's skull, and facilitating the birth of the True Creator's spawn.
At least half of Klein's recent string of coincidences could be traced back to Ince Zangwill.
These Klein-related arrangements nearly drove Ince, a third-rate writer obsessed with stacking coincidences, to madness. He'd tried countless times to write Klein's death, but accidents always intervened.
Ultimately, Klein... who should've perished in the Antigonus Family's Notebook incident... not only joined the Nighthawks but befriended the odd Jack Jones, gaining knowledge that saved another Nighthawk, Kenley, from a scripted death.
This was no small setback. Kenley's death was meant to destabilize Dunn, a key step in Ince's plan. Kenley's survival, though he was badly injured and sent home, was far less effective.
Logically, Ince should've paused to set up additional contingencies.
But the True Creator's spawn was maturing faster than expected. Delaying further would put it beyond 0-08's ability to manipulate. So, Ince went all-in, sending Megose, pregnant with the evil god's spawn, to Blackthorn Security Company.
When both sides were worn down, Ince could swoop in and claim his prize.
If the attack failed, he could retreat, regroup, and strike elsewhere. Hidden in the shadows, no one would know.
As Ince mused, 0-08 suddenly moved on its own, scribbling on a blank page:
"He's here! He's here!"
"I knew He was deceiving me! Gods are never trustworthy!"
0-08's agitation was clear, its writing jagged. Ince, stunned, had never seen it act this way. The quill kept writing:
"I didn't interfere with you, so you can't touch me, or I'll expose your alias…"
The writing stopped as a hand gently pressed the quill.
"Shh, I thought you'd know what to say and what to keep quiet, Quill of Alzuhod." A low voice said, laced with amusement and a hint of warning.
Ince followed the hand to a pair of radiant golden eyes, devoid of emotion, staring at him like he was a corpse.
A chill ran through Ince. Instinctively, he released 0-08 and stepped back. When he regained his senses, the stranger was toying with the quill, which, despite its usual mischief in Ince's hands, lay docile in his.
Who was this?
Ince's pupils constricted as his gaze flicked to 0-08's words, a mix of dread and absurdity flooding him.
A god? No, impossible!
Ince screamed denial in his mind, his body rigid. As a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, 0-08's questionable personality aside, few beings could rattle it like this.
The mysterious figure... Alaric... mentally assessed his Persona Mask's effect. The moment he found Ince, he'd applied a "fear" Persona Mask. Ince's reactions were all tied to its influence.
"Compared to the blunt explosion of Emotion Manipulation, Persona Masks are subtler, harder to detect, and unlike the short-lived Emotion Manipulation, they persist until I cancel them." Alaric noted, his gaze falling to the quill. Recalling its earlier assist, he smirked. "Were you deliberate or just cooperative? Are you really scared, or warning me?"
Considering 0-08's alias-exposure threat, Alaric lowered his eyes, chuckling.
He was a bit shaken. Death wasn't scary... social death was.
In that sense, 0-08 knew its stuff, bypassing death threats for a social death warning.
"But your warning's useless. I'm not the one trying to eat you…" Alaric shook his head, amused at the artifact's naivety.
He looked in a certain direction, smiling. "If you don't show yourself, I'm taking this Quill of Alzuhod with me."
***
Every 100 Power Stones and 5 Reviews will earn you a Bonus Chapter.
And if you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)