Chapter 377: The Wrong Story

Chapter 377: The Wrong Story

On the outskirts of Tinggen, a house with a lush green lawn.

Just before dawn, a loud crash echoed from the study, accompanied by a scream filled with immense pain and fury.

The source of the sound had dark golden hair, one blind eye, and deep blue eyes that were nearly black. His nose was prominent, his lips tightly pressed, and his features were chiseled like a sculpture.

If members of the Nocturne team were present, they would recognize this person as the former Grand Bishop of the Church of Night, who had defected—Ins Zangwill.

At that moment, his face was ashen, his expression one of unbearable pain, his eyes blazing with anger. In front of him, the desk had been destroyed by an unknown force, and an ancient quill pen lay quietly on the floor.

On the fallen notebook, a few lines of text were faintly visible in the dim morning light.

"Due to unknown reasons, Lanerus was killed by an inexplicable anomaly, forcing Ins Zangwill to alter his plans."

"Mr. Z, who was supposed to stay in the Aurora Society and manage Enmat Port, came to Tinggen after receiving reports from Cyrus and Hennesson. Like the other divine messengers, he was devoutly loyal to the 'True Creator.' After killing the useless Hennesson, he promoted Cyrus to Sequence 7 'Shadow Monk' and secretly infiltrated Maigeowise's inner circle."

"Ms. Shelun died mysteriously, her cause of death as unknown as Lanerus's, and the unknown anomaly once again disrupted the situation."

"Powerless against this inexplicable reality, Ins Zangwill had no choice but to arrange for other targets."

"He made Reil Bieber, the holder of the Antigonous Notes, even more calm than usual, hiding his tracks, erasing most clues, and finding a sufficiently safe place to begin absorbing the legacy from the notes. As for the remaining clues, Ins Zangwill would help erase them, ensuring the Nocturne team found nothing."

"The Antigonous Notes contained a fragment of the 'Half Fool's' power. If the holder had a strong enough will, they could absorb more of this power and become sufficiently powerful."

"Although Reil Bieber's will was disappointingly weak, the kind-hearted Ins Zangwill decided to offer assistance. '0-08' was not just a 'Writer' capable of orchestrating scripts but also the second-best 'Psychologist' in the world."

"Evil begets evil. Forcing '0-08' to write a mediocre and despicable script, Ins Zangwill faced retribution when his Spiritual Energy was depleted. He encountered a particularly vile and sticky demigod with countless flesh-colored tentacles, which dragged him into the Spirit Realm and repeatedly invaded every orifice of his body."

"Had he not been the 'Gatekeeper' and promptly closed the passage, the consequences would have been even worse. From this, Ins Zangwill should thank the Church of Night for his upbringing."

"Praise the Goddess!"

"Ins Zangwill planned to gather all available forces and orchestrate a coincidental encounter between the Nocturne team and Maigeowise, who was nurturing the offspring of an evil deity, and the Aurora Society that protected her, sparking a war."

"The arrival of the High Deacon Cresta disrupted all his plans."

"Although only a Sequence 5, this High Deacon, when paired with the holy relic 'Goddess's Sword,' could briefly contend with a demigod and was under the Goddess's watchful eye. This made Ins Zangwill hesitant to act against him, forcing him to suppress his emotions and continue waiting for the right moment."

"Fortunately, the High Deacon got along well with Kline Moretti, who had survived by a stroke of luck. During a visit, he coincidentally met Mr. Azik, who had been sent by Kline's mentor to check on a student."

"Azik carried a special secret, and Cresta clearly had a mission. Their conversation was kept secret, and no one knew what they discussed, but they decided to travel to the southern continent immediately."

"There was undoubtedly a conspiracy at play."

"Unfortunately, the short-sighted Ins Zangwill paid no attention to such long-term matters. He was relieved that Cresta and the secretive Azik had left, reducing two threats to his plans."

"He decided to arrange for all members of the Nocturne team to die."

"Only then could Dunn Smith, who had learned the acting method from Cresta, successfully confessed to Daly, and was about to be promoted to deacon, suffer a psychological trauma and become the person Ins Zangwill desired."

(The following text was heavily scribbled over)

"His plan to arrange the first death, Kline, failed under normal circumstances."

"This was another 'anomaly,' similar to the deaths of Lanerus and Ms. Shelun."

Ins Zangwill's face was a mix of frustration and uncertainty. He had originally planned everything meticulously, ensuring that every detail was just right, but somehow, everything had spiraled out of control.

"It shouldn't be like this."

He spoke in a cold, low voice, repeating himself.

"The story shouldn't be like this!"

Ins Zangwill cast a chilling gaze out into the lingering darkness, his eyes filled with fear, awe, humiliation, and an indomitable sense of defiance. All these emotions eventually coalesced into a deep, burning anger.

With the power of "0-08", Ins Zangwill was fully capable of finding the Sequence 4 Extraordinary Traits of the "Insomnia", "Gravekeeper", or "Warrior" paths, even if it took more time.

But he stubbornly chose to target the Church of the Black Night.

"Is this your revenge on me?"

"Do you think I will submit? No, I will make the Church of the Black Night realize how foolish and wrong it was to abandon me!"

He clutched "0-08" tightly, his face contorted with malice.

"Due to the unusual celestial phenomena, all orthodox churches have been on high alert. The evil offspring in Maigeowise's womb has always felt that staying too long in the womb would lead to unforeseen consequences. The short gestation period and the arrival of Cresta forced it to endure. Now, with Cresta's departure, the uncertain evil offspring has made a decision. It will shorten the gestation period and have Mr. Z sacrifice human lives to accelerate its growth, reducing the time needed from two months to less than a week!"

"Meanwhile, Reil Bieber, who already holds the Antigonous Notes and is half-mad, can no longer endure his thirst for power. He will attempt to fully absorb all the power from the Antigonous Notes once he is ready, which will also take less than a week."

Since he couldn't outsmart them, he would overpower them!

Kill everyone as quickly as possible and retreat before the situation gets out of hand!

After finishing these thoughts, the crazed look in Ins Zangwill's eyes did not diminish. He put down the quill and extended his right hand toward the ground, gripping it tightly.

A phantom double door appeared.

The doors seemed to be made of bronze, not entirely real but exceptionally heavy, with countless strange patterns and symbols of unknown meaning.

The Netherworld Gate!

With a creak, the door opened a crack, and pale, blood-soaked arms reached out, followed by black vines with infant faces and slimy tentacles with protruding eyes.

"Come, do as you please, as long as you can help me at the crucial moment!"

Ins Zangwill endured the stench, the cold, and the nauseating decay of the undead, spreading his arms in a gesture of surrender, determined to face his fate.

Seemingly pleased by this posture, the slimy tentacles writhed in delight and slowly extended toward Ins Zangwill.

...

Barkeland Queens District, Hall Manor.

Aurelia once again locked herself in her room, sitting in front of her vanity, lost in thought.

She blushed, a mix of anger and embarrassment, as well as sweetness and intoxication.

"Aurelia."

She bit her lip, muttering softly, "That's too much, how can you force me to..."

"Aurelia."

"And that place, how can you use it like that..."

Suzie tilted her head, looking at her owner. Since the meeting with Luke a few days ago, Aurelia had been frequently in this state.

She walked over and nudged Aurelia's smooth calf, bringing the girl back to her senses.

"What's wrong, Suzie?"

Aurelia, regaining her composure, felt her face heat up. She coughed lightly to cover it up and squatted down to pet Suzie's back.

"Do you want to accept the invitation to the banquet?"

Aurelia hesitated, "What banquet is it today?"

It was Monday, the fixed gathering day for the Tarot Club. She didn't want to waste her time on trivial social events.

"It's a banquet hosted by Prince Edsac at the Red Rose Manor. He specifically sent you an invitation, and Anne has asked you twice."

As the beloved daughter of the Earl of Hall and with her striking appearance, many dukes, marquises, and even princes had shown interest in her, including Prince Edsac.

"I'm not feeling well, so I won't go."

Aurelia thought for a moment and decided she didn't want to deal with her suitors again, telling the maid to decline the invitation.

She returned to her room and quietly waited for the Fool's invitation.

...

"Is this your new dog?"

Kline, who had come to Luke's house to freeload a meal after a long time, saw a dog crouched in the corner with a human-like expression of despair as soon as he entered.

Luke, who was busy with lunch, glanced at the dog and nodded nonchalantly.

"I picked it up last night. It felt pretty good, so I kept it."

"Does it... bite?"

"It does, but it probably won't bite you."

"Let me try... Is there rabies in this era? By the way, can ritual magic cure cancer? Many diseases are hard to treat in medicine, but it should be pretty easy in mysticism, right?"

Kline couldn't resist and cautiously petted the dog.

The dog didn't resist, its nose twitched a few times, seemingly recognizing a familiar scent. Its eyes lit up, and it rubbed against Kline's hand, wagging its tail uncontrollably.

"It looks pretty majestic, but I didn't expect it to be so affectionate."

Kline was oddly charmed by this contrast, stroking the dog's smooth fur, feeling his mood improve significantly.

He petted for a while before letting go, going to the table to wash his hands and eat. But he froze as soon as he sat down.

In front of Luke was an ancient silver mirror with intricate patterns, displaying a scene that was heartbreakingly familiar.

The gameplay of Bloodline Curse!?

It was like seeing a water-cooled machine gun in an ancient oil painting or a novel plot in a scientific paper—utterly incongruous and hard to believe.

"Calm down, do you not watch videos while you eat?"

Facing Kline's increasingly distorted expression, Luke calmly put food in his mouth, acting exceptionally composed.

"Damn!"

Kline rarely swore, but seeing this scene, he couldn't help but burst out. He eagerly moved closer, watching the changing images, feeling a mix of emotions.

"Do you want to screw Gehrman, Maigeowise, or the Moon Goddess?"

"No, no, I... you... how did you get this ipad?"

Kline was incredibly excited, babbling incoherently.

"It's not an ipad. It's just an Extraordinary Item that can display some images."

Luke glanced at him, not mentioning that the mirror was used to communicate with the Spirit Realm, and that much of the information was damaged, with only the most famous and widely spread information being better preserved.

Kline stared at the mirror with sparkling eyes, filled with desire. "Dude, can you let me use this mirror?"

"Call me dad."

"Dad!"

Luke: "..."

"Do you have to be so quick to give in? What about your principles?"

"They were already used up when my college roommate brought me meals."

Kline reminisced, muttering, "And compared to groveling to clients to revise plans, calling someone 'dad' a couple of times is a piece of cake."

Luke propped his chin, pondered for a moment, and handed Arodes to Kline, smiling.

"Alright, you can keep it."

...

The opulence at the Red Rose Manor surpassed that of ordinary banquets. Rows of long tables were laden with ingredients more precious than gold, and deep red wine was served in transparent glass cups by waiters to each gentleman and lady.

In the dance floor, handsome men and beautiful women danced to romantic music, occasionally twirling or strolling.

The atmosphere was exceptionally harmonious, with a large number of people smiling warmly, gathering in small groups to chat. Occasionally, a few would temporarily leave their seats to talk to friends, returning with smiles on their faces.

As Laribaron walked through the crowd, he "accidentally" bumped into a guest, causing the wine in the guest's hand to spill onto his clothes, leaving a noticeable stain.

He quickly apologized.

"I'm very sorry, I was walking too fast."

The guest, dressed in a black tuxedo and looking rather low-key, shook his head indifferently. He glanced at the wine-stained collar, a faint smile on his face.

"I wasn't paying much attention either. It's not your fault."

"No, please allow me to compensate you."

Laribaron was exceptionally serious, his tone gentle yet firm. "And it's inappropriate for a gentleman to continue attending the banquet with a stained shirt. Why don't you come with me to the rest room to change?"

"I see."

The guest's lips curled slightly. He pinched the monocle in his deep eye socket and nodded.

"Alright, thank you, sir."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end