Chapter 283 A Regrettable Harvest
It was not until the second half of the night that Angel returned to the safe house in the East District after passing through the sewers and unlit alleys throughout the city.
The residents around had already turned off the lights and gone to bed, so she didn't dare to light the gas lamp. Instead, she went to the bedroom in the dark, took off her bloodstained clothes, treated her wounds, and changed into new clothes.
On the way, Angel took the healing potion he bought from the pharmacist Darkwell. At this time, the wound caused by Ms. D through the extraordinary ability of the "Arbitrator" channel had healed for the most part, but a small amount of blood still seeped out, which quickly soaked the bandage. Fortunately, the potion made by the "pharmacist" through the extraordinary ability also had bactericidal ability, avoiding the possibility of subsequent wound infection.
After dealing with these things, she finally had time to sit at the desk in her bedroom and carefully study what she had gained tonight.
After Ms. D's death, there was no doubt that she had developed extraordinary characteristics. However, apart from the dagger that seemed to be made of bone, there were actually two different extraordinary characteristics. This was what Angel was most curious about.
First, he picked up the object wrapped in darkness with a hint of light, placed it behind the palm-sized magic mirror, stroked the mirror surface, and performed a magic mirror divination with it as the target.
"Mirror, mirror, tell me, why would the owner of a Beyonder disguise himself as someone else?"
This is her biggest concern at the moment. Moreover, the remaining characteristics belonging to Ms. D will decrease rapidly over time. If she does not do divination immediately, she may not get any results.
Some fragments of images soon appeared on the mirror. Just as Angel worried, several hours passed and the divination results had become fragmented. She only vaguely heard incomprehensible short sentences such as "the Earl's property", "the Duke", and "next year's plan". But one thing is certain, Ms. D did intend to become Audrey and get close to Earl Hall.
Even Audrey, a "mind reader" who is good at observing other people's expressions and movements, couldn't see through her disguise. If there were no powerful Beyonder beside Earl Hall, she would most likely have gotten away with it!
Thinking with some fear, Angel stroked the magic mirror and asked the second question.
"Mirror, mirror, tell me, which sequence does this Beyonder characteristic belong to?"
A windowless secret room soon appeared in the mirror. Ms. D, dressed in a black robe, looked at a parchment with unclear contents. She then mixed a cup of blood-red potion and slowly approached a tall man who was tortured to a cross in the corner. She drank the potion in one gulp and then turned into a shadow, attaching herself to the man's body.
As the man screamed at the top of his lungs, his body melted into a pool of flesh and blood. From the flesh and blood emerged the naked Ms. D, who knelt on the ground trembling and unable to stand up for a long time.
The mirror returned to calm, but Angel's heart was still not at peace for a long time.
According to Laura, to advance from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5, one needs to perform a corresponding advancement ceremony when taking the potion. This is clearly the case with Ms. D in the divination image. Therefore, this extraordinary characteristic should be the characteristic that emerged after the death of the "Shepherd".
Unfortunately, the divination information was insufficient, and the formula of the "Shepherd" potion was not obtained. The ceremony was also incomplete. All she knew was that her promotion led to the death of a man, but the man's identity and sequence were completely unclear.
Based on her understanding of the difficulty of a Demon advancing to Sequence 5, she was afraid that the sacrifice for his advancement to Shepherd would at least be of a similar Sequence, or even a Sequence 5 Beyonder...
Although no more information was obtained, fortunately, the divination process went very smoothly. The Beyonder characteristic was not contaminated by Ms. D's loss of control before her death. This Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristic meant gold pounds far exceeding Sequence 6 characteristics, and even a magical item with the ability to "graze".
Carefully placing it back on the table, Angel's gaze turned to the flat object next to it, about the size of a human face, which was constantly changing color and surface texture.
It is said to be about the size of a human face, but in fact it looks like human skin peeled off from a human face. However, there are no bloodstains or subcutaneous tissue on both sides, and the surface is constantly changing, sometimes with skin texture, and sometimes like hard stone.
Next to it was the last catch of the night. It was about 20 centimeters long, with a sharp tip and a dagger-like shape, but the surface was pale and the end was slightly bulging, like a human leg bone that had been violently broken.
With just a slight touch, Angel felt endless strength rising from her body. She knew that this item was likely to have merged with part of Ms. D's body and could be used directly like the "Scarlet Eye", but she didn't know the side effects, so she didn't dare to try further.
Through divination with the magic mirror, she quickly confirmed that the "human skin" came from a Beyonder in the "Faceless Man" sequence, and the leg bone dagger was the Beyonder characteristic of the "Dawn Knight".
If the divination results were correct, it meant that after the "Shepherd" died, she would gradually extract the Beyonder attributes of all the souls she had "herded." This included the Faceless Man and the Dawn Knight she had already acquired, but there must be other attributes that had yet to be extracted, such as a certain sequence of the "Interrogator" pathway, a certain sequence for controlling the Flame Lance...
There was also the "Scarlet Eye" that she had stuffed into Ms. D's body at the critical moment. The characteristics of the "Rose Bishop" and the contamination of the "True Creator" on it had disappeared. Perhaps it was picked up by the official Beyonder who arrived later along with other delayed characteristics.
But the situation was urgent at the time. Sherlock transformed into the "Black Emperor" ghost and delayed time on the ground to prevent the arrival of the official extraordinary people. She could only quickly pick up some of the characteristics that had been extracted and leave the scene.
Even the two extraordinary characteristics that have been obtained have been combined with some body tissues, forming a strange state of half characteristic, half magical item.
The former can be directly covered on the face and change into different faces according to the user's intention. It seems that Ms. D may have used the ability of the "Faceless Man" to change into the appearance of Islant and deceive Audrey; the latter can greatly increase the power of the user. These are all abilities of the characteristics themselves and are a very primitive usage.
"Perhaps with the help of an Artisan, I can further process them and make them into truly magical items. While that would have some negative side effects, the effect would be even more complete. Unfortunately, I only know one Artisan, and she's a member of the Mechanical Heart. If I give her these Beyonder attributes, especially the Shepherd attribute, it would definitely expose my involvement in tonight's battle..."
Angel looked at the human skin and leg bone dagger on the table and fell into deep thought.
"Let's go to the Tarot Club and ask first. Mr. Hanged Man might have other sources for craftsmen. We also need to discuss the disposal of the spoils with Miss Justice to avoid exposing our identities..."
After some thought, she decided to wait until after tomorrow's Tarot meeting before dealing with the spoils.
He placed the "Shepherd" trait into a spiritually isolated box, and also separated the other two semi-combined traits to prevent them from being further affected by other objects and merging into something even more inexplicable. Only then did Angel put on his hood, silently recite Mr. Fool's name, and give tonight's report.
“Mr. Fool,” she said after reciting his honorific name. She first reported tonight’s events in detail, then said, “Thanks to the help of your believer Sherlock Moriarty, I have avoided the official Beyonder’s search. He took the corresponding risks, and I am willing to pay a certain price for this.”
After a moment, she added:
"Also, please tell Miss Justice that she will soon face inquiries and scrutiny from official Beyonders and needs to prepare. If Nighthawk is responsible for this, she may need a little help from you."
Judging from Angel's two months of experience as a Nighthawk, Audrey would most likely face her first interrogation the next morning. She was a victim of the incident, and the official Beyonders would not use harsh means to force her to explain the situation. But if the Nighthawks were responsible, Nightmare could get the information he needed in a less intense way.
Angel is confident that he can lie in his dreams, but Audrey, a Sequence 8 "mind reader", does not have this ability. Currently, only Mr. Fool can help her.
And no matter how Audrey responded, as "Erin Watson" who appeared at the scene with her, she would be exposed to the sight of the official Beyonders. The two guards who followed her to the seminar and the personal maid Anne had seen her and knew her superficial identity. Even if Audrey lied to get herself out, once the scope of evidence collection was expanded, she would not be able to hide it from anyone.
"Fortunately, this is just a fake identity. As followers of the Goddess of Night, Earl Hall's family will likely face scrutiny from the Night Watchers. Their methods are relatively 'gentle'. They'll have Audrey invite me to the Hall family, and then question me through dreaming and spirit communication, rather than broadly scrutinizing everyone, even including Sylvia. As for communicating with others in dreams, I have extensive experience..."
She recalled tonight's battle and the various loopholes in her identity since arriving in Backlund, and quickly formulated a corresponding plan.
Then, she glanced at the moon outside the window, closed the curtains, and lay directly on the bed. Fighting the pain from the wounds all over her body and the desire accumulated after taking off the "Ring of Madness", she gradually fell asleep.
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