In a dark and sturdy room, Derrick Berg, who had feigned unconsciousness, suddenly rolled to his feet .
His Axe of Hurricane had already been taken away by someone and sent for inspection . Every pocket on him had also been emptied out, leaving nothing behind .
Derrick took a breath and looked around steadily .
Suddenly, his eyes lit up with two sun-like beams, causing everything in the room to be reflected clearly in his eyes .
The furniture here consisted of only a table and two chairs . Apart from these, there was also a stone-paved floor with strange patterns on it .
A half used candle was placed on the table . This was standard issue for rooms in the City of Silver because monsters could suddenly appear if the darkness prevailed for too long .
Without any hesitation, Derrick sat down and reached for the candle .
Then, he broke the candle and divided it into three sections—one was three-quarters the length of the original piece, and the other two were halved from the remaining quarter .
After Derrick’s modification, the three candlesticks’ cores were completely exposed .
Pa!
He rubbed his fingers together, creating a golden flame that lit up the three candles .
The two at the top represented Mr . Fool, and the remaining one symbolized Derrick himself .
After finishing his preparations, Derrick didn’t continue to burn the herbal powder according to the normal processes . Instead, he poured in the essential oil and leaned back, softly chanting the honorific name of The Fool and quickly entered Cogitation .
He read it over and over again, monotonously, as if he were hypnotizing himself .
With the help of Cogitation, Derrick entered a strange state where his mind was in a deep sleep and the spirituality was dispersing . He felt adrift, but also seemed to maintain a strange lucidity . His psyche kept dispersing upwards as it rose in height .
This was “artificial sleepwalking . ”
Derrick, with the permission of Mr . Fool, could simplify some of the unnecessary steps .
Above the gray fog, within the towering, ancient palace .
Klein, who was fiddling with the All-Black Eye, suddenly saw the crimson star that symbolized Little Sun burgeon with light, condensing into a human shadow, and the power of the mysterious space was stirred a little .
Upon seeing this, he couldn’t help but feel relieved . This meant that Little Sun had already completed the relatively dangerous part of the operation, and he only needed to “round up” the situation .
Klein didn’t delay, and he immediately put down the All-Black Eye and picked up the Dark Emperor card .
He instantly rose in level and authority, forcing the stirred power in the gray fog to submit to him .
Then, he picked up a paper figurine, flicked his wrist, and threw it towards the crimson star corresponding to The Sun .
The paper figurine and the flowing power intertwined and quickly expanded into a gigantic angel with twelve pairs of pitch-black wings .
The angel pierced through the crimson light and overlapped with the illusory figure of Little Sun .
It silently combusted, turning into ashes in less than a second .
At this point, Klein could no longer affect the situation of the City of Silver . As for whether his “angel substitute” could help Little Sun pass the subsequent inquiries and investigations, he lacked absolute confidence . He could only sigh inwardly .
With what has to be done completed and with all the hard work put in, all you can do is wait for fate’s arrangement . Hopefully, it will be a good result…
In a daze, Derrick saw an angel descend before him with an aura that covered the heavens, wrapping him with twelve pairs of black wings .
He suddenly came to his senses as three candles burned quietly in front of his eyes .
After sincerely thanking Mr . Fool, Derrick finished the ritual and extinguished the two candles which were part of the original quarter .
Then, he pulled them out and created a bright, golden flame in his palm .
Drip, drip, drip . The two candles quickly melted, dripping its wax onto the remaining candle or the area surrounding it .
When the candle burnt away completely, there was only one candle left on the table . It was shorter than before, but it wasn’t very obvious . It seemed like it had only been burning for a short time .
After removing the remaining traces, Derrick extinguished the last yellow-flamed candle .
He sat up in silence, staring ahead . For a long time, he didn’t do anything .
He was worried that the six-member council wouldn’t react fast enough, allowing the exploratory team members to corrupt more residents of the City of Silver with “mushrooms” and “Doom fruits . ”
He was afraid that the Chief and the others would find additional clues elsewhere, thwarting all his preparations .
He hated those “outsiders,” who lurked in the depths of the darkness, constantly carrying strong malice, including Amon and the Fallen Creator .
He felt guilty that he had avoided the expedition without warning Darc and the rest, causing them to turn into corrupted monsters .
He had painfully eliminated a classmate who could be considered a friend with his own hands .
Although Derrick didn’t see Darc’s ultimate end, he believed that a man who had transformed into that state was already no different from dead .
Derrick didn’t know how long he waited while experiencing those mixed feelings . Midway, he even rekindled the candle .
Finally, he heard the sound of the seal being removed and the door opening .
Turning his head to look, he saw, with the aid of the dim yellow candlelight, a woman in a black skirt walk in . She had her hair tied up in a ponytail and it hung down to her vest .
“Ma’am Aiflor,” Derrick subconsciously called out .
Aiflor was a pretty woman, but she had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes . She smiled and nodded in response, then she walked over with light footsteps and sat down across him .
“Do you have anything you wish to say?” she asked gently .
Derrick instinctively lifted his head and looked over, only to suddenly discover that her pupils had somehow turned into golden vertical slits .
His mind went adrift as he seemed to enter a sleepwalking state .
Aiflor adjusted the candle flame, letting the dim yellow light completely shine on the boy’s face .
Her pale golden pupils became increasingly indifferent, just like an emotionless audience .
Suddenly, rings after rings of faint light appeared in those pale golden vertical pupils . It seemed to form a vortex and constructed a maze .
In his stupor, Derrick felt himself drifting away into the endless darkness and countless bright colors .
At that moment, he suddenly became clear-headed . He felt as if something had ingeniously caught him in that state of reverie .
He saw the flickering yellow candlelight and Aiflor sitting across him with her pale gold vertical pupils .
In a corner’s shadow, a grizzled Chief, Elder Colin Iliad, walked out .
After nodding to the Chief, Aiflor asked Derrick, “What have you been doing all this time?”
Derrick remembered his training and maintained the same state of mind as before .
“I don’t know . I’ve always been in a daze as if I was in a dream . Only occasionally will I have clearness of mind…”
At the same time as his reply, two complex dark green symbols appeared in Demon Hunter Colin’s eyes .
Aiflor continued, “Do you know that you had a conflict with Darc Regence?”
“I only remember that we were fighting… I felt like I had seen a man hanging upside down on a cross and a man in a pointed hat and a crystal monocle . Yes, I saw him back at the dungeon… He had opened his mouth and spoke with a smile… . ” Derrick told a long story .
Aiflor looked at the Chief and pressed, “What did he say?”
“I can’t remember . I can only remember one thing… He said with a smile, ‘Fallen Creator, True Creator… Shepherd…’” Derrick almost failed to control his excitement .
He had taken such a risk just to tell the Chief the name of the Fallen Creator and that a Shepherd was suspicious!
“The Fallen Creator… The True Creator… It matches with the content on the murals at the bottom of the temple . ” Colin nodded slightly and whispered with a frown, “Shepherd…”
“And then?” Aiflor’s voice remained abnormally gentle .
Derrick answered in his stupor, “After that, they clashed, and there was a lot of light, very bright lights . Then, I woke up and kept coughing…”
The dark green symbols in Colin’s eyes didn’t fade this entire time as he motioned for Evelyn to ask about the details .
Derrick answered selectively, and he had pushed the blame onto Amon according to his script . He claimed amnesia on anything that went beyond that .
Finally, Aiflor asked, “Where did you get the axe? Where did you get the Sun pathway’s potion formula?”
“I bought the axe from an underground market . That person was masked, and I could only tell that he was male… The Sun pathway potion formula was left to me by my parents . They had discovered it during an expedition…” Derrick answered confidently .
These were points of suspicion that had always been there, so The Hanged Man had assumed they were bound to ask them while he was questioned . Therefore, he had made Derrick to repeatedly rehearse the answers .
Although the City of Silver’s underground market was semi-open, there were still people who tried to conceal their identities for a variety of reasons . This provided the best explanation for Derrick .
After Aiflor finished seriously listening to him, she turned her head sideways to Demon Hunter Colin and said, “He’s not lying . There’s no way he can lie . I’m using the powers of Glory Crown .
Colin nodded his head and said, “In this state, he doesn’t show any traces of evil, degeneration, or corruption . ”
Discovering these traits was a special ability of a Demon Hunter .
As a High-Sequence job, Demon Hunters were the best at concealing their movements and intentions, making it impossible for them to be detected by targets who could foretell danger .
Therefore, every Demon Hunter was a Devil’s nemesis .
After some thought, Colin got up and left the room . He said to the shadow in the corner outside, “I’ll release Derrick later . I think he’s fine for the time being .
“However, secretly monitor him for a while . If Amon is able to produce two avatars, he might be able to create a third . ”
“Yes, Chief,” the shadow responded respectfully .
After Derrick “woke up,” the interrogation chamber was empty, with only words informing him that he was free to leave .
He secretly heaved a sigh of relief as he began walking out . While doing so, he thought of Mr . Hanged Man’s advice: “You can’t relax just like that and end up careless . The secret surveillance will definitely continue for some time; otherwise, your Chief is lacking!”
Yes, I can’t even recite the honorific name of Mr . Fool anymore for the time being…Derrick muttered to himself as he walked down the spiral staircase .
As he was walking, he suddenly saw a familiar figure dressed in a purple-striped black robe . It was the beautiful Shepherd Elder Lovia .
Her pale gray eyes swept over Derrick, and a gentle smile appeared on her face .
Back in her room, with an indifferent expression, Lovia walked to the desk and unfolded a piece of parchment that was made from leather .
Her left hand pinched the index finger of her right hand and snapped the tip of her finger . However, not a single drop of blood dripped . It was as if her blood had been gathered onto the surface of her finger .
With this finger, she drew a complex symbol on the piece of paper . It was made up of a Pupil-less Eye which represented secrecy, and the Contorted Lines which represented change .
After careful examination, she wrapped the finger with this piece of paper, stuffed it into her mouth, and bit on it noisily before swallowing it all .
With only four fingers left, flesh and blood suddenly squirmed around the wound on her right palm . It quickly grew into a new index finger, one that looked slightly pale .
She lowered her head, looked at her palm, and whispered a phrase, “The Fool?”