LOM: Lord of Mysticism

Klein twisted open the golden bottle's cap and took a whiff of the stimulating scent that energized him.

This was Holy Night Powder. Since it was simple to concoct, Klein had made a batch the moment he got the ingredients from the underground market.

He poured some powder on his palm and collected himself. He then put away the bottle, infusing his spirituality, and scattered the powder onto the ground, forming a circle around Sirius's corpse.

A formless barrier rose, separating them from the outside world. Klein took out the other metal bottles and sprinkled the Amantha pure dew and other liquids in the surrounding area.

Klein's ritual was different than others. He had first used the Holy Night Powder before pouring the liquids to prevent Sirius's remnant spirituality from being disturbed while still managing to have an environment that satisfied the requirements of the ritual.

After finishing his preparations, Klein put away the materials and recited the Hermes incantations softly, "I pray for the power of the dark night."

"I pray for the power of the mystery."

"I pray for the Goddess' loving grace."

"I pray that you'll allow me to communicate with the heretic's spirituality inside this altar."

As the incantations reverberated throughout the sealed space, Klein felt a mysterious energy descend upon him. Seizing the opportunity, he recited a divination statement in his heart, "The formula to the Clown potion."

As he was reciting the statement, he used Cogitation to temporarily enter a dreamlike state. It was a hazy gray world without a sky or ground.

Klein was alert as he observed a transparent, ethereal figure. He extended his right hand and touched the remnants of Sirius's spirit.

The scene in front of him changed. It was a study table painted dark red. There were three candles on a silver candle stand, as well as a blank piece of paper.

Sirius had a pen in his hand and wrote in Loen language, "This is the second formula; its name in the notebook is 'Clown.'

80 milliliters of pure water, 5 drops of tornapple juice, 7 grams of black-rimmed sunflower powder, 10 grams of golden cloak grass powder, and 3 drops of poison hemlock. These are the supplementary ingredients.

The main supernatural ingredients are: one crystal of the single horn of a matured Hornacis gray mountain goat and a complete stalk of a human-faced rose."

Sirius seemed to have the Clown potion's formula memorized as he quickly finished writing it. He paused for a moment and then unwounded the silver pendulum around his wrist.

He held the pendulum and closed his eyes, muttering terms to himself such as "the end of days," "peace of mind," "hope for the Lord's blessings," and "confess.".

After Sirius finished his prayer, Klein finally saw the pendulum clearly. Under the wound silver chain was a thumb-sized human figurine that had a single eye—a trait unique to giants—and it was facing down, its legs bound by chains that connected upwards.

At that moment, the single eye of the giant had a faint red glow.

Crack! The scene shattered, causing Klein to almost kneel to the ground.

He felt dizzy, his vision turned blood-red, and he felt that his spirituality was unusually weak. But due to his progress in 'digesting' the magic medicine, the adverse reaction quickly faded.

The Hanged Giant, the True Creator... Sirius and Hanass were both members of the Aurora Order? But the Captain saw a huge cross in Hanass' dream. The terrifying being crucified on the cross wasn't the Aurora Order's Hanged Giant.

The Aurora Order was a secret organization that sprang into existence about two to three hundred years ago. They worshiped the True Creator and symbolized him with The Hanged Giant. They believed that every human being had divine qualities, and as long as they persevered and made it through many trials, they would be able to accumulate enough divine qualities to become angels.

According to the internal records of the Nighthawks, Sequence 9 of the Aurora Order was Secrets Suppliant. These Beyonders could sense the existence of mysterious beings and were armed with knowledge regarding sacrifices and some on ritualistic magic. There was enough evidence to claim that senior Secrets Suppliants experienced distortions of their worldview and lost control easily.

Little was known about the Aurora Order's Sequence 7. Sequence 8 was Listener. This was considered quite a terrifying 'job' for a Beyonder.

Every Listener could listen directly to the whispers of the secret entities; thus, they frequently came into contact with distorted abilities. But consequently, if they were unable to advance, it was difficult for them to survive the next five years after becoming a Listener. Furthermore, the comments in the Nighthawks reports were that every Listener was a lunatic. Even if they appeared normal on the surface, they were always crazy on the inside.

The details regarding the Aurora Order flashed through Klein's mind, forming an initial theory that Sirius was a Secrets Suppliant.

From the description, Secrets Suppliant are as hopeless as Seers in battle. That does fit Sirius's actions.

Did he later lose control brought about by the injury? Frye once said that every Beyonder would more or less undergo some weird changes after they die...

After his spirituality recovered slightly, he concluded the ritual with the appropriate procedure and dismantled the wall of spirituality.

With a whoosh, a gust of wind blew as Klein forced himself to look at Sirius's corpse.

Klein felt a tinge of regret as he reflected on the missed opportunities during his encounter with Sirius. Why didn't I extract more useful information from his spirit? I could've obtained the other two formulas, learned more about Mr. Z, or even uncovered a way to infiltrate his cult. Killing him outright severed all potential leads. I acted rashly, wasting the chance to advance my investigation.

As Klein mulled over his choices, a nagging thought surfaced. Am I being too passive? Everything seems to fall into my lap without much effort. Upon my transmigration, I was inexplicably gifted the mysterious space above the gray fog by chanting an incantation from my previous life. The Nighthawks recruited me because they happened to investigate the mysterious circumstances around the original Klein's death, yet I never had to prove myself or pass any rigorous tests to join them. The Seer potion was handed to me because they needed my abilities. My fight with the Clown stemmed from stumbling upon Ray's home after a sudden dream premonition about the Antigonus family's notebook. And now, I coincidentally gain the advancement formula by wandering into the library and encountering Sirius Arapis, the very man I was investigating, who just so happened to borrow magazines on the exact subject of the Hornacis mountain range.

He clenched his fists as frustration bubbled within him. Is everything really this convenient? Am I a fool? When I chose the Seer Pathway, I did so because of a tarot reading and Emperor Roselle mentioning that he regretted choosing the Savant Pathway. For the first time, Klein began to question whether his path had been shaped by his own will or by a series of fortunate accidents.

Klein noticed that there was still an obvious wart on Sirius's mangled face. It was a dark purple wart, almost black, and there seemed to be liquid gleaming within.

"What kind of transformation was that?" Klein didn't dare touch it. He bent over and retrieved his cane, allowing it to bear his weight.

For reasons unknown, Sirius's spirituality had been destroyed, and even the Spirit Medium Daly would be unable to communicate with him.

After a while, Klein saw Captain Dunn and his partners, Leonard and Kenley.

"It seems like your fate is tied to Beyonders and evil forces. In just a few weeks, you have come across more supernatural incidents than what we usually see in months." Leonard looked at the corpse on the ground.

"It might not be a coincidence," Klein added and thought about the red chimney he had seen in his dream divination, as well as the majestic palace on the main peak of the Hornacis mountain range and the formless focus on him.

Dunn looked around and asked, "You tried channeling his spirit?"

There were still traces of Holy Night Powder and the scent of the essential oils.

"Yes," Klein replied. "I was worried that you would arrive late and that the remains of his spirituality would scatter."

Klein passed Sirius's undelivered letter and began from the beginning. "When I went to the underground market to purchase materials for the rituals, I suddenly remembered that Selena had also once gone to the Evil Dragon Bar and that it was Hanass Vincent that brought her there. Thus, I suspected that the person in the portrait is someone who's connected to Hanass and might have gone to the underground market too.

I asked the boss Swain about the portrait, and he told me that the man had once tried to buy documents and items related to the Hornacis Mountains. That reminded me of the library. I recalled that the librarian had mentioned that someone had just returned the journal issue I wanted to borrow..."

Leonard, who stood to the side, interrupted, "And so you brought your identification documents and badge here to flip through the borrowing records? Actually, I am very curious; why would you come into conflict with this man here? Even if it was a direct encounter, with your style of doing things, you would've pretended that you didn't know him and would just leave the library. Then you would come to Zouteland Street to ask for our help."

"Yes, there was no need for you to take the risk. As long as you confirm the target and that he hasn't left Tingen, there would always be a way to find him," Dunn added as he reviewed the letter.

Klein immediately said in embarrassment, "The librarian recognized him and shouted for the police to help.

There's no way I could have pretended not to hear that..."

Dunn nodded, his gaze leaving the letters. "Did you get anything from channeling his spirit?"

"I saw a pendulum that took the shape of a Hanged Giant. I saw a blood-red glow flash in the giant's only eye before I was forced out of the ritual," Klein described.

He didn't mention the Clown potion for the time being as he had two considerations.

First, if Dunn and the rest were able to find Sirius's hideout and the corresponding records, then it would make no difference if he told them or not, as there would be no additional contributions attributed to him.

Second, if Dunn and the rest were unable to find it, he could report it in the future. This way, he would be awarded with another contribution, allowing him to acquire the ingredients needed to concoct a potion. This was a way to obtain double the rewards.

"Aurora Order?" Dunn muttered to himself before asking some relevant questions.

After Klein answered all his questions, he saw the fatigue in his eyes and waved his cane. "Not bad. You foiled a scheme that was targeting Tingen. You can go back and rest. Kenley, bring Old Neil over. 

Before Sequence 6, Beyonders of the Sleepless pathway lack many supplemental abilities. We can only conduct the simplest of ritualistic magic."

After leaving the Daffodil Street Library, Klein nearly fell asleep in the carriage on multiple occasions on his way back.

He lumbered into the house and removed his hat and jacket before falling asleep on the sofa.

Sometime later, he woke up abruptly and took out his pocket watch.

"Melissa will be back in half an hour, Benson in forty-five minutes... If I don't get up, I'll have to make them wait an hour before we can have dinner..."

Klein entered the kitchen, washed his face with cold water, then took out the oxtail, tomatoes, carrots, and onions he had bought that afternoon.