Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

In the workshop of the Surry family mansion in West Borough, Backlund, Ebner was meticulously carving runes onto a bell, solidifying the ritual to summon the "Demon Wolf Ghost."

Beside his hand, there were conspicuously four other bells, identical to the one he was working on.

—After obtaining the separated Beyonder characteristics, Ebner left Harvest Church, but he didn't "teleport" directly to Tosk. Instead, he first came to the Surry family's workshop, intending to craft several items that could summon "messengers."

At the workbench, Ebner simulated the "Artisan's" ability, utilizing his "spirituality," relying on his own knowledge and established designs, and assisted by steam-powered mechanical arms, to engrave various symbolic patterns, corresponding spiritual numbers, magical symbols, and ancient incantations on both sides of the bell.

When the final stroke was laid, Ebner, whose mind felt somewhat drained, disengaged the mechanical arm's power source, then began to infuse spirituality into the bell.

The bell was bell-shaped, with no metal clapper suspended inside, yet under the effect of spirituality, it emitted a series of clear sounds whose source was impossible to pinpoint.

"Dong! Dong! Dong..."

Accompanied by this sound, an eight-legged demon wolf ghost emerged from the void. It looked at its "master" who had summoned it with a rather human-like, helpless gaze.

After all, this scene had already occurred four times before, and even a "Husky's" disposition would grow tired of it.

"You've worked hard!" Ebner rubbed its head—which, despite being a spirit body, felt surprisingly furry—then ended the summoning, sending it back to the Spirit World.

"Five bells... that should be enough," Ebner thought to himself while tidying up the workshop. "There's no way Xio would ask me to pray directly to Mr. Fool; she doesn't need this... Similarly, the same applies to Klein."

"So, leaving one bell for Hazel should suffice before my teacher returns to Backlund.

"Her Beyonder circle isn't large, but almost all of them are my friends... With this bell, Aetris, Bishop Utravsky, or even Emlyn, if they want to find me, can do so through her.

"Edwina needs one for convenience of contact... Klein should still be on the 'Golden Dream,' so he can hand it over.

"Cullen and Judy have Silly Red there, so they don't need my messenger;

"Miss Gwen, young Trann, and Lydia... I don't know where they've sailed to, and I can't contact them currently...

"The Evernight Goddess... I'll pass on that... And this demon wolf ghost seems very afraid of the Goddess."

As he thought this, Ebner had already restored the workshop to its original state, then put away the bells, "simulated" a "short-range teleportation," and directly arrived at "Elk Manor" in the northwest suburbs.

This manor originally belonged to a viscount and has a history of over a hundred years. Councillor Macht bought it after getting married and spends a sum of money each year on major renovations so he can invite friends for holidays on weekend in autumn and winter.

—Ebner had casually exchanged pleasantries with Bishop Utravsky before leaving Harvest Church and learned that Hazel was currently at this manor.

However, as soon as his figure materialized in the manor's garden, he sensed something was amiss. After all, it was already close to dinner time, yet there wasn't a single light in the main building of the manor nearby!

Moreover, Ebner smelled a faint scent of blood in the air.

"Something's happened..."

Ebner activated his Eye of Pure White and carefully observed the main manor building nearby.

"The entire building has been swallowed by a powerful spirit, no wonder there's no light visible from outside...

"No... that's not right! Rather than a spirit, it's more like an out-of-control Beyonder...

"So that's it! It's an out-of-control Gatekeeper! The 'Door' within him is connecting the Underworld with the main manor building!

"This manor was once dragged into an independent space by Demoness of Affliction Rey using the Church of Storms' Sealed Artifact '2-001'... Could it be that lingering influence from that incident made it a target for this out-of-control Gatekeeper?"

"But no matter what, Hazel's current situation is probably not good..."

As thoughts whirled, Ebner Bryan did not rashly attack the invisible barrier shrouding the main building. After all, the Eye of Pure White was quite slow at "analyzing" Spirit World-related phenomena, and the Underworld is part of the Spirit World, so currently, he could only get a general idea.

It would be terrible if breaking the barrier caused Hazel's family to fall into the Underworld...

Several thoughts ran through his mind, and Ebner Bryan finally put on the bronze ring crafted from a Wraith on his finger, then accommodated the Door card, flying directly towards the main manor building and quickly merging into the barrier.

A Wraith is a type of spirit, and with the Door card, one can naturally pass through the "door" within a Gatekeeper.

.....

In the living room on the second floor of the main building, Hazel, with long dark green wavy hair and bright dark brown eyes, was biting her lip, continuously drawing the string of a short bow, shooting out streaks of bright fire to eliminate the ghosts and spirits invading from the doorway.

Behind her lay a dozen men and women in disarray, including her parents, Councillor Macht and Madam Liana, her personal maid, the manor's servants and butler, and even bodyguards hired by her father.

For this sixteen-year-old girl, her current predicament was even more dangerous than what she faced at the Daily Observer headquarters or the Aurora Order's stronghold.

After all, there was no powerful Detective Ebner Bryan to help her sever the pollution, nor was there a reliable Bishop Utravsky "guarding" her...

This was her first time facing the horrors of the Beyonder world alone!

Fortunately, she still had a metal arm fighting alongside her—Green Lion.

Thanks to Green Lion, when she first discovered an enemy attacking the manor, she decisively used the "guard" ability provided by the metal arm to create a barrier in the living room and called in her family, who had not yet been completely drawn into the Underworld and lost consciousness.

However, the barrier provided by the metal arm was, after all, not comparable to a true Guardian; it had many flaws, forcing her to personally shoot down the ones that slipped through.

But as time passed, the barrier's flaws would only grow larger, and even if she was only using a "magical item," Hazel's spirituality, at Sequence 8, was ultimately limited...

Although she hadn't reached her limit yet, Hazel estimated that she could only hold out for ten more minutes at most!

But in that short time, the Church's Beyonder team couldn't possibly arrive, unless a Nighthawk, Mandated Punisher, or Machinery Hivemind member happened to be passing by.

But "Elk Manor" was unfortunately in the suburbs...

What would Ebner or the Bishop do if they were in my position?

Thinking of how Ebner , upon discovering the pollution, could have escaped alone but chose not to leave the ball, instead warning the Mandated Punishers... thinking of Bishop Utravsky bravely resisting the terrifying attacks of the Aurora Order's divine envoy without retreating a step...

Hazel made her decision: Even if I die, I will hold out until the last moment!

Even if she ran away alone, relying on the metal arm created by the Alchemist, her success rate of escaping danger wouldn't be low... but her family was right behind her!

However, her unwavering will could not bridge the huge gap between herself and an out-of-control Gatekeeper. As the barrier's flaws grew larger, the spirits invading the living room increased in both quantity and quality.

Finally, Hazel made a mistake. After strenuously shooting down a Sequence 7 spirit, she couldn't account for several evil spirits pouncing on her parents and family!

Just as Hazel bit her lip, despairingly watching the evil spirits' claws reach for her mother's body, unable to even unleash any attack, a bronze whistle was suddenly thrown into the living room, landing on the floor on the other side.

And those evil spirits that were initially pouncing on the Macht couple all paused, their "gazes" fixed on the trajectory of the falling whistle. Immediately after, they swarmed it, completely ignoring the "delicacy" that was almost within their grasp.

Immediately following, a clump of golden, dense flames appeared out of nowhere at the whistle's location, and a sacred aura permeated the air.

"Flame of Light"!

The evil spirits that pounced on the whistle simultaneously let out shrill screams, turning into nothingness in the golden firelight.

At this moment, the figure of a handsome man with brown curly hair also materialized from illusion, appearing in the living room.

"Ebner ?!" Hazel's despairing emotions vanished instantly after seeing the appearance of the suddenly arrived reinforcement.

It was as if with this person's arrival, all crises and difficulties could be perfectly resolved.

Ebner didn't yet know that the young lady before him held him in such high regard. He picked up the ancient brass whistle Jane had given him, and inwardly sighed with emotion:

"The tactics developed by Mr. Fool are truly effective!"