As he fled, Klein's clothes suddenly came alive, his belt, shirt, coat, and trousers tightening, wrapping around him in circles like a bundled zongzi, with immense force, as if from a giant bear's embrace.
His forward movement halted, his body lost its balance, and he uncontrollably fell to the ground, while several translucent, gloomy green ice crystal arrows condensed in front of him, carrying a strong aura of death, striking towards his heart.
Marionette Kircheis extended his right hand forward, a pale blue flame ignited in his palm, forming a giant cage that froze the gloomy green ice crystal arrows in mid-air.
As the ice crystal arrows shattered, the pale blue flame also transformed into a transparent ice sculpture, emitting a chilling cold.
Bound by his own clothes, Klein tried to rub his fingers together, wanting to light the paper figure in his inner pocket to create some fire for a Flame Jump.
His coat tails coiled with great sentience, tightly wrapping his hands, preventing any movement.
The leaves, newspapers, and other items caught by the wind in the surroundings suddenly changed direction, shooting towards him in unison.
Just as they were about to hit him, these leaves, newspapers, and other items again defied the laws of physics, changing direction and disappearing into the trunk of a nearby roadside tree.
The tree trunk, originally as thick as an adult's waist, was instantly riddled with holes like a hornet's nest.
A pale yellow paper figure, covered with various symbolic patterns and magical marks, suddenly appeared, drifting there with a sudden gust of wind, and landing beside Klein.
As soon as it touched the ground, the paper figure instantly ignited, erupting in a bright, pale golden light, outlining peculiar symbols representing light and the sun.
The next moment, a magnificent, pure, blazing pillar of light descended from the sky, enveloping the surroundings, radiating the vast and pervasive aura of the sun.
The clothes that tightly bound Klein suddenly loosened, and a transparent, illusory body floated up in mid-air not far from him.
His appearance was extremely aged, with deep furrows forming wrinkles on his face, and his white hair as sparse as autumn leaves; it was Jax, the Saint of the Rose School.
Under the blazing sunlight, his illusory and ethereal body showed signs of melting.
Not far away, Marionette Kircheis, still in his demon form, also sizzled in the blazing sunlight, with black smoke constantly rising from his body.
The blazing sunlight came and went quickly, and the majestic and oppressive figure of the Prophet Clone appeared at the spot where the paper figure had ignited.
Before him, points of brass-colored light rapidly moved, outlining a pattern similar to a scale.
He solemnly chanted ancient hermes words in a voice filled with an indescribable sense of majesty:
"No Wraiths or specters allowed here!"
"No levitation allowed here!"
"No curses allowed here!"
As his words fell, the aura of the transparent, illusory figure floating in mid-air rapidly declined, his body became heavy, and he could no longer float in mid-air.
Without giving him a chance to react, the Prophet Clone continued to simulate the decree spell:
"Exile!"
An invisible, immense force suddenly erupted, directly blowing Jax, who was still in his specter state, away.
"Exile!"
"Exile!"
The Prophet Clone consecutively simulated the "Exile" spell ability several times, pushing Jax towards the howling, swirling gale on the other side of the street.
Having done all this, he turned his head to look at Klein, who had just gotten up from the ground, and said:
"You can summon Miss Messenger now. I have a certain degree of confidence that I can kill this Saint of the Rose School."
"However, you might have to face some dangers alone. The Blood Pirates's people are already waiting for you outside the city, and their captain is most likely a Witch King of the Moon pathway."
"I need to face a Witch King alone, and her entire pirate group... Are you sure this isn't sending me to my death?" Klein's mouth twitched slightly.
He was unfamiliar with this newly appeared pirate king, only knowing that she was sent by the Rose School of Thought to take over the Blood Pirates and the Blood Tree, and called herself the Crimson Queen.
The Prophet Clone nodded gently and said:
"You must believe in your own strength, and Miss Messenger and I are two against one, so we have enough energy to look after you."
Klein sighed softly, took out the harmonica used to summon Miss Messenger, put it to his lips, and blew hard.
Miss Messenger, dressed in a complex, ornate, dark, and gloomy black long dress, with four identical golden-haired, red-eyed heads in her hands, appeared silently.
"Is Jax, the Saint of the Rose School, who appeared here, carrying what you need?"
The four heads held by Reinette Tinekerr simultaneously looked towards the other side of the street, speaking in turn:
"Together..."
"Kill..."
"Him"
The Prophet Clone nodded knowingly. He turned back to signal to Klein that he could leave first, while saying:
"Of course, but Suah might arrive at any moment, so we need an opportunity to kill him in one blow."
In Reinette Tinekerr's hand, the head that hadn't spoken before quickly said:
"Can..."
As soon as the words fell, the Prophet Clone immediately raised his hand to create pale blue light dots, drawing a mysterious symbol representing hidden in front of him, while softly chanting in ancient hermes:
"Concealment!"
A starlit night sky, imbued with tranquility and serenity, suddenly appeared, enveloping him and Miss Messenger, concealing their presence and aura.
On the other side of the street, the howling, swirling gale in mid-air suddenly calmed down considerably, and the gloomy, dim environment brightened somewhat, as if dawn was approaching.
A golden, translucent rain began to fall from the sky, carrying a sacred and warm feeling.
These raindrops, falling on the members of the Rose School of Thought, instantly became scalding hot, burning charred marks on their skin, and emitting plumes of black smoke.
"Hmph!"
Jax, bound in mid-air by the invisible and powerful wind, snorted coldly, his voice hoarse and deep, carrying an undeniable and obvious malice and the aura of a curse.
The surrounding wind, which had formed an invisible restraint, suddenly intensified, the surrounding temperature instantly dropped, and the raindrops falling from the sky condensed into fine ice crystals, pushing forward with the suddenly fierce gale.
The howling hurricane diminished in the next moment, and in just one or two breaths, only a gentle breeze caressing the face remained.
Streaks of silver-white electric snakes flowed through the dark clouds in mid-air, as if they could fall at any moment.
At the same time, an extremely majestic mental presence, filled with intense anger, "scanned" the entirety of Bayam in a very short time, including the Prophet Clone and Miss Messenger in their concealed state; they both clearly felt the gaze "scanning" them.
The silver-white in the Prophet Clone's eyes rapidly appeared and disappeared. After a pause, he said:
"The Storm Church has used a Sealed Artifact. It feels somewhat like an item from the Black Emperor or Justiciar pathways."
"Let's get out of Bayam city first. There's no need to clash head-on with the Storm Church."
The four heads held by Reinette Tinekerr carefully surveyed their surroundings, and then one of the heads spoke:
"Can..."
As soon as the words fell, Reinette Tinekerr, carrying the four golden-haired, red-eyed heads, rapidly retreated. Where she had stood just moments before, a silver rapier sliced through the Concealment and plunged into the ground.
A tide-like burst of silver-white light suddenly erupted, the surrounding "Concealment" was strangely dissolved, and space also warped at this moment. People and objects with extraordinary power were irresistibly separated from the real world, forming two dimensions that overlapped but did not interfere with each other.
Sharp silver-white rays divided the surroundings into grid-like squares, as if segmenting a battlefield.
A silver-white transparent barrier stood between the Prophet Clone and Reinette Tinekerr. The two exchanged glances, and one of the heads held by Reinette Tinekerr suddenly opened its mouth and exhaled.
A whooshing sound of wind arose, and a chilly wind, mixed with the aura of death and cold, whistled through, blowing against the silver-white transparent barrier in front, disappearing without causing any reaction.
The Prophet Clone took two steps forward and pressed his hand against the silver-white transparent barrier, as if touching a solid air wall; no matter how hard he pushed, his arm could not advance even a centimeter further.
His wrist rotated slightly, and pale blue specks of light rippled outwards, circle after circle, but the "door" that should have formed never appeared.
He withdrew his arm and explained calmly:
"This wall seems to be an impractical existence; it cannot connect the two sides of space through 'opening a door'."
After a pause, he added, asking:
"Can you directly leave here and return to the Spirit World?"
One of the heads held by Reinette Tinekerr suddenly flew out of her hand, rapidly becoming illusory and transparent, then quickly flew back, as if it had hit something.
Her remaining three heads looked around and said in turn:
"Cannot..."
"Spirit World is..."
"Sealed..."
The Prophet Clone lowered his head thoughtfully and sighed in a deep voice:
"To be able to seal the connection between the Spirit World and reality, perhaps this Sealed Artifact controlled by the Storm Church has also integrated the higher characteristics of the Door pathway."
The head of Reinette Tinekerr that had not spoken before quickly said:
"Possibly..."
As soon as the words fell, many of the chessboard-like squares divided by the silver-white rays began to change; they either constantly exchanged positions or merged with each other.
She suddenly turned her body, her four heads and eight eyes staring intently forward and to the side, saying:
"Jax..."
"Was..."
"Thrown over..."
"Here."
The Prophet Clone did not answer her words; he had already been moved to another location with the squares on the chessboard.
The four heads held by Reinette Tinekerr looked around for a while but could not find the other's figure in the constantly changing space.
Boom!
A thick, silver-white bolt of lightning suddenly struck down. Reinette Tinekerr had a premonition and moved her position a second before the lightning struck.
Where she had stood moments before, a charred pit remained on the ground, with fine silver-white electric snakes still writhing around it.
The lightning just now seemed like a signal; layers of dark clouds in mid-air continuously had lightning flashing through them, producing rumbling sounds.
Boom! Boom!
Streaks of silver-white electric snakes shot out, carrying a violent, destructive aura so strong it was almost tangible, densely striking all around, completely enveloping the chessboard-like space where Reinette Tinekerr and Jax were located within a forest of thunder.
The brutal and fierce attacks were dense and indiscriminate, powerfully destroying everything within their range.
On the other side, an old man with grizzled hair wearing a black soft hat and unusually serious silver eyes suddenly appeared before the Prophet Clone.
He wore a black robe embroidered with the Storm symbol, and on his right hand, he wore a black glove embroidered with an eye pattern composed of numerous symbolic figures and magical marks.
Under the strong wind, his robe constantly flapped up and down, streaks of silver-white light flickered in his azure eyes, lightning coiled around his body, and heavy dark clouds spontaneously gathered in the sky.
"Heretic who blasphemes the Storm!" The old man's voice from the sky was hoarse, almost a growl, and the silver-white electric light flickering in his eyes intensified by two points.
The Prophet Clone quickly recognized his identity, twitched the corner of his mouth, and chuckled:
"Songster of God Ace Snake, former Archbishop of the Storm Church's Backlund Diocese, have you been dispatched to Bayam? Are you replacing the previous Bishop Jogori?"