"Honorable Mr. Azik, I recently learned a terrifying piece of news concerning the offspring of an Evil God."
"Do you still remember the Lanevus fraud case that caused such a stir some time ago?
That Lanevus should be a crazed Evil God believer. During his scam, he deceived a girl named Megose, and made her pregnant."
"Yes, at first glance this seems like something ordinary, but I have a strong premonition that Lanevus intends to use the child inside Megose's belly to conduct an Evil God Descent ritual!"
"My knowledge regarding the offspring of Evil Gods is extremely lacking, so I wish to consult you, Mr. Azik, whether there is any way to verify the truth of my suspicion, and if so, how to resolve this matter."
"This is of utmost importance. I hope Mr. Azik can reply as soon as possible. Your student, Klein."
After Klein finished writing the letter, he read through it twice more to confirm there were no mistakes. Then, blowing the copper whistle, he summoned Mr. Azik's messenger and sent the letter off.
"Besides consulting Mr. Azik, what else do I need to do?"
"Mm, remind the Captain, and also warn the members of the Night Watcher squad to be careful, in case of accidents."
"I should also be extra cautious about my own safety… could this whole matter be manipulated by Ince Zangwill and 008 behind the scenes?"
At that thought, Klein's face drastically changed. He couldn't sit still any longer.
If this truly was arranged by 008, then his situation wasn't just dangerous, it was extremely dangerous!
No, he couldn't stay at home. For now, he needed to live at the company to prevent any accidents.
Klein hastily wrote a small note to Melissa and Benson, telling them that he needed to work late nights continuously to decipher a batch of ancient texts, and wouldn't be able to return home for some time.
He placed the note in the hall, weighed it down with a water glass to prevent it from being blown away.
After finishing all this, Klein left home and quickly took a carriage to Blackthorn Security Company.
...
A river flowed out from deep within the forest, passing by the front of a small wooden hut.
The hut had two rooms and a living space. One room was a bedroom, the other a study.
At this moment in the study, the dim golden glow of the setting sun filtered through the leaves outside the window, spilling onto an unremarkable diary resting on the desk.
A pen moved on its own, without any wind, beginning to write another story.
"The miraculous Klein, the undying Klein, he somehow learned of the matter between Lanevus and Megose. Yes, he already sensed that Megose might be carrying an Evil God's offspring."
"This defies common sense, defies logic. This is not something Klein could have known. Yet he knew, and even revealed it to that Mr. Azik."
"Ruined, failed again. Ince Zangwill, who schemed so hard for his own promotion, has once again exposed one of his trump cards."
"Now that the Evil God's offspring has been discovered, the destruction it could bring is limited, barely even worthy of being called destruction, for it has only just begun to awaken to consciousness."
"Pitiful Ince Zangwill, whose current plight is like a desperate, fleeing old dog, even his place of rest so shabby. He still has to hunt in the forest for food, and sometimes eat wild vegetables."
"Oh, but he is a Sequence 5, a mighty Beyonder, yet last night his stomach was upset because the meat he roasted was undercooked. Poor Ince Zangwill, what drove you into such a state?"
"It was your foolishness!"
As the story reached this point, a pale hand stretched out, grasped the magical pen, and lowered its gaze to the diary. For the first time, Ince Zangwill showed an expression of disbelief.
That his and 008's existence had been discovered was still traceable, but the child of Lanevus and Megose was different, it was veiled by the True Creator's power, with 008 even providing interference.
Not to mention a mere Seer, when even a demigod skilled in divination could not, in so short a time, perceive that Megose carried the offspring of an Evil God.
Even 008 called this something illogical, unreasonable.
And yet that little Seer named Klein, what identity did he truly have, to gradually glimpse secrets he should never have discovered?
Could it be… he was a favored one of the Evernight?
Ince Zangwill suddenly felt a chill. This was the most plausible explanation.
That Klein could repeatedly ruin his plans, even enlist Azik's aid, surely meant he was being guided by some mysterious existence.
And the only being who could provide such hidden guidance was the Evernight!
At that moment, the pen once more wrote a new passage:
"Ince Zangwill, reflecting on his miserable plight, guessed that Klein might be a favored one of the Evernight. Yes, this is a very interesting and perfectly reasonable assumption. Judging by recent events, it is logical."
Ince Zangwill also saw this written line, and despair welled up in his heart.
If Evernight truly guided Klein, then it meant Her gaze was upon them, and all of his foul deeds had long been seen.
Through Klein, Her favored one, She was targeting him, intending to deal with him, the apostate archbishop.
Ince Zangwill sank into heavy silence. He had believed gods never looked his way, yet now it seemed their gaze had never left.
And he had betrayed the Evernight's grace, offering himself instead to the Devil.
His face turned pale. Bending down, he instinctively tried to tap four times across his chest to form the symbol of the crimson moon, but he snapped awake just in time, gripping his own hand tightly, he broke his fingers by force!
The searing pain knocked him to the floor, gasping, but it pulled him back to clarity, preventing him from spiraling into thoughts of divinity.
The notebook wrote again:
"The weak-willed Ince Zangwill was so frightened by this revelation that he nearly lost his mind, nearly fell into eternal madness. Luckily, by breaking his own fingers, he forced himself awake. One wonders, just how painful is it to snap one's own fingers?"
Panting heavily on the floor, Ince Zangwill lay there for a long time before gradually recovering.
Looking at his two bent, misshapen fingers, he fell silent, then gritted his teeth and painfully straightened them back into place.
He slumped to the ground, his face ashen, cold sweat dripping from his temples. The fading glow of sunset had already withdrawn.
Silence fell across the land, the domain of Evernight was about to arrive.
Ince Zangwill closed his eyes, rested for half an hour, then adjusted himself back to a normal state.
Standing up, he went to the desk, turned the diary pages, grasped 008, and began writing anew on a blank sheet:
"Lanevus, who had not yet been arrested, was unwilling to let his carefully prepared gift be ruined. He decided to abduct Megose overnight and hide in a corner of Tingen unseen by anyone."
"Tonight, all followers of the True Creator… lost their sanity, swarming into the towns and dense districts of Tingen, conducting large-scale sacrifices and terror attacks."
"The chaos drew away all the attention of the Tingen Night Watcher squad, preventing them from focusing on Lanevus and Megose, thus buying them more time to hide."
"As for Klein, because of eating unclean food that night, he suffered diarrhea, became extremely weak, and had to rest in bed for several days, leaving him unable to concentrate on Ince Zangwill and 008."
"This story is real, reasonable, and perfectly logical!"
As Ince Zangwill finished the last stroke, the unremarkable diary began exerting its power to influence reality.
At that moment, 008's glow dimmed slightly. Clearly, arranging so many events at once consumed a considerable portion of its strength.
"Why are you cooperating with me this time?" Ince Zangwill asked in surprise, staring at the quill in his hand.
Normally, 008 never actively helped, and even created trouble for him. Only when pursued by Azik had it used its Level 0 Sealed Artifact power to save him.
The notebook displayed a line:
"Because I can no longer bear your foolishness. Following the current trajectory, your best outcome is death, and I will be sealed once more."
Ince Zangwill sneered: "Heh, but you can't affect that Klein either. Every story we arranged against him failed to have the desired result. A mysterious aura surrounds him, one you cannot peer into."
"Is it truly impossible to kill him?"
"You can. Go to him directly right now, and you can kill him."
"And the price?"
"Death."
"…" Ince Zangwill fell into silence. He was not about to trade his own life for Klein's, that Seer was just a small figure.
If not for the Evernight's grace, if not for… No! He must not think further!
Forcing himself calm, Ince Zangwill asked 008: "Why are you speaking so much tonight?"
"Because I want to know who is secretly altering the script I write."
"Isn't it the Evernight granting Klein hidden protection?"
The notebook remained blank, leaving only the bewildered Ince Zangwill staring in confusion.