Chapter 301: Awakening
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Meow!
The black cat’s cry echoed in the open area that was surrounded by the secluded forest. Regardless of whether it was the adult black-robed man or the fifteen-or sixteen-year-old boys and girls, all of them simultaneously cast their gaze onto the corpse lying in the middle.
A gust of cold wind blew, and the black cat landed on the ground, staring at the human who had just thrown it. It kept flicking its tail around.
All of a sudden, its fur stood on end again. Then, exerting great force with its hind limbs, it jumped up and fled in another direction.
Unfortunately, whatever it did had failed to attract any attention. All the humans present had their attention focused on the motionless corpse.
Seconds turned to minutes, but the corpse didn’t undergo any antic.i.p.ated changes.
“Another failure?” One of the teenagers moved closer and crouched down, poking at the dead man’s skin with his fingers.
“There’s no reaction.” He turned around halfway and spoke to the man in black and his companions.
At this moment, he felt a gust of wind hit his face from beneath him.
With a swoosh, the corpse sat up!
The youth was startled and immediately cheered in surprise, “It’s a success! It’s a success…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the corpse grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into its arms. Then, it opened its mouth and bit down, producing a sound and causing blood to splatter.
“Ah! Help!” the youth screamed in horror and retreated with all his might, but he couldn’t break free.
The corpse raised its head, revealing rows of white teeth, as well as bits of flesh hanging between its teeth, and blood flowing from its mouth.
The black-robed man was stunned for a moment, then he took out a whistle that was bra.s.s in color. He put it in his mouth, and blew on it.
Then, he said in Hermes, “I command you in the name of Death!”
As his voice echoed in the air, the corpse stopped chewing and momentarily froze on the spot.
The youth, whose neck and shoulders had been mangled by the bite, similarly collapsed as if he had lost his soul. The dirt around his nether regions was completely moist.
“It really is possible…” the black-robed man muttered in pleasant surprise. He pointed at the corpse and once again said in Hermes, “Get up!”
The corpse abruptly stood up, then it threw back its shoulders before quickly running into the depths of the secluded forest.
“Come back!” the black-robed man cried out in surprise, but the corpse showed no signs of stopping.
He blew his whistle again and shouted with dignity, “I command you to return in the name of Death!”
With those words, the corpse disappeared into the woods.
“I ordered you to return…” the black-robed man stood rooted to the spot in stupefaction as he mumbled to himself in a daze.
In the woods, Klein held Azik’s copper whistle and the matchbox in one hand. He kept lighting matchsticks and shook his wrist to extinguish them before throwing them to the ground.
During this process, he moved backwards in an arc.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A corpse with a pale face and a foul stench rushed over. Its lifeless eyes stared straight at the ancient and exquisite copper whistle.
As Klein retreated, his cheeks puffed out, he aimed at the corpse and simulated the sound:
Bang!
The corpse suddenly staggered as a penetrating wound appeared in its chest.
Bang!
Klein puffed out his cheeks again and fired another Air Bullet.
Splat! The head of the corpse shattered as rotten liquid dripped from it incessantly.
However, that wasn’t a fatal injury to the corpse. It only slowed down for a moment before it continued again.
Upon seeing this, Klein took a step back and snapped loudly.
Pa!
A bright flame rose from the ground, enveloping the corpse and igniting its outer garments.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The corpse rushed through the flames and continued to charge forward like a mad bull.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Klein kept snapping his fingers, causing red flames to appear on the ground, one after another.
The corpse didn’t feel any pain as it pa.s.sed through the flames, but gradually, its body began to burn, and the flames grew more and more intense. It gave off the strange feeling as though a candle was melting.
Finally, the corpse, which had turned into a torch, arrived in front of Klein as it clawed at him.
At the same time, a flame rose up and engulfed both him and Klein.
The corpse grabbed Klein’s shoulder but only produced sparks.
Klein’s figure dissipated in the red light and reappeared in the farthest burning pile.
At that point, the corpse seemed to have exhausted all of its strength and stopped struggling. It quickly melted under the dark green flames, turning into ashes and oil wax.
He’s stronger than all the zombies and wraiths that I’ve met before. Well, not as good as Mr. Azik’s descendant… If it weren’t for me, they would all be dead here today.Klein shook his head and walked through the trees toward the open area.
At this moment, the black-robed man had already noticed the changes in the forest. Without any hesitation, he turned around and ran, while the seven to eight youngsters scattered in a flash. However, when they realized that they were the only ones in the area, they timidly stopped and returned to the original area where they gathered together.
Having just experienced the awakening of a corpse, and how the corpse had bitten one of the youths, they didn’t dare to run away, alone, in the deep, dark night.
It would make the back of their necks feel cold.
They looked at each other. No one dared to help the youth who was badly mutilated in the neck and shoulders, afraid that he might turn into a zombie at any moment.
In the short silence that made their hearts beat like a drum, they saw a clown, wearing flashy clothes with red, yellow, and white paint covering his face, walking out from the forest.
This was an illusion that was personally created by Klein.
He surveyed his surroundings but didn’t pursue the black-robed man. Instead, he asked in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Who was the one who presided over the ceremony?”
Who? It seemed as if the teenagers were still in a daze. It took them a few seconds before they pushed out a trembling boy who replied, “He… he’s our language teacher in ancient Feysac, Kapusky Reid…
“He claimed to have a deep understanding of death and wanted to lead us in the search of the mysteries of immortality.”
So he’s a teacher from school… The mysteries of immortality? You really don’t need to pay taxes to brag… Judging from his performance just now, this fellow shouldn’t be a Spirit Medium. At the very most, he would be a Gravedigger. In fact, he might only be at Sequence 9, a Corpse Collector… Of course, he might not be from the Death pathway and simply joined the Numinous Episcopate because of his adoration…After Klein got the exact location where Kapusky stayed, he thought for a moment and said, “You guys can go back now. Don’t get involved in this anymore. Don’t leak this out.
“Otherwise, all of you will die.”
Then, he emphasized again, “All of you will die.”
The young boys and girls who had been scared witless by what had just happened all frantically nodded. They prepared to leave with each other’s help.
At this moment, a young girl with smooth hair pointed at her companion who was moaning in pain on the ground and asked, “Will… will he be alright?”
“He won’t die for now, but you have to take him to a doctor. Say that he was bitten by a hyena that often eats rotting meat.” Klein ignored them and headed back into the woods.
The young man and woman looked at each other, and someone blurted out, “Ex-excuse me, may I ask, how we should address you?”
Klein smiled and deliberately misled him as he replied in a low voice, “I’m just a gatekeeper of h.e.l.l.”
As he spoke, a mist spread out, and his figure disappeared from where he stood.
Of course, those were all illusions.
“A gatekeeper of h.e.l.l?” The young men and women repeated the words softly, each having their own thoughts.
However, after a gust of bone-piercing cold wind blew past, they trembled once more, supported their companions, and left the place without daring to look back.
…
This is a member of the Numinous Episcopate? What a disappointment… If he didn’t abandon his current ident.i.ty, I would pay him a visit in the middle of the night to see if he knows anything. Yeah, I have to teach him a lesson so that he wouldn’t dare to bring trouble to the students again. Does he think Spirit Dances and resurrection rituals are child’s play? Klein habitually judged the situation from a Nighthawk’s standpoint.
Soon, he returned to Rogo Colloman’s mansion and waited patiently for the bodyguards to pa.s.s by during their patrols.
As soon as he found an opportunity, he climbed over the fence and quickly followed the shadows to the house, then he quietly climbed up to the balcony.
At that moment, the figurine disguised as him was still smoking.
Pa! Klein snapped his fingers.
The figure in front of him turned into a thin piece of paper and floated onto his palm.
Compared to before, this piece of paper was covered with red, rusty marks and was no longer usable.
Klein didn’t dare to throw it anywhere. He folded it and placed it in his pocket.
Having done all this, he sauntered back down the hall and into Adol’s bedroom.
“What took you so long?” Stuart asked in a trembling voice.
He had gone to the door to inquire, and he had found Sherlock Moriarty smoking one cigarette after another. Due to his duty, he didn’t dare leave the bedroom.
Klein laughed and replied, “Take a rest and relax. You can go too, I don’t mind.”
“I…” Just as Stuart was about to agree, he suddenly thought of something—he would end up being the only person on the balcony, surrounded by the dark night and without sufficient brightness. There would be a cold wind and an environment that always reminded one of a ghost story.
Therefore, he forced a smile and said, “It’s fine, I don’t need it.”
Klein smiled silently and sat down again, letting the reclining chair rock gently and slowly in the night.
This continued till daybreak. Nothing else happened.
When Adol woke up, he sat up in bed, lost in thought.
Klein didn’t say anything, but he swapped places with Kaslana and her a.s.sistant and slowly walked to the guest room to catch up on his sleep.
He was asleep when he heard Rogo Colloman exclaim in pleasant surprise, “Oh, my boy, you’re fine now?
“Holy Lord of Storms, I’ll donate 300 pounds to the Church!
“Y-you are telling me that they won’t kill you? It was all a misunderstanding?”
300 pounds? How extravagant… Klein rolled over and wrapped his arms around the soft, warm quilt while mumbling.
Then, he went back to sleep.
At noon, when Klein went downstairs to have a meal, Kaslana sat across from him and asked with a slight frown, “What happened last night?”
“Nothing,” Klein answered simply, and then he laughed. “Does Adol waking up and going to the washroom count?”
Next to him, Stuart slowed down his actions and nodded in agreement.
She glanced at their faces, then she retracted her gaze and replied in a low voice, “No.”
The corner of Klein’s mouth curled up as he skillfully cut his steak.