Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 604

"Do you have another plan?"

Seeing how dire the situation had become, Jenkins whispered to his companion again.

"Yes, but I need some time to prepare."

The woman replied, her voice just as faint.

"Alright. Then please, try to be quick... before I get beaten to death."

As he spoke, he let go of Magic Miss and took a solitary step forward, his right foot sinking deep into the snow. There was, in fact, another option: he could try to contact Alexia in Ruen for help, just as he had against the vampires. But Jenkins wasn't sure if she had the spiritual lodestone with her, and letting his consciousness leave his body in a situation was clearly a terrible idea.

"I think you should know..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Mr. Clark vanished into thin air again, clearly having no intention of wasting time on words. Jenkins instinctively twisted his body. The claw aiming for his heart only managed to tear away a small chunk of flesh from his arm.

The combination of his Undying Man ability and his healing powers bought Jenkins a little more time. He intermittently used [Knowledge Bestowal] and [Blasphemous Creation] to force Mr. Clark back, preventing him from getting near Magic Miss, who was now kneeling on one knee behind him, her hands raised high.

It was obvious Clark wasn't using his full strength; otherwise, Jenkins would have already been defeated. He seemed to have taken a sudden interest in his opponent, particularly in his incredible regenerative abilities.

He had avoided the classic prelude to defeat—listening to the enemy's monologue—but had fallen into another trap: the "I can win, so I'll take him alive" mindset.

But Mr. Clark was, after all, a man of sound intellect. Seeing that they'd reached a stalemate, he hesitated for a moment before taking a voluntary step back. He then extended his right hand, pointing his thumb directly at Jenkins.

The feeling of being targeted by a prehistoric beast washed over him. At that very moment, an astonishing wave of heat radiated from behind him.

"Get out of the way!"

Jenkins kicked off the ground and leaped to the side. In the split second before he landed, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye: Mr. Clark's thumbnail detached and flew off. A humanoid skeleton, silver from head to toe and wielding a great axe, emerged from behind the nail. It roared, grew in size, and charged toward him. From the opposite direction, a beam of light shot down from the sky, striking the ground in front of Magic Miss. A blurry figure in a red cloak slid forward like a phantom, rushing toward Mr. Clark.

The blast of energy and the aftershock of the explosion nearly leveled the nearby gravedigger's hut. The intense heat vaporized all the snow in the cemetery. Smelling the acrid stench of burnt hair, Jenkins didn't even bother to check his own injuries. He pushed himself up from the gravelly ground, his monocle still in place, and found the collapsed form of Magic Miss amidst the billowing black smoke.

She no longer had the strength to even stand. Her body was as limp as if she had no bones, and she could only stay upright by leaning on Jenkins.

From the other direction, Mr. Clark emerged from the massive crater at the center of the explosion, his steps heavy. Other than his clothes being tattered with black scorch marks and holes, his perfectly straight hair and neat beard seemed to mock the two of them.

"B-11-5-0482, a Substitute Doll,"

"Yes... I see now. A believer of the God of Rituals. That's a rare sight indeed. I never expected to find a follower of that goddess in Nolan City."

Clark spoke casually, making no move to approach Jenkins and Magic Miss. He clenched his right hand into a fist, and a black spear began to materialize, extending outward from the center of his palm until it was fully formed in his grip.

"That's... a Bestowal!" Fresh chapters posted on novel★fire.net

Jenkins swallowed hard.

"If you have a way to escape, please, don't worry about me."

The woman's lips were trembling; she barely had enough strength to finish the sentence.

"No, we don't need to leave."

Though he was reluctant, he had no choice but to use his divinity. As for Magic Miss, he could only hope that this omnipotent power would also grant him the ability to erase memories.

"No, there has to be another way!"

More than once he had found himself in a desperate situation, but every time, fate had offered him guidance. He summoned the point of light representing his ability and activated [The Unknown Path].

But it was no use. This time, fate offered him no hints. It seemed that, at least for now, he had yet to grasp those crucial junctures of destiny.

The cat, which had wanted nothing more than to curl up somewhere warm, had no choice but to scamper into the smoldering crater. The explosion hadn't left Mr. Clark completely unscathed after all; the damage to his clothes had caused something to fall out of his pocket.

Unseen by anyone, the cat quickly dug a small hole in the warm, soft earth with its paws and pulled out a test tube filled with a rust-colored liquid.

It gave the object under its paws a disdainful look, then lowered its head, clamped the tube in its mouth, leaped out of the crater, and ran toward Jenkins.

No one paid any attention to the small animal at the edge of the battlefield. It easily took a wide detour and appeared behind Jenkins.

The cat placed the item it had brought at Jenkins's feet. The three people on the field simultaneously looked down...

"The raw fluid of the Gear Germs!"

Jenkins recognized it. When he had read the history of that terrifying Cursed Item, he had clearly seen the manufacturing process for the liquid in these test tubes. Even the test tube itself seemed to be the very same one from his memory.

He quickly bent down and picked it up, wondering how his cat had suddenly become so clever.

He popped the oak stopper with his thumb and tilted the tube slightly, so the liquid looked as if it was about to drip out.

"This belongs to you, I presume? Are you working with the Gear Artisans' Association? You'd better be careful. I don't mind if we all turn into gear-people."

Magic Miss's grip on Jenkins's hand tightened. It seemed she minded very much.

"You recognize this? How interesting. Could it be you also know about the underground... No, that's impossible. The god you believe in would never permit you to do such a thing."

He muttered something incomprehensible to himself, twirled the black spear in his hand, and once again aimed its tip at Jenkins.

"Your level shouldn't be higher than five. The fact that you've held your own against me this long is admirable. But it's impossible to threaten me with that thing. You don't know all the secrets concerning those germs."

Squinting, he activated [The Unknown Path] again. A purple line of light clearly pointed the way for his destiny. His right hand still held the test tube aloft, while his left reached into his pocket and pulled out Old Jack's bone container. With a soft pop, he flicked open the lid. The Gifted One's Song lay quietly at the bottom.

"What I'm about to do is insane, but I am not mad."

He turned his head and said to his companion, then suddenly tilted his head back and poured both liquids into his mouth at the same time.