West Borough, Green Park Street, in Mr. Saury's garden villa.
Having labored through the night, Ebner shut down the power core, rubbed his slightly throbbing temples, and finally turned his attention to several items he had crafted.
The first was a camera about the size of a human head. It looked similar to models currently sold on the market, except that both its lens and body were adorned with intricate, arcane patterns, lending it an air of mystery.
This was the "Mysticism Camera" that Ebner had transformed using a ritual to borrow power from the "Cursed Tudor Emblem." It not only retained basic filming functionality but could also deter spirits and monsters to some extent, keeping them from approaching.
The only drawback was that it still had a limited usage time of just eight months...
The second item Ebner had made was a cane. Its core was actually the "Harris Rapier" of "Admiral of Hell" Ludwell, which Jane had gifted him as a token of gratitude.
This sword originally came from a prince of the southern continent in ancient times. It didn't correspond to any particular Beyonder pathway or Sequence. Rather, it was the product of a chaotic fusion of unrelated traits.
Its only extraordinary ability was to bring about absolute destruction to whatever it pierced.
After renaming the sword the "Bryan Rapier," Ebner had shelved it for a long time without using it, only occasionally taking it out to study and analyze.
Through months of research, he had mostly deciphered the principles behind its "absolute destruction" ability. After advancing to "Mysticism Magister," he used the weapon as a blueprint to develop a mystic art capable of remotely destroying another person's extraordinary item—Disintegration.
Unfortunately, this spell was still imperfect. It required materials from the Bryan Rapier as a medium to cast... and the sword's own destructive effect often conflicted with the mystic art, resulting in inconsistent outcomes. Hence, Ebner had taken the opportunity to reconstruct it into a cane that minimized internal conflict and made casting easier.
Additionally, this mystic art had a slight chance of separating extraordinary characteristics from the materials used in an item! Of course, this only applied to mystical items forged from such traits.
Once I become a demigod, this mystic art will evolve into a "Greater Disintegration" that doesn't need a medium... By then, I might not even need an angel to smash items to extract Beyonder characteristics, Ebner thought to himself.
Next, he looked at the third item he had crafted—three blank cards.
These were spatial cards, similar in function to the one Roselle had used to seal a bone dragon. However, these lacked the flashy "input true name" mechanism...
The method for creating the cards came from the inheritance left behind by the transmigrator Alwin Abraham in the Church of the Land of Night. The crafting itself wasn't complicated, but the required materials were quite costly.
Ebner had nearly emptied Mr. Saury's workshop of suitable materials just to make these three.
Fortunately, Fanny didn't mind. In fact, she'd even helped gather many of the necessary ingredients.
The fourth item was the translucent white robe left behind by the "Nightingale of Despair." Initially, it could only alter the wearer's body shape. However, after Ebner infused it with the characteristic of a "Faceless One," it gained additional abilities—changing facial features, manipulating flames, flame-jumping, and damage redirection.
Its side effect was a fear of fire... though this "fear" didn't mean a psychological aversion, but rather that flames inflicted more harm on it than normal—essentially, it came with a glaring weakness.
Moreover, the design of the robe remained quite revealing—and had even been altered to be shorter and more form-fitting...
Of course, this wasn't because of some kink of Ebner's, but to make it easier for the wearer to layer other clothing over it.
—Since the revealing design couldn't be changed, it might as well be worn as an underlayer... Xio would probably approve.
Ebner's final creation was a string of pearl necklace. Its base was one of the pieces of jewelry that Miss "Justice" had discarded, but he had embedded it with an beyonder trait from a "Swindler," granting it abilities such as charm enhancement, mental disruption, and illusion creation.
It had virtually no side effects, save for inducing an urge to steal things—but that could be resisted with willpower.
This necklace was Ebner's gift of thanks to Miss Fanny. After all, he had used so many of her rare materials—he couldn't very well not show his appreciation, could he?
As expected, Fanny was delighted the moment she saw the pearl necklace. She immediately removed her old necklace and fastened this one around her smooth neck.
Fanny was tempted to kiss him on the spot, but remembering that this was Loen, and Ebner was a gentleman from Backlund who might not appreciate overly forward girls, she restrained herself and maintained a reserved posture.
It was already eight in the morning by now. The two chatted and laughed as they left the workshop, ready to head to a restaurant for breakfast—when suddenly, Ebner stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?" Fanny looked at Ebner, who had grabbed her hand. She was both excited and confused.
"Where's Mr. Saury right now?" Ebner reached into his pocket and touched the small mirror as he asked in return.
"Grandfather should be at the embassy at this time, overseeing work," Fanny replied after thinking for a moment.
"Mr. Saury isn't in the villa?" Ebner narrowed his eyes. Without making a visible move, three figures suddenly materialized in front of him and Fanny... and behind the trio was a translucent black shadow—that was the "Heart Demon" summoned by the "Magic Mirror."
An Arsonist, a Cryptologist, and an Instigator?
Direct assault, sabotage and assassination, ritual-breaking... Heh, their Sequences aren't high, but this is a rather well-rounded combat team. Unfortunately for them, they've run into a semi-divine demon under careful supervision...
So this was the "dirty trick" Mr. Saury mentioned Intis might pull? But even with a Cryptologist, they shouldn't have been able to sneak in here... It's not like they have a cheat like my "Pure White Eye"...
While Ebner was still mulling it over, Fanny was startled by the sudden appearance of strangers. She exclaimed in shock, "What's going on? Who are they?"
But halfway through her question, her gaze suddenly sharpened. She glared at the leading Arsonist and barked, "How do you have the emblem my grandfather made for accessing the villa?"
Ebner looked as well—and sure enough, he saw a badge on the man's chest bearing the Saury family crest.
He was just about to use the "Magic Mirror" to induce them to reveal their background when all three of them suddenly began to bleed black from the corners of their mouths... and fell silent.
Still suicide agents? But unfortunately for them, this is a world where extraordinary powers exist—death isn't the end! Ebner sneered coldly and directed the "Magic Mirror" to swallow the Arsonist whole.
(End of Chapter)