A glimmer of light seemed to flare within the devoured soul—that was the power of Notarization. But this force was immediately absorbed by the Magic Mirror, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.
After all, sealed within the Magic Mirror was the evil spirit of an angel from the Sun pathway. The soul-binding power of a mid-sequence Notary alone was far from sufficient.
Soon, the mirror displayed a scene where a young man with a small mustache was issuing orders to the Arsonist: "According to my intel, Miss Fanny Surrey is only a Sequence 8 Beyonder on the Lawyer pathway. Though she surely carries several magical items, she definitely won't be a match for your team. Also, take this badge. It's the pass to enter the Surrey family villa. With it, you won't be flagged by their ritual defenses as intruders. Lastly, make sure to keep Miss Fanny safe. I still need her to pressure Mr. Surrey into compromise."
The image froze there. Clearly, the Arsonist knew no more than that.
So Mr. Surrey's been captured... Ebner pondered for a moment, then pointed at the image in the mirror and asked the dazed Fanny, "Fanny, do you recognize this man?"
Hearing that, Fanny finally came to her senses. She steadied her nerves, telling herself that her grandfather might just have been captured and there could still be room to maneuver. She then carefully examined the man displayed in the mirror and replied uncertainly, "He seems to be Mr. Envoy Owen's confidential secretary... He's also the new bodyguard the homeland assigned to Mr. Owen after Mr. Tand's death... I'm not sure of his name, but I believe Grandfather mentioned... he's a Sequence 6 Notary."
The envoy's confidential secretary? It seems he's trying to coerce Mr. Surrey into confessing something—so after capturing him, he also sent people to arrest Fanny? That would mean there must be someone of at least Sequence 5 strength at his side, perhaps even a demigod-level powerhouse. Otherwise, it's hard to imagine them successfully subduing a fully equipped Astronomer.
Ebner asked again, "What about that envoy, Mr. Owen? Who is he, and what's his level of strength?"
Fanny thought for a moment before answering uncertainly, "I heard Mr. Owen is the second son of the current patriarch of the Delion family. This family is one of the top houses in Intis—politically, they even surpass the former royal Sauron family. But Mr. Owen himself doesn't seem to be a Beyonder—just an ordinary person. That's why the homeland assigned people to protect him."
The Delion family... That name sounds familiar. Ebner thought for a moment and soon recalled why it felt familiar: in the original novel, the Emperor once mentioned a Viscount Delion in his diary. His wife, Julia, was a beauty from Loen who had married into Intis, and the Emperor had coveted her...
After transmigrating, Ebner had also read up on Intis's history in the library. He knew the Delion family had played a key role in overthrowing the Gustave Dynasty and were supported by the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun. That was why their influence in the postwar Republic surpassed that of the fallen Saurons.
Also, the current Prime Minister of Intis bore the surname Delion.
An ordinary person... Ebner instinctively felt doubtful, but lacking further evidence, he could only stop the fruitless speculation for now.
"Grandfather seems to have been imprisoned... Ebner, what should I do?" Though Fanny forced herself to remain calm, she had no strategy and could only look to Ebner for help.
Ebner looked at her solemnly and said, "You saw the mirror's image... Being able to capture Mr. Surrey means they likely have demigod-level combat power. We need to get out of here as soon as possible before we're caught too—that would truly mean there's no hope left."
Fanny clearly trusted Ebner deeply. Without much hesitation, she nodded. "You're right... He wants to use me to threaten Grandfather. Before I'm captured, Grandfather should still be safe..." She paused for a moment, then asked as if seeking permission, "Can I grab a few personal items first?"
"Be quick. We leave in five minutes." Ebner glanced at his pocket watch as he responded.
"Alright!" Fanny answered and ran up to the second floor of the villa.
Ebner used the time to collect the Beyonder characteristics from the other two intruders.
As for their corpses, he left them where they were. He hoped the servants would find them and report it, thus attracting official attention. Perhaps that might pressure the confidential secretary into releasing Mr. Surrey... though the odds were slim. After all, Loen authorities couldn't interfere in Intis's internal struggles.
The Surrey household mainly employed mechanical puppets for service, and there were very few real human servants. They generally didn't enter areas where the family members were active, so none of them had seen Ebner. Even if officials investigated, they wouldn't trace anything back to him.
About two minutes later, Fanny came back down, having changed from her gown into hunting gear. She was also carrying an ugly-looking backpack on her back.
Ebner recognized that backpack from Baron Conva's underground fortress—it was a spatial item. Though it looked small, it might contain several high-powered combat automatons.
Fanny jogged over to Ebner and asked, "How are we leaving? The sewers? It's harder to be tracked that way..."
She didn't mind entering the sewers. In fact, she had done so a few times after secret Beyonder gatherings to shake off pursuers, so she had plenty of experience.
But Ebner waved his hand to cut her off before she could finish. "No need for all that trouble."
As he spoke, a transparent, hazy book quickly appeared before him, accompanied by a distant, ethereal chant: "I come, I see, I record."
The book flipped rapidly before freezing on one page, which then emitted a pale blue, illusory glow.
As the light wrapped around him, Ebner grabbed Fanny's hand—and in the next instant, both of their figures vanished without a trace.
This was a teleportation ability recorded by the Magic Mirror's Scribe.
...
In a rented house not far from the Nighthawks Headquarters in the North Borough, Leonard, wearing red gloves, tossed a small badge up and caught it, repeating the motion a few times before letting it drop onto the table in front of him.
The badge was no larger than an eyeball, with symbols representing "fate" and "concealment" on the surface. The back was engraved with the ancient Hermis inscription, "Hold this item to join," and provided the latest meeting information:
"January 4, 1350, 8:00 PM, Babul River Valley."
"Old man, is this meeting really okay?" Leonard asked, unable to resist after looking at the badge again.
"At least it was fine last time, Amon didn't infiltrate," Pallez's aged voice sounded in Leonard's ear.
"But..." Leonard was about to say something when a chilling sensation swept over him, and he felt something new in his hand.
It was a letter delivered by a colleague's messenger.
Leonard unfolded it and muttered to himself:
"Another mission... West Borough, Green Park Street...
"They've set up a powerful ritual in that house, so they need the red gloves to break it?
"Why send us Nighthawks to break it? Shouldn't they just approach the military attache himself? What's the captain up to..."
Though West Borough and North Borough were both managed by the Nighthawks in Backlund's northwest region, they rarely intervened in such clearly special cases.
Filled with doubts, Leonard quickly tidied his clothes and headed straight for West Borough.
With the old man around, breaking the ritual was his specialty!
...
At Pritz Harbor, Klein, after secretly glancing at Old Kohler helping Maric with the child, didn't approach him for a meeting. Instead, he went to the harbor ticketing company.
There, after listening to a warning from a middle-aged guard with bronze-colored skin about "wolf fish canned goods," he asked him about the "White Agate."
The guard immediately smiled when he heard the question:
"Sir, you have a good eye. The White Agate is a steamship, but it still retains the sails. Its top speed can reach 16 knots.
"And the captain is very experienced, having been a sailor on the royal navy ship, William V. No, he should have been with the Royal Navy, as the king claimed he got the Byron Empire's crown. So, he should have the emperor's title... Haha, in the Royal Navy, no matter how outstanding an ordinary person is, they can only become a sailor, never an officer, unless, unless they can make their superior happy by any means. Only then can they be recommended to Pritz Navy Academy as a reserve officer!
"Aylan was forced to leave the navy because of this...
"And Captain Aranson of the Glorious Ten Thousand City was the same... But recently, I heard he's gone missing, and that ship had to dock in Damir, unable to return since."
Seeing how detailed the guard was, Klein grew suspicious.
Noticing Klein's expression, the guard awkwardly chuckled and said:
"Aylan used to be my superior, and he often invited me for drinks. Aranson was my friend. As an adventurer, I hope you'll keep an eye out for his whereabouts... though I admit there's some selfishness in that. But I guarantee every word I've said is true!"
"I'll keep an eye out..." Klein nodded and replied coldly.
But in his mind, he was reflecting on something else the guard had let slip:
The king had always claimed he had received a legitimate emperor title from the Balam Empire?
Was this claim just for easier colonization?
...
In a villa at 28 Kingster Street, Cherwood Borough, Backlund.
With a flash of pale blue light, Ebner and Fanny appeared directly in the living room.
After releasing Fanny's hand, the pure white light in Ebner's eyes gradually faded.
He had been multitasking, using his "Analysis" ability to study the principles of the "teleportation" while simultaneously simulating the "Record" ability to record this teleportation.
"Unfortunately, the simulated 'Record' is still inferior to the original. The recorded teleportation effect was further diminished... This teleportation probably didn't cover more than 20 kilometers..."
But it works, at least it's good enough as an escape method.
Thinking this, Ebner called Mrs. Skade to arrange a guest room for Fanny, while he himself went upstairs to give the camera he had prepared to Helene.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Skade was unfazed by the sudden appearance of the young lady in the villa, especially since she knew Fanny.
After leading her to the guest room, Mrs. Skade heard the young lady ask in confusion:
"Who is Helene?"
(End of Chapter)