novelraw Chapter 68 The Disrupted Arrangements
Chapter 68 The Disrupted Arrangements
"It hurts so much..."
Lorne gradually regained consciousness from his dizziness, propping himself up on his elbows. He felt the rough texture of gravel on his palms, and dust from his knees fell with the movement.
Once his vision cleared, he was stunned.
The terrifying scene that resembled the end of the world vanished without a trace, and the suffocating sense of oppression in the air disappeared as well.
"Is the disaster over?"
"I'm actually okay..."
Lorne knew he should be thankful that he had escaped unscathed from this crisis.
But he always seemed to start strong but finish weak.
Ugh, my head still hurts terribly… Shaking his dizzy head, Lorne frowned.
He touched his throbbing temples. The keen spirituality he had gained through the "monster" pathway had become a burden at this moment. Even though the disaster had passed, the lingering spirituality around him still felt like countless tiny hammers striking his nerves.
The only saving grace is that the piercing, dangerous warning has indeed disappeared.
"Did the officials arrive in time?"
No… Lorne shook his head, dismissing the guess.
If it were the authorities, there would be no way there wouldn't be any activity around; they would definitely have sealed off the area immediately.
What just happened? It seems to be... playing cards... Right, playing cards!
Lorne recalled being hit by the flash of light from the playing cards, which then blinded him.
He suddenly opened his right hand. A playing card lay quietly in his palm, perfectly intact despite the machine's enhanced grip.
Meow~
Before Lorne could think any further, a meow drew his attention back to the cat.
"Laqi?"
Lorne looked up into the distance and saw his cat using its mouth and paws to drag something into a suitcase.
A few seconds later, it crawled out of the suitcase, stood on it, and kept pawing at it.
Wait, that looks like my suitcase!
Lorne recognized the familiar suitcase; it was the one that had accompanied him all the way from Backlund to where he was now.
"Did you go to find my box?"
Lorne strode up to Laki, a worried look on his face.
"Meow~" Rachel looked at Lorne, her eyes seemingly shining—she had an expression that begged for praise.
"Please, what's a box more important than your life? Weren't you scared in that chaos?" Lorne grabbed the orange cat by the scruff of its neck, forcing it to look him in the eye.
His face showed no joy, only worry.
"Awoo..." Rachi drooped her head, seemingly not understanding Lorne's reaction.
Even though he had done the owner a great favor, the owner blamed him.
"Sigh! Don't run around like that next time..."
Feeling the cat struggle, Lorne sighed. He didn't let go, but instead put it back in his bag. Then he walked over, bent down, picked up the box from the ground, and ran away into the distance without looking back.
He knew now was not the time to let his mind wander.
With such a major incident occurring here, it's impossible for the authorities to remain silent.
They'll probably be here soon, so it's best to leave now.
……
Blackthorn Security Company.
Klein, who was underground, felt a sudden unease. After a series of chaotic footsteps suddenly appeared above, there was no further movement.
Klein knew that something extraordinary had most likely happened, and something urgent at that, otherwise Frye and the others would have come to tell him.
"Alas! Tingen has been having such a run of bad luck lately..." he sighed inwardly.
"I hope nothing goes wrong..." Klein was somewhat worried about his situation.
Because he was in a semi-confined state, Klein had no weapons at all; he didn't even have a knife, let alone a gun.
The "Clown" doesn't have any direct offensive capabilities; aside from the "Sunfire" talisman, he has no other means of attack.
"No one should come to the night watchman's territory, right..."
His words seemed to have set a flag, and the diviner's instinctive spiritual intuition was triggered the next second!
A cold, eerie sensation suddenly spread across the back of his neck. Klein quickly took a few steps back and then activated his spiritual vision, seeing a skeleton with ghostly blue flames flickering in its empty eye sockets.
Necromancers!
Why would there be undead here? This is behind the Charis Gate, where there are all sorts of ritual magic. It's practically impossible for these things to be here... Klein was completely astonished and couldn't understand the situation at all.
No! His pores suddenly contracted. It was too abrupt; the evil spirit appeared as if it were deliberately designed to be discovered. The stinging sensation of the spiritual warning hadn't subsided—the real threat was there.
"puff"
A sharp pain shot through his abdomen. Had he not sensed the abnormality beforehand and used the Joker's extreme control over his body to twist it, this attack would have killed him instantly.
But this sneak attack still injured Klein, who collapsed to the ground, drenched in cold sweat.
"Not bad." Inszangwell emerged from the shadows. He had a smile on his lips and didn't seem annoyed that Klein had dodged his attack.
He's in a good mood right now. Logically speaking, he shouldn't be able to release the undead behind the Charnis Gate.
But contrary to expectations, 0-08 actually helped him, allowing him to successfully release a necromancer as bait.
Looking at the disheveled Klein in front of him, Inszangwill's smile grew even brighter. He wondered if he had been too cautious, using a decoy to deal with a mere Sequence 8.
"How foolish! Let me free you from this predicament."
Just as Inszangwill was about to kill Klein, he was surprised to find that the man actually staggered to his feet.
"I admire your fighting spirit, but it's useless..." He dismissed Klein's actions with a condescending arrogance.
Until Klein slowly uttered a single word.
"light"
Inszangwill's smile froze as he looked at the oncoming light.
……
Zotland Street.
"Huff~ Huff~ Huff~"
Lorne slowed his pace.
"Have I already run this far?"
Looking at the road sign in front of him, Lorne took a breath.
He had been running for quite some time, and even with the physical support of the "machine," he was starting to feel the strain.
He had considered taking a horse-drawn carriage, but strangely, he hadn't seen a single one along the way.
Was it due to a sudden disaster? Everyone was evacuated?
With doubt in his heart, Lorne slowed down and continued walking forward.
……
Behind the Charness Gate.
Klein and Inszangwell both fell to the ground, and both appeared to be seriously injured.
Especially Inszangwell, who was still emitting wisps of white smoke.
0-08 fell out of Inszangwell's pocket and began automatically writing the plot it wanted.
Clearly, it knows far more than Inszangwell about certain high-level matters.
'Foolish Inszangwell seems oblivious to the fact that everything he's done is a mistake.'
"It's reasonable that he was struck by Klein Moretti's hidden trump card because of his excessive arrogance."
……
"According to the plan, Lorne Disenke will arrive in this neighborhood during his escape and thus become aware of the Blackthorn Security Company's unusual activities."
……
"After all the twists and turns, it's reasonable for him to take 0-08 away; 0-08 will use this to completely rid itself of certain beings..."
In the last paragraph, the quill pen seemed stuck, unable to write anything.
……
"strangeness"
As he walked, Lorne sensed something was amiss.
Why is there not a single person on this street?
Looking at the empty streets, Lorne was a little confused.
What surprised him even more was that the azure sky seemed to have changed as well.
It was getting dark...
"It's so quiet..."
The further Lorne went, the more he felt something was wrong. Even though there was no one around, the street seemed a little too quiet. And he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but even though it was afternoon, it felt like night had suddenly fallen.
Lorne stopped in his tracks and instinctively reached into his coat pocket, gripping the handle of the "Phantom" gun.
He suddenly felt as if he had just escaped one danger only to fall into another.
……
Behind the Charness Gate.
The quill pen, which had been rapidly writing the story on the ground, suddenly stopped.
It seemed to have sensed the presence of some kind of gaze.
After a brief struggle, it quickly erased the original plot it had written, and had to abandon its initial plan and write new content.
"As a Sequence 5, even after being attacked, Inszangwill did not die immediately. Apart from his slightly impaired mind, he seems to be in excellent condition today. He will proceed with his original plan to take Saint Selena's ashes and leave smoothly..."