Chapter 270: Chapter 134: Brother, Take Me Away...
When the eerie, high-pitched laughter rang out, the roar of gunfire and the shouts of battle were drowned out. Even the sound of the torrential rain drumming on the stone slabs and rooftops vanished in an instant.
No, it wasn’t just the sound.
Wei’en’s first instinct was to shout the name that could undo the Demon Clown in the Gonzalez language—Arnold Lilith Leonard. But he found his body frozen. He couldn’t open his mouth or move. Beyond the turn he had just made, he couldn’t even shift his gaze from the clown doll.
What he didn’t know was that with the clown doll as the epicenter, everyone—from the eastern edge of the core area to the western entrance of the Dumitru District—had been paralyzed, silenced, and had their Extraordinary abilities nullified.
In that moment, the world of the Secret Investigation Department’s Investigators and Vasquez’s warriors fell completely silent. All they could hear was that eerie laughter.
Their faces were still frozen with their previous expressions: some resolute, some hateful, some calm...
As for those who had been pierced by swords or struck by gunfire, they were actually quite relieved. They now had a moment to reminisce about the past, worry about their side losing the battle, hope their comrades would avenge them, and even figure out what they would say once they could move again—’It was that son of a bitch to my front-left with the weird long-barreled gun who shot me!’
CRACKLE, RUMBLE RUMBLE!
Several bolts of lightning tore through the dark night sky, illuminating the bizarre scene in the Dumitru District. The noble-aligned forces, having just rushed over from the core area, stopped dead in their tracks.
The previously anxious Baron Trocchi Nascimento’s expression changed abruptly, especially after seeing the one-and-a-half-meter-tall clown doll. A forgotten memory resurfaced in his mind.
On a certain night seventeen years ago, the sky wasn’t as dark as it was tonight. Under the light of a red moon, the clown doll danced gracefully, transforming into a man with a noble air. With magnificent, dance-like steps, it weaved through the ranks of the Investigators, humming an unknown tune as it randomly sliced off the heads of those around it with a small knife.
"It’s him..."
"It’s him?!"
It wasn’t just Trocchi; Baron Kotex Seth also recalled the events of that night and couldn’t help but cry out, "The Forbidden Item is out of control?!"
The Investigators and City Guard members following them all swallowed nervously as fear and panic spread through their ranks, throwing the group into disarray. The bizarre scene made their skin crawl, and many had already begun to retreat, desperate to get away—the farther, the better.
"What are you going to do now, Trocchi?" Kotex struggled to suppress his inner terror. He could already see the clown doll’s fuzzy body beginning to smooth out and elongate, its button-like eyes slowly starting to emit a crystalline glow as they spun.
’That scene was about to happen all over again...’
"You go back and inform the Count. I’m staying!" Trocchi took a deep breath. He had, of course, seen the clown doll’s transformation, but his gaze was fixed on the figure that was swelling to over three meters tall—Marco.
As nobles, they valued power and profit, but they valued orderly succession even more.
"Alright," Kotex nodded hastily. He was about to turn and lead his family guards back to the Council hall, but after taking a few steps, he hesitated and stopped. He forced out a few words, "I look forward to seeing you again, Baron Nascimento."
Trocchi said nothing, his expression grave as he watched Marco.
More and more of the people behind him left, until finally, the only ones who remained were the guards and Shadow Killers of his Nascimento Clan, and a small number of Extraordinaries in the uniform of the Secret Investigation Department.
"Why aren’t you leaving?"
"I’ve already been a clown once. You want me to be a coward, too?"
"Yeah. For my family, I already betrayed the creed I held for so many years. I vaguely remember when I first joined the Secret Investigation Department. Back then, Balats was just the head of the Combat Department. He said we were a light in the darkness, that we didn’t guard any one person, but order itself. Who would’ve thought... Heh, when the light no longer shines on Caster, everything loses its meaning!"
"Do you hear the roars of the aberrations in the distance? They’re laughing at us!"
"Sounds nice and all, but we’re still going to die, aren’t we?"
"Enough with the bullshit, boys. I can’t wait to stand by their side."
"Then kill!"
These Investigators had chosen to return to their families and stand against the Council today because of blood ties. But their choice to stay and face the Forbidden Item was for the sake of redemption.
Trocchi was silent for a long moment before he slowly raised his hand and swept it forward. "Stop it!"
FWSH.
Everyone surged forward in unison. The City Guard advanced with swords raised, the Investigators followed with guns drawn, the Shadow Killers melted into the darkness, and the nobles, with their guards, provided support from the center.
They all knew in their hearts that a Forbidden Item was not an aberration, not an Era Relic, but a Class-Three Calamity that, once out of control, was capable of destroying the world.
With this step, their lives were left to fate!
Meanwhile, at the Secret Investigation Department’s position, there were only two—no, three—people who could still move: Director Nifa, who was clutching "Forbidden Item 0-91, The Homecoming’s Figurehead"; Tina, who was calmly watching the Demon Clown lose control; and the ever-low-key Black Jack!
"The Demon Clown... it’s lost control?"
Nifa looked at the clown doll, his gaze filled with confusion, shock, and profound doubt. ’With Tina suppressing it, how could it possibly have lost control?’
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