By the ti Edward returned to No. 7 Pinster Street—having waited for the negative side effects of the Ravenclaw Diadem to subside—Leonard had already regained control of his body. Even then, he was still in a state of shock, and when he saw Edward, his gaze was filled with cautious disbelief.
Just a few minutes ago, his ntor—the "Old Man"—had actually helped Edward kill a Demigod from the Marauder pathway.
For soone like Leonard, who was currently only at Sequence 7, a Sequence 4 Demigod was an incomprehensible and terrifying existence. He knew the old man was once a true Angel-level entity, but since that being had always been gravely wounded and never directly acted, Leonard had no real sense of how powerful his parasitic companion truly was.
But Demigods…No, even soone like Cesimir, the Goddess's Sword from the Church of the Evernight—just Sequence 5—Leonard was all too aware of how terrifying that kind of power could be.
Edward gave a wry smile. "If Old man Pallez hadn't made a move at the last mont, things might not have gone as well as they did."
A Demigod entering mythical creature form in a state of complete derangent was not sothing two or three ordinary Demigods would dare to engage head-on. In the original story, there was even an instance where an old man in mythical form had frightened off his pursuers and barely managed to survive long enough to et Klein.
Pallez spoke calmly in Leonard's mind, "Help thank him, and ask what he wants in return."
Leonard relayed this almost chanically: "The old man says thank you. He wants to know what you'd like in return."
Edward was montarily stunned. Wasn't this whole hunt tonight sothing I initiated for my own revenge?
Leonard continued, "That Marauder-pathway Demigod didn't carry any sealed artifacts, and the only valuable Beyonder characteristic was absorbed by the old man. You might not care about the gains or losses, but what about the helper you brought in tonight? You can't just let her go ho empty-handed, right?"
Wise old man, Edward thought. Truly a treasure at ho.
"That helper," Edward explained, "is soone I've entered into a partnership with. She helped tonight, and when it's her turn to seek revenge, I'll return the favour."
Leonard passed it along: "The old man wants to know—whom is she seeking revenge against?"
"A Sequence 4 Shaman King protected by an evil god."
That so-called Klarman might only be Sequence 4, but he could use the powers of a High Summoner—he could summon a spawn of a True God like Suah!
Leonard clenched his fists. Another Demigod. How did I suddenly end up in the high-tier league? I'm just Sequence 7!
A wave of pressure crushed down on him.
If only…if only I could use that silver armour—1-42—whenever I wanted…
Pallez let out a hoarse chuckle.
"Ah, so now you feel the pressure? This is just the beginning."
Leonard took a deep breath. "Old man, you still haven't told —who exactly was it that hunted you down and wounded you so badly?"
Pallez responded slowly, "Let's put it this way: soone like the Demigod we killed tonight wouldn't last even a single second against my enemy."
"...…"
"Hahaha! Don't overthink it. I've long given up on revenge. Just surviving is enough." Pallez chuckled again. "Tell him—if they do go after that Shaman King in the future, and if my condition has recovered well enough, I can assist."
Leonard passed the ssage along word-for-word.
Edward was briefly surprised, but then understood. Clearly, Pallez is also trying to build a rapport with the Sanguines. After all, no one in this world ever says no to more allies—except for Amon.
"Got it. I'll let her know. That's it for tonight—see you."
With that, Edward used Door Opening to phase through the wall and vanished. Monts later, he materialised inside Akasha's private bathhouse.
She had already changed outfits. As soon as he stepped in, Akasha stretched out a hand expectantly.
"My clothes?"
"Huh? I burned them."
"You burned them?"
"You told to 'take care of it.'"
Akasha looked exasperated. "I ant 'take care of it' as in bring it back with you! I was butt-naked back there. Was I supposed to walk up and put them on in front of you?!"
She squinted at him suspiciously. "You didn't sneak it ho to…collect, did you?"
"…"
Edward rolled his eyes. "Sorry, not my kink. Also—my friend said if you're planning to go after Klarman in the future, and if his injuries improve, he might be willing to help."
Akasha's eyes lit up. "Oho, a bonus reward?"
She clapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically. "Nice, not a wasted effort tonight. That friend of yours must be at least Sequence 3, right?"
Then she paused. "Wait…he's injured? You should've co to us, Sanguines. Just a few potions, and he'd be back to full power!"
Yeah, with a dash of mummy powder?
Edward held back a grimace. "Back to full power"…You make it sound like you're selling performance enhancers.
"Your potions probably won't help his kind of injury."
Akasha pinched her chin thoughtfully. "Ah…so it's a soul-level wound. That's trickier."
Edward pulled out a slip of paper. "I'm looking to purchase these materials. If your clan has any, I'd like to buy them."
Akasha scanned it quickly. "Whoa, this many? What are you, opening a Beyonder material shop?"
She didn't press further, though. "Alright, I'll see what I can dig up."
The list included not just ingredients needed by Audrey and himself, but a whole array of low-sequence materials—perfect for when he returned to the Harry Potter world to "teach" potion-making.
"Lastly…"
Edward produced a sleek briefcase and opened it.
"This is a mystical expanded storage box. Interested? It has a cubic ter of interior space—plenty of room."
"How much?"
"Special price for friends—10,000 Pounds."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's your idea of a friend discount?"
"Fine. Final offer—8,888 Pounds."
Akasha tapped her chin. "I'll think about it. That's no small sum."
"You can also trade in equivalent-value materials."
She waved him off like shooing a fly. "Yeah yeah, I said I'd think about it."
"Then, good night."
Edward placed a hand on his chest and gave a shallow bow, then vanished.
"Ugh—"
Akasha ruffled her hair, muttering to herself.
"I really want that case. But I'm flat broke…Should I just sell off that Marquis's Beyonder characteristic?"
"…No way. Great-grandpa would rise from the underworld and bash my head in."
Then her eyes sparkled with sudden inspiration.
"Wait a minute—didn't Arlde have a bunch of suits he hasn't worn in decades…?"
Heh heh heh heh!
———
In a small villa in Empress Borough.
When Edward entered the bedroom, he found Lilith already fast asleep on the bed. Just like always, she'd burrowed her head under the covers, leaving only her fluffy little backside sticking out.
Sotis, he truly couldn't figure this little creature out. So nights she was full of energy, parkouring all over the house in the dead of night. Other tis, she conked out earlier than he did.
More than once, Edward had asked her about it, and she would always respond with a serious expression: "Cats are just like that."
Edward tiptoed into the bathroom and cast a Silencing Charm so he could wash up without disturbing her. But by the ti he returned to the bedroom, he saw Lilith sitting sleepily at the head of the bed, eyes half-closed and on the verge of nodding off.
"You're back, Edward," she murmured through a yawn. "It's so late~"
Edward walked over and gently scooped her into his arms.
"Lilith, I avenged you just now~"
Her eyes opened a little wider. She slowly climbed onto Edward's shoulder and patted his head with a soft paw, whispering, "Thank you for your hard work~"
"Oh? Why so sweet tonight?"
"Miss Lilith is always sweet, thank you very much~"
She added seriously, "Everything Edward does for —Miss Lilith rembers it all, forever and ever, never forgetting."
Edward turned his head slightly and gently touched his forehead to hers.
"Then I truly thank you, Miss Lilith~"
"Indeed!"
She bumped her head softly against his.
"Edward has always protected . So from now on, Miss Lilith will protect Edward!"
"Let's start with you advancing to Sequence 7 first."
Lilith grinned proudly. "Hehe, that's soon enough~"
"Alright, I'll be waiting~"
After coaxing the little one for a while longer, Edward sat down on the bed, still fully dressed, and began ntally tallying the night's gains.
First and foremost, he had avenged Lilith. No matter what that Marauder-pathway demigod had intended by parasitising her—just the fact that she had harboured harm toward Lilith ant she had chosen the path of death.
Although there were no tangible spoils—no Beyonder characteristics or sealed artefacts—tonight's biggest gain was the experience of once again confronting the slippery tricks of the Marauder pathway.
That woman from the Jacob family had been trying to escape the entire ti—never truly fighting to the death until the very end. And even so, Edward had found the battle exhausting.
And that was a severely injured Marauder-pathway demigod.
If it had been Amon, who had turned theft into an art form, the three of them would've been toast.
But reality was—sooner or later, Edward would have to face Amon. He couldn't just rely on Klein to handle things like in the original plot.
What if sothing went wrong?
No—not "what if." With the way this story was unfolding, the original canon was becoming less and less useful as reference. Who knew if Amon would jump into the picture early?
But...
Edward rubbed his hair in frustration. Dealing with soone like Amon…feels like the only solution is brute-force suppression through a much higher Sequence.
But that guy is already the King of Angels. How do I go higher than that?
With that depressing thought, Edward threw off the covers and collapsed into bed.
Screw it. Sleep!
As sleep gradually overtook him, his final thought was:
If the rest of those materials and the Shepherd characteristic don't show up soon, I'm going to use "Madman to the Right" and forcibly twist fate!
———
The next morning.
Edward first t up with Audrey for breakfast. Of course, the main reason was to tell her about what had happened the night before—just in case she was still worried about it.
After several days, the incident at the Hall family last weekend was starting to fade from public mory. The headlines in the newspapers had shifted to the "Ghost Ship Incident" in Pritz Harbour—where a mysteriously abandoned port suddenly hosted a new vessel, its entire crew mysteriously dead.
So eyewitnesses also claid that many unfamiliar faces had recently appeared around Pritz Harbour. The authorities had intervened imdiately, seemingly trying to apprehend these "illegal immigrants."
Audrey, anwhile, had returned to the leisurely life of a wealthy heiress: rich, idle, modestly bored, and faintly irritable.
Thankfully, after acquiring the Hypnotist potion formula, she now had sothing to look forward to every day: when she could collect all the ingredients and advance to Sequence 6.
At noon, Edward was hit with not one but two pieces of good news.
First, Miss Reinette Tinekerr had delivered the entire corpse of a Shadowless Demonic Wolf. Its bodily fluids were required for the Sequence 5 potion, and the pituitary gland would also be used for auxiliary ingredients at Sequence 4—Secrets Sorcerer.
Second, Mr. A sent a ssage: the organisation had dispatched a helper nad Miss D, who would be arriving in Backlund by train today. As for the Shepherd's Beyonder characteristic, it was "secured."
Edward strongly suspected that by "secured," A ant eliminate Miss D and extract her characteristic.
Frankly, he didn't mind. There weren't exactly many "good people" in the Aurora Order.
After lunch, just as he was about to go find Mr. A, he received a ssage from Bernadette's ssenger: regarding the list of materials he ntioned yesterday, she had asked around among her subordinates and confird that so of them could be acquired—including the Shepherd's characteristic.
However, it would take a little longer.
Edward felt even more delighted.
"Having lots of friends really is a blessing. If the East doesn't shine, the West will!"
Then he had a sudden thought:
Wait a second…this streak of good luck…Could it be that Little Snake secretly tweaked my fate a little?
"Lilith," he called out, "later, go ask Audrey to send another batch of ice cream to Dr. Aaron's house."
———
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