"Help him? No, I don't want to help him. On the contrary, this cat-faced monster is an utter insult to cats. What I'm thinking about right now is killing it."
Jenkins straightened up from behind the counter, his tone laced with sarcasm.
The man at the door of the antique shop was an Enchanter, one with a wide range of divine abilities. He had to be the instigator of this whole strange affair.
"Kill it? Oh, young people are always so arrogant these days. You don't even know what this is, do you? I know you're wary of . To you, I'm just a suspicious person, but you have no idea what a great cause I am undertaking—I am saving this world."
"Oh?"
"I arranged the illusion you see before you. As for finding you, that was because of the umbilical cord you carry. I assu you're still unclear on what it is, so I arranged this trial to let you experience the power of that cord."
"Yes, it's powerful indeed."
Jenkins agreed, though he knew the stranger hadn't spoken a single word of truth since entering the shop.
"The complete umbilical cord was divided into four segnts. When all four are brought together, a powerful and bizarre evil from another dinsion will descend and bring an apocalyptic catastrophe upon the material world. To save this world, I have dedicated myself to collecting all four segnts and sealing them in the moon-blessed Silver Moon Lake."
The stranger held out his hand, gesturing for Jenkins to give him the item. But Jenkins remained perfectly still, his expression cold as he stared at the man. Of all the words the stranger had spoken, only the phrase "The complete umbilical cord was divided into four segnts" hadn't triggered the warning from his Lie Godhood.
"If I don't hand it over, you'll use this illusion to kill , is that it?"
After a long silence, Jenkins finally asked in a low voice.
"For the sake of peace in the material world, sacrifices must sotis be made. Wouldn't you agree?"
The stranger asked with a smile. He snapped his fingers, and the fleshy blanket covering the walls imdiately began to squirm.
"I encountered sothing interesting on my way here tonight. The power of the umbilical cord segnt in my possession allowed to temporarily control it. The illusion you're now seeing is a combination of the book you were reading and the most terrifying scene from your mory. In an environnt like this, you can't possibly win."
"So it really is part of that Cursed Item. My luck is just terrible..."
Jenkins complained internally, then looked toward the counter behind him:
"Do you really know what that umbilical cord is? Can you truly trust a power that doesn't belong to you?"
"The umbilical cord of a God's Child. Though not the child of my Lord, finding it is a divine gift."
The stranger answered casually, then continued:
"The ones who delivered the God's Child failed, and the Orthodox Church punished them. But the Dead Man's Whip is an organization blessed by a deity; my Lord's omnipotence allowed us to acquire the umbilical cord at the child's birth. If not for a traitor, if not for that terrible thing, the plan would have already started smoothly. But it doesn't matter. We can find where the three stolen segnts are hidden. See, you've been found. I haven't told anyone about this. As long as I take the cord from your hands and bring it back, I can... Now, give the umbilical cord!"
Those words were true. And his move to reveal his own affiliation made Jenkins think of sothing else:
"The umbilical cord is for the Exotic Tide ritual? What exactly are you people planning?"
A flicker of panic crossed the man's face. Before he could voice a threat, Jenkins pressed on:
"If you were truly confident you could kill , why waste ti talking? Controlling even a part of that Cursed Item must be taking up all the power from the segnt you hold, which ans you yourself can't be very powerful."
Having said that, Jenkins held out a hand and gestured toward the man.
"Hand over the umbilical cord, and I'll spare your life."
A sound of sothing slicing through the air ca from behind him, and Jenkins imdiately ducked and rolled aside. He saw that a sphere of flesh, ford from the fleshy blanket on the wall, had gathered behind him at so point. A humanoid figure was vaguely discernible within it.
"I'll take what I want from your corpse. Do enjoy yourself."
The stranger tipped his hat to Jenkins, then turned, opened the door, and left the antique shop.
Jenkins had no ti to worry about him now; he could sense that the thing inside the fleshy sphere was incredibly dangerous. The entire antique shop was trembling, and the mass of flesh and blood looked as if it was about to birth the humanoid figure within.
Nauseating red tentacles sprouted from the surface of the fleshy mass and shot toward Jenkins in a dense swarm. Fighting back his revulsion, Jenkins grabbed one, let out a sharp cry, and launched himself toward the sphere.
Relying on sheer strength and physique, he crashed right through the tentacles. His left hand emanated a frosty mist while his right blazed with fire. He plunged both hands deep into the fleshy mass, aiming for the humanoid figure's chest, and ripped out the umbilical cord floating in a murky fluid.
This wasn't the segnt from his own pocket; it was clearly another piece. And though everything around him was an illusion, this segnt was undeniably real.
The mont the umbilical cord was torn free, the illusion collapsed. Jenkins found himself still in the middle of pushing the door open, about to chase after Captain Bincy.
His eyes swept his surroundings, confirming he was back in the real world. Then he looked down at the new, black, slimy object in his hand.
"That wasn't too difficult."
With that thought, he pulled the cat from inside his coat with one hand and set it on the ground. He then went back into the shop, found an empty bottle, and placed the new umbilical cord inside:
"Watch the shop for . I'll be right back."
He issued the request to the cat trailing at his heels and, before it could object, pushed the door open and stepped out. This ti, he successfully made it onto the street.
The city night was clearly not a peaceful one. Though he couldn't see anyone on the street, he could faintly hear a clamor of shouts and disturbances in the distance.
Jenkins glanced through the shop window at the smoldering book inside, then shoved his hands in his pockets and slipped into a nearby alley. When he erged, his appearance had completely changed.
He scaled the three-story building across from Pops Antique Shop, steadying himself on the lightning rod of its pointed roof as he surveyed the city from the great height. In the darkness, Jenkins's unusual eyes seed to glow as he quickly located his target.
He leaped directly from the rooftop. After a flawless landing, he set off in silence, heading in the direction Captain Bincy and his group had gone.
He stayed on Fifth Queen's Avenue, pressing onward. Ten minutes later, he saw a group of people blocking the road ahead. It was Captain Bincy and the Nightwatchn, and their opponents were a group of bizarre-looking humanoid creatures.
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