World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 57 Cardenas's bad luck continues (Part 2)
Clearing his throat, Lin An felt that this was the perfect time to practice a vocal lesson from an art academy.

Similar to the Ouroboros, as long as Zomo is infused with "Dreamer," it can take Lin An across space without triggering the precondition of being chased.

The location where it stays is not very controllable; Zomo may appear at a random location within a ten-meter radius of Lin An's destination.

The first-floor corridor used an outward-curved window structure. Lin An originally wanted to stand outside the window, but Zomo teleported him to the windowsill, where he was only two curtains away from Cardenas and Wendigo.

One side is a sheer curtain, the other a silk curtain.

"Who's there?!"

Wendigo's sparkling eyes turned towards him, while Cardenas, hiding by the window, looked behind the curtains in the direction of the sound.

He also wanted to know who the singer was.

The silk curtains blocked the moonlight, and Cardenas could vaguely see a long, slender shadow peeking out from the crack in the windowsill, leaning gracefully against the window frame, completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

Even in the midst of a chaotic battle where death could be a matter of a moment's carelessness, they still maintained such a leisurely and carefree state of mind...

He didn't care about anyone there at all!

The wind blew from the end of the corridor, the heavy silk curtains remained motionless, and the gauze curtains fluttered high, obscuring his shadow like a layer of mist.

A curtain as thick as clouds and mist separated the two of them, and for some reason, Cardenas got goosebumps all over his body.

This indifference stems from unparalleled self-confidence; the person behind the curtain is like a high and mighty god, looking down on the chaos of the world from the perspective of an observer.

What is that person singing?
The Phantom of the Opera?

A guess suddenly flashed through Cardenas's mind.

Could he be—the Beta-003 [Ghost] who possesses the art of soul manipulation?!
“Answer me! Who are you!” Wendigo roared irritably. The speaker was remarkably calm, which gave Wendigo a bad feeling. “Or I’ll kill you!”

Although the Foundation's records show that the Ghost sided with the Witch, Cardenas, who provided the information, knew that neither the Miss nor the Witch knew anything about him.

He was a true ghost of Dietrich, and no one had ever seen his true face.

The ghost's immense power is beyond doubt.

Receiving no response, Wendigo licked its nose uneasily, crawled on all fours, extended its sharp claws, and, driven by instinct, roared as it lunged toward the curtains.

The invisible Cardenas was happy to watch the show.

Ghost, let me see your true power!

Before the corners of his mouth had even curled up for half a second, a series of sounds rang out, and the person behind the curtains pulled out a pistol and shot off the curtain track pulleys.

The gauze curtains fluttered down in the wind, and by sheer coincidence, they covered Cardenas's head and his entire body.

A human silhouette was immediately reflected in Wendigo's pupils.

What the hell!

Before Cardenas could even ponder why the ghost could see the invisible man, Wendigo let out a roar.

"So you were there!"

As the level of pollution increases, the mysterious's thinking will become more and more straightforward. Wendigo had no time to judge where the gunshot came from. He slightly changed direction and pounced on Cardenas like a hyena hunting its prey.

"Dangdang!"

Cardenas slammed his back against the ground, his spine cracking with a fragile sound, and sharp claws pierced through his arms and knees, drawing blood.

"Damn it..."

Accompanied by feeble curses, Wendigo opened his gaping maw and aimed at Cardenas's shoulder, tearing through the curtains and clothes and ripping off a bloody piece of flesh still attached to the skin. He chewed it haphazardly a couple of times and swallowed it with a "gulp".

He licked his dense, sharp teeth with his tongue, then bit down on Cardenas again.

This time, a crisp sound was heard as if bone was being split in two.

In fact, when Wendigo pounced, Cardenas was prepared to deal with it, but the opponent was too fast. By the time he shakily activated the arcane spell, freezing Wendigo's movements, two bloody holes had already been bitten into his body.

As his consciousness faded, Cadner struggled to move his body and barely managed to break free from Wendigo's clutches. However, as Wendigo exhaled heavily and gradually regained his mobility, Cadner could no longer run far.

It would have been five more minutes to adjust...

Am I going to die here?
Do not!
I don't want to die!
"Mr. Cardenas, would you like to make a deal?"

The melodious sound, like that of a piano, flowed into Cardenas's buzzing ears, and he immediately recognized it as belonging to the person behind the curtains.

It's a ghost!
Whatever the purpose, at least the ghost could save his life!
“Yes! Lord Ghost, I am willing to go through fire and water for you!” Cardenas exclaimed hastily.

"...Find me behind the curtains."

Overjoyed, Cardenas quickly crawled under the silk curtains, using both his hands and feet.

The next moment, Wendigo broke free from the white light, his bulbous eyes staring intently at the swaying silk curtains.

"You're the legendary ghost?!"

Just as he was about to launch an attack in the same manner, a cold, deep, and erratic light materialized into two gray trees, a birch and a poplar, which resembled Solomon's pillars, separated by two meters.

"Crack!" Energy materialized into an invisible, enormous shield, and Wendigo crashed into it with a "thud," immediately feeling dizzy and as if his entire skull was about to crack open.

Of course, it wasn't his skull that cracked, but his antlers.

The gray mist from the shield seeped into the wound on the cut surface. The intense feeling of weightlessness caused Wendigo to fall to the ground. His body was churning, and his internal organs were fighting each other. He frantically dug his throat with his fingers and vomited profusely.

[The Hittite Guardian Ritual].

Evil souls will surely be punished by the sun goddess.

Cardenas blinked, finding it difficult to describe the person reflected in his eyes.

His entire body was surrounded by complex, greenish numbers, obscuring his facial features or physical characteristics, much like René Magritte's painting "Children of Men," filled with an eerie, unknown, and incongruous beauty.

"Lord Ghost..." he began, his voice trembling, "You...you can really see me?"

"A complete view."

Cardenas was so shocked that he was speechless.

After performing the protective ritual, Lin An's radiation level reached 3.4%. Like the other mystics, he could not only see the "Comers" energy more clearly, but also utilize this energy, just like Captain Simon and the Angel Sword.

In layman's terms, his system has added several new features.

The "Seeker of Knowledge" medium is not as aggressive as the "Lord of Dreams." The system told Lin An that one of its abilities is to make the green data concrete.

It's hard to give an evaluation...

In short, under Lin An's mental control, other mysterious individuals can see this green data, or other information determined by him.

He can make them see whatever he wants them to see.

The data surrounding him was the code for the World Tree Forum, designed to prevent Cardenas from recognizing him.

If it were an ordinary person, Lin An would not have made any disguise. In the eyes of the mysterious person who could see the "Comers" energy, he would have been enveloped in layers of green data.

I feel this feature could be useful in intelligence warfare or in misleading the enemy.

Furthermore, the system can now wield mystical arts in various ways.

Originally, it only had "analysis," "inclusion," and "use," but now it has a new deconstruction method—"tracing the source."

That is, combining low-rated entries together and reasoning backwards to piece together the whole from the fragments, thereby gaining knowledge closer to the source.

The new features will be put aside for now and tested one by one later. Lin An turned to the matters at hand.

At this moment, Cardenas had not yet deactivated his invisibility, but a "Casbell" panel revealed his location, which looked quite comical.

The people at the Foundation really have vivid imaginations; how did this guy even connect me to "ghosts"...?

Dispelling his chaotic thoughts, Lin An spoke calmly: "Jorna Cardenas, you agreed to our deal, so I saved your life. Now it's your turn to pay the price."

The ghost's cold words came from behind the green cipher, making Cardenas shudder.

and many more!

Could the price be my soul?!

Thinking of the ghost's mysterious, ruthless killing techniques, Cardenas suddenly regretted it. If the ghost took his soul, he would rather be eaten by the Wendigo!

However, with the ghost's deep, inky eyes in front of him and the Wendigo moving like the wind behind him, Cardenas gritted his teeth and forced a smile.

"What...what do you need, Lord Ghost?"

“The aristocratic family possesses a mysterious technique to reduce the level of pollution.” Lin An heard Wendigo suppressing his gagging and groaning in a low voice. Not wanting to waste the second [Guardian Ritual], he went straight to the point and said, “Tell me about it in detail.”

"You want to know how to reduce pollution levels?" Cardenas suddenly realized.

Ghost is ultimately a free-spirited mystic from the common people. Without the accumulated knowledge and experience from the previous "Comers" overlap, he was completely lost when exploring the energy of another world, unlike himself who had a smooth experience by relying on the young lady.

Since that's the case, Ghost won't kill him for now, a glint of light flashed in Cardenas' eyes.

"Reducing pollution levels is a major concern for every mystic. So how does one reduce their own level of pollution? As a mystic myself, I'm also very curious, since reducing pollution levels is their number one worry; it's a very important matter—"

Lin An's temples bulged with veins, and he interrupted coldly.

"Will you just tell me honestly, or should I use some mystical magic to plunder your soul and get information directly from your brain? Let me be clear, this will turn you into a complete madman."

He naturally didn't have that ability; he was just using the "soul-searching technique" that's often mentioned in online novels to scare this glib-tongued guy.

Soul plundering?

Such terrifying and mysterious arts actually exist in the world!
As expected of the "Ghost" who exists between the three major powers, not only is he ruthless, but he also employs a variety of methods. His rating is probably above mythical...

To save his life, Cardenas took a deep breath.

“Lord Ghost, it’s like this, there’s a theory that reduces the level of pollution called 'Awakening Adsorption'.”

Thank you to Medieval Fantasy Lazy Bro and Never Sleeping Slacker for the 5000 points! Thank you to TayaAndrew, Disappearing Integrity Guy, and Half Moon Knight for the monthly tickets, and thank you to all the readers for the recommendation tickets and for following the story.



(End of this chapter)