Chapter 159 - 159: Their Own Moves

The idea of "fighting" a demigod flashed across Edward's mind, but was immediately dismissed—what a joke. He couldn't even beat a demigod on a normal day. If she casually pulled out a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact and smacked him with it, he'd be dead in an instant. "Alright," he agreed. Edward beckoned to Lilith, the cat crouching under the table. "Lilith, help me deliver this to Audrey." He quickly scribbled a line onto a slip of paper and handed it to Lilith. Gripping the note between her teeth, Lilith leapt up to the windowsill. She glanced back at Edward with worried eyes before jumping down and disappearing into the distance. The room fell into silence. The lady folded her arms and sat quietly, gazing out of the window, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Edward's mind was spinning rapidly—since she was willing to offer a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact as payment, maybe he should seize the opportunity to wring some more benefits out of this. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck him: She was at least a demigod. Although he had faced demigod-level powerhouses before, he had never actually fought one—mostly because he wasn't even qualified to. In any serious confrontation, he would have been flattened in seconds! But this raised a problem: he genuinely didn't know how much effect his magic would have against a demigod-level opponent. "Madam," Edward sighed at this moment, "you can treat that talk about Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts as a joke. But...I do have a small experiment I'd like you to assist with. You're a demigod, right?" "That's correct." "Perfect. Oh, just a heads-up—I can't guarantee this experiment won't cause you any harm, but please, whatever happens, don't retaliate." The lady drew in a shallow breath. "Alright." "Then..." Edward took a step back and pulled out his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!" A beam of light shot out, striking the lady's arm. The spot of contact began to slowly turn to stone. She frowned slightly; her gaze shimmered briefly, and the petrification instantly dissipated. "Confundo!" "Tarantallegra!" "Stupefy!" "Impedimenta!" —— Spell after spell shot out with crackling sounds, but unfortunately, most had little to no effect. "Fiendfyre!" A fierce, finger-thick stream of Fiendfyre surged toward the lady. She calmly extended a hand; at the moment of contact, her palm flickered unnaturally, as if glitching. Despite the Fiendfyre relentlessly burning, it didn't harm her in the slightest. "Sectumsempra!" Slash. Finally, a real effect—an invisible curse tore through her clothes, leaving a gash that faintly revealed a red mark on the alabaster skin beneath. "That one's not bad," she commented lightly, brushing at the torn fabric. "Flavius!" The next second, the lady's body showed a brief sign of warping, but it quickly corrected itself. She frowned slightly. "That last spell...I felt a hint of threat from it." Of course! Transfiguration was Edward's strongest magic. Edward didn't bother trying Avada Kedavra; by now, he had a rough understanding. It wasn't that the spells had no effect—it was that he hadn't infused them with full spiritual force. Otherwise, if he poured everything into a shot and actually landed a hit, it could definitely inflict damage—provided the opponent stood still and let him cast! "Now for the real test." Edward took out a gold coin and flicked it into the air. "Let's see if my magic will successfully affect her." The coin spun through the air. Edward caught it deftly. Heads up—meaning no. Without hesitation, he activated [Madman to the Right]. At the same time, he swung his wand. "Flavius! Tarantallegra!" The lady's expression changed drastically. She was about to speak when a beam of light shot straight at her. The next second— A snowy white Persian cat appeared out of thin air and began performing an absurd tap dance. A few seconds later, the Persian cat reverted back to human form. The lady was no longer calm and composed. With a face full of astonishment, she stared at Edward. "How did you do that?" Edward, massaging his temples and enduring the headache caused by the exhaustion of his spirituality, managed to squeeze out a grin. "Secret," he said. She frowned slightly but did not press further. Damn it, Edward thought grimly. He had intended to lightly test a few spells, but due to an "accidental misfire," he ended up overloading and nearly drained his spirituality dry! [Madman to the Right] was indeed full of uncontrollable surprises. Although it successfully altered the divination result, it also forcefully changed Edward's original plan when activated. In an actual battle, if something like this happened—say, after forcing the opponent into a few seconds of immobility—Edward would simply be waiting to die afterwards. Especially if the enemy was a Spectator Pathway powerhouse; even transformed, their combat capability wouldn't be affected much. Just like how Hermes had been turned into a rabbit during his fight with Miss Reinette Tinekerr, but even as a rabbit, he remained a Sequence 2 Insightful Beyonder. Still... This technique could definitely serve as a last-resort lifesaving move! "Is your experiment finished?" the lady asked. "Yeah," Edward replied. She studied him for a moment and said thoughtfully, "You weren't simply testing abilities. You were trying to simulate...fighting a demigod-level enemy?" Edward shrugged. "Pretty much the same thing." "You have a demigod-level enemy?" Her ocean-deep blue eyes gazed at him calmly. "I owe you a favour. You can use it to have me assist you in one battle." Huh. That didn't sound half bad. "Deal." Edward thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Alright…but I'm not sure when my enemy will actually make a move. Could we perhaps change the condition to you protecting me for a period of time, until they appear?" She gave Edward a cool, sidelong glance but said nothing. "Alright then, I'll just wait a bit longer," Edward muttered, shrugging helplessly. A few minutes later, she pulled out a stack of cash and placed it on the table. "Tell me another story." "Sure." Since he had nothing better to do, Edward thought for a second and began, "This one is called One Thousand and One Nights." Her eyes shimmered ever so slightly. "A long time ago, there was a tyrannical king. Every day, he would marry a young maiden, and by dawn the next day, he'd have her executed. Though the people were furious, there was nothing they could do. Most just tried to flee the kingdom. One day, a brave girl volunteered to marry the king. That night, she told him a story. Just as it reached its most exciting point—dawn broke. Curious to hear the rest, the king spared her life. The next night, the girl finished the first story and started a second one. Again, just as it reached its climax, morning arrived. The king spared her again. And so it went, night after night. The king was enthralled, always eager for the next tale. After one thousand and one nights, he was finally moved. He fell in love with the girl and decided to marry her properly and live happily ever after." The lady elegantly crossed her legs and asked, "So, you're saying I'm the tyrannical king, and you're the clever girl? Hmm." "The story's not over yet," Edward said with a grin. "On the night of the grand wedding, as the king was about to formally marry the girl, she pulled out a pair of scissors she had hidden for a long time—and slit his throat. The end." She leaned back and smiled. "…Interesting." Edward placed a hand over his heart and gave a slight bow. "Thank you for the compliment." --- By six in the evening, the Royal Museum had said farewell to the last of its ordinary visitors—only to welcome a much more distinguished group: a tour of high-born guests, including the daughter of a count, the son of a duke, and a number of young viscounts. Audrey, who had been feeling a little sour over Edward bailing on her earlier, instantly perked up after receiving a task from Mr. World. She behaved like a noble girl who knew nothing but adored Emperor Roselle. She wandered the museum at a relaxed pace, stopping constantly to admire exhibits, asking all sorts of curious questions, and wanting to touch everything. Of course, before touching anything, she would always politely seek permission from the staff, and only after receiving it would she carefully, delicately, reach out—as if afraid of damaging these ancient treasures. Compared to the other boorish noble youths who were more hands than eyes, Audrey's gentle behaviour quickly won over the museum staff. As expected from the "Most Dazzling Gem of Backlund." Soon, she stopped before a golden, intricately carved toilet. The image of Roselle's diary popped into her mind—no one would ever guess that the reason Emperor Roselle went to such lengths to 'invent' the modern toilet was because he had nearly fallen off one while using it. She couldn't help the amused twitch of her lips. Glaint looked at her with curiosity. "Audrey, I know you're a big fan of Emperor Roselle, but it's just a toilet…is it really that fascinating?" Audrey immediately pressed her lips together and said primly, "No, Glaint, you don't understand. This is the brilliance of human civilisation." Glaint shrugged. Looking around the empty museum, Audrey couldn't help thinking: It would've been more fun to come during regular hours with the general public. That way, she could hear all the other 'fans' lavish praises upon Emperor Roselle—his culture, his inventions, his science, his military prowess—and secretly giggle to herself: None of it was originally his. According to Edward, the Emperor wasn't some brilliant innovator—just a diligent porter, hauling knowledge from another world. If only this world had petroleum, if only the Emperor had lived a bit longer, perhaps today's world wouldn't be that different from Edward's. This line of thought brought her a trace of worry. The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery was clearly cosying up to Edward for the sake of another industrial revolution. But modern science depended heavily on petroleum. Even if Edward proposed a shift toward electric technology, there were still many technical hurdles left unsolved—especially in a 1991-version of Britain. What if they eventually realised that Edward had reaped all the benefits…yet brought no real change? Would they turn on him? As the group slowly moved on, they entered a faithfully reconstructed study. Audrey maintained her role, asking a few casual questions here and there, always full of wide-eyed curiosity. When the tour guide began introducing the "Original Manuscript of Creative Ideas," Audrey's eyes lit up. That's the one! She took a step forward, laid a hand on the manuscript, and casually slipped out the bookmarked page while flipping to another—just like any curious visitor might do. At the same time, she shot a quick look at Susie: Your cue! "Woof! Woof! Woof!!" ——— Night had quietly fallen. After confirming through Miss Justice that the bookmark was indeed problematic, Klein decided to take action that very evening. He had previously used divination to locate an abandoned building near the Royal Museum. After arriving, he scattered Starlight Powder, releasing his spirituality to seal the entire room, ensuring nothing inside could be heard or sensed from the outside. Then, he lit a candle, placed it on a box before him, and—following the rituals of magic—summoned himself. Above the grey fog, he responded to his own summoning. Using this process, he subtly altered his projected spiritual body—his face now appeared faintly painted, as if smeared with greasepaint. When everything was ready, Klein grabbed a random box of matches he'd picked up on the street, and sliced a transparent door into the spiritual wall before stepping through. He drifted like a true ghost through the wall, heading straight for the Royal Museum: "Let's begin." ——— Elsewhere— When Edward arrived at the Royal Museum with the mysterious lady, he couldn't help but freeze. Then he turned to her, dumbfounded. "Don't tell me…you brought me here just to tell you another story?" He stared at the massive poster of Emperor Roselle hanging outside the museum, then glanced at the woman beside him— A vague, uneasy suspicion was beginning to form in his mind. No way... ——— [Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.