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"The main body has already perished; only a small remnant from thousands of years ago remains. I'd like to see how capable it truly is."
Enduring the layered, illusory prayers and looking at the black river that had surged before him, Aaron was about to have the sub-consciousness within the Sefirah unleash a Sun-Shattering Arrow at the statue in front of him, when he saw Astolfo step in front of him.
Astolfo's body, which had gradually shed its Puppet form, suddenly swelled, his eyes turned blood-red, and the faint glow from the strange Texture on his body spread to Aaron.
Aaron instantly felt the world fall silent. The desolate horn blasts and layered prayers vanished simultaneously, as if not only his body but also his Spirit Body had temporarily lost its hearing.
He only saw Astolfo, whose body had expanded several times, mouth gaping open to his ears, as if making a silent shriek.
The river of pitch-black Death intent rippled, and the river, which was about to rush to the entrance, instantly rolled back.
The pale, bloody arms that had been scrambling to reach out from within the river retracted back into the river at an even faster speed after sensing Astolfo's aura.
The arms that hadn't managed to retreat from the river, along with the greenish-black vines with infant faces, and the slimy tentacles with bulging eyes, transformed into bizarre animals the moment they touched the ripples caused by the shriek, losing their unique characteristics and abilities. The only commonality was that they all had blood-red eyes.
This… Is this the power a Sequence 4 can possess?
Aaron watched this scene with some surprise, secretly guessing that after achieving demigod status, based on the residual peculiarities of the Spirit World, he could temporarily recover a portion of his strength.
The Death Mask on his face shimmered slightly, and Aaron, deep in thought, looked into the distance.
The surging river and the receding ripples formed a vortex in the center of the temple. A rotting body with white feathers on its back emerged from it, the flesh on its decaying face still wriggling, seemingly trying to regenerate.
His hollow eye sockets suddenly deepened, as if connecting to a dead and dark world. Dense black mist permeated the air, flowing slowly over him like a haze.
He grabbed at the air with his right hand, and all the white feathers flew out, covering his body and blocking the influence of the invisible shriek.
But Aaron, whose pupils had contracted slightly behind Astolfo, instantly guessed, with the Death Mask on, that this person should be the Numinous Episcopate Undying who was lost in the divine war ruins.
But with his appearance, pale corpses shakily climbed out of the Styx, instantly transforming into various creatures with blood-red eyes, dissolving into the pitch-black river.
Sensing this change, the rotting corpse covered in white feathers let out an angry roar. The colors around him instantly became vivid, and space gradually distorted.
Astolfo, maintaining his open mouth, slowly raised his right hand. The Spirit World that the Numinous Episcopate Undying was about to open instantly returned to tranquility, the colors no longer vibrant, as if nothing had happened.
After achieving demigod status, an Undying can control the Spirit World to a certain extent and use it to nourish the small underworld within their body. But for Astolfo, who was born in the Spirit World and is essentially a high-level Spirit World creature, this level of control is simply not worth mentioning.
The Undying, whose abilities were completely suppressed, quickly looked at the Death statue with his hollow eyes. He no longer counterattacked but rushed towards the bronze door at the top of the statue, seemingly intending to sacrifice himself to fully awaken the entity behind the Door.
Before he could step out, a Spear of Light, entirely condensed from brilliant light, instantly pierced his body. The white feathers burned, giving off black smoke.
From the dense black mist, the Undying, whose body was covered in white feathers, stepped out of the Styx again. Having lost control due to corruption, his Undying ability merged with this Styx, serving as both a restraint and a new birth.
Aaron clearly noticed this point and no longer wasted the Spear of Light recorded in the Ring of Mysteries. The majestic ancient hermes echoed:
"Imprison!"
At the same time, the Darkness Mark on his wrist emitted a faint glow. Unlike the dead black of the Styx, tranquil and silent black ripples spread out, combining with the Imprisonment decree.
After being strengthened, layer upon layer of black walls and extremely viscous, shadowy liquid enveloped the newly regenerated Undying. With his Spirit World abilities restricted by Astolfo, he was temporarily confined in place.
Without Aaron's reminder, Astolfo, who had somehow temporarily recovered his Sequence 3 Disicple of Silence abilities, suddenly became vibrantly colored around his body.
As his illusory figure vanished, the bronze door at the top of the Death statue, which was continuously spewing black Styx, began to glow with vibrant colors on its side. Astolfo's increasingly massive body appeared beside the bronze door.
Strange Texture on his body spread towards the bronze door. This small underworld, which had formed at some unknown time, was slowly closing, and the black Styx was slowly flowing back.
Compared to Astolfo, who was locked in a stalemate with the bronze door and unable to attend to anything else, Aaron was quite at ease.
The title "Mistress of Repose and Silence," which could entirely point to the underworld and the Death Domain, greatly alleviated the influence of the desolate horn blasts and prayers on Aaron, thanks to the power surging from the Darkness Mark.
The "Imprisonment" decree, enhanced by this power, successfully restrained the Undying and prevented him from being carried away by the flowing Styx.
Separated from the Styx and with his Spirit World abilities restricted, this "Undying" was unable to display his true strength at all. He was quite frustrated as Aaron, wielding the "Sword of Judgment" and the "Ring of Mysteries," continuously shattered his body.
Finally, the incomplete white feathers no longer coalesced into a human form but transformed into a giant cocoon stained with light yellow oil, constantly contracting and expanding, accompanied by the convergence of dense Death intent.
Looking at the giant cocoon before him, a bizarre fusion of vitality and Death intent, Aaron let out a sigh of relief, his right hand gripping the "Sword of Judgment" trembling slightly.
Even though several key abilities were restricted or weakened, the demigod-level physique showed no signs of weakening. All three "Harvest" abilities of the "Sword of Judgment" had been used up, and it was only with the cooperation of the Darkness Mark's abilities that the Undying was completely severely wounded and fell into slumber.
There was no time to breathe. Feeling the increasingly terrifying horn blasts coming from above, Aaron looked up at the top of the Death statue, his pupils contracting sharply.
The bronze door, which was originally half-open, now had only a tiny gap left. No matter how many symbolic patterns surged from Astolfo's body, that gap remained completely still.
The black Styx surrounded the statue and Astolfo. Black mist began to surge from the gap, slowly spreading outwards, revealing the terrifying entity behind the Door.
It was a feathered serpent, extremely similar to the statue, yet so massive that it seemed capable of occupying the entire world!
It also had huge greenish-black scales, but unlike the statue, light yellow, oil-stained feathers grew from the gaps, and from each feather, illusory black tubes extended, connecting to the surging black mist.
This exaggerated feathered serpent was extremely illusory; only the fangs of its head were truly real. The rest of it looked more like a manifestation of symbolic patterns merged with black mist.
The moment he saw this feathered serpent, even though Aaron quickly lowered his head, the desolate horn blasts in his mind erupted like a volcano, and white feathers began to grow on his body.
Without the slightest hesitation, Aaron immediately used the last "Ocean of Light" recorded in the "Ring of Mysteries." Pure, scorching light enveloped him, and at the same time, he connected to the Sefirah to resist the corruption from directly facing a mythical creature's form.
Recalling the dream transmitted through the Death Mask earlier and comparing it to the scene he had just witnessed, Aaron could clearly feel something gradually awakening.
Sighing inwardly and forcefully expelling the invading corruption, he ended the "Ocean of Light." Aaron took out the "Crimson Eye," feeling his spirituality constantly regenerating and recovering under the crimson moonlight, as spirituality surged frantically into the "Ring of Mysteries" in his hand.
Aaron kept whispering in his heart, his right hand instinctively reaching forward, constantly trying, and finally, in the historical void, he touched a certain image.
The black mist continuously spread, and the giant cocoon on the ground, a bizarre fusion of vitality and Death intent, began to tremble violently. The entire underwater ruin began to shake, and the surroundings became transparent, reflecting a world filled with countless skeletons and phantoms.
The terrifying, semi-illusory feathered serpent coiled at the highest point of the entire world, slowly opening its eyes, which burned with pale flames.
Astolfo's massive body instantly stiffened. As a high-level Spirit World creature with an extremely high essence, white feathers stained with light yellow oil also began to grow on his body.
Bloody arms, greenish-black vines with infant faces, and slimy tentacles with dead fish eyes or two rows of fangs continuously surged forth, forcefully prying open the bronze portal, frantically trying to pierce the boundary between reality and illusion.
Suddenly, everything fell silent. The prayers and wails also disappeared. Even the illusory, distorted faces of the souls drifting in the Styx gradually softened, and a power of peace and tranquility continuously spread.
Pure blackness had, at some unknown point, enveloped the entire underwater ruin. A slender, fair female hand appeared out of thin air, pressing onto Astolfo's body, which was covered in white feathers.
She was a beautiful lady, dressed in a classical robe, wearing a black hood, with little expression on her face, and her eyes were deep black but lacked vitality.
This was the hidden angel of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the "Mother of the Sky" from the "Night Kingdom," the daughter of the ancient god Flegrea, who had eliminated the mutated Mahmosi during the divine descent in Bayam, and who was now the divine descent vessel of the Evernight Goddess.
The darkness in the divine war ruins was the residual divine power of the Goddess. Coupled with the feedback obtained from continuously exploring the black monastery in the dream world, Aaron had always wanted to try if he could summon her.
What he had been murmuring and reciting in his heart just now was the Evernight Goddess's honorific name!
Summoning images from the historical void cannot summon entities involving Uniqueness. Although the "divine descent vessel" that can be summoned also carries some power from a deity, it certainly does not involve Uniqueness.
Even so, Aaron believed that if the Goddess hadn't tacitly allowed it, or even provided some assistance, he wouldn't have been able to succeed, no matter how many times he tried to summon her while in the divine war ruins.
The beautiful lady did not look at Aaron, who had summoned her. She casually pulled out the corruption Astolfo had suffered, then directly turned her head to look at the Death statue opposite.
The mountain-like feathered serpent, both illusory and real, seemed to sense some ominous change. Its tail suddenly lashed out, frantically sweeping around, and its head lowered, opening its massive mouth to reveal dark red flesh and fangs stained with light yellow oil, spitting out a pitch-black serpent's tongue and greenish slime.
However, "Its" attempts had no effect. "It" seemed to be living in another world!
The entire underwater ruin suddenly shook. The Death statue began to sway and crack, and the bronze door at its top rippled. The illusory black tubes spreading in the black mist were dissolved by the profound blackness, and the entire Death statue was irreversibly being moved into a hidden world.
Aaron, with the "Crimson Eye," had already prepared for spiritual exhaustion. After all, he didn't know how much spirituality it would take to summon the historical projection of that divine descent vessel.
After the horn blasts in his ears disappeared, Aaron, though he didn't dare to look up for fear of seeing things he shouldn't see, knew very well that his summoning had succeeded.
The spiritual consumption was not great, or more accurately, spirituality was only consumed during the previous continuous attempts to summon the historical void image.
Feeling somewhat puzzled, Aaron used the corner of his eye to look around. A deep blackness enveloped the entire underwater ruin. That was the divine power of the Evernight Goddess remaining in the divine war ruins. They were continuously gathering above his head, replacing the spiritual consumption.
His eyes involuntarily moved upwards, and Aaron finally saw the beautiful but not very lively hidden angel, and the Death statue behind her, shrouded in gloomy mist, gradually disappearing.
Astolfo, who had returned to his normal state, appeared beside Aaron, wanting to say something but held back.
A clear, cold voice sounded, accompanied by the spread of a tranquil aura:
"Do not go to the remaining sea area of Tolzna for now. You are not yet qualified…"
Tolzna? The "God of Spiritual Creatures," one of the subordinate deities of Kvastir, the Variant King of the second epoch?
Aaron paused for a second, quickly recalling the name. His intuition told him that this sentence was not directed at him, and he couldn't help but turn to look at Astolfo beside him.
He saw Astolfo respectfully lower his head slightly, making a gesture in response.
The hidden angel said no more, actively fading her body, transforming into numerous symbols representing Concealment and terror, and surged into the Darkness Mark on Aaron's wrist. The clear, cold voice echoed in his mind again.
"When night falls upon the land where gods fell, you will obtain what you desire…"
The taut string in his heart finally relaxed, and a smile appeared on Aaron's face. He found the blood the Undying had left behind during the battle and smeared it onto the cover of Groselle's Travels.
Watching the giant cocoon, a fusion of vitality and Death intent, vanish before him, Aaron had the sub-consciousness remaining within the Sefirah condense his prayer image and transmit it to Bayer Baile, asking him to guard the cocoon formed by this "Undying."
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