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A glimmer of light flashed in Sharron's azure eyes. Having roughly learned from Mobet what happened in Tingen last time, Sharron was quite curious about the secrets contained within this city.
However, she managed to control her desires well. She had more important matters to complete, something she had been preparing for since achieving demigodhood.
Nodding slightly in response, Sharron's body gradually became transparent, using the ability of a "Puppet" to eliminate some information from this area of the Spirit World.
As the "Capital of Capitals," Backlund, besides the major Churches and official forces like the Loen military, also harbored many hidden organizations and various Sealed Artifacts.
It's worth noting that some Sealed Artifacts do not strictly adhere to the characteristics of the Twenty-Two Pathways of the Gods; sometimes, strange and powerful abilities can appear, such as the magic mirror Arrodes.
Although there was a formation as a barrier and the Parasite's advancement was inherently secretive, it could still be detected by certain entities. After eliminating traces and disrupting subsequent divinations, the three figures instantly vanished from their original spot.
Under the crimson moonlight, the manor appeared even more dilapidated. About fifteen minutes later, a carriage stopped there.
Daly, wearing Red Gloves, was the first to step out. Several Nighthawks followed behind this "Red Gloves" member, cautiously observing the manor, which was silent to the point of deathly stillness.
Among the Nighthawks was a young woman with dark green wavy hair and deep brown, bright eyes, Hailuier. At this moment, she was lost in thought until a teammate beside her nudged her and whispered a question, bringing her back to reality:
"Hailuier, what's wrong? Did you sense anything unusual?"
The hushed voice was still clear enough in the silent night. Daly, standing at the front of the team, with blue eyeshadow and blush, turned her head and chuckled softly:
"You can speak any thoughts you have. This is a rare opportunity for you to gain knowledge and accumulate merit."
Generally speaking, Nighthawks teams are stationed locally, each with its own jurisdiction, and are not allowed to pursue Criminals or handle Beyonder incidents outside their jurisdiction without permission.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess specifically established the "Red Gloves" within the Nighthawks. They are strictly selected elites, even possessing some holy artifacts.
Their mission is to reinforce Nighthawks teams that send signals, and to unrestrictedly track and apprehend evil individuals of interest, as well as handle certain Beyonder cases involving high-level existences.
A portion of the Red Gloves team from the Backlund Diocese had been dispatched to Tingen to deal with the aftermath in the Tingen suburbs, which is why Daly led a Nighthawks team to conduct reconnaissance here.
Thanks to the few words from that Jacob demigod earlier, Hailuier, who had a vague concept of the "acting method," was now a Sequence 8 "Swindler."
This was despite the various restrictions on advancement within the Church of the Evernight Goddess. A trace of fear flashed in her eyes, and she muttered in a low voice:
"Yes, I sensed a familiar aura of the same origin. My spiritual intuition reminded me of some unpleasant memories."
Daly's hand, which was setting up the ritual, paused. She glanced at Hailuier, who had already lowered her head, and after a moment of thought, muttered to herself:
"Marauder Pathway... These people are truly bold."
The silver chain with a white crystal pendant wrapped around her exposed wrist slowly lowered, emitting a brilliant blue flame, reflecting flickering, eerie colors.
Hailuier, who had lowered her head, suddenly felt her hair stand on end and abruptly looked around.
She felt as if in the manor opposite, in the shadows of the trees, behind the empty windows on the top floor of the building, and in every dim corner, pairs of eyes were watching her!
Although the place was empty, Hailuier felt as if she were in a bustling, eerie street.
This strange contrast, this peculiar sensation, made her body tense, and a chill ran up her spine.
"Something's wrong!" Seeing a Spirit Guide performing psychometry for the first time, she couldn't help but speak up to warn.
Daly, the "Spirit Medium" with an enchanting beauty, swept her glowing green eyes over Hailuier and calmly replied:
"Don't worry, this is just my psychometry ritual. Since you chose to join the Nighthawks, you will become familiar with these things later."
Saying that, she looked at the deathly silent manor, her brows slightly furrowed:
"All the original spirits in the manor have disappeared. The little fellows here now know nothing. Such a thorough cleansing..."
A moment later, after Daly used "Language of the Dead" to command natural spirits to explore and confirm that there were no traps in the manor, she led the Nighthawks into the manor for investigation.
All traces had been cleanly eliminated, only allowing for the inference that a Beyonder had performed some kind of ritual here. Daly stood in the manor with no expression, then suddenly chuckled softly:
"It seems I'll have a chance to see that magic mirror from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery this time. I wonder what embarrassing questions it will ask..."
-----------------
On the desolate island in the Fog Sea, the viscous, inky black liquid, emitting curses and constantly corroding outwards, was restrained by Faus Ellen.
Pale skull heads, bloodshot eyes with prominent veins, and fanged tongues grew from within the Evil inky black liquid. A sense of extreme evil and madness rapidly permeated, and the ground of the small island instantly cracked.
If this power were to appear on a battlefield, regardless of those high and mid-sequence Beyonders, at least the low-level soldiers would have their minds distorted or be directly corrupted into Monsters.
Aaron stared at the liquid with disgust. The Ring of Mysteries flickered faintly, and the historical projection of the Sun Chaser Scepter was summoned, directly enveloping it with the Domain of Chasing Light.
A silent shriek emanated from the liquid, rippling within the Domain of Chasing Light. Before it reached Aaron, its direction was distorted, dissipating into nothingness.
Several Blazing white Unshadowed Spears appeared. In the distance, Faus Ellen's eyes showed noble yet sinister inky black patterns.
The "Distortion" ability at the "Frenzied Mage" level was silently activated, and the Blazing white Unshadowed Spears instantly erupted with destructive fluctuations.
Seemingly truly sensing danger, the inky black liquid instantly distorted and contracted. A dull, textureless arm, like the lowest quality ragdoll's, extended from the slime to grasp at the Unshadowed Spears, but it suddenly froze in mid-air, then abruptly grasped at an empty space to the side.
At the moment its intention was "distorted," the Unshadowed Spear directly pinned the inky black arm in mid-air. A scorching sun seemed to rise in the sky, and Darkness briefly disappeared.
Looking at the ragdoll arm that vanished within the scorching sun, Aaron's expression was somewhat strange. He had already recognized the origin of this arm: it belonged to the Rose School of Thought's number two figure, "King of Curses" Barranca.
More than a year ago, when he cooperated with Bernadette to hunt down "Disciple of Silence" Mahmosi, this Angel had also made a move, and was only repelled when her summoned door was destroyed by the Sun Chaser Scepter.
However, what was on this "Puppet" demigod was not the previous power projection, but rather a specially separated part of her characteristic.
If this space, including the corresponding Spirit World, hadn't been jointly sealed by Faus Ellen and Astolfo, after establishing a connection with the main body using a part of the body as a medium, the Angel's characteristic of responding throughout the world could be directly borrowed, potentially erupting with Angel-level combat power.
But it was too late now. After being preemptively controlled and banished from the battlefield, falling into a carefully prepared trap, the Rose School of Thought's Puppet demigod had already lost his biggest trump card, and incidentally caused the "King of Curses" to lose a portion of her characteristic.
Darkness re-swallowed the scorching sun. Astolfo's figure appeared in the very center, his body gradually transforming into a low-quality doll. The inky black liquid had vanished, and an invisible sense of oppression permeated.
Aaron frowned, but before he could speak, Faus Ellen blocked him and said in a low voice:
"Your messenger, it seems to be advancing, no, it should be recovering. It is somewhat similar to the situation of certain high-level evil spirits in my impression."
"However, evil spirits that recover by directly devouring Beyonder characteristic are mostly distorted in will. It's better to wait until it finishes recovering before approaching."
Not worried about his own messenger, Aaron, who knew Astolfo's true nature, speculated that after this recovery, it should be a genuine Sequence 3, not like before where it had the empty rank but needed to risk borrowing from the entity in the Spirit World to exert power beyond its own Sequence.
-----------------
Backlund, East Borough, a certain basement. Sharron and Maric's figures appeared.
After setting up the Wall of Spirituality, the two skillfully prepared the ritual. Demigod-level blood, combined with various collected spiritual materials, were all poured through the array into the strange mark on Sharron's palm, which exuded the aura of a high-level existence.
That was the final protection her teacher, Reinette Tinekerr, left for her in the Southern Continent.
Since becoming a demigod and gaining divinity, she had been nurturing this mark, even though the change she anticipated had never occurred.
The items in the basement suddenly floated in mid-air. Maric, sensing the movement, looked over in surprise, only to find Sharron, who usually resembled an ascetic monk, now showing obvious emotional changes on her face. Her clear, cold voice echoed in the room:
"Teacher, is that you?"
-----------------
Deep in the Spirit World, a violent aura ran rampant, amidst intermingling red and blue color blocks.
A putrid body, covered in yellowish-green fluid, roared deep within the Spirit World. A massive body wrapped in corpse-oil bandages tore apart everything that approached.
The scattered fluctuations reached a hidden corner of the Spirit World. The colorful blocks condensed, and the faint, ethereal mist dispersed, revealing a giant floating castle.
It was entirely black, with towering spires, covered in vines, and had a strong Gothic style.
At the top of this castle stood a translucent woman. She was almost as tall as the castle, wearing a complex, ornate, yet dark and gloomy black gown.
Strangely, she had no head; there was a clean cut at her neck. Her drooping hands held four golden-haired, red-eyed, brightly beautiful heads. If one looked closely, they would find that these heads were identical.
Perhaps disturbed by the aura emanating from the raging Angel in the Spirit World, or for some other reason, the four heads held by the woman all opened their eyes at once, their blood-red pupils looking beyond the Spirit World.
-----------------
The battlefield in the Southern Continent had completely intensified. After the Rose School of Thought's "Puppet" demigod was banished by the historical projection of "Botis," under the influence of the Underworld Gate opened by the "Undying" projection, the manipulated corpse tide completely dissipated, and even, conversely, overwhelmed the resistance forces mixed within the corpse tide.
The pressure on the southern front instantly vanished. All artillery fire was concentrated on the Feysac army to the north. With the assistance of the "Weaken Mysticism, Enhance Reality" decree, the Feysac army, without high-Sequence powerhouses guarding them, suffered heavy losses.
The commander of the Feysac army, the "Iron-Blooded Knight" from the Einhorn family, was currently being besieged by three demigods, and within a few minutes, he was suppressed and in precarious situations.
If not for the "Iron-Blooded Knight" being renowned for his physical toughness, and simultaneously leveraging the connection he established with every soldier on the battlefield to share damage, any other demigod would likely have already fallen.
Even though he was in a precarious situation, the "Iron-Blooded Knight" showed no sign of retreat. Feeling the continuous casualties of his army, he understood that if he retreated now, all his previous efforts would be for naught, not to mention the time and effort required to cultivate a new army that was in sync with him, which would be equivalent to abandoning his path to advancement.
A flicker of madness passed through his eyes. After enduring the attack head-on, he instantly closed the distance with Gusman Weil, and with a sinister grin, he threw out an ancient token from his embrace, flickering with electric arcs and engraved with the Einhorn family crest.
This was a gift from the "Supreme Commander" of the Sonia Sea, the "Weather Warlock" Awatoma Einhorn from the royal family, before the start of this war in the Southern Continent.
Without needing to chant the honorific name, an Angelic charm activated by bloodline was definitely a sneak attack weapon.
Having already activated this charm and secretly waiting for an opportunity, he seemed to have already seen Gusman Weil's terrified expression.
Even if he couldn't advance to "War Bishop," he would severely wound or even kill Gusman Weil, preventing him from successfully completing the ritual. If he could bring Gusman Weil's Beyonder characteristic back to his family, he might even have another chance at advancement.
The expression of resentment and greed had not yet faded but was replaced by a deep fear. The "Iron-Blooded Knight's" pupils reflected Gusman Weil's calm face with a hint of mockery, and a brilliant crown had appeared above his head at some unknown point.
An aura that made even souls tremble radiated from the crown. Not only him, but also the "Silver Knight" from the royal family, who was tightly entangled by Cavendish Lancer Pinto and two historical projections at the southern end of the battlefield, also sensed this terrifying aura belonging to a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.
A mixture of shock and anger burst forth from his eyes, which were covered in dark green symbols. Coming back to his senses, he stared intently at the unknown Scholar of Yore opposite him.
Gusman Weil, wearing the brilliant crown, raised his hand and grabbed at the void. The "Crown of Stars" above his head instantly glowed brightly, and the dark clouds, lightning, and storms emanating from the token instantly distorted and deformed. The entire space continuously shrunk, like a seal.
A grey-blue, illusory Door with seven brass keyholes slowly emerged, directly swallowing the entire sealed space. Behind the deep, boundless illusory Door was a brilliant Cosmos.
If it were an ordinary banishment, it definitely wouldn't be able to withstand Angel-level power, and the passage would directly collapse. However, the "Crown of Stars," which was essentially a Sequence 2 "Planeswalker," could perfectly banish this attack that lacked conscious guidance and only possessed Angelic power. Although it would cause some backlash to Gusman Weil, this was definitely the optimal solution.
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