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As that connection was severed, Arod Eggers seemed to hear a faint call, and subconsciously looked up following the spiritual Thrilling.
The other end of the severed, invisible, illusory black thread was a patch of dead, silent black mist, accompanied by that faint call, or more accurately, a panting sound from some terrifying creature.
The Styx surged from the underworld within him, supporting Arod Eggers' body and preventing him from kneeling. Although he knew he should close his eyes, he gritted his teeth and stared intently at the black mist slowly spreading outwards.
Drops of sweat slid down his forehead, hitting the ground of the palace in front of him, staining it with a faint yellow grease and sprouting fine white fuzz.
While Arod Eggers was suffering in agony, on the high platform in the center of the palace, "Pale Empress" Sia Palenque Eggers, wearing a deep black robe embroidered with gold thread and a golden bird-shaped crown, merely watched everything with cold eyes.
After only a few breaths, the black mist dispersed, and the illusory object coiled at the bottom gradually revealed itself.
It was a massive feathered serpent, seemingly large enough to occupy an entire island!
It had huge, dark green scales, with feathers tinged with faint yellow grease growing from the gaps, and from each feather, illusory black tubes extended.
This exaggerated feathered serpent was both illusory and real, its more specific shape difficult to describe, seemingly composed of elements incomprehensible to humans.
Pale flames burned in its eye sockets, and its face was a human face!
That face was bronze-skinned, with soft features, and a tiny black mole below its right ear.
"Your Highness Azik!"
Arod Eggers, propping up his body, gasped in disbelief, almost collapsing to the ground.
Although the subjects of the Balam Empire preferred to call that "Son of God" the Death Consul, Arthas, being of the Eggers royal bloodline, preferred to address him as "Your Highness."
Just as that feathered serpent, seemingly encompassing the entire world, was about to move forward, "Pale Empress" Sia Palenque Eggers, who had been indifferent, suddenly raised her hand.
The entire underworld seemed to come alive, as endless ghostly green flames soared, completely blocking the gaze that had spread along the broken black thread.
The remaining ghostly green flames did not dissipate; instead, they enveloped Arod Eggers, who had collapsed below the high platform. The definition of "Death" seemed to be reversed, and his previously shattered physical body was reborn in the flames.
Sia Palenque Eggers looked at Arod Eggers. At this moment, the Ferryman's soul and body were perfectly integrated, completely mending the defect caused by the Classical Alchemist's life-forging.
"Is there anything else you wish to ask?"
Listening to that deathly voice, which seemed capable of corrupting the soul, Arod Eggers opened his mouth, his thoughts in a jumble.
He had come to the underworld this time, both to request the "Pale Empress's" help in forging his physical body and removing its shackles, and to ask this divine descendant if she still remembered the glory of their bloodline and why she allowed the former High Priest Haiter to do such blasphemous things.
But after seeing the face of the terrifying creature beneath the black mist, the source of the shackles, these thoughts became even more chaotic. After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice, word by word:
"What was that I just saw?"
A flicker of complexity passed through her cold eyes. Sia Palenque Eggers turned sideways to look out of the palace, at the vast and boundless underworld, and calmly replied:
"That was God's final attempt. Azik Eggers' soul was divided into two parts. After God's fall, that part of the soul merged with Haiter's goal for the Artificial Death—the Death Pathway's Uniqueness."
"This allowed that Uniqueness to gain a certain instinct, and it began to actively influence the High-Sequence Beyonders of the entire Pathway. Only with the blessing of the underworld can I directly eliminate or block that influence."
Arod Eggers suddenly looked up, his eyes fixed on the figure on the high platform, symbolizing Death and decay. He intensified his tone, almost questioning:
"When the 'Pale Calamity' fell, you had only just been promoted to Ferryman. How did you, who weren't even an Angel at the time, know about the arrangements God left behind?"
Sia Palenque Eggers turned around. Her face, which had been seven or eight parts similar to Azik Eggers, now grew patches of dark, cold scales, and a miniature feathered serpent statue faintly appeared on her forehead. Her cold voice echoed in the empty, silent palace:
"After the 'Pale Calamity' ended, God fell, and the Empire also collapsed. I luckily survived and obtained the Empire's last treasure. That's how I digested the Ferryman potion in less than a century, was promoted to Death Consul, and successfully took control of the underworld."
"After I took control of the underworld, I sensed Azik Eggers' aura. At that time, I was preparing to give him this Death relic corresponding to Sequence 1 Pale Emperor."
"But when I went to the Northern Continent to find Azik, I encountered the Lady of Crimson's divine descent vessel. It was he who told me all of this."
"Although Azik, during his Death Consul period, was influenced by the contained out-of-control tendencies within the Beyonder characteristic, he was more influenced by God's transmission from a high position, which is why he became a pseudo-Death with only divinity and no humanity."
Arod Eggers stood rooted to the spot, subconsciously asking:
"What exactly do you want to do? And what does that Haiter want to do?"
The dark, cold scales receded, and Sia Palenque Eggers lay back down in the pure black coffin on the high platform. Her indifferent voice rang out:
"I have already helped you mend your defects. The only obstacle to your continued advancement is the Beyonder characteristic. Besides the few Death Consul characteristics sealed by the Seven Churches, the only one I am certain of its whereabouts is the one in the possession of the Demoness Sect."
"If you can truly advance to Angel, you can come to the underworld again, and I will answer your remaining questions."
An invisible, vast power surged like a tide, instantly engulfing Arod Eggers, who still wanted to say something, and carrying him out. Feeling the sudden influx of information in his mind, he silently gazed at the palace in the center of the underworld and whispered:
"Demoness..."
Sighing lightly, Arod Eggers sensed the mark left on Klarman and hurried in another direction in the underworld.
-----------------
Southernmost tip of the Southern Continent, Eastern Balam Indigenous Region, deep within the Abyss of Ferrying.
The Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction's base, Manuel, the "City of the Living" and the "City of the Dead" face each other across the river, forming a complete cycle of life and Death.
Above the illusory, dark river, the waves slowly subsided, and the arms, vines, and tentacles attempting to grasp outwards either evaporated completely.
At the source of the river, deep within the black mausoleum embedded upside down in the ground, an invisible, cold wind surged from the numerous open coffins. Skulls with swaying pale flames danced, and endless wailing, roaring souls chanted together in a language seemingly from the underworld:
"King of the deep Hell;
"Angel who plays the Death melody;
"Ruler above the Styx."
From the deeper source of Death, within the profound vortex formed by the dark coffin, a cold, chilling, lofty and terrifying aura emanated, followed by an ancient, icy voice that made one's soul seem to directly detach from the body:
"Tell Patrick Bryan, the ritual to awaken God must be accelerated, at all costs..."
As the promoter of the "Artificial Death" project, Haiter had always insisted on inversely influencing the remnants of Death through a series of sacrificial rituals and the transformation of his own High-Sequence Beyonders.
This allowed the more abstract "Uniqueness," which represented the authority of a deity, to gradually develop a nascent instinct, making that which was merely a totem, merely a concept, initially "come alive"!
The consequence was that this entity, which had no intelligence and could not yet be called an "Artificial Death," began to assimilate with the entire ritual, influencing Beyonders of lower Sequences in the same Pathway with a strong craving.
Upon reaching certain conditions, the entity hidden deep within the black mist would extend illusory black tubes, establish a connection with the target, extract their power, and transform their body.
The first to bear the brunt was the leader of this "Artificial Death" faction, Haiter, who to this day cannot leave the mausoleum due to this influence.
Ferryman Flora Tristan felt the terrifying aura and couldn't help but lower her head, respectfully responding:
"Yes, High Priest, I will remember your teachings. May every spirit live eternally in Divine Kingdom!"
"I will personally go to Backlund to supervise Patrick Bryan."
As she spoke, she used the current prayer posture of the Numinous Episcopate's Artificial Death faction: raising both hands, thumbs together, pressing them against the center of her forehead, which is the core of the underworld, symbolizing the position of Death.
The "Ferrying Boat" slowly emerged on the illusory, dark water. Flora Tristan stepped forward alone, and the pale light tinged with ghostly green grew fainter and fainter, finally disappearing into the Darkness, as if it had never appeared.
-----------------
Backlund, Northern District, St. Samuel Church.
Aaron, in a semi-hidden state, walked into the Grand Prayer Hall, glanced at the Evernight Sacred Emblem on the altar, bowed his head, clasped his hands, and began to pray:
"The Evernight Goddess stands higher than the Cosmos, more eternal than eternity, You are the Lady of Crimson, the Empress of Misfortune and Horror..."
During the prayer, Aaron, with his eyes closed, gradually settled into a state of calm and peace, as if entering a semi-dream, semi-awake state. The fatigue from exploring Calderon City seemed to vanish in an instant.
After an unknown period, an endless Darkness appeared "before his eyes," with clusters of Night Scented Grass and Deep Sleep Flowers at his feet.
It was so quiet here that even breathing seemed to disturb the slumbering ones around.
Although there was no distinction between sky and earth here, a figure seemed to come from a high-hanging Crimson Moon or stars.
She wore layered but not intricate deep black robes, adorned with countless dazzling specks, as if she had draped the starry night sky over herself, and in her right hand, she was toying with that strange wolf-headed, snake-bodied statue.
A soft voice, like a night lullaby, suppressed the sound of surging river water from the statue, echoing in Aaron's heart:
"Well done. If you need to use the water of the River of Eternal Darkness later, you can pray to me in advance."
"Also, if you are going to the Evernight Plains, you must do so after you truly advance to Angel. That place is similar to Calderon but has a fundamental difference."
Aaron was startled, his thoughts immediately arising:
"The Evernight Goddess knows I'm going to the Evernight Plains. What does this mean? An unspoken understanding between the masterminds, or did Lilith give a heads-up in advance?"
"What's hidden in the Evernight Plains is very likely the clue to the 'Brood Hive,' and the 'Brood Hive' is a Sefirah corresponding to one of the three pillars, pointing to the existence at the pinnacle of the Outer Deities, the Mother Goddess of Depravity."
"This one is different from the half-crippled Son of Chaos. Even though her Sefirah was torn apart due to her initial awakening, she still retains the symbol of a pillar."
"Moreover, she has already transformed from completing her own abilities through the Sefirah to a complete Sefirah, and thus can exert a considerable influence on the 'Brood Hive' portion on Earth."
It wasn't until the cosmos before his eyes completely disappeared that Aaron came back to his senses, suppressing his thoughts, and sincerely praised the Goddess again.
Opening his eyes again, Aaron found that Saint Anthony, the Backlund Archbishop wearing a black robe with red patterns, was already standing in front of him. He immediately stood up and drew a Crimson Moon over his chest.
The Archbishop, with no facial hair and deep eyes, returned a Crimson Moon and said gently:
"Praise the Goddess, Mr. Chosen, please follow me and do not resist."
As soon as his voice fell, the surrounding light suddenly disappeared, as if swallowed by the gloom.
Within the entire church, all praying believers felt the descent of Darkness for that brief moment.
Everything quickly returned to normal, and Saint Anthony led Aaron to the Chanis Gate beneath the church.
Today, the Soul Assurer Soest was leading the team on duty.
Before he could ask, Archbishop Saint Anthony solemnly instructed:
"Prepare yourselves, proceed with the protocol. I need to enter the third level behind the Chanis Gate with Mr. Duke."
"Yes, Your Grace, Archbishop." Soest froze for a second, looked at Aaron behind the Archbishop, and immediately responded.
As the large door, inscribed with the Evernight Sacred Emblem, opened and closed, Aaron followed Archbishop Anthony with steady steps into the second underground level, passing through compartments filled with Sealed Artifacts and Beyonder materials, and opening the path to the third level at a hidden location.
The two quickly arrived at the relatively small third level. Aaron watched the Archbishop follow strict procedures, observing the situation inside "1-80" through "1-29."
The "0-17" sealed inside lay there, its eyes half-open, as usual.
During this process, Saint Anthony approached three times and pulled away three times, sometimes changing positions, sometimes shrouding himself in a layer of night, not daring to show the slightest negligence.
After this, he needed to awaken this vessel of the Goddess's divine descent. The Night Emperor's divine kingdom fragment, which Aaron craved, had been integrated into the sealing core of St. Samuel Church as early as the beginning of the Fifth Epoch.
In Backlund, if one did not want to attract the attention of that person from the Augustus family, one could only ask "0-17" for help.
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