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When Leyton returned to Minsk Street, it was already completely dark outside.
Although it wasn't night yet by the clock, Backlund's thick smog had layers of evening sunlight obscured, making it look no different from night.
Looking at the pitch-black night sky outside the window, and the sporadic lights emanating from the surrounding house windows, Leyton sighed:
"It's even darker than night, and it's not yet time for the gas streetlights to come on."
Thinking there was still enough time, Leyton, for once, cooked himself dinner. Although his cooking wasn't exquisite, the food at least suited his taste.
After eating too much roasted meat and bread, Leyton felt that Roselle's biggest failure was not saving the food of this era, and even wondered if Roselle was a kitchen killer.
After dinner, Leyton examined the rib given to him by Mr. A, which had been fused with the Black Knight's characteristics, for a moment in his bedroom.
The mass of flesh residing within him had not reacted at all. Leyton even pressed the rib against the tattoo on his left forearm, but it still showed no response.
Leyton had no choice but to go to bed early and consult the other party in his dream.
After lying down, Leyton quickly began to meditate, allowing himself to enter deep sleep quickly.
In the dream, Leyton's muddled thoughts cleared once again. This time, the environment was still the interior of the Twilight Hermit Order's sanctuary, just like last time.
Leyton skillfully turned his head to look at the seat at the very top of the palace, where the blurry figure was no longer blurry.
A man with shoulder-length, slightly curly black hair and eyes that seemed covered in shadow was also looking at Leyton.
He wore a black robe entwined with silver threads, inscribed with complex symbols, and hung with luxurious ornaments. Layer upon layer of ethereal black wings draped behind him, covering most of his body.
The shadow beneath him was as dense as a living creature, seemingly wriggling imperceptibly.
"Sasrir!" Leyton softly uttered a name.
A slight smile appeared on the man's face, whether from being pleased that his own condition had improved somewhat, or from the designation Sasrir.
His voice was deep and calm:
"I like the identity of Sasrir very much, so I plan to continue using it."
"Of course, there's also the reason that this identity still retains some anchors, which helps me stabilize my own state."
Leyton nodded slightly, not too surprised that Sasrir, the Dark Angel, still had some remnants of faith.
Adam had always propagated the faith of the Ancient Sun God, though it was limited to the Twilight Hermit Order and the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
"That rib... have you absorbed the characteristics within it?"
Leyton asked the question he was most concerned about, after all, it was a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact he had just acquired, and he didn't want it to be gone before he even used it once.
Sasrir shook his head slightly and said, "No, I only took the divinity and will from within."
Leyton's gaze shifted to the shadow beneath him. The will of the True Creator must be insane, and directly taking it would likely cause self-corruption.
Sasrir noticed Leyton's gaze, casually glanced at the shadow beneath him, and chuckled, saying:
"You are very perceptive. This is not too big of a problem. During this period before the Divine Descent, it's enough for me to integrate and digest this part of the will."
"I need a better state to face what comes next."
Since the other party said so himself, Leyton no longer had any excessive worries and instead asked:
"Can you suppress the negative effects of that rib?"
Sasrir extended his right hand, raising it in front of him as if supporting some invisible object, and at the same time asked:
"What kind of weapon do you prefer?"
"Weapon?" Leyton was stunned, not knowing why the other party suddenly asked this question, but still honestly said:
"I don't have a very clear preference, after all, I'm better at casting spells."
Sasrir nodded slightly. A bone staff the length of an adult's forearm appeared on his outstretched right hand.
It was overall dark, with strange dark red patterns on it. The front end of the bone staff was like a white bone hand in a gripping posture, and the end of the bone staff was like a blade.
"Let it be so!"
Sasrir nodded with great satisfaction, then withdrew his hand, and the bone staff disappeared at the same time. Then he looked at Leyton and said:
"I made some adjustments to the image and abilities of that rib. It now has the ability to shepherd souls, but only up to three. If the soul reaches the Demigod level, there can only be one."
"I've suppressed the negative effects to a certain extent. After using it in combat, you need to find some flesh and blood for it to devour. As for the Fallen, defiling power's corruption, you can Purify it yourself; it's very simple."
"It will also pray to me regularly every day. You don't need to worry about this, because the object of its prayer is me, and it won't have any impact on you."
Leyton nodded with some surprise. The other party was clearly still conversing in the dream, yet could simultaneously affect the rib placed in his bedroom.
The bone staff, after being modified by Sasrir, gained a habit of liking to pray, which reminded Leyton of those Sealed Artifacts with similar negative effects; most of them belonged to the Omnipotent and Omniscient Five Pathways.
Leyton glanced at Sasrir standing in front, and a sense of understanding grew in his heart.
Case closed. Those Sealed Artifacts always liking to praise and glorify their corresponding deities were all Ancient Sun God's fault. The most common negative effect of the Sun pathway was brought by the Ancient Sun God.
"What are you thinking?" Sasrir's calm voice came.
Leyton reined in his thoughts and casually asked a question:
"The Aurora Order is now a completely anti-human cult organization. Are you going to make them change?"
Sasrir was uncharacteristically silent for a while, then said:
"This is inevitable. When I recover to Angel rank, I will lead the Aurora Order in a new direction."
"As the True Creator, I have been insane for too long. Under the suppression of the Seven Deities and my own influence, the Aurora Order, primarily composed of Secrets Supplicants, has become what it is today."
Leyton nodded in agreement. It would be best if the other party could lead the Aurora Order out of the realm of cults.
However, the True Creator was still in a state of madness. Thinking of this, Leyton frowned slightly and said:
"The True Creator is the True God of this pathway. As long as he hasn't recovered his sanity, all Secrets Supplicants will still be affected by the influence from the top of the sequence."
Sasrir smiled and said, "Their suffering will be borne by me!"
The next day, when he woke up, it was already bright outside.
The first thing Leyton did after getting up was to check on the rib he had placed on the table the previous night.
The rib that was originally on the table had transformed into a bone staff the length of an adult's forearm. Leyton curiously picked it up and examined it.
The touch was icy cold, but the sense of evilness on the bone staff was much weaker than when it was in its rib form yesterday, which seemed to be a change brought about by Sasrir.
Leyton pointed the bone staff forward, and the shadows in the room instantly came alive, surging like water, intertwining and twisting in the bedroom.
Leyton distorted the hand holding the bone staff twice, and the shadows in the room quickly returned to their original positions, as if everything that had just happened had never occurred.
Then he reached out and lightly ran his hand over the blade-like end of the bone staff.
The power of the Fallen domain quickly converged, and an abnormally sharp blade, arm-length, extended from the end of the bone staff.
Leyton swung this Spirit-Flesh Blade, and the small coffee table nearby instantly split into two.
The cut surface was exceptionally smooth, seemingly attesting to the sharpness of the Spirit-Flesh Blade.
Without continuing to test the bone staff's abilities, Leyton had already felt the bone staff's desire to devour flesh and blood being transmitted to him. Although it wasn't strong, if he continued to use it, this desire would become stronger and stronger.
Moving away from the bone staff, Leyton's eyes quickly took on a layer of blue-white.
A sacred, clear, brilliant, and pure warm light appeared in the room. This light quickly Purified the corruption of Fallen, defiling power that Leyton had on him.
Leyton felt his whole body lighten up.
After understanding the bone staff's positive and negative effects, Leyton went out and bought about ten pounds of fresh beef. He kept a portion for his own breakfast and fed the rest entirely to the bone staff.
The white bone hand at the top of the bone staff, originally in a gripping posture, opened, and a mouth full of fangs split open in the center of its palm.
Without anyone needing to pick it up, the bone staff itself seemed to come alive, suddenly leaping from the table and landing on the fresh beef. The white bone hand continuously gripped, and the mouth split open in its palm furiously chewed and swallowed.
"It comes alive when it's time to eat?"
Leyton exclaimed upon seeing this scene.
He had checked the bone staff when he used it earlier, and at that time, it had not shown this living characteristic.
Now it seems that the bone staff might have been in a dormant state at that time, and only woke up when it was time to feed and pray to Sasrir.
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