In the Great Prayer Hall of Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leyton, who had been praying with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
He subconsciously looked up at the Night Holy Emblem in front of him, and his gaze seemed to penetrate the emblem, seeing a hazy, ethereal figure nodding at him.
"As expected of a Sequence 0 True God, pulling me into a dream realm without a sound..." Leyton mused, recalling the conversation he just had in the dream.
"The Knowledge Emperor Beyonder characteristic from Lilith can only be obtained when I advance to Hermit. After becoming a Hermit, I will be able to leverage the seal left by the Celestial Worthy and borrow power and authority from my true body.
Now, only the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery's Knowledge Emperor Beyonder characteristic is an option."
Collecting his thoughts, he rose from his seat, walked to the offering box in front, dropped two gold coins into it, then turned and left.
As he walked to the side of the prayer hall, he bumped into Leonard, who was coming out from deeper within the cathedral.
Leonard merely instinctively glanced at the person who had suddenly appeared before him, then walked past him directly, heading towards the other side of the cathedral.
As the two brushed past each other, Leyton turned his head and said softly, "It seems Old Man has recovered well. Perfect, I've already found where the item I need to steal is.
Ask him when he's free and give me an answer tonight."
With that, he walked quickly out of the cathedral without looking back, leaving only his back in Leonard's sight.
After a moment of hesitation, Leonard came back to his senses, lowered his head slightly, and muttered, "Old man, he…"
"That rude brat, he merely changed his appearance..." Pallez's aged voice interrupted Leonard.
"Faceless?" Leonard quickly reacted, thinking of some information he had seen within the Church.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess also had a habit of cultivating Seers, and the Church did not lack information on the lower Sequences of this Pathway.
After becoming a Red Gloves, Leonard already had permission to access most of the Church's documents.
In his mind, Pallez's voice continued to resonate:
"No, Warlocks always create some strange but effective spells. Spells that can change one's appearance are not very rare, and besides, he is already a Sage, so creating some minor spells is not difficult for him."
"Sage? Which Sequence is that?" Leonard muttered to himself softly as he walked out of the cathedral.
"Basically equivalent to the name of this cathedral..." Pallez's voice carried a hint of annoyance and mockery, as if he felt Leonard's advancement speed was too slow.
Equivalent to this cathedral… Saint Samuel? The former Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese, who made outstanding contributions to the spread of the Goddess's faith, entered the Divine Kingdom during his lifetime, becoming an angel, His Excellency Saint Samuel!
Leonard couldn't control his expression; his dark green eyes widened, and his mouth slightly agape.
After a moment, he reacted, reined in his expression, and quickly walked out of the cathedral.
As soon as he exited the cathedral, he couldn't help but lower his head and mutter, "Old man, are you serious? Are you sure you weren't mistaken, he really has become an angel?"
"That's an angel, even among the major Churches, they are legendary figures recorded in ancient texts."
Pallez, who was parasitic within Leonard, let out a displeased snort:
"Hmph, I haven't reached the point of dim-sighted old age yet. He's just a Sequence 2 angel. If you had worked harder, perhaps you would already be a Saint."
"How is that possible? Even if my advancement speed kept up, I wouldn't accumulate enough contributions to exchange for the potion..." Leonard subconsciously retorted.
"Your choice of the darkness Pathway means it will be difficult to advance further. Beyonder characteristics are limited, and the competition within the Church of the Evernight Goddess for this Pathway is too great."
Pallez's voice carried some dissatisfaction, displeased that Leonard had not followed his advice in choosing the Sleepless Pathway.
Leonard pouted, saying indifferently, "Corpse Collector, who deals with corpses all day, and Seer, who are like charlatans, are not suitable for me. Midnight Poet is more in line with my style."
"Heh, a poet who can't write poetry?"
Pallez's blunt mockery successfully made Leonard's face darken.
In a cheap hotel room in Backlund's East Borough, Trissy, dressed in a men's shirt and wide-legged pants, leaned back in a wooden chair, toying with an exquisite bronze mirror.
Suddenly, the bronze mirror slipped from her hand, fell to the floor, and shattered into pieces.
"Danger!" Trissy suddenly became alert, quickly rising from the wooden chair.
Illusory black flames fell from her body, scurrying like black snakes through the room, burning everything she touched.
That bronze mirror was a trinket Leyton invented to curry favor with her. Besides serving as a portable mirror for touch-ups, its only use was to automatically shatter as a warning when danger was imminent.
It was somewhat similar to a danger premonition, but stronger than the intuition of ordinary Beyonders.
Before the flames in the room could extinguish, a layer of white frost suddenly congealed, and the temperature throughout the room plummeted rapidly.
The white frost quickly climbed up Trissy's legs, spreading to her upper body, making her body too stiff to move.
"This useless mirror… How could it come so fast?" Trissy complained in a low voice, while igniting illusory black flames around her, attempting to melt the ice on her body.
The next second, the flames around her suddenly went out of control, surging violently and engulfing her entirely, emitting crackling sounds.
In the center of the flames, several broken mirror fragments lay on the ground.
The Demonesses' most skilled Mirror Substitute method!
At the same time, by the window in the hotel room, a graceful figure materialized out of thin air.
She was frozen there, her men's shirt slipping to her shoulders.
Trissy maintained an odd posture, one foot on tiptoe, the other raised high, both hands lifted one in front and one behind, level with her chest, as if she had fallen into a strange state of sluggishness and numbness.
An abnormal blush appeared on her neck and cheeks.
Her throat suddenly itched, and she couldn't help but cough, "Cough! Cough!"
Below the wall near the door, there was a dark wooden table and chair, with an oval dressing mirror placed on the tabletop.
As Trissy coughed uncontrollably, ripples appeared on the surface of the dressing mirror, and the mirror's surface immediately became dim and deep, as if countless things and layers of space were hidden within, turning into a passage connected to the Mirror World.
The next moment, a figure in a simple, pure white robe emerged from inside the mirror.
She seemed to lack a physical form as she climbed out of the dressing mirror, gripping invisible threads with both hands, adjusting her posture in mid-air, while pulling Trissy, who was in a state of sluggishness and numbness.
"...It's...you, cough! Cough!"
Trissy looked at the beautiful woman who had suddenly appeared in the room, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
She wanted to say something, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn't help but cough violently.
"Saintess of White" Katarina Pelle, who had emerged from the mirror, gazed at Trissy with a smile in her eyes.
She leaned against the edge of the table with a relaxed and alluring posture, her right index and middle fingers slowly stirring in mid-air.
Invisible threads emerged from various places under her control, binding Trissy tightly, cutting her skin little by little, and spreading the mystical bacteria and viruses pervading the air into her body, damaging her body.
"Cough! Cough cough!"
Trissy coughed more and more fiercely, but the sounds she made became softer and softer.
A hint of heartache appeared in Katarina's eyes, and she looked at Trissy with soft, compassionate gaze, but her gentle voice sounded cold and indifferent:
"An Assassin must patiently wait for an opportunity, delivering the most fatal blow the moment the prey lets down their guard."
"It seems the Demoness who was responsible for guiding you back then wasn't very responsible, to have trained you so unsuccessfully."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Crisp applause echoed from the corner of the room, and the two Demonesses in the room simultaneously showed a look of surprise.
A bitter smile appeared on Trissy's lips; she didn't even have the strength to turn her head now.
"Is this the suppression of a high-level Demoness? I don't even know when I was cursed."
"It's you?" Katarina looked at the person who had suddenly appeared in the corner of the room, clapping.
The emotions in her eyes churned complexly, finally leaving only astonishment and a hint of imperceptible fear.
Leyton twitched his lips, revealing a smile without much sincerity, saying, "Good evening, Ms. Katarina, we meet again."
"I didn't expect it was you helping Trissy in the shadows, no wonder I couldn't divine any effective information."
"How did you appear? I've been observing Trissy in secret for some time, and I didn't detect your presence during this period."
As Katarina spoke, she silently dispersed mystical bacteria and viruses into the air.
Each strand of her hair swayed, and each one was connected to an invisible thread.
Leyton smiled at Katarina, and the next second, his figure appeared directly behind Katarina, leaning his lips to her ear and whispering, "I've always been here."
Katarina's expression suddenly became blank; layers of whispers echoed in her ears, as if countless insects were frantically burrowing into her mind.
Leyton looked at Katarina, who was momentarily lost in thought, and the corners of his mouth curved into a subtle arc.
While speaking just now, he had already used the mechanical glove on his right hand to simulate several personalities, quietly planting the seeds of "Infectious Madness" in the opponent's mind island.
He extended his right hand and gently patted her shoulder twice.
The Mental Plague she had contracted instantly erupted, and various mad, negative thoughts sprouted in her heart, wanting to tear apart everything around her, including herself.