Around the phantom-like, illusory ragdoll, dim glimmers of light erupted from the void—not brilliant, not clear, and devoid of any color, as if composed of a vast amount of illusory things.
These lights floated slowly in the surroundings, forming layers of mottled light screens that appeared thin yet felt extremely heavy, forcing Barranca back from the Spirit World.
A beam of deep red moonlight gathered and fluctuated, quickly reassembling Duke Full Moon Olmer's figure. He reached out with both hands, stretching out an illusory, hazy door engraved with many mysterious symbols from thin air.
A cold wind blew from the other side of the door, seemingly capable of freezing spirit bodies and making life move rapidly toward death.
Amidst the wailing cold wind, slippery tentacles with dead fish eyes reached out from behind the door, coiling around Barranca's massive ragdoll body from all directions as if they intended to violently tear Him apart.
While the tentacles extending from the "Doors of Summoning" tightly bound Barranca, His massive ragdoll figure was also reflected in those eyeballs that resembled dead fish eyes.
Barranca's body gradually became stiff. His lusterless skin bit by bit became pale and decayed, growing patches of corpse spots and oozing pale yellow corpse oil.
He became closer and closer to a long-dead corpse, His vitality rapidly withering as if He were crossing the river of death inch by inch.
The eyes on those tentacles bulged outward, with fine, bright red blood vessels clearly visible, as if they could explode or fall off at any moment.
They bore the corruption and curse of an "Ancient Bane," dragging the opponent quickly along the path of death.
Leyton slightly turned his head to glance at that "Doors of Summoning," a deep color flashing in his eyes. Behind this "Doors of Summoning" seemed to be the Underworld; these tentacles should be part of some powerful Underworld creature.
As thoughts drifted, he made the extremely heavy mottled light screen press down continuously, pushing Barranca, who was struggling with the tentacles, toward the "Doors of Summoning."
Under Duke Full Moon Olmer's pull, the deep red moonlight transformed into long spikes shimmering with strange patterns. They pierced into Barranca's body from different parts, separating spirit from flesh while sealing most of His traits and Beyonder abilities.
In this state, Barranca's life form began to regress uncontrollably. Crack after crack appeared on His massive ragdoll body, and the mysterious patterns engraved on Him and the eerie vines entwining Him gradually became blurred and distorted, as if His Mythical Creature form could collapse at any moment.
This was the "Power of Creation" mastered by the "Life-Giver." Not only could it allow all things to grow and new life to descend, but it could also make an already formed life gradually return to its primitive, natural state.
Within the Spirit World, "Abomination" Suah broke free from Glenn's entanglement. The hands of the ugly ragdoll, whose skin was lusterless and whose facial features were squeezed together, suddenly lengthened and reached out of the Spirit World.
As Suah's arms extended, the surrounding spirituality began to boil and thicken, as if turning into layer upon layer of barriers, attempting to bind Leyton and Duke Full Moon Olmer in place and restrict their movements.
Simultaneously, pitch-black, sticky, eerie liquid continuously seeped from the surrounding void, from which various bizarrely shaped things grew, causing a feeling of extreme evil and extreme madness to spread rapidly.
The light screen formed by the mottled light and shadow instantly dimmed, as if subjected to unspeakable erosion, cracking inch by inch.
The mottled light screen, pieced together from fragments of civilization, was easily corroded, causing Leyton to be briefly stunned. He quickly thought of the last line of Suah's honorary name.
Is this "The Evil That Erodes History"? It represents the extremely eerie and highly corrosive side of curses.
As thoughts drifted, Leyton reached out and pulled an ancient-styled spear from the void. From its tip to its handle, it burned with cluster after cluster, dot after dot of blood-dark red light.
The spear drew a dark red trail in the air that tore through space, piercing deeply into Suah's right hand that extended from the Spirit World.
Blood-colored flames instantly flared up on Suah's right hand, which was dripping with pitch-black, sticky liquid, igniting His spirituality and melting His flesh.
On the other side, Duke Full Moon Olmer's body blurred and took on a pale red hue, turning into a beam of hazy moonlight.
This moonlight instantly shattered, turning into pieces of red scales that dissipated on the spot and quickly reassembled beside Barranca.
Crimson moonlight fluctuated on his right fingernails, condensing into an extra section with mysterious symbols and patterns. It easily pierced through Barranca's body and plucked a deep red crystal ball from His chest.
The surface of this crystal ball was engraved with many ancient and mysterious patterns. Different angles revealed different curvatures, resembling the Crimson Moon at different times.
In the next second, an arm dripping with pitch-black, thick, extremely eerie liquid grabbed both him and Barranca, who was on the verge of collapse, in its hand.
Duke Full Moon Olmer's body rapidly became thin, like a paper man condensed from crimson moonlight. Under the infestation of the curse, it instantly turned pitch-black, cracked, and shattered into fragments of dark red light spots.
Duke Full Moon Olmer's body then manifested beside Leyton. He gazed calmly at the arm pulling Barranca back into the Spirit World and asked faintly:
"It seems you didn't have the intention of killing Barranca?"
"There's no need. The Rose School of Thought doesn't have any Psychiatrists and isn't good at treating psychological issues. An angel with mental problems might play an unexpected role at certain times."
Leyton slowly shook his head, his tone very calm. A deep pale purple flashed through his eyes; he could already vaguely see a certain future from Barranca.
Duke Full Moon Olmer gave Leyton a deep look and said with a sigh:
"Who was that dragon staying in the Mind World earlier? Its aura was very ancient, giving me a sense of familiarity, as if it were an old friend."
"Ariehogg."
While answering, Leyton turned his gaze slightly to observe this Sanguine Duke, who had also survived since the second epoch, wanting to see what his reaction would be upon hearing this name.
Duke Full Moon Olmer was momentarily dazed, seemingly lost in distant memories. After a moment, he sighed softly and said:
"So it was Him. I know this Ancient Dragon; He is one of the only three remaining Ancient Dragons."
"Unlike the Sanguine, dragons have almost disappeared from the long river of history due to the 'Ancient Sun God' reclaiming authority and the emergence of the potion system. Only a few old fellows remain, lingering in the depths of the Mind World."
Leyton nodded, then sighed with ambiguous meaning:
"Perhaps there will be traces of dragons appearing in the future."
As he finished speaking, his body instantly blurred, decomposing into stream after stream of complex and pure information that surged into the Spirit World.
Watching Leyton leave, Duke Full Moon Olmer looked at the deep red crystal ball in his hand, a flash of joy in his eyes, which then turned into confusion:
"I didn't expect Him to become active. This doesn't seem to fit the style of a Mind Dragon?"
"The honorary name of the 'True Creator' now includes the description 'Dominator of the Mind World'... What other secrets were hidden in the descent event from two days ago?"
After murmuring to himself, Duke Full Moon Olmer reached out his right hand and pushed open an illusory, hazy "Doors of Summoning" engraved with many mysterious symbols.
By utilizing the doors of Summoning's characteristic of connecting reality and the Spirit World, it could be used as a Travelers Door to some extent.
Deep in the Spirit World, points of starlight fluctuated rapidly, casting layers of pale blue starlight in the surroundings.
Amidst the starlight, pitch-black smoke continuously seeped from Glenn's body, as if composed of countless tiny insects, emitting a filthy and eerie aura. It constantly spread and wriggled within the starlight, gradually being assimilated and dissolved by it.
Only when no more smoke seeped from her body did Glenn let out a long breath, letting the floating starlight around her collapse.
Her face slightly pale, she looked toward Leyton, who had appeared nearby, and said with some dissatisfaction:
"That 'Abomination's' state isn't quite right. Even if the 'Mutant' Pathway has strong recovery power, an arm severed by Sasrir using the 'Cull of Spiritual Flesh' shouldn't recover so quickly; that's a loss on the spiritual level."
"And how could He arrive so quickly and manage to curse me while breaking through the blockade?"
While speaking, she took off a silver-white glove with a metallic luster from her right hand and put it into a pitch-black cloth bag hanging at her waist.
Leyton said thoughtfully:
"He is the son of the 'Chained God.' Isn't it normal for Him to be able to borrow the power of the 'Chained God' to some extent?"
"I didn't see any signs of Him borrowing power."
Glenn slowly shook her head, dismissing Leyton's guess. After pausing for two seconds, she added:
"However, I saw some madness in Him and heard some ravings. That's also why I was so easily cursed. Those madness and ravings were quite peculiar—cold and frantic, giving me a sense of facing a Devil, yet not quite."
"...Devil?" Leyton murmured softly, his eyes becoming deep as if countless bits of information were floating within.
After a moment, he chuckled and said, "Perhaps that 'Mother Tree' felt the pressure and gave Her most useful offspring a bit of a boost."
"You mean He obtained 'Devil' characteristics?"
Glenn looked at Leyton, a flash of surprise in her eyes. Even if "Devil" and "Mutant" were neighboring Pathways, accommodating extra characteristics was still a significant burden for an angel.
The next day, in a villa in Backlund West Borough, the Odora family home.
Emlyn came upon being summoned. That Sanguine high-ranking figure had arrived in Backlund and specifically asked to see several young Sanguine, including him.
His gaze quickly swept across the several Sanguine in the living room, summarizing the information he observed in his mind. This was a habit he had developed at the Tarot Club.
The Sanguine in this living room were at least Barons. He was still a newly born Sanguine, while those slightly older had become Viscounts like him. "We are all the cream of the crop among the younger generation of Sanguine, and I am the most outstanding one among them, the one favored by the Ancestor!"