Nast gazed at Roselle, not directly agreeing, but instead asked with a puzzled expression:
"As a Black Emperor, once you successfully revive, the corresponding Beyonder characteristic and Uniqueness will naturally return to you. Why risk trying to obtain the Beyonder characteristic there?"
"There were some issues with my revival process. I want to try to bypass the mausoleum and directly return from death using a Beyonder characteristic."
Roselle did not hide his situation; for those who understood the Black Emperor, it was not difficult to guess.
In Nast's dark eyes, the crimson surge became more intense. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, the flowing crimson had receded, leaving only a profound, solemn darkness.
"Alright," he slowly nodded in response, then added, "I need to know the truth about the apocalypse. Tell me when I become a Duke."
"Alright," Roselle chuckled and nodded.
After a brief moment of silence, the shimmering starlight enveloping the surroundings quickly dissipated, along with the figures of Leyton and Roselle.
Inside the cabin, the crew of the Black Emperor looked hesitantly at their captain, who was seated on the high-backed, dark chair at the head of the table. The heavy majesty of Nast, the King of the Five Seas, made them immediately lower their heads.
Strange, what was I just thinking? Why do I feel like the captain disappeared for a while? The Black Emperor's first mate, Bird Mastan, muttered to himself in confusion. As he thought, he forgot what question he had been pondering.
Never mind, it shouldn't be anything important, but what did I come into the cabin for? Isn't it my turn to patrol the deck today? As thoughts floated through his mind, Bird Mastan turned and exited the cabin.
Deep within the Spirit World Depths, amidst layers of rich colors, a pumpkin carriage pulled by two plump rats swiftly traveled forward.
Inside the pumpkin carriage, Leyton looked at Roselle, who was sitting opposite him, with some curiosity and asked:
"Are you sure you can bypass the mausoleum and revive directly through this method?"
Roselle slowly shook his head and said:
"Of course not."
"But if I already possess a Sequence 1 Beyonder characteristic, then the moment my consciousness returns, I will instinctively twist concepts and rules, escaping the mausoleum's restraints and appearing in the Astral World, without needing to wait for the Uniqueness to return and then initiate this process."
"As long as the Uniqueness is not corrupted by the Primordial Moon, even if my mental state deteriorates, there is still room for recovery."
"Moreover, with a Beyonder characteristic by my side, I won't be as fragile as I am now, needing someone to accompany me even to go out, with no privacy at all."
Leyton glanced at Roselle's lower body and said with calm sarcasm, "You're just a mechanical puppet, without any extra functions."
"Don't slander my noble character as soon as you open your mouth." Roselle grumbled a few times, then stopped speaking.
After sending Roselle back to Bernadette's Dawn, Leyton did not rush back to the Southern Continent. Instead, he first went to Toscat Island in the Central Sonia Sea, an area where the Church of the Evernight Goddess preaches.
In the Church of the Evernight Goddess on Toscat Island, Leyton appeared silently in the prayer hall. As it was nearing night, many people came to the church to pray. Leyton's figure was lost in the crowd, drawing no one's attention.
He slowly walked with the crowd to the Dark Holy Emblem at the very front, found a quiet spot in a corner, and began to pray silently.
Unbeknownst to him, he awoke amidst the fragrance of nightshade flowers, a female figure dressed in layers of black classical long robes stood quietly among the flowers.
Her body was somewhat ethereal, showing signs of rippling outwards, and her face seemed veiled by layers of thin gauze, hazy yet exceptionally beautiful.
Leyton looked at the figure that appeared in his dream and chuckled, saying:
"It's just a small request; it shouldn't warrant you coming to see me personally."
"This is necessary courtesy."
"You can release Zaratul's historical projection and use it to demand appropriate compensation from him."
The Evernight Goddess's voice was very calm, and even without any Beyonder power, it carried a soothing meaning within it.
Leyton nodded calmly, looking at the Evernight Goddess's figure before him, and chuckled:
"Then, what do I need to pay?"
"A drop of water from the River of Eternal Darkness," the Evernight Goddess said without inflection.
"Alright," Leyton nodded gently.
The Evernight Goddess's request was somewhat unexpected for him. He had originally thought she would ask for more; the water from the River of Eternal Darkness was very useful for her, who was trying to control the Death Uniqueness.
As he responded, he extended his left hand forward, and specks of starlight floated at his fingertips, outlining a somewhat illusory and hazy Door.
He directly extended his hand into the Door, took out a dark brown glass vial covered with strange symbols and patterns, and threw it towards the Evernight Goddess before him.
The dark brown glass vial rippled as it approached the Evernight Goddess, then disappeared, its destination unknown.
A breeze carrying a faint floral scent blew past him, and Leyton suddenly awoke from his dream, the sounds of devotees moving and their hushed conversations entering his ears.
Leyton lowered his gaze to his half-clenched right hand, where a dark, heavy emblem had appeared at some point: a deep black base adorned with stars, embracing exactly half of a crimson Moon.
After putting away the Dark Holy Emblem, Leyton took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then rose from his seat, left a few banknotes in the offering box at the front, and then walked out of the church.
In the exceptionally clear sky, a half-moon of crimson hung high, and on the sea horizon enveloped in night, only a faint twilight remained.
Walking down the gradually sparse street, Leyton suddenly stopped, brought the Dark Holy Emblem closer to his eyes, examined it briefly, then poured some spirituality into it.
Silently, the Dark Holy Emblem shattered little by little, and a layer of profound, serene darkness surged from the broken emblem, submerging Leyton's figure like a tide. His body rapidly dissolved under the wash of darkness.
In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished from the street. The surrounding pedestrians continued to come and go, as if they had never noticed a person there, much less how he disappeared.
On the main peak of the Hornacis Mountains, in an exceptionally quiet, utterly desolate yet clean and tidy small town, Leyton's figure rapidly materialized.
He calmly surveyed his surroundings, a deep pale purple glow swiftly flowing in his eyes, outlining one symbol after another within them.
In this state, his gaze seemed to penetrate the surface and see the essence of things. The street beneath his feet, the houses on both sides, the withered trees by the roadside, and even the crimson Moon in the sky, all transformed into a pure, information-laden mist with dark, swirling vapors in his eyes.
After a brief search, he quickly discovered the spire church located in the center of the town. Inside the church, there were many mummified bodies hanging, quiet and eerie.
Poor Zaratul, someone has finally remembered you and decided to come save you. I hope you have enough in return. Leyton curved his lips, sighing inwardly, then stepped towards the church in the center of the town.
As he stepped, his body suddenly etherealized, breaking down into complex streams of knowledge, surging like a torrent towards the center of the town.
Before long, the crimson moonlight spilled onto the ground, casting silhouettes on the streets here, and the once quiet street became noisy.
In the spire church in the center of the town, streams of information surged in from outside, countless pieces of knowledge converging here, reassembling Leyton's body.
He looked back at the bustling street, his gaze penetrating the figures, discerning their essence.
With a soft sigh, he withdrew his gaze, walked past the mummified bodies hanging upside down from the ceiling, and finally stopped before a grayish-white stone chair.
A figure wearing a black hooded robe materialized on the stone chair. His eyes were dark like a lightless water surface, and the white beard around his mouth and face was long and dense, like a mysterious, wise elder.
He was the target Leyton had come to find: Zaratul, the leader of the Secret Order, whose historical projection was sealed by the Evernight Goddess in the Hornacis Mountains.
Zaratul's gaze lingered on Leyton for a moment. He curved his lips, his voice low and hoarse, saying:
"So many years have passed, and I didn't expect another angel to arrive here."
"Your eyes are very special, but there shouldn't be anything you need here. Why did you come here?"
Leyton calmly gazed at the elder before him, his tone leisurely saying, "There's nothing I need here, but you have it."
As he spoke, his gaze deeply swept back and forth across Zaratul's historical projection, taking in every ethereal Worm of Spirit on him.
Ignoring Leyton's rather impolite gaze, Zaratul said in a flat tone:
"What do you want to gain from me? I am merely a historical projection left here, possessing no substantial Beyonder characteristic nor overly powerful strength."
Ignoring the inaccuracies in Zaratul's words, Leyton scoffed and stated his purpose directly:
"Grant me three wishes, and I will take you out of this Concealed World, how about that?"
Zaratul's dark eyes looked at Leyton with some surprise, and he explained calmly:
"You are already an angel; the wishes of a Miracle Invoker can only have very limited effect on you."
"Moreover, I am only a historical projection, and this place is isolated from the outside world. I cannot borrow power from the Spirit World, nor from history."
Leyton smiled, speaking the words he had already prepared:
"I can first release this historical projection of yours, and when your main body, which is outside, awakens from its madness, you can then pay me."
"I will tell you the type of wishes I need in advance, and you can accumulate them little by little until you can create the corresponding 'Miracle'."