Deep beneath the Patriarchal Cathedral, Leyton and Leonard's figures flickered continuously, quickly arriving at the Mechanical Hall, located on the lowest floor of the church, where Mystical Items were stored and Sealed.
"So many!"
Leonard gazed at the walls, piled high with Mystical Items like display counters, and couldn't help but exclaim.
Compared to the Church of the Evernight Goddess, the God of Steam and Machinery's church seemed exceptionally rich in Mystical Items; even behind Charles Door beneath Saint Samuel Cathedral in Backlund, there were far fewer items stored and Sealed than in this church's underground.
Pallez snorted disdainfully, his ancient voice calmly echoing in Leonard's ears:
"This is a Church of the God of Steam and Machinery; every Artisan, whether in reality or the Mystic arts, is a true master of creation."
"I know, I just couldn't help but marvel at seeing so many Mystical Items..." Leonard cleared his throat, defending himself.
Leyton ignored the interaction between Leonard and Pallez, his gaze calmly sweeping the surroundings, deep blue, almost purple, light in his eyes outlining strange symbols, rapidly recording and analyzing the information around him.
A moment later, he withdrew his gaze, turned to Leonard, and calmly said:
"Arrodes's information is correct. We can act now. We only have three seconds."
As his voice fell, Leyton's body instantly dematerialized, breaking down into streams of complex, pure information, easily penetrating the surrounding barriers and surging into the depths of the Mechanical Hall.
"Grab a few Mystical Items you fancy..." Pallez's voice then echoed in Leonard's ears.
After a slight hesitation, Leonard swiftly rushed towards a Steam rifle with a thickened and lengthened barrel.
As he moved, Worms of Time, composed of twelve-section patterns, flowed out from him, quickly moving and converging in mid-air, forming a colossal, ancient, and mottled phantom clock with twelve sections.
This phantom resembled a stone-carved sundial, divided into twelve segments, each either grayish-white or bluish-black, intermingled but clearly defined, possessing different symbols.
On the colossal mottled phantom clock, the hands rotated one segment clockwise, and a melodious, illusory chime instantly echoed throughout the entire Mechanical Hall.
An indescribable, invisible torrent surged from the colossal phantom, as if crossing a long history, rapidly sweeping the surroundings.
Time in the surroundings accelerated, and the Seals originally set for different Mystical Items developed loopholes, beginning to fail.
Wailing winds exploded underground, carrying fine wind blades, constantly striking and buffeting the surrounding Mystical Items.
Invisible fluctuations dispersed somewhat unevenly, and the surroundings suddenly darkened, as if night had fallen, a sense of tranquility and peace descending with scattered starlight.
The air grew hot, as if in a parched desert. Leonard slightly opened his mouth, gasping for air. At this moment, even breathing seemed difficult, and sweat seeped from his pores, drop by drop.
His emotions became extremely furious, wanting to smash and destroy everything around him. He didn't know why he was angry, but he just couldn't control himself, as if a raging fire burned in his heart.
Pale white phosphorescence continuously overflowed from his body, like insects, squirming rapidly in the air, continuously drilling into one Mystical Item after another in the surroundings.
In the depths of the Mechanical Hall, Leyton's figure emerged from the continuously converging, complex, and pure knowledge.
The area was built like a magnificent palace, with gold as the primary decorative element. Whether it was the high-backed chairs, the vertically towering stone pillars, or the floor and walls—all were bright golden, exuding a luxurious and artistic beauty.
In the center of the palace sat a golden, ornate chair, a peculiar and magnificent throne crafted from gold and inlaid with numerous gems.
This was Sealed Artifact with the number 0-45, a legacy from Roselle, also known as the knowledge throne, and it was Leyton's target this time!
On top of this Sealed Artifact, there was also a book bound with grayish-brown parchment. The pages turned on their own, with various meaningless texts and symbols constantly appearing, as if recording the information transmitted by the knowledge throne.
As soon as he approached the knowledge throne, countless pieces of information flooded his mind, as if everything around him was transforming into abstract, distorted information, swarming into his eyes and drilling into his mind.
The mechanical glove on Leyton's right hand lit up with a dim, hazy glow—neither bright nor clear, devoid of any color. This light seemed to be composed of a vast quantity of illusory things, converging into fragmented specks of light, evolving into fragments of civilization, possessing the ability to interact with abstract entities, like an insatiable container, constantly bearing the information being poured from the knowledge throne.
Utilizing this opening, Leyton's figure flickered, appearing directly in front of the knowledge throne, and he reached out to remove the parchment book resting on the left armrest, which was constantly turning and recording the overflowing information.
More, and more complex, information swarmed into his mind. Leyton's movements slowed, and the deep blue, almost purple, light in his eyes flickered constantly, as if about to shatter.
Taking a deep breath, he turned and sat directly on the knowledge throne.
At this moment, he seemed to become the master of knowledge, the emperor of knowledge, able to see and manipulate all information in the world. His mind continuously expanded, and various thoughts arose, as if he had become an Omnipotent and Omniscient being.
The deep blue, almost purple, light in his eyes shattered inch by inch, turning into specks of stardust overflowing from his eye sockets. His body became illusory, as if countless stars were flickering, dissipating, and merging with the golden chair beneath him.
Under the brilliant sunlight in Trier's sky, most of the city was covered by gray mist and dark clouds, appearing dim, Mystic, chaotic, and distorted.
In the clear sky, a brilliant Cosmos shimmered faintly. Streaks of dim, hazy light—neither bright nor clear, devoid of any color, seemingly composed of a vast quantity of illusory things—generated from nothingness, falling from an extremely high distance, surging towards the dark clouds and gray mist covering most of Trier.
Wherever this light passed, all matter disintegrated, rapidly dissipating, and being reduced to its most basic particulate structure.
The overlap between Trier on the surface and the Fourth Epoch ruins underground was broken, the gloomy colors in the sky rapidly faded, and bright sunlight once again enveloped the city.
At the same time, a "light" that could not be seen by the vast majority of Beyonders surged out of the void. This light had no physical form, seeming to be composed of complex information, moving like a torrent in an illusory state, and in the blink of an eye, it enveloped the light that disintegrated matter and separated the underground ruins from the surface city.
The surrounding light once again became dim and profound, and space-time instantly distorted, completely isolating the surging, hazy light, which seemed to be composed of a vast quantity of illusory things, from the outside world.
A pitch-black, slightly illusory wilderness was reflected, and on the wilderness, countless figures flickered. Some were people, some were animals, and some were oddly shaped objects.
Above these figures, a virtual and flickering figure shimmered faintly. He wore an exaggerated cloak depicting the Cosmos, and beneath the cloak, dim starlight resembled blinking eyes, sometimes converging, sometimes dispersing, without a concrete form.
In the Astral World, the Land of Perfection, indescribable Steam continuously rose, and brass, dark-sinking, and bluish-green gears meshed together, clattering as they turned. Among the interacting levers, chains, gears, and other objects, a blurred, indistinct figure, giving a profound sense of weight, shimmered faintly.
Streaks of light, neither bright nor clear, generated from nothingness. This light had no color, seemingly composed of countless minute things. They collectively wove a projection-like, light, and invisible scroll.
This scroll flew out of the Land of Perfection, slowly unfolding in the Astral World, yet in the blink of an eye, it arrived in reality, above Trier.
On the scroll was a depiction of human society's enlightenment and development across different classes, a cumulative civilization of thousands upon thousands of years of human society, giving an intuitive sense of vastness, grandeur, profundity, and breadth, yet also appearing incredibly oppressive and heavy, as if it could crush everything.
The pitch-black, slightly illusory wilderness that enveloped Trier was swallowed by the Scroll of Civilization without any obstruction.
The Hidden Sage, enveloped by the Scroll of Civilization, instantly transformed into an information entity. Invisible torrents of information surged wildly within the Scroll of Civilization, attempting to submerge everything with vast information and destroy this Scroll of Civilization.
But this was thousands upon thousands of years of accumulated civilization, the history left by generations of humans calculated in the hundreds of millions, entirely sufficient to bear the torrent of information unleashed by the Hidden Sage.
Having temporarily trapped the Hidden Sage, several invisible information streams surged out from the Land of Perfection, rapidly descending from the Astral World, and in an instant, they arrived in the real world of Trier, easily bypassing the obstacles and entering the Patriarchal Cathedral, which was isolated by the Realm of Mysteries.
Deep beneath the Patriarchal Cathedral, Leonard, who had casually picked up two Mystical Items, had not yet had time to inquire about their effects when he heard Pallez's voice:
"He's here."
Leonard was stunned for a moment and quickly asked:
"Who's here? The Angel stationed in this church? Wasn't he held back by Queen Mystic? What happened outside?"
"Steam is here, and also, I can no longer see what's happening outside..." Pallez responded with a sigh.
"Who?" Leonard suspected he had misheard. His head was a bit muddled, the only thought still floating being… I'm finished, I'm going to die, I hope it doesn't implicate the Church.
Leonard had not yet recovered from this astonishing information when, in the Mechanical Hall, the rampaging Sealed Artifacts quieted down, one after another. Nothing seemed to happen, yet they eerily became silent.