The illusory, abstract Cosmos was suddenly covered by a thick curtain of shadow, reflecting a dark, viscous "ocean" full of Depravity aura.
The True Creator's arrival significantly reduced Roselle's pressure. He chuckled and said arrogantly, "It's finally my turn."
Having transformed into the Shadow of Order, he distorted the true vision of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Lord of Storms, causing their perceived images to be delayed, appearing as they were one or even two seconds ago.
Almost simultaneously, a giant, mountain-like, pitch-black hand stretched out from the Depravity "ocean," grabbing towards the constantly leaping silver-white lightning.
The silver-white lightning continued to leap, carrying an aura of furious destruction, constantly accumulating power, waiting for the opportune moment, seemingly oblivious to the hand reaching for it, and without any premonition of danger.
By the time the delayed vision appeared a second later, he was already grasped in the palm of that pitch-black hand, unable to escape.
On the other side, the nearly true "Sun" erupted with scorching hot sunlight, yet it was strangely confined to a very small area, as if isolated from the world.
Where the projection of the Knowledge Moor dissipated, Leyton gazed ahead, and an illusory book appeared, flipping its pages on its own, revealing scroll after scroll of paintings, texts, and information depicted on them.
The book depicted and recorded humanity's journey from the age of savagery to slash-and-burn farming, then to the creation of various tools and machinery, the invention of the Steam Engine, and the entry into the Steam Age.
It was as if it carried the enlightenment and development of civilization and human society at different levels, giving off an extremely profound feeling.
Rays of light were projected along with the book, combining with the surrounding floating information to form transparent, illusory figures, one after another.
They all belonged to the God of Steam and Machinery, manifestations of different aspects, different knowledge, different authorities, and different information.
The knowledge and information that made up these figures became animated, giving each figure its own consciousness, making them difficult to unify and resistant to returning to the main body.
This was the corruption of the Knowledge Moor; after Leyton encompassed the information belonging to the God of Steam and Machinery, it attempted to pollute him through the interaction of information.
As the part of the information polluted by Leyton returned, this corruption uncontrollably spread to the main body of the God of Steam and Machinery.
Leyton extended his right hand, dark and withered like a mummy, and the eyes growing on it blinked, focusing all their gaze on the illusory book that carried civilization and recorded history and knowledge.
With a rustling sound, the pages of the illusory book uncontrollably flipped rapidly, torn off by an unseen force, flying into Leyton's hand one after another.
As these pages fell into Leyton's palm, they quickly disintegrated into glimmering, indistinct specks of light that were not brilliant, not clear, had no color, and seemed to be composed of a vast amount of illusory things, slowly floating and flowing.
As the pages were stripped from the illusory book, the aura of the God of Steam and Machinery uncontrollably plummeted, making it difficult to maintain even the Sequence 0 rank, on the verge of collapse.
"Alas!" The figure of the God of Steam and Machinery that still retained its self sighed deeply.
His gaze swept around, pausing on Roselle, who was in a stalemate with the Eternal Blazing Sun, then looked at the illusory book, half of its pages already stripped by Leyton, and gave a bitter smile: "I lost."
The next second, his somewhat illusory figure collapsed from the inside out, disintegrating into streams of brass, light blue, and bronze light, flying in all directions.
As if influenced by him, the other transparent figures that were still resisting each other and trying to be independent also shattered, turning into streams of light and quickly disappearing into the Cosmos.
One after another, rays of light streaked across the sky, forming a brilliant meteor shower that fell to various parts of reality.
Without the resistance of the God of Steam and Machinery, the illusory book flew directly into Leyton's hand, disintegrating into a glimmering, indistinct light composed of a vast amount of illusory things.
These slowly flowing lights reassembled under Leyton's will, finally forming an intricate and magnificent mechanical glove, which he wore on his right hand.
After recovering the Uniqueness, Leyton turned his head to look at the place not far away, surrounded by several eyes.
At his thought, those eyes spontaneously scattered, revealing the faint radiance trapped in the center. It was only the size of a fist, colorless, seemingly composed of countless tiny things, flowing slowly like a liquid.
"To prevent my pursuit, you left a portion of the Illuminator's Characteristics?"
He muttered to himself, Leyton slightly raised his hand, and this faint radiance automatically floated onto his hand.
Having done all this, he went directly to Roselle's side, who was still in a stalemate with the Eternal Blazing Sun.
Solid black mist surged in wisps, from which grew eyes, large and small.
Under the gaze of these eyes, the light and heat emitted by the central "Sun" were transformed into pure knowledge, turning into tendrils of black mist, from which more eyes grew.
With the Black Emperor's "magnification" support, the Sun's light almost dissipated, and the surroundings instantly became dark.
From the opened eyes around, pure and clear light flowed out, quickly condensing into complex and illusory symbols, one after another, as if projecting all the information of the world, stirring up a terrifying information storm.
At the center of the information storm, the light and fire swirling around the "Sun" solidified and dimmed, as if they could be extinguished at any moment.
A crackling electric sound suddenly exploded, and a mass of silver-white lightning broke through the shackles of the shadow, full of Depravity meaning, escaping from here and hurriedly returning to the Chasm of Storms.
The hand that stretched out from the dark, Depravity "ocean" did not pursue; in that hand, there was still a constantly leaping mass of silver-white lightning, seemingly a part forcibly torn from the Lord of Storms.
Scarlet light bloomed in the dark "ocean," forming an eye full of defiled and Depravity meaning, and casting its gaze towards the "Sun" surrounded by Leyton and Roselle.
The "Sun," being watched by numerous eyes, seemed to sense the danger, continuously pouring out energy, releasing light, and producing superheated flames.
In an instant, the entire Cosmos, and even reality, the Spirit World, and the cosmos, were illuminated; the scorching golden sunlight made it impossible for others to open their eyes or even form extra thoughts.
When the light disappeared, the nearly true "Sun" was gone.
The eyes growing from the wisps of black mist began to retract, and the shadows covering the Cosmos quickly receded.
Leyton threw the faint radiance he held in his hand towards Roselle, and at the same time said: "You can directly claim the provinces bordering Segar, Lenburg, and the Central Highlands, and the Fog Sea Archipelago will separate from Intis, establish its own kingdom, and you will become the emperor in reality."
"This portion of the Illuminator's Characteristics is my advance payment. Let Bornova succeed as Pope, stabilize the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, shift their focus, and guide them to merge with the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom."
"Understood." Roselle took the slowly flowing faint radiance and nodded gently.
Upon receiving Roselle's reply, Leyton's figure instantly blurred, transforming into torrents of information, terrifyingly complex like a flood, and disappeared into the Cosmos.
He needed to complete his unfinished ritual of becoming a god as soon as possible to stabilize and strengthen his self-cognition.
The Hidden Sage was not equivalent to him; as an animated Uniqueness, his extreme and intense madness constantly influenced Leyton.
Leyton's humanity, the divinity of the Knowledge Moor, the Hidden Sage's mad self and spirit, the primitive instinctual madness accumulated in the Beyonder characteristic, the mental corruption generated by the previous information interaction with the God of Steam and Machinery, and the faith from believers.
This spiritual stitching made Leyton prone to fragmentation at all times. The special nature of an information creature made this situation even more severe: either self-fragmentation, turning into out-of-control monsters, or the fusion of all spirits, becoming a brand new collective.
In the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Giant King's Court, within the gradually disintegrating palace of shadows.
Tiny specks of brass-colored light appeared out of thin air, swiftly moving and outlining a pair of illusory eyes, quickly scanning and observing everything within the palace, as if searching for an effective way to open this palace from the outside.
Before Klein could react, a familiar figure appeared inside the palace.
It was "Angel of Time," "God of Mischief" Amon, wearing a monocle and a pointed soft hat!
Amon smiled at Klein, then looked at the pair of eyes outlined by the brass-colored light with a slightly serious expression.
The next second, Amon's figure was outlined before these eyes, as if all his secrets were about to be revealed.
Amon looked at the outlined figure, identical to himself, and curled his lips, saying: "Herabergen, it's already 1351. Why are your methods still the same? No progress at all. How can you even call yourself knowledge and wisdom with that?"
While speaking, Amon raised his hand and pressed the monocle over his right eye. The outlined figure distorted and changed into Klein's appearance, not Gehrman Sparrow, but Klein Moretti.
"This!" Klein's eyes widened, unable to hide his astonishment at the scene.
The moment his figure appeared, his spirituality immediately began to clamor uncontrollably, as if encountering something extremely terrifying, as if all his secrets and all his information were laid bare for all to see, causing an uncontrollable palpitation.