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The carriage stopped at the outskirts of the East Borough, having passed through the acrid smoke that permeated the streets.
Everyone disembarked from the carriage, leaving the streets strewn with trash and debris, and proceeded along the East Tucker tributary of the Tussock River, arriving at an alley near 122 Tito Street.
After Aaron briefly assigned tasks, the other members began setting up surveillance points, hiding at street corners, disguised as ordinary pedestrians, awaiting the appearance of Demoness Queen Mach.
Soon after, a woman in a black cloak with long, flowing hair walked from a nearby street towards 122 Tito Street. As she moved, a glimpse of white skin was visible at her shoulder, and she wore a dark green ring on the middle finger of her right hand.
She walked gracefully through the street, attracting the attention of many passersby, while two men followed behind her, both gazing at Queen Mach ahead with infatuated expressions, occasionally glaring fiercely at the surrounding passersby.
"Tsk tsk, truly a Demoness. Are these two the unlucky souls who were bewitched? With no spiritual fluctuations, they should just be ordinary people."
Aaron withdrew his scrutinizing gaze and muttered to himself.
Seeing the three enter 122 Tito Street, and waiting a while longer without discovering any other anomalies, Aaron and Glenn exchanged glances and began their operation. The others quickly converged, setting up a simple Wall of Spirituality around the room.
Inside the room at 122 Tito Street, the luxurious decorations were in stark contrast to the dilapidated exterior of the house. Queen Mach arrived at a strangely styled room further inside.
Inside the room were several people, male and female, bound in various ways. They all had flushed faces, dazed eyes, and were covered in red whip marks.
Queen Mach had already removed her black robe, revealing her pale skin. She picked up a long, whip-like object with red stains from a nearby shelf and looked at the two men who were still infatuated, a distorted, sinister smile appearing on her exquisite face.
Whip after whip, watching the scene of flesh and blood flying, Queen Mach felt the distorted desire suppressed within her heart being satisfied. Suddenly, she felt something was wrong, because not only were there no screams or wails, but even the sound of breathing had disappeared.
Queen Mach's pupils constricted. Just as she was about to raise the dark green ring on her right hand, she found her hand was empty. Before she could react, accompanied by intense pain, everything around her shattered and disappeared like a broken mirror.
Aaron stood expressionlessly outside the room, watching the scene inside. A faint blue illusory Door on the wall behind him was slowly closing. A simple, silver-gray ring on his left hand shimmered with a faint light, which was the Ring of Mysteries.
Under the friendly communication from before, this living, powerful Sealed Artifact no longer chanted irregularly at any time, only requiring one chant per day. After wailing in the junk pile of the Nation of Disorder, Aaron sacrificed it.
Before the mission, he had gone to St. Samuel's Cathedral and found the Red Gloves Captain, Soul Assurer Soest, and used the Ring of Mysteries to record the Nightmare's ability to forcibly pull people into dreams.
Looking at the men and women who had all fallen to the ground and entered a dream, as well as Queen Mach who only woke up when attacked, Aaron nodded with satisfaction.
Logically, the recorded ability would be weakened to a certain extent, and its effect on a Demoness, who is also a Sequence 7, would not be so obvious. However, thanks to the Darkness Mark's significant enhancement of Darkness Pathway Beyonder abilities, it almost had the original effect.
Glenn, surrounded by flames, directly severed Queen Mach's right arm with the ring using his flaming longsword. After kicking her away, a flaming spear shot out, striking the fallen Queen Mach.
Queen Mach's figure shattered in response, turning into a pile of mirror fragments covered in black flames and frost. On the pitch-black mirror in another room, the figure of the disarmed Queen Mach appeared, her face hideously distorted and her eyes bloodshot. This was the Mirror Doppelganger ability of a Sequence 7 Witch.
Her remaining sanity and will to survive told her that she was no match for the two in front of her and had to escape.
Before she could continue to use her Mirror Doppelganger ability, she felt a sharp pain in her brain, as if currents of electricity surged through her spirit, forming a barbed whip that continuously lashed her soul. Coupled with her previous injuries, Queen Mach directly knelt on the ground, wailing in pain, blood gushing from the stump of her right arm.
Aaron's pale golden pupils coldly watched Queen Mach, who was wailing on the ground. Taking advantage of this time, Aaron coldly said, "Steal." The Ring of Mysteries on his left hand flickered continuously, finally glowing faintly.
Queen Mach, who had just recovered a bit and was about to escape at all costs, suddenly felt as if something was missing from herself. In her spiritual perception, those mirrors that were originally clearly visible abruptly disappeared and could no longer be sensed.
Aaron raised his left hand and beckoned. The Ring of Mysteries on his left hand flickered, and Aaron used the Ring of Mysteries to summon a historical projection.
The figure of a man in his forties appeared, with soft facial features, long sideburns, a flamboyant standard top hat, and a black straight staff inlaid with gold in his hand. It was Soul Assurer Soest.
"Soest's" eyes were dim, and an invisible fluctuation emerged. Queen Mach, who was severely injured and somewhat disoriented, immediately fell into a deep sleep. The resentful expression on her face gradually turned to terror, as if she had fallen into some terrifying dream.
Aaron nodded slightly to Glenn, who had rushed over from the adjacent room. Glenn then glanced at the one-armed woman lying on the ground with a terrified expression, said nothing, and exited the room to call the other team members to process the scene.
Watching the few people being dragged away and loaded onto some dilapidated carriages, Aaron looked around, picked up the severed arm with the green ring on the ground, and threw out a dark golden paper crane, which spontaneously combusted into ashes and scattered.
The carriage drove towards East Tucker Manor in the suburbs. Aaron sat inside the carriage, contemplating this battle.
The functions of the Ring of Mysteries are very comprehensive, whether it's recording abilities like Door and Nightmare, or the stealing ability, they are all very practical.
However, the probability of stealing is indeed a bit low; it takes eight or nine attempts to steal from a severely injured target.
And the final summoned historical void, even though it only summoned a Sequence 6 Soul Assurer, might have failed six times due to unfamiliarity.
These failed attempts also consumed a large amount of spirituality, not to mention that the consumption of maintaining the historical void image after success was even greater, to the point that even Aaron's spirituality was somewhat unable to sustain it.
"Should I bribe Will Ensein with some of the latest flavored ice cream to exchange for some luck and increase the success rate?"
Aaron's thoughts raced as he looked at East Tucker Manor, whose outline was already visible ahead. He made up his mind:
"I must get a Mystical Item that can increase spirituality. This level of spiritual consumption is already a bit much for me. If I encounter a strong enemy, I might be the one to fall first."
"Hmm, items that activate spirituality, the Sanguine definitely have them. Next Council Meeting, I can make a deal with Miss Louise. It seems she's quite short on money too…"
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