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At the top of the clock tower in South of the Bridge, Backlund.
Panatiya glanced at the hurricane and silver-white lightning arcs emerging from above Cherwood Borough, watching the pouring rain begin to cleanse the earth, and pursed her lips in regret: "The Church of the Storm reacted much faster than expected. What a pity, but even so, it's enough. It's time to leave..."
Just as she was about to leave, her vision blurred, and she saw a young woman in a classical hooded robe, with black eyes and hair, and a beautiful but blank expression.
Panatiya's gaze sharpened, but she wasn't overly flustered. Having cooperated with the Loen Royal Family for so long, she was well aware of the unwritten rule that the three major Churches would not deploy Angels or Sealed Artifacts of Sequence 0 in Backlund.
As a Sequence 4 Demoness of Despair, even if the Archbishops themselves took action, it would not be difficult for her to escape.
Black flames suddenly erupted around Panatiya, spreading disease, and she intended to ignite everything around her, creating a large-scale fire to create an opportunity to escape.
But at that instant, her body trembled strangely and froze in place.
Then she watched as her left hand gradually disappeared, rapidly spreading upwards, unstoppable.
In her eyes, the beautiful, blank-faced woman opposite her had deep, dark pupils, as if containing a pure, lightless Darkness.
"You're not! You're..."
The incredulous, despairing shriek abruptly ceased, and the entire person was like a sketch, quietly erased by an eraser, leaving no trace.
Her final gaze was filled with terror and bewilderment. The spot where she had been was empty, as if no one had ever sat there.
The beautiful, blank-faced woman pulled the hood of her classical robe, and her lips moved almost imperceptibly. Her figure instantly vanished.
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In the Spirit World, burning with dark green flames, a section of an illusory, dark Nether River appeared, with countless wailing souls and fine white hairs stained with yellow oil floating within it.
As the blurry face on the mask of "Pale Death" became clearer, that extremely noble, Death-filled terrifying aura began to permeate the Spirit World, like an illusory deity enthroned above countless undead.
Suddenly, whispers, both high and low, sounded simultaneously. Strange corpses of different races floated from the dark, deep riverbed to the surface, looking out of the Spirit World with their half-rotted, half-pale faces.
From the deepest part of this section of the Nether River, the completely dark coffin formed by cold black mist let out a strange roar, like a summons and a roar.
The coffin, which had already taken shape and was moving along the Nether River to some unknown place, began to tremble. As the roar reached its peak, the coffin, along with all the surrounding scenes in the Spirit World, collapsed inward, transforming into a boundless, slowly rotating dark vortex.
The Nether River poured backward, and the pervasive black mist no longer gasped, slowly spreading outwards. Azik stood silently above the vortex, crushing the dark green skull with his bare hands. His originally deep eyes were now completely replaced by two pale flames.
Without pursuing Patrick Bryan, who had been taken away by Haiter, Azik's expression became terrifying, as if someone had driven a wedge into his temple, splitting his head in half.
Amidst this intense pain, a series of familiar yet strange, disjointed images suddenly flashed in his mind.
His body trembled, even revealing patches of dark, cold scales. Azik, with a somewhat ferocious expression, fell into a richly colored, variegated patch and disappeared.
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Inside the Holy Wind Cathedral, the dome was high and wide, with connecting arches. The murals, outlined in blue and silver-white, appeared rough but conveyed a sense of sacred majesty and solemnity.
The storm abruptly ceased. Archbishop Ace Snake, the "Spellsinger of God" and Cardinal of the Backlund Diocese, retracted his silver light. His black Archbishop's robe, embroidered with the storm symbol, billowed in the wind, and he spoke in a grim, deep voice: "Since you knew about those bugs in the dark corners, why couldn't you inform me in advance during the day? Or do you, the Church of Evernight, prefer to discuss matters at night?"
Cherwood Borough, as the primary jurisdiction of the Church of the Storm in Backlund and one of the gathering places for Storm believers, was adjacent to the East Borough, the source of the great smog, and the Backlund Bridge Area.
If believers suffered severe casualties in this disaster, coupled with the previous failure to protect Duke Negan, the authority of the Church of the Storm would undoubtedly be greatly affected. As the direct person in charge, Cardinal Ace Snake would inevitably face reproach from the altar and the Pope, making his tone somewhat irritable.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a nearly transparent Spirit Body, like a mountain, emerged from another void in the dome, placing a figure in mid-air.
That figure wore an Archbishop's robe with a black base and red patterns, had deep eyes, and no beard. It was Anthony Stevenson, the head of the Church of Evernight's Backlund Diocese.
After completing its task, the huge Spirit Body immediately shrank and entered Saint Anthony's mouth. Then, with a calm expression, he looked at Ace Snake and gently explained: "I only learned the specific news today. Regardless of whether they conducted some secret transaction, this after all involves the Royal Family and the King."
"Before receiving a reply from the Holy Hall, I naturally couldn't leak the transaction. It's just a pity they were even more decisive than I imagined."
His expression subtly shifting, Ace Snake suppressed his somewhat irritable mood and pressed: "What did you discover?"
Anthony shook his head with some regret, his eyes also showing a hint of gloom: "They handled it very cleanly!"
"According to normal logic, whether the collaborator disguised themselves or not, since they met, there would definitely be corresponding memory fragments remaining."
"I have personally performed Spirit Body Touches, but I couldn't find any traces in that regard. It seems as if it never existed, which should be due to the influence of a contract."
Emphasizing the word "cleanly," Anthony glanced at the silent Ace Snake and quietly added: "Let's go. We shouldn't keep others waiting at this time."
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At the mouth of the Tussock River, in the wide river valley flanked by two sides, Bernadette detached from the state of information torrent and reconstructed her body with complex and pure knowledge.
Quickly removing the "Sage Frontlet" and the "Pale Death," which had undergone some unknown change, Bernadette placed the unconscious Klein on a haystack. Her azure eyes looked towards Backlund, upstream of the Tussock River.
Perhaps it was because William Augustus I, who had descended with only a power projection through a ritual, couldn't stop Bernadette in her information torrent state, or perhaps he sensed Bernadette's identity and deliberately held back, not wanting to get entangled and risk being cornered by the three major Churches, leading to an unmanageable situation.
But to prevent Mr. Duke's highly valued Faceless from seeing what he shouldn't and hearing what he shouldn't in the information torrent, Bernadette still decisively used the "Sleeping Beauty" magic of Mystical Reenactment.
Slowly retracting her gaze, Bernadette refocused on the "Sage Frontlet" floating in the air.
As a Clairvoyant, she clearly saw the opportunity for advancement, understanding that she had completed the corresponding ritual and prevented a high-level power-related disaster.
Angel... Looking at the diamond-encrusted vertical eye, Bernadette's eyes became even more resolute. After leaving Intis, she had two main wishes:
One was to investigate the truth of those matters and see if she had misunderstood her father. The second was to follow her father's lingering footsteps, to see what he had experienced and if there was any possibility of his resurrection.
And now, only one last step remained to understand all the truth.
She no longer hesitated, firmly raising her right hand, outlining ancient, star-shimmering words in the void, summoning the Spirit World creature that was human upper body and wind lower body, and retrieving some of the supplementary ingredients for the "Sage" potion from it.
Just then, a portal of brilliant, dark blue starlight appeared, and Aaron, holding the "Crown of Stars," emerged from it. This was originally the meeting point they had agreed upon after leaving Backlund.
"Congratulations, it seems you have completed the advancement ritual. You can advance under the gaze of My Lord, without worrying about the Hidden Sage's gaze."
Aaron chuckled, his gaze returning from Klein, who was lying on the haystack. He raised the "Crown of Stars" in his hand and looked at Bernadette, adding: "This Sealed Artifact, which originated from Death, is best not used again before you fully advance, to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble that might affect your advancement. Let me help you with the crushing of the Beyonder characteristic."
Bernadette did not refuse Aaron's kindness. After the Beyonder characteristic was completely crushed, she proactively handed the "Pale Death" to Aaron, which, even detached from a human body, still faintly revealed a blurry human face.
Countless transparent insects surged from the brilliant gems on the "Crown of Stars," attaching to the surface of the mask. The dense Death intent, enough to wither everything, instantly dissipated, as if the mask itself was isolated in another space.
Acknowledging Aaron's actions, Bernadette glanced at the gurgling, bubbling "Sage" potion, each bubble containing a transparent eye.
She nodded slightly towards Aaron. This Queen Mystic, with a resolute expression, raised her right hand and brought the glass bottle to her lips.
As the "Sage" potion entered her mouth, her body became illusory at a visible speed, and within a few breaths, it decomposed into complex knowledge, transforming into the existence form of an information torrent.
The surging Tussock River, and even the strong winds and heavy rain spreading from Backlund, seemed to lose their tangibility, as if they were reduced to the most basic and fundamental forms of various information.
In the Nation of Disorder, dark golden mist surged, embracing a greenish-black cyclops' head, slowly floating down beside the prayer light spot. The terrifying will almost distorted the prayer scene.
In the real world, Aaron's eyes instantly turned crimson gold, and the "Domain of Judgment" quietly spread, sealing off this increasingly terrifying aura to prevent it from being discovered.
While being wary of potential interference from the Hidden Sage, Aaron also took advantage of this rare opportunity to observe firsthand the birth of a "complete mythical creature." This was also the reward given to Bernadette for receiving the "Lord of Order's" blessing.
An ancient-looking bronze whistle appeared in Aaron's hand. He casually threw it onto the haystack beside him, accurately hitting Klein's head. Although his gaze was still fixed on the information torrent that was constantly condensing, reorganizing, and then dissipating, his tone was quite teasing: "Since you're awake, there's no need to pretend to be asleep. If you don't want your eyeballs to explode, just close your eyes obediently."
He could observe and study Bernadette's process of advancing to an Angel, but that didn't mean Klein, who was only at Sequence 6, could withstand it. Just the unconsciously displayed mythical creature form alone could cause Mr. Fool to die young.
Clutching the bronze whistle that had hit his head, feeling its familiar coolness, Klein's originally somewhat embarrassed face instantly flushed with surprise. Obediently closing his eyes, he bowed towards the direction of the voice: "Thank you, Mr. Emperor, for your assistance!"
He didn't ask about the final fate of the high-level Demoness who had taken Azik's bronze whistle. The recovery of this whistle was enough to explain the situation.
What he was more concerned about now was actually Mr. Azik's state. That Undying of the Numinous Episcopate was clearly prepared.
Although he was anxious, he also knew what was important. Just from the fragmented words he heard upon waking, he could guess that Roselle's eldest daughter was currently attempting to advance to an "Angel."
A powerhouse of this level was a Pope-level figure in all major Churches, and she was clearly also related to the "Lord of Order," yet Klein had never seen Bernadette at the Council of Entropy.
Suddenly recalling Zaratul's prophecy about Bernadette in Roselle's diary, Klein couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Not caring what Klein was thinking, Aaron stared at Bernadette, who was constantly gathering all her information and beginning to reconstruct her body by relying on the marks left in the Spirit World. He suddenly raised his hand.
The Crown of Stars, emitting a dark blue light, was instantly enveloped by a dense dark golden mist. Around Bernadette, space and time distorted.
The secret information that suddenly appeared in mid-air from unknown sources, trying to merge with Bernadette while she was reconstructing her body, missed its target and was swallowed by a shimmering golden door with a dark golden vortex.
The already rippling prayer scene was instantly pierced. This will, originating from the Hidden Sage, directly submerged into the giant single eye. The surrounding dark golden mist boiled, and the giant's head quickly returned to calm.
Without the Hidden Sage's interference, Bernadette seized the opportunity, completely reconstructed her body, and, with the help of her anchor, initially balanced the terrifying will generated within her.
At this moment, she truly became Him, becoming a Sequence 2 Angel of the Mystery Pryer Pathway, a great figure in the mystical world who could be respectfully called an "Hidden Existence."
Imprints formed by countless strange symbols appeared deep within her pupils. Bernadette felt her perspective being infinitely elevated by spirituality, as if the entire world was encompassed within her sight.
From this special perspective, Bernadette almost subconsciously looked up at the brilliant night sky.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones=1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr | 16 novels being updated, I can't read all comments