Silas examined the tarot card in his hand.
On the face of this tarot card was drawn the following image:
A massive demon crouched on a stone platform, with horns atop its head, bat wings on its back, and its lower body covered in beast fur and hooves.
The demon held a torch inverted in one hand while raising the other vertically, palm facing the card's surface.
A pair of naked man and woman were covered by the demon's shadow.
Their bodies showed demonic distortion, chains hung around their necks, and their gazes were unfocused, as if they had already fallen into the abyss and become the demon's slaves in both body and soul.
What surprised Silas most was the demon occupying the main part of the card. It had a human face, bearded and quite dignified.
However, because the body was demonic in form, this dignity also became twisted and eerie.
And this human face... Silas actually recognized it.
Roselle Gustav, his fellow transmigrator predecessor!
At the very top of the card, starlight condensed into a line of text:
"Sequence 0: Abyss."
This is a... Blasphemy Card?
Silas had seen something similar before.
The crimson wraith from the Fourth Epoch ruins had once shown it to him and promised it as a reward for rescuing him.
And in Roselle's secret diary, there had been corresponding records.
He claimed in his diary to have recorded all the Beyonder pathway potion formulas and rituals, creating twenty-two Blasphemy Cards and scattering them.
In other words, the card in my hand should be one of them. As for the specific pathway, there's no doubt it's the Abyss pathway.
So the Sequence 0 of this pathway is called "Abyss"... No wonder that demigod cared so much about this card.
After all, it contains the method to become a true god of his pathway!
Silas looked at this tarot card as many thoughts flashed through his mind.
He didn't examine the card more carefully. Instead, he tucked it into his inner pocket, planning to study it later.
After storing away the "Blasphemy Card," Silas raised his head and noticed something more than ten meters in front of him.
It was a blood-drenched mass of flesh, its original form no longer distinguishable.
Kons's remains.
Silas couldn't help but sigh softly as he approached that mass of flesh.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I couldn't keep that guy here."
The corpse remained silent, but as a "Shepherd," he seemed able to hear the angry voice of the soul still lingering within.
Honestly, Kons's fate was truly innocent.
He and his family were completely collateral damage.
Simply because of the demon's acting needs, his father was killed and replaced.
And because a commission needed to be completed, his family was eliminated, and he himself became a shell inhabited by his enemy...
But the Beyonder world was just this cruel and chaotic, without any reason.
After standing dazed for a few seconds, Silas turned and walked toward where he had previously stood.
Earlier, he'd been chased so frantically by the "Singer of God" that after the "Revolver of Luck" fell to the ground, he hadn't had time to pick it up.
Faint thunder sounds came from the distance. The battle between the two demigods was still continuing.
The longer this battle dragged on, the more advantageous it was for the "Singer of God," because other reinforcements in the city would gradually gather for a coordinated attack.
This was also why the demon Noth hadn't actively engaged but was trying to escape.
When Silas returned to the earlier street, he found the destroyed café empty. That couple had long since fled.
There's definitely something strange about them... Forget it.
Silas bent down to pick up the silver-white revolver that had fallen on the ground.
After a brief examination, he froze slightly.
On the grip of this revolver, an odd symbol had appeared at some unknown time.
The symbol was circular overall, formed by lines, resembling a coiled serpent swallowing its own tail, or like the infinity symbol (∞) from his previous life's mathematics, intertwined and looping endlessly.
The "Revolver of Luck" falling out really wasn't an accident, but the deliberate action of some existence!
But why did they specifically leave a mark? Are they planning to make contact with me?
Just as Silas was looking at the revolver, somewhat puzzled, his body suddenly shook.
"Thud, thud..."
"Clank, clank..."
Heavy footsteps and the sound of armor pieces colliding, both sounds simultaneously echoing from the end of the street.
In the gray-white fog, something seemed to be approaching step by step.
That sound seemed to strike heavily upon his heart, making it difficult to breathe.
Silas instinctively felt unease.
His spirituality was warning him, reminding him that what was about to appear would be extremely dangerous... dangerous to a degree even surpassing the two demigods from earlier.
Even though that thing's target wasn't him, he felt stabbing pain throughout his body, as if he would be cut apart by invisible blades in the next instant!
Get out of here quickly!
Before that thing appeared, Silas didn't hesitate to activate "Shepherd," driving Mr. A's soul, then activating the "Scribe" ability he had grazed.
"Rustle, rustle..."
"I came, I saw, I recorded..."
Phantom book pages flipped continuously, accompanied by lofty, ethereal voices, reproducing the recorded "Travel" ability once more.
Thus, the scenery around Silas rapidly changed, edges blurring, colors becoming vivid, like some kind of over-painted oil painting.
"Thud, thud..."
"Clank, clank..."
As "Travel" was about to complete, the footsteps and metal collision sounds became increasingly clear. A tall figure gradually emerged from the fog.
It was a suit of silver-white full-body armor.
From the left shoulder downward, the armor was splashed with a large patch of congealed blood.
Who knew how long this blood had been there, but at first glance, it looked as fresh as if it had just been splattered on!
Because "Travel" had already activated, the surrounding scenery was completely blurred.
Only that silver-white armor remained clearly imprinted before Silas's eyes.
The armor seemed to notice Silas's gaze as well. It suddenly stopped and turned its head, looking toward him...
"Whoosh!"
The world before his eyes became completely blurred, including even that armor.
Silas entered the spirit world but quickly left again.
The scenery around him gradually regained clarity. He saw the furnishings of his bedroom and his black cat Luna.
"Meow?"
Luna was crouched on the cabinet at the head of the bedroom, as if completely unprepared for Silas to appear here.
She tilted her head in considerable confusion.
***
At the same time, in Jowood District.
Where Silas had just been standing had already been cut by invisible blades, the ground a complete mess.
The silver-white armor took a deep look at that spot, then turned its head and charged again toward the direction where the two demigods were fighting.
"Crack!"
Thunder roared, accompanied by the angry shouts of the demon Noss.
He seemed to have sensed danger approaching as well, but the "Singer of God" kept biting at him relentlessly, not allowing him any possibility of escape...
The silver-white armor walked into the thick fog.
A moment later, dazzling light blazed up, piercing through the mist and bathing everything around in the radiance of dawn.