"Let's go, we have to leave now." Wei Gao closed the book in his hand and said to Mr. Z, "The Lord's oracle says that the heretics will be conducting a large-scale search for Aurora Society members in Tingen. As the bishop, you cannot expose yourself."
"Yes." Mr. Z, deeply aware of the importance of the divine oracle and having gained even greater faith in Wei Gao as a chosen one through his study of the new doctrines of God, hurriedly went to prepare the necessary items. Wei Gao sat quietly on the sofa by the fireplace, his gaze serene and distant as he stared into the void.
Klein woke up to find himself surrounded by a group of serious-looking Night Watchers. Dunn stood beside Klein's bed, his face filled with a serious and worried expression. Klein slowly awoke, a lingering pain still nauseous in his mind. He stared blankly at the Night Watchers around him, letting out a groan as the pain in his head caused him to gasp.
"Klein, don't move. You've likely been 'contaminated' like Old Neil. Tell me, what did you see before you last called for my help?" Dunn Smith pressed down on Klein's shoulders, preventing him from moving. Klein forced open his eyes, enduring the headache, and found that besides several familiar Night Watchers sitting by his bed, there was also a man in a trench coat, his chin and lips covered by the coat's stand-up collar.
Dunn noticed Klein's gaze and explained, "This is Lady Kreste Cecima,'Sword of the Goddess.' Klein, thankfully you warned us in time, allowing us to control Old Neil who was on the verge of losing control. This is no small feat for a newly promoted Beyonder. However, we cannot allow this threat to remain within the Night Watchers. Old Neil has been corrupted by the Hidden Sage, and we don't want you to be corrupted as well..."
Old Neil? Klein suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed before losing consciousness: roses blooming on a black, inverted cross, their seemingly fragile branches entwining those utterly indifferent eyes. And as the inverted cross and those eyes intertwined, an eyeball emerged from the air, and an uppercut shattered those indifferent eyes what kind of scene was this?!
Klein shook his head, clearing his mind of the jumbled thoughts, and began to speak, but he found his voice unusually hoarse: "After Old Neil concocted the potion for me, I drank it and I quickly became an Extraordinary, gaining clairvoyance with Old Neil's help. But when I used my clairvoyance to observe my surroundings, I discovered, I discovered, a pair of cold eyes behind Old Neil!"
"And then I just yelled at old Neil..."
"That was the Hidden Sage. According to the Sanctuary's tests, it was He who corrupted Mr. Neil," Dunn said in a deep voice. Crestet Cesimir, sitting next to him, gestured for Klein to continue. Klein nodded and continued to recall what he had seen, recounting what the inverted cross and the eyes had done while staring at the Hidden Sage, leaving the Night Watchers present somewhat stunned.
Simply put, Klein's description of "an eyeball that could throw a hook punch blasting out the Hidden Sage's eye" was so vivid that none of the Night Watchers present could process it. Crestet, who considered himself a high-ranking deacon for many years, thought he'd seen it all. What? You're saying the Hidden Sage got his eye blasted out by an eyeball?
I've never seen anything like this before.
"...No problem, Dunn. So far, it seems your teammate hasn't shown any signs of being corrupted by the Hidden Sage or any other deity. However, just to be on the safe side, I still need to confirm whether his personality has been altered due to the corruption he suffered from Old Neil. Considering the possibility of deeply hidden corruption by the Hidden Sage and the True Creator, please leave first. I need to test him alone."
Crestet Cesimir opened the silver briefcase at his feet and drew out the sacred relic he had contracted, the "Sword of the Goddess." The sword emitted a faint glow in his hand, creating a sealed-off area of spiritual energy around him. Seeing Crestet's cautious demeanor, Klein couldn't help but ask:
"Lord Cesimir, is the contamination on me and Old Neil... very serious?"
"Old Neil was only corrupted by the Hidden Sage and has now been sent to the Sanctuary in Backlund for treatmen but unfortunately, even if he doesn't have any aftereffects, he probably won't be able to continue in his current position. He might be assigned to the church as a priest, and we'll be able to learn more about the changes in him. As for the corruption in you, I'm preparing to test it now after all, all of this happened after you became an Extraordinary."
Crestet Cesimir asked casually, "Klein, what is your opinion of the evil god 'True Creator'?"
I've been entered into a dream! Is this a way to test whether I've been deeply corrupted? Klein's pupils dilated slightly as he searched his heart for the most truthful answer.
An inverted cross, a pair of cold, clearly dull eyes, and a cluster of darkness twinkling with stars hovered behind Klein, watching him. They lurked behind shadows, veils, and secrets, observing Klein as if wanting to hear his answer.
The higher-dimensional observer disdainfully discarded yet another avatar corrupted beyond repair by the scattered power of the true creator in the land of forsaken gods. He sifted through the flesh and blood on the ground, barely managing to piece together a body that was somewhat resistant to corruption. Two light screens flickered before Him. One screen, large and suspended between the true creator and the higher-dimensional observer, displayed the scenery surrounding Klein.
The other light screen was only a little over a meter tall, appearing like a speck of dust beside the true creator. Within this light screen appeared a woman with a dark veil covering her face, silently gazing at Klein within the screen, seemingly oblivious to the horrific scene of flesh and blood churning beneath her feet.
"It was you who corrupted the Hidden Sage, Outer God," Amanisis said calmly to the High Dimensional Overlord, without a trace of hostility towards him. The High Dimensional Overlord chuckled, rubbing his cold, lifeless eyes together as he channeled ever-expanding high-dimensional knowledge into his body. Through this connection, it seeped into the Hidden Sage's body along the network cable; it would probably be some time before the title of Hidden Sage was relinquished.
Even a well-integrated deity like the Black Emperor and a seasoned quasi-god like Mr. "The Gate" could be controlled by the corrupting influence of the Fallen Mother Goddess, and this ancient being no longer even possesses a complete source substance of his own. Furthermore, the hidden sages, unlike the two true gods, faced a higher-dimensional observer who was the embodiment of source substance; the outcome was predictable.
"What's the use of saying all this, Goddess of the Night? Ah, no, if we follow the customs of the old Earth, I should call you Amanesis. Ah, Amanesis, Amanesis. You accuse me of corrupting the Hidden Sages, yet you dare not wage war against me. Asking me this is like asking yourself: you are now projecting your will onto the Forsaken Land to speak with me, an Outer God, does that mean you intend to betray Earth?"
The higher-dimensional observer sneered: "Just because I am an Outer God? Amanisis, there is a limit to self-deception: a demon wolf with the soul of an ancient human inside its body, and a human chosen by the source matter to become an Outer God in essence, you and I are no different."
"At least on the matter of choosing the Lord of Mysteries, we have no disagreement, which sets you apart from the other Outer Gods. A contest for God is unlikely before the apocalypse, and for the safety of Earth, we must have a pillar. High Dimension Overlord, at least you don't intend to destroy Earth," Amanisis said, her face veiled in black, obscuring her true expression. The True Creator, hanging upside down on the cross, remained silent, seemingly controlling his madness. The High Dimension Overlord then said:
"Adam is cooperating with you."
"The mystery He supports is Amun," Amanises said. "I don't believe in Him, nor in Amun. But at least until Adam becomes a dreamer, I will not oppose him. He needs war to complete his incarnation, and I need to take advantage of the opportunity that this war brings us."
"That's right, He's too much like the Celestial Venerable. Do you believe that if Amon becomes a mystery, everyone in the world will wear a monocle and become a puppet? Amanisis, you are not the old self, I can see your past and future:" The High Dimension Overlooker made his avatar wriggle and said to the Goddess of Night in front of him, "You have always been good at choosing sides. Is this experience you accumulated in your work when you were still human? Whether it is the Redemption Rose or the current mystery candidate, you have never made a wrong choice."
"High-dimensional observer," Amanisis said calmly to the high-dimensional observer, "You were once human. You, like us, experienced that era."
"Yeah, so what?" the higher-dimensional observer asked, puzzled.
"When you were still human, did you ever consider growing old alone?"
Why are you resorting to personal attacks!
The true creator gazed at the two gods, remaining silent. He sighed, pushing the boundaries of his engineering mind: "But I remember... when you followed me, you said... Amanises, you didn't get married back then either..."
"Oh, they've left."
Wei Gao opened his eyes and walked out of the train station with Mr. Z beside him. But when Wei Gao saw the Aurora Society envoys that Mr. Z recognized, who were disguised, his lips twitched involuntarily. The envoys were holding huge signs with a few letters scrawled in ink:
Mr. Abraham, Backlund welcomes you!