Blasphemy

Marcus moved.

His body emitted a piercing hiss, the sound of gears Gear, and red light flashed wildly on his half-mechanical face, as if some kind of alarm was about to be sounded.

Steam burst.

White mist surged from every crevice of his body, expanding, churning, and enveloping him like a cloak of steam. Even from a distance of more than ten meters, Lu Yuan could feel the air distorting.

A wave of heat hit us.

The ground trembled, and countless tentacles suddenly sprouted from the cracks in the Ore beneath their feet, as if provoked, and frantically lunged toward Marcus.

But Marcus had already noticed.

With a stomp of his foot, he transformed into a white shooting star, not rushing towards the tentacle-like Mutation creature, but bypassing it and heading directly towards the upward-winding passage behind the altar.

The tentacles that surged out from underground were scorched by the high temperature as soon as they emerged, emitting a "sizzling" sound, and twisted and retracted. The tentacles that pulled out from the side had their skin instantly rotten upon contact with the steam, and could not stop his steps at all.

"He's gone mad!" Alice's voice was filled with shock.

Philip remained silent, only clutching the Holy Emblem to his chest, its pale golden light shimmering faintly between his fingers.

Lu Yuan stared into the depths of that passage.

The heart is inside.

The source of Strange Dream.

If it's not resolved, the Strange Dream will never stop.

He'll end up like Laisen, or worse.

"Philip." Lu Yuan watched Marcus walk away, his voice calm.

Philip glanced at him but said nothing. Instead, the Holy Emblem lit up, and a layer of pale golden light enveloped Lu Yuan's entire body.

Lu Yuan took out the last three bottles of Intermediate Holy Water, tilted his head back, and drank them all in one gulp.

[Sanity: +7.70/70]

[You have received Angel's Blessing, which temporarily stabilizes your sanity.]

He held the Time Bestower in his arms with his left hand.

He had already taken out an Exorcism Gunpowder with his right hand.

"What are you going to do?" Gray grabbed Lu Yuan's shoulder, frowning.

Lu Yuan did not answer, but simply broke free from Gray's grasp.

The next moment he rushed out.

Accompanied by the clicking sound of the Time Bestower.

The world has slowed down.

Everything around him seemed to be sinking into a quagmire; sounds became low and movements slowed down. Only Lu Yuan walked through the accelerated flow of time.

Marcus's steam appeared as a slowly spreading White Mist in Lu Yuan's eyes, and the twisting of the tentacles seemed like a slow-motion replay. Alice turned to look at his movements, her gaze freezing halfway through.

In his eyes, the trajectory of the gunpowder was clearly visible, cutting through the air, passing over the writhing tentacles, and landing precisely in the center of that mass of Flesh.

"Boom!"

It's like a sun rising from the ground.

The blinding light instantly engulfed everything, and the scorching airwaves spread outwards like a shockwave. The holy power exploded within the Temple, as if to Purification all the filth within.

All the tentacles trembled simultaneously, twisted, contracted, and retreated frantically.

It felt like being burned.

The road to the heart has finally been opened.

Marcus seized the opportunity, and steam erupted again. His figure instantly covered that distance and disappeared into the Ore passage behind the altar.

Lu Yuan followed closely behind.

It was a semi-transparent passage made entirely of solidified Deep Blue Ore.

The passage wound its way upwards, with blue light flowing through the Ore, making it difficult to see the path ahead.

The moment Marcus stepped into the passage, countless tentacles sprouted from the cracks in the Ore, blocking his path.

But Marcus didn't stop. His mechanical arm blasted out, steam carrying terrifying force, smashing a path through the air.

The power emanating from each swing of his fist was even more terrifying than that of the Judge.

Lu Yuan followed behind, the blue light in the passage growing brighter and brighter until it was blinding.

The headache started to worsen.

The images from my Strange Dream kept flashing back in my mind.

[Sanity: -2...-2...-2...64/70]

But Lu Yuan didn't stop; he had to go in and find out what was going on.

Finally, at the end of the passage, Marcus stopped.

Lu Yuan also stopped.

Eye.

Countless eyes.

At this moment, they all opened their eyes.

Behind the translucent Ore lies more than just a heart.

The heart is only one part of it.

It was larger, as vast as the Temple hidden in the darkness.

The scene before Lu Yuan's eyes began to distort, and his mind could no longer process what was happening.

Do not look directly at it.

Indescribable.

Incomprehensible.

His eyes were bleeding, and his body was trembling.

[WARNING: An unspeakable object has been detected. Direct gaze will cause a breakdown of sanity and irreversible Mutation.]

[WARNING: Sanity Barrier has reached its limit]

[Warning: Sanity Barrier... Collapsed (0/3)]

[Sanity: 11/70]

Lu Yuan's consciousness began to fade.

Reason is about to crumble.

Marcus also stalled.

The guy who had already transformed himself beyond recognition had his half-mechanical face flashing red light even more frantically, as if he were on the verge of collapse.

But the next moment, a delicious aroma of meat wafted over.

This spurred Lu Yuan, who was on the verge of collapse, to regain his remaining rationality.

Why does it taste like this?

That came from Marcus.

Marcus seemed to have been prepared.

In a state of unconsciousness, his mechanical skeleton began to burn, and red Flame boiled.

The intense heat instantly cooked the remaining human parts of his body.

The Flesh began to curl and fall off, dropping in large chunks to the ground, and even the bones gradually changed color.

At this moment, Marcus finally regained his last shred of reason and began to move again.

His still-human eye flashed with a final, fervent light before exploding.

Marcus strode forward, rushing to his heart.

The robotic arm deformed, extending a golden needle.

The needle was covered in runes, gleaming faintly, and the next moment it pierced the heart!

My heart is pounding violently.

The entire Temple began to shake.

Although only the edge was pierced, the enormous size still caused a large amount of blue blood to gush from the wound.

Marcus held a small bottle to the wound and caught the liquid.

At the very moment Marcus pierced the heart's defenses, the countless eyes that had been hidden behind the Ore gradually closed.

One after another, slowly and heavily, as if falling into a deep sleep once more.

The overwhelming tentacles stopped wriggling.

They ceased their attack and slumped to the ground, as if all their strength had been drained.

An eerie silence fell over the entire Temple.

Lu Yuan's mind was blank at this moment, but his body's instincts still drove him to rush to his heart, where the wounds caused by the golden needles were still bleeding.

He took out an empty Holy Water Flask.

He caught some Deep Blue liquid, plugged the bottle, and put it in his pocket.

[Item obtained: Blood of ██ ██ (small amount)]

Lu Yuan didn't have time to look at the prompt that appeared before him. His last remaining instincts were driving him to leave, but his rationality was about to disappear and his body had reached its limit.

As the Time Bestower was shut down, Lu Yuan could no longer hold on; his vision blurred and his consciousness began to fade.

Just then, a mechanical arm grabbed him.