After a while, the sky above the collapsed forest suddenly tore open, revealing a phantom and mysterious gate.
The door opened silently, and a handsome man with black hair, golden eyes, a sharp suit, and a mature and refined demeanor stepped out.
Before he could even assess the scene, he heard a sonic boom, felt a violent hurricane approaching, and saw an imposing middle-aged man standing to his side.
The middle-aged man had prominent earlobes, thick, dark blue hair, and eyes that seemed to hold countless lightning bolts.
He is Cardinal of the Church of Storms, Archbishop of the Diocese of Backlund, and " High Priest of the Deep Blue " Leodero Valentin.
The clergyman, dressed in a black robe embroidered with Storm symbols, glanced around before fixing his gaze on the golden-eyed man and asking in a thunderous voice:
" Sert, what happened here?"
The golden-eyed man, known as Sert, shook his head:
I just arrived too.
As soon as he finished speaking, a nearly transparent spiritual entity, resembling a mountain peak, emerged from the void on the other side, placing a figure in mid-air.
The figure, dressed in a black archbishop's robe with red stripes, had deep-set eyes and no beard; Anthony Stevenson, the head of the Backlund diocese of the Church of Evernight.
After completing its task, the enormous spirit immediately shrank and entered Saint Anthony's mouth. At the same time, a spirit with long black hair covering its face and a transparent, ethereal lower body emerged behind Anthony, supporting his shoulders and preventing him from falling.
The next second, a surging airflow rushed from the city of Backlund, pushing a figure rapidly toward the area.
Soon, the figure stopped. It was an elderly man wearing a white priest's robe and a clergy cap, with a kind and gentle face.
The airflow emanating from the old man's back disappeared, and the dark, metallic-looking tube retracted into his body.
This is Horamick Haydn, Archbishop of Backlund Church of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, and a member of the Holy Synod.
He remained strangely still in mid-air, looked around, and said:
"Although the battle here is not too intense, it is certain that it belongs to the Saint level."
"And this lingering stench of pollution is simply... simply..."
As they spoke, the four Demigod simultaneously lowered their heads and looked towards the center of the collapsed forest.
There was a tarot card there, depicting an old man with a cane and a glass lamp.
The Hermit card!
Leodero Valentin, Sert, Anthony, and Horamick fell silent for a moment, none of them speaking.
Above the Gray Fog, inside the ancient palace, Klein frowned as he looked at the " Box of the Great Old One " before him.
As soon as this level 0 Sealed Artifact was offered up, the entire " Sefirah Castle " began to stir, as if water had been boiled to its limit.
A tremendous force, like Steam, spontaneously aroused itself, gathering into a torrent that completely submerged the " Box of the Great Old One," wrapping it layer upon layer and binding it tightly.
At this moment, the three-tiered silver-black "jewelry box" inlaid with gemstones seemed to have become a tiny insect inside the amber, with no room to move at all.
"Previously, the ' Sefirah Castle ' would react when I was spying on the True God or the Angel King and was injured... This is the first time it has changed like this because of an external object..." Klein couldn't help but raise his right hand and wipe away non-existent sweat.
To be honest, he was a little scared afterward, feeling that he had become a bit arrogant after initially mastering the " Sefirah Castle ".
Previously, he would never have dared to let a Level 0 Sealed Artifact enter this place, but this time, because it did not involve " Uniqueness " and he himself had undergone a fundamental improvement compared to the past, he had the idea to give it a try.
"Thank goodness I managed to control it... I'll have to tell Lady ' The Hermit ' and the others that they can't sacrifice everything they find to me. I'm not a junk collector..." Klein muttered to himself, then began examining the " Box of the Great Old One."
He remembered that Miss " Magician " was still inside the Sealed Artifact, so he planned to find out the situation of the " Box of the Great Old One " as soon as possible, lest the decoy be killed due to delay.
"This Sealed Artifact is of a very high level. ' Magic Mirror ' Arrodes's understanding of it is quite limited. I still have to do it myself... As it stands, as long as I don't try to ' Divination ' what's on the third level or try to find the source of the power, the danger is bearable, or even nonexistent..." Klein made a preliminary judgment based on his Spirituality intuition.
Immediately afterwards, he conjured paper and pen and began " Divination ".
After an unknown amount of time, he finally opened his eyes and muttered to himself:
"The first layer can swap the positions of the internal space and the target area, and toy-like and miniaturize the corresponding scene... This is one of its barely usable capabilities..."
"The toyed creatures must be released within 24 hours, otherwise they will be permanently transformed, and even their spirits will not find peace..."
"Release is simple; just designate a small area, almost devoid of life, and swap it with the internal space..."
"This capability has a limit to its coverage; at most, it can only cover a city the size of Backlund... Why did I use this example...?"
"The second layer Record different scenes, including the ' Abyss,' the Starry Sky, and various other places, allowing the holder and creatures within a certain range to directly transfer to the target area..."
"The problem with this is its randomness. In some cases, you can specify the location yourself, but most of the time, the chosen location will change, and the final destination is unpredictable... As for when the specification will be effective and when an anomaly will occur, it's impossible to know..."
"Moreover, this seems to be something that good luck cannot influence, or rather, good luck below Sequence 0 cannot influence..."
"This means I can't use the extraordinary power of the ' Box of the Great Old One ' to directly transfer City of Silver out of the ' Forsaken Land of the Gods.' Sigh, if it were possible, my ' Miracle Invoker ' ritual would be so simple... Uh, maybe I'll try turning it into a toy later..."
"The third level is very dangerous, very dangerous, very dangerous. I'll say it three times because it's important. I won't risk spying on it. No, this should be called deadly spying..."
"The negative effects of the ' Box of the Great Old One ' are simple: the holder will randomly disappear, die suddenly, or mutate. If there is no holder, the creatures in the surrounding area will successively encounter this terrible event according to their distance and size, with the maximum range similar to the first layer... These '0' level Sealed Artifact are terrifying beings that can destroy cities and kill hundreds of thousands or even more people with just a wrong word. No wonder they need to be sealed with the highest standards, without spying, inquiring, or describing them..."
"Where the missing person went seems to be related to the scene on the second floor..."
"The ' Saint of Secrets ' dared to use this Sealed Artifact because he had the blessing of ' Angel of Fate ' Ouroboros, which minimized the randomness of its negative effects. Even so, he dared not hold it for too long, as the blessing would wear off... It seems his failure to regain his senses early enough to find a chance to ' Teleportation ' away was also related to his bad luck... Saint valued by major organizations are truly difficult to kill..."
"The ' The Hermit ' lady is quite experienced and clear-headed. She didn't blindly make contact, but instead created Invisible Servant to retrieve it, and in the shortest possible time, she sacrificed this '0' level Sealed Artifact to me..."
"Theoretically, I could summon a projection from the Historical Void to retrieve this item. It doesn't matter if it dies, disappears, or mutates; however, this doesn't guarantee the duration of its use unless I receive Will Auceptin's blessing beforehand..."
"The method of sealing it is to put it in the Spirit World, but that's not enough. It needs to be a Distortion and hidden space within the Spirit World, and then ordinary water needs to be poured into it periodically, allowing the ' Box of the Great Old One ' to idly play with microorganisms every day... So many 'living beings' can sustain it for a long time... Once you grasp this idea, there are quite a few other sealing methods..."
After roughly figuring out the details of the " Box of the Great Old One," Klein looked at this "0" level Sealed Artifact and felt that its third layer no longer had that heavy, unopenable feeling.
He vaguely believed that as long as he reached out and released the seal of the " Sefirah Castle " power, he could easily open the third layer of the " Box of the Great Old One ".
... Such a strong temptation... Klein looked away, waved his hand, and sent the " Box of the Great Old One " flying towards the pile of junk in the corner.
Regardless of whether it's a level 0 Sealed Artifact or not, let's go there and clear our heads first!
"As a terrifying '0' level Sealed Artifact, it needs a number to have a status. Unfortunately, I don't know how many '0' level Sealed Artifact the Seven Great Churches have reached. It shouldn't be more than 50, right? Hmm, for now, let's call ' The Box of the Great Old One ' '0-61', and we'll adjust it later depending on the specific circumstances..."
"If the ' The Hermit ' lady can't create a good sealing environment, we can place '0-61' on top of the Gray Fog and apply for it when needed. Of course, we must pray to Will for a blessing beforehand... I wonder what stage I, the ' King of Yellow and Black who holds good fortune,' will need to reach to truly live up to the name? I have a part of ' Miracle Invoker,' and I should also have a part of ' Attendant of Mysteries '..." After thinking to himself for a while, Klein picked up the Beyonder Characteristic left behind by " Saint of Secrets " Botis.
Its shape resembles a crystal, with countless rays of light refracting within, creating one illusory and dazzling door after another.
Klein stared at it for a few seconds, then suddenly tossed this Beyonder Characteristic into the air.
The power of " Sefirah Castle " surged once more, forming a semi-transparent wave that, under Klein's Manipulation, crashed heavily onto the crystal.
The crystal shattered instantly, splitting into countless tiny specks of light. Streams of dark gas emerged from it, twisting and rapidly Distortion within the " Sefirah Castle," fading into nothingness.
Under the influence of the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence, those tiny specks of light gradually converged, taking nearly a minute to Reorganization into the magnificent and dreamlike crystal from before, which then fell back into Klein's palm.
The contaminants inside have been removed.
Klein, inside the " Sefirah Castle," is equivalent to a Sequence 2 Angel, but often he has the power but cannot use the extraordinary abilities corresponding to his level, and he needs the right auxiliary items to help him.
After placing the " Secrets Sorcerer " Beyonder Characteristic, Klein turned his gaze to the two remaining eyeballs of Botis.
P. S.: Requesting monthly votes for the new year! Double votes are available now, no need to wait!
PS2: Since the book will be completed by mid-year, there's no need for an annual ranking. The main goal each month is to secure a recommendation spot (laughs). Please subscribe and vote normally; try not to spend too much money or get angry. Also, a quick tribute to Lao Yue: I recommend "Peerless Ex," the writing is excellent and the story is captivating!