As he spoke, Klein raised his right hand.
A mass of dark, filthy flesh had appeared in the palm of his hand, containing an indescribable madness.
"The answer is, the corruption of the ' The Hanged Man '," Klein said with a smile to "Shadow".
What he has, the "shadow" lacks, is the erosion left by the " True Creator," an influence that even the power of the " Sefirah Castle " cannot temporarily eliminate!
Klein was certain of one thing: the " True Creator " would not allow himself to easily lose control or die before meeting the " Dark Angel " Sasrir.
Therefore, he deliberately allowed the corrupted parts of himself to be infected by the " Mental Plague," creating the illusion that he was about to lose control. By Manipulation the " Spirit Body Threads " indiscriminately, he concealed the fact that his target was the " Spectator Saint." When the opponent launched a further attack, he successfully put him into a sluggish state, creating an opportunity for the " Silver Knight " Marionette.
As Klein had predicted, the part of him that was corrupted contained the seeds of the " Mental Plague," preventing the negative effects from erupting.
During this process, "Shadow" distanced himself from Klein ahead of time due to concerns about the effects of the " Mental Plague," and failed to notice the abnormality of " Spectator Saint " and " Spirit Body Threads " in time.
Doesn't Klein know how cautious and careful he is?
Of course, Klein had no idea what changes the erosion would bring when he met the " Dark Angel " Sasrir, or whether the " Mental Plague " contained within it would leak out and cause some impact. He could only focus on solving the current problem.
Upon hearing his words, a surge of crimson flames suddenly erupted from the pure "shadow," instantly engulfing him.
At the edge of the " Unshadowed Domain," near the Giant King's residence, a cluster of flames rapidly rose upwards, and a "shadow" emerged.
Without hesitation, he chose to flee, running towards the palace where the " Dark Angel " was sleeping, completely ignoring Enuni and the " The Sun Saint "!
Klein, who was using a " Virtual Persona," was a little stunned by this scene. He couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and shake his head with a smile, saying to the " Worm of Spirit ":
"So I'm actually this timid?"
He suspected that the "shadow" that had been cut off had taken away most of his caution and prudence, leaving him with more impulsiveness and recklessness.
Snap!
A sharp, silvery-white light flashed, striking the crimson flames that had fallen out of nowhere outside the " Unshadowed Domain," shattering the pitch-black "shadow" that had just emerged from within.
Klein didn't waste time talking to himself. He had already Manipulation the " Silver Knight " Marionette and, based on the distribution of the flames and his own habits, predicted where the "shadow" would jump next. Then, he condensed a " Silver Rapier " in advance and slashed it out from a distance as soon as he saw the flames coming.
--The " Unshadowed Domain " has no physical barriers or boundaries; anyone can leave directly or exert influence on the outside.
However, the torn "shadow" eventually turned into thin shreds of paper and disappeared quickly.
Several more streams of burning crimson flames fell, and the dark "shadow" used them to leap and approach the open gate of the Giant King's residence. The successive flashes of silvery-white light only tore apart his " Paper Figurine Substitute "—the " Warrior " pathway has the ability to see through illusions from Sequence 5 onwards. Without the assistance of " Psychological Invisibility " techniques, the " Paper Figurine Substitute " is obviously more useful than " Illusion Creation." It is only when two " Seer " fight each other that the illusions are likely to shatter layer by layer.
In just two or three seconds, pillars of crimson fire rose up outside the Giant King's residence, like fireworks welcoming the distinguished guest.
In the next instant, "Shadow" will leap into one of these pillars of fire and hide in the place where " Dark Angel " sleeps.
But at that moment, a figure swiftly appeared in front of those pillars of crimson fire.
He wore a long black trench coat and a half-high silk hat. His right face was normal, but his left face was formed by transparent, Distortion worms embracing each other—this was Klein's true form.
Klein's lips curled up again, and he snapped his fingers with his right hand, which he had already raised.
Snap!
All the crimson pillars of fire were extinguished, and the pitch-black "shadow" was forced to emerge halfway, returning to the steps bathed in the Dawn light.
" Flame Manipulation!"
Klein was able to arrive outside the Giant King's Palace ahead of time and stop "Shadow" from arriving because after the other party decisively fled, it could no longer affect his summoning of the image in the Historical Void. He easily took out " Creeping Hunger " and switched to the " Traveler's " spirit.
"Being too cautious isn't a good thing either," Klein said to the shadow with a smile, bending his knees and stooping.
As he bent over and knelt, his figure suddenly transformed into a knight covered in silver armor.
The knight plunged his greatsword into the crack in the ground, creating an invisible barrier that sealed the gate to the place where the " Dark Angel " Land of Slumber.
Just a moment ago, Klein swapped positions with his " Silver Knight " Marionette Swap, assuming an attitude that he would allow the Giant King's palace to enter as long as the barrier originating from the " Guardian " could be broken.
Of course, his physical body will interfere with the "shadow's" summoning of Historical Projection and Manipulation the " Spirit Body Threads."
As the tide of battle turned, the conflict between the three Demigod of City of Silver and Enuni and the " The Sun Saint " also changed.
When Colin Iliad once again entangled Enuni, who had lost his black armor, Derrick repeated his previous strategy:
Sometimes he uses " Solar Flare " for area damage, sacrificing the chief's life for victory; other times he condenses the pure, blazing white " Spear of Unshadowed " for precise attacks—this is not common, as it is easily dodged by Enuni, and may even accidentally injure Colin Iliad.
After being covered by three rounds of " Solar Flare," Enuni finally couldn't hold on any longer and unfurled one of her last two pairs of ethereal black wings, transforming it into a pitch-black ocean that devoured all light Colin Iliad, leaving the City of Silver's chief with a layer of viscous black liquid on his body, significantly hindering his movements.
Seizing the opportunity, Enuni broke free from the entanglement, avoided the subsequent " Spear of Unshadowed," transformed into a shadow, and quickly swam towards the Giant King's residence, attempting to cooperate with "Shadow" to break through the barrier.
Just then, a sharp, silvery-white light burst forth from his body, tearing him into chunks of dark red flesh!
This sudden and precise attack came from Lovia.
This elder of the " Council of Six " actually abandoned his attempt to dodge the attack of the " The Sun Saint." The moment Enuni left the battlefield, he decisively switched the spirit of the Grazing to the Evil Spirit of the " Silver Knight," turning his black armor silver-white.
Zzz!
The pure, blazing white " Spear of Unshadowed " struck the woman, causing her to be completely engulfed by a miniature, blazing the Sun.
Enuni's clumps of flesh and blood had not yet lost their vitality; they quickly gathered together, trying to Reorganization their bodies.
But at this moment, Colin Iliad. These light spots transformed into a Storm, tearing through the obstruction and revealing the silver-white armor once more.
Immediately afterwards, the Giant " Silver Knight " took a step forward, wielding the Dawn Straight Sword in his hand, allowing the " Storm of Light " from before to continue, sweeping forward and enveloping the clumps of dark red flesh.
A pair of ethereal black wings appeared and then vanished, calming the " Storm of Light." However, Derrick's " Solar Flare " followed, igniting every clump of flesh with sacred flames and melting everything with pure light.
Seeing this, the " The Sun Saint " knew that his true form was doomed to Fate. He couldn't spare the time to deliver another blow to Lovia and turned to leave his " Unshadowed Domain."
Suddenly, he heard a voice filled with malice and filth:
"Slow!"
Lovia managed to break free from the remaining power of the " Spear of Unshadowed," " Teleportation " to a spot not far from the " The Sun Saint." She then switched the Grazing soul to a Devil and used " Words of Filth."
At this moment, her black armor was completely shattered, and her purple-patterned black robe was torn in many places, revealing melting, slowly writhing flesh and blood. Her aura was quite weak.
The "slowness" of non- Demigod level could not affect the " The Sun Saint " for long, but it was enough for Colin Iliad. He conjured a " Silver Rapier " and " Teleportation " it to the enemy.
The " Silver Rapier " suddenly underwent a strange change, directly piercing through the " The Sun Saint's" sacred armor and erupting within his body.
A burst of silver light erupted, and the " The Sun Saint " was divided into countless small pieces.
With a series of thuds, the flesh and blood fell to the ground and vanished in an instant, seemingly returning to history.
After the battle ended, the three Demigod of City of Silver immediately moved towards the Giant King's residence, blocking the "shadow" in the middle.
The "shadow" leaped forward, trying to hide in the Fog of History, but as soon as he saw the grayish-white fog, he was pressed down by a hand made of a transparent worm.
Neither he nor Klein rushed to the First Era beforehand, knowing that the other would definitely try to stop them, or wait there!
With nowhere to hide, the "Shadow" was immediately surrounded by the three Demigod of City of Silver. His various abilities were neutralized by Klein, and even " Flame Jump " was affected by " Flame Manipulation," making it difficult for him to escape his predicament.
After a dozen seconds, as the paper figures shattered one by one, the "shadow" finally ran out of substitutes and was pierced in the abdomen by Derrick's " Spear of Unshadowed ".
A tiny, blazing white " The Sun " then exploded, and the pitch-black "shadow" quickly faded and completely dissolved.
Klein felt a sharp pain in his head, and his mind, which was on the verge of spiraling out of control, suddenly relaxed considerably.
He instinctively looked down at his feet and saw a light black shadow stretching out in the Dawn light.
"Too weak..." Klein bent over slightly, unable to help but laugh at himself. After all, without the abilities of an " Scholar of Yore," without Marionette, and unable to Manipulation the " Spirit Body Threads," a " Seer " was really weak compared to Demigod.
His spirit has been restored to its full potential, but he has not yet revoked the " Virtual Persona " and does not intend to immediately summon the Historical Projection of " Justice " to do so, because Enuni, corrupted by the " Dark Angel," exhibits characteristics of the " The Sun," " Spectator," " Storm," and " Mystery Pryer " pathways. If he wants to enter the Giant King's residence, he must be wary of the mental influence, and the " Virtual Persona " is a good defense measure.
At this moment, the transparent worms on Klein's left cheek and left side of his body rapidly settled, transforming back into flesh and skin. However, due to the influence of the madness inherent in the " Virtual Persona," the surface remained semi-transparent, allowing one to see the " Worm of Spirit " hidden beneath.
As Derrick, Lovia, and the others turned their gazes toward him, Klein straightened his back, reached out and pulled out the " Staff of Life," pointed it at the open door of the Giant King's residence, and laughed:
"Hurry, the ' Dark Angel ' is waiting for us inside."