Upon entering the " Black Emperor's " mausoleum, Bernadette vaguely "saw" a black shadow, but after she detached herself from the flood of information and Reorganization her body with her vast and pure knowledge, she sensed nothing, as if what she had just experienced was merely an illusion.
The " Mystery Queen " did not rush into the mausoleum, but remained where she was, cautiously surveying her surroundings.
Without needing to use any " Mystery Prying " abilities, everything here was clearly presented before her eyes:
The interior of the " Black Emperor's " mausoleum is empty, with nothing but dark walls and a central platform.
On the high platform, there was a chair that looked like it was prepared for Giant. It was made of iron and its surface was engraved with intricate and Distortion strange patterns. The top of the backrest extended upwards into the shape of a crown.
At this moment, there was no one on this heavy, enormous chair; it seemed to be waiting for its emperor to return.
Bernadette was just about to tentatively take a step closer to the platform when she suddenly found that her body was completely immobilized, as if she were firmly bound to the spot by invisible shackles.
Immediately afterwards, pairs of ethereal and sacred white wings naturally unfolded behind her, as if passively resisting something.
The next second, white feathers fell one after another from the pairs of Angel wings, growing into deformed, thin, and hairy limbs in mid-air. The gaps created by the overlapping feathers opened up one after another, seemingly turning into countless eyes.
The mutated feathers then emitted a crisp laugh, the "clucking" sound echoing throughout the mausoleum.
They all came back to life, transforming into miniature " Winged People ".
This reminded Bernadette of some fairy tales her father had told her, in which tiny Elf, no bigger than a thumb, would always appear.
In a flash, Bernadette felt her right eye begin to itch.
The eyelashes of that eye grew rapidly, turning into tiny arms that stretched across her face, trying to pull the eyeball out.
"I see! I see!" Bernadette's right eye veins bulged, and she uttered a childlike, cheerful voice, as if she had gained her own intelligence and consciousness.
This is also a kind of "new life".
Almost simultaneously, Bernadette's left ear drooped down abruptly, covering her ear canal.
"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!" the ear shouted in a slightly shrill voice.
If one doesn't use their Spirituality perception, Bernadette would definitely think there's a little girl next to her, screaming and stomping her feet.
Without giving her any time to react, the " Sage Forehead Ornament " in the center of her forehead detached from her body and Levitation into the air.
The vertical eye surface, inlaid with countless "diamonds," flashed with countless cold lights in an instant, as if it had grown one miniature eye after another.
And in each of their eyes, Bernadette's image was reflected.
The " Sage Forehead Ornament " also acquired certain characteristics of being alive.
Just as this "0" level Sealed Artifact was about to awaken and have some effect on the target, a pale, slender, illusory hand reached out and grasped it.
The " Sage Forehead Ornament " quickly lost its living qualities, as if it had reached the end of its life.
The hand, clearly belonging to a woman and carrying a cold, pale aura, came from behind Bernadette, where a figure with only the upper body had appeared at some point.
The figure emerged from Bernadette's back, almost transparent, and quite ethereal.
She was dressed in the same clothes as Bernadette, wearing the same tricorn hat with feathers, and her eyes were as blue as the reflection of the sea. She was clearly Bernadette herself, a part of her spirit that had emerged from her body.
However, the face of this Bernadette half-body phantom was covered by a pale mask that shimmered with metallic luster.
The mask had holes only for the eyes, with no gaps anywhere else, making Bernadette's phantom appear extremely cold and noble, but lacking the aura of a living person.
This is her third and final "0" level Sealed Artifact, an item created by Emperor Roselle in his later years after returning from the Southern Continent, called " Pale Death."
Its negative effect is that it causes the wearer to die slowly until they become a corpse and its slave.
At this moment, Bernadette took advantage of this to suppress the abnormal activation in her body.
Just as this half-body phantom appeared, her right eye quieted down, and the thicker, longer eyelashes that had transformed into an arm fell out one by one.
Her ears also stopped making noise, slowly opened, and returned to normal.
Without such suppression, Bernadette's features, arms, and legs would have broken away from her and sought "freedom."
After initially stabilizing her body, Bernadette tentatively took a step forward, but she was still unable to make any movement and could only control her half-body spirit.
After thinking for a moment, she had the spirit behind her take out a ritual silver dagger from her clothing pocket, and then bent down and drew a circle around the middle of her right boot.
With a ripping sound, the leather boot quickly shortened by half.
Immediately afterwards, Bernadette used her half-spirit form to tear the trousers at the left knee, cut off a corner of her coat and shirt, and plucked a few feathers from one side of her tricorn hat.
Such an attempt seems to have nothing to do with the extraordinary; it's like a willful and rebellious girl wanting to dress in a way that deviates from normal aesthetic standards.
However, as Bernadette completed this series of movements and cautiously took a step forward, her body was actually able to move, and she no longer felt bound to the spot.
The invisible pressure vanished instantly, and the " Black Emperor's " mausoleum seemed to have accepted Bernadette in this new light.
Who would have thought that the methods used to handle this anomaly were something that ordinary people could do?
Moreover, Bernadette suspected that the more extraordinary her abilities were used to combat it, the deeper the impact would be.
This is because she had just felt as if she were facing an invisible deity. Only by "pleasing" the other party's aesthetic sense could she obtain forgiveness; otherwise, she could only rely on the authority of Sequence 0 to bypass it.
Furthermore, Bernadette was fortunate enough to be not only a knowledgeable " Mystic " but also to have a deep understanding of the " Black Emperor " path, knowing roughly what the authority in this realm encompassed and understanding that it represented the shadow of order and Distortion of the normal order.
So Bernadette started by altering her clothing, initially Distortion the normal order within her, and then she gained the approval and acceptance of that unseen deity.
"Yes, in matters related to the occult, knowledge and ideas are sometimes more useful than abilities... In the situation just now, any resistance would have been seen as a provocation against the internal order of the mausoleum, which would have triggered unpredictable and absolutely terrifying changes. But once the crux of the problem was found, the negative impact could be easily resolved..." Klein, above the Gray Fog, nodded slightly, having learned a lot from the " Mystery Queen ".
Although he was already a Sequence higher than the other party, and even equivalent to the Angel King within the " Sefirah Castle," and had experienced many major events, he had grown too quickly and was still lacking in many details. Now he could make up for it through this kind of observation.
After taking a step, Bernadette began to follow her Spirituality intuition, walking towards the central platform and the huge, empty chair on it.
One step, two steps, three steps, and suddenly, a gentle breeze blew past the back of her neck.
The wind was eerie and cold, sending a shiver down Bernadette's spine.
In that instant, she seemed to sense a dark shadow appear behind her.
Without a sound, her chestnut hair parted on its own at the back of her head, revealing a pair of eyes on her scalp.
Those were almost transparent, cold and indifferent eyes without eyelashes.
" The Eye of Mystery Prying "!
Those eyes shifted slightly, noticing that the shadowy curtain of the mysterious world was noticeably Distortion inside the mausoleum.
However, it did not find the dark figure, nor did it find the source of the cold wind from before.
Just as Bernadette was trying to close her " Eye of Mystery Prying " to reduce the possibility of an accident, a chilling, eerie breeze suddenly swept through her mind.
Her thoughts became increasingly active and out of control, veerging in directions beyond her comprehension.
This seems to be a trend, an irreversible, rapidly chaotic one.
Without hesitation, seizing the few seconds she could still think, Bernadette had the half-spirit behind her remove the pale mask.
Then, she put the " Pale Death " mask directly on her face, and the half-spirit shrank back into her body, merging with her.
From this moment on, Bernadette's thoughts will gradually die along with her body, but her ideas are also becoming uncontrollably active, gradually becoming chaotic.
These two contradictory states canceled each other out, forming a fragile and delicate balance that helped Bernadette regain her ability to think.
For Bernadette, the negative effects of " Pale Death " were more useful at this moment than its extraordinary effects.
Maintaining that balance, Bernadette took a few more steps forward.
Throughout this process, she always felt a dark shadow lurking around her, but she couldn't find it no matter what she did.
After pondering for several seconds, Bernadette's azure eyes once again turned deep and lost focus.
She was trying to predict the consequences of one of her choices.
Soon, the corresponding image appeared before her eyes:
Once again donning the " Sage Forehead Ornament," she transformed into a vast and complex torrent of information, using it to bypass obstacles and reach the central platform.
However, as they approached the place, the torrent of information suddenly collapsed and lost its order, Reorganization into several Bernadette based on different cores. There was a little girl in a cake dress, a tall young woman, a girl full of melancholy and confusion, a lady with a Distortion and painful expression, and a composed and resolute queen.
The prophetic image flashed by in an instant, and Bernadette's eyes regained focus.
Then she saw the dark figure.
It stood right in front of her, no more than a fist's width away!
That face, composed entirely of shadows, completely filled her field of vision.
P. S.: Requesting recommendation votes and monthly tickets on Monday!