City of Silver, the Berg family.
Looking at the bloodstained scalp with short black hair, Derrick suddenly remembered what it looked like just now—a beautiful and tempting "mushroom" that he had almost lost control of and swallowed.
The Doom Fruit Doom Fruit that Dark wanted to offer him, which made a crisp cracking sound when bitten, turned out to be segments of bloody, pale human fingers!
At that moment, Derrick's stomach spasmed violently, and acidic liquid rushed up his throat.
He suppressed the urge to vomit and quickly sang a line of lyrics in his hoarse voice:
"God, may Your Kingdom descend upon this place, the enemies will surely disperse, and the believers will rejoice!"
The song exuded warmth and holiness, Derrick felt all his physical discomfort subside, his Spirituality become abundant and vibrant.
His courage, his strength, and his agility were all significantly enhanced in this song.
This is the extraordinary ability of Sequence 9, " The Bard ".
Dark stared at his classmate and former teammate who was singing softly, his expression growing increasingly gloomy, and his voice sounding more and more inhuman.
What's that on you...?
What's that on you?
What's that on you?!
Suddenly, Dark's clothes were stretched into stripes, like a nest of venomous snakes crawling and writhing beneath.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Bloody strips of flesh pierced through the black tight-fitting clothes, the surface of which was covered with rough skin and body hair.
Those strips of meat swayed outwards, making Dark look like a blood-red, soft-haired hedgehog!
With a whoosh, the strips of meat surged toward Derrick was standing still.
Derrick, a patrol member who had seen many Monster, wasn't too flustered in this situation.
He twisted his waist, raised his arm, and swung down the " Hurricane Axe " he had been holding in his hand all along.
puff!
The Hurricane Axe cleaved several bloody strips of meat, cutting them in half and sending them crashing to the ground.
However, because it was "night" in City of Silver, the attack failed to bring lightning. Instead, more bloody flesh surged forward, wrapping around the Hurricane Axe again and again, refusing to let go even in death.
Seeing that he couldn't pull his weapon back, a pure light suddenly shone in Derrick's eyes, as if two small the Sun had descended into the room. He then placed his other hand loosely against his mouth and nose, as if in prayer.
Without a sound, a clear beam of light burning with flames fell from the sky and struck the tangled, bloody strips of flesh.
Dark let out a bloodcurdling scream, and several strips of bloody flesh broke off and fell to the ground, charred black.
They struggled and throbbed, as if they were alive.
The Spirituality within these blood-red strips of flesh, no longer under the original owner's control, gradually merged with the natural power stirred by the sacrificial ritual incantations, converging into ever-rising pale red "waves."
This "wave" plunged into the dim candlelight, causing it to suddenly expand and grow, forming an illusory and mysterious door.
Derrick had already depicted a Concealment symbol representing " the Fool " on that candle!
This was prepared in advance.
All of this constitutes a simple yet complete sacrificial ritual!
Snap!
Amidst the shattered chair, Dark, writhing in bloody flesh, lunged at Derrick, his eyes devoid of fear or tension, filled only with the purest and most fervent desire.
At that moment, Klein above the Gray Fog responded.
Amidst an unreal creaking sound, a crack appeared in the illusory door adorned with numerous strange patterns.
Behind the crevice lay a deep darkness, within which countless indescribable, transparent shadows.
Above these shadows, seven beams of pure light, each a different color, seemed to contain boundless knowledge.
Above those beams of light was an endless expanse of gray-white mist, and above that was an ancient palace overlooking the Gray Fog.
Suddenly, a shadow darted out from the dark corner and instantly covered Dark, Dark was closest to it.
The blood-red strips of flesh that were waving around Dark were completely enveloped in the black, viscous "liquid," making him look like a cat that had crawled into an opaque bag.
The shadow didn't stop; it rapidly stretched across the ground, surging towards Derrick, who had already dodged to another position, and shouted sharply:
"Stop! What are you doing?!"
As a monitor, his original plan was to observe the changes first, Record the corresponding anomalies, and then intervene to stop the two sides, each with their own strange behavior, once the situation became uncontrollable.
But when he saw the illusory gate, covered with strange symbols and markings, crack open, he was Awe the profound, mysterious, lofty, and majestic scene inside. He instinctively felt that it was related to a terrifying evil god, so he hurriedly took action while notifying others, trying to forcibly interrupt Derrick's attempt to sacrifice to that being.
However, Derrick had already determined his location and chosen an area far away from him. Therefore, in order to control the boy possessed by the mysterious Amon, the Watcher "Shadow" could only bypass or control Dark Ray Megus first.
His choice was the latter, because Dark was clearly acting strangely, and leaving his back to him would be an absolutely foolish move.
Seizing the opportunity, Derrick pulled the iron box from a hidden pocket in his clothes and threw it forcefully at the illusory door conjured by the candlelight, and at the crack that presented the magical scene.
As the iron box disappeared, the door, covered with strange symbols and markings, slammed shut with a clang and vanished in a flash.
At that moment, Derrick remembered Mr. The Hanged Man's instructions, deliberately Distortion his facial muscles and grimacing as he faced the "shadow."
Before the "shadow" covered him, he suddenly coughed violently, so hard that he covered his mouth with his hand and collapsed to the ground.
A dark shadow spread out and completely enveloped him.
The room returned to silence, but two enormous black "cocoons" appeared on the floor.
After a while, the dark, viscous liquid shrank back and reformed into a shadow.
With the disappearance of the "silkworm pupa," Derrick and Dark reappear.
The former lay there unconscious, but a strange little worm with twelve transparent rings fell from its hand. The latter had turned into a mass of flesh and blood, writhing and roaring, about to launch an attack.
Faced with this situation, the monitor had no choice but to divert some of its power to once again envelop Dark Ray Megus had mutated into Monster, in a shadow-like black "liquid".
Glancing at the pale fingers scattered on the ground and the blood-stained scalp with short black hair, the monitor involuntarily took a breath. Using his extraordinary abilities, Manipulation the shadows outside, creating tidal waves to once again notify the "Chief" inside the round tower.
After finishing this task, he carefully examined Derrick's condition and noticed the strange, translucent little worm.
"This... Amon's clone hidden inside Derrick is dead?" The monitor murmured in surprise.
He recalled Dark's strangeness, the terrible mutation, and the "mushrooms" and " Doom Fruit " that showed absolutely no problems, and a vague guess began to form in his mind:
Amon may be a mortal enemy of the mastermind behind the contamination of Dark. In order to thwart the other party's scheme, he would not hesitate to lose even one of his clones. Derrick's visit to the training ground to observe the exploration team and his report to the "Chief" were both attempts made by Amon without exposing himself.
The mastermind behind the corruption of Dark also vaguely noticed Derrick's strangeness, so he sent Dark to control him, using the bloodstained scalp and fingers as tools to achieve his goal.
Thinking about this, the monitor suddenly agreed with the "Chief's" concerns: the final Apocalypse or an even greater disaster was really coming, which was why City of Silver had been experiencing a series of strange events and encounters with mysterious entities hiding in the depths of darkness, whose Hidden Existence was unknown.
Inside the chief's room in the round tower.
The "shadow" described the whole story in detail.
Colin Iliad, listened quietly and nodded slightly.
" Derrick, or rather Amon, had indeed made preparations in advance."
"The candle engraved with symbolic symbols, the eerie object that could expose Dark's problems, the whispered prayer under the pretext of pouring water, and the final sacrificial ritual to send the object away all indicate that the whole thing is going according to his plan."
"Two questions: First, who does the Concealment symbol on the candle point to— Amon himself or the deity behind him? Second, why would Amon rather forgo this clone than allow the exploration team's anomaly to be exposed? Is it because he and the one behind the veil are mortal enemies? And what was the purpose of his forty-two years of quiet stay in City of Silver?"
"Could it be that he foresaw this event, which is why he deliberately encountered that exploration team and had his clone reside within them, in order to thwart the scheme of the one behind the veil? Was this the culmination of forty-two years of waiting?"
Upon hearing the chief's question, the "shadow" monitor suddenly seemed to realize something and said:
"Perhaps that's true!"
"Your Excellency, think about it. Why did Amon patiently wait for forty-two years, only to have Derrick imprison him next door, and then suddenly cause Yudel to lose control? Because the prophetic time was approaching, and he was eager to find a new Parasitism who could move freely to thwart the schemes of the one behind the veil!"
"Indeed... we were only thinking about whether Derrick was acting strangely, without considering the timing," Colin, the "Chief" of City of Silver, replied thoughtfully.
The "Shadow" monitor immediately said:
"Your Excellency, please immediately take control of all members of this exploration team; they are definitely problematic! And... Elder Lovia, there's a significant chance she's also been corrupted!"
Colin frowned slightly and said:
"Before you reported this matter, even before Dark left, Lovia came to me and told me that she suspected the members of this exploration team had been contaminated by something, and suggested that we secretly monitor them, and if necessary, have them guard Elder Havic's upside-down tomb."
Havic was the former "Chief" of City of Silver. He built himself a mausoleum deep underground, then lived there and appeared less and less. Eventually, the gate closed and could never be opened again.
"Elder Lovia mentioned the anomaly long ago?" the "Shadow" monitor asked in surprise.
After receiving an affirmative answer, he whispered, half-doubtfully and half-relieved:
"It's good that Elder Lovia is alright..."
"... I've already sent people to control the members of those exploration teams, but we can't ignore another possibility." Chief Colin sighed. "Bring Afreau over; I'll interrogate Derrick Berg with her."