Pure and clear light illuminated every corner, leaving no trace of Darkness or shadow.
The surrounding surging Darkness and shadows continuously shrunk and disintegrated under the light, quickly being dispersed.
However, the Red Light flowing from the pores of the puppets became even more concentrated, carrying a madness that almost solidified, dyeing the surrounding pale golden light with a thin layer of red.
Amon leisurely walked to the corner, took out a dark brown high-backed chair from his collection, and sat down. He also magically produced a glass of dark red, fragrant wine.
He was like a leisurely commentator, sipping his wine and saying, "The materials on them have developed resistance to the Purification power of the Sun domain. The more they are Purified, the more certain corruption on them will be stimulated."
"You might as well try to directly and forcefully destroy this place."
"And then trigger the emergency response of this temple?" Leyton slightly tilted his head and glanced at Amon behind him, rejecting his suggestion.
His eyes gazed deeply at the puppet whose aura was connected to the temple. That faint sense of danger was still there, but he couldn't clearly see where it came from.
When a puppet was about to rush to his side, he casually threw a pea on the ground.
The pea instantly grew, transforming into thick green vines that covered the surrounding area like a downpour, submerging all the puppets.
They intertwined and quickly formed a forest, layer upon layer, reaching so high that the top was invisible. The puppets were forcibly scattered throughout this green forest, disappearing from sight along with the vine forest.
After briefly getting rid of the puppets, Leyton squinted at Amon, who was still sitting calmly in the high-backed chair, savoring his Red Light.
"You've been following me, just to fish in troubled waters at that time. Is there still something you need here?"
"Aren't you what I need?" Amon chuckled in response.
Leyton's gaze paused for a moment, then shifted away as if nothing had happened, and he stepped towards the passage behind the prayer hall.
His movements were not very coherent. Without Klein's help from Gray Fog, the negative effects of this temple on flesh-and-blood life reappeared on him.
If he stayed here for too long, even a demigod's body would suffer some irreparable damage, just like using an ancient machine; no matter how much it's refurbished, it will never be as good as new.
Amon appeared beside Leyton at an inopportune moment and asked, "Why don't you ask me for help? I can help you steal the negative effects on you."
"Of course, I'm worried you'll steal more things while you're at it," Leyton frankly stated his concerns.
As he spoke, he walked without stopping towards the garden behind the passage. Before he even fully approached, he noticed that the garden had new flowers and trees made of colored paper, iron pieces, and wood chips. However, compared to before, they were significantly sparser.
As he got closer, he saw a scarecrow-like puppet standing in the garden:
Its body was simply made of bundled dry grass, wearing a dark, coarse, tattered rag garment. It also had a pointed hat covered in patches, and an exaggerated smiling face painted on its face with oil paint.
It had no hands; instead, it had a scythe and a rake. Its feet were rusty, hollow iron pipes.
"It seems the materials here are not abundant. This puppet seems to be simply cobbled together from the only available materials."
Leyton sighed, while in his hand, he condensed an ancient-looking long spear, from tip to hilt, burning with clusters and specks of blood-red dark light.
The dark red long spear left his hand the moment it formed, leaving a gradually fading dark red stream of light in the air, easily piercing through the scarecrow-like puppet's body.
The puppet's body, made of bundled straw, was instantly ignited by the dark red flames, disintegrating and burning into ashes.
During the burning process, the puppet's body rapidly thinned and became brittle, finally breaking apart into pieces of red, scale-like moonlight.
On the other side of the garden, a burst of deep Red Light rose, and a puppet made of bundled straw formed within the deep Red Light.
The oil paint on its face turned into an angry expression, and its withered yellow straw turned crimson, as if soaked in fresh blood. A faint mist of water faintly steamed from its body.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The straw on the puppet's body shot out like sharp arrows, leaving a sound of sharp objects rubbing against the air.
The crimson straw shot out densely, instantly piercing through Leyton and Amon's bodies.
The former's body suddenly became transparent and illusory, turning into a pile of foam the moment it was pierced by the straw.
These foams still reflected tiny, brilliant starlight, reflecting dreamy colors, scattering and flying, then instantly being pierced and shattered by each straw.
The arrow-like straw easily pierced through Amon's body, making popping sounds, but failed to splash a single drop of blood. There was no wound on Amon's body either; he directly stole the damage that the crimson straw would have inflicted on him.
Amon adjusted the monocle on his right eye, walking leisurely through the rain of straw arrows, approaching Leyton, who had already appeared at the edge of the garden.
Leyton briefly examined the sign hanging on the Door in front of him. It had a few words somewhat similar to Ancient Feysac: Puppet Workshop.
The deepness in his eyes flashed, and he probably understood what was behind this Door.
Approximately twenty minutes, Leyton estimated in his mind the time he could still stay here. Once this limit was exceeded, the continuously accumulating negative effects on him would affect his actions and judgment.
The Door creaked as he pushed it open. Unlike the Darkness elsewhere, the Puppet Workshop was entirely brightly lit. The lighting fixtures were crystal lanterns shaped like lampstands.
They emitted a bright yellow light like the Sun, illuminating the entire Puppet Workshop, leaving no Darkness or shadow.
Leyton gently gripped the air, and a night sky with a sense of peace and tranquility was dragged out of the void by him, enveloping him. His traces of existence were cleverly concealed, completely disappearing.
After making himself hidden, he then lifted his leg and entered this Puppet Workshop.
As soon as he entered the workshop, Leyton felt that the layer of Concealment on him was greatly weakened. The sluggishness on his body, which had been like an old machine, instantly faded rapidly, replaced by a restless heat growing from the bottom of his heart. All the emotions that had been deliberately suppressed in his heart became active, and various chaotic thoughts floated in his mind.
Under the influence of the Sun domain, here, certain emotions were suppressed to the extreme, while others became extremely fervent. There was also a heat, a feeling of suddenly walking from winter into the height of summer.
As the sluggishness on his body completely disappeared, Leyton vaguely felt sweat gradually seeping from his forehead, and the restlessness spread from his emotions to his body.
Taking a deep breath, the deep blue flowing quietly in his eyes became much purer and richer, giving people an exceptionally sacred and wise feeling, yet appearing quite indifferent and lacking warmth.
In this state, his resistance to the abnormal conditions around him significantly increased.
At this time, he finally had the energy to survey his surroundings. This place was somewhat like a large workshop, neatly arranged with many mechanical devices combining solid wood and metal. Each mechanical device had at least two puppets with only half a body. They were like workers firmly fixed in place, tirelessly performing the same work.
On the workbench, a tall tree made of wood chips, iron pieces, and colored paper was repeatedly disassembled and reassembled.
Leyton quickly discovered the most special and conspicuous one among these puppets. Its head was adorned with a grayish-white stone mask, and a crystal monocle was set in the right eye socket of the mask.
Seemingly noticing Leyton's gaze, it suddenly stopped its movements, looked up at Leyton with some confusion, and then lowered its head blankly.
Not Amon? A question flashed through Leyton's mind. The light in this workshop was a bit dazzling, affecting his Eyes of Mystery Prying, making it not very clear.
Amon's figure suddenly appeared in the workshop. He very familiarly strolled around twice, walked to the puppet with the monocle embedded in its mask, reached out, took the monocle off its mask, tossed it twice in his hand, and said, "Too monotonous a life has caused this avatar to enter a state of self-seclusion. Simply put, he's become withdrawn."
As Amon spoke, Leyton vaguely saw several faint white light spots separate from the puppet's body and merge into Amon's body.
Seeing this, he asked with some curiosity, "You don't want this avatar anymore?"
Tucking the monocle into his pocket, Amon calmly said, "He didn't want to continue being a puppet and chose to return directly to the main body."
"The puppets here are only left with a shell and wonderful instincts, controlled by this temple. Their consciousness lingers in Sasitan, woven from pure information, or rather, is sealed there."
"Do you want to go there and see? The information there is severely polluted and could collapse at any time."
Leyton did not answer immediately. His eyes, flowing with clear light, instantly became extremely deep, resembling the sea before a storm. His eyes clearly lost focus, becoming a vast expanse.
In such a state, he could glimpse the long river representing fate and peek into some future trends.
After a brief moment of unfocused eyes, his eyes became clear again. He did not "prophesy" too much useful information, but he roughly understood the danger and his gains.
After a brief silence, he nodded and said, "I can go."
☰