As Leyton retreated two steps to steady himself, he raised his hand to create faint starlight imbued with tranquility, which swirled around him, outlining peculiar symbols that briefly isolated him from this information world.
At the same time, the cluster of palaces abruptly rose from the ground, drawing closer to each other, their doors and windows opening and closing to form the outline of a human face.
Coming back to his senses, Leyton suddenly realized that Amon, who had been standing beside him, had disappeared at some point, and a premonition of ill omen flashed through his mind. He no longer cared about the restrictions on using Beyonder abilities here, and his figure instantly became transparent, transforming into a statue composed of countless starlight.
The surrounding ground rapidly ascended, and the houses on both sides of the street converged towards the middle, as if something was about to burst forth from beneath the ground.
The transparent statue instantly sank into the cracks between stones and dirt, shattering instantly and transforming into brilliant starlight that surged forth, emerging from tiny crevices and flowing like a tide between the constantly rising and collapsing buildings.
During this process, the surging starlight grew more and more vast, like a brilliant galaxy enveloping the ground.
In his starlight state, Leyton felt his consciousness continuously dissolving, moving closer to an even grander consciousness, becoming a part of it.
The surging galaxy sometimes stagnated, sometimes surged, as if caught in a self-contradiction.
The vast and surging galaxy grew wider and wider, and Leyton, feeling it was difficult to re-coalesce his body, directly gave up on further attempts.
The surging galaxy no longer stagnated, beginning to continuously spread and flow outwards, forming a ring connected end to end.
Within the ring formed by the massive galaxy, every star also converged and connected with each other, forming countless tiny three-dimensional symbols. These symbols, in turn, interlinked to form a complex and precise gear structure.
Amidst the twinkling starlight, countless cold and indifferent eyes seemed to grow out of it.
With a tearing sound, the brilliant galaxy rapidly disintegrated, and rays of "light" that could not be seen by most Beyonders separated from it.
These lights had no physical form, as if composed of complex streams of information, moving like a torrent in an illusory state.
They re-converged high in this information world, using complex and pure knowledge to reconstruct Leyton's body.
He wore a paint black robe with a tattered hem, and a wide hood that covered half of his face. Beneath the hood was only a deep black mass that devoured everything, and a cluster of pure light, like a cold and indifferent eye.
Around this "eye" were faint specks of starlight, dyed in different colors and carrying a hint of warmth, just like his sanity, which was on the verge of collapse under the assault of madness and chaos.
Beneath the black robe, his exposed hands and feet were paint black and shriveled, devoid of any luster or vitality, completely unlike those of a living person.
On the paint black robe, in the wisps of black mist floating around, and even on his paint black and shriveled limbs, cold and indifferent eyes grew out.
These eyes were tinged with madness, openly displaying undisguised malice. While giving a feeling of extreme sanctity and wisdom, they also appeared rather cold and devoid of warmth.
"As expected," Amon's figure suddenly appeared behind Leyton. He curled his lips, sighing meaningfully, and his figure disappeared again.
Where he disappeared, eyes tinged with madness, displaying malice, and brewing destruction grew out.
The moment these eyes appeared, all information in that space was directly annihilated, returning to its most primitive void, leaving behind only an indistinct and indescribable void.
Beneath the hood, the light cluster enveloped in pure light and the surrounding faint starlight subtly contracted, then quickly expanded, as if observing and recording something with great care.
In this state, Leyton could see the essence of this information world more clearly, see the activated knowledge, and see the miraculous and fragile balance between various contaminations and auras.
He stood there quietly, like an observer from a higher dimension; everything happening in this information world could not affect him.
Until all the streets and houses on the ground collapsed, an exaggeratedly large hand stretched out, followed by another hand and two legs.
A giant as large as a mountain rose from the ruins of the city. Its body was composed of the streets, buildings, and dirt of this city, with traces of Steel and grey stone everywhere, and it dragged a layered pair of wings made of rusted Steel behind it.
The moment it appeared, the various mad auras in this city also became active. Shadows writhed, all-annihilating Darkness silently spread, lifeless stones and wood all grew flesh, the air became scorching hot, and flames continuously erupted all around.
The body of the giant, like a towering mountain, rapidly disintegrated, scattering into pieces on the ground.
The fragments were swallowed by the surrounding writhing shadows, Darkness, and flesh, and soon smaller humanoid figures appeared.
They were completely mad, distorted Monsters, openly displaying undisguised malice, eroding and destroying each other.
Leyton in mid-air also seemed to be affected by this madness, and his aura gradually transformed from cold and indifferent to mad.
He calmly extended his right hand forward, his paint black, shriveled arm covered with grotesque eyes gently grasped in mid-air, revealing the specks of starlight wandering in this information world. They quickly converged on his hand, re-forming a lantern made of brass-colored metal and transparent glass.
"What a pity..." he murmured in a low voice, his voice cold, indifferent, and tinged with suppressed madness.
As his words fell, his body instantly dematerialized, disintegrating into a hazy light composed of complex knowledge, surging like a torrent and leaving this information world.
After he left, Amon, dressed in a black classical robe, suddenly appeared in his previous position.
He pinched the monocle over his right eye, his gaze deep as he surveyed the surroundings for a moment, then muttered to himself:
"Interesting. In that state, his rank already surpassed that of a Knowledge Emperor. If I hadn't prepared a contingency earlier, he would have expelled me from this information world just now."
"He only collected the information here and didn't choose to take the characteristics... He's very cautious."
As he spoke, he gently fiddled with his monocle, and a cacophony of chaotic whispers, full of madness and Degeneration, suddenly appeared, manifesting a thick, oppressive shadow curtain in this information world.
Behind the shadow curtain, an extremely mad, extremely oppressive gaze fell from an unknown place.
An incredibly grand and mad will descended, causing the fundamental information that constructed this information world to fall into stagnation. This manifested as the entire world appearing to have been paused, unmoving and silent.
The city ruins and the bodies of those Monsters gradually became covered in a layer of viscous black liquid, which grew in quantity and thickness, eventually forming a continuous paint black, viscous "ocean" filled with a degenerate aura.
paint black became the dominant color here, and the entire information world trembled violently, as if something incredibly terrifying was being conceived in this "ocean" filled with a degenerate aura.
The wailing wind whipped up a paint black storm, carrying an aura of overwhelming madness as it descended upon this place.
Amon's robe swayed in the wailing wind, a smile always on his lips, his eyes deep and reserved.
"Let me see what you're like after you've shed your madness."
As he spoke, he removed the monocle he was wearing, holding the edge of the lens between his right thumb and forefinger, and gently shook it twice.
A faint white glow appeared on the surface of the lens, and an illusory chime sounded above his head, rapidly spreading throughout the entire information world.
The ancient, mottled stone clock phantom above his head gently swayed, its two ancient, mottled hands rotating counter-clockwise at an extremely fast speed, creating an indescribable invisible torrent that pushed this information world to move against the flow of the river of time.
Beneath the paint black, viscous "ocean" filled with a degenerate aura, the fragmented Monsters rapidly aggregated, then quickly collapsed, re-entering slumber beneath the ground, and the destroyed city was restored to its original state.
The paint black viscous liquid filled with a degenerate aura seeped downwards through the cracks in the city buildings, quickly revealing the city's original appearance, the only difference being an exaggerated cross erected in the central palace complex.
Amon put his monocle back over his right eye as he stepped forward, his figure appearing beneath the exaggerated cross in the next instant.
He quietly observed the massive cross before him for a moment, then calmly spoke:
"The consciousness you projected should be partly clear, shouldn't it? Won't you see me?"
As his words fell, the shadow beneath the massive cross suddenly became paint black and viscous, continuously stretching backward, becoming slender, then abruptly expanding, like layers of illusory black wings hanging down, revealing the figure behind them.
He had shoulder-length black hair, slightly curled, and eyes that seemed to be covered in shadow.
He wore a black robe interwoven with silver threads, inscribed with complex symbols, and adorned with ornate accessories, holding a paint black staff, with most of his body submerged in the paint black, viscous shadow.
His gaze was very calm, without a trace of madness. He allowed Amon to observe him for a good while before he slowly spoke:
"Before I completely contaminate this place, what do you want to communicate with me about?"
Amon pondered for a moment, then asked an unrelated question: "Why Sasrir?"
Sasrir, who had emerged from the shadow, clasped his hands over the paint black staff and spoke in a tone devoid of emotion:
"I was born from the extreme emotions at the time of my main body's demise, combined with the authority I reclaimed from Sasrir. After the mad part of me fell into slumber due to the peculiarities of this place, the remaining 'me' became closer to Sasrir."
"Whether you acknowledge my existence or not, I will eventually return."
☰