Main Continent Central Region, Holy Mountain.
Above the boundless vast grassland, the Holy Mountain, like a pillar of heaven, towered into the clouds like a sword, piercing the sky. At the Holy Mountain Cathedral located atop the Holy Mountain, an emergency Cardinal Council was underway. As the four high-ranking Cardinals of the Shining Light Church were making crucial decisions, they were interrupted by an unexpected intruder. When they saw the newcomer, they all revealed a trace of surprise.
"Vanya, this is not where you should be!"
In the magnificent and sacred Great Chapel, Amanda stood before her seat, looking at the white-robed Sister who had just intruded and was now kneeling on the ground. She spoke with an unprecedentedly serious tone. On the other side, Klama also stood up and spoke sharply.
"Vania Chafilun, how dare you! You disregard Church law and trespass in a restricted area. Apprehend and detain her, and we will deal with her later!" Klama said this, and then seemed ready to personally take action. At this moment, the kneeling Vanya immediately raised her head, looked at the four Cardinals before her, and spoke seriously.
"Esteemed Cardinals, Vanya's trespass into the Cardinal Council is indeed a crime, and I will accept whatever punishment follows. However, there is a reason for my intrusion. I have received crucial intelligence. Esteemed Cardinals, please do not use the Holy Staff now, otherwise it will lead to serious consequences!"
Vanya said this. Hearing her words, Klama on the side snorted coldly, patted the armrest of his seat, and then spoke.
"Hmph, crucial intelligence needs *you* to deliver it? You, this otherworld who has challenged Church rules time and again! Now let me..."
"Wait a moment, Cardinal of Tribunal..."
Just as Klama was about to do something, Hilbert on the other side suddenly spoke, then looked at Vanya with a solemn gaze and said.
"Where did your intelligence come from? What is it? Explain it clearly?"
"Yes! My intelligence source is the Cardinal of Secrets, His Excellency Saint Atchely. She just told me through a special channel that... the mist enveloping Tivian was generated in the Dream World, surrounding and protecting a powerful divine entity. The cult, the Black Dream Hunter Group, craves this powerful divinity protected by the mist, so they used a large ritual to blur the barrier between Tivian's reality and the Dream World, bringing the mist to reality."
"The Black Dream Hunter Group's goal is to lure you, esteemed Cardinals, to use the Holy Staff left by the Holy See to dispel and illuminate the mist covering Tivian. Now, the barrier between Tivian's reality and the Dream World is very blurred. At that time, the divine light created by the Holy Staff will inevitably shine into the Dream World, opening a path to divinity for the Black Dream Hunter Group. Please, you must not fall into their trap!"
Vanya spoke respectfully and urgently to the esteemed adults before her. Hearing Vanya's words, the others paused slightly, and then Klama spoke directly.
"Cardinal of Secrets? When the Cardinal of Secrets sends a message, it naturally goes directly to the Bureau of Secrets. How could it be delivered to you? There's no activity at all in the Bureau of Secrets now, yet you've run over here. What a ridiculous reason."
Klama said this. His words seemed very reasonable, and Vanya's reason just now was indeed insufficient, which made Hilbert nod silently. At this moment, Vanya responded again.
"The Cardinal of Secrets did not contact me using conventional means. Now that Prit is enveloped by the mist created by divinity, ordinary communication methods cannot reach the outside world at all. The Cardinal of Secrets used special means to transmit information outwards." Vanya said slowly, then after a slight pause, she silently swallowed and continued.
"Simply put, the Cardinal of Secrets collaborated with a mysterious 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment) cult, the Rose Cross. It was by relying on the divine power they control that the information was transmitted from within that mist. This Rose Cross has deep ties with the Judge of Heaven cult active in North Wu. I have also had contact with the Judge of Heaven cult before, and they have my contact information. Therefore, through this connection, the information was transmitted to me... This is why only I knew this information and the Bureau of Secrets did not..."
Vanya seriously explained to the people before her. Hearing Vanya's words, Amanda's expression couldn't help but sink, while Klama's eyes lit up. He slapped the armrest, stood up from his seat, and shouted at Vanya.
"Alright... I've suspected you had some secret dealings with otherworlds before, and now you've actually admitted it directly! Do you know what the consequences of this are?! Vania Chafilun!" Klama said sternly to Vanya, not forgetting to glance at the solemn-faced Amanda during this time. Vanya then immediately responded.
"I naturally know the consequences, but the cooperation with the otherworld at that time was for necessary salvation, and I do not regret it... But now, none of that is important. What is important is that you believe my words and do not use the Holy Staff casually! As for the punishment for violating Church rules, I will bear it myself afterwards!" Vanya raised her head and continued to speak to the Cardinals before her with a determined look. Her words clearly somewhat angered Klama.
"The words of a sinful person cannot be trusted at all! Now let me first..."
"Wait!"
Just as Klama was about to use some ability on Vanya, Amanda on the side finally spoke again. She spoke directly with a serious tone.
"Although Sister Vanya currently holds no official Church position, she already possesses a Church rank. With Sister Vanya's current Church rank, the Court of Tribunal no longer has the authority to directly handle her alone. It requires a Cardinal Council of at least six people to determine her crime and the course of action. Therefore, Cardinal of Tribunal, you currently have no right to convict Sister Vanya, and you cannot do anything to her..."
Amanda said this to Klama. The Court of Tribunal's power of judgment and arrest is only for members of the Shining Light Church below the rank of Archbishop. For individuals of Archbishop rank, they only have the power of investigation. Individuals of Archbishop rank are, in a sense, directly under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal Council and the Holy See. If a person of Archbishop rank commits a crime, either the Pope directly convicts them, or the Cardinal Council collectively discusses and judges them, or the Pope or the Cardinal Council authorizes the Court of Tribunal to judge and convict them.
Vanya is currently Scarlet. Although she holds no official Church position, she is already a person of Archbishop rank. The Court of Tribunal does not have the authority to handle her alone.
Hearing Amanda's words, Klama paused slightly, then couldn't help but look at Amanda. After staring at her for a couple of seconds, he smiled slightly.
"Even now, you still want to protect her, Cardinal of Salvation. Hehe... This is the first time I've seen you do something so foolish..."
Klama said this to Amanda, his tone carrying a hint of smugness. The current situation was very clear; Vanya had already admitted to having improper collusion with the otherworld, which was completely undeniable. Under normal circumstances, Amanda should have actively distanced herself. Trying to protect her now would only drag herself deeper and deeper.
Although Amanda also had clues about Klama's collusion with the otherworld regarding the Faloro issue, they were just clues. Amanda could not produce any concrete evidence; relying solely on the word of one Governor was far from enough. Amanda only held clues about Klama's leverage, whereas Vanya had just personally admitted it. The weight of these two things could not be compared, so Klama currently held the absolute advantage over Amanda.
Hearing Klama's words, Amanda paused slightly, then silently took a deep breath, and continued to speak in a deep voice.
"I said, any questions regarding Vanya's guilt cannot be discussed now. Everything must wait until the Six Cardinal Council to be decided. Before that, Cardinal of Tribunal, you have no right to take any excessive measures against Vanya. The current priority is whether or not to believe Vanya's words? Whether or not to use the Holy Staff? Other issues can be discussed later..."
Amanda said this, then slowly looked at Vanya, and spoke.
"Vanya, you say the Cardinal of Secrets transmitted the message to you. What evidence do you have?"
"Yes... Please, esteemed sirs, come with me to the Bureau of Secrets now. I can point out many secrets unique to the Bureau of Secrets, including numerous confidential passwords and the locations of mechanisms that even the Cardinal of Secrets herself might not know. Also, there are several sets of verification procedures that can confirm that what I conveyed are truly the words of the Cardinal of Secrets. She told me all of this herself..."
Vanya said to the Cardinals before her. After hearing her words, Amanda was the first to respond directly.
"I think Sister Vanya has a point. Esteemed sirs, why don't we go to the Bureau of Secrets now and see how the actual verification works?" Amanda said this to her three colleagues. However, in the eyes of the three of them, Amanda seemed to see no sign of agreement.
"Let's go to the Bureau of Secrets together... Impossible... Under the Holy Light of the Lord, the capital of a nation, hundreds of people, are now tainted by the cult. Even the representative of the evil god has personally appeared. The situation is utterly urgent. The situation within Tivian is changing rapidly by the minute. Where is there time to conduct this verification? I suggest we do not listen to this sinner. She might be used by the cult specifically to delay our actions! Wasting time on verification would fall right into their trap!"
Klama said directly, then glanced at Vanya, who was still kneeling on the ground, to express his stance. On the other side, the gaunt Marco, who was originally not a man of many words, also nodded.
"According to the records left from the time of the Great Holy War... once a cult's grand ritual is initiated, if not stopped in time, it is a swift matter for all living beings in the entire city to vanish... At such times, we should make a decisive decision without delay or procrastination."
"I have heard about the various ciphers, passwords, and verification procedures of the Bureau of Secrets. To ensure accuracy, they are designed to be very complex and cumbersome, requiring a long time to complete the verification. According to the experience during the Great Holy War, time is extremely tight under the current circumstances. We should not waste our efforts on these matters."
Marco continued to express his stance in a steady tone. Seeing that both Klama and Marco did not approve of the verification, Amanda's expression became even heavier. Finally, she couldn't help but shift her gaze to Hilbert, who had not yet expressed his opinion.
At this moment, Hilbert was frowning, pondering something. After a long period of silent pause, he seemed to have finally made up his mind before speaking.
"I believe that there is indeed no time to go to the Bureau of Secrets now. Sister Vanya's words are not very convincing and do not make me believe them. The Cardinal of Secrets does not seem like someone who would easily seek help from otherworlds..."
With a serious expression, Hilbert said this. Not long ago, he had personally received an urgent communication from his subordinate, Samuel, stating that the situation in Tivian was extremely urgent and requesting immediate reinforcement. Compared to Vanya, Hilbert trusted Samuel's words more. He also urgently wanted to send reinforcements to Tivian, as that Church District belonged to his sphere of influence.
Although Vanya said that using the Holy Staff would have serious consequences, delaying its use in the current emergency situation might also have serious consequences. When weighing the two options, faced with Vanya, whose information source was unclear and required complex verification, Hilbert chose to trust Samuel more, whose information source was recent and could be clearly accurate. If Samuel had not broken the agreement at the last moment and sent an emergency distress signal to Hilbert, perhaps Hilbert's current decision would have been slightly different.
The situation on the scene was now very clear. Among the four Cardinals in the emergency Cardinal Council, only Amanda supported Vanya. The decision to use the Holy Staff would inevitably pass. This scene made Vanya's face turn extremely unpleasant. She stood up from the ground somewhat flustered and said.
"Esteemed Cardinals... Please listen to me, you absolutely must not use the Holy Staff now! Otherwise, there will be very terrible..." Just as Vanya was preparing to stand up, Amanda, who had also been silently keeping a straight face on the side, reached out her hand and pressed it onto Vanya's shoulder, pressing her back down to kneel in place.
"Don't say anymore, Vanya. Be quiet now."
"But Your Excellency..."
Amanda spoke solemnly to Vanya. Vanya was about to continue arguing with Amanda about something, and just at this moment, a passage of words suddenly echoed in her mind.
'Things have come to this, don't force it, Vanya. Absolutely do not confront any Cardinal directly. Find a way to stay put, wait for the opportunity, we still have a chance...'
Hearing the voice coming from her mind, Vanya couldn't help but be slightly startled. Then, as if giving up, she lowered her head again and knelt back in place, no longer striving for anything with all her might. Seeing Vanya like that, Klama couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
Without further ado, let's quickly use the Holy Staff to dispel Tivian's evil mist. Since the Cardinal of the Holy War initiated this emergency meeting, you shall wield the Holy Staff.
At this moment, Klama spoke, and after Hilbert nodded in response, he lightly waved his hand. Immediately, a white wooden staff, already summoned and suspended in the center of the Great Chapel, adorned with intricate carvings and embedded with a large golden gem, naturally floated and quickly moved into Hilbert's hand. Hilbert gripped it tightly.
Then, Hilbert lightly stomped the ground with the staff he held. Immediately, a brilliant light spread around, and the scenery shifted. Above the altar of the Great Chapel, hazy illusions rose. Upon closer inspection, one could see these illusions were of the sea and sky, mountains and land, a pattern similar to a satellite cloud map, viewed from a very high altitude. It appeared on the floor of the Great Chapel, making the entire floor seem like a giant display screen.
From this overhead view, the people in the Great Chapel could see the winding coastline of a large island's eastern part. The three most prominent features in the image were in the eastern sea area of the coastline: a giant swirling spiral cloud disk with a clearly visible hurricane eye at its center. This swirling cloud disk was frantically absorbing the surrounding cloud systems. Except for a patch along the eastern coast, almost the entire region's cloud system had been absorbed.
And that patch was where Tivian was located. In the eyes of the Cardinals, a vast expanse of white mist was currently spreading there, almost completely enveloping the entire City. This mist completely ignored the massive typhoon over the eastern ocean, swirling above the city as if undisturbed, completely covering it.
Looking at this unusual and strange sight on the cloud map, Hilbert slightly furrowed his brows. He then temporarily ignored the abnormally raging typhoon over the sea and focused his gaze on the mist covering the city. He then slightly raised the hand holding the staff and softly murmured.
"Sun Wheel... the Lord's initial symbol, the supreme court... I act as the Lord's shepherd, guiding the purest Light, piercing through all illusions..."
As Hilbert murmured, the staff in his hand emitted a subtle radiance. This divine micro-light shone on the faces of everyone in the Great Chapel and on the large cloud map on the floor.
At this moment, on the far eastern coast of Prit, above the city shrouded in dense mist, the blazing sun hanging high in the sky above the clouds suddenly erupted with a more dazzling light than before. Immediately, an unusual, more brilliant white light shot down from the Sun Wheel, illuminating the mist above the city. The illuminated mist instantly churned, and even though the typhoon couldn't affect them, they scattered one after another at this moment.
...
Rewinding time slightly, back to the eastern coast of Prit, within Tivian engulfed in mist.
In the North Wu district of Tivian within the dense mist, in the Church District that was almost completely destroyed by devastating power not long ago, a fierce battle was taking place within a large pit filled with dense fog. Both sides of the battle possessed unparalleled speed.
Below the pit of the Church District ruins, within the relatively thinner mist due to the influence of the remaining immense faith power, an invisible battlefield unfolded. Almost no figures could be seen in the space, but crisp, piercing sounds of weapons clashing echoed from various directions, shaking the entire space. On the barren ground, shattered stones constantly exploded inexplicably, and sharp marks, seemingly cut by swords, continuously appeared out of thin air. These sounds became increasingly dense, and the marks grew in number.
A fierce battle progressed in this invisible space. Both sides of the battle possessed extremely high speeds that surpassed the limits of human vision, so much so that if this battle were to occur in the eyes of ordinary people, they wouldn't be able to see it at all, nor feel the constant explosive sounds and the continuously damaged terrain. Only the combatants themselves could clearly know what they were fighting.
After meeting, Atcherly and Geskina engaged in a fierce battle on this limited battlefield. As soon as Atcherly successfully escaped from the mist-shrouded Woodland and returned to Tivian, she immediately encountered Geskina, who had just finished dealing with Archbishop Samuel of Prit and was preparing to contact her ally as agreed, asking for help to cross the mist for support. However, without a word, she immediately engaged in a fierce battle with Geskina, restricting and holding her back to prevent her from supporting her ally.
As two individuals who both possessed almost Golden level'Shadow' speed, their battle proceeded at an incredibly high speed from the very beginning. Both sides fiercely clashed at high speed, their weapons striking each other, dodging and maneuvering. Their figures transformed into invisible blurs, constantly moving across the battlefield, leaving only sounds, sparks, and continuously damaged terrain. This battle had been going on like this for some time.
During the high-speed duel, Geskina seized an opportunity, twisting her entire body and swinging. Her six blood-colored weapons on her six arms, as if turning into a whirlwind, pressed down towards Atcherly's petite body.
Upon seeing this, Atcherly nimbly dodged one attack, then blocked another with her sword. Using the monstrous strength from Geskina, she was bounced into the air. She immediately used a pre-prepared Wind Control talisman at high speed to turn her body and dive down, slashing downwards at Geskina's ugly head. Geskina immediately used four arms to strike back in the air, but Atcherly skillfully twisted her body again, adjusting her descent position by stepping on Geskina's slashing blades, falling from Geskina's side, and finally slashing Geskina's side. Geskina's body was directly cut with a deep bloody mark, accompanied by a tragic scream.
Similar scenes occurred frequently in the previous battle. In the continuous combat, Atcherly gained a certain advantage. Her blade had cut Geskina's large body multiple times, and on several occasions, she had even directly cut off one of Geskina's six arms from a tricky angle, causing Geskina to launch a frantic counterattack during her rapid self-healing. However, none of these frantic counterattacks had successfully harmed Atcherly so far.
Logically, Geskina should not only be Golden now but also have divine power bonuses, so her speed should be faster than Atcherly's. In this kind of close combat, she shouldn't be at such a disadvantage, being continuously worn down by Atcherly's advantage. However, the battle between them was not just about speed.
Speed is only one factor in close combat. The extreme speed and high agility brought by high-level'Shadow' are certainly important, but they are not everything. Atcherly is not a completely orthodox Extraordinary. Her power consists of two parts: one part is Atcherly's own 'Light' power as a Church cleric, and the other part is the'Shadow' power brought by the saintly name of Saint Atcherly.
That's right, Atcherly is essentially a 'Light' Extraordinary, a special type of pure 'Light' Extraordinary that lacks auxiliary Spirituality and any branch special abilities. While being a high-level pure 'Light' Extraordinary cultivated by the Church using secret methods, she inherited the'Shadow' power contained within the saintly name of Saint Atcherly, thus becoming a Church saint with dual opposing 'Light' and'Shadow' Spirituality. This has been the case for all previous Cardinals of the Bureau of Secrets.
Among the Church's seven great saints, except for the Pope, six saints achieved the power of Golden by inheriting ancient saintly names. The power of Golden is contained within the saintly name, and it is not necessarily 'Light' power. The power of the saintly name used by the Bureau of Secrets, which believes in the saintess, has been a powerful'Shadow' power since ancient times. However, due to the opposition between 'Light' and'Shadow', Atcherly also paid a price for inheriting the saintly name. Her previous path to Extraordinary was abnormally deformed and deteriorated.
The current Atcherly not only possesses the agility and speed of Golden'Shadow' inherited from the saintly name but also has 'Light' perception that has been greatly enhanced after her rank was elevated, far surpassing ordinary Scarlet and approaching that of typical Golden.
Combat... especially close-quarters melee combat, is not just about comparing speed. Speed only makes it difficult for others to catch you, but speed doesn't help you catch others. On the contrary, excessive speed can even affect one's ability to track targets... For example, the current Geskina, her speed is very fast, faster than Atcherly, but because both of their speeds are too fast, it is very difficult for Geskina to track targets. Even if she is faster than Atcherly, it is useless if she cannot lock onto Atcherly.
Conversely, Atcherly possesses 'Light' perception close to Golden level. While it is still difficult to lock onto Geskina, it is much easier than Geskina locking onto herself. Therefore, after dizzying Geskina, she is occasionally able to successfully launch a sneak attack and cause damage to Geskina.
Atcherly, with her powerful speed and strong target tracking, is very strong in melee combat. Earlier, against Igwinte, when Atcherly was not giving her all, Anna still needed Dorothy's powerful 'Qi' power to continuously calculate, simulate, and predict Atcherly's attacks to barely parry. Now, facing Atcherly who is not holding back, Geskina is helpless even with faster speed.
"You... hateful brat!!"
Facing Atcherly, who was continuously causing damage to her, Geskina had no choice but to start adjusting her strategy. She began to prepare to transform into a blood mist, spreading outwards to attack Atcherly in blood mist form, directly as environmental damage. However, Atcherly was already prepared for this.
Just as Geskina was preparing to transform into blood mist, Atcherly used the pistol in her other hand to fire a light bullet at her. Without even hitting, it exploded in the air, releasing a dazzling and scorching blast, its intensity even surpassing the fireballs of a Scarlet Skyfire Saint. The intense high temperature immediately put the part of Geskina that had just turned into blood mist at risk of being evaporated.
Atcherly is a powerful'Shadow' Extraordinary. After assisting with precious items to provide an outlet for her considerable 'Light' Spirituality, she is also a powerful 'Light' Extraordinary. Facing a 'Light' Extraordinary who manipulates scorching power, transforming into blood mist can be said to be a very dangerous decision.
"Tch..."
Facing Atcherly's relentless pressure, Geskina further changed her strategy. She began to condense a scarlet blood mist armored suit on her body, sacrificing some speed in exchange for defense. When the bizarre-looking blood-colored armor armed the six-armed monster, Atcherly's attacks began to be less effective. The slashes and gunshots that hit the blood-colored armor were blocked, and any attack had minimal effect. Not long ago, it was this blood-colored armor that helped Geskina defend against Samuel's final blow without suffering much damage.
Compared to Atcherly, Geskina also has advantages. The powerful 'Cup' power ensures her survival; it is difficult for Atcherly to achieve a one-hit kill, she can only slowly wear her down. Compared to Atcherly, Geskina, whose weapons are enchanted with Pain Divinity, only needs to inflict a tiny bit of damage on Atcherly, even if it's just damage to Atcherly's clones or linked abilities, it will directly cause Atcherly to lose combat effectiveness. Atcherly has only one hit point compared to Geskina. Atcherly must fight Geskina without taking any damage throughout the entire battle. If Atcherly is even slightly grazed, she is finished.
But fortunately, with Geskina's currently worrying target tracking ability, it is not a big problem for Atcherly to fight without taking damage for now.
Due to the decreased mobility from wearing the blood-colored armor, Atcherly was temporarily better able to track targets and find more opportunities. After dodging Geskina's noticeably slower attacks again, Atcherly seized the opportunity and immediately counterattacked. He fired a light bullet at Geskina, but before it exploded, Geskina directly cut it with a sharp blade. The light bullet, after being afflicted with pain, immediately trembled and went out of control, deviating from its trajectory and curving into the distance before exploding.
And taking advantage of the dazzling light from the exploding light bullet, Atcherly seized the opportunity to slash at Geskina's shadow, which was more visible than before due to the illumination. Instantly, a large gap appeared in the armor at the corresponding position on Geskina's body out of thin air, and blood gushed out like a torrent, causing Geskina to cry out in pain again.
Even though Gusjina's regenerative blood mist armor could effectively block Atcheri's attacks, when Atcheri used her Shadow offensive, Gusjina's blood-colored armor and the flesh within it were still attacked and damaged together. In the face of Atcheri's "Shadow Cut," any form of armor was meaningless!
Even wearing blood-colored armor, Gusjina still couldn't stop Atcheri from harming her!
"Damn... brat!!!"
Even wearing blood-colored armor was useless. Finally, after being unilaterally harmed by Atcheri for a while, Gusjina became furious. Now she adjusted her strategy again.
"Go to hell!!"
After pulling back, Gusjina inserted the six blood-colored weapons she held into the ground, and then frantically stimulated her Spirituality. Immediately, the ground of the entire battlefield began to tremble slightly, and a huge anomaly occurred.
Amidst the trembling, blood-colored spikes pierced through the ground like weeds, growing densely. These spikes grew wildly, transforming from "weeds" into "big trees" in an instant and also "sprouting branches and leaves" extremely quickly.
Seeing this, Atcheri immediately used the pistol in her hand to continuously shoot light bullets, bombarding these growing spikes, attempting to shatter them. However, as soon as the light bullets came into contact with the blood-colored spikes during the explosion, they would be affected by the pain transmitted by the divinity on them, causing them to lose control. The out-of-control light bullets either had chaotic spiritual structures, greatly reducing or nullifying their explosive power, or their trajectories and impacts were chaotic, shooting in other directions. Atcheri's bombardment was greatly reduced under this influence, completely unable to stop the savage growth of these spikes. In a short time, she was surrounded, losing her dodging space. She could only watch as these blood-colored spikes spread towards her from all directions, seemingly intending to completely engulf her.
Spikes, more spikes grew out of the original spikes, spreading densely in all directions. The main trunk extended branches, and the branches grew finer branches. In an instant, within a radius of nearly one kilometer, dense blood-colored needles spread wildly, growing savagely, turning everything around into a bloody, giant needle mountain hell in an instant.
In this needle mountain hell, countless sharp blood-colored spikes and thorns were densely packed. The distance between these spikes was less than tens of centimeters, even Atcheri's petite figure could not fit. Logically, she should be impaled and killed in this spike hell.
However, under the current circumstances, Gusjina, located in the center of this spike forest, couldn't smile at all, because at this moment she didn't perceive that her thousands upon thousands of spikes had not pierced even a single body.
Where is that brat... now?!
Just as Gusjina felt doubt in her heart, suddenly, in one direction of her spike forest, a light bullet rose out of thin air, passing through countless tiny gaps, rising into the sky, turning into an eye-catching light ball like a flare, completely illuminating the surrounding area.
Under the illumination of that flare, this extremely dense spike forest also cast extremely dense, fine, tiny spike projections!
At the moment these projections appeared, on the ground beneath the spike hell, among the thousands upon thousands of fine reflections, a tiny Shadow that had no actual entity in reality and existed purely independently suddenly moved. They transformed into various shapes, into swords and sharp blades, and began to cut the countless long, fine spike reflections around them. As the reflections were damaged, the spike branches on the spike hell began to rapidly crack and fall off, or even collapse with a roar.
Facing Gusjina's large-scale attack, Atcheri directly transformed herself into a Shadow again, interfering with the entities in the real world. This move was essentially a shallow entry into the inner world, which could not be used in areas with dense confusing mist. Fortunately, the mist concentration on the battlefield was low due to the remnants of faith, allowing Atcheri to shallowly enter the inner world to use this move without going deep. However, once she went deeper and moved away from this battlefield, she would have the risk of getting lost.
The Shadow-transformed Atcheri quickly changed her form, frantically cutting the Shadows of the surrounding needle mountain, destroying the overall structure of the needle mountain. The needle mountain collapsed with a roar as it was destroyed, and the entire needle mountain hell was collapsing. As Atcheri's Shadow continuously destroyed the needle mountain hell, she rapidly advanced towards the center of the needle mountain hell where Gusjina was located.
Facing this scene, Gusjina immediately gritted her teeth and then allowed the needle mountain around Atcheri's Shadow to continue growing rapidly, growing more spikes to pierce Atcheri's Shadow. Atcheri, on the other hand, manipulated her Shadow to quickly dodge to avoid being pierced by those spikes. Due to concerns about chain reactions, Atcheri did not use clones throughout her battle with Gusjina, otherwise, if a clone made a mistake and was gone, she would be gone too.
Unlike Anna's wind blades, Gusjina's spikes were enchanted with divinity. As long as they damaged Extraordinary things related to an Extraordinary, they could damage the Extraordinary themselves. This special Shadow, as the window medium Atcheri left in the real world, was naturally included in this category of related objects. Once this Shadow was damaged, Atcheri herself would be implicated, so Atcheri could not withstand it like she did against Anna, but had to dodge.
As a Shadow that could change shape at will, Atcheri's dodging ability was even more outstanding at this moment. Gusjina was unable to stop her for a while and could only watch as the roar of the collapsing needle mountain hell rapidly approached her side.
Facing this scene, Gusjina paused, then noticed the small ball Atcheri had shot into the sky earlier as a flare. She immediately extended a spike into the air to extinguish the light source. After losing the light source, the battlefield shrouded by mist on the periphery suddenly darkened, the light and Shadow became less obvious, the projection of the needle mountain hell blurred and weakened, Atcheri's connection with this battlefield in the real world weakened, the efficiency of destroying the needle mountain hell greatly decreased, and Atcheri's own existence began to become thin.
Under these circumstances, another light bullet was shot from the Shadow Atcheri had transformed into, shooting through the gaps towards the sky above the battlefield to illuminate it, continuing to strengthen the Shadow. However, upon seeing this, Gusjina immediately pierced it again.
Thus, Atcheri dodged the spikes while shooting light balls from within her Shadow to rise into the sky and strengthen the Shadow. Gusjina, on the other hand, immediately used spikes at any time to pierce the light balls Atcheri shot from the shallow level of the realm. The two sides were in a stalemate for a while, but overall, Gusjina had the advantage, as she had a firmer control over Atcheri's actions.
Just at this moment, a sudden anomaly occurred around them. The confusing mist that had been shrouding the battlefield and becoming denser with time suddenly began to violently disturb. After a fierce surge, a strong light shone from the top of the misty sky, causing the entire sky to turn white. A strong dazzling light pierced through the mist and shone down from there.
Under the illumination of the special pure light from the sun disc at the zenith, the mist covering Tivian was immediately dispelled, and the outline and appearance of the City reappeared. The battlefield where Atcheri and Gusjina were fighting was also illuminated by the light immediately. The originally blurred Shadows suddenly became extremely clear under the light of the sun disc in the sky.
At this moment, the Shadow Atcheri had transformed into began to erupt violently. Under unprecedented light, all Shadows became unprecedentedly clear and concrete, and her power was greatly enhanced. The originally unshaped Shadow suddenly changed into the concrete appearance of Atcheri's Shadow. The Shadow Atcheri extended her hand, and a long Shadow sword materialized in her hand and extended quite far.
Waving the Shadow sword in her hand, the Shadow-transformed Atcheri cut off the projections of countless huge needle mountains with a single swing. Large areas of the needle mountain entity also cracked and shattered with a roar along with the Shadow, and then collapsed. As Atcheri continuously swung the Shadow sword in her hand, the entire needle mountain hell was rapidly disintegrating, and the growth rate controlled by Gusjina was completely unable to keep up.
This is Atcheri, the Bureau of Secrets of the Church, the Shadow serving the Light. The darkness of her Shadow originates from the contrast and set off of Light. The more dazzling the Light, the darker she becomes...
Under the enhancement of the strong light from the sun disc in the sky, Atcheri cut through thorns and destroyed many needle mountain hells, cutting all the way to Gusjina and destroying all the spike barriers in front of her. Seeing this, Gusjina immediately flew into the sky to avoid the attack. However, while she could fly and dodge, her Shadow could not. Atcheri immediately aimed at Gusjina's Shadow and rushed towards it.
Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, Gusjina maneuvered in the sky, dodging along with her Shadow. However, under Atcheri's speed, which was enhanced at this moment, Gusjina's Shadow was still hit, and her waist was slashed by the Shadow blade. Gusjina's main body was also cut open, emitting blood mist.
After realizing that flying was even more disadvantageous to her, Gusjina quickly lowered her altitude, leaped back, and landed in an empty area where the needle mountain had just been cleared, keeping her Shadow relatively close and easier to cover and manipulate. Then she looked at the Shadow Atcheri who was still attacking, ready to respond. However, just at this moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred.
"Swish!!"
After a sharp sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh, six dark Shadow blades pierced out of Gusjina's chest and abdomen, bringing out countless fresh blood and blood mist. Gusjina paused in astonishment after spitting out a mouthful of blood, then turned her eight-eyed head and looked behind her, and then her eyes widened in unison.
"What..."
What Gusjina saw behind her was a tall, pitch-black monster with six arms. This monster held six weapons and pierced her from behind silently. She was extremely familiar with the form of this monster. Looking down, Gusjina could also see that the monster's legs were connected to her own legs.
This was a Shadow, this was actually Gusjina's own Shadow! Gusjina's own Shadow had actually detached from the plane and stood up, and launched a backstab attack on Gusjina herself!
"Puppet Shadow," this was one of Atcheri's true abilities. She could directly manipulate the enemy's Shadow, turning it into a Shadow monster to backstab its master. This was the ultimate assassin that could not be shaken off, was always by one's side, and could not be destroyed or dodged!
Against weak enemies of low rank, Atcheri could unconditionally use this ability with all her might, making the enemy's Shadow her assassin at any time. Against powerful enemies of high rank, Atcheri had a prerequisite for using this ability, which was to attack the enemy's Shadow as much as possible.
During the close-quarters combat with Gusjina earlier, every attack Atcheri made on Gusjina's Shadow was influencing it. Just now, Atcheri cut down the needle mountain, and with the final blow given to Gusjina with the help of the strong light, the influence on Gusjina's Shadow had accumulated. Atcheri successfully manipulated Gusjina's Shadow and made it backstab Gusjina.
Under the forceful backstab of the rebellious Shadow behind her, Gusjina was pinned to the ground from back to front, completely unable to move for a while. Due to the restraint of her own Shadow, her form was also restricted and she could not escape the Shadow form and turn into blood mist. If Gusjina were to attack the Shadow monster behind her now, she herself would be injured.
Completely restrained, Gusjina was now facing the full-speed charging Shadow Atcheri. The other party seemed to want to put an end to this battle. Gusjina seemed to have no room for resistance against Atcheri now.
However, even so, there was no anger on Gusjina's ugly face at this moment. Instead, a gradually revealing smugness appeared.
"Ah... so painful... it's really painful...
"Brat, the pain you have given me... is almost enough... Now it's time to set our positions straight..."
Facing the Shadow that had rushed close before her eyes, Gesijina muttered. Just as Gesijina finished speaking, the Shadow, symbolizing Atchelly, suddenly stopped abruptly. After a period of instability, it quickly changed form, and Atchelly's physical figure emerged from the Shadow. After staggering on the ground for a moment, her gun-sword fell, she hugged herself tightly, and opened her mouth.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Suddenly, a painful scream erupted from Atchelly's mouth. Her eyes, looking towards the sky, were wide open, her pupils contracted, and endless pain emanated from her. Seeing Atchelly's state, Gesijina let out a wild laugh.
"Hahahaha! Kid! Now you know, don't you?! On this execution ground! Who holds the whip!"
"Torture Dominator," this was the ability Gesijina used, one of her Golden abilities.
Gesijina could view any battle as a form of torture. In torture, there must be a masochist and a sadist, and this ability adjusted the relationship between the masochist and the sadist.
In a battle, as long as one side inflicted damage and pain upon the other, the battlefield became an execution ground for Gesijina. The moment battle damage causing pain appeared between the combatants, a hidden special connection was established: the connection between masochist and sadist.
Within this connection, the status of masochist and sadist between enemies and allies could be freely adjusted by Gesijina. Once designated as the masochist, one would not feel pain, while the sadist would feel all the pain, whether it was from themselves or the enemy, or even from enemy and friendly forces. In a large-scale multi-person melee, Gesijina could even decide that only one person was the masochist and everyone else was the sadist, in which case all the pain from injuries suffered by everyone in the melee would be concentrated on that single person.
After being enhanced with divinity, this adjustment also gained a time-delay property. This meant Gesijina could store the pain the masochist would bear and then delay its eruption, concentrating the pain caused by damage over a period of time onto a single person.
In other words, from the very beginning of her battle with Atchelly, Gesijina had adjusted herself to be the sadist and Atchelly the masochist. Originally, the pain she suffered from injuries should have been borne by Atchelly. However, to prevent Atchelly from noticing the abnormality and finding a countermeasure, Gesijina merely delayed and stored this pain. She also put on an act to confuse Atchelly, all for the purpose of letting the stored pain reach a maximum value sufficient to destroy Atchelly's spirit in one breath, and then releasing the connection between them all at once, just like now.
To prevent Atchelly from becoming suspicious, Gesijina even fought seriously on purpose, showing no abnormal signs of deliberately harming herself or intentionally taking damage.
This ability was somewhat similar to the precepts of certain ascetic paths, but fundamentally different. It was an adjustment and distribution of pain during battle, not damage reflection, which allowed for this delayed eruption manipulation. The pain released was merely pain, not "damage" that could truly destroy the body, but sufficiently intense pain was enough to completely shatter a person's mind. Even against enemies who did not feel pain, with the blessing of divinity, Gesijina could attach the concept of pain to them.
With just one successful counterattack, Gesijina had already won the battle against Atchelly...
...
Just as the dense fog surged from the Dream World, at the moment the barrier between dream and reality thinned, Gu Mian, the leader of the Black Dream who had been in the Dream World, returned to the real world, soaring above Tivian shrouded in fog.
However, at this moment, Gu Mian was not the only being returning from the Dream World; there was also another terrifying behemoth that, since descending from the dream into the fog of the real world, had not stopped hunting Gu Mian.
"Roar!!!"
Spreading her immense wings, Paturnax, the Dream Dragon form of Dorothy, soared above Tivian in the fog, relentlessly pursuing the prey that had escaped her from the Dream World.
After Gu Mian seized the opportunity of the Dream World's opening to escape from her grasp, Dorothy had been pursuing him, determined to eliminate him.
After seeing through the Black Dream's purpose, Dorothy immediately informed Vanya, asking her to try and stop the actions of the Holy Mountain Cardinals. However, she had no confidence in Vanya's success. Although she had fabricated a verifiable explanation for Vanya through her previous contact with Atchelly, at this critical juncture, she was not confident that this explanation would necessarily convince most of the Cardinals.
Therefore, Dorothy did not place all her hopes on Vanya; she was also making other efforts herself, such as pursuing Gu Mian.
According to the Black Cat, after the Fog of Bewilderment was dispersed and the Holy Cocoon appeared, Gu Mian needed to physically touch the cocoon to awaken the Pan Moth within it. Therefore, if Dorothy completely killed Gu Mian before that, even if Vanya's side failed and the fog was dispersed, the birth of the Pan Moth could still be prevented.
Thus, after arriving in the real world, Dorothy, still maintaining her Dragon form, continued to relentlessly pursue Gu Mian without stopping. Although Tivian was currently covered in fog, it was not too dense, so Dorothy still had a way to track Gu Mian's movements.
Dorothy's tracking method relied on the Moon Crown fragments in her hand. The Moon Crown had the ability to manipulate fog to a certain extent, and being able to manipulate it meant being able to perceive it. At this moment, Gu Mian, who was fleeing, was also using the two Moon Crown fragments in his hand to manipulate the fog, clearing the mist around him to escape. Dorothy only needed to use the Moon Crown in her hand to sense if there were any signs of unnatural displacement in the surrounding fog to track Gu Mian.
Dorothy and Gu Mian entered the real world at almost the same time and place, so they were very close from the start. Using this method, Dorothy could quickly pinpoint Gu Mian's location and continuously pursue him.
Gu Mian, who held the Moon Crown fragments at this moment, could naturally also sense that the Dragon, who also possessed the Moon Crown, was tracking him by perceiving the anomalies in his fog. At this speed, she would catch up soon. Facing this situation, Gu Mian's heart couldn't help but feel extremely anxious.
'That despicable spider head, didn't we agree that after the Dream World opened and the fog dispersed, she would immediately perform a ritual while the fog was thin to tell me her location? Where is she now?!'
Gu Mian thought anxiously at this moment. According to their plan, Gesijina should have performed a special Moon Crown summoning ritual right after the Dream World opened, while the fog was still thin, to activate his Moon Crown fragments and guide him to Gesijina's location. Then, the two of them could use the Moon Crown fragments to move relatively freely within the fog-covered Tivian compared to many others.
When Gu Mian first entered Tivian, he had been looking forward to Gesijina's ritual connection. As long as Gu Mian found Gesijina, she could help him deal with the powerful and troublesome Dragon behind him. But now, Gesijina showed no signs of movement at all. Unaware that Gesijina was entangled in a battle with Atchelly and unable to escape to help him in a short time, Gu Mian felt exceptionally resentful for a moment.
Unable to get Gesijina's help immediately, Gu Mian felt extremely anxious facing the constantly approaching Dragon behind him. At this moment, a single method to escape arose in his mind.
'Now, this is the only way...'
While Gu Mian was making a difficult decision, the Dragon form of Dorothy continued to fly rapidly towards the direction of the fog disturbance, relying on the detection of the Moon Crown on her body. With continuous acceleration, she was finally about to catch up to the opponent.
After another roar, the Dragon suddenly accelerated and finally caught up to the target's location, entering a circle where much of the fog had been cleared. Just as she was about to launch an attack, she discovered an anomaly.
In this circle where the fog had disappeared, Dorothy did not see Gu Mian's unusual shadow. Instead, there was a large white moth. After a moment of surprise, Dorothy rushed forward and struck with a claw, unleashing a strong gust of wind that shattered the moth. From the broken moth, two black jades fell out and were caught by Dorothy. Those were the Moon Crown fragments held by Gu Mian!
"This is... an avatar created by that guy! He used an avatar to wrap these two black jades and created a lure to trick us!"
Looking at the scene before them, the illusory form of the Black Cat said in astonishment beside the Dragon's head. Since he roughly knew how Dorothy was tracking him, in a critical moment, Gu Mian chose to use the Moon Crown fragments in his hand to create a lure, continuously misguiding Dorothy in the fog, while he himself completely relied on no fog-clearing methods and vanished into the Fog of Bewilderment, becoming lost.
This was Gu Mian's only way to escape under these circumstances. If Gu Mian had simply turned off the fog-clearing effect of the Moon Crown fragments in his hand and become lost, the Dragon, who was not far away, would very likely immediately discern his intention. After judging his approximate lost direction, she would immediately push through the fog using her Moon Crown and search everywhere within a certain area, capturing him who couldn't distinguish direction at all. The probability of being found would be very high.
Therefore, Gu Mian could only perform a 'golden cicada shedding its shell' maneuver, making himself lost while using the Moon Crown fragments in his hand as a lure to draw the Dragon further away, significantly reducing the probability of being found in a short time. The disturbance pattern in the fog caused by two Moon Crown fragments is different from that caused by one. As soon as there was a difference, the Dragon would surely see through it immediately. Thus, for his absolute safety, Gu Mian used both fragments. Although he handed over the Moon Crown fragments in his hand, he exchanged them for temporary safety.
And this temporary safety was exactly the time Gu Mian needed to buy...
"He's really willing to part with them..."
Looking at the two Moon Crown fragments she had just obtained, the Dragon form of Dorothy commented. Just as she was about to use all three Moon Crown fragments together to dispel the fog and search for Gu Mian, a sudden change occurred at the scene.
Light, the divine purifying radiance from the sun, descended from the sky, illuminating the earth. Under the illumination of the radiance, more than half of the fog covering the city was instantly dispersed, and the entire city reappeared from the mist.
The moment the fog was dispersed, Dorothy saw a figure at the other end of the distant city spreading wings and shooting straight into the sky. Looking closely, it was a strange humanoid figure with insect wings – that was Gu Mian!
Gu Mian's flying target was the illusory Shadow of the Dream World Woodland in the sky. The light illuminating Tivian now also shone into the Dream World's bewildering domain, whose boundary with Tivian was blurred. The originally denser fog that had lingered in the domain was now also gradually being dispersed under this radiance.
As the radiance continuously approached and dispersed the fog, deep within the mist, a giant white cocoon, suspended among countless enormous trees, was faintly emerging. Gu Mian was making his final flight towards that giant cocoon. During this process, his body seemed to resonate with the giant cocoon, emitting an unusual radiance and rapidly expanding, beginning a transformation Dorothy had never seen before. It seemed the very nature of his existence was also undergoing some kind of change.
"Moth... I'm coming..."
Towards the highest point in the sky, towards the white Holy Cocoon in the illusory Dream World Woodland, Gu Mian, who was rapidly transforming, began his final pilgrimage.