Chapter 106: What I Have and You Don’t

Chapter 106: What I Have and You Don’t

The deep, dark “sea” instantly swallowed the brilliant sphere of light, causing the entire Domain of No Darkness to darken considerably.

Immediately afterward, one silver-white bolt of lightning after another erupted from within it, turning the area where Enuni and Colin Iliad were locked in battle into a forest of thunder.

Amid sizzling crackles, countless electric serpents raced across the surface of Colin Iliad’s silver armor, surging upward and drilling into the gaps of his visor.

This Silver Knight, who had revealed his incomplete Mythical Creature form, immediately stiffened, as though slightly paralyzed by the lightning. As for Enuni, the black armor that seemed formed from the power of degeneration completely absorbed the thunder, while the fragmentation of his body prevented his main self from being affected.

Seizing the chance, Enuni, from whom black fragments kept falling, gripped the deep-black greatsword with both hands and slashed diagonally forward. At that moment, Colin Iliad had yet to fully break free from the paralysis.

With a tearing sound, a deep gash appeared at his left shoulder. The sturdy silver armor seemed to have lost its defensive power and was directly cleaved open by the straight, deep-black greatsword.

This was the Black Knight’s Blade of Flesh and Spirit. It could not only corrode flesh, annihilate the soul, and cut through barriers, but could also make the defenses of any creature with degenerate thoughts fail. It was the core Beyonder ability of the Black Knight, born from the domain of degeneration.

Seeing the Blade of Flesh and Spirit slice open the silver armor at Colin Iliad’s left shoulder, with the wound rapidly deepening and heading straight for his heart, Derrick’s mind tightened. He immediately condensed a crackling lance that seemed formed from pure sunlight and swung his arm, hurling it at Enuni.

Spear of No Darkness!

Enuni did not give up his attack, nor did he dodge. He merely raised the remaining illusory black wings and used them to cover himself.

Sizzle!

The Spear of No Darkness pierced through two layers of illusory black wings and burst with light so blindingly white that it was as though a miniature “sun” had risen there.

At the same time, Colin Iliad’s entire person suddenly melted, transforming into a puddle of flowing silver metallic liquid.

The liquid rapidly flowed and reassembled his body in the distance. He was still in the form of a giant, still wearing silver armor. However, a small portion of the City of Silver Chief’s left shoulder, along with his arm and hand, had fallen to the ground. The cut was smooth and flat, without a drop of blood flowing.

Relying on Mercurial Transformation, Colin Iliad had sacrificed one arm to avoid Enuni’s fatal strike.

The gaze behind his visor did not waver in the slightest. Holding his remaining straight sword of dawn, he once more charged at his target like a terrifying steam train that had exceeded its own speed limit.

On the other side, Derrick rapidly condensed Spear after Spear of No Darkness, sending the lances of light crackling toward Enuni.

During this process, he also opened his mouth and spoke solemnly.

“God says, purification is effective.”

This was the Notary’s Beyonder ability as expressed at the level of an Unshadowed One.

It fit so perfectly with the Domain of No Darkness created by the Sun Saint that the battlefield grew brighter again, causing the degenerate auras on Enuni and Lovia to diminish once more.

“God says, ineffective!” The Sun Saint immediately denied Derrick’s “words,” making the purifying effect of the Domain of No Darkness return to its previous state.

Amid crackling sounds, one Spear of No Darkness after another flew toward Enuni. The illusory black wings behind this Black Knight had already faded and vanished in several pairs beneath the previous miniature sun’s “illumination,” leaving less than half of their original number.

Seeing the radiant, pure lances of light come one after another while he himself was entangled by Colin Iliad and unable to dodge effectively, Enuni fully spread another pair of illusory black wings, letting them break apart into a patch of “deep black.”

The moment the Spears of No Darkness touched this “deep black,” they were stained with a layer of sticky darkness. Some corroded and snapped instantly, piercing into the grand staircase; others traced arcs through the air, turning back toward Derrick Berg.

In that instant, all of them had fallen.

Seeing this, Derrick followed the combat instincts cultivated through long training, patrols, and exploration. He threw himself forward and rolled, then rolled again.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Behind him, black lances fell one after another, corroding a large section of the stairs.

At that moment, the Sun Saint was also throwing Spears of No Darkness and creating Pure White Rays, forcing Lovia to continuously “blink” with one of the souls she shepherded as she began trying to close in on the enemy.

What she regretted was that, in this state, she could only use the ability of one soul at a time. She could not “blink” while also condensing silver-white rapiers to slash the Sun Saint from a distance, creating an opening for herself.

On the other side, Klein and his own “shadow” were fighting with unusual intensity. Amid the repeated bangs of air cannonballs, clusters of crimson flames rose one after another, scraps of paper scattered everywhere, and layers of illusions dissolved into foam.

As for the Silver Knight marionette, he was basically suppressing the Spectator Saint. After all, no matter how strong the Mind Dragon’s fleshly body was, or how immense its strength, it would not be the match of a demigod of the Giant pathway in close combat.

Of course, the Spectator Saint was not in peril either. After all, he had revealed an incomplete Mythical Creature form. If his opponent had not been merely a marionette, and if Klein himself had not already digested the Sequence 3 potion and seen many high-level beings, he could have used his prominent divinity to interfere with his opponent’s thoughts, making him gradually grow manic and slowly lose reason.

Without the advantage of divine influence, the Spectator Saint could only use the Hypnotist’s Combat Hypnosis to forcibly make his target perform abnormal actions—for example, attacking in the wrong direction—and then use that to shake off the entanglement, reenter Psychological Invisibility, and attempt to ambush Klein.

Combat Hypnosis could forcibly hypnotize enemies during battle, making them carry out all kinds of abnormal actions. However, such actions could not directly harm the hypnotized person, nor could they be maintained for long. The target would soon awaken.

Of course, the Spectator Saint’s target for Combat Hypnosis was certainly not the Silver Knight marionette, for it was essentially a dead person and immune to all mental influences. The target he interfered with was the intent Klein transmitted through the Spirit Body Threads. By doing this, the marionette would receive erroneous information and make movements that did not accord with Klein’s wishes.

In truth, this was already interference with intent rather than mental hypnosis, and its effect undoubtedly could not reach the level of the original version. Yet not every Saint of the Spectator pathway could master such an application. It belonged to the results of deeply excavating and experimenting with one’s own Beyonder powers.

For the Spectator Saint, this was also something he had no choice but to do, because whether it was Mind Deprivation, Psychic Storm, or Psychic Breath, none of them could affect a marionette.

The grayish-white dragon whose head was shrouded in shadow tried several times to approach Klein or use area-type Beyonder powers, but he was always stopped by the Silver Knight marionette and forced to dodge first by the silver-white rapiers that could explode from within his own body.

While controlling his marionette, Klein kept his distance from the Spectator Saint and circled against his “shadow.” It wasn’t exactly easy, but it did not burden him greatly either.

Suddenly, his spiritual intuition stirred, and he entered that lucid state that appeared when his dream and mind had been secretly invaded.

With that clarity, Klein allowed part of his consciousness to ascend beneath the spiritual sky, overlooking the island of his mind.

Then he saw the aged-looking Enuni, his face covered in shadow, walk out from the illusory and boundless sea of collective subconsciousness and open the door to his Mind Body.

This Spectator Saint did not attempt to modify the awareness within Klein’s mind island. Instead, he pinched out a dark sphere of light from which tentacles grew outward, letting it become an almost undetectable “seed” that fell toward the “ground.”

The source seed of a Psychic Plague!

Without hesitation, Klein immediately switched positions with the Silver Knight marionette, preventing the Psychic Plague seed from landing and taking root on the island of his mind.

The Spectator Saint sensed the change, but instead of disappointment, a faint smile appeared.

That was because, through a virtual persona, he had long since secretly planted the seed of a Psychic Plague inside the silent, deathly island of consciousness belonging to the Silver Knight marionette. Although it could not affect the marionette itself, it could quietly contaminate the enemy who switched positions with the marionette, along with other targets in the surrounding area.

This was a kind of corrosion and infection aimed at the island of consciousness and the spiritual world, not a direct attack. It was difficult to cancel out using a virtual persona.

At that moment, the problem Klein had temporarily hidden through the virtual persona would erupt completely. He would swiftly enter the path toward losing control, and there would be no way to reverse it.

The “shadow” was not unfamiliar with such a situation, because Hvin Rambis had once used a similar method.

As he secretly laughed at how the main body had become deranged, reckless, arrogant, and clown-like, forgetting the lesson of the past, he snapped his fingers with a pa and summoned a crimson stream of flame. Through it, he leaped over and entangled Klein.

Another intense battle began, with scraps of paper flying all over the sky and layer upon layer of illusions breaking apart.

Before long, Klein suddenly froze. He raised the left palm formed from twisted, transparent worms and covered the left side of his face, which was in a similar state.

“Hahaha, hahaha.” He let out laughter full of madness. Like a lunatic, he began manipulating the Spirit Body Threads around him without distinguishing friend from foe.

On the right side of his face, pale buds of flesh protruded one after another, as if Spirit Worms were about to drill out.

Seeing Klein become mad and on the verge of losing control, the “shadow,” fearing infection by the Psychic Plague, hurriedly made a crimson flame leap up and devour himself.

In the distance, his figure jumped out from a stream of flame that had yet to extinguish.

At that moment, the Silver Knight marionette sometimes launched attacks and sometimes leapt into convulsive dances, clearly under abnormal control.

He no longer had the strength to stop the Mind Dragon transformed from the Spectator Saint. The dragon spread its membranous wings, flew above Klein, and prepared to unleash Psychic Breath.

The Spectator Saint did not want to give the enemy infected by the Psychic Plague any chance to recover. He intended to make him lose control immediately.

Suddenly, the Mind Dragon’s movements grew sluggish, as though thick glue had been poured into every one of its joints.

In the next second, silver-white sharpness erupted from within its body, cutting through its flesh and tearing apart its spirit body.

Klein, who had been bent over laughing, abruptly became calm. Slowly, he straightened and lowered the hand covering the left side of his face. Then he lifted the corner of his mouth toward the distant “shadow.”

Behind him, the Mind Dragon was torn by wave after wave of silver-white sharpness, turning into chunks of blackened flesh that fell to the ground with wet slaps. The knight marionette in silver armor withdrew the greatsword in his hands and looked coldly at the “shadow.”

Klein looked at the slightly bewildered “shadow.” Several Spirit Worms on the left side of his face bent and extended, imitating the upward curve of a mouth.

“You seem not to have noticed something.

“There is one thing I have that you do not.”