Chapter 112: The Nature of the Enemy

Chapter 112: The Nature of the Enemy

When he discovered that the Dark Angel had awakened, Klein’s heart only tightened. He was filled with vigilance, but he did not feel too much panic or tension. After all, he had preliminarily confirmed that the true Dark Angel had already returned into the Ancient Sun God. After being betrayed by existences such as the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Blazing Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, “He” had been reborn upon the corpse, mainly from negative and extreme emotions, evolving into the True Creator. “He” had not returned here. What remained should at most be some spirit and will.

Furthermore, he had just had a comparatively normal exchange with the remnant spirit of the Dark Angel Sasrir, and had not sensed any obvious hostility.

But when Lovia, elder of the City of Silver’s six-member council, lost control without the slightest ability to resist the moment the Dark Angel opened “His” eyes, turning into a flowing shadow and eyes hidden behind a curtain of darkness, Klein’s pupils widened uncontrollably. The corners of his mouth lifted dramatically, and an intense fear and despair surged in his heart—as if he could only watch himself fall into the abyss, with not a single straw to grasp.

Merely waking from slumber, without using a Beyonder power or revealing a Mythical Creature form, had made a Sequence 4 demigod of the same pathway lose control on the spot. What level of status was that? How terrifying was that?

At that moment, the titles that had earlier echoed in Klein’s mind surfaced one after another.

God’s left hand. Deputy of the heavenly kingdom. The King of Kings of Angels!

It wasn’t that Klein had never dealt with Kings of Angels. On the contrary, he had startled the Red Angel Medici, made a transaction with the Angel of Imagination Adam, indirectly obtained the key to this palace from the Wisdom Angel Herabergen, extracted potion formulas from the Pure White Angel Auceses, used the true name of the Wind Angel to help himself, broken the Fate Angel Ouroboros’s “cycle of fate” right in front of “Him,” and engaged in battles of wit with the Time Angel Amon multiple times. One could say that beneath Sequence 0, he was the person with the most intersections with Kings of Angels.

However, in those divine-level interactions, most of the time he either had not fought the Kings of Angels at all, or had relied on the power of Sefirah Castle to escape instantly or sever the connection. He had never truly faced Kings of Angels or gods in direct confrontation. The sole exception had been when he was captured by the Time Angel Amon and engaged in repeated struggles over several short days.

But even then, the main contest had been one of intelligence, not combat. The Time Angel Amon had displayed more of the traits of a God of Deceit than the full status and power of a King of Angels. Only at the final moment had “He” revealed a portion of it, and even that had been blocked by the Evernight Goddess using the Giant King’s youngest son, preventing direct harm or influence to Klein.

Even so, when the Time Angel Amon had occasionally revealed a hint of “His” might along the way, “He” had easily dealt with the “strongest helper group” Klein could summon—strength that surpassed Klein’s present peak and could no longer be reproduced. After all, if he tried to summon Zaratul’s historical projection again, the one in danger would be himself.

And now, Klein, Colin Iliad, and The Sun Derrick faced the King of Kings of Angels, the deputy of the heavenly kingdom filled with malice—God’s left hand, who could make a Sequence 4 demigod collapse and lose control in a single instant.

Faced with such an enemy, such a status, such power—how could despair not arise in their hearts?

For an instant, Klein wanted to abandon Derrick and the Chief of the City of Silver directly, answer Sefirah Castle’s summons, return above the gray fog with a single thought, and rely on his last miracle and the Deceit Bullet to resurrect outside the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

As his thoughts raced, Klein raised the Staff of the Stars in his hand.

Just then, the shadow formed from Lovia’s collapse and loss of control stopped flowing. A low voice came from it, filled with pain but not madness.

“He isn’t that strong!”

As she spoke, the curtain-like shadow split apart, revealing what was hidden behind it.

It was a mass of wriggling flesh nearly two meters tall. At its top protruded a pair of pale-gray eyes that seemed to watch the whole world, still containing obvious remnants of rational light.

On the rest of the fleshly mass, arms, forearms, thighs, and calves grew one after another without skin, their thick blood slowly flowing. Some supported the body, while others retracted layer upon layer toward its “chest,” tightly embracing a large, milky-white human skull.

The curtain of shadow fell again, covering the mass of flesh and becoming “her” cloak.

Then, in front of Lovia appeared an illusory figure five or six meters tall, dressed in full silver armor.

It was the Silver Knight she shepherded.

She could still control herself and launch attacks at the Dark Angel Sasrir.

Seeing this scene and hearing Lovia’s words, Klein and Colin Iliad needed no further explanation to swiftly understand what she meant.

The Dark Angel Sasrir was not as strong as “He” appeared. “He” had merely used the authority of Degeneration, along with the influence a higher-ranking being of the same pathway had over lower Sequences, to make Lovia’s body degenerate, betray her, and collapse on the spot. Her spirit itself remained awake and rational, and to a certain degree she could still control her own power.

Of course, with her body out of control, large amounts of corruption would erode Lovia’s spirit. It would not be long before she went completely mad—unless the battle could be resolved quickly and in time, and a method found to transform her into an evil spirit, allowing her to survive in another form.

With this understanding, and combined with the first Blasphemy Slate he had just seen and the conjectures he had made, Klein gained a preliminary judgment of who the enemy before him truly was.

“He” was a product formed from the remnant spirit, will, and aura left behind by the Dark Angel, blended with the power of the Chaos Sea brought by the first Blasphemy Slate. Perhaps “He” even contained a little of the Primordial—that is, the awakened consciousness of the original Creator. Only a little, and it was mad, filled with malice.

This was equivalent to an unusual evil spirit, though it was hard to say whether it counted as a complete angel.

And this was very likely why high-ranking existences such as the True Creator, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and Amon’s brother did not personally enter the Giant King’s palace. Once one drew close to the Primordial, close to the Chaos Sea, the higher one’s Sequence, the more dangerous it became!

Back when Amon, known as Error, had used a clone to ambush Klein in Chernobyl, “He” had not dared to truly enter the Chaos Sea either. “He” had only climbed down the cliff and hidden near the Chaos Sea, pretending to have emerged from it. Otherwise, this might very well have affected “His” main body.

Those of lower Sequence, however, could not withstand the erosion accumulated over more than two thousand years that had surged out after the doors of the Giant King’s residence were opened.

Even if those high-ranking existences carefully selected suitable Sequence 3 or Sequence 4 demigods and indirectly helped them defeat the effects of that erosion, allowing them to enter the shadow-hidden place of slumber, without the aura of a sefirah to resist the negative effects brought by the leaking power of the Chaos Sea, they could never truly approach the remnant figure of the Dark Angel Sasrir and obtain the first Blasphemy Slate.

Therefore, the True Creator had tolerated Klein again and again, only seeking opportunities to erode him and force him to meet the Dark Angel Sasrir, precisely because Klein was the one and only candidate.

By the same logic, gods and Kings of Angels who cared about this matter, such as the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Herabergen, and the Angel of Imagination Adam, had more or less made arrangements around Klein and given him a certain amount of assistance.

Without hesitation, Klein, who had already raised the Staff of the Stars, rapidly sketched a scene in his mind. Colin Iliad stepped forward and lowered his back.

The Chief of the City of Silver’s body expanded violently. Once again, he revealed an incomplete Mythical Creature form, becoming a five-to-six-meter-tall Silver Knight covered in silver armor, wielding two enormous straight swords of dawn.

Derrick was half a beat slower than the two experienced demigods. He swiftly spread his arms, as though embracing the void before him.

At that moment, two clusters of pitch-black flame ignited in the awakened Dark Angel Sasrir’s eyes.

Comparable in height to a giant, “He” lowered “His” left arm, pressed “His” palm against the armrest, and slowly stood up. One magnificent accessory after another fell from “His” body, while the illusory black wings behind “Him” unfurled layer upon layer.

During this process, the shadow “cloak” around the wriggling mass of flesh that Lovia had become came alive. It abruptly tightened inward, binding her firmly in place.

At the same time, before the black robe wound with silver threads and inscribed with mysterious patterns on the Dark Angel Sasrir’s body, one silver-white electric serpent after another leapt out of nowhere. They grew rapidly and, amid crackling sounds, tangled together, swiftly extending forward and transforming into a resplendent sea of lightning that tried to drown the entire shadow palace.

Dong!

An illusory bell toll rang out from the long river of history, echoing melodiously inside the shadow palace.

In front of Klein appeared a mottled, ancient stone clock. Its dial was divided by grayish-white and bluish-black into twelve unequal sections. Within each section was a different mysterious, asymmetrical symbol.

The three hands, which seemed formed from Worms of Time and varied in length, immediately jumped lightly.

Dong!

The bell toll echoed again. The sea of lightning rapidly spreading through the shadow palace visibly froze.

Klein had successfully used the Staff of the Stars to reproduce the Beyonder power of the Time Angel Amon!

Moreover, the effect was considerably better than when he had tried before.

This made him suspect that he had received the permission of that God of Deceit—or even a certain “blessing” directly.

It was not that merely simulating and reproducing Amon’s Beyonder power would draw “His” attention. Rather, this King of Angels was nearly equivalent to the Uniqueness of the Marauder pathway. “He” was the ruler of the corresponding field, the holder of its authority, and could make certain adjustments within a limited range to some abilities ahead of time, adding or deleting certain things.

From the looks of it, Amon also seemed to be looking forward to Klein entering the Giant King’s residence and meeting the Dark Angel Sasrir. That was why “He” had adjusted part of the Beyonder powers within “His” domain ahead of time, lowering a certain kind of “permission” so that a simple simulation and reproduction could still produce a fairly good effect.

Taking advantage of the sea of lightning’s stagnation, the Silver Knight soul driven by Lovia and Colin Iliad simultaneously plunged their greatswords into the ground, creating two layers of invisible barriers. Klein’s figure faded, vanishing from where he stood.