Chapter 39: That Black Shadow

Chapter 39: That Black Shadow

The instant she saw that black shadow, Bernadette had no time to feel fear. By instinct, she clenched her right hand and condensed a spear of ancient design.

From its tip to its haft, the spear was stained with blotches and specks of dark crimson blood. It emitted an intense aura of destruction, as though it could wound even a true god.

“The Spear of Longinus!”

This spear had once appeared in an ancient age impossible to trace, stained by the blood of some great existence. Now, through Mystical Re-enactment, it descended inside the Black Emperor’s mausoleum.

However, Bernadette’s forward thrust produced no effect, because the spearhead was pointing behind her.

She had clearly intended to attack the black shadow before her, yet the Spear of Longinus strangely stabbed backward.

In this region, front and back, left and right, up and down seemed to have fallen into chaos—or had suffered distortion.

Above the gray fog, inside the palace, Klein sensed the black shadow the moment it appeared before Bernadette. Without hesitation, he raised the Staff of the Stars in his hand.

At that moment, he did not wait as he had before, observing how the Queen of Mysteries would respond before deciding whether to provide protection. The danger presented by that black shadow gave him, an angel of the Seer pathway, a clear premonition.

More importantly, after Bernadette entered the Black Emperor’s mausoleum, she had repeatedly sensed the existence of the black shadow, yet Klein, even with the true vision provided by Sefirah Castle, had failed to find the slightest clue.

That undoubtedly meant horror and danger.

As the gemstones embedded at the top of the black cane lit up one after another, melodious chimes suddenly echoed through the region where Bernadette and the black shadow were located.

Dong!

The bell chime from infinitely far away carried an indescribable sense of emptiness. It made the inside of the Black Emperor’s mausoleum visibly stagnate and solidify. Bernadette’s figure seemed frozen, stiffened there, unable to make any movement.

However, the black shadow did not fall into the vortex of time. It seemed to exist in another world where the fundamental rules were completely different, swimming forward like a shadow between two contradictory rivers of fate—one surging and one nearly still.

Because of this, it only appeared to slow down. It did not truly suffer the effects of the illusory bell chime.

This was the first time Klein had encountered such a situation after gaining the ability to simulate powers in this domain.

Although the Beyonder effect he simulated through the Staff of the Stars certainly differed considerably from the original, no matter what, it still reflected a measure of authority. It should not have been so easily ignored.

Still, the slowing of the black shadow’s movements gave him a chance to continue with a second attempt.

This time, he activated the Staff of the Stars’ own ability, intending to transfer the Queen of Mysteries out of the Black Emperor’s mausoleum so she could first summarize the experience, then decide whether to enter again.

As the gemstones in the cane’s head flickered, Bernadette’s body, which had nearly come into contact with the black shadow, vanished from where it was.

In the next second, she appeared dozens of meters away, near the high platform inside the mausoleum.

The Staff of the Stars’ transfer had been interfered with. The intended destination had been distorted. Everything seemed abnormally chaotic.

Bernadette was highly experienced. She did not fall into fear or panic because she remained inside the Black Emperor’s mausoleum. She made an immediate decision, raising her left hand and pressing the Sage’s Forehead Ornament toward the center of her forehead while tracing her finger across the Pale Death mask.

The mask that flickered with a metallic sheen abruptly softened and swiftly wriggled, as though it intended to form a face that…