Shepherd Lovia's response made Joshua even more vigilant. He looked at the other members of the expedition team and asked anxiously, "What's going on?
He looked at the other members of the expedition team and anxiously asked, "Did you hear any abnormal footsteps?"
With the Thunder God's Roar hammer and the straight broadsword in hand, Derrick recalled for a few seconds before shaking his head in denial. With the Unshadowed Crucifix in hand, Haim looked at the Sealed Artifact whose gaze didn't change.
He replied, "Perhaps you were hallucinating?"
"No, I heard it clearly." Joshua, who was wearing a scarlet glove, frowned and expressed his opinion.
Upon hearing this, Demon Hunter Colin, who was walking right in front, turned his body and calmly instructed, "Haim, Antiona, check on Joshua's condition.
"Haim, Antiona, check on Joshua's condition."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Haim immediately walked in front of Joshua and placed the Unshadowed Crucifix, which was formed from pure light, on his teammate's forehead.
However, the Sealed Artifact didn't experience any changes.
Right on the heels of that, the wine-red-haired female warrior, Antiona, also came to Joshua's side and raised her left hand.
She wore a pale gold bracelet on her wrist, and there were three small bells covered in golden scales hanging from it.
The tinkling sounds echoed in the surroundings, calming Joshua's mind. He was no longer as tense and anxious.
"No problem." Antiona cast her gaze at Chief Colin Iliad.
Colin's eyes were already suffused with two complex dark-green symbols. He looked at Joshua for a few seconds and nodded.
"It might not be a hallucination, but you have to constantly pay attention to whether there's anything abnormal about you."
Seeing that the Chief supported him, Joshua secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
"Alright."
Temporarily putting aside their doubts, the City of Silver's expedition team continued down the huge staircase that was bathed in the light of dusk.
Suddenly, everyone heard a muffled groan.
From the corner of his eye, Derrick Berg saw Joshua raise his hands and clutch his neck tightly.
As he was a Dawn Paladin, he was extremely strong. Just as he let out a grunt, his hands snapped his neck with a crack.
Joshua collapsed with a gloomy and twisted expression. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
The one who killed him was actually himself!
"…" Although Derrick and the rest couldn't react in time to what had happened, their long years of training and experience in the depths of the darkness made them instinctively form a battle formation, and they were wary of any subsequent attacks.
Then, they heard another muffled groan.
It was from Shepherd Elder Lovia.
The silver-haired lady's facial muscles tightened, and there was an obvious twitch and wriggle, as if she was growing another face.
She fell to her knees on the wide staircase with a thud. The pain was indescribable.
She slowly but uncontrollably raised her hands and pinched her neck.
Just as Lovia was about to exert her strength, two swords smeared with silver ointment reached out and parried her palms.
The prepared Demon Hunter Colin responded in time.
Lovia's body twitched as she lowered her head even further. She opened her mouth and spat out pieces of torn flesh and incomplete organs.
She took a deep breath as if she had finally recovered. Then, she propped herself up with her elbows and crawled forward. She swallowed the flesh and organs she had just spat out in a pious and humble manner.
Demon Hunter Colin, who had several old scars on his face, watched this scene silently without stopping her.
Finally, Lovia raised her head, her pale gray eyes unfocused.
"It's corruption.
"It's a corruption that everyone has."
"Do you have a solution?" Colin asked without any change in his tone.
Lovia nodded without hesitation.
"Yes."
Just as she said that, she had already used her right hand to grab her left index finger. With a snap, she snapped it off and forcefully pulled it out. She stuffed it into her mouth along with the blood and bone. As she chewed, she muttered:
"The Lord that created everything;
"The ruler behind the shadow curtain;
"The depraved nature of all living beings …"
The honorific name of the True Creator … His eyelids twitched when he heard that. Suddenly, he felt as if something subtle had happened around him.
The orange-red light of dusk became a little richer, closer to the color of blood.
Above the gray fog, The Fool Klein's expression instantly turned solemn.
Although he didn't see anything through his "true vision," he could vaguely sense that a gaze was cast over from afar. It interfered with his observation, causing his clarity and range to weaken.
In addition, the gaze gave Klein a strange sense of familiarity.
It's hard not to be familiar with it. The first half of my life after transmigrating was spent dealing with "Him" — "His" son of god, "His" Oracle, "His" wish to descend, the items left behind by "His" believers, "His" crazy ravings, and all sorts of murals related to "Him" … At this moment, Klein was completely certain that the person who had begun watching the City of Silver's expedition team was the True Creator.
Frankly speaking, when Lovia began chanting that person's honorific name, Klein really wanted to give her a Lightning Storm to eliminate the problem before it happened. However, he ultimately resisted the urge because he wasn't confident that he could kill the Shepherd in one strike. The evil spirit that Lovia Grazed was likely a Sequence 3. Although it was long dead, its current overall strength was still at the level of a Sequence 4. It wouldn't be a problem for it to withstand Lightning Storm, which was close to but not at the level of an angel.
And if The Fool wasn't able to kill Lovia in a simple and straightforward manner, then Demon Hunter Colin would be showing his cowardice.
In addition, Klein believed that Colin Iliad was happy to see Shepherd Elder Lovia recite the True Creator's honorific name. He wanted to use this to keep Mr. Fool in check and achieve a certain balance.
This was actually a form of disrespect in front of a deity. It was very easy to anger those great existences, but Colin Iliad had no choice. He wouldn't and couldn't simply believe The Fool and the True Creator. All he could do was try his best to maintain it and test the waters at the edge of the cliff.
Only by doing so would the City of Silver not be suddenly destroyed, just like the city-states that had been buried in the depths of the darkness and covered in the dust of history.
What a pity. If the Unshadowed Crucifix was in my hands at this moment, and I had used all the powers of the mysterious space above the gray fog to coordinate with it, I would've had a chance of instantly killing that Silver Knight evil spirit … This is a natural restraint … Klein sighed silently and could only accept such a development.
He hadn't noticed anything amiss with Joshua until the red-gloved City of Silver warrior strangled his neck. Only then did he see the other party's spirit turn gray and gloomy.
Just as the Shepherd Elder had said, this was his own "degeneration." It wasn't much different from losing himself to money and beauty. It was very difficult for external forces to detect it.
That staircase should have remnants of the godhood that represents degeneration. It has blended into the environment, making it difficult to discover or resist … The stone golems from before didn't have any intelligence or spirituality, so they weren't affected … From the honorific name, the True Creator has the self-nature to control degeneration. Just by looking at it, it can make the corresponding power dissipate … Klein adjusted his state of mind and continued observing the subsequent developments.
During this process, he couldn't help but think of a question:
Is the True Creator also like me, watching the actions of the City of Silver's expedition team from "His" divine kingdom?
… On Earth, if I were to "Reward" friends who are watching the same livestream … Would the True Creator "Reward" them even more? Klein used his teasing thoughts to ease the nervousness and worry caused by the True Creator's gaze.
That was a genuine deity. Be it Adam or Amon, none of them were worthy of being on par with "Him"!
At this moment, Shepherd Lovia had already stood up. Her missing left index finger had also grown back.
She looked at Chief Colin Iliad.
"This area is no longer degenerated."
This also meant that the staircase wasn't that dangerous.
Typically speaking, the expedition team wouldn't care about Joshua's corpse. Be it advancing or retreating, they couldn't waste time. If they stayed in an abnormally dangerous area for too long, it would lead to accidents happening to the other team members. However, since Elder Lovia of the six-member council had used a certain tone to indicate that there were no problems nearby, they could take a short break and deal with the matter.
Derrick put down Haim's broadsword and walked to Joshua's side. After staring at him for a few seconds, he bent down to pick up his scarlet glove and wore it on his left palm.
He still remembered that Joshua was always flaunting this mystical item he had obtained during his explorations. He could also clearly recall that when he walked out of the Afternoon Town camp, Joshua had said that he would be forced to get married after the expedition was over. He didn't know who his wife would be, but an hour later, this teammate had turned into a cold corpse.
To the people of the City of Silver, this was their daily life. No one cried or broke down, but emotions that had already seeped into their bones and blood surged. They were heavy and sorrowful.
They watched as Derrick raised his left hand and aimed his palm at Joshua's corpse.
A ball of blazing flames flew out and engulfed the teammates who had been fighting alongside them just a moment ago.
After the incineration, Demon Hunter Colin put away the Beyonder characteristic that had seeped out. The other team members each grabbed a handful of ashes and placed them in a hidden pocket on their clothes.
In silence, they continued to descend until they reached the bottom of the stairs. There was a majestic palace bathed in the light of dusk. Behind it were corridors and stairs that led to other areas.
The doors of the palace were wide open, and it was pitch black inside. Not a single ray of light could shine in.
Demon Hunter Colin carefully observed for a while before saying, "That's right.
"Just like in the outside world."
What he meant was to use all kinds of methods to maintain the light and not let himself fall into absolute darkness.
Hence, Haim activated the light of the Unshadowed Crucifix, allowing it to envelop all his teammates. Antiona lit a lantern and held it in her hand to prevent the crucifix from suddenly losing effect.
The group of people entered the palace and walked in the seemingly abnormally spacious hall. Their footsteps echoed far away, and none of them returned.
As he walked, he suddenly felt his eyelids become heavy, and he felt a strong sense of drowsiness.
At this moment, he heard the Chief's growl.
"Don't fall asleep!"
Derrick jolted awake, shaking off the exhaustion that prevented him from opening his eyes.
At this moment, a female warrior's body went limp as she collapsed to the ground, as though she had fallen into a deep sleep.
Then, she vanished into thin air. She vanished just like that, right in front of everyone.
Demon Hunter Colin and Shepherd Lovia observed for a while before shaking their heads and leading the team forward.
During this process, they would injure themselves from time to time, using pain in exchange for lucidity.
Finally, they passed through the arches and saw that there was no longer an undispellable darkness in front of them.
With the help of the team's light, they discovered that they were in a hall with countless murals. In the middle of the hall was a long dark red table, and around it were high-back chairs with complicated patterns.
This … Derrick found it a little familiar for some baffling reason.
He immediately came to a realization. This was somewhat similar to the scene at the Tarot Gathering!
Suddenly, balls of light lit up, and whispers could be heard around them.
Around the hall, on the stone pillars that didn't support the dome, scarlet flames were ignited one after another, illuminating the surroundings in an abnormally dazzling manner.
The whispers gradually grew louder, as though they had finally traversed a long and distant space and arrived at their destination. It made the hall bustle as though it was a gathering.
Around the long dark red table, blurry and illusory figures suddenly leaped up and sat on different high-back chairs. There were a total of eleven of them.
PS: Seeking monthly recommendation votes for Monday ~
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