Under the influence of ill fortune, Ince Zangwill's chaotic aura touched the Death's aura remaining on the scissors, triggering the 'Till Death Do Us Part' effect that Klein had never activated before.
The feather wolf, whose eye sockets burned with pale flames, paused, then his body collapsed. His feathers, some pristine white, some stained with pale yellow grease, fell off one by one, and his coarse black short fur became dull, his aura turning decayed and dilapidated.
Leonard had originally wanted to pull out the scissors and stab twice more, but the pervasive sense of danger in his heart allowed his rationality to overcome his anger. He used Mirror Blink via Creeping Hunger to move away from Ince Zangwill.
As soon as Leonard left, exaggerated lightning bolts gathered in mid-air, intertwining and weaving together to form a dazzling silver spear. Carrying a tangible aura of destruction, it descended from the sky, piercing into Ince Zangwill's lower body, destroying most of his incomplete mythical creature body.
After doing all this, Klein raised a hand to rub his glabella, alleviating the discomfort caused by excessive spiritual consumption. He then left the Gray Fog, intending to personally kill Ince Zangwill to avenge himself, his captain, and all those who had innocently sacrificed their lives.
Before leaving the Gray Fog, he looked up at the sky. The twilight spreading across the sky in his eyes seemed like a giant longsword, veiled in orange-red light, cleaving through the hazy glow that appeared to be composed of countless illusory things, causing it to rapidly decay, completely collapse, and perish.
Klein, having left the Gray Fog, quickly arrived beside the mutilated Ince Zangwill.
He restored his original appearance, raised a hand to pull down the semi-tall silk top hat he wore, and, suppressing the effects of the incomplete mythical creature form on himself, he slowly stepped forward, took out the revolver from his waist holster, and pressed it against Ince Zangwill's almost unrecognizable head.
Feeling someone approaching, a strong sense of danger briefly freed Ince Zangwill from the paralysis caused by the lightning and the pain of losing most of his body. His charred, acrid-smelling brain, from which grayish-white fluid slowly oozed, trembled slightly, and his throat groaned, emitting a guttural, 'Hoo… hoo…' sound.
Klein curled his lips into an ugly smile and mocked the prostrate, weak Ince Zangwill:
"It seems the 'till Death do we part' effect is stronger than I anticipated. Even a demigod finds it hard to bear."
"Heh, I forgot, your last remaining eye was also blinded by Leonard. It takes away much of the fun if you can't personally witness my revenge."
As if provoked by Klein's voice, Ince Zangwill briefly regained some lucidity and said in a hoarse, broken voice:
"...It...it's you..."
"Yes, that's right, it's me! I've come to take my revenge on you!"
Bang!
As soon as the words fell, Klein unhesitatingly pulled the trigger. The muzzle of the 'Death Knell' revolver fired a clear yellow bullet, which embedded itself in Ince Zangwill's head.
This was the reward he received for helping Anderson solve his misfortune problem. Compared to the 'till Death do we part' scissors, he still felt that the revolver suited his persona better, and the negative effects of 'till Death do we part' were too strong, so it could only be used by his marionettes.
Pausing for two seconds, Klein tilted his head, letting the tears at the corners of his eyes remain, and then spoke again:
"The Death Knell tolls for you!"
Bang!
As the words fell, another gunshot rang out.
A silver demon-hunting bullet pierced through Ince Zangwill's spine, leaving only his head able to move.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets shot out from the 'Death Knell' revolver, turning Ince Zangwill's head into a hornet's nest.
"This is the last shot, for my own revenge, for the peaceful life I can no longer return to."
As he spoke, he cocked the hammer, infused the remaining spiritual power into it, pulled the trigger, and fired a bullet with the 'Slaughter' effect.
Bang!
Ince Zangwill's head shattered in response, scattering charred, grayish-white, and dark-red matter all over the ground.
"I thought you were dead."
Danitz, with blue eyeshadow and blush, had unknowingly walked over to Klein's side. Looking at this person who was both familiar and strange to her, she didn't know what to feel for a moment. Her words eventually turned into a sigh:
"It's good, it's good..."
"He would be happy, at least, you're still alive..."
A cold tear silently traced her cheek, dropping onto the charred earth, splattering a speck of white.
A cold wind howled, and Danitz pushed forward with both hands. A large Door creaked and swayed into appearance. From the cracks, countless transparent entities surged out: some were skeletal arms, some were vines covered in infant faces, some were bizarre tentacles covered in fangs and eyes...
They scrambled towards Ince Zangwill's corpse, dragging out a translucent, blurry Spirit Body from his shattered remains, pulling and tearing at it, devouring his remaining spirit bit by bit.
Klein was silent for a moment, then gave Danitz a gentle, calm smile.
"Madam, we have completed our revenge."
"Yes, but my heart feels even emptier..."
Danitz gazed blankly at the devoured Spirit Body, her eyes gradually losing focus.
After a long while, she suddenly snapped back to reality, looked at Leonard and Klein, who were nervously observing her, smoothed her hair, and chuckled:
"Heh, I was just sighing. It's not enough to make me seek Death."
Not far away, Anderson wisely did not go to disturb those who clearly had quite a story. He sat cross-legged on a grayish-white stone, gazing intently at the sky.
On his forehead, a pure light-shimmering Eyes of Mystery Prying flickered in and out of existence, and as he moved, this Eyes of Mystery Prying also looked up at the sky above.
The Eyes of Mystery Prying's gaze pierced through the orange-red twilight, seeing a Warrior seated high on a throne, his longsword planted before him.
His face was hidden behind a faceplate, and his armor had an indescribable sense of decay and desolation.
Opposite this Warrior, a figure was hidden amidst layers of Steam roars and turning gears, carrying an indescribable sense of weight, as if bearing a glorious history and civilization.
The Eyes of Mystery Prying's gaze only lingered for a moment before quickly moving away, to prevent the other party from following the gaze and seeing himself, seeing his true body entangled with Amon.
The brilliant Cosmos in the sky silently vanished. The endlessly surging black mist, condensed from countless emotions and desires, seemed to lose its support, cascading down from the sky like a waterfall.
Directly beneath the black "waterfall," in a place overlooked by everyone, a weathered man knelt devoutly on an altar.
His forehead, eye corners, and mouth were deeply wrinkled, but his hair was dark and lustrous, without a single silver strand. His eyes held a mad crimson, and he murmured in ancient hermes:
"Lord Who Created Everything, the Sovereign behind the curtain of shadows, the Fallen true self of all living beings."
"Great Lord! Your faithful servant implores Your descent, implores You to return to this land..."
"Great Lord! I offer my life, soul, and faith as sacrifice, imploring You to open the Door to Your kingdom..."
As the prayers continued, Leomaster, this devout believer of the True Creator and the Aurora Order's Saint of darkness, was engulfed in illusory, transparent, bloody flames, which gradually melted his flesh, turning it into a dark-red, viscous liquid that writhed and boiled on the altar, slowly forming the shape of a portal.
The black "waterfall" descending from the sky was guided by an invisible force into the portal, expanding the Door and completing it.
As the black "waterfall" descended, this place, which had been overlooked by everyone, interacted with the outside world, reappearing in their sight.
Immediately, all gazes turned towards it, some from the Astral World, some from the Abyss...
In the Mind World, Ariehogg, in his Dragon form, suddenly reined in his aura, reverting to the image of an old man with dark gold hair and beard. Before him, a closed brass book floated silently.
Around him, the woven, almost true images of various ancient gods and Monsters disappeared one after another, including the tall giant that Adam had transformed into.
Ariehogg's gaze leisurely looked into the distance, penetrating the barrier between the Mind World and the real world, and saw the summoning ritual that had already taken shape, the summoning ritual belonging to the True Creator!
"What a grand performance, deceiving everyone, even the Mother Tree in the Cosmos became part of the stage."
"After today, the identity of 'Ancient Dragon' Ariehogg will be completely equated with Ankewelt, the Dragon of Imagination."
As he murmured, the brass book he held in his hands spontaneously flew away, transforming into a pale yellow stream of light, piercing through the spiritual sky above the Mind World, entering the Spirit World, and disappearing into the Library deep within the Spirit World Depths.
Ariehogg stepped forward with a relaxed posture, leaving the Mind World.
In Berens Port, within the isolated space sealed by the Mystical Reenactment of "Peach Blossom Source," countless Worm of Time swiftly moved between books, transforming into wandering light and shadow.
Like Woodworms, they drilled "holes" through the high walls made of stacked books.
Finally, at a certain moment, a Worm of Time successfully drilled out from the stacked books.
The pale white light and shadow rapidly converged, re-forming Amon's figure. Through theft, deception, and conceptual substitution, he made this Worm of Time directly equivalent to the whole, moving all the Worm of Time out of the stacked books.