Leyton maintained his posture, leaning against the stone chair, and remained silent. His Spirit Body Threads were being manipulated by Zaratul. Although the process was relatively slow, his body and mind inevitably became sluggish.
At the same time, he was also fabricating normal information and transmitting it along the Spirit Body Threads to Zaratul, creating chaos and weakening his state.
After a brief stalemate, an extremely complex and mysterious three-dimensional symbol slowly formed in mid-air. Everything around it became mottled; even the Beyonder characteristics were dying little by little, reaching their true end.
The corpses that Zaratul had re-transformed into marionettes fell once again. Their flesh and blood rapidly decayed and withered, leaving only pale yellow bones, which also slowly turned into dust and dissipated into the air, as if they had experienced thousands of years in an instant.
Zaratul's body seemed unable to bear this pressure. Slippery tentacles extended from beneath his black robe. His body rapidly collapsed, turning into a pool of wriggling, transparent, distorted worms. They collectively formed tentacles, frantically striking all around and emitting hoarse, unpleasant whispers.
The three-dimensional symbol floating in mid-air seemed to gain substance under Zaratul's striking tentacles, and was bizarrely struck and dispersed, reverting to a silver-white mask decorated with feathers, which fell to the ground.
Freed from the suppression of pale death, countless slippery tentacles extending from the deep, dark worm vortex attacked their surroundings even more frantically.
The moment Leyton's body was touched by Zaratul's tentacles, it slowly virtualized, half a beat later, breaking down into complex information streams that surged into the mind of every Worm of Spirit, attempting to burst them.
Zaratul contracted his body, turning into a wriggling worm vortex, extending countless slippery tentacles, attempting to block the surging information streams around him.
Bang! Bang!
The tentacles formed by Worms of Spirit extending from the worm vortex bizarrely stiffened for a moment, then burst open one after another, scattering a layer of transparent, sticky liquid on the floor.
The remaining Worms of Spirit quickly thinned and became brittle, transforming into a crudely cut paper figure that shattered in mid-air, scattering paper scraps.
Zaratul's figure appeared in another direction of the church hall. His face was overly pale, and transparent worms continuously crawled in and out of his eye sockets, nostrils, ears, and mouth. Beneath his black robe, transparent, sticky tentacles swayed.
"The corruption from the Knowledge Moor. Your Spirit Body Threads are also abnormal."
Zaratul's voice was deep and hoarse, as if he was enduring physical pain and suppressing the madness in his heart.
"I have mastered so much knowledge related to Attendant of Mysteries. Isn't it normal to be able to fake Spirit Body Threads with information?"
"To be honest, Antigonus's performance on the information level is clearly much stronger than yours. If it were him, my fabricated Spirit Body Threads wouldn't have been able to deceive him at all."
Leyton answered Zaratul's question with a very calm tone. As he spoke, brilliant starlight continuously sprinkled from his body, lingering around and forming a blurred, light-and-shadow wilderness.
On Zaratul's face, where transparent worms continuously crawled in and out, his expression became conflicted and frantic. He could clearly feel that he was being corroded, a corrosion from the information level. No matter how he "tampered" with concepts pointing to himself, he could never avoid this corrosion.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke calmly:
"There is no irreconcilable conflict between us. You have obtained a lot of Beyonder characteristics and Worms of Spirit from me. They are already enough to complete a relatively large-scale 'miracle,' which is not difficult for you, who have mastered much 'Knowledge.'"
"If you want to resurrect Roselle, I can provide some help. After all, he and I actually have a good relationship. That Antigonus family notebook was stolen from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery by him for me back then."
"I still have four chances to be reborn, and you can't really kill me. How about we cooperate?"
Leyton said coldly and expressionlessly, "Before discussing cooperation, you first fulfill the last wish you owe me."
Then he stopped speaking, quietly observing Zaratul, while waiting for his response and increasing the intensity of the corrosion.
Zaratul let out a long breath, reached out and tore off a slippery tentacle extending from his body, casually kneaded it into a ball, turning it into a black-gray square rune, and threw it towards Leyton.
Leyton took the rune Zaratul threw over, briefly examined it, and after confirming there were no issues, Leyton made the illusory Tower that enveloped the area disappear, lifting the isolation of this region.
Zaratul nodded with an unchanging expression, which, combined with the continuously wriggling transparent insects on his face and the eerie environment inside the church, gave off a rather horrifying feeling.
Leyton looked at Zaratul and scoffed in a low voice:
"You really had no intention of fulfilling the agreement from the start. Someone like you, skilled in deception and escape, must have a way to circumvent contracts, even if it comes at a certain cost. But at most, it's just dying once."
After a moment of silence, Zaratul defended himself:
"As a Seer, I can sense your subtle malice towards me. Under such circumstances, maintaining a certain level of vigilance towards you is very normal."
Leyton smiled indifferently, skipping the topic and saying:
"What do you think the True Creator is going to such great lengths to have me delay you for?"
"Amon is also in Backlund. Did he take away that Scholar of Yore who is connected to Sefirah Castle?"
Zaratul quickly guessed the reason, or perhaps he had thought of these things from the beginning, but was blocked here and unable to escape.
"Obviously." Leyton nodded, then added:
"Your time is running out. Before Amon successfully steals Sefirah Castle, he will definitely go to the Forsaken Land of the Gods. This is your last chance. You can prepare well; I hope you can cause them some trouble."
As soon as he finished speaking, Leyton's body virtualized, breaking down into one complex and pure information torrent after another, surging away from the spired church.
Inside the church hall, only Zaratul remained, along with the swaying slippery tentacles beneath him and the transparent worms crawling in and out of his face.
After a long while, his body suddenly lost all vitality. All the Worms of Spirit died in an instant.
He got rid of the corruption left by Leyton by committing suicide!
In the Spirit World Depths, Leyton, who had reappeared, looked back in the direction of the spired church and whispered:
"To commit suicide so decisively, as expected of an Attendant of Mysteries. The highest level of conspiracy is to directly risk one's life."
In the ocean formed by the Sea of Ruins at the easternmost part of the Sonia Sea, Amon and Klein's figures silently appeared on an island in the outer region.
Klein looked at the familiar yet strange surroundings and asked curiously:
"You're taking me to the Forsaken Land of the Gods? Why?"
He just asked casually, not expecting Amon to answer his question. His main goal was to buy some time, to last until someone discovered his disappearance, noticed the problem, then found and rescued him.
Amon raised the monocle over his right eye and said with a half-smile:
"It's quieter there. We won't be disturbed by anything, making it more suitable for the upcoming game. Originally, Hanged Man could intervene in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, but he has already left, so his interference here is limited."
"To be honest, your eye for allies isn't very good. Back when George III was advancing, Evernight briefly descended. He knew I would look for you after my advancement was interrupted, yet he didn't give you a hint or offer any help."
"And that guy disguised as a Sefirah; he discovered my avatar when you impersonated me to scare Pallez, and he also didn't choose to warn you."
"But this is very interesting. The next time we meet, I'll also turn into your appearance and wear a monocle in front of Pallez again. I'm really looking forward to his reaction."
Klein remained silent, Amon's words successfully broke his psychological defense.
The Goddess had actually descended, to stop Amon's advancement ritual? Was the guy disguised as a Sefirah referring to Arrodes? He really isn't the Hidden Sage! It's a pity he didn't become a Faceless.
Amon's style of action perfectly matched the persona of a "God of Pranks." Both his words and actions seemed very casual, doing whatever came to mind—willful, mischievous, and very hateful. These thoughts flashed through Klein's mind and then disappeared.
Amon smiled indifferently at this. He walked over to Klein, patted his shoulder, and said:
"Everyone has their own goals, but what they truly want is the appearance of a Lord of the Mysteries. This could be me, or it could be you, or even Zaratul, Antigonus, or any of them. But only you and I have the highest acclaim and the most supporters."
After a moment of silence, Klein casually asked:
"Bethel is Mr. Door's name? Why do you and I have the most supporters?"
"Bethel Abraham."
Amon raised his monocle and spoke Mr. Door's name. Without giving Klein much time to think, he continued:
"Whether it's the True Gods, Evil Gods, or those angels, most of them are fence-sitters. Whichever way the wind blows, they lean that way."
"Only 'Evernight,' the crazy fanatics, and that Sefirah who slipped out a bit from the Western Continent, based on their respective reasons and goals, have clear support targets and have each taken certain actions."
"However, I can probably guess the reasons for their different choices."
"What reasons?" Klein pressed.
Amon chuckled with an unclear meaning, saying, "You guess?"
Then he looked up at the golden sky, squeezed the monocle he was wearing, and the surroundings instantly darkened—he had stolen the midday from this sea area!