Chapter 1052: 3v1
Boom!
Lightning bolts descended from the sky, covering the entire area
illuminated by the huge crimson moon with a silver "forest."
Lightning flashed and destructive auras swept over, not leaving any spot
unscathed.
The giant grayish-white dragon, which still had a human head, appeared
again. There were tiny bolts of electric bolts scurrying over its scaled
body. There were also some obvious cracks.
Hvin Rambis's Psychological Invisibility couldn't be maintained under
such a wide area-of-effect bombardment. After all, his interactions with
his surroundings couldn't be avoided. All he could do was eliminate his
sense of presence and stay in the blind spot of one's attention. Once
the level of interaction grew excessive, he didn't have the means to
avoid exposure.
As soon as he appeared, the Lightning Storm calmed down quite
significantly. The Gehrman Sparrow's body on the roof instantly blurred
and phased into existence diagonally below the incomplete dragon.
Right on the heels of that, the glove on the crazy adventurer's left
hand protruded with fine black particles that were deep and dark.
Then, he opened his mouth and said as word filled with foulness and
corruption from the Devil language:
"Slow!"
Hvin Rambis knew that his opponent was using Creeping Hunger and knew
the true level of the item. He found Gehrman Sparrow amusing and was
about to raise his left claw that grabbed onto an ice-blue metal
cylinder, slamming it down at his enemy beneath him.
This was a Sealed Artifact with unknown origins called "Rotting Meteor."
Hvin Rambis had obtained it from a particular existence, and he was only
aware that part of it came from the cosmos.
This ice-blue metal cylinder could fire special dark-green bullets that
would instantly poison anyone who was hit with it. They would begin
rotting in a way that even their Spirit Bodies wouldn't be spared. This
was also effective against demigods.
Its negative effect was that the wielder had a probability of gaining
the attention of the cosmos and suffering corruption without realizing
it. If not for having the item sealed thanks to a particular existence,
Hvin Rambis definitely wouldn't have dared to carry it around. But even
so, he tried to limit his usage of it, lest he suffered a strange death
or anomaly. That was a common ending for many of the previous owners of
Rotting Meteor.
Currently, Hvin Rambis didn't believe that the Language of Foulness,
which was at most at Sequence 5, could affect him in his incomplete
Mythical Creature form. He planned on using Rotting Meteor to finish off
the Sealed Artifact-equipped enemy that posed a threat.
However, at this moment, his actions had really slowed down, and his
entire body felt stiff.
On the pitch-black roof under the gigantic crimson moon, another Gehrman
Sparrow in a black trench coat and silk hat had appeared at some point
in time. He held a six-barreled revolver in his right hand and aimed his
left hand at the Gehrman Sparrow beneath him before balling his fist and
turning his wrist.
Earl of The Fallen---Magnify!
This was Klein's other marionette, a demigod from the Lawyer pathway,
Qonas Kilgor!
With the help of his "Magnify," Creeping Hunger could amplify the
Beyonder powers it obtained from "Grazing" souls, almost raising it to
the level of Sequence 4, or in other words, at the level of a demigod!
Of course, Magnify couldn't be used consecutively in quick succession.
It was limited to a one-time use each time.
Due to Hvin Rambis's current Mythical Creature form, no matter how
"Magnified""Slow" was, it couldn't affect him for long. Therefore, it
was the Gehrman Sparrow, who was actually Enuni, who had to seize this
short opportunity and control Hvin Rambis's Spirit Body Threads.
Normally, he would take three seconds to attain initial control.
However, his opponent had already revealed a powerful Mythical Creature
form, and time would definitely extend the time required. It would take
perhaps about seven seconds or even more than ten seconds to succeed.
And by then, Hvin Rambis would've long extricated himself from the
influence of Slow, restoring himself to normal and carrying out the
corresponding countermeasures.
At this critical moment, Qonas Kilgor aimed his left hand at Winner
Enuni once again and clenched his fingers.
Another Magnify!
The control of the Spirit Body Threads was "Magnified"!
Suddenly, Enuni's control of Hvin Rambis's Spirit Body Threads became
easier, as if the Mythical Creature form hadn't been revealed.
In other words, he could obtain initial control in three seconds.
This was already rather formidable, but the problem was that the
dragonified Hvin Rambis wouldn't take more than a second to extricate
himself from the influence of "Slow."
No, he had already escaped!
At that moment, there was a gunshot. A bullet that looked
lusterless---deep and profound but not dark---swiftly shot out with its
many strange patterns and struck Hvin Rambis who had just escaped from
his "Slow" state.
In another corner of the garden, another Gehrman Sparrow in a black
trench coat and a silk top hat appeared.
Hvin Rambis's dragon body stiffened once again. Not only did his
thoughts come to a halt, even the wings on his back froze, and he had
lost all his control of himself. The entire dragon collapsed to the
ground.
Control Spirit Bullet!
Klein had used his Worms of Spirit as the material to contain the
Control Spirit Bullets made from the powers of the mysterious space
above the gray fog. It could even freeze Sequence 3 saints for one or
two seconds!
At that moment, Hvin Rambis, who had an incomplete Mythical Creature
form, wasn't much stronger than a Sequence 3 saint. Back when Amon's
avatar was hit by the Control Spirit Bullet, it had also froze for more
than a second.
In addition, Klein could also get Qonas Kilgor to "Magnify" the power of
the bullet. However, to grab the opportunity, he had failed to do it in
time.
The string of team combination attacks from before had already made
Klein turn poignant, as obtaining the aid of a demigod from the Lawyer
pathway was terrifying. It was very, very effective. Of course, under
normal circumstances, the Earl of the Fallen's Magnify could only
amplify the effects and influence that strengthened one's body or
actions without helping others. However, the problem was that, as
marionettes with Worms of Spirit within them, they were without a doubt,
no different from Klein. He hadn't been augmenting others, but himself!
Seizing the opportunity of Hvin Rambis falling into a state of
paralysis, Winner Enuni obtained initial control over the Spirit Body
Threads.
The incomplete dragon had just ended its rigid state when its thoughts
became sluggish. Its movement had a certain delay.
It had to be said that, after a Bizarro Sorcerer obtained a powerful
marionette, they could unleash terrifying powers through their
cooperation with their marionettes. Klein also had a cheat-like method
like Control Spirit Bullets. This was something that could only be
created by him because he was the only one who could stir the powers of
the mysterious space above the gray fog. Of course, Amon and other
powerhouses also had similar charms and bullets. The only difference was
the effects would be different.
Seeing that Hvin Rambis had come under a certain level of control, Klein
began preparing to disrupt any form of resistance he tried putting up,
preventing him from escaping from his current state until he became a
marionette. However, at this moment, his head suddenly ached due to an
intolerable mania in his heart.
Then, he became extremely down, as if he couldn't feel joy anymore. He
despised himself and wished he could give up his life just like that so
that he wouldn't be a burden on others.
In the blink of an eye, he became excited. His eyes seemed to be
blood-red and filled with hatred towards anything, wanting to destroy
everything he saw.
Not good... Before his mental state deteriorated, Klein
realized that he had been influenced by Hvin Rambis at some point in
time. Something was wrong with his Body of Heart and Mind.
He hurriedly attempted to Cogitate to fight against the abnormal mental
state. However, various thoughts that didn't seem to belong to him
flashed through his mind:
"Let's end it here..."
"F\ck, think of a way to save yourself!"*
*"What exactly happened? I think I have a serious mental
illness..."*
*"A psychiatric disease that's contagious? The special mental illness
that Miss Justice mentioned? This is indeed a High-Sequence Beyonder
power of the Spectator pathway!"*
*"Why are you saying so much? That's a demigod Psychiatrist you're
facing. Turning him into a marionette will easily resolve this
problem."*
Realizing that Gehrman Sparrow hadn't shot the second bullet, Hvin
Rambis's face, covered in grayish-white scales, revealed a faint smile.
Although he hadn't anticipated the tight cooperation between Gehrman
Sparrow and his two marionettes, causing him to quickly fall into a
perilous situation, it wasn't like he hadn't done anything prior to
this.
Before he left the sea of collective subconscious, he had secretly
planted Contagious Madness in a marionette!
A marionette was, after all, a dead person. Although it was unable to be
controlled by any other methods other than Spirit Body Threads, it
didn't mean that they didn't have an island of consciousness. It was
just a dead mass, but it was precisely here that Hvin Rambis buried a
"seed" named madness.
The seed couldn't affect the marionette itself, but it could secretly
infect the sea of collective subconscious of its surroundings, causing
the person who kept switching between bodies to unknowingly place
themselves in an environment with a contagious mental disease. Also,
this madness could also be transmitted via Spirit Body Threads.
In addition, this type of infection stemmed from one's "self." It wasn't
something an angelic blessing could screen. At most, it would be
weakened and have the effects weakened.
This was a High-Sequence Spectator's power, Manipulator's Mental Plague!
In ancient times, there would be people from time to time who were
placed in repressed states for prolonged periods of time and appear
abnormal at the same time. Their abnormality influenced the people
around them, causing "mass hysteria" to happen. An ancient folk song
once sang of it in such a manner:
"Seven young ladies are dancing weirdly on the street;
"Nine men are rolling on the ground laughing by their sides;
"On a horse carriage passing by, the nobles are slapping their faces;
"The stoned children are crying outside the house by the street;
"People are hurting each other. The entire city is crazy."
If one thought about it carefully, it would make one feel an
inexplicable sense of horror. However, Hvin Rambis knew that the scene
described in the myth was true. It was an experiment from a Spectator
pathway demigod.
A highly-contagious Mental Plague!
By the time Gehrman Sparrow's actual body went crazy, his control over
his marionettes would undoubtedly be lost. When that happened, Hvin
Rambis would be able to escape from his predicament.
It wouldn't take long, as it only took a few seconds!
At that moment, a Manipulator like Hvin Rambis wasn't afraid that
Gehrman Sparrow had the charm which Audrey had used---the one that could
temporarily swap fates between two people. This was because a swap would
put Gehrman Sparrow in a state of becoming a marionette. His thoughts
would turn sluggish and his body would stiffen. As for Hvin Rambis,
being infected by the Mental Plague was a relatively simple problem for
him to resolve.
At this moment, Hvin Rambis saw the Gehrman Sparrow on the rooftop
aiming his left hand at the Gehrman Sparrow who was holding the
iron-black, long-barreled revolver. He gripped his fingers and slowly
turned his wrist.
Distortion!
Klein had used Qonas Kilgor's Beyonder powers to distort the level of
his mental disease, weakening it and slowing down the deterioration!
Making use of this period in which he had clarity of mind, he raised
Death Knell again and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Another Control Spirit Bullet shot out and hit the motionless, massive
incomplete dragon.
At the same time, Qonas Kilgor used Magnify!
Despite being attacked, Hvin Rambis didn't escape from Enuni's control,
because he had fallen into a "long" period of feeling numb and stiff.
Klein silently kept count of the time, shooting a third Control Spirit
Bullet before Hvin Rambis truly recovered.
And before the third Control Spirit Bullet's "Magnified" effects ended,
the grayish-white, incomplete dragon trembled as it returned to
"normal," no longer looking sluggish.