Chapter 1200: Randomness
After a while, the space in the collapsed forest suddenly tore apart,
revealing an illusory yet mysterious door.
The door opened silently, and a handsome man with black hair and golden
eyes walked out. He was dressed in a well-ironed suit, looking mature
and elegant.
Before he could examine the scene, he heard a loud boom. He could feel a
violent storm blowing towards him, and he saw a middle-aged man with an
imposing aura appear in front of him.
The middle-aged man had rather obvious large earlobes. His hair was dark
blue and thick, and there seemed to be countless bolts of lightning
hidden in his eyes.
He was the cardinal of the Church of the Lord of Storms, archbishop of
the Backlund diocese, Deep Blue Officiant Randall Valentinus.
The clergyman in the black robe that was embroidered with storm symbols
looked around and cast his gaze at the golden-eyed man. He asked in a
thunderous voice, "Celt, what happened here?"
Celt, the golden-eyed man, shook his head.
"I just arrived too."
Just as he said that, a mountain-like nearly transparent Spirit Body
appeared in the void and placed a figure in midair.
The figure was dressed in a long black, red-patterned bishop robe. His
eyes were deep and he didn't have a beard. He was the person in charge
of the Backlund diocese of the Church of Evernight, Anthony Stevenson.
After the gigantic Spirit Body completed its mission, it immediately
shrunk and entered Saint Anthony's mouth. At the same time, black long
hair covered his face, and a translucent, drifting spirit appeared
behind Anthony. It held onto his shoulder, preventing him from falling.
In the next second, a turbulent flow of air rushed over from the
Backlund city and pushed a figure towards this area at high speeds.
Soon, the figure came to a stop. It was an old man dressed in a white
priest robe and a clergyman's cap. He had a kind and gentle face.
The air that was spewed out from the elder's back vanished as the black
tube that was shimmering with metallic light retreated back into his
body.
This was the archbishop of the Church of the God of Steam and
Machinery's Backlund diocese. He was a member of the Divine Council,
Horamick Haydn.
He strangely stopped in midair and looked around.
"Although the battle here isn't too intense, it's definitely at the
saint level.
"Also, the remnant polluted aura is simply... simply..."
As they spoke, the four demigods looked down at the middle of the
collapsed forest.
There was a tarot card depicting an old man holding a staff and a glass
lamp.
The Hermit card!
Randall Valentinus, Celt, Anthony, and Horamick instantly fell silent as
no one spoke for a moment.
Above the gray fog, in the ancient palace, Klein was frowning as he
looked at the Box of the Great Old Ones in front of him.
The moment this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact was sacrificed, the entire
Sefirah Castle began to stir, as if it had been brought to boiling
point.
A massive amount of power was automatically activated, forming a torrent
that appeared like steam as it completely drowned out the Box of the
Great Old Ones and wrapped around it tightly.
At this moment, the silver-black jewelry box that was embedded with gems
seemed to become an insect in amber. There was no room for any movement.
*Previously, Sefirah Castle was triggered when I spied on the true gods
or Kings of Angels and when I was injured... This is the first time it
has experienced such changes due to an item from external
sources...* Klein couldn't help but raise his right hand to wipe
away the nonexistent sweat.
Frankly speaking, he was still a little afraid. He felt that he had been
a little carried away after gaining initial control of Sefirah Castle.
In the past, he didn't dare let a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact enter this
place. And this time, because it didn't involve a Uniqueness, and with
how he had improved compared to the past, this gave him the thought of
making an attempt.
*Thankfully, it's under control... In the future, I'll have to tell
Ma'am Hermit and the others that they can't pick up anything and
sacrifice it to me. I'm not a rag-and-bone man...* After
muttering a few words, he began inspecting the Box of the Great Old
Ones.
He remembered that Miss Magician was still inside the Sealed Artifact,
so he planned on figuring out the situation of the Box of the Great Old
Ones as soon as possible so as to prevent the bait from dying due to
wasting time.
*This Sealed Artifact's level is very high. Arrodes's understanding of
it is rather limited. I'll still have to do it myself... From the looks
of it, as long as I don't attempt to divine what the third level is or
attempt to seek out the source of the power, the danger is acceptable or
even nonexistent...* Klein made a preliminary assessment based
on his spiritual intuition.
Immediately following that, he conjured a pen and paper and began doing
a "divination."
After an unknown period of time, he finally opened his eyes and muttered
silently, *The first level can allow the interior space to switch
locations with the target's area and miniaturize the corresponding
scene, turning objects into toys... This is an ability that can barely
be made use of...*
*The living beings that have been turned into toys must be released
within 24 hours. Otherwise, they will be permanently converted. Even
their Spirit Bodies will never enjoy an eternal rest...*
*It's very easy to release them. As long as a specific region is
chosen---one so small that it's almost devoid of any living
creatures---swapping it with the interior space will do...*
*There is a limit to the scope of this ability. It reaches its limit
with a city the size of Backlund... Why did I use Backlund as an
example...*
*The second level records different scenes. There are the Abyss, cosmos,
and all sorts of places. It allows the wielder and the living beings
within a certain range to directly move to the target area...*
*This problem is it's random. A small portion can be designated by the
wielder, thus releasing the corresponding location. Most of the time,
the chosen location will change, and the destination of the final
destination will be unpredictable... As for when the designated location
will be effective and when an anomaly happens, there's no way to
know...*
*Besides, this seems to be something that can't be affected by good
luck. Or perhaps, good luck cannot affect those below Sequence
0...*
*This means that I can't use this Box of the Great Old Ones's Beyonder
power to directly transfer the City of Silver out of the Forsaken Land
of the Gods. Sigh, if I can, my Miracle Invoker ritual will be very
simple... Uh, I'll try and see if making them into toys will work
later...*
*The third level is very dangerous, very, very dangerous. I won't take
the risk to pry into its secrets. No, this should be called courting
death...*
*The negative effects of the Box of the Great Old Ones are very simple.
It's just that the wielder will randomly vanish, suddenly die, or
mutate. If there are no holders, the living beings in the surrounding
areas will encounter terrifying matters one after another depending on
their distance from it and their sizes. The maximum range is the same as
the first level... These Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts can destroy cities
wantonly, killing hundreds of thousands or even millions. It's no wonder
they are given the highest sealing. One is not to ask, describe, or pry
into them.*
*Where did the entities that vanished go? This seems to have something
to do with the scene of the second level...*
*The reason why the Saint of Secrets dares to move around with this
Sealed Artifact is because he had the blessings of the Angel of Fate
Ouroboros. He can reduce the negative effects to a minimum, but even so,
he didn't dare to hold on to it for too long because the blessings would
wear off... It looks like the reason he didn't manage to recover his
lucidity ahead of time and find a chance to teleport away had to do with
his luck turning bad... It's really hard to kill saints that are valued
by a huge organization...*
*I must say that Ma'am Hermit is considered experienced and
clear-headed. She didn't make any rash contact with it. Instead, she
created an invisible servant to hold it. Furthermore, she sacrificed
this Grade 0 Sealed Artifact to me in the shortest time
possible...*
*In theory, I can summon a Historical Void projection to hold this item.
After all, it doesn't matter if it dies, vanishes, or mutates. However,
the usage time cannot be guaranteed, unless I get Will Auceptin's
blessing...*
*The way to seal it is to put it into the spirit world, and that's not
enough. It has to be a space that has been distorted and hidden in the
spirit world. Then, ordinary water has to be poured into it regularly,
allowing the Box of the Great Old Ones to play with microbes every
day... With so many living beings, it can last for a very long period of
time... With this train of thought, there are still many methods to seal
it...*
After roughly figuring out the exact situation of the Box of the Great
Old Ones, Klein looked at the Grade 0 Sealed Artifact and felt that the
third level no longer seemed as dangerous and impossible to open as
before.
He vaguely believed that as long as he extended his hand and removed the
seal placed onto it by Sefirah Castle, he could easily open the third
level of the Box of the Great Old Ones.
...What a strong temptation... Klein retracted his gaze and
waved his hand, causing the Box of the Great Old Ones to fly towards the
junk pile in the corner.
Regardless of whether it was a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact or not, head over
there to be quarantined and get a hold of yourself!
*As a terrifying Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, one has to have a number to
show its importance. Unfortunately, I don't know how many Grade 0 Sealed
Artifacts the seven Churches have obtained. It shouldn't exceed 50,
right? Yes, the Box of the Great Old Ones can be temporarily named 0-61.
I'll adjust it according to the situation in the future...*
*If Ma'am Hermit isn't able to create a sealed environment, she can
place 0-61 above the gray fog. Once she needs it, she can apply for it.
Of course, she must pray to Will in advance for "His" blessings... I
wonder what stage I'll have to be before the "King of Yellow and Black
who wields good luck" can be genuine in name. There's a portion in
Miracle Invoker, and there should be a portion in Attendant of
Mysteries...* Klein amused himself with his thoughts and finally
picked up the Beyonder characteristic left behind by Saint of Secrets
Botis.
It looked like a crystal with countless rays of light refracted within
it, forming illusory and resplendent doors.
After staring at it for a few seconds, he suddenly threw the Beyonder
characteristic into the air.
The power of Sefirah Castle boiled once again. Under the control of
Klein, it formed a corporeal semi-translucent wave and struck the
crystal hard.
The crystal instantly shattered, splitting into countless tiny dots of
light. A pitch-black gas emerged from within before it rapidly melted
away, twisting and dispersing inside Sefirah Castle.
Under the law of convergence of Beyonder characteristics, those tiny
dots of light slowly gathered together, and in nearly a minute, they
reformed into the magnificent and dreamy crystal-like appearance from
before, and landed in the palm of Klein's hand.
The contamination inside was cleared.
Inside Sefirah Castle, Klein was equivalent to a Sequence 2 angel.
However, he mostly had the power, but not the corresponding level's
Beyonder powers. He needed the right supporting item to help him.
After putting down the Secrets Sorcerer's Beyonder characteristic, he
cast his gaze at Botis's remaining two eyeballs.