Lord of the Mysteries

The moment Bernadette saw the black shadow, she instinctively clenched her right hand and conjured an ancient spear.

From the tip of the spear to its handle, it was dyed with crimson red balls. It emitted a strong destructive aura, as though it could harm a true deity.

Spear of Longinus!

This spear had once appeared in an ancient era that couldn’t be traced back, stained with the blood of a great existence. At this moment, it had descended into the Black Emperor’s mausoleum through Mystical Re-enactment.

However, when Bernadette thrust it forward, she failed to achieve any effects because the tip of the spear was directed at her back.

Despite wanting to attack the black shadow in front of her, the Spear of Longinus had strangely thrust backward.

The area had been affected by “disorder,” or suffered some form of distortion.

Above the gray fog in the palace, Klein noticed the black shadow when it appeared in front of Bernadette. He didn’t hesitate to raise the Staff of the Stars in his hand.

He didn’t wait this time, unlike his prior observations of Queen Mystic’s actions before where he would consider if he would provide her with protection. This was because the level of danger of the black shadow sounded off alarms within him. He was an angel of the Seer pathway after all.

More importantly, Bernadette could sense the shadow’s existence after entering the Black Emperor’s mausoleum from time to time. As for Klein, he was unable to find clues through the true vision provided by Sefirah Castle.

This undoubtedly meant danger and terror.

When all the gems embedded in the black cane lit up, the sound of melodious bells resounded in the area where Bernadette and the black shadow were.

Gong!

The bell that came from an infinite distance exuded an indescribable emptiness. It made the interior of the Black Emperor’s mausoleum visibly freeze, turning Bernadette’s figure stiff as if she had been frozen. She couldn’t do anything.

However, the black shadow didn’t sink into the vortex of time. As though situated in another world built with completely different fundamental rules, the shadow continued moving forward in between the contradictory of two rivers of fate—one filled with raging torrents and one that was almost completely still.

This only made it appear to slow down, in no way affected by the illusory bell.

This was the first time Klein had encountered such a situation after he gained the ability to replicate powers.

Although the Beyonder effects he had replicated with the Staff of the Stars were lacking compared to the original version, it would still be able to show a certain level of authority that wasn’t easy to ignore regardless.

However, the black shadow’s slow movements gave him a second chance to try again.

This time, he activated the Staff of the Stars’s powers and moved Queen Mystic out of the Black Emperor’s mausoleum. He wanted her to first conclude what she experienced before considering entering again.

Gems flashed on the tip of the staff, and Bernadette, who was almost about to make contact with the black shadow, disappeared into thin air.

In the next second, she appeared tens of meters away, appearing near the high platform in the mausoleum.

The Staff of the Stars’s teleportation was disrupted. The destination had been distorted, turning everything extremely chaotic.

The experienced Bernadette didn’t feel any fear or panic because she was stuck inside the Black Emperor mausoleum. She decisively raised her left hand and pressed the Sage Frontlet in the middle of her forehead as she used her fingers to stroke the Pale Death mask.

The shimmering golden mask suddenly became soft and rapidly squirmed as if it was about to form a face that didn’t belong to Bernadette.

The face had soft features and obvious characteristics of a Southern Continent native, but it exuded a bizarre and terrifying feeling. Anyone who witnessed it would believe that it would come alive once the face became clear enough—an entity that came from ancient times, the eternal darkness where the dead slumbered.

By then, Bernadette’s body, spirituality, and consciousness would all belong to this face.

With the protrusion of this face, the stone walls and floor tiles in the Black Emperor mausoleum began to weather. It happened so fast that thousands of years appeared to be washed away in a short span of two seconds.

They quickly became mottled, constantly dropping fragments or throwing up dust due to the wind. In between the cracks, thin white fur grew out.

In just the blink of an eye, the fur grew into white feathers, and their surface seemed to be soaked in light-yellow oil.

The aura of the black figure gradually weakened, as though it was running towards death with huge strides.

Its color faded away, its movements growing slower.

Within the area where the pale-white mask was, even the concept of “death” itself would weather away and dissipate.

However, what was labeled as “death” wasn’t the endpoint. When the stone wall and the floor tiles in the mausoleum were weathered to a certain extent, and when the black figure degraded to a certain stage, new stone blocks began to take form as ethereal auras quickly grew.

During this process, the black figure stretched out his right hand.

This palm that was formed from shadows suddenly grabbed Bernadette’s neck from dozens of meters away!

This wasn’t fulfilled by extending the arm, but distorting the concept of distance for an instant—45 meters became equivalent to 45 centimeters.

The dark palm didn’t exert too much strength, but it made Bernadette feel cold.

Under such coldness, she realized that she couldn’t use the two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts of the Sage Frontlet and Pale Death.

Typically, as long as she injected her spirituality into it and gave the corresponding thoughts, the Sealed Artifacts on her would react in the correct manner, creating different effects. But now, the silent process and rules had been disrupted and distorted. No amount of thoughts that Bernadette willed were able to stir the Sealed Artifacts.

It felt like she was speaking to the air.

Klein, who was above the gray fog, didn’t waste any time after failing to teleport Queen Mystic away. A series of complicated symbols and magic labels quickly formed in his mind.

He wanted to replicate a Secrets Sorcerer’s “Space Concealment.” He planned on separating Bernadette’s location from the Black Emperor’s mausoleum and concealing it to help Queen Mystic escape her current predicament.

In fact, it might be more appropriate replicating the fairytale magic, Peace Blossom Source, but considering how Bernadette was formerly a Mysticologist, Klein felt that it was better to use Space Concealment. Otherwise, it might expose some of The Fool’s secrets.

As for where he had learned “Space Concealment” from, it naturally came from the recently advanced Fors.

Previously, in the name of The World Gehrman Sparrow, Klein had rented Leymano’s Travels. He had also requested Miss Magician to “Record” the corresponding powers.

Then, he released and recorded it while summoning the complete Leymano’s Travels from the fog of history again and again. It didn’t take long for him to grasp the knowledge and technique, allowing him to replicate “Spatial Concealment.”

As more gems lit up on the Staff of the Stars, the area around Bernadette darkened, as though it was covered by a curtain weaved by shadows.

The curtain distorted as it concealed the space, isolating the black shadow and its palm outside.

This helped Bernadette regain her freedom.

In the next second, the black palm that had been forcefully separated reached forward again and touched the boundary of the concealed space.

In an instant, a transparent vortex-like “door” appeared in the abnormal void. Or rather, the secret “door” that originally existed appeared autonomously and opened up in front of the black palm.

All concealed space had a “door,” but the location of the door depended on the creator’s thoughts.

The palm formed by the shadows rapidly passed through the open “door” and entered the concealed space. It grabbed Bernadette’s neck and once again disrupted the connection between Queen Mystic and her Sealed Artifact, distorting the corresponding order.

At the same time, the black figure raised its head and looked at the top of the mausoleum.

It seemed to be studying Sefirah Castle and Klein through layers of space and fog.

Klein’s eyelids twitched instinctively.

He sensed that the shadow had a certain understanding of where he was and felt that it was distorting something.

Klein’s expression unknowingly turned abnormally heavy. The different gems on the Staff of the Stars lit up at the same time.

He wanted to attempt to steal the corresponding Beyonder powers of the other party. Only by doing so would he have the chance to restrict the black shadow.

And in order to increase the success rate of stealing his target’s powers, Klein turned his left palm and tapped the edge of the long mottled table.

However, his “theft” failed. He didn’t even get anything.

His target had long since escaped the lock-on, despite just standing there!

Klein’s gaze froze. Then, he saw the black figure flash and enter the concealed space, closing the distance between it and Bernadette.

This… It distorted my true vision, causing the situation I saw to be from one or even two seconds ago… A thought flashed through Klein’s mind as he made a preliminary judgment on the previous failure. He then decided to summon Will Auceptin’s historical projection to get “Him” to reboot the area.

At that moment, Bernadette, who was unable to use her Sealed Artifact, grew white, illusory swan feathers on her back.

This was her fairytale magic’s “Ugly Duckling.” It could make Bernadette reveal an incomplete Mythical Creature form while maintaining her clarity of mind. Should could use it twice a day, with each use lasting fifteen seconds.

At this moment, her thoughts went wild again. They started to boil and become more chaotic.

This caused her “Ugly Duckling” magic to be cut off before it could even show its effects.

Almost at the same time, she saw the black shadow stick to her body. It was sticky like a viscous, corrosive liquid that seeped into her body.

Bernadette’s eyes darkened as she suddenly sensed something. She grabbed the final moment of lucidity and opened her mouth slightly, speaking in a fluent Chinese accent:

“Home…”

The black shadow’s infiltration paused for a moment. Its upper body slowly rose as it looked at Bernadette.