The Saint of Secrets, Botis, began to traverse the spirit world the moment he entered, heading straight for the easternmost front of the Sonia Sea—the ruins of the battle of the gods.
At this moment, his thoughts blurred. His body turned and left the spirit world through another place.
By the time Botis received a warning from his spirituality and had regained control of his own thoughts while feeling tense, what he saw was a bare forest with nearly all its leaves scattered. There was no one around, and the crimson moon hung high in the sky.
As a former Traveler and Astrologer, he immediately identified his location and found that he was still in Backlund. However, he had moved from the city to a remote area in the suburbs.
At the same time, he also understood what had happened.
It was unknown when his mind world had been infiltrated with someone else's consciousness. At the critical moment, it affected his thoughts and changed his destination!
That Spectator pathway's demigod! I didn't realize it! Botis's pupils dilated as a silvery-white illusory book appeared.
The book flipped to one of the pages.
Botis immediately raised his hand to grab at his glabella. He grabbed a ball of darkness from the island of consciousness and threw it into his shadow.
His shadow was separated from him as it twisted to a stand, revealing a female silhouette.
Black Knight, Shadow of Depravation!
This was an ability that Botis had "Recorded" from Saint Tenebrous Kisma. It could separate one's depraved thoughts into a shadow and form an uncontrollable independent creature.
Botis used it to erase the consciousness that didn't belong to him, and escape the influence of the Manipulator!
At the same time, this was also Botis's counterattack. As long as the hidden Spectator pathway demigod couldn't quickly resolve this "shadow," the thoughts she had fractured would gradually become independent, turning her half-mad and even causing her to lose control.
Once he was done with the latent mental problems, Botis didn't hesitate to escape the enemy's predetermined battlefield and "Teleport" elsewhere.
However, at this moment, his mind suddenly turned frantic. He felt that the entire environment was making things difficult for him, and his anger could no longer be contained.
As the silver book flipped in front of his eyes, the entire forest collapsed with a loud bang. The black "shadow" almost collapsed into a ball.
After his bout of mania, Botis's mood dropped to a nadir. He couldn't lift his spirits with regards to anything. He felt that he was useless, a burden to others and even the world.
Mental Plague! In the previous battle, Botis had already been infected by "Mental Plague," and it had finally acted up!
The reason why Cattleya first used "The Little Match Girl" magic wasn't only because she wanted to interfere with Botis's "Teleportation," but also because she was helping Miss Justice conceal any traces, allowing her Virtual Persona to infiltrate Botis's mind world without triggering his spiritual intuition. A seed of "Mental Plague" was planted secretly without triggering it.
It was precisely because of this that when the sneak attack failed, Cattleya and Audrey dared to initiate the contingency plan. They retreated on their own accord, allowing Saint of Secrets Botis and Saint Tenebrous Kisma to separate from each other after they were out of danger.
Cattleya's final igniting of the final green vine appeared to create a huge commotion to attract the attention of the official Beyonders, making the enemy abandon their pursuit, but in fact, it was to force the Saint of Secrets to leave as quickly as possible. This way, he didn't have the time to carefully examine and check his condition at a deeper level.
Hence, at the critical moment of his "Teleportation," he had his thoughts changed by Audrey's Virtual Persona. He came directly to the outskirts of Backlund, an uninhabited kill box which the Tarot Club had chosen.
And once he finished off the Manipulator's Virtual Persona, the eruption of "Mental Plague" came right on the heels of that.
In fact, if he had used "Reboot of Fate" earlier, he definitely would've been able to return to a state where there were no latent problems. However, he only decided to use this trump card when he was nearly killed by the Spear of Longinus. And by that time, his mind world had already been infiltrated for far more than three seconds!
He was dispirited and depressed, trying his best to resist his mental illness. It was at this moment that he saw a bunch of surreal yarn balls appear out of the void in front of him.
At the back of the yarn ball, the bright-colored yarn extended into an infinite distance.
Following this line, Cattleya, who was wearing a purple-patterned black robe and a dark-colored hood, walked over from the spirit world and appeared in front of the Saint of Secrets, Botis.
She was unable to track down enemies that had done some level of interference, but she could establish a connection with the predetermined battlefield. She could trace Justice Audrey's Virtual Persona!
The moment she arrived, Cattleya closed her eyes and formed a phantom image that fell towards an invisible coffin.
The already depressed Botis instantly felt extremely exhausted. He couldn't help but close his eyes, wanting to collapse.
Sleeping Beauty!
On the other side, Audrey's "Virtual Persona" which hadn't fully turned independent was like a dark shadow, bringing with it a sense of depravity. She raised her hand and pinched her forehead.
Her pupils silently turned vertical; they were pale gold and cold.
Botis's mind instantly exploded as bubbles of light appeared on the surface of his body. Within the bubbles, rays of starlight condensed into insects with their heads and tails fused into the void.
Psychiatrist, Frenzy!
This could completely trigger the target's emotions and even cause him to lose control.
Botis had already been infected with "Mental Plague" and was in an extremely abnormal state. Following that, he was affected by "Sleeping Beauty" magic and was in an extremely dispirited mood. "Frenzy" now triggered everything, immediately making it difficult for him to control himself as he showed signs of losing control.
Seizing this opportunity, Cattleya opened her eyes, raised her right hand, and rapidly formed a handful of spinning star sand in her palm.
The forest beneath the night became even darker. The crimson moon disappeared from the sky as stars appeared one after another. They were densely packed and dazzling.
The stars scattered their rays of light, forming a magnificent pillar of light that enveloped the area around Saint of Secrets Botis and his surroundings.
In the midst of the shock, Botis became a little more awake. His figure rapidly turned into a blur as he kept "Blinking," creating more than ten afterimages in the forest.
However, he could not escape the starlight's envelopment, nor could he "Teleport" away.
One by one, the starlight melted and dissipated the different Botis. Finally, there was only one person left genuflecting, propping up his body with one palm as he struggled.
Botis's body was in shambles. His eyes were already dark red, and he appeared to be on the brink of insanity.
When the starlight was in its final moments, he "Blinked" and dodged the follow-up attack of Audrey's Virtual Persona.
Then, he kept "Blinking" and created "doppelgangers" beside Cattleya and Audrey's Virtual Persona.
One of his "doppelgangers" grabbed with his left hand, distorting the area where Audrey's Virtual Persona was located. He concealed it in a bid to restrain the enemy.
As for his other "doppelganger," he spread open his arms and summoned a thick pillar of light surrounded by holy flames, letting it blast down into the concealed space.
During this process, Botis's other "doppelganger" had secretly removed the concealment of space.
Hence, as soon as the shadow corresponding to Audrey's Virtual Persona was freed from the restriction, it was enveloped by a holy pillar of light, quickly melting away.
In his "Blinking" state, Botis could use Beyonder powers at a speed faster than normal, but he couldn't sustain it for long. This was something that was achieved via using his numerous Worms of Star.
Elsewhere, the Saint of Secrets, Botis, was also attacking Cattleya. He had used various powers, and in the short span of a second or two, he had inundated his target with a barrage of attacks.
This forced Cattleya to constantly use "The Emperor's New Clothes" magic to avoid it. She was momentarily unable to counter-attack and was in grave danger.
A few seconds later, Botis's "Blinking" finally slowed down. The mania in his heart also eased.
At this moment, grayish-white and heavy scales suddenly appeared outside the forest. They were faintly discernible, as if they were forming an extremely oppressive behemoth.
In the dark night where the crimson moon was obscured, a nearly invisible stream of breath swept down from top to bottom, enveloping Botis and Cattleya.
The two demigods felt as though they were struck by lightning as their psyche was torn apart. Their Spirit Bodies seemed to be penetrated.
The breath of a mind dragon!
With his mental state already in a terrible state and having used a couple of his trump cards, Botis's mind went blank. As the flashes flashed before his eyes, his body couldn't help but tremble.
As for Cattleya, she was carrying the Moon Paper Figurine that she had obtained from Fors. This helped her bear the burden of "Psychic Piercing" once!
Although it was unable to completely eliminate the effects of "Mind Dragon Breath," it could help Cattleya recover faster.
This meant an opportunity in a battle at the demigod level!
In just a second or two, Cattleya's eyes returned to normal. As for Audrey who was in her dragon form and hiding in the darkness outside the forest, she cast another "Mind Deprivation" on Botis.
Without any hesitation, Cattleya raised her right hand and condensed the terrifying spear that was stained with fresh blood. She threw it at the Saint of Secrets, Botis.
This time, Botis could no longer dodge or resolve the situation. His chest was pierced through by the Spear of Longinus.
His body stiffened for a moment before it rapidly collapsed, turning into countless dazzling Worms of Star.
Some of these Worms of Star vanished directly, while others devoured each other. Some of them fused into a distant spot, forming a new Botis.
There was no longer any rationality left in his eyes. His body was continuously collapsing, revealing an incomplete and extremely weak Mythical Creature form.
At this moment, an illusory door appeared beside him. It was grayish-blue that had seven brass locks.
The illusory door quickly opened as it spat out a three-layered "jewelry box" embedded with various gems.
The Box of the Great Old Ones which had been exiled had returned.
With a crazed look in his eyes, Botis caught the box, revealing a cruel and bloodthirsty smile as he tried to open it.
The third level!
