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.
