Adam turned his head to gaze at Cline, the clear, pale eyes reflecting the face streaked with streams of fresh blood. His expression remained unchanged—warm, yet with a gentle compassion, as though a deity observing humanity. Cline smiled at Him, and inch by inch, his head began to split open. This process soon spread throughout his body, causing him to collapse into a pool of blood. Within the blood, garments such as his shirt and coat floated, while the stained cross-pole and an ancient mirror settled at the bottom. In the Church of the Bones, within the divine realm of the "Idealist" Adam, Cline died in this strange and mysterious manner. Adam, dressed simply in a white robe, watched the scene with calmness and quiet composure—either having anticipated it all, or having already absorbed and smoothed out his own emotions. Above the gray mist, within the ancient palace, the frantic "worm vortex" instantly stilled, dissolving into one after another of lifeless "spirit insects."
The very next moment, these "spirit insects" became ethereal, tinged with gray and white, as though blending into the mist of history. Then, they revived, glowing with a deep, mysterious light and slowly coalescing together. In just a few seconds, the "spirit insects" reformed into a human figure—Klein Moretti, with black hair, brown eyes, and wearing a formal shirt. With the return of this "Master of the Source Castle," the once-destroyed, weathered long table and twenty-two high-backed chairs swiftly restored themselves, and the scattered objects once scattered across the floor were neatly gathered once more. Klein picked up the "Star Staff" adorned with various gemstones and sat down at the "Wise Man's" seat. The entire space above the gray mist trembled and surged with a powerful, vast, intangible force. Immediately, Klein nodded to the golden figure now occupying Bernadette's "prayer light":
"I will fulfill my promise."
"The Lamp God" chuckled, saying, "It seems you haven't inherited His cunning or his lack of decorum—quite good." As soon as he spoke, the blurred, wavering golden form swiftly withdrew, no longer projecting onto Bernadette's "prayer spot." "Well done," Klein murmured, sending out a "spirit worm" in response to the "Mysterious Queen's" prayer, while lowering his head to make a personal wish. "I hope I can return to the state I was in before tonight." When his body perished, he had only carried away the most essential part of his "Miracle Master" exceptional traits; the rest had been severed off and isolated by Adam's Bone Church, rendering them unrecoverable.
Of course, a significant portion of Cline's characteristics also reside within the "spirit insects" above the gray mist, and in the surviving secret figures of Utopia—Chalatu didn't need additional extraordinary traits and didn't wish to compromise his own condition, so he didn't directly apply the Law of Aggregation of Extraordinary Traits to draw off the traits of the same path from Utopia. Instead, he employed an alternative method, which was slower and required time to gather. After making this wish, Cline summoned the "curtain," draped it behind him, and snapped his fingers. Within the cluttered space, the extraordinary traits of the "Seers" path, from Sequence 9 down to Sequence 3, previously separated from the "curtain," rose up simultaneously, forming pure luminous points that flowed into Cline's body. His condition instantly returned to the state he had reached just before nearly fully digesting the "miracle master" potion—except for the absence of a physical form—mirroring his state exactly when he had first been attacked.
Next, Caine turned his gaze toward the Utopia deeply intertwined with his own.
At the same time, a massive shadow fell from the faintly emerging gray mist, enveloping the entire Utopia. Chalatu and His historical projections instinctively raised their heads, gazing upward at the sky now veiled in a subtle gray haze. "This place shall not be sealed," declared the historical projection of William Augustus, lifting his long sword with solemnity. The shadow that had enveloped Utopia immediately trembled, revealing multiple fissures and failing to completely isolate the city from the outside world. The historical projection of Roscel Gustave instantly surged forth as a complex information flood, targeting the remaining automata to disrupt their actions, while the image of the "divine calamity" Seara attacked the veil-like shadow, expanding the fissures accordingly. Chalatu then extended his hand, linking the void before him with the previously established, turbulent island of the furious sea.
Next, as soon as He takes a single step forward, He will be free from Utopia. At that very moment,克莱恩's individual secret figures, before the flood of information could seep into their souls, simultaneously opened their mouths and recited a spell in the language of the giants:
"Leodro!"
In the God-Abandoned Lands, where the residual power of the "Autocrat" deity remains, merely uttering this name is enough to directly summon the divine strength. But outside of that region, the decision of whether to punish the one who calls His true name rests entirely with the "Lord of Storms." By having the secret figures recite this honored name together,克莱恩's sole purpose is to draw the "Lord of Storms'" attention to this very place.
And among the Five Paths of Omnipresence and Omnipotence, the "Lord of Storms" is likely one of the most reluctant divinities to see Adam's plans succeed—should Amun become the "Lord of Intrigue" and "King of Time and Space," this "tyrant" would find himself in a most precarious position, ever fearful that the Son of the Creator would turn against him, aiding either Adam or the True Creator in ascending to the throne of "Lord of the Stellar Realm." Thus, compared to the "Goddess of Night" and the "Mother Goddess of Earth," the "Lord of Storms," "Eternal Radiant Sun," and "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" may be even more disinclined to see both Adam and Amun succeed. Should there be further opportunities, Caine intends for the Secret Duplicates to continue chanting "Oscures" and "Heraberg!" The surroundings of Utopia instantly grew somber, as though brimming with an indescribable natural fury.
Before Chalatu could take that step, the night sky leapt with one cascade of lightning after another—wild, expanding, surging, as if engulfing the entire heavens in a sea of thunder. Roar! Before the deafening rumble reached them, the lightning fell upon Utopia like a deluge. …………
Lorstead Islands, the City of New Silver, the Apex of the Round Tower.
Derrick Berg, gazing toward the epicenter of the earthquake, heard the simultaneous sounds of doors and windows opening—many, thousands of them.
Though no immediate danger arose, the strange phenomenon kept Derrick on high alert. With slight hesitation, he resolved to seek out the current Chief, Wyt. Hilmon, and propose the use of the divine seal, "The Proof of Honor," to first safeguard the City of New Silver and the nearby forest town of New Moon, then decide whether to pray to the "Fool"先生 based on the unfolding developments.
As he turned toward the door, Weyt Hilmon stepped out from the corridor's light, his dark-sea symbol glowing faintly on his head, and spoke with steady voice: "The subterranean seal has failed."
The seal's failure... Dariq instinctively felt it was connected to the recent anomalies on Blue Mountain Island.
And the consequences of this failure—far more alarming than simply open doors and windows!
"Activate the 'Eternal Oath' immediately!" Dariq declared without hesitation.
This was a divine-grade seal capable of being deployed swiftly, having previously protected Silver City from one disaster after another in the god-forgotten lands, enabling them to endure until the present age and secure their salvation.
Dariq's intention was clear: to use the 'Eternal Oath' to suppress the other divine-grade seal—the 'Grace of the Earth'—and to counteract the steadily growing negative impacts of the numerous holy-grade seals surrounding them.
Weyt Hilmon said nothing further, made his decision promptly, and with Dariq relying on the corridor's light to remain concealed, they entered the depths below.
— The "Evident Glory" can only be utilized by at least two Saints. This is precisely why Weyt Hilmon did not immediately head to the depths, but instead came first to find Deric. Of course, if he simply wished to make use of it temporarily, there was a clever workaround—provided that the corresponding imprints were properly established and "seared" onto him beforehand.
... Bayam, the Church of the Waves.
A flash of lightning surged swiftly into Aljer Wilson's room, resolving into urgent words:
"Your Excellency, most of the subterranean seals have failed! Only in certain areas, where a balance achieved through effect counteraction has been maintained, has the stability remained intact!"
Aljer's eyebrows lifted slightly, noting the unusual nature of the situation in light of the simultaneously open doors and windows throughout the city.
He immediately addressed the void:
"Form teams of three immediately. Dispatch them to remove from the depths those seal objects—particularly those of 'Level 2' and 'Level 3'—that are neither immediately threatening nor have lost their vitality, to prevent a chain reaction."
Thus, the underground will become a wilderness, and the dangerous sealed objects won't be able to cause casualties in the near term. Over time, as the anomalies causing the seals to fail subside, the "Agents of Reckoning" will be free to address these items. However, this depends on the three Level-1 sealed objects not going awry. Once any of them fails, their negative effects will soon spread and impact the entire Bayam. Given that the seals have already failed, it's difficult for these three items not to encounter problems. The first thought that flashes through Aljer's mind is to take the one whose negative effects cover the broadest area, use his own abilities to temporarily stabilize it, and then fly to the sea, away from Bayam. For him, this move poses only moderate short-term risks, as he is a half-god. The real concern lies in the remaining two Level-1 sealed objects, which will undoubtedly cause significant damage to Bayam.
At least I've done my best... Algier thought this approach was both safe and effective in handling the aftermath of the storm, quite satisfactory. His gaze instinctively drifted toward the window, where several schools and almshouses near the church were located. Algier pulled his gaze back, remained silent for two seconds, exhaled, and then continued: "The rest is mine." His words transformed into a series of radio signals, coalescing into silver lightning and rushing downward into the earth.