Chapter 557: Nameless Chapter

While the spirit-thread was being controlled, Lei Keton's mind and actions grew stiff and sluggish, and the extraordinary ability that would normally form instantly was delayed by a second or two before completing.

In the lightless darkness, strands of golden light appeared, wandering in midair, becoming ever purer, until they finally coalesced into a seal‑like projection.

One second after the seal formed, Lei Keton finally opened his mouth to chant in the ancient Hermes language to certify:

"Invalid!"

In midair, the seal‑like projection turned into a pure pale‑gold stream of light that entered Lei Keton's body, and the mental sluggishness, bodily stiffness, and clumsy movements caused by the controlled spirit‑thread faded away almost entirely in an instant.

Seizing the interval, he employed a technique he had always possessed but never used: "Mysterious Reappearance."

Suddenly, a vermilion twilight glow surged, and in the center of a transparent, illusory palace—ancient and grand as a giant's dwelling—extremely vague, terrifying figures sat on both sides of a blood‑stained, mottled long table. Their faces were snarling as they greedily divided the table's contents.

In the next instant, the vague silhouettes on either side of the long table all turned their heads toward the middle‑aged man clad in a dark, classical court robe.

Some of them exuded an especially terrifying aura that resonated with certain elements of the surroundings, as if they could step out of this illusory scene at any moment and manifest in reality.

This is the scene of the "Banquet of Betrayal," a mysterious magic derived from the occult knowledge of the Ancient Sun God's death, capable of awakening or granting sentience to objects so they may betray.

As the image of the Ancient Sun God being devoured appeared, it seemed to trigger a chain reaction: lightning streaking across the sky grew frequent, occasional golden specks fell, and something began to stir in the deep darkness, becoming tranquil yet perilous.

The surrounding aura suddenly turned chaotic and dangerous, tinged with extreme madness and aberration, as if a terrifying presence had fixed its gaze here.

The dense, profound darkness was illuminated by an increasing swarm of silvery‑white lightning and golden specks in the sky; under the dazzling light, the middle‑aged man in the dark classical robe showed a wicked smile, his jet‑black eyes with a hint of emerald becoming more lively, giving the impression that he had changed from before.

Under Lei Keton's gaze, he casually tossed aside the beast‑skin lantern he was holding, spread his arms, and a faint, indescribable smile curled his lips, as if feeling and embracing something.

Lei Keton locked eyes with the oddly behaving Secret Companion before him, and his right hand, clad in bronze‑colored mechanical gloves, gently rubbed twice.

Specks of pale yellow stars floated around him, swiftly outlining a shape resembling a balance scale.

At the same time, he clenched his right fist, pressing an invisible point against the Secret Companion's chest, and whispered a single word in the ancient Hermes language:

"Death!"

In front of him, the Secret Companion with arms outstretched as if embracing something froze for a moment; its heart area suddenly erupted with rust‑red stardust, spouting crimson‑white flame, which in an instant decayed, died, and then exploded with a bang.

As if a chain reaction had been triggered, within several kilometers around, successive bursts of crimson fire rose, emitting explosion‑like sounds.

"Hmph~"

A somewhat illusory, wavering cold snort came from the distant darkness, feeling unreal, as if echoing from the mists of history.

The aura of Wu An Mo Lang, Kotal, flickered and vanished; Lei Keton's eyes flashed briefly, turning profoundly deep, as he tried to glimpse the River of Destiny to trace Wu An Mo Lang's trace.

Moments later, his eyes cleared again; after a slightly disappointed shake of his head, he rubbed his fingers, creating a hand tinged only with vague invisibility, commanding it to retrieve the remnants left by the Secret Companion that had just perished nearby.

The sudden outbreak of conflict ended just as abruptly; above the gray mist, Ke Lai En still felt somewhat unreal. While carefully probing whether any hidden Secret Companions remained, he asked inwardly, "How did you do it? To kill the vast majority of Secret Companions around in an instant, and they didn't even resist?"

Lei Keton, while gathering the Spirit Worms that Wu An Mo Lang hadn't reclaimed, murmured softly:

"I turned a Secret Companion, and made it link all surrounding Secret Companions with itself, so my influence acted on all of them in an instant."

"'Turn?' Ke Lai En felt a bit incredulous; he hadn't expected a Secret Companion could be turned."

Lei Keton gave a slight nod and said:

"The mysterious reappearance I just used is called 'Banquet of Betrayal,' derived from the occult knowledge of the Ancient Sun God being devoured; its effect is simple: it can grant sentience to an item or awaken its inherent sentience, causing it to betray."

"I exploited the traits of the Fallen Count, distorting the concept between Secret Companions and items, allowing Wu An Mo Lang's Secret Companion to develop its own sentience and betray Wu An Mo Lang."

"This isn't scientific but very occult. Dangers in the occult world can arise from anywhere; I'll have to watch my Secret Companions from being turned." Ke Lai En muttered a few curses inwardly, then asked about the Spirit Worm's purpose: "It can be used to craft talismans, forge wondrous items, serve in certain rituals, or as material for some demonic elixirs—a relatively high‑grade material, especially since it originates from an angel."

Lei Keton answered in a muttering tone, then sealed all the well‑collected Spirit Worms into a translucent amber and handed it to the Invisible Servant standing behind him.

Having finished, he suddenly said, "I happen to have some free time; I can go help you find some trickery monsters. Remember to earn more money during this period, or I fear you won't be able to afford them."

Above the gray mist, Ke Lai En was silent for two seconds, then let out a light laugh: "It seems your humanity is gradually recovering."

He paused briefly, then continued:

"My 'Secret Companion Master' demonic elixir hasn't begun digesting yet; there's no rush to gather materials. You can exist for now; I'll buy it from you once I've saved enough money."

"Fine, as long as you don't raise the price on the spot."

As the words faded, Lei Keton's body trembled and became ethereal, disintegrating into countless streams of tangled knowledge that surged like a torrent into the spirit realm, moving toward some direction deep within it.

Above the gray mist, Ke Lai En terminated the "mind communication," sat on the head seat of the mottled long table, gazed at the endless gray mist ahead, and fell briefly into contemplation.

If I were on Earth, I would already be posting for help on a forum now, asking: "My friend suddenly turned into an evil god, what should I do?" As he thought, Ke Lai En couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After lingering in the chair for a moment, he then spread a spiritual aura around himself, simulating a falling sensation, and left the space above the gray mist.

Deep within the spirit realm, Lei Keton, now in an information form, surged forward like a torrent while filtering the ever‑accumulating data of the realm, trying to extract information on trickery monsters.

Although trickery monsters, like spirit‑realm raiders, belong to the primary material of "Arcane Artisans," their intelligence is far inferior; they lack normal communication abilities and do not interfere with divination or prophecy at the spirit‑realm level.

However, such monsters are rare even in the forsaken lands, and with the spirit realm's information being so chaotic, lacking a method like Arrodos makes rapid filtering difficult.

After lingering in the spirit realm for nearly half an hour, Lei Keton roughly pinpointed the general activity zone of the trickery monsters.

The hazy glimmer formed by countless streams of tangled information surged rapidly; creatures active in the spirit realm seemed completely oblivious to the light, letting it flow past and even through their bodies, only a few strongly‑auraed beings noticed the anomaly and adjusted their paths.

After about ten minutes, he arrived at an area where trickery monsters were active.

In the spirit realm, his body reconstituted from the chaotic pure knowledge; his eyes became profoundly deep, resembling the sea just before a storm, clearly out of focus, a vast emptiness.

In this state, he could easily peer into the long river representing destiny and extract some information.

After a prophetic messenger confirmed the presence of trickery monsters nearby, he took a step forward, his figure swiftly fading and becoming transparent, slipping out of the layered, colored spirit realm into reality.

The frequency of lightning in the sky dropped to one every one or two minutes; in the darkness, the aura of secrecy, decay, and mutation became unusually active.

Lei Keton tapped his index finger and thumb on the mechanical glove twice; the glove emitted rapid "click‑click" sounds, then a fissure opened at the palm, emitting scorching white light with a hint of heat.

He raised his hand slightly, lifting his right hand to shoulder level, allowing the glove's light to dispel the surrounding darkness.

By that light, he finally saw the surroundings: a modest, not overly dense ruin of buildings, resembling a village whose houses were constructed largely from blue‑gray stone slabs, leaving some traces behind.

A faint deep lavender hue slowly surfaced in Lei Keton's eyes; his calm gaze surveyed the surrounding darkness a few times, spotting several hidden monsters, none of which were the trickery monsters he sought.

He paused in place for two seconds, then followed his intuition, stepping deeper into the ruins.

He hadn't gone far when a faint rustling sound suddenly reached his ears.

It sounded like some creature chewing on stones, a very sharp noise that gave a sour‑tooth feeling.

When he moved a bit closer, the sound vanished instantly.

【61】 In two or three seconds, the sound rose again from the opposite direction, completely opposite to before.

(Chapter End)