Chapter 652: Demon

Between the many vines' gaps, mushrooms of various sizes and colors—some greenish, some dark black—sprouted, pulsing like hearts and releasing toxins, spores, and mycelium.

Soon, neurotoxins, paralytic toxins, hallucinogenic gases, white thread‑like mycelium, and pale‑green spores rapidly filled the entire room.

After completing all this, Tu Ba Ge pinched the Hermit card in his hand; his body became ethereal again, breaking into streams of data that surged away to other places.

When Tu Ba Ge left, the mushroom‑ and vine‑covered areas of the room emitted intermittent low moans of pain and endurance, accompanied by crimson flames that flickered, igniting the spores and mycelium drifting in the air.

The crimson fire grew intense, turning into blazing white and gradually engulfing the whole room.

On the plaza before the Twilight Cathedral, Lei Kedun's figure suddenly appeared behind the Silver Knight, thrusting an ancient‑styled lance—its tip to hilt alight with countless specks of blood‑red—into his body.

The solid, ornate silver full‑body armor, materialized from protective power, was pierced by the dark‑red lance as easily as paper.

The Silver Knight's body froze instantly, his ink‑green eyes looking at Lei Kedun with disbelief and astonishment.

In the next moment, the towering Silver Knight's surface cracked, spawning clusters of blood‑colored flames that completely consumed his tall, silvery form.

The Silver Knight's silhouette twisted rapidly in the blood‑red flames, collapsed, and finally turned into a rough, palm‑sized rag doll made of straw and old cloth, which turned to ash in the crimson fire.

Seizing the gap, the Weather Mage transformed into a blazing white fire spear, striking precisely at a weak point of the shadow veil and tearing the curtain that isolated reality from the spirit realm.

A dawn tinged with dusk‑like orange‑red burst forth instantly, forming patches of light and blades that became a storm, spreading outward to try to destroy the surrounding Mysterious Secret.

Lei Kedun stared at the Weather Mage, who had become a fire meteor hurtling toward him, surrounded by radiant star shafts; as his right hand grasped the blaze, he uttered a single word in ancient Hekmis:

"Imprison."

The brilliant star shafts flew away one after another, winding around the meteor‑like fire.

The star shafts instantly condensed, forming massive transparent walls that enveloped the rapidly descending meteor, suspending it in midair.

Having done all this, he turned without looking back, his figure turning into a fleeting wisp of pale starlight that swiftly left the area near the cathedral, reached the dock district, and snatched the mushroom‑planting Tu Ba Ge.

His silhouette flickered a few times, then instantly appeared before a warehouse ablaze with fire; amid the leaping flames, a somewhat blurred figure entered Lei Kedun's sight.

He curled his mouth corner, and his eyes gathered one complex, illusory symbol after another.

In the firelight, Lamik Weierte, who had just broken free of restraints, severed the 'mind link,' regained some sanity, and suddenly felt his heart race, as if he had become prey targeted by a horror.

Before he could react, a flood of massive, useless knowledge suddenly poured into his mind.

"Here we go again." The thought flashed, and his head literally exploded, red and white, scattering on the ground, sizzling in the leaping flames.

In the firelight, a headless corpse fell stiffly backward, crashing onto the floor, shattering into headless, rough dolls that were quickly ignited by the flames, burning away to ash.

Having evaded a lethal strike with a proxy doll, Lamik Weierte swiftly sketched something beside him; without looking at Lei Kedun, his whole body ignited instantly, turning into a pure‑flame lance that shot toward the distance.

"Why so many proxy dolls?" Lei Kedun murmured, his eyes again gathering one complex, illusory symbol after another.

The flaming lance soaring in midair stalled for a moment, then exploded, blooming into a bright firework in the sky.

In that instant, Lei Kedun heard layered, muffled hums around him; Lamik Weierte, using his connection with the troops, distributed the damage from the massive knowledge influx to every soldier, keeping his own injury non‑lethal.

A crimson fireball fell to the ground, rapidly coalescing as if alive, slowly outlining a fiery human figure.

Lei Kedun smiled, reached into the void and retrieved the last Spirit Worm, turning it into a transparent, formless datum that merged into Lamik Weierte's body as his form reassembled. His movements slowed; one leg knelt uncontrollably, his trembling hands clasped, and he uttered fragments of ancient Hekmis: "The embodiment of iron and blood, the king of the abyss. The sovereign of filthy, degenerate weather."

"Evil that corrodes all, king of the abyss, ruler of all filthy decay."

After a hard struggle, he finally recited the honored name of the Cosmic Darkside; due to the 'mind link,' all the connected soldiers also uttered this name.

The surrounding sounds rose and fell, high and low, layered like a choir that was neither synchronized nor orderly.

As the final word fell, the air around suddenly grew viscous, a thin black mist appeared, and a pungent smell of sulfur spread through the air.

Lei Kedun, pulling Tu Ba Ge, transformed into a data torrent and quickly withdrew from the vicinity of Mihir Port.

Just after he left, a blazing white meteor tinged with fiery red fell straight down, striking the spot where Lei Kedun had just stood.

The massive impact hurled Lamik Weierte, who was kneeling on one knee praying to the Cosmic Darkside, far into the air.

Amid the spreading flames, the figure in a dark‑red robe emerged; without hesitation he threw a flaming spear that instantly pierced Lamik Weierte's heart as he floated midair.

The intense pain freed the War Bishop from the Spirit Worm's influence, briefly clearing his mind; the recent scenes flashed before him, and he stared bewildered at the figure on the ground, uttering fragmented words: "Prince Snarlna... is... is..."

"Careful. Cosmic Darkside."

Lamik Weierte found he could not articulate what he wanted to say; it seemed that segment of information had been erased from him, leaving him unable to recall or speak it, so he could only replace his intended words with a warning to beware the Cosmic Darkside.

His thrown body never reached the ground, instead ignited by a mix of crimson and pale blue flames, turning into a violently burning fireball that expanded in midair.

The Weather Mage known as Si Na Er Na wore a grim face, attempting to control the crimson‑pale blue flames in midair, only to discover his mastery could not affect those half‑crimson, half‑pale‑blue flames.

The crimson and pale‑blue flames burned in midair on Lamik Weierte's flesh, soul, and spirit as fuel, solidifying into a double‑door—one half crimson magma, the other pale blue fire—both illusory and real.

At the top of the gate hung a demon skull crowned with massive goat horns; the doors swayed open, black mist gushed out like water, quickly coating the ground near the dock with a thick, viscous black layer.

The surrounding pungent sulfur smell grew stronger, spreading from all parts of the dock, while various emotions and desires rapidly sprouted, luring people toward ruin.

Unwittingly, the dark‑red robe draped on Si Na Er Na became stained with a black, sticky liquid; his body grew heavy, his movements slowed, like a bird with broken wings pressed down by an invisible force.

Within the gate of intertwining crimson magma and pale‑blue flame, pools of bright red liquid surged out, wildly morphing in midair, their surfaces revealing snarling or entranced faces—some human, some avian, some giant, some dragon, even elf and dire wolf.

Auras of decay, filth, corrosion, and pollution instantly spread, covering the entire Mihir Port.

Everyone lingering in the port inevitably fell into a hallucinatory state; emotions and desires swelled rapidly, condensing into tangible black fog that seeped from their mouths, nostrils, and ears, and was absorbed by the long, bright‑red faces floating above.

A few hundred meters from Mihir Port, on a small hill, Lei Kedun sat on a massive boulder, his deep gaze fixed ahead, watching the port's rising desire and staring at the gate that linked to the abyss.

He pressed one hand on Tu Ba Ge's ear, covering its eyes, while his other hand extended forward, rhythmically tapping his index and middle fingers, sending invisible ripples outward that altered and erased the lingering information belonging to him and Tu Ba Ge.

Bathed in silver‑white dawn light within the Twilight Cathedral, the part‑time bishop and senior deacon of the War God Church, You Nie Jin, half‑knelt before the War God emblem composed of a dusk symbol and sword‑shaped insignia, praying devoutly to the War God.

The dawn created by the Silver Knight is far less effective at purification than the same‑rank Justice Mentor; protecting this cathedral from decay and corruption is already the limit, and to remove such influence one can only pray for a miracle.

Through repeated prayers, the silver‑white dawn covering the Twilight Cathedral turned golden‑red, like a sunset at dusk, scattering orange‑red light around.

(End of Chapter)