Chapter 674: Paper Angel's Deception

In Ai Mulin's eyes, silhouettes with bright red eyes surrounded him at the center, as if he were undergoing judgment by countless extremely noble figures from the blood clan, making him subconsciously unwilling to resist.

In front of Ai Mulin and Ke Lai'en, Lei Kedun's figure appeared slightly illusory, as if he did not exist; he calmly stared at the dazed Ke Lai'en and Ai Mulin, murmuring softly:

"Still trapped in judgment? I've already given a hint; they should be able to get out, right?"

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly deepened, turning to the backs of Ke Lai'en and Ai Mulin; within the view of the "Eye of Peeking Secrets", each of them had an asymmetrical, discordant scale behind them, evoking a sense of disorder, as if confronting the shadow of order.

As time passed, the scales behind them grew clearer and more tightly linked to their bodies, as if becoming part of them.

"Having a charge makes one unable to escape judgment, but the definition of that charge is very broad."

He muttered softly; the illusory aura around Lei Kedun vanished, and a crisp finger‑snap rang out, echoing unusually clearly on the quiet street.

Thick teal vines hung down from mid‑air, covering the surrounding area like a downpour.

In the hallucination, Ke Lai'en, who had been pushed onto the gallows, suddenly saw clearly; details he had previously ignored resurfaced in his mind:

"This city has extremely harsh laws, but as long as we don't intersect with it, we won't be greatly affected."

"Not interacting with the surroundings doesn't mean staying silent; it means discerning truth from falsehood, and firmly denying the unreasonable, for those denied cease to exist."

While muttering to himself, Ke Lai'en noticed the towering figures around him were no longer towering, and their oppressive aura had largely faded.

But why am I still on the gallows? Is my will not strong enough? As he pondered, he directly recited the honored name belonging to the 'Fool':

"The Fool not of this era, the mysterious ruler above the gray mist, the yellow‑black king who commands good fortune."

Simultaneously, layers of illusory prayers echoed in his ears, and gray‑white mist churned in his sight; relying on his keen intuition, he vaguely sensed something invisible nearby recoil, as if frightened by the mist.

At the same moment, the gallows and the figures judging him vanished from his view; the surroundings became an empty street, with only the three of them present, not a single extra shadow.

"So, have we been influenced by the Ghost Empire from the start?"

He muttered softly, his gaze lingering briefly on Lei Kedun and Ai Mulin, noticing both were dazed; Lei Kedun seemed to be confronting someone, while Ai Mulin teetered on the brink of panic and collapse.

Retracting his sight, Ke Lai'en tried stepping back four paces into the gray mist, and unexpectedly succeeded outright.

He picked up the Red Priest card from the table, reached into the clutter to summon three cut‑out paper figures, leveraged the power above the gray mist, and tossed them toward three deep‑red stars representing the Moon, the White Tower, and the World.

Within the Ghost Empire, Lei Kedun stared at the surrounding chaotic, twisted golden currents, which constantly birthed vortices of varying size, their invisible tendrils extending outward; he frowned and whispered, "What a hassle. The power I can wield is basically only Tier‑One, and the Ghost Empire's actual power ceiling sits exactly at that level, creating a stalemate—neither side can overcome the other, whether in strength or stature."

As he spoke, complex illusory sigils coalesced within his eyes, and star after star materialized around him, dense and dazzling, scattering beams of light.

The intertwining starlight dissolved the invisible tendrils extending from the golden vortices, restoring them to pure knowledge.

Under his influence, the knowledge came alive, using its aura and power akin to the Ghost Empire's to swiftly dismantle the surrounding order.

The surrounding golden vortices, large and small, grew even more chaotic, like an abstract oil painting with paint haphazardly swirled and splashed.

Seemingly angered by Lei Kedun's actions, pale‑gold chains emerged from the chaotic, twisted golden currents, sweeping toward him from all directions.

These pale‑gold chains appeared slightly illusory yet extremely solid; upon close inspection, they bore interwoven patterns like engraved statutes.

They embodied order and law, hard to impede or alter, swiftly correcting any disharmony that violated statutes in the surrounding space. The next instant, the gray‑white mist above tore open, and a towering angel bearing twelve pairs of flame‑wings, clad in armor stained with blood and rust, flew out.

This is the Paper Angel Ke Lai'en cast into the gray mist; it manifested within the Ghost Empire!

When the Paper Angel appeared, the auras of the Red Priest and Source Fortress on it were seized, and the Ghost Empire treated it as an intruder; pale‑gold order chains shot upward, attempting to intercept and destroy the Paper Angel.

Above the gray mist, Ke Lai'en, who had intended to leave, suddenly halted; using the Paper Angel's connection, he also witnessed what was happening beside Lei Kedun.

How could this be? The Paper Angel was intercepted! It's not a tangible thing, merely a blessing I bestowed, right? Such a blessing should manifest directly on its recipient, not materialize like this. Amid these thoughts, Ke Lai'en reached for the Sea God Scepter and summoned a thunderstorm around himself and the others.

Contrary to his expectation, the thunderstorm that should have appeared left no trace, as if evaporated into thin air, yet his spent spirit and intuition both told him the Sea God Scepter's storm had struck.

"Has the concept of this space been twisted? Or are our bodies within the Ghost Empire existing in a superposition of countless possibilities?"

Muttering to himself, Ke Lai'en set down the Sea God Scepter, flipped the Fool card that lay upside down on the table, a blasphemous card that matched him and the power within this gray mist, capable of creating a stronger Paper Angel.

He tossed out several crudely cut paper figures; they expanded mid‑air, becoming mysterious angels bearing twelve pairs of gray‑white wings, cloaked in black robes, their faces hidden.

Under his control, these Paper Angels plunged directly into the endless gray mist, merging with the twinkling deep‑red stars above.

Within the Ghost Empire, golden chains of order and law tightened continuously, enveloping the armor‑clad angel stained with blood and rust, its twelve pairs of flame‑wings, imprisoning it firmly in place.

A vague silhouette of light materialized out of nowhere, seated upon a black throne above countless rules and orders, exuding an indescribable, unwatchable oppression.

"Disordered Nation: We aim to forge a Ghost Empire similar to the Disordered Nation, with occult connections, then perform a ritual to twist rules and concepts, allowing us to descend upon greater power and even begin to break the seal."

He whispered two sentences softly; Lei Kedun's body suddenly turned transparent, as if becoming a statue composed of countless stars.

The statue shattered at once, brilliant starlight bubbling rapidly, swiftly filling the space around, a region oddly divided by the Ghost Empire.

Stars appeared one after another, then scattered beams of light, converging into a magnificent Light Giant Pillar that enveloped everything, powerfully dispersing and purifying the chaotic, twisted golden currents and the interwoven order chains surrounding them.

The hazy starlight and the chaotic, twisted golden currents melded into a mass, yet remained distinctly separate, each unable to dissolve or engulf the other.

During the stalemate, an angel bearing twelve pairs of gray‑white wings, clad in a hooded black robe, swooped out from the gray mist above.

The Paper Angel forged from the high‑level power of the Fool's path appeared, and the surrounding twisted, chaotic golden currents and tightening order chains momentarily stalled, losing purpose, as if they had been fooled.

Lei Kedun seized the opportunity, causing the surrounding starlight to surge dramatically, disguising erroneous, chaotic information as correct, and injecting it along the order chains into the rules and order the Ghost Empire had created and twisted.

The divided space around restored, the wandering starlight turned into a brilliant sea of stars, directly covering the entire Ghost Empire's sky, warping the surrounding spacetime and severing ties with the star and spirit realms; even information could not interact, yielding a potent concealment effect.

In this situation, the Disordered Nation sealed on the Western Continent cannot project any of its power here via occult connections, and beings of the star realm and the heavens cannot gaze upon this place.

Amid the hazy starlight, Ke Lai'en came to his senses, glanced at the still bewildered and fearful Ai Mulin, and calmly said, "Place yourself within the starlight, avoid being covered by shadows, and do not interact with any being here, and you will not encounter danger."

He gave a brief explanation, then Ke Lai'en stopped watching Ai Mulin and stepped straight toward the city center.

The Paper Angel created with the Fool card proved unexpectedly powerful, directly affecting the city's condition—perhaps because I am already a demigod and can further manipulate the power above the gray mist.

(End of Chapter)