Chapter 676: Strange Hall

Inside the iron‑black "throne", the space is dozens of times larger than what is seen from outside, grand and splendid, making Ke Lai En briefly doubt where he has been transported.

He followed his spiritual intuition to a fairly spacious hall, where gray‑white stone pillars carved with many strange patterns stood on both sides, each inlaid with golden gems.

Below each pillar stood a black, somber full‑body armor figure wielding a spear and a straight sword at the waist.

At the front of the hall, on a raised platform, sat a lavish high‑back chair occupied by a crown‑wearing figure in an ornate robe adorned with many ornaments, gripping a scepter studded with golden filigree and gems; the face was indistinct, like a sleeping emperor.

Ke Lai En cautiously halted before the doorway, using his spirit‑line sight to observe the armored figures and the shadow on the throne.

He found no spirit‑line on those black armors or the shadow on the throne, nor did he sense any living aura from them.

With a clang, a gold coin sprang from Ke Lai En's hand and fell back into his palm, the king's portrait facing upward! "No danger, of course; more likely my divination was disturbed. All the anomalies and discord in this palace seem to converge here, it's hard to believe there's no danger."

Mid‑sentence, his black long coat began to writhe, shedding piece by piece onto the floor, turning into a pool of crimson flesh, then surging upward to reconstitute into a human shape: Lu De Wei Er, the "Hell General" in a butler's outfit.

In Lu De Wei Er's eyes reflected a pale shadow, a grim, expressionless face—his second secret doll! He originally had three, but Qiu Na Si Ke Er Ge follows the Black Emperor path; fearing interference from the Ghost Empire, loss of control, or rebellion, he sealed that doll via a secret art supplied by Lei Kedun, placing it atop the Gray Mist. As long as it's retrieved in time, the doll won't collapse.

After distributing the pre‑prepared magical items to the two secret dolls and completing the preparations, Ke Lai En let the soul‑possessed Lu De Wei Er step into the hall.

The instant Lu De Wei Er entered the hall, his vision shifted, inexplicably appearing within the hall.

Ke Lai En froze briefly, then quickly responded, "I and the secret doll are judged as a single entity? Doesn't that mean any damage to the doll feeds back to me?"

Below the pillars carved with strange patterns and inlaid with gems, the black armors all turned in unison, gazing at Ke Lai En and his secret doll.

But in Ke Lai En's eyes, no spirit‑line appeared on those armors, as if they were already dead objects.

Trouble—here the special restriction on the "Trickster Mage" ability flickered, and Ke Lai En lightly twisted his fingers; the hem ignited, a burst of crimson flame rose and enveloped him.

Meanwhile, in the corridor outside the hall, a match that Ke Lai En had dropped ignited on its own.

"Deprive!"

A solemn, authoritative voice, its timbre indiscernible, rang out from nowhere.

The flames on Ke Lai En's body were swiftly extinguished; his body remained where it was, the flame‑leap failed, and he also lost the extraordinary "Flame Leap" ability.

One can also use a law to strip extraordinary abilities? That already exceeds the Sequence‑5 Punishment Knight, belonging to a demigod‑level power, right?

While pondering, he saw parts of the black armors turn silver‑white, their surfaces overlaid with golden patterns, defying physics as they floated, exuding a strong aura of authority; the surrounding air seemed viscous, hindering his movement.

The remaining black armors charged straight at him; though not fast, they closed the distance in a few steps, as if the metric for distance had become chaotic.

"What are these things, why does every armor here feel like it bears demigod might?"

Mid‑sentence, he already commanded Lu De Wei Er to swing the massive scissors; silver‑white blades shot out from within the approaching black armors, emitting a screech that made teeth ache.

At the same time, every armor bore fine, shallow cut marks.

Ke Lai En retreated while scanning his surroundings, pondering the countermeasure—was this the "Fallen Count" ability? Distorting target probability, distributing damage evenly across all armors?

While contemplating, he directed the secret doll Lu De Wei Er, using the magical items, to unleash a twilight storm in the hall, isolating all armors and himself on opposite sides; then he drew an iron‑black square talisman, the "Yesterday Reappearance Talisman"! He intended to borrow power from his past self, atop the Gray Mist, relying on the "Conqueror" trait to draw upon the strength of A Zi Ke.

As long as he moves fast enough and promptly prays to cleanse his own contamination and influence, there will be no problem.

His thoughts flickering, he uttered the activation incantation in ancient Hermes language: "Yesterday."

The talisman shattered instantly; before Ke Lai En appeared many versions of his past self—Ge Er Man Ai Pa Luo, Dao En Tang Tai Si, and the rogue Black Emperor. His gaze kept moving forward, seeing a version perched atop the Gray Mist, wielding the "Conqueror" trait, pale‑faced, with fine buds sprouting from his skin.

The next moment, that silhouette merged with his present self; his skin turned translucent and pale, his eyes ignited with a pale flame, flesh writhed, sprouting buds that seemed to weave into feather‑like growths.

He looked up, scanning the hall, taking in every armor—including the figure seated on the front platform.

The hall's lighting dimmed; the surfaces of the black or silver armors developed rust, uncontrollably beginning to decay and wither, like a river of death flowing inch by inch.

Beyond the iron‑black "throne", two massive silhouettes remained stationary, neither moving, as if confronting each other, or battling in an unseen realm.

More and more eyes sprouted from the thin black mist, and the faint golden order chains tightened, nearly encircling everything into an airtight sphere.

In a moment, the vague luminescence opposite Lei Kedun, crowned with a kingdom, showed rust and a sense of decay, causing the tightly woven order chains nearby to tremble.

Lei Kedun's towering figure instantly became ethereal; from the eyes sprouting in the surrounding black mist coalesced complex, illusory symbols, flooding the vague luminescence's mind with massive, tangled useless knowledge, while also altering the surrounding physical laws to some degree.

It significantly damaged the strict, tightly‑woven laws and order around, rendering the interlaced order chains chaotic.

Lei Kedun's illusory body surged forward with wave after wave of tangled information; before the crowned vague luminescence could react, he had reconstituted, flinging a few drops of pitch‑black, lightless "river water" onto the ornate gem‑encrusted crown.

The surroundings dimmed briefly, and star after star appeared, neither dazzling nor brilliant, exuding a dead, silent aura.

The golden luminescence crowned with a crown slipped uncontrollably into slumber, rapidly withering in sleep, decaying, dying piece by piece.

The order and rules enveloping the Ghost Empire seemed instantly shattered, riddled with errors, becoming incomplete.

Within the city, buildings fell into ruin, streets decayed, trees and flowerbeds withered, and the silhouettes walking the streets turned into skeletons, zombies, and ghosts.

As the aura of the "Eternal Dark River" eroded, the figure crowned with gold thinned until vanishing.

Inside the iron‑black "throne" palace, Ke Lai En's form appeared on the front platform; his right hand gripped the massive scissors Lu De Wei Er wielded, thrusting them into the sleeping figure, detonating a death‑god aura that rendered the strike "lethal".

Behind him, streams of dim, non‑brilliant light surged in, melting the black or silver armors into fragments that fell, even their colors evaporating swiftly.

Then the lights converged on the platform, reconstituting Lei Kedun's silhouette.

He calmly surveyed the figure on the throne, dying slowly in sleep, his eyes forming complex, illusory symbols.

A massive tangle of pure knowledge extracted from the sleeping figure's body, sketching an identical silhouette before him, as if revealing all its secrets.

The figure was about twenty years old, bronze hair, golden eyes, handsome, lacking the former authority, instead bearing a scholarly air.

Ke Lai En, while examining the knowledge‑drawn figure, sighed:

"Can the power of 'knowledge' be used like this? Extracting knowledge directly from another's body, forcibly parsing them."

"This is a manifestation of 'Omniscience'; I employed my authority together with the 'Insight' of the White Tower path to simulate it."

"Having mastered all information and knowledge of this world, one could say it's 'Omniscience', right?"

He gave a brief explanation, then Lei Kedun said, "This also amounts to a special kind of necromancy; you can ask him any curious question."

Ke Lai En nodded, then looked at the knowledge‑drawn figure and asked curiously, "Who are you?"

(End of Chapter)