Chapter 693: The Ritual Ends

Azke's body instantly swelled, turning into a massive feathered serpent that shielded Craine behind it, blocking Se'a's attack.

Before Craine could relax, his spiritual intuition suddenly issued a warning, a vague image flashing in his mind: Se'a's grotesque, ugly doll-like figure materialized in his pupils, delivering a terrifying attack that was impossible to dodge or escape.

What am I, a very tasty fragrant...? As the thought drifted, Craine instantly fled into the historical mist.

Within the fissure of history, Charatu, who had long been waiting there, extended its tentacles, coiling toward Craine from all directions.

In Craine's view, having just entered the historical mist, he saw a deep, dim worm vortex sprouting countless slick tentacles, exuding an extremely terrifying aura as it pressed toward him.

His body seemed pulled by an invisible force, uncontrollably drifting toward the slick tentacles.

"To capture a 'diviner', the most important things are patience and waiting, waiting for him to step into the trap himself."

From the worm vortex that was Charatu's incarnation came a delirious whisper; this whisper greatly affected Craine, who was not yet an angel, rendering his thoughts unnaturally rigid, like rusted, decayed machinery, unable to think or respond.

This is a synergistic effect among extraordinary traits, an amplified and exploited aggregation effect. Just as his mind registered what was happening, the surrounding historical mist suddenly lit up, various lights and shadows within the historical fragments flickered, as if all were illuminated.

Silently, a continual glow surged from the historical fragments—dim, unclear, colorless, resembling a faint light composed of countless illusory things.

These glimmers quickly intertwined, forming a seemingly delicate yet overwhelmingly heavy mottled scroll that displayed mythic creature forms, attempting to directly swallow the Charatu barrier that contained Craine.

Craine seized the chance, swiftly withdrawing from the historical mist and returning to the real tomb.

As his figure barely materialized, he instantly turned his head toward Recktun's direction, where it was already empty.

Sure enough, it's fortunate that not only 'ancient scholars' can enter the historical mist; otherwise I would have truly stepped into Charatu's trap and couldn't get out, as higher-order beings on the same path heavily suppress extraordinary ones of lower sequence.

While sighing, Craine ended the maintenance of Azke's historical projection; he whispered a prayer to the Black Night Goddess while attempting to summon a previously seen angel—a hidden angel!

Once, twice, three times.

A young black-haired woman's figure emerged beside Craine.

She was outwardly graceful, yet her face bore no expression; her black eyes were dark and profound, but lacked spirit.

Summoned was seal item 0-17 held by the Black Night Church, a hidden angel that can serve as a vessel for the Black Night Goddess's divine descent!

Although there was no prior communication, it can cooperate with Arianna, which already reflects the goddess's attitude; since Lady Arianna's historical projection can be summoned, this hidden angel should also succeed, and its nature is higher, capable of making the battlefield here even more chaotic.

The summoned figure did not look at Craine, but turned its head directly toward the secret tomb below.

The entire underground ruin suddenly trembled, ripples spreading through the air, as if all the tombs linked together were about to be transferred into the hidden world.

Diverted by George III, who used the Black Emperor (Title)'s power to link spaces, several tombs that had been connected suddenly separated.

Under a strong sense of crisis, it could only choose to abandon one tomb. As long as the ascension succeeds, there is still a chance for remediation.

"No, you have no chance now."

A Meng's voice suddenly echoed in George III's ears, as if A Meng were whispering against his head.

The pitch-black liquid, having lost its human shape, suddenly surged, violently churning as if making a final resistance.

As the spaces within the tomb that had been linked were separated, the crowd that had been a chaotic melee was again divided into different secret tombs.

Arianna and William Augustus I, who was fiercely resisting the Lamp God's contamination, were separated into the same tomb.

Almost the moment the space stabilized, William Augustus I's body began to vanish piece by piece, as if erased by an eraser, becoming transparent and being sealed into the hidden world.

After briefly concealing William Augustus I, Arianna reached into the darkness and drew a bone long sword covered with strange patterns, half‑crouched, and drove the bone sword into the tomb's floor. The entire tomb was swiftly engulfed by darkness, melting away piece by piece, becoming part of the dark tide.

But within a few breaths, the second secret tomb was also destroyed.

Inside Tomb No. 1 where George III was, having regained his form and putting on a monocle, George III glanced at the corner of his mouth and sighed with a rather helpless tone:

"What a pity, just a little short."

As his words fell, George III's body suddenly began to fissure from within, dense cracks appearing, spewing out pitch‑black twisted liquid.

He struggled to control the speed of his body's collapse, lifted his hand to pinch the monocle over his right eye, and murmured, "Just a little short, but the ritual that became an 'Error' is complete, so give Charatu a bit more time, see who can become the final winner, devouring all the chips on the table."

As his words ended, a figure silently appeared within the tomb, the surrounding darkness surging like a tide, yet not sweeping toward A Meng at the tomb's center.

The deep darkness moved violently yet silently, bearing the power of sleep and death, capable of making people drift into slumber unknowingly, dying little by little within woven beautiful dreams.

In front of the monocle‑wearing George III, his face bore no expression; his black eyes were dark and profound yet lacked spirit, as the hidden angel calmly stared at him, its secret power blooming like a flower, swallowing and dissolving everything in the darkness.

Its aura was more magnificent and deeper than the historical projection Craine had previously summoned, as profound as boundless darkness; the 0-17 sealed in the underground of St. Samuel Church arrived in person! "Ha, you actually entered the fray yourself; aren't you worried that Badehail might launch a Divine War or a surprise attack on you at this moment? Or, does this matter, or someone here, merit you taking such a risk?"

"Since you're so resolute, I'll temporarily forgo ascension; after all, I lack neither time nor opportunity."

As the words faded, George III's body completely collapsed, strands of a twelve‑segment patterned Time Worm split off, turning into transparent white light, rapidly converging and reconstituting into A Meng's form.

He smiled at the hidden angel before him, vanished straight into the tomb, using the connections among the nine secret tombs to steal his position and place it in another tomb.

In Beckland's Memorial Day Square, while George III was delivering a speech to all the people of Luen, his words suddenly halted, and under everyone's gaze, his body exploded with a booming "boom".

His flesh and blood burst like fireworks, spraying into the air and covering the entire podium.

After a brief silence, the surrounding crowd screamed loudly, the scene instantly descending into utter chaos, the King's Guard soldiers rushing up the platform. On the restless Memorial Day Square, white doves, crows, ants, people in worker clothes, and men and women dressed as saints or ladies all hurried away, some removing their monocles. Inside the first ruin outside Beckland's outskirts, as A Meng departed, the hidden angel looked down at the now‑black sludge that had become George III, its body being gradually erased, disappearing within the tomb.

A heavy sigh reverberated inside the tomb; the abandoned George III slowly regained consciousness, and, like a flashback, his awareness at that moment became markedly clearer, distinctly feeling his body and mind rapidly collapsing, realizing he was utterly dying.

"No"

His voice was barely audible, quickly dissipating into the air; no one inside the tomb heard or saw his dying struggle.

As life slipped away, faintly he saw a massive black throne, upon which sat his own silhouette—himself as the Black Emperor (Title), proudly overlooking reality, equal to the gods! He slowly extended his hand, trying to seize this future and twist it into reality, yet he could not reach it.

Within the fissure of history, Recktun's figure, who had been confronting Charatu, suddenly vanished, and Craine withdrew the maintenance of his historical projection.

With no obstruction, Charatu swiftly slipped deeper into the historical mist.

At the same time, the hidden counterpart that remained in reality summoned its own historical projection again, projecting its consciousness into the past.

Outside the secret tomb downstream of the Tasok River, having thwarted George III's ascension ritual and escaped Charatu and Se'a, Craine hadn't had time to rejoice when, in a flash, another figure suddenly appeared before him.

A figure clad in a black classic robe, wearing a matching pointed soft hat.

He wore a crystal‑carved monocle over his right eye, his expression extremely delighted as he looked at Craine, speaking in a tone like greeting a long‑lost old friend:

"... found you."

"A Meng!" Craine stared helplessly at the A Meng who had suddenly appeared before him, wondering how he could be here.

His action was faster than his thoughts; he immediately reached out, trying to pull from the fissure of history the hidden angel he had just summoned, which could serve as the goddess's divine‑descent vessel! (End of Chapter)