The three of them returned to the Church of the Fool, met with a deathly silence.
The interior of the church was pitch black, with only moonlight filtering through the stained glass, casting mottled, grotesque light and Shadows on the floor. The clergy, who should have been patrolling and whispering holy names, were nowhere to be seen; the entire church was as empty as a massive tomb.
Lin Huai's heart sank abruptly, a bone-chilling cold rushing from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
"Lust..."
I've really used divination too much; my brain has stopped thinking.
If the final Original Sin is "Lust," then looking at the entire team, who could be a more suitable sacrificial offering than Kaelan of the Demoness Pathway?
I actually bought back that ring serving as a beacon with my own hands... I actually brought the most perfect sacrificial offering back to the church teeming with believers of the Fool, helping the enemy set the final marker. I even took Thor and Danitz away from the church, leaving the two targets here!
Lin Huai suddenly raised his hand and gave himself a resounding slap with all his might.
Slap!
The crisp sound echoed through the silent church, sounding exceptionally piercing.
"Loki!"
Thor's roar interrupted Lin Huai's self-reproach. He had already rushed to Loki's room, which was also empty; Loki had disappeared once again.
Having his younger brother snatched away from under his nose again completely ignited Thor's thunderous rage!
"Aaaaaah—!!!"
He let out a roar toward the sky that didn't sound human. Violent thunderous power surged frantically from within him, spiraling completely out of control. The magnificent crystal chandelier on the church's dome shattered instantly, and the night sky above the church was swallowed by churning dark clouds. Thick silver serpents darted wildly through the cloud layer, letting out low, muffled rumbles!
"Shit! He's crazy! He's gone mad!" Danitz's face turned pale with fear. He scrambled to hide behind a massive stone pillar, only daring to peek out with half his head at the figure surrounded by electric light. "What Sequence is he exactly? Why can he summon such powerful thunder?!"
Just then, a bolt of lightning as thick as a giant blue python, carrying an invincible might, tore through the church's dome and struck Thor with pinpoint accuracy!
A terrifying aura, far more ancient and tyrannical than Thor's own divine power, descended with a crash! A majestic and indifferent gaze, as if crossing infinite dimensions, instantly focused on Thor!
Blue thunder coursed wildly over him, every inch of the electric arcs containing destructive power, yet it didn't harm him in the slightest. Finally, all the lightning surged into the mjolnir in his hand, branding a new emblem composed of storms and lightning, full of majesty and destruction, onto his Mjolnir!
Seeing this scene, the vision before Lin Huai's eyes suddenly began to distort and tear.
His soul felt as if it were being yanked out by an invisible hand and stuffed into one unfamiliar shell after another. He experienced fragments of their lives: sometimes a youth cowering in the Shadows, not daring to speak out against mockery; sometimes a calculating middle-aged merchant, smiling obsequiously at a dinner table; sometimes a blonde woman craving attention, forcing a smile at a ball... He became many people, living completely different lives, but each time, he would transform back into a black-haired, black-eyed youth.
He watched that youth often in battle, using someone else's mouth to shout that most arrogant language in a voice he himself found cowardly to the core:
"Leodero!"
Then a bolt of thunder would shatter his enemy, and he would quickly discard the used body and hide inside Sefirah Castle.
Lin Huai seemed to understand something.
The illusion shattered. Lin Huai snapped back to his senses, his entire body soaked in cold sweat.
Before he could even catch his breath, another bolt of lightning whistled down from the sky, striking him directly!
Crack!
The wooden box in his arms containing the Faceless main ingredients shattered! The Mutated Pituitary Gland of the Faceless Hunter and The Trait of the Human Skin Shadow were instantly blasted into the finest powder within the lightning!
Those powders, speckled with blue electric arcs, gave him no chance to consume them. Instead, they turned into a torrent, savagely and forcefully surging into his body, beginning a painful fusion with his skin, flesh, and even his spirit body!
From above the sky came a faint, eerie chuckle.
"This is my investment, kid who likes to call me by my name. You must win; I don't like that old fellow."
"Also, don't be in a hurry. The thunder will guide your way. The Barrier that a group of us has protected for hundreds of years cannot just let some flies crawl in."
"Ah—!" Lin Huai couldn't help but let out a suppressed groan of pain. His skin began to change constantly as the Potion fused: sometimes twisted granulation grew, sometimes smooth scales sprouted, and sometimes it quickly smoothed over. The entire process was bizarre and terrifying.
Not long after, he snapped his eyes open.
Almost at the same time, Thor, who had been struck by lightning, also opened his eyes. The sky-high rage in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a calm mixed with reverence and bewilderment.
"Wise One," he looked at Lin Huai, his voice a bit dry. "Just now... a very majestic voice asked me if I'd be willing to follow him. Who is he?"
Danitz, hiding behind the pillar, was completely dumbfounded. He pointed at the two Monsters with completely different auras in the center and stammered to Lin Huai, "You... are you okay? What the hell was that just now... and him... what happened to him?"
The corner of Lin Huai's mouth curled into a mischievous smile.
In the next second, the bones throughout his body let out a series of crackling pops. His muscles bulged, and his stature swelled. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a burly man with short blue hair, exuding a tyrannical aura.
In a low voice filled with pressure, completely different from his own, he said:
"Is the person you're talking about like this?"
Before his voice had even faded, another small bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air, accurately striking his forehead.
With a thud, Lin Huai's transformation was instantly interrupted. He reverted to his original appearance and fell clumsily to the ground.
He spat out a mouthful of black air laced with electric arcs and stood up unsteadily.
"That's a petty monarch. Let's go; we're going to save them."
His voice returned to a state of calm, but his gaze became sharper than ever before.
"It's... not too late yet."