Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 314 The "Black Saint" with Split Personalities

Bernadette's warning was not directed at Roger alone, but at everyone currently able to see the sea.

Roger immediately understood what Bernadette was saying and closed his eyes.

In fact, Roger already knew that there was a strange effect in the sea area around the God War Ruins, which would cause mental confusion to everyone who entered the area, leading to many unpredictable consequences.

It is precisely because of this that the ruins of the War of the Gods are regarded as forbidden lands by many navigators. Even mentioning them would make them tremble with fear, let alone approach or enter this sea area.

Soon, Roger felt the sunlight filtering through his eyelids becoming less and less, and it took a long time for it to return to normal.

The sky turned dark again, and Roger could see that on the deck of the Dawn not far away, a sailor who had been standing on the deck had disappeared and turned into two black footprints, seemingly unable to react in time.

This made Roger's heart skip a beat, and he looked around at the darkness.

In this sea, there are no towering pillars formed of diamonds, only pitch-black waves and a series of giant human figures with multiple heads and arms, as well as sculptures made of black and white stones, appearing sporadically on the sea surface under the moonlight.

Yes, it was still nighttime not long ago, but when Roger saw the midday sun earlier, he actually experienced a distortion of his sense of time.

Even though he had already taken precautions, Roger was still somewhat surprised to personally experience the eeriness of this divine war ruin.

However, this tranquility did not last long. Roger saw that the moon in the sky began to dim rapidly, and the starlight had been completely hidden and disappeared.

In an instant, the night became darker than the night itself.

He strode back to the cabin of the "Star Lord" and began to speak:

"Everyone go back to your rooms, go to sleep as usual, and then wait to wake up naturally!"

"Why, Captain?"

Lupin, who was steering the boat, glanced at the rudder and asked, somewhat puzzled.

“If we don’t do this, when we all wake up, we’ll find that you’ve vanished without a trace.”

Roger glanced at Lupin:
"Follow orders, issue orders, and then do as I say."

Lu Ping's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately spoke:
"Yes! Captain!"

Roger nodded, quickly returned to the cabin of the "Star Lord," and grabbed Ophina King's arm as she passed by, reminding her:
“Go back to your room, give me your favorite glass bottle, then put on that horrible outfit I made you prepare, hold the weapon in your hand, and lie on the bed for five minutes.”

"Yes, Captain."

Seeing Roger's tense expression, Ophina immediately nodded and obeyed.

Roger took the bottle and strode back to the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord". He told the still-sleepy Bandit not to get up and to continue sleeping, and then began to prepare the "Dream Thief" potion for Ophina on the equipment he had prepared in advance.

Soon, the potion was prepared, and Roger returned to the bedroom next door that he had specially arranged for Ophina to be close to him. He looked at Ophina, who was wearing a bloody soft armor and a butcher's mask.

"Don't use this butcher mask anymore, the brown bear mask next to it is better."

Roger pointed to another furry brown bear mask lying on the table and offered a suggestion.

After saying that, he handed the "Dream Thief" potion to Ophina:

"Hold it tight, make direct physical contact, and stay in that state until you fall asleep. Afterward, I will help you bring the potion into your dreams."

"I will inform you when the time is right to take the potion."

"Okay, Captain."

Ophina, wearing a mask, answered in a muffled voice. Roger nodded, quickly returned to the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord," took off his shoes, and then found a comfortable position to lie down fully clothed.

Before going to sleep, Roger put on the "invisible bracelet" and activated the "Silver Mirror," a Sequence 0 seal artifact corresponding to the extraordinary characteristics of the "Prophet." Then, he used his ability to "weave dreams" to simultaneously envelop himself, Bandit, and Ophina.

Roger's eyelids quickly grew heavy, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in front of a strange stone building.

The stone building was black, located on a mountaintop, and covered a considerable area. From its appearance, it seemed to be a monastery or something similar.

In front of the monastery stood a withered tree and a protruding boulder.

In front of that giant rock was a bottomless cliff, within which were many magnificent and splendid palaces, layer upon layer, which looked full of a strong sense of epic history and mythology.

Meanwhile, the "mysterious queen" Bernadette Gustave stood not far from Roger, calmly looking at him.

"You did indeed prepare a countermeasure."

Bernadette smiled faintly.

"It seems you are too."

Roger nodded. He knew that at this moment, everyone on the four ships, including the "Star Lord" and the "Dawn," had entered a shared dream.

The darkness of this dangerous sea connects everyone's dreams, and creatures that do not fall asleep at this time, whose spiritual bodies are not within this dream, will disappear due to a lack of necessary protection, be subjected to indescribable attacks, and thus disappear.

"I plan to look around and, while I'm at it, help one of my men complete his 'Dream Thief' promotion ceremony."

What are your plans?

Roger asked.

"I don't have any, please do as you please."

Bernadette shook her head and looked down once more at the magnificent palace complex below.

“This place really resembles the ‘Twilight Palace’… I always feel a sense of awe every time I come here.”

"really."

Roger, who had also seen the Twilight Palace, nodded, turned and walked towards the gate of the Black Monastery, placing his hands on the heavy, nearly ten-meter-high stone gate.

"So heavy..."

Roger was somewhat taken aback. He never expected that he would be unable to open the door with his demigod-level power.

"By the way, this is a dream."

Roger pondered:

"In other words, I am still in the position of the dream weaver, even though I am currently enveloped by the power of the 'invisible bracelet'."

"In other words, as long as I believe this door can be opened, I can push it open... without even using any extraordinary power."

Roger looked down at his left wrist, where a gold and silver bracelet, inlaid with a huge ruby, was quietly hanging.

This calmed him down considerably. Roger took a deep breath and imagined in his mind that the door could be opened easily.

Sure enough, with a slight effort, the door began to slide open, quickly revealing an entrance.

Roger patted his dusty hands and stepped inside.

Behind the door was a courtyard-like area, where many people were gathered at this moment.

The vast majority of these people were completely unaware that they were in a dream, or even that their surroundings were unusual.

They were just going about their own business, some talking and laughing loudly, and some even doing all sorts of indescribable abstract behaviors.

Lincia Louise, dressed daringly, stood on a high place, her foot planted on the head of one of her combat squad members, holding a glass of non-existent red wine in her hand, laughing wildly.

Her other subordinates, on the other hand, were all obsequious, kneeling at her feet, looking at Linsaya with desire and greed in their eyes.

"Linsaria and her combat squad... are they experiencing cognitive confusion?"

Roger immediately saw through the scheme. Although Linssaya was the leader of this combat squad, she herself was using the training of this combat squad to prepare for her own transition to the "Iron Knights".

However, on a physical level, Lindsay is still a woman. The body is the starting point for human cognition, and her long-term experience as a "pleasure" has also strengthened Lindsay's anchoring to her feminine self.

Both her attire and the admiration shown to her by the male combat squad members below her reflect their unconscious cognition and instinctive tendencies.

However, Linsaya does indeed hold a high position and is able to command those below her, indicating that she is transforming into a "combat commander," a point further hinted at by the blood-red wine in her hand.

This may also be one of the meanings of the "Iron-Blooded Knight" promotion ceremony, which aims to subtly change the perception of the "Pain Witch" who wants to switch paths towards Yang, although Linsaya's current progress in this transformation can only be considered to have just begun.

The two tendencies unconsciously combined to evolve into the bizarre scene before us, which resembles matriarchal worship and is extremely offensive.

Roger walked forward again and saw Zeus with his arm around Jennifer, nodding repeatedly with a smirk on his face.

Jennifer, on the other hand, was furious, criticizing Zeus every now and then, and then comparing him to Philip, saying things like Zeus should learn more from Philip.

As Zeus listened, he would occasionally steal glances at the "mysterious queen" Bernadette outside the courtyard, muttering "uh-huh" in response.

Roger's lips twitched, and he looked at the other end of the courtyard.

Wearing brass knuckles on both hands, Lupin punched the air in the direction of Linssaya while stepping in a butterfly-like manner. Every time his fist reached the end of its strike, his arm muscles would vibrate, as if he were actually hitting a sandbag.

"She's probably traumatized by Linssaya..."

Roger took a deep breath and shook his head.

As for Bernadette's subordinates, there were quite a few who exhibited abstract behaviors. Overall, Lupin, who was only obsessed with boxing, was the most normal person in the entire arena.

This also included Cattleya, whom Roger had been searching for. At this moment, the "Star Admiral" dressed in a mysterious black dress was sitting blankly to one side, muttering to herself.

"Hello, first time meeting you."

Roger nodded to her.

"This is not our first meeting."

Cattleya shook her head:

"I still owe you 44,257 gold pounds... Why can I owe you so much money?"

"Maybe it's because I'm really good at fighting... or maybe it's because I owe you a big alarm clock."

Roger smiled.

"Maybe."

Cattleya nodded:

"But remember, no matter how good you are at fighting, don't go into that monastery. It's very dangerous inside."

This statement came from a more lucid part of Cattleya's personality; she was aware of the anomalies within the Black Monastery.

"okay, thank you."

Roger instinctively reached for his hat, but then realized he wasn't wearing one.

"Oh right, I put my hat aside before going to bed."

He realized what was happening, so he bowed slightly and, ignoring the dazed Cattleya, walked alone into a corner in the darkness.

In the middle, he also saw Heath Doyle, the most normal "Rose Bishop" besides himself, who was hiding in the shadows and looking at Roger and the people behind him with great vigilance.

Roger ignored him and walked past him, finally seeing Ophina King, dressed in terrifying clothing and a brown bear mask, wielding an exaggeratedly shaped scythe, deep inside.

Bandit was trembling behind her, and when Roger appeared, the cat meowed and jumped onto him.

"Calm down, this is Ofina."

Roger sighed, stroked Bandit's fur, and then said:

“Ofina, now take the scythe and go chase those people outside... Remember, do not provoke the woman in the black dress with purple eyes, and do not provoke the ‘Mysterious Queen,’ or you might get your brains splattered.”

"Wait until you've driven them to the brink of mental collapse before you take the potion."

"Remember not to remove the bear mask throughout the entire process, because the image of the 'beast' is associated with the unconscious wilderness, which will further align with the condition you need to achieve in the ritual—'becoming the villain in the unconscious state of others'—and deepen their fear."

"On the other hand, be mindful of the range of your pursuit and do not force anyone into the monastery gates."

"Yes, Captain."

Ophina nodded, then took her scythe and went into the courtyard.

Suddenly, a series of wailing sounds rang out. The people in the courtyard were completely unprepared when they saw a blood-soaked brown bear wielding a scythe rush out and start a chase with them.

Roger smiled, turned around, walked to the gate of the Black Monastery, pushed the door open again, and went inside.

Behind the door was a vast hall supported by two rows of thick stone pillars. The hall was dark, without any candlelight, but Roger's act of opening the door allowed some light to shine in, revealing some of the interior.

Roger could see many murals on the walls, some of which depicted figures he recognized, including some of the angel kings.

He looked deeper into the darkness of the Black Monastery and swallowed hard. That was the very depths of the monastery, an area once described as "extremely dangerous" by Will Unsett, the "Mercury Serpent"!

"Bandit, go outside and watch Ophina chase someone. This place isn't suitable for you."

Roger gently put Bandit down and spoke softly.

"Meow, don't go there, it looks very dangerous in there."

Bandit rubbed his head against Roger's trouser leg and pleaded.

"It's alright, I'm going inside to find someone. This was originally part of my plan."

"You don't need to worry about me. I have two high-level sealing artifacts protecting me now, so there won't be any problems."

Roger smiled and tossed the disgruntled Bandit into the yard.

Having said that, he walked into the deepest part.

As he walked, Roger prayed to the "Goddess of the Night" to keep his mind calm and stable.

As Roger walked, the space deep within the black colonnade began to distort violently, and countless images wriggled and appeared on either side of Roger.

Bright, dark, shimmering, noisy.

Left and right, up and down, began to flip, and many distorted and painful faces appeared, saying incomprehensible things.

Roger closed his eyes, using his demigod-like sense of balance to steady his steps, ensuring he wouldn't be led astray by the sights and could continue walking in a straight line.

It seemed that Roger was very lucky, thanks to the blessing of the "Silver Mirror". He walked for an unknown amount of time before finally hearing a heavy crash.

Rather than a crashing sound, it was more like the sound of a very heavy and tall person running. The "thump-thump-thump" sound echoed around, regaining Roger's attention.

Roger opened his eyes and saw a tall, half-giant figure running ahead, wielding a deep, straight greatsword.

The tall figure exuded an icy chill that seemed almost tangible; his aura was restrained, and his silence was as deep as the ocean.

Judging from the fact that the other party was completely black and the red light emanating from his eyes, Roger could determine that this was a "Black Knight"!
"found it……"

Roger took a deep breath.

This was his second purpose in asking Luna to borrow the "invisible bracelet" before entering the "Gods' War Ruins" dream, besides helping Ophina King complete her advancement.

Find Leomaster, the "Black Saint," one of the four surviving saints of the Aurora Society!
While leading a pilgrimage to find the true sanctuary of the Creator, this saint mistakenly entered a dream of "the ruins of the divine war" and became lost within it.

In the collective dream, Leomaster exhibits a split personality, splitting into two distinct selves: a kind side and an evil side. His kind side is constantly being hunted by his dark side and trapped in this endless black nightmare.

What Roger wanted to do was to find the kind side of Leomaster's personality.

Sure enough, as Roger began to deliberately hide and avoid the Black Knight's pursuit, he suddenly felt his collar tighten and a force pulled him into a room.

He turned around and found a small figure standing in the almost completely dark room.

He was an elderly man dressed in a simple linen robe, his face weathered by time. He had deep wrinkles on his forehead, around his eyes and mouth, but his hair was jet black and shiny, without a single silver strand.

"Shhh."

The man in the linen robe gestured for silence:
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

“I came here on a pilgrimage, but I wandered into this place by mistake and got stuck.”

Roger answered as if he had prepared.

"pilgrimage?"

The man in the linen robe looked puzzled. He seemed to have thought of something and lowered his voice to ask:
"Pilgrimage to what?"

“I am a believer in the original Creator, and it is He whom I wish to worship.”

Roger's face showed reverence.

"Really?"

Upon hearing this, the man in the linen robe was stunned.

"Me too!"

He was as excited as if he had met a kindred spirit, and repeatedly praised:

"Praise be to my Lord, who is all-knowing and all-powerful, the source of all greatness!"

"He is the beginning and the end; He is the God of gods!"

"Praise my Lord!"

Roger, just as adeptly as ever, made the sign of the cross on his chest and began to speak.

“My name is Leomaster, and I am a penitent of the Lord.”

“I led a pilgrimage group to the eastern part of the Sunya Sea in search of the holy mountain where my Lord sleeps, but we encountered the demon in black armor and were trapped here by him, where we are hunted down every day.”

"Sigh, if I hadn't always believed that this was a test set up for me by the Lord, I probably would have gone mad long ago..."

Perhaps because he had met a kindred spirit and a like-minded person, Leomaster's face, which had looked very haggard from days of hiding, had improved considerably.

You might not know it, but you've gone mad...

Roger thought to himself, but spoke respectfully:
“My name is Roger Leomaster. I know you.”

“I am the successor of Lord Kesma. I came here to search for the holy relics of my Lord, but I did not expect to meet you.”

Leomaster was taken aback upon hearing this:

"Kexma...Kexma?"

"You just said...you're his successor? What happened to him?"

"Lord Kesma was murdered; he has fallen before the altar of my lord."

Roger sighed:

"Butis was also killed... After you left, many changes occurred within the organization."

When Roger mentioned Boutis, he didn't use the word "Your Excellency," but Leomaster didn't sense anything amiss. He was simply lost in shock, slumped to the ground, and muttered to himself:

"How could this be... how could this be?"

"This is real."

Roger nodded:

"Because of the Lord's silence, two traitors emerged within the organization... the two you're thinking of, the ones who killed Kesma and Butis."

"My pilgrimage here was to seek revelation from my Lord... I never expected to meet you, which may also be a sign from my Lord."

Faced with Roger's flawed explanation, the delirious Leomaster stood frozen in place.

"How could it be, how could it be..."

Leomaster muttered to himself, then suddenly began to sob softly:
“I have always firmly believed that my devotion to the Lord is the most sincere...which is why I came on this pilgrimage.”

“I had invited Arexos and Vignera before… but they wanted me to be the vanguard. I was surprised at the time. Shouldn’t I be overjoyed and extremely enthusiastic about participating in such a great and glorious event as meeting my Lord?”
"Now that you've explained it to me, I understand everything..."

Arexos and Vinera are the two remaining saints of the Aurora Order, one male and one female, with the titles "Saint of Shadow" and "Saint of Calamity," but Roger is not entirely clear about their respective pathway sequences.

Roger originally made things up, but because Leomaster's mental state was extremely unstable, and Roger himself already possessed the power of the "Dream Weaver," he naturally began to rely on unsubstantiated rumors to fill in the gaps in his imagination and amplify his suspicions about Arexos and Vignella.

After all, every saint in the "Aurora Society" believed himself to be the most devout, which was essentially a way of saying that the other saints were inferior to him. Leomaster was completely unable to consider the difference between them, and under Roger's instigation, he inexplicably developed anger towards Arexos and Venera.

Roger also forced out tears, and he hugged the sobbing Leomaster, patting him on the shoulder.

After a long while, the latter stopped crying and whispered:
“We have to get out; our Lord needs us.”

At this moment, Leomaster's nerves, which had been tense since entering the black monastery, were greatly relieved, and he began to seriously consider how to leave.

"You're right."

Roger nodded, a hint of secret delight in his heart:
“I don’t think we can really leave as long as that Black Knight is still active outside… Everything is under his control, and we will only have a chance if we kill him.”

"If you can, please share with me all the information you know about him."

"it is good."

Leomaster nodded and began to tell Roger about the existence outside that he called the "Black Saint".

Because of his split personality, Leomaster does not believe that the "Black Saint" is himself, and he does not even know the other party's real name.

On the other hand, he said that many people in the pilgrim group knew the "Black Saint," which gave him a strange feeling, as if he was the only one in the group who didn't know the other person.

Roger listened quietly and nodded repeatedly.

His original plan was to help Leomaster suppress his dark side personality and then rescue him from the dream of the "Gods' War Ruins," where only his good side remained.

At that time, Leomaster's personality will undergo a significant change, leaving only his devotion to the "true creator" and a relatively simple personality.

At that time, Roger could join forces with Leomaster to rally the messengers of the Aurora Society—given Leomaster's influence within the Aurora Society, Arexos and Venera would then be in a predicament.

At that time, these two saints will either avoid his sharp edge or try to kill Roger. In either case, Roger will have the opportunity to completely bring the "Aurora Society" under his control.

The only problem is that Leomaster's original corrupted characteristics as a "Black Knight" will be greatly weakened, which may cause problems with his "Black Knight" potion digestion level, or even lead to loss of control.

Roger had already thought this through. He could temporarily grant Leomaster a false destiny without affecting his sanity, allowing him to exert his full power, and then make further considerations after returning to Backlund.

"First, we need to stay away from this mirror."

Roger pulled Leomaster back a step and looked at the back of a full-length mirror next to the latter.

Since entering this place, Roger has been fortunate enough to avoid being reflected in the mirror.

In a mystical sense, Leomaster's split personality is closely related to this mirror, because the characteristics of dreams can be interpreted as his mirror image coming out and transforming into the black knight.

Of course, it makes no difference whether you say that the Leomaster in front of Roger is actually the "Mirror Image" of the "Black Saint"; in the dream world, there is no difference between the two.

"As long as you don't break it, it's fine; otherwise, I'll die instantly."

Leomaster stood up and whispered, somewhat fearfully.

"of course."

Roger nodded, thinking to himself:
"Of course I won't break it... Thanks to it, your two personalities were able to separate and appear in the dream in a tangible form."

Only after Roger is certain that the "Black Knight" has been eliminated will he attempt to seal the mirror away completely to prevent the "Black Saint" personality from reviving again.

He took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and connected with the "Original Motion Core".

Similar to the "Source Castle," because of their Source Rank, they are not shielded by the dreamscape of the God War Relics, and Roger can freely access things from them.

A moment later, the "Old Box" appeared in Roger's hand.

Pushing open the iron gate beside him, he ran wildly toward the "Black Knight" under Leomaster's horrified gaze.

Upon hearing Roger's footsteps, the "Black Knight" immediately turned around, raised his straight, dark greatsword above his head, and then slashed it down at Roger!

Because of Leomaster's gaze, Roger did not transform into the "Black Knight," but simply made a strange gesture with his hand and pointed at the "Black Knight"!
At the same time, a dark light appeared in Roger's eyes. As a "Black Knight" like Leomaster, he knew a lot about the secrets of this path.

The black armor was instantly knocked away, and Roger took advantage of the moment when the opponent's body stiffened to open the second layer of the "Old Box"!
A bright portal opened, and the "Black Knight" armor was thrown into a coordinate within the "Abyss".

It was not a real abyss, but a symbolic abyss in the dream, representing the darkness at the deepest part of the unconscious.

In fact, from the perspective of psychological alchemy, the ocean of the unconscious, the 'abyss', and the starry sky are actually three sides of the same thing, with the 'abyss' being the deepest part of the ocean of the unconscious.

At its deepest point, the 'Abyss' is connected to the starry sky—this misaligned connection from bottom to top is a reversal of reality, because in reality, the Abyss is below the starry sky, not above it.

There was a reason why Roger chose to throw the "Black Saint" into the "Abyss" rather than into the starry sky.

Even if the starry sky here is not the real starry sky, it is easily influenced by the symbolic influence of the Great Old Ones, such as the "Unending Whispers," which can lead to uncontrollable results.

In contrast, the "Abyss" symbol, which still holds a portion of power in the hands of the "Demon King" Fabuti, is a safer option!

(End of this chapter)