Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 390 The Differentiation Between the "Abyss" and the "Dark Side of the Universe"
“When I came up here just now, I found some low to mid-sequence ‘demons’.”

At this moment, Klein spoke in a low voice to remind him.

"They're all dead, so there's no need to worry about them."

Roger laughed:

"These guys are basically controlled by their desires. Planting even a little seed of 'spiritual plague' can wipe them all out."

"However, I have mastered the power. Although they are dead, I still created a suspended residual mental body for them, so they won't lose control immediately... otherwise, it would definitely attract the attention of those guys upstairs."

"I see."

Klein glanced at Roger's pure black eyes and understood that this was the ability of a "manipulator," and thus knew that Roger's advancement this time used extraordinary characteristics that included the lower sequence of "Dream Weaver."

However, this would give Roger three different paths, which made Klein curious about how Roger balanced their relationships.

In fact, Roger had also worried about the same problem, and Amon had therefore temporarily shut down all the extraordinary traits from Sequence 9 "Spectator" to Sequence 4 "Manipulator".

However, when doing this, Amon said that he believed that after Roger was promoted to "Black Prophet", he would be able to use his lower-level abilities in the "Audience" pathway without any obstacles.

Roger didn't quite understand the meaning of those words at first, but after he gradually adapted to his abilities in the past few days, he finally understood what Amon meant.

For him, those extraordinary traits that were in a closed state were also part of the secret. They could be "leaked" in a targeted manner through "Dark Annihilation" and then used through "Mysterious Manifestation". In other words, Roger could use the lower extraordinary traits of the "Audience" pathway without temporarily fusing the lower extraordinary traits of the "Mysterious Man" and "Audience" pathways.

"This building has a total of 7 floors, 3 underground and 4 above ground. We are currently on the first floor above ground."

“You must have come up from the basement level. There should be something on the two levels below, but before we figure out what it is, we must clear out all these extraordinary beings upstairs.”

Roger's eyes flashed with black light as he quickly said:
“二楼有十五位‘罪犯’途径非凡者，7名序列7，6名序列6，2名序列5。”

He lowered his head:
"The two Sequence 5 'Apostles of Desire' and the one Sequence 6 'Demon' are in the same room, seemingly conducting some kind of sacrificial ritual."

"Is it the 'Grand Duke of the Abyss'?"

Klein immediately thought of this name.

"I'm not sure, we'll have to go up and check it out first."

He nodded slightly after hearing Roger's words.

“I will take control of the 12 mid-sequence extraordinary individuals; the three gathered together are yours.”

"it is good."

The two hit it off immediately. At this point, they were both demigods, so they didn't need to think too much when facing such extraordinary beings in the middle ranks.

Klein took Icarus Belial upstairs, and Roger soon noticed that the life forms upstairs were rapidly disappearing one by one. Some of them were transformed into Mythical Puppets by Klein without anyone noticing, while others had their minds detonated.

Roger took a deep breath and used the "Teleportation" ability directly in the "Psychological Invisibility" state. Due to the fusion of "Source" power, he was now able to even conceal the "Traveler's" teleportation effect in the "Psychological Invisibility" state.

A moment later, Roger appeared in a dark room. At this moment, the room was lit with many candles, human bones, and bottles and jars containing grease, human organs, placentas, and even embryos, which symbolized filth. Strange and sinister magic circles, seemingly symbolizing filth, were drawn on the floor with chalk and blood.

At the very center of the altar stood an ancient portrait. Although the portrait was somewhat blurry and oxidized, Roger could still make out that it depicted a middle-aged man with "demon" features, exuding a sinister and corrupt aura. At this moment, his eyes seemed to be alive, staring straight at the three people kneeling on the ground, chanting demonic words in a low voice.

As soon as Roger entered the room, he clearly sensed that the atmosphere had changed.

He frowned and immediately turned to look at the portrait of the middle-aged man on the altar. In that instant, Roger had a strange feeling that the man in the portrait seemed to be looking at him.

But Roger remained unhurried. He leaned against the wall and leisurely listened to the recitation of the three cloaked members of the Belial family in front of him.

"...The favored one of the 'Abyss,' the Grand Duke of filth and blood, the ruler of desire, the great 'Grand Duke of the Abyss'!"
"By the oath of the Beria family, by the blood of the noble, and by the corpses of heretical believers."

"We pray for your descent, and for your revelation regarding the current changes within the 'Blood Worship Cult,' and how we should deal with Vladil Azamat and the heretics he leads?"

Upon hearing this, Roger realized that the three people on the ground were praying to the "Grand Duke of the Abyss" for revelation regarding the "Reformers."

The fact that Voladil Azamat, a Sequence 5 Beyonder, was able to use a Sequence 2 sealed artifact was something even these insane demons considered absurd—like a mother opening a door for something absurd.

On the one hand, they couldn't defeat Vladil and wanted to get some guidance or power from the "Grand Duke of the Abyss." On the other hand, they seemed to be worried from the bottom of their hearts whether Vladil had some kind of background. This was the core reason why they prayed to the "Grand Duke of the Abyss."

After all, in a sense, the "Grand Duke of the Abyss" is an angel of the "Abyss" pathway, and in a sense, he represents the will of the "Abyss," so the revelation from the other party has a certain degree of guidance.

Just as Roger was wondering if the three of them would actually summon the power projection of the "Grand Duke of the Abyss," one of the Sequence 6 "demons" suddenly convulsed and collapsed to the ground a moment later.

With a "bang," he exploded into flesh and blood!
The other two were slightly taken aback. At this moment, they finally realized what was happening and began to curse the already dead "demon" in demonic language.

He was a spy recruited by the "reformists" within the Belial family to gather intelligence!

The next second, the portrait of the "Grand Duke of the Abyss" looked at Roger again, prompting him to take action.

Because he clearly sensed that his "psychological invisibility" state seemed to be interfered with by some superior, and that interferer possessed a part of the abyss's aura!

With the aid of "Mystic Manifestation," Roger unleashed a burst of dawn light from his hand, which instantly melted the two "Apostles of Desire" who had already noticed him, and then shone towards the altar.

However, when the light touched the area within a step of the altar, it was suddenly blocked by some indescribable evil aura, and strange, incomprehensible murmurs echoed throughout the room.

The murmur was clearly the power of an angel, which made Roger feel extremely threatened. Without thinking, he directly separated one of his personalities, which possessed an independent false destiny, to block the attack.

Immediately afterwards, Roger activated "Secret Presentation" again, reproducing his "Recreate" ability on a small scale.

An aura of desolation and decay immediately appeared on the altar, which to some extent suppressed the power on the altar. Roger took advantage of the gap between the two forces and flashed out of the dangerous room.

Then, Roger reversed the surrounding darkness, temporarily sealing away the pollution in the house that had been weakened by the power of "desolation".

Then he simply threw the interior of the house into the second level of the "Old Days Box," thus completely banishing it from the house.

"Huh, huh."

Roger was slightly out of breath; to be honest, what he had just experienced had indeed surprised him.

"It seems that a part of the 'Grand Duke of the Abyss' did indeed descend into that room just now, and the attack on me and that 'demon' should have been his power."

"But the problem is that, as someone who is in fact allied with Fabti, He has no reason to attack me. After all, the suppression of those below them by those above them in the 'Abyss' pathway is no joke."

"...Unless there is a possibility that this 'Grand Duke of the Abyss' was corrupted and enslaved by the 'Mother Tree of Desire,' and in this way He obtained a higher status in some sense, His behavior cannot be explained."

"And this also explains why the Demon Family is still secretly supporting the conflict between the 'conservatives' and the reformers."

Roger's expression grew increasingly grave as he thought about this, because if that were the case, Fabti's situation was even more dangerous than he had originally imagined.

In fact, there was a very subtle thing in all of Roger's encounters with the "Abyss".

It is an obvious fact that the "Abyss" has been polluted, causing the demons' living environment to deteriorate. However, even so, it seems that some high-ranking demons are still able to carry out autonomous activities in secret and even support the actions of the demon family, which is very unusual.

Now it seems that the influence of the "Mother Tree of Desire" is involved, and its infiltration of the "Abyss" can even spread through the barrier into the real world, which is definitely a very dangerous thing.

The Belial family has undoubtedly been influenced by this power. In a sense, they no longer believe in the "dark side of the universe," but rather in the "abyss" in a broader sense.

"It seems that Trier is indeed a place of trouble."

Roger, having figured all this out, couldn't help but sigh.

He shook his head, turned and left the corridor, then found Klein near the stairwell, who had finished the battle and obtained several mid-sequence marionettes.

Upon seeing Roger, Klein breathed a slight sigh of relief and began to ask Roger what had just happened.

For a fleeting moment, Klein clearly felt a sense of oppression from someone in a higher position emanating from Roger's room. Before he could figure out what was happening, that aura vanished again.

This made Klein's heart tighten, but when he saw Roger return to him unharmed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After Roger told Klein what had just happened, the latter's expression became serious again.

"You mean, the 'Mother Tree of Desire' projected its power into that ritual magic site through the medium of the 'Grand Duke of the Abyss'?"

Klein knew about the "Mother Tree of Desire," an evil god that had previously attempted to corrupt him through the "Celestial Cult," but Klein had seen through it in time, thus preventing serious consequences.

"Yes."

Roger nodded:

“I suspect that the Belial family is conducting some dangerous sacrificial ritual in the basement of this mansion, and that their superiors may now be affected by the ‘Mother Tree of Desire’.”

"Just to be on the safe side, we should inform the Church of the Eternal Sun about this. There's no need for us to get involved."

"But before that, we need to deal with the problems we have on hand."

As soon as he finished speaking, the already dimly lit corridor became even darker.

Many evil whispers echoed again in the corridor, while twisted and grotesque figures rose from the darkness.

One of the taller, twisted figures paused for a moment, then roared and charged toward Klein!

The wind howled through the corridor, and in just a moment, Klein was struck by a tremendous force.

The instant he was touched, Klein swapped positions with one of his own puppets, letting the latter take the impact in his place.

Immediately afterwards, he fired an "air cannon" with the power of an artillery shell at the direction of the dark figure.

However, the shell did not hit the shadowy figure at all; instead, it passed right through it and punched a large hole in the stained glass behind it.

The moonlight shone through the large hole, but it couldn't penetrate the shadow; instead, it made it even darker.

"That thing has no physical form."

Roger pointed out that he recognized it as an "Abyss" creature called a "Shadow Fiend," which possessed the ability to "shadow."

At this moment, they were clearly summoned by a demigod from the Belial family and then launched an attack on Klein.

"Ah."

Klein noticed this as well.

The next second, countless "Shadow Fiends" rushed in from all directions of the corridor.

"Klein."

Roger said softly, then raised his left hand.

In an instant, the relationship between light and darkness was reversed. The place where Roger and Klein stood turned pitch black, while the positions of the "Shadow Fiends" were revealed and turned into a semi-solid state of silver-gray.

This temporary reversal clearly disrupted the hidden existence of these "Shadow Fiends." Klein understood and immediately had the three "demons" he was controlling enter a demonized state. He then used the Lava Greatsword to charge into the "Shadow Fiends" that had gained physical form and temporarily broken free from their "Shadow" state, and began to kill them.

Roger took a deep breath, then turned and rushed towards a certain direction at the end of the corridor.

At the same time, Roger could see a winged figure appearing in the hole created by Klein's cannonball in the moonlight projection behind him.

At this moment, he had no time to worry about what was behind him, because Klein was in charge there.

Before he could run two steps, Roger's right arm suddenly transformed into a "blade of spirit and flesh" and thrust forward.

"Qiang!"

A metallic clanging sound echoed through the corridor, and moments later, flames suddenly burst into flames.

It was an enormous, exaggerated sword, engulfed in intense sulfurous flames, and held by a long, narrow, blackened claw that looked as eerie as a charred twig.

"Die for me."

Roger thrust his "Spirit and Flesh Blade" forward once more, while his left hand unleashed a burst of dawn light.

To Roger's surprise, the withered hand neither dodged nor flinched, but instead exerted even more force, pushing the sulfur greatsword forward. With a hiss, the sulfur flames on the sword blazed brightly, and a large amount of dense, highly toxic steam billowed up.

The smoke quickly weakened the dawn light released by Roger, who immediately realized that this was a countermeasure taken by the other party against his revived "Demon Hunter" ability.

Just as Roger summoned the "Black Knight" armor to resist the corrosive effects of the toxic steam, a "whisper" came from Roger's ear.

This immediately made him feel dizzy, but Roger did not give up blocking the opponent's sulfur greatsword. Instead, while switching his virtual personality, he quickly separated an identity that belonged to him.

That was Roger, who was a "living star chart". With the dual power of the "primordial core" and the "chaotic sea", he also possessed some of Roger's extraordinary abilities.

The "living star chart" passed right past Roger's side, and a strange handprint pointed into the depths of the thick fog.

Red, orange, and blue light burst forth from the thick fog, and the pressure on Roger's hands suddenly eased.

However, due to exposure to highly toxic fumes, the "living star disk" identity quickly melted away, but this was enough for Roger to launch an effective counterattack.

"Darkness extinguished".

With Roger's Sequence 3 "Leak" ability activated, the toxic vapor temporarily lost its effectiveness and was no longer as obstructive to vision.

He also got a clear look at the Sequence 3 demon that had been knocked away by "Astral Burst". At this moment, the demon was being affected by the aggravation and resistance reduction effects of "Astral Burst" and was using his own sulfur greatsword to stabilize himself.

“You are a member of the North family.”

Roger spoke in a cold voice, having already ascertained the other party's identity.

This person is very different from the Belial family in terms of bloodline and looks very different. Considering the Belial family's vassal relationship with the North family, it is not difficult for Roger to "see" that the other party is a member of the North family.

Roger Abraham.

The "talker" spoke in a hoarse voice, uttering Roger's name, his tone filled with undisguised malice.

"It's enough that I know Grandpa."

Roger wasn't surprised that the other party could recognize him, after all, his "Astral Burst" technique was unique, so it wasn't surprising that the other party could recognize him.

On the other hand, as fellow "Whispers," this demigod from the North family was quite different from Sebastian. The most significant difference was that he was not afraid of the high-ranking "Abyss" aura emanating from him.

"You dare to interfere in the affairs of the Demon Family in Trier? You really don't want to live."

The "Whisperer" of the Nanos family spoke again.

"Yeah, so what can you do to me?"

Roger chuckled:
"I've killed plenty of demons, one more won't make a difference."

"But to be honest, I haven't killed a Sequence 3 'Whisperer' yet."

Roger had previously fought against the "Undead King" Agarito, but because the source of the opponent's power was actually the "Death Call," even killing an "Undead King" on the surface did not count as truly killing a "Whisperer."

“I just happen to be missing a Sequence 3 soul, and you are just the right one.”

I can take you down in three moves.

As he spoke, Roger made a "3" with his left hand.

"Insanity."

The “Whisperer” was furious, but as soon as he finished speaking, rays of dawn light, like fine snowflakes, bloomed around him.

The "Fallen Shadow," wielding the "Demon Slayer," had appeared behind the "Whisperer" at some point. Because Roger had acquired the power of the "Dream Weaver," the "Fallen Shadow" now possessed its own independent thought and could use some of Roger's abilities, making it easier to command than before.

Just then, the "talker" suddenly turned his body and narrowly avoided the attack.

However, due to his reduced resistance, he was still burned by the dawn light radiated by the "Demon Slayer".

He struggled against the aggravated effect, activated "Shadow Transformation," and quickly retreated, dodging the second slash from "Demon Slayer."

Having just regained its demonic form and established itself, the two enormous demonic horns on the "Whisperer's" head began to crackle with lightning.

The “Shadow of Corruption” suddenly exploded, and at that moment, it, which was formed from corrupted thoughts, was completely destroyed by the “Mental Shock”.

However, this "shadow of corruption" is not only composed of shadows, but also contains flesh and blood that Roger had placed beforehand.

In an instant, blood mist filled the air, and a barely perceptible silver-white light flashed through it.

The moment the "talker" saw the silvery light, he was shocked and a very ominous feeling arose in his heart.

He instinctively tried to use "Shadow Transformation" again to dodge the silvery light, but before he could react, his body exploded and was completely engulfed by a silvery light.

Two seconds later, a head reeking of sulfur rolled to the ground.

That was the already dead "Whisperer," whose green vertical pupils still looked at Roger with resentment, seemingly filled with extreme hatred.

"If I say three moves, then I mean three moves."

“You demons rely too much on your ‘malice perception’.”

Roger sighed slightly. Like Klein, he hadn't hidden his malice at all during his battle with the "Whisperer." Even when the "Shadow of Corruption" appeared, it possessed an independent personality and thus also had malice that could be easily detected by those with the "Abyss" pathway.

However, the instant he killed "The Fallen Shadow," Roger concealed his malice and, using the blood mist from the explosion of "The Fallen Shadow" as cover, "recreated" the "silver rapier" used by Saint Austin, the former saint of the Church of War, and successfully killed the "Whisperer" of the North family.

Before Roger returned the two swords left behind by Saint Austin to the Church of the God of War, which was under the control of the "Goddess," after the war ended, he made a point of familiarizing himself with the three abilities contained in the two swords: "concealment by light," "silver rapier," and "mercury transformation," with the intention of broadening his horizons.

This also allowed him to use "Secret Manifestation" to reproduce the corresponding abilities after he became the "Black Prophet," and to use it for the first time in actual combat.

This is one of the powerful aspects of the "Black Prophet": any ability that he has actually used and is familiar with can be reproduced through "Mystic Manifestation" and delivered a fatal blow to the opponent at a crucial moment.

While the North family's "Whisperer" was still warm and his soul had not completely dissipated, Roger directly enslaved his soul and absorbed his extraordinary characteristics.

At that moment, Roger learned many things from the depths of the other's soul.

At the same time, Roger also extracted Jason Beria's extraordinary qualities and soul.

Since Jason already possessed a higher-ranking "demon" soul, Roger no longer needed Jason's soul. Extracting it at this moment would allow Roger to retain a spare "Apostle of Desire" extraordinary characteristic.

Then, Roger looked at Jason's soul, who was looking around with a complicated expression.

"Going home, do you miss it?"

Roger chuckled and asked.

To Roger's surprise, Jason actually nodded slightly.

"It's a pity you can't be reincarnated, otherwise I could still say to be a good person."

Roger waved his hand, turned and walked towards the moon, leaving Jason, whose soul was about to dissipate, standing there reminiscing about the past.

At this moment, Klein had also successfully transformed the other "demon" into his own marionette, thus giving him and Klein a Sequence 3 and Sequence 4 "Abyss" path henchman respectively.

"There shouldn't be any other 'demons' here."

Roger shook his head, then looked down at his feet.

"You just enslaved the soul of that 'Whisperer,' so you should know what's down there, right?"

After seeing Roger's behavior, Klein realized what was happening and asked a question.

"Ah."

Roger nodded:

“There’s something terrifying down there. We’d better not get involved. Let the Church of the Eternal Sun handle it.”

In the memories of the "Whisperer" named Galio North, whom Roger had just absorbed, he led the "demons" of the Belial family to set up an extremely complex ritual magic beneath this mansion, projecting and summoning a small portion of the power of the "Abyss".

Even though the projection was very small and had not yet caused any visible pollution to the surroundings, Roger knew clearly that it was not entirely the power of the "Abyss" itself, but rather a tiny slice of a much larger structure originating from the "Mother Tree of Desire".

Therefore, that thing absolutely cannot be left there unattended, but Roger doesn't want to take any risks either. Professional matters should be left to professionals, and in the territory of Intis, the "Purifiers" of the Church of the Eternal Sun are the best choice.

Klein agreed with Roger's suggestion. The two exchanged a glance and then looted some valuables from the scene.

"See you at 'Old Man's Inn' later."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to report this to the 'Eternal Sun' church."

Roger finished speaking with a smile, and then used the spirit world as a medium to leave the Belial family mansion.

……

After half an hour.

A religious inquisition somewhere within the Church of the Eternal Sun.

A group of "purifiers" who were having a meeting suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass. After they cautiously investigated the broken glass, they found no one, but instead found a piece of paper.

It had an address written on it, along with a description of the situation.

After reading the letter, the leading "purifier" immediately became serious. He looked at his subordinates, who were staring at him with questioning expressions, and said:

"Immediately inform His Excellency the Archbishop; this matter is beyond our capabilities."

"Yes."

One of his female subordinates, dressed in a white robe, immediately responded and then hurriedly withdrew.

Around 1 a.m., Roger, Klein, and Bendit reunited in room 309 of the "Old Man's Hostel".

"...That's roughly the situation."

"So, Bandit? Any discoveries on your end?"

Roger first recounted his experience with Klein, then looked at Bandit and asked a question.

"Meow."

Bandit called out, and then spoke:

“I went to the locations you mentioned to monitor the ‘conservative’ members.”

“On the one hand, they were indeed summoned by higher authorities; on the other hand, I found that their beliefs were subtly different.”

"what is the difference?"

Roger raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Some of their symbols and prayers point to the 'dark side of the universe,' while others point to the 'abyss' itself."

"This does not seem to be intentional, because according to you, 'the dark side of the universe' and 'the abyss' are actually the same image, so these believers have not made a clear distinction in history."

"But now this distinction seems to be being exploited by certain forces. Although a few people still use both names interchangeably, most of those who chant the name 'Dark Side of the Universe' and the members of the 'Blood Worship Cult' who chant 'Abyss' have now subtly separated into two factions, but nominally they are still one group."

After Bandit finished speaking, he added:

"So I suspect that Vladil Azamat was probably the first person in the Blood Worship Cult to notice that this subtle difference was directed at different people. In other words, his followers were among the first to realize that they were believers in the Dark Side of the Universe."

(End of this chapter)