My setting is above yours!

Chapter 88 The Mysterious "Saint": An Opportunity to Turn the Silver Knight Against Him (4k6)

Upon hearing the gentle, androgynous voice beside him, Ron felt as if he had fallen into warm water, the warmth seeping into his limbs and making him feel light and airy.

He visibly relaxed and instinctively wanted to speak, to answer the Silver Knight's question...

But the familiar feeling triggered the greatest fear he had experienced recently, and a fierce struggle began within him:

'Damn it... No! No, no... Right, right?'

'Yes, yes... no, my foot!'

'I've been affected by the [Trickery] spark again, and it's controlling my mind!'

Ron felt a chill run down his spine and forced himself to break free from the confusion and regain his senses.

He glanced at the Silver Knight, who was watching him with keen interest and gradually approaching with his spear raised, then at "Kurt" beside him, whose eyes were shrouded in gray mist and who was scrutinizing him with a critical gaze. Ron made the most crucial decision he needed to make immediately—

He immediately deactivated [Vector Manipulation], withdrew the personal reality that had been expanded to stop Kurt's bleeding, and ceased its influence on Kurt.

Without using [Vector Manipulation] and [Illusion Dissolve], Ron was already doomed if the Silver Knight came knocking on his door.

All he can do now is remove [Vector Manipulation] to prevent its durability from wearing out...

Ron's choice was undoubtedly correct.

Because the moment he unloaded [Vector Manipulation], a text reminder popped up in the Dimensional Update Manual:
[The "Occupation: Superpowered Individual" is being eroded by trace amounts of "mystical influence."]

[Performance impairment: 95%]

...Although Ron immediately removed [Esperor] and [Vector Manipulation] the moment he saw the gray mist filling Kurt's eyes, he still lost five percent of his remaining durability, almost completely destroying it.

Kurt's life-threatening injuries did not worsen even after Ron stopped using Vector Manipulation. Kurt's flesh was no longer visible through the gash in his chest and abdomen, with only specks of gray mist flowing out and dissipating.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Ron couldn't help but frown:

'Damn it... what is this thing now?'

'Looking at this gray, mist-like appearance... is it the effect of the [Trick] Seed? But why haven't I seen anyone affected by this before?'

'In the prophecy of that notebook, Kurt shouldn't have occupied any place at all!'

'After all, if he really had any use, Kurt shouldn't have remained imprisoned in the Limb Prison during the final battle; he should have been on the battlefield as well…'

Ron looked at "Kurt," who was scrutinizing him, and stared into his gray, misty eyes. A chilling thought suddenly rose in his mind:

'Gray fog...wait, who said gray fog is necessarily the effect of the [Trick] Seed of Fire?'

After all, when the [mystery] returns to the world and influences it once again, it will also shroud the world in endless gray fog!

'It's not a trick, it's mystery... Could it be that right now, within Kurt, a mysterious high-sequence transcendent is looking at me through his eyes?'

'Perhaps this very person will become the second [mystical] god in the future... and become the source of future disasters!'

Just then, the Silver Knight frowned slightly as he noticed that Ron hadn't answered and was staring blankly at Kurt.

He immediately swung his spear, creating a cloud of silver mist that blocked Ron's vision.

"Sir, I advise you not to focus your attention elsewhere."

A gentle smile appeared on his face, but the smile was cold, sending a chill down one's spine.
Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?

The Silver Knight paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes:
"And... what exactly do you know?"
"I hope you can tell me all of this in detail... because it concerns your life and fortune, and I don't have much patience, so please don't waste your time."

As he spoke, he also channeled his spirituality, attempting to use words to shake Ron's thoughts, to instill in him a fear of himself, and to make him honestly reveal the information he wanted...

But here is the problem.

The fear stemmed from his threat...

But Ron is not afraid of death, so how could he really be threatened by the Silver Knight?

On the contrary, the Silver Knight's actions confirmed Ron's suspicions:

'He doesn't want me to see Kurt... This guy is definitely hiding something!'

'Anyway, it's just [Flash of Light and Shadow], it won't affect reality... I might as well activate [Spiritual Vision] and see if it's really as I think!'

With that thought, Ron no longer hesitated. He merely sneered at the Silver Knight and immediately replaced his [Spirit Vision] with the one he had used once before, which had been completely sealed away.

In an instant, his vision was suddenly filled with countless vibrant colors, and his spirit was elevated to the point of transcending his physical body...

The seven colors swirled before his eyes, then dimmed and intensified.

The world is like an oil painting with thick, haphazardly pieced-together color blocks. Those overlapping color blocks are like illusory, shapeless objects superimposed on reality, dazzling the eyes.

He heard the sound of a flowing river, almost exactly the same as what he had seen when he activated [Spirit Vision] in Ideal City.

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that when one activates their spiritual vision in the "Potion Era," while everything around them resembles the Ideal City, the only difference is the loss of that bright curtain constructed of numbers and symbols, giving it a somewhat gloomy feel.

Ron didn't forget his purpose. He was momentarily distracted, but immediately looked towards Kurt's location.

At this moment, the silver mist that had been released by the Silver Knight in the real world to obscure vision was now just a somewhat murky patch of color in front of [Spirit Vision], but it couldn't stop him from seeing everything after he saw the silver mist.

Behind the silver mist, on Kurt's body, there was a hunched, bespectacled old man's silhouette watching Ron with great interest, holding a quill pen and notebook in his hand, seemingly pondering something as he wrote.

The old man was slightly surprised when Ron looked at him, then smiled wryly, as if reflecting on something, and shook his head:

"I've fallen so low that I could be seen by a Sequence Seven... Oh well."

He chuckled to himself, glanced at Ron briefly, and then looked away, his gaze not lingering on Ron for long.

Because there's no need to stay any longer.

When Ron truly met the old man's gaze in the spirit world as a spirit, his soul began to rapidly disintegrate...

Even though his physical body had never died, Ron experienced for the first time a pain far deeper than physical death—

The death of the soul!
As if being cut and dissected, Ron's soul was literally stripped away, collapsing into fine threads in an instant.

His memories, his personal proof of existence, the knowledge and concepts that only he understood—all the "information" that constituted him as a person—collapsed into fragments and were condensed into those fine threads.

Moreover, it wasn't just the soul... Shifting our gaze from the spirit world back to reality, we could see that Ron's eyes suddenly dimmed, and deep mist emanated from his seven orifices, gushing out like fine dust.

And then... all that was left was a light, withered body.

Upon seeing this scene, a flicker of fear crossed the Silver Knight's androgynous face, and he instinctively gripped his spear tighter.

But he quickly wiped the panic off his face, revealing a fake smile that showed no sign of his true feelings, and said to "Kurt":
"Your strength seems to have been restored..."

Kurt glanced at him, the gray mist in his eyes swirling, and looked at the Silver Knight with a half-smile:
"That's good... but you sound a little unhappy?"

A deep sense of apprehension flashed in the Silver Knight's eyes, but his smile remained bright and genuine, revealing no flaw whatsoever.
"How could that be? If you, my lord, can regain your place as a saint, all one hundred and eight assassins of the Secret Court will celebrate for you..."

"Heh, I don't know about others... but I see you're willing to celebrate for me, probably not for anything else, but just for the chance to advance to Sequence Four, right?"

Kurt glanced at the Silver Knight with a forced smile, then slowly walked to Ron's physical form and conjured up the "thread of information" he had shattered from the soul.

He had intended to use this opportunity to extract all the information Ron knew, to see what this guy from who-knows-where actually knew, but he was astonished to find that the scattered "threads of information" in his hand were completely blank...

Apart from the spiritual matter and spirituality that constitute the soul, there is not a trace of information or thought left behind!
This situation only represents one thing—

This guy who calls himself a priest of the "Church of the Lost"... his consciousness wasn't even captured or separated by me, it was shattered here!
His consciousness escaped... He didn't die at all!

Thinking of this, Kurt's face immediately turned gloomy.

"What on earth are you——"

But before he could finish speaking, he abruptly stopped in fear, and everything in the world was frozen in place...

Time flowed backward under the great power of creation, and his consciousness and power also flowed backward as a result.

The entire world seemed to rewind time, until Ron opened his eyes in the Scorched Sanctum prison, gasping for breath, and only then did time begin to flow again…

Just now, being torn into "threads of information" and having one's flesh and blood turn into gray mist under "Kurt's" gaze was not a pleasant experience...

Even if you were to list ten thousand different ways to die, Ron felt that the way he had just died was definitely the most unique and the one that would instill the most fear in the deceased.

However, it was precisely because Kurt used this method to kill him that he was able to hear the conversation between Kurt and the Silver Knight afterwards...

After all, while serving as the "thread of information," Ron was actually still barely "alive."

Ron will only truly die after the "Thread of Information" is taken away, completely shattering his status as a soul and consciousness...

This just so happened to exploit a small bug in the Dimensional Update Manual—

Although Ron is dead, he is not completely dead according to the manual's criteria, so he is stuck in an observation interface that allows him to start over. Protected by the Dimensional Update Manual, he observes the surrounding world from the perspective of his own corpse.

That's why Ron is so confused and helpless after hearing the conversation between "Kurt" and the Silver Knight.

His guess was right... The high-sequence superhuman behind the Silver Knight was most likely that [mysterious] god!
After all, the method of turning information into threads is so similar to the scene of the door opening above the red moon, filled with threads representing all aspects of human life. Ron has reason to suspect that this high-sequence superhuman is the future God of Mysticism.

Thinking about this, Ron felt even more helpless.

Heaven have mercy! What sins did he, a mere Sequence Seven transcendent, commit to fall into this predicament and have to be an enemy of a "saint" who will become a "mysterious" god in the future?
Although he had considered that there might be an even stronger figure behind the Silver Knight, such a person was just a matter of consideration; only when he actually encountered him would he feel an endless sense of despair.

It's important to understand that the concept of a "Saint" in the [Potion Sequence] refers to at least a Sequence Three powerhouse—

Such an existence is nothing short of a dimensional reduction attack in a small place like Evening Bell City!

and……

'That's too ominous!'

Leaning against the cold stone wall of the prison, Ron almost couldn't help but curse, and he still feels lingering fear.

Being strong is one thing, but what's with this underhanded tactic?
Using Kurt as a vessel for his descent, Kurt observed Ron from the sidelines until the moment Ron completely stepped out of Evening Bell City's territory. At that moment, Kurt immediately jumped out and used the power of Sequence Three to completely annihilate Ron...

It seemed as if they were afraid that Ron would actually report it to the Fog City, affecting all the arrangements He had made in Evening Bell City.

'Damn it, you're a Sequence 3, and you personally take on a mere Sequence 7 like me? How dare you…'

'No, it's not just a Sequence 3... there's also an opportunity to seek promotion to Sequence 4, and who knows how long I've been a Sequence 5 Silver Knight...'

To ensure that nothing went wrong when dealing with Ron, He even slowed down Ron's progress, waiting for the Silver Knight to arrive, thus finding an accomplice for the matter!
Thinking about all this, Ron couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Such a cautious, powerful, and mysterious enemy...

If he possesses completely unshakeable power, Ron can give up entirely and wait for Him to return from the spirit world and destroy the entire Ideal City.

Fortunately, He doesn't seem to be at his peak right now.

'According to the Silver Knight's words and his self-deprecating humor... it seems he hasn't been able to reclaim his place as a saint?'

'Is it that He lacks the personhood of Sequence Three, or has He lost the power of Sequence Three? If He has lost it, to what extent now?'

Ron recalled the conversation between "Kurt" and the Silver Knight, and for a moment he couldn't help but ponder.

'These things might require risking one's life to explore... By the way, thinking carefully about their conversation, the Silver Knight and Him don't seem to be entirely on the same page.'

'The Silver Knight seems somewhat wary of this Saint. The reason he's acting alongside him is solely for the chance to advance to Sequence Four… wait, the chance to advance to Sequence Four?'

Thinking of this, Ron suddenly paused, and suddenly understood what the Silver Knight wanted to do and what the Saint had promised the Silver Knight for promotion.

It's important to know that this saint is a high-sequence powerhouse of the "mysterious" kind, and he and the Silver Knight come from a secret organization called the "Hidden Courtyard"...

Therefore, the Silver Knight must be a [mysterious] Sequence 5 extraordinary being.

Ron knew from the previous version's PV that the fifth sequence of [Mystery] could jump to the [Trickery] sequence!

And the vortex of these events, the center of it all, lies within this [Scorched Earth Sanctuary]... which happens to contain a [Trick] Sequence 4 containment item, a mask that Father Sull always carries with him!
What the Silver Knight seeks may be the extraordinary properties within the contained object—he wants to use them to advance to Sequence Four of [Trickery]!

Thinking about this, Ron couldn't help but feel a stirring in his heart.

If the Silver Knight only wants a promotion opportunity, and is also quite wary of that "Saint," clearly not of one mind...

If a new "Angel Agent" were to offer him the same leverage, allowing him to become a Sequence Four of [Trickery]—

Would he be willing to turn against him and find a way to ensure that the "saint" never has a chance to return to the saint's seat?
—Perhaps this is a golden opportunity for Ron to turn the Silver Knight against his own side and open a breakthrough!

(End of this chapter)