Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 406 Ascending to "Devil"

Upon hearing the warning from the phantom of "Netherworld Man," Raphael burst into laughter.

He laughed until tears were almost streaming down his face before saying, "How could I have imagined such fools as you? The real Audrey would never have given me poison, and if the Audrey in front of me really did give me poison, it would only be poison from a phantom, so this poison is fake too."

"No matter what, drinking this cup of poison won't cause any problems."

Audrey was naturally pleased to hear that Raphael trusted her so much, but she didn't show it.

At the same time, she remarked: Although Raphael seems crazy now, his logic is still very clear.

After a brief "diagnosis," Audrey couldn't help but frown. She realized that Raphael's current state was not a mental illness, and she couldn't even explain why.

Raphael muttered to himself for a while, took a deep breath, and drank the potion in one gulp.

Audrey immediately stepped back dozens of meters. She didn't quite understand why Raphael had to advance in such a bad state, nor did she know why Raphael's condition had suddenly become so bad. All she could do now was to do her best to help Raphael pull through if he had an out-of-control reaction later.

However, things did not go as Audrey had expected. After Raphael drank the potion, he immediately turned into a pool of black liquid, but the liquid looked very stable and showed no signs of getting out of control.

Raphael was unaware of the changes in his body at this time, and his consciousness was in a very confused state.

Raphael stared blankly at the endless black waves before him. These waves were extremely cold, as if something was pulling at his legs, causing him to keep falling.

But soon, a warmer current, darker in color, mixed in with the waves, surrounded Raphael.

Raphael felt that this "warm current" was like a stream of water where sounds converged, and then those sounds began to drill into Raphael's ears.

"Haha, 20% interest! That's 20% interest!"

"Such high interest rates in just one month — I'll invest a little money to try it out."

"Hehe, partner, that sounds nice, but it's just about sharing the risk. However, the terms they're offering are really good, so you should seriously consider it."

"Ten million pounds—ten million pounds! Hahaha, so much money—"

'

""

Raphael couldn't help but smile as he recalled his previous outrageous deception.

Then the force of the warm current increased, instantly dragging Raphael into the black waves.

Raphael's mind was filled with images: two close friends turning against each other with swords drawn over money; a married couple betraying each other because of lust for another woman; and a neighbor coldly watching his smug neighbor's triumph while setting fire to his neighbor's house in the night, killing the entire family—

Raphael felt an evil aura wash over him, and at the same time he realized that the boundless black waves around him were the evil thoughts of humankind.

Or rather, it is an abstract manifestation of human malice.

The "warm current" surrounding Raphael now is the desire and malice he created, which effectively protects him from being corrupted by the malice of others.

To be fair, Raphael, who had drunk the "Demon" pathway potion, was not afraid of the corruption of evil thoughts, but that was ordinary corruption, not the boundless corruption he was facing.

Under such erosion, if Raphael had no protection, he would easily be assimilated by these evil thoughts, completely lose himself, and become a monstrous creature full of malice.

Raphael was sinking deeper and deeper into the tide of "malice," and the surrounding scenery was constantly changing. From betrayal and jealousy, it had transformed into pure evil. The figures in the scene appeared kind, yet they killed without hesitation or caused others to suffer tragic fates. No matter what, they always wore hypocritical smiles.

Finally, Raphael "hit the bottom" and arrived at the lowest level of the "malicious wave".

The scene shifts again. The characters appear harmless, but when they reveal their sinister smiles, they become incredibly cruel towards those around them. They no longer kill, but torture people with words and disturbing actions, causing them unbearable pain yet preventing them from committing suicide. Eventually, the tortured become numb, turning them into mindless zombies.

Call ~

Raphael returned to the real world and found himself turned into a puddle of liquid.

However, he was in good condition and quickly recovered. Because Audrey was there, he even specially remade a set of clothes.

Looking around the beach, the phantoms from before had all disappeared.

Raphael was not happy at all. The "dual approach" that he had previously relied on as his greatest asset turned out to have such a big hidden danger!

But now is not the time to think about that. He looked at Audrey and said, "Thank you for your help, but today's promotion hides my biggest secret. Please don't tell anyone."

Audrey said seriously, "I won't tell anyone."

She didn't know the "devil's" potion recipe, so she only had a vague understanding of Raphael's so-called "greatest secret." She just vaguely sensed that the potion she had just concocted was not the Sequence 3 potion that Raphael needed.

Raphael hummed in agreement: "I need to calm my spirits first. I'll come see you again tomorrow."

Audrey could certainly sense the spiritual energy emanating from Raphael. After nodding slightly, she left the dream.

Raphael sat cross-legged and began to gather his spiritual energy.

Because he had practiced the "True Scripture of the Demonic Source," he was able to quickly gather his spiritual energy.

A few minutes later, once his spiritual energy had calmed down, Raphael finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this promotion was somewhat risky, I managed to get promoted successfully without any major incidents.

Next time you get promoted, be sure to prepare another potion beforehand, and if things look bad, drink it all at once.

Next, Raphael began to use his spirituality to examine the new abilities he had acquired.

Firstly, regarding the "Silent Disciple," the main ability gained is a qualitative change in "curses."

At the "Puppet" level, the power of "curse" is mostly applied to the target's physical and spiritual bodies.

Once you reach the "Silent Disciple" level, you can use the "Transformation Curse," which allows the target to transform into another creature for a certain period of time. During this process, the target will also lose most of their extraordinary abilities!

However, this kind of curse needs a long time to brew, and the way to brew it is by "keeping your mouth shut".

Through prolonged silence, an extreme curse is brewed!

The "Curse" ability has two other uses. One is something Raphael already possessed due to the enhancement from "Dark Lodge," where he can use the "Source of the Curse" to transfer all the damage he receives to the target.

Although everything has been strengthened long ago, there are still some changes after the promotion. Now, attacks such as "exile" and "sleep" that Raphael receives can be transferred to the target.

At the same time, Raphael's spirituality also realized that "damage transfer" has its limits. It doesn't mean that this method can be used arbitrarily. If that limit is exceeded, the "Silent Disciple" will still be harmed.

The good news is that Raphael has been enhanced with "Dark Hut," which raises the bar.

If this limit is not raised, or in other words, the limit for a typical "Silent Disciple" is to fatally wound an Extraordinary of the same sequence. Raphael's limit, however, can completely kill an Extraordinary of the same sequence.

Although the increase may not seem significant, it is of great importance, almost like a cheat code.

This means that if one wants to kill Raphael, one of the prerequisites is to sacrifice a Sequence 3 Extraordinary.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to even harm Raphael.

The second use of "curse" is an upgrade of the previous curses on the physical and spiritual bodies.

It is possible to use curses to make the target's body grow an evil eyeball, a skull with flesh and blood, a tongue with teeth, and so on.

These things will constantly attack the target's mind and spirit, and consume the target's spirituality, which is a kind of ability that makes the target's state very bad.

Furthermore, this ability is divided into two types: "single" and "area attack". The former is generally used to attack saints, while the latter is used to attack targets of lower level in a wide area.

In addition to the "curse," Raphael's "possession" ability has also been enhanced; he can now easily "possess" a target 10 kilometers away.

Not only that, it can also "possess" objects.

During the "Puppet" stage, only objects without spirit could be given life. Now, Raphael can directly possess objects to attack targets.

Of course, this type of attack can be seen as a sudden attack, since even angels would find it difficult to detect when the body is "possessed" on an object.

For Raphael, this also meant the ability to quickly approach a target, even from 10 kilometers away, and appear in front of it in no time.

He had this idea mainly because he had many attack methods, and it would be too slow to fight the target by only using "Possession" and "Source of Curse".

In addition, other abilities have also been enhanced. For example, after advancing to Sequence 3, Raphael can freely swim in the "Mirror World".

In fact, he could enter the "Mirror World" during the "Wraith" stage, but at that time he could not go deep and could only move around on the periphery of the "Mirror World".

At the "Puppet" level, the ability to interact with the "Mirror World" is enhanced, but the manipulation within it is still very limited.

Now things are different. Raphael can use the "Mirror World" to reach his destination in a short time, and he can also use the "Mirror World" to escape.

Using the "Mirror World" makes it easier to escape, because while many extraordinary beings possess abilities or methods for dealing with the spirit world, few are effective against the "Mirror World."

However, he couldn't go there too often. Raphael's intuition told him that staying in the "Mirror World" for too long might have many unknown effects, and that the "Mirror World" was even more dangerous than the spirit world.

In addition to the abilities mentioned above, abilities such as "Controlling Frost" and "Entanglement of Evil Spirits" have also been enhanced, but the extent of these enhancements is limited, so they are destined to be gradually marginalized.

At the level of "Silent Disciple," the main abilities begin to align with the symbols of this path.

With a slight sigh of relief, Raphael began to use his spirituality to sense the new abilities he had gained from his ascension to "Devil".

For the "Devil" path, "Devil" represents a significant qualitative change. First, the holder's intelligence becomes very high, and they can effectively influence targets within a certain range, causing their thinking ability to decline imperceptibly, making them careless and prone to making mistakes.

This means that while making yourself smarter, the people around you can become even more foolish, making it easy to mislead and deceive others.

At the same time, the "devil" has gained many new abilities, some of which are qualitative changes to the previous abilities and new uses.

At the "Demon" level, the "Sulfur Fireball" becomes "Hellfire," which can release flames over a large area, creating a sea of ​​fire.

This sea of ​​fire can not only scorch the flesh, but also burn the spirit, making the creatures within this area feel as if they are being tortured in hell.

The smoke from the burning is blue and highly toxic; an ordinary person would die from inhaling just one breath. Even saints would be affected by this smoke.

There's also the "strong acid swamp" that Raphael saw Zeno use some time ago, which can effectively trap and corrode targets. Even a saint would be trapped or corroded if they fell in.

Therefore, the saints usually try their best to avoid touching these swamps, which makes it easy for them to be at a disadvantage in battle.

Raphael, however, felt that this ability was well-suited for dealing with targets accustomed to close combat.

For example, in the "Warrior" path, Raphael is unaffected by the "Acid Swamp" and can stand in the "swamp" and attack the opponent with ranged means. However, if a Saint in the "Warrior" path wants to attack Raphael, unless he uses "Light Storm", he can only enter the "swamp" and be corroded and pulled by the "swamp".

Another new ability is "Corrosive Ghost Mist," which has a similar effect to "Acid Swamp." It can also trap and corrode enemies, but the formation of "Ghost Mist" is easier and more convenient, and the range of "Ghost Mist" can be adjusted at any time.

There are also two very useful abilities: "Filthy Illusion" and "Projection". The former allows Raphael to establish a subtle connection with the evil thoughts of humans, which can be seen as a prototype of establishing a connection with the abyss.

"Filthy Illusion" allows Raphael to change his form, mostly turning into a black liquid. This not only makes him immune to physical attacks but also essentially immune to "corruption" attacks of the same level.

It can also create black phantoms to confuse the enemy.

The "projection technique" is even more amazing. When other demons perform the correct rituals against Raphael, Raphael can remotely provide a certain amount of power to the target in a manner similar to descent, thus creating a projection.

This should be a very special feature of the "Demon" pathway; other pathways can only acquire similar abilities at Sequence 3.

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