Lord of Mysteries: The Color of the Stars

"calm……"

Through his connection with the other's light, Julian could sense that the other seemed to be using some kind of hypnotic technique to naturally draw him into the illusion created by "Chris Jacob's Ring," thereby risking loss of control.

To be honest, if it weren't for the strange buzzing sound emitted by "Starry Night" at the crucial moment, Julian might have really fallen for the trap.

"Is he a 'hypnotist' who used 'psychological invisibility,' or does he possess a corresponding sealed artifact?"

He quickly assessed the situation in his mind.

"Psychological invisibility" is one of the strongest self-protection abilities in the middle sequence, but this invisibility only eliminates the sense of presence and puts the person in a blind spot of attention. During this process, the invisible person will still interact with the surroundings.

Once that interaction intensifies, they will inevitably be exposed.

From this perspective, the "Four-Colored Awakeners" were able to reveal this interaction earlier—although Julian only became aware of the other's existence under the influence of the "Starry Night," this does seem to reveal a kind of restraint relationship between divine pathways.

"The extraordinary individuals who entered through the 'Audience' pathway do indeed seem to be connected to the 'Twilight Hermits' Society,' and may have arrived here through Adam's arrangement..."

His mind raced slightly, but his eyes darted around as he continued to search for the documents like a headless fly, following the other person's guidance.

"No, no, still no..."

Julian muttered to himself as he estimated the remaining safe usage time of "Chris Jacob's Ring".

Suddenly, he saw mist rising around him, as if he were walking on clouds, and he could also see the illusory mountains and rivers thousands of meters below him.

In the clouds, beneath Julian's feet, various bloody heads and skulls would occasionally appear, giving him strange smiles. Some of these things would gather at his feet, forming a staircase leading to the sky.

At the same time, Julian heard some kind of incomprehensible commotion in his ears, as if he were in the middle of a bustling open-air market.

The hallucination-creating side effects of "Chris Jacob's Ring" have appeared!

He immediately understood.

According to the information provided by the Sanctuary, Julian should have completely lost his ability to judge under these circumstances. However, the buzzing sound of the "Starry Night" countered these illusions and the extraordinary being who was likely in a state of "psychological invisibility," allowing Julian to retain a sliver of rationality.

However, from the enemy's perspective, Julian's mind was now in chaos, which was exactly the situation Julian wanted to see.

His face was filled with terror, and he let out a low growl of fear as he stumbled toward the door, feeling his way along the walls and stepping on the heads of the people.

Just as Julian had expected, the extraordinary member of the "Twilight Hermits" did not stop him—considering the presence of the "Night Watchers" downstairs, his main intention was merely to hinder Julian's investigation, not to cause a greater disturbance.

But this doesn't mean that this person will let Julian off easily; there are still some things he'll do on a whim.

As Julian entered the corridor, he suddenly felt the color of the special aura that was drawing him in change. The lake blue had turned completely into dark green, and it spread rapidly toward him like a lake rising due to rain!

"Damn it, are they trying to subtly trigger my loss of control through hallucinations?"

Seeing this, Julian gave up pretending to be crazy.

He shouted downstairs:

"Dunner!!! Someone attacked me!!!"

The moment the cry for help was uttered, Julian suddenly felt the entire villa go dark.

Under the glow of the red moon, Dunn Smith, dressed in a black trench coat, stood quietly at the end of the corridor, turning to look in Julian's direction.

Between the two stood a refined-looking young man in black with long hair, who appeared to be around 35 years old.

"It worked... Fortunately, Dunn was very close to me, and his true strength was close to Sequence 6, so I was able to 'enter the dream' successfully."

Julian breathed a sigh of relief. Just before he was about to be subjected to "madness," Dunn successfully pulled him and the young man into a dream, thus protecting his mind from being affected!

This situation also confirmed one of his guesses: the young man in black was not a genuine "hypnotist," but rather possessed some kind of sealed artifact.

In contrast, the young man in black had a drastic change in expression.

He instinctively tried to escape the dream through "self-suggestion," but just then Leonard Mitchell's voice rang out!

"Above your flowing stream, a mighty torrent surges in the sky."

"The chaotic clouds are like fallen leaves on the earth."

"Blown down by the west wind from the intertwined branches of the sky and the sea, they become messengers of rain and lightning!"

"..." (Note 1)

With the aid of the "Nightmare" ability, this "Midnight Poet's" poems played a more powerful role in dreams than they originally did.

This struck the young man like a thunderbolt, causing him to forget what he wanted to do for a moment!

The next second, the surrounding environment returned to normal, and the black-clad youth who had been in a state of "psychological invisibility" reappeared.

He remained frozen in place, clearly still under the control of the dream, while a few seconds later Frye and Klein rushed up together.

Julian, are you alright?

Klein glanced at Julian with concern, who shook his head and then gave a bitter laugh:

"I almost lost my life."

"Be careful, this guy might have a mid-sequence sealed artifact from the 'Spectator' pathway. Try to take it first before doing anything else."

After saying that, Julian pointed to the study:

"The cursed item is in the study."

"OK."

Klein and Frye both nodded, and they worked with Leonard to handle the aftermath. Julian went back downstairs and explained the general course of events to Jennings in a more tactful way.

"...I never imagined that I would be the one to harm my father."

Jennings felt very guilty upon hearing this. Julian patted him on the shoulder and, apart from reminding him to be careful to distinguish those with ulterior motives, didn't say anything more. Then he turned around and went outside the villa to enjoy the evening breeze.

About half an hour later, Dunn walked out of the villa and turned to look at Julian.

The captain of the "Night Watch" had obvious bloodstains on his clothes and a faint fishy smell.

"How is the situation?"

Julian raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Just as you said, we found a pendant that appears to be a sealed artifact."

Dunn shook his head:

"However, when we were about to question him about who was behind it all, he suddenly went berserk and out of control, and then his head exploded."

"Yes, just as I thought."

Julian smiled, showing no surprise whatsoever.

"How so?"

Upon hearing this, Dunn asked curiously.

"Forget about it, it'll be better for you."

Julian shook his head and patted Dunn on the shoulder:

"There are many things that are better left unsaid... Whether it's you or me, there's only one outcome if we get too deeply involved in this matter."

"What happened to them?"

"Bang!"

Julian pointed to his head and then made an exaggerated explosion gesture.

(Note 1: Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind")