"Are you looking for me?" The moment the words reached his ears, Darien froze—his skin tightened, every hair on his body standing upright. How had he appeared behind me? How had he come into my room? Where was the seal? Where was the magical object's effect? Cold sweat beaded on Darien's forehead. Instinctively, he reached to turn his head and look back. But his instinct prevented this action. This was a lesson learned from the "Monster Common Sense" class in Silver City, reinforced by the odd occurrences he'd witnessed since joining the patrol team: When someone speaks to you from behind, don't rush to turn around! Darien raised both hands, clasped them into fists at his chest, and, remaining on high alert, slowly, deliberately, half-turned his body. The room was deep darkness—nothing visible—but within each of his eyes, a golden glow expanded, forming two miniature suns. With the ability of the "Luminous Prayer Person," he saw a silhouette sitting quietly at the edge of his family's bed. The figure swiftly came into sharp focus, revealing a head severed vertically! Between the two halves of the head, two large grayish brains seemed alive, pulsing and trying to move closer to each other, yet unable to make contact. Along the severed surface of the brains, viscous liquid dripped like fine threads, yet contracted upward like worms. The eyes, far apart on either side, were vividly red; the nasal bridge was split down the middle, also rich in color. The left half of the mouth was open, while the right half remained tightly shut. This dreadful creature was bare-bodied, bearing numerous dark red wounds crisscrossing its form. The countless wounds split open, revealing rows of stark, white teeth. They spoke in unison, uttering the same words: "Are you looking for me…?" Pausing, the corners of their mouth and the edges of the wounds lifted upward: "Look, aren't I quite normal?" Derek's pupils contracted instantly. Without a thought, he raised the hands that had been resting on his chest, clasped tightly in fists, and brought them to his chin, as if in prayer. The dim room suddenly brightened, pure beams of light, wreathed in flame, streamed down from the ceiling and fell upon the creature. Though less majestic than the light Derek had used outside the tower, these beams were still radiant—because the seal here, the magical artifacts, insulated the space from the outside world. Yet at that very moment, Derek was struck by astonishment: the sacred light he had summoned suddenly thickened, blazing so brilliantly that he found himself unable to keep his eyes open. Lo and behold, within the majestic and resplendent beam of light, something purer and denser began to separate out—like a luminous figure devoid of limbs or garments! This "luminous figure" suddenly flashed and surged upon the monster. At once, the monster's entire array of mouths opened wide, as though emitting piercing, agonizing cries. Yet Derek heard nothing. The monster trembled violently, rapidly disintegrating under the intense heat and illumination of the luminous figure, dissolving into nothingness. As the creature grew nearly transparent, a strange silhouette suddenly appeared—dressed in a black classical robe, wearing a pointed soft hat. The figure had black hair, black eyes, a broad forehead, a slender face, and wore a single-lens spectacles crafted from crystal. As this silhouette first emerged, the luminous figure suddenly exploded, and Derek's vision blazed with a brilliant white light. When his vision returned, he found himself不知when already outside the room, on a corridor lined with metal lamp brackets, bathed in a soft, yellowish light. He turned茫然ly toward the room, and saw a tall, robust figure in dark pants and a brown coat. In front of that figure, on the bed where Derek had originally slept, a morning-gold light swiftly coalesced around a white thigh bone, transforming it into a sharp, pure-white straight sword. Beside the sword lay a small, translucent creature. It was only as long as a thumb, slender almost like a child’s fingertip, and its body was segmented into many rings, each ring completely transparent. Derek glanced at it briefly without counting the rings, only vaguely sensing there were about ten. Facing his tall figure, she reached out and picked up the strange, translucent little creature, turning around while sighing, "Just a little short of it..." At that moment, Dricke finally caught a clear view of the man's face: his hair was white, slightly unkempt, appearing disheveled; his forehead and eyes were free of wrinkles, though deep lines marked his temples and prominent creases and distortions ran across his cheeks. He wore a linen-colored shirt beneath, a leather belt divided into numerous sections looped around his waist. His pale blue eyes were deep and weathered, giving him the appearance of a well-worn book filled with stories. Dricke was momentarily stunned, then gasped in a tone of both surprise and relief: "Sir Chancellor!" Standing before him was none other than Colin Iliath, the Chancellor of the "Council of Six" of Silver City—the powerful "Hunter of Monsters" who had surpassed the age of one hundred! Colin nodded gently. "We've always known he was problematic, but in order to uncover the true nature of Amun—his motives, his oddities—we deliberately chose not to eliminate him right away. Instead, we confined him deep within the circular tower, sealing him under the influence of magical artifacts, and frequently assigned other exceptional individuals who showed only early signs of instability to live next to him, engaging in conversation with him, hoping to provoke any unusual changes in him and thus learn what we needed to know. Unfortunately, until today, he had remained remarkably stable—too stable, in fact. Do you think he suddenly began to change, suddenly attempting to breach the seal? Do you feel different from the others?" Ah—so it was intentionally arranged that I should live next to that former exploration team leader... Deric paused, a moment of dawning realization passing through him. "Perhaps it's because my path as an exceptional one differs from the others—Sequence 9, 'The Hymn-Singer,' and Sequence 8, 'The Light-Seeker.' That is, the "Sun" path... If the Brother "The Empress" is correct, and the Amun family traces its lineage back to the ancient sun god, then it's entirely natural that he should undergo such a transformation. Darien now feels he has grasped a significant truth. Colin listened without changing his expression, then studied Darien for a few seconds before asking, "We've been monitoring him—members of the Six-Body Council take turns doing so—but we never expected him to suddenly transform without any prior signs. His actions were both decisive and resolute. What exactly did you do in the room just now?" Darien, still thinking about the connection between the "Sun" path and the ancient descendants of the sun god, momentarily failed to respond to the "Chairman's" question. Once he realized what was being asked, he felt a bit dazed and carefully recalled what he had done. I did nothing special—I simply tapped on the partition wall, trying to communicate with him... Before that, before that—I had been attending the Tarot gathering... The Tarot gathering! Derek suddenly froze, sensing that the situation was likely far more complex than he had imagined. He knew that what he wanted to say couldn't be conveyed to the "Chief," yet he wasn't sure what expression to make—merely maintaining his usual quiet, reserved silence, he thought quietly, "I tapped the wall three times. Before that, the candle in my room went out, plunging the room into darkness. I had tried to exercise some of my extraordinary abilities." After a near ten-second silence, the "chief" of Silver City closed his eyes and said, "Your condition is now stable. No further treatment is needed—you may return home." Darien paused, then replied, "Very well." He watched the "Hunter of Monsters," Colin Iliadet, turn and enter the room, take up the pure white, sharp, straight sword, and examine it carefully from all angles. Taking a quiet breath, he walked along the corridor toward the exit, meeting several guards who had arrived in succession. Returning home slowly, he closed the door behind him, then carefully observed his surroundings before sitting by the bed and softly reciting, "Oh, the fool of a time that is no longer this age—You are the mysterious sovereign above the mist, the King of Good Fortune, of yellow and black." "I have just experienced something terribly frightening..." Darien recounted the events as they had unfolded, mentioning his two hypotheses. With this, he felt a great sense of peace. With the tension easing, he felt a strong sense of fatigue and lay down, soon falling into sleep. In the quiet, dimly lit room, streaks of lightning occasionally illuminated everything, then faded back into the night. Suddenly, Derek's right index finger began to move on its own, gently tapping the bedstead with a relaxed rhythm—one, two, three… Although the principles—such as "never perform without preparation," "perform when needed," and "skillfully divert others' attention to complete the performance"—seem sound at first, simply continuing to perform and gradually adjusting myself will eventually allow the potion to digest fully and enable my promotion. Yet this performance remains insufficient, lacking certain essential principles that would slow the digestive process and prevent it from being thorough. It might take a year, or even two, or three years before I can finally advance. And Sir Zangwei will not wait for me to reach that point! Only by becoming a high-ranking member can I truly qualify for vengeance. Therefore, my immediate priority will be to explore other principles of the "Magician," beginning with verifying whether the audience's applause can actually stir my own spiritual essence, thus enhancing the potion's digestion.