The city of Silver, the Berg household. Gazing at the now-black, blood-streaked scalp, Darien suddenly recalled its appearance just moments before—beautiful and inviting, like a delicate, mushroom-like bloom, so alluring that he had nearly lost control and swallowed it whole. The Dum fruit that Dac had offered him, which should have been crisp and satisfying with a pleasant snap when bitten, was instead revealed as a series of blood-soaked, slightly pale human fingers! At that instant, Darien's stomach convulsed violently, and a sour liquid surged up to his throat. He held back the urge to vomit, his voice steady and strong, singing out in a clear, duck-like tone: "O God, may Your kingdom come here, may the enemies be scattered, and may the faithful rejoice!" The song carried a gentle warmth and sacredness, and as it poured from his voice, all his bodily discomforts dissolved. His courage, strength, and agility surged forth, renewed and revitalized. That is the extraordinary ability of Sequence 9, "The Singer." Dac stared at his classmate and former teammate, softly singing, his expression growing increasingly gloomy, his voice growing more and more unlike that of a human. "What is it about you... "What is it about you... "What is it about you!" Suddenly, Dac's clothing was pushed upward into a series of ridges, as though a nest of venomous snakes had been stuffed beneath, constantly writhing and moving. Sssssss! Strands of blood-soaked flesh pierced through the black compression garments, their surfaces still rough with coarse hair. These flesh strands swayed outward, transforming Dac into a vibrant, blood-red, soft-hair hedgehog. With a swift motion, the flesh strands surged toward Derek, who remained motionless. Derek, a patrol member who had seen his share of monsters, remained calm under the circumstances. He twisted at his waist, raised his arms, and swung down his "Hurricane Axe," which had been held firmly in his hands all along. Pffft! The hurricane axe cleaved through several glistening strips of blood, severing them and sending them crashing to the ground. Yet, since it was now the "night" in Silver City, no lightning accompanied the blow—instead, more crimson strips surged forth, wrapping around the axe in a spiral, refusing to let go. As the weapon struggled to pull free, pure light suddenly flared in Darien's eyes, as though two small suns had descended into the room. With his other hand, he gently pressed against his mouth and nose, making a prayer. A radiant, flame-warmed column of light descended silently, striking the entangled clusters of blood-red strips. Dak could not bear it, and let out a piercing cry—many of the strips turned black and snapped to the ground, still writhing and pulsing as if alive. And the spiritual essence within those crimson flesh strips, no longer under the original owner's control, gradually fused with the natural forces stirred by the sacrificial incantation, gathering into ever-rising waves of pale red. These waves surged into the yellow candle flame, causing it to suddenly swell and expand, forming a shimmering, mysterious portal. The candle itself bore the secret symbol of the " Fool," meticulously inscribed by Drik! This was a well-prepared anticipation. Together, these elements formed a simple yet complete sacrificial rite. Crackle! As the chair shattered, Dac, wielding the crimson flesh strips, charged toward Drik, his eyes filled not with fear or tension, but with the purest, most fervent longing. At that moment, on the gray mist, Caine responded. Amidst the somewhat unreal creaking, a fissure appeared in the portal adorned with numerous strange patterns. Beyond the crack lay a profound darkness, within which countless translucent shadows of indescribable forms drifted. Higher up, seven pure radiances of varying colors shimmered, each radiance brimming with infinite knowledge. Above these radiant bands stretched boundless gray-white mist, upon which rose an ancient palace gazing down upon the haze. Suddenly, a shadow leapt forth from a dark corner and instantly enveloped Dac, the closest figure to it. The blood-red flesh strips Dac had been waving around were completely engulfed by a thick, dark liquid, transforming him into a cat seemingly stuffed into an opaque sack. The shadow did not cease; it surged rapidly across the ground, reaching toward Dric, who had already moved to a new position, and cried out sharply, "Stop! What are you doing?" As a monitor, Dac's original intention had been to observe the unfolding events, record the anomalies, and only intervene once the situation became unmanageable, to halt the increasingly strange developments of both parties. Yet, upon seeing the fantastical gate, etched with strange symbols and markings, parting slightly, he was struck by the profound, mysterious, lofty, and majestic scene within, instinctively believing it to be connected to a terrifying deity, and thus had to simultaneously issue alerts while hastily acting, striving to forcibly interrupt Drik's attempt to offer sacrifice to that being. However, Drik had already secured his position, choosing a region far from him, so in order to control the young boy now possessed by the enigmatic figure Amun, the watcher "Shadow" could only either circumvent or take control of Dac Regins. His choice fell on the latter, as Dac clearly exhibited anomalies, making it a foolish move to leave his back exposed. Seizing this opportunity, Drik reached into the hidden pocket of his clothing and retrieved the iron box, then hurled it forcefully toward the ethereal gate formed by the flickering candlelight, toward the crack revealing the wondrous spectacle. As the iron box vanished there, the grand door, adorned with strange symbols and markings, slammed shut with a loud creak and then swiftly disappeared. At that moment, Derek deliberately twisted the muscles on his face, contorting himself to meet the approaching "shadow," as instructed by Mr. The Hangman. Just as the shadow was about to engulf him, he suddenly gasped violently, coughing so hard that he had to clutch his mouth with his hands, then collapsed to the ground. The dark shadow spread out, fully enveloping him. The room fell silent, yet two large black "spider cocoons" now lay on the floor. After a while, the dark, viscous liquid retracted and coalesced once more into a solid shadow. With the cocoons vanishing, Derek and Dac reappeared—Derek lying there, unconscious, yet still clutching a strange little creature with twelve translucent circular rings; Dac, now a mass of flesh, writhing and roaring, ready to launch an attack. Faced with this situation, the monitor had to divert some of his strength, once again enveloping the transformed monster Dac Riggins in a shadow-like, black "liquid." Glancing at the scattered pale fingers and the stained, hair-shortened scalp, he involuntarily took a breath, using his exceptional abilities to manipulate the outer shadows into tidal waves, thus sending a renewed signal to the "Chief" within the Round Tower. Only then did he carefully assess Dric's condition and notice the translucent, odd little creature. "Wait... has Amun's duplicate inside Dric perished?" the monitor murmured, clearly astonished. He recalled Dac's oddities, the terrifying transformation, the seemingly flawless "mushrooms" and "Dum fruits," and gradually formed a hunch: Amun might be a bitter adversary of the hidden force responsible for Dac's contamination. To undermine that force's plans—even at the cost of sacrificing one of his own forms—Amun had taken the initiative to send Dric to observe the exploration team at the training grounds and to report their findings to the "Chief," all without revealing himself. Meanwhile, the force behind the contamination had also begun to notice Dric's peculiarities, and thus dispatched Dac to take control, using the stained scalp and fingers as tools to achieve their ends. With this realization, the monitor suddenly found himself increasingly aligned with the "Chief's" concerns: the ultimate apocalypse—or a greater catastrophe—was indeed approaching, which explained why Silver City had been experiencing a series of strange incidents, each involving elusive entities dwelling in the shadows, their very nature still unknown. The "shadow" recounted the entire sequence of events in full detail. Colin Iliad, with white hair and a scarred face, listened quietly and nodded gently. "Delric—or Amun—indeed made careful preparations. The wax candles bearing symbolic inscriptions, the strange artifacts that reveal Dac's vulnerabilities, the low prayers performed under the pretext of fetching water, and finally, the sacrificial ritual that removed the artifact—all point to the events unfolding precisely according to his plan. Two questions remain: first, what does the hidden symbol on the candle signify—does it point to Amun himself or to the deity behind him? Second, why would Amun, instead of retaining this duplicate, choose to expose the explorers' anomalies, given that he and the one behind the veil are bitter rivals? What, then, was his purpose for remaining quietly in the Silver City for forty-two years?" "Could it be that he had foreseen this very event, which is why he deliberately encountered the earlier exploration team and had his duplicate reside within them—thus disrupting the plans behind the veil? Has this four-and-twenty-year wait been culminating in this very moment?" Upon hearing the Chief's question, the "shadow" monitor suddenly exclaimed with a moment of clarity: "Perhaps that's exactly it! 'Chief,' consider this: why did Amun patiently wait for forty-two years, only to see Yudel lose control suddenly after Dariq was placed in the room next to him? Because the time in the prophecy has now arrived—he urgently needed a new, mobile host to disrupt the plans behind the veil!" "Indeed... we had only been concerned about any anomalies in Dariq, without considering the timing aspect." The Silver City Chief, Colin, responded thoughtfully. "Chief," the "shadow" monitor immediately interjected, "please take immediate control of all members of this exploration team—they absolutely have something wrong!" There's also... Elder Loviya. She's quite likely been affected too! Colin frowned slightly. "Even before you reported this matter, and even before Dac left, Loviya came to me personally, expressing her suspicion that the members of the exploration team had been contaminated by something. She suggested we monitor them closely, and if necessary, assign them to guard the inverted mausoleum of Elder Havik." Havik, the former Chief of Silver City, had built an underground mausoleum for himself and subsequently moved into it, appearing less and less frequently until eventually the entrance sealed shut and could no longer be opened. "Has Elder Loviya mentioned anomalies before?" the "Shadow" monitor asked, surprised. Upon receiving a positive response, he murmured, half-hesitant, half-relieved: "Good—Elder Loviya seems unaffected..." "I've already dispatched personnel to oversee the exploration team members, but we can't overlook the other possibility either." "First," Colin exhaled, "Bring in Avelor. I'll question Darien Berg with her."