Within the ruins half-submerged in the sea and the spirit realm, Kline stood by the central hall door, clad in a complete black armor. Inside, the once-vivid azure giant serpent lay half-devoured, its body torn apart, and the elderly priest, whose skin had turned gray and seemed wind-dried for a long time, lay with his abdomen distended. The latter's eyes, glowing with a vivid blue hue, fixed intently on the visitor who wore a dark crown, as if pondering where to strike next. Without hesitation or delay, Kline extended his right hand into his body and withdrew a small, translucent brown bottle. Then, he raised his left hand, swiftly unscrewed the lid, and tossed the "biological toxin vial" into a corner of the hall. The environment here, partially beneath the sea, lacked any flame except the "holy fire" used to burn undead and evil entities—thus limiting two key abilities of a magician. As a result, Kline had to fully leverage his other strengths from the outset. As he hurled the vial of biological toxins, the glove of his left hand rapidly glowed brilliantly, as if reflecting the midday sunlight. The surrounding waves shimmered with golden hues, spreading out in layers and radiating outward. This was the "Light Priest's" ability within the "Crumbling Hunger"—the "Purification Halo!" The old priest, who had consumed part of the body of the sea god Cavi-tuwa, did not display any courtesy or knightly grace. He watched克莱恩 as he prepared for battle with steady, respectful eyes, his deep blue light suddenly intensifying, and his swollen abdomen rising even higher. "Ah!" A clear, yet piercing voice issued from within him, instantly filling the entire sanctuary. It sounded like the spirit of a nightingale singing—beautiful, soothing, and elegantly serene, yet cold and penetrating, seeping into the very soul.克莱恩 froze in place, his thoughts instantly frozen like waves caught in an extreme cold, solidifying in his mind at once. The old priest instantly swelled in size, resembling a revived Cavi-tuwa or a giant stepped out of myth. From beneath his torn robe, slender, smooth, vividly blue tentacles surged forth with a hissing sound, swirling around silver-white lightning, darting swiftly into the air, dancing in the space above, and swiftly extending toward the motionless Kline. Crack! Silver lightning erupted, propelling Kline backward, where he crashed against the doorway. His once-black, full-body armor dimmed instantly, cracking with several fissures, and his staff, which he had unconsciously tossed aside, lay at a distance. Despite his mind remaining unusually calm and nearly frozen, he hadn't even considered using his "paper man substitute" technique—steadfastly enduring the blow. Had it not been for the protective power of the "Black Emperor" card and the Azk copper whistle simultaneously reinforcing his spiritual essence, Kline, as a Sequence 6 entity, would have sustained serious damage, possibly even been instantly eliminated. The tentacles surged again, pressing downward. Kline, now awakened by the electric surge, rolled with agility and barely evaded them. He glanced at the other's frame and immediately turned, sprinting out the main door—without hesitation, with unwavering determination. Thud! Thud! Thud! Klein ran and nearly flew, appearing as if fleeing for his life. The old priest's slender, blue-tinted tendrils, each glowing with silver-white lightning, trailed behind him, striving to pull him back into the hall, but were repeatedly dislodged by his nimble turns, agile movements, and timely rolls. Seeing that his efforts were falling short, the old priest's abdomen swelled once more, and his clear, cold voice resonated again throughout the ruins. This time, however, Klein had prepared. Though his body remained stiff and still, it was soaked through, turning into a soggy sheet of paper. At last, the old priest moved, stepping forward with a slow yet steady pace, attempting to close the gap. With his massive form, he reached the doorway, and then with a resounding crash, he collided against the sagging roof and walls! The great doors here were originally large enough to allow passage for beings like Cavituwa, the colossal entity. However, the collapse of the ancient ruins and the frantic state of the "Sea God" in his final moments had successfully caused this area to crumble, burying the doors so that only a two-meter-high, one-meter-wide section remained. The elderly priest, clearly mentally unstable, simply charged straight into them, nearly becoming stuck. As soon as he sensed the opportunity, Caine halted and turned around. With his eyes half-closed, his spine straightened, and his arms fully extended, a brilliant column of light, shimmering with faint golden flames, descended from the sky and struck the priest directly. Fragments of the long robe clinging to his body immediately ignited, and patches of his dark-gray skin and flesh fell off in large clumps, dissolving and evaporating into the pure radiance. Only then did Caine clearly see something unusual about the priest's abdomen—there it was, prominently swollen, with several distinct areas forming a clear outline of two eyes and a mouth. It was as if a person were hidden inside the old priest's abdomen, pressing their face against it, trying to push through. *Thud!* The old priest drove his legs covered in black, charred scales with powerful force, and was launched straight out through the collapsing doorway, sending stones flying and waves surging. He finally broke free from the light beam, but his body bore numerous jagged wounds from flesh and tissue falling away—his abdominal "face" itself was streaked with melted traces. *Tapping, tapping, tapping!* The old priest's sapphire tentacles darted about, sending out streaks of silver lightning from all sides, striking Klein. His abdominal "face" in turn occasionally emitted sounds that calmed the ethereal presence. Klein either dashed, rolled, or circled, calmly maneuvering against his opponent—alternating left and right, forward and backward—like they were dancing a wild duet. Throughout this process, he relied on the "paper man stand-in," enduring time and again the ethereal yet cold shrieks, occasionally roaring himself, using the plaintive wails of the restless spirits to stimulate the old priest, forcibly interrupting the sound that would otherwise emerge from the face within his abdomen. As time passed, the wildly agitated old priest, whose hands had remained lowered and motionless, suddenly raised them and placed them upon his own abdomen. With a firm pull, he tore the mere outline of the mouth into a distinct opening, from which a surge of azure-tinged pus erupted, and fine, sharp teeth began to grow. A new roar echoed out, and the surrounding seawater surged inward, forming a vortex once created by Cavi Tuwa. The figure of the "Black Emperor," Kline, was drawn into this whirlpool, while the dancing lightning tendrils around him began to retract, gathering to embrace him. Kline remained calm; his left glove soon transformed into something resembling solid gold. Hanging suspended in the air, his eyes locked onto the face-like formation on the old priest's abdomen and the swirling vortex beneath, two brilliant lightning flashes suddenly flared within his pupils. "The Interrogator!" "Spirit Piercing!" The old priest suddenly stiffened; the face on his abdomen furrowed, and the vortex radiating a terrifying suction instantly collapsed. Amid the surging waves rolling backward, Caine lowered his body, gliding like a fish through the weaker points of the force, evading the haphazardly waving azure tendrils. Amid the constantly flashing silver-white lightning, he surged forward to the old priest's side, his gloves now pale, tinged with a faint shade of gray-green. With a powerful surge of muscle in his back, Caine drove his fists furiously, striking repeatedly at the area just above the old priest's knees. Thud! Thud! Thud! The cold radiating from his fists sent the old priest's flesh flying, coating his right leg with a thin layer of frost, and completely freezing the surrounding seawater. This was the living corpse's mastery over icy power! Within the old priest's piercing cries, the tentacles of light surged back, drawing forth silver-white radiance that illuminated the entire ruin. At this moment, Caine did not hesitate or grow greedy—he promptly halted his attacks, rolling smoothly backward to evade the furious strikes that shattered and scorched the stone planks beneath. Rising to his feet, he seized the opportunity while the old priest remained motionless, and once again caused his left glove to radiate a sunlit glow. Caine straightened his posture, adopting a posture of reverence toward the sun. A grand, clear beam of sacred light descended once more, enveloping the towering old priest. Caine watched as the enemy's grayish-brown flesh rapidly dissolved, observing how the skin covering his abdominal region melted away, revealing what lay beneath—the organs within the old priest's abdomen—his heart, stomach, intestines—haphazardly interwoven and forming a face resembling that of a sea serpent. Kavitova still retained a trace of vitality... the will of a half-god was stronger than I had ever imagined. Kline rolled again, evading a blue-tinged tendril hurled like a lance. The tendrils, wrapped in lightning, were severed by the sacred light column and plunged into the ground, writhing, twisting, and pulsing. The clear light column soon faded, and the strange serpentine face on the old priest's abdomen once again opened its mouth with stubborn persistence. At that very instant, the old priest bent his torso, coughing violently, and the serpentine face's efforts ceased abruptly. "The biological toxin vial" had finally taken effect! Kline didn't miss the opportunity. He straightened once more, extended his arms, and embraced the "Sun." A luminous column, bearing many golden flames, illuminated the area. The old priest's form first hunched, then gradually shrank, as if evaporating, while his serpentine face, after a piercing cry, completely dissolved. When the light faded, the old priest had resumed his original size, his bones nearly melted, clinging to patches of gray-black flesh and blood. His breath grew rapidly dim, his spirit rapidly disintegrating. Kline rushed forward, leveraging his own state of lingering resentment, and immediately began spirit communication. He needed to verify whether this old priest was deeply burdened by sin. He believed he must uphold this fundamental standard—both as a matter of his own will and as a preventive measure against decline and madness. In an instant, he witnessed a series of scenes, precisely the moments when this old priest had presided over living sacrifices. Without further hesitation, Kline extended his left hand, allowing his long-starved gloves to savor the feast. Flesh, spirit, and white bones rushed swiftly into the jagged maw of his palm, spilling out points of shimmering cyan light, accompanied by occasional streaks of deep black. In the recent spirit communion, Caine confirmed that the old priest had been an "intercessor" during his lifetime, with all his magical formulas and extraordinary materials originating from the War Church of the Fyodorak Empire. When he became a "Guardian of the Sea God," he had already lost his reason, responding only to orders. After the death of Kavitova, he instinctively fed upon the flesh and blood of the deity he had once revered, ultimately succumbing to a clash of inherent traits and transforming into a monster. As the "craving hunger" was sated, the extraordinary properties scattered across the floor suddenly surged, forming a hurricane that surged inward, engulfing the hall and delivering itself into the now perfectly straight white spear tooth. Caine gazed upon the scene and saw that Kavitova's remains had completely collapsed, reduced to a mass of mud, while the serpent's tooth that had absorbed all the extraordinary properties of the hall had shortened into a staff, standing quietly against a partially collapsed pillar. At the tip of the white staff, tiny blue-green "gems" were embedded, some of which had taken on a deep, twilight black hue, others glowing with the dawn's light. Caine saw that the "craving hunger" had satisfied his appetite, and hurried into the hall, carefully approaching the staff. Even before making physical contact, layered, ethereal voices of supplication rang in his ears, and before him, visions unfolded—figures kneeling in prayer, and soldiers weeping as their shrine shattered around them. PS: Today I'm sending over two chapters, kindly recommend them! Also, I'd like to correct two earlier errors. In Chapter 64, regarding the timeline in the spiritual realm, Aljere should have said yesterday morning, not today morning. Caine described Cavitua's death occurring just under 20 hours after the Substitute received the Book of the Catastrophe—this should be revised to about one full day. I must have miscalculated the timing earlier. Also, Aljere received the anesthetic gas nearly a week ago, so the Tarot gatherings during that week were omitted. To preserve the rhythm of this sea-god sequence, and since the necessary details were already conveyed in earlier perspective shifts, there's no need to repeat them.