No way—I haven’t gone anywhere at all… You came all the way yourself, didn’t you? Kline displayed a grimacing expression that didn’t match the established profile of Germaine Spalro, nearly taking a deep breath of cool air. The only reason he hadn’t simply stayed put was that the movement would create noticeable noise, alerting “the troublemaker” to his hiding place! No longer the hesitant night watcher, he swiftly made his decision, held his breath, and slowly rose, moving with barely a sound to the iron gate entrance, watching quietly and calmly where the footsteps approached. He believed that since hiding and avoiding might no longer be effective, he needed to assess the situation thoroughly in order to make the most appropriate choice. Two suns, subtly dimmed, glimmered in his eyes as he waited for several tens of seconds. The footsteps grew heavier and clearer, accompanied by the clattering sound of the iron door being pushed open and striking the wall. Then, he saw a tall figure appear on the right side of the corridor. This figure stands nearly two and a half meters tall, clad in a full-body black armor that feels cold and tangible, as if he were a giant knight. His presence is calm and restrained, silent as the deep sea, with two deep red glimmers pulsing at his eye level. He holds a long, broad black straight sword in his hands. Clang! He pushes open the iron door of a cell, steps inside, and circles around, as though searching for something. Hmph... Is he looking for a specific prisoner? Then he'll surely spot me. Kline hesitates, weighing whether to now slip away before the knight approaches, seek another path, or instead launch a decisive attack to eliminate the target and then retreat to wait for the dream to end. Assessing the time he has to think, Kline swiftly removes the yellow crystal pendant from within his left sleeve, and begins his divination in a voice barely audible even to himself: "That knight just now was very powerful." "Reading it seven times over, Celine opened her eyes to see the yellow crystal pendant rotating clockwise—swiftly and vigorously. This indicated that the target was an extremely dangerous entity! With no hesitation and no time for delay, Celine leveraged the extraordinary ability of the 'Clown' to control her muscle movements, opening the iron gate with absolutely no extra noise. Then, while the black-armored knight entered another cell, Celine moved silently along the corridor, crouching low and swiftly advancing to the left. Amid the dense darkness, she listened to the sounds behind her while maintaining a discreet and swift pace, soon rounding the corner and reaching a pair of double iron doors that appeared to be the exit. She tried pushing and pulling the doors, only to find them light—simply locked from the inside. After a moment's thought, she retrieved the key she had picked up inside the cell, inserted it into the lock, and turned it with modest hope. A soft click echoed as the double iron doors unlocked. Could that really be it? Even in a dream, one couldn't just casually pick up a key and call it a significant item... I had even intended to tear sheets of paper into soldiers, insert them into the door seams, and cut them one after another, sequentially...克莱恩半是疑惑，半是不满地缓缓推开了铁门. To his disappointment, behind the doors wasn't an exit, but a large hall cluttered with various items. He closed the door again, relocked it, and walked around the scattered objects, searching for any possible door or path. A few seconds later, he noticed a less conspicuous black wooden door in the corner, and approached it cautiously, placing his hands on the handle. The scene inside naturally unfolded in his mind: a storage room, with a full-length mirror on the right side, and a figure in a linen robe hunched against the wall on the right. Someone? Was that the prisoner who had escaped? Compelled to leave his comfort zone, Klein decided to exercise only limited initiative. So he gently turned the handle and pushed open the black wooden door. He wanted to understand the full situation before deciding whether to flee or fight in a crisis. "Who?" the figure in the linen robe asked quickly but softly, his voice filled with desperation and pain. "A traveler," Klein replied simply. With his night vision, he had now clearly made out the figure's appearance: a man with deeply etched lines on his forehead, around his eyes, and at the corners of his mouth, yet his hair remained dark and lustrous, with no gray strands. His linen robe was plain and timeless, and his expression was slightly distorted by pain. In his rare, pure black eyes, there was an unmistakable sense of astonishment and confusion. "A traveler?" he repeated. "How did you come here?" Klein maintained a respectful distance from the man, whose age—whether young or old—was hard to judge, standing at the doorway and gazing at him. "It's proper etiquette to introduce oneself before asking others questions," he said. As a "Faceless One," he had already grasped the man's key features within the brief moment of observation—aside from the incongruity between his hair color and the lines of his face, there was a stark, ancient scar across his cheek. The man paused, glanced anxiously toward the hall. "You'd better close the door—otherwise we'll be caught by that demon, and then…." His facial muscles visibly twitched twice, as though recalling some unpleasant memory. "A demon?" Klein murmured, stepping back and closing the black wooden door. The man exhaled in relief, offering a wistful smile. "I'm sorry—I was indeed rather uncivilized just now. "My name is Leomaster, a humble religious monk from a religious order." "A religious order?" Klein remarked, clearly implying that he wasn't one of the Seven Gods' followers. Klein noticed the issue from the way the other person spoke. If this were a severe ascetic devoted to one of the Seven Gods, he would have been able to state it plainly—neither the solar priests nor the storm bishops would have clashed upon meeting in such a perilous location. Liomastar chuckled self-consciously, saying, "Yes, I revere the very First Creator—the All-Knowing, All-Powerful Being, the origin of all greatness, the beginning and the end, the God of the Gods!" That... hearing the other venerate the First Creator immediately made Klein think of the "Dusk Hermit Order." Yet, indeed, there were still several small sects across the northern and southern continents practicing primitive worship, with many believers in the First Creator. Klein paused and asked thoughtfully, "What is the name of your religious organization? How did you come to arrive here?" "Leomaster hesitated, saying: 'To the east of Sunya Sea lies the place where my Lord sleeps. His holy mountain is hidden somewhere within this region. I led a pilgrimage party here, seeking to witness miracles and redeem myself.' 'Perhaps this is an inevitable trial—we have been seized one after another by that demon... 'Later, I seized the opportunity to escape from the prison and hide here, waiting for the demon to depart.' Kline thought for a moment and asked, 'Do you know the demon's name? What are his characteristics?' 'He?' Leomaster shook his head, slightly puzzled, 'I do not know his specific name, though many pilgrims seem to recognize him, calling him the "Saint of Black."' The Saint of Black? A half-god? Was this Leomaster's dream, or was it the half-god's own dream?" According to my divination, it should be the latter—otherwise, the danger would have been far greater... Just as Caine was about to ask Leo Mastre which organization he belonged to and to learn more about the extraordinary abilities of the "Saint of Black," his peripheral vision caught the full-length mirror across from the monk. In mysticism, mirrors serve as portals to the hidden, unknown realms and are prone to bringing about dreadful surprises. Thus, while navigating a perilous dream, Caine moved cautiously toward it, intending to use the power of the "Priest of Light" to destroy the object outright. "No! Not now!" Leo Mastre seemed to sense Caine's intention, and cried out in alarm, "Without it, I would die immediately!" Ah? Caine looked at the mirror again, puzzled. Although the surroundings were unusually dark, the mirror clearly reflected two figures: one was Leo Mastre, with numerous wrinkles and black hair, and the other was Germain Spaulo, lean-faced, with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a baseball cap. At this very moment, while Klein remained motionless, Germain Spaulo in the mirror slowly turned his head and offered him a solemn, gloomy smile. A ripple spread across the mirror's surface, and a hand extended outward. Klein merely blinked, and instantly, Germain Spaulo, identical to him, emerged from the mirror, his face now tinged with a distinct eerie pallor. Quite intimidating... yet, I don't resemble Germain Spaulo much, so you didn't scare me at all. If it had been Zhou Mingrui stepping out of the mirror, I would have been jolted awake. Klein calmly gazed at his counterpart, lifting his left hand, which now shimmered with a layer of sunlight. Germán Sparrow on the other side smiled, lifting his left hand as well, causing his gloves to reveal a noble yet eerie deep black. This corresponds precisely to the ability of the "Corrupted Baron!" My duplicate? Kline thought for a moment, then raised his right hand expressionlessly. In his hand he now held a short white staff that had appeared out of nowhere, its head set with a ring of cyan-blue "gems." "The Staff of the Sea God!" Although actions within the dream must follow logical sequences to achieve desired effects, Kline doubted that this fantastical world could influence the gray mist's effect on that mysterious space. Therefore, he had simplified the ritual process earlier, reminding himself that the Staff of the Sea God was preserved in a unique region of the spiritual realm, and that he could retrieve it whenever he wished. The results were encouraging to Caine. The dream world indeed could not distinguish between the unique regions of the spiritual realm and the area above the gray mist. With the "Staff of the Sea God" clearly belonging to him, this semi-divine sealing artifact had been successfully retrieved! It truly worked... otherwise, he would have had to engage in a full-scale battle with the other side. Caine subtly exhaled a sigh of relief. He also believed the mirror could not replicate the aspects related to the gray mist. Gelmán Spárol stood motionless, slightly stunned, instinctively raising his hand, only to find his right palm empty. Then, he saw countless streaks of silver lightning surge forth, enveloping him layer upon layer, forcing him to consume one "paper figure" after another, yet unable to break free from the area. Crackle, crackle—then a massive sphere of lightning illuminated the narrow room, where escape was impossible, and both Gelmán Spárol and his reflection in the mirror vanished together. For some reason, Caine felt unexpectedly calm at this moment, as though entering the realm of the sage. He turned his head and looked back at Leomaster, saying, "What is the exact name of the religious organization you joined?" Leomaster shivered and replied, "The Aurora Order." The Aurora Order? Caine was momentarily stunned, raising an eyebrow. At that very instant, a loud crash echoed from outside—the double iron doors, which had been locked, seemed to have been kicked open. Thud! Thud! Thud! The steady, drum-like footsteps approached steadily toward the corner, as if they had already discovered Caine and Leomaster's hidden spot. Caine suspected that the earlier lightning storm must have alerted the "Saint of Black!" It was no longer possible to hide. With the "Sea God's Staff" firmly in his hands, Caine kicked the black wooden door of the storage room violently, sending it flying toward the "Saint of Black!" As the wooden door rolled aside, he made out the figure clearly: the knight clad in black armor had raised his faceplate at some point, revealing a deeply lined face, a few strands of dark, lustrous hair, and an old scar across his cheek. He looked exactly like Leo Mastre—down to the finest details! The only difference was that his eyes glowed with a deep red light.