In an instant, Celine suddenly exchanged places with the personal servant Enyuni from the adjacent room. At the same time, a slow-moving millipede crawling beneath the grapevines, about 150 meters from the main house, suddenly stiffened and then relaxed. Almost simultaneously, the millipede vanished, and Doun Tan-Tsai in his blue-and-white checked nightgown appeared in its place. Celine had exchanged places with the secret doppelgänger once again! He decided to use this method to discreetly follow Chounas Colg, uncovering where he was headed and what he intended to do. Although this method allowed only a single "teleportation" of 150 meters at a time, and required a few seconds between each activation—due to the process of doppelgänger transformation—it was sufficiently subtle and quiet compared to "flame leaps" or "travel teleportations," making it hard for Chounas Colg to detect. After all, Chounas Colg was a demigod—despite not being particularly skilled in spiritual intuition—his status could not be underestimated. For the same reason, Caine did not rely on the "thirsty crawl" to blend into the shadows—though such movement offered concealment, it was relatively slow and utterly incapable of keeping up with a half-god. Under the deep night, from the Morga manor to the southern bank of the Tassok River, mice that once moved through the roots, serpents that once surged through stones, spiders that once spun webs, and fish that once darted through the streams, one after another grew stiff and motionless. One by one, these secret figures transformed into the form of the hidden ones, enabling Caine to shift seamlessly without making a sound, swiftly reaching the southern bank of the Tassok River and catching up to Cunus Colg, maintaining a distance of nearly one kilometer behind. ——For the "Master of Mysteries," even when a secret figure fell out of his immediate control, it would not immediately cease to be under his influence or perish on the spot. Without the catalytic presence of the "Sorcerer" entity's consciousness, this process proceeds quite slowly, taking nearly ten minutes. Thus, Caine has no concern about losing track of the "winner" Enyuni, who is resting on his own bed—so long as he can return within ten minutes, he can continue manipulating the automaton. In silence and without a sound, Caine follows Quonas Colg upstream along the Tassok River, through a dense forest, and ascends to the mountain beside the riverbank. At this moment, Quonas Colg, still without his jacket or outer coat, suddenly halts and begins inspecting the surroundings, gradually expanding his scope as if demarcating his territory. Seeing this, Caine does not pause—he immediately exchanges positions with the automaton, retreating continuously, and thus establishes a distance of nearly three kilometers from the deputy director of the Nine Department. At the same time, he voluntarily relinquishes control over the automata ahead, whose occasional deaths will go unnoticed. This is extremely common in the countryside and within the forest! Nast, the King of the Five Seas, can craft a favorable battlefield environment for himself. Could Qunusa Colg, another half-deity on the path of the Black Emperor, similarly create a zone—altering, augmenting, or leveraging specific rules—so that once pursuers enter it, their movements are immediately revealed and they can no longer conceal themselves? Very likely! Caine cautiously drew out a coin from his sleepshirt pocket, letting it spin and leap between his fingers, rotating it back and forth. This time, he deliberately restrained his force, avoiding the crisp snap of a release. The coin rose silently, then settled again into his palm. Caine didn’t need to look down—his mind naturally mirrored the coin’s state: The royal portrait faced upward! This indicated that the area ahead had undergone a transformation, posing a significant risk! Indeed, a true half-deity—such capabilities are truly admirable. Yet, does this mean he can now escape my "tracking"? Klein gave a soft "hmm" in his mind, stepped back several dozen meters, and settled in a particularly quiet spot, transforming his appearance into that of Germaine Sparrow. Then, he clasped his hands together, brought them to his lips, and spoke softly: "Keeper of the sea and the spirit realm, guardian of the Rosedale Isles, ruler of marine life, master of tsunamis and gales—great Cavitua..." Having finished his prayer, Klein immediately retreated four steps, arriving upon the gray mist and taking the seat of the 'Fool.' He then summoned the white bone staff, its top adorned with a ring of sapphire-blue stones. Using the light of his prayer and the response from the faithful, he observed the conditions in the area where Germaine Sparrow was located. Next, he raised his vision, bringing the surrounding scenes into view, and expanded his scope outwards by five nautical miles—this being the maximum range of the 'Staff of the Sea God' as it could be observed through the prayers of its devotees. And thus, the area that Qunnas Colg had defined—where nothing could escape his perception—came into view within Kline's sight. ... In the warehouse area of the dock, where goods were stacked in abundance. "Love..." Trish laughed softly, then her form suddenly faded, taking on the luminous glow of a night lake. In an instant, the woman once tightly ensnared by the intricate web of threads from the "Immortal Woman" Katrinas Pele, transformed into a translucent mirror. It was a full-length mirror taller than a human, its surface rippling with water-like light and emanating a deep, ethereal radiance, as though it were the threshold to another world. At this moment, instead of reflecting the scene before it, the mirror outlined a room. That room was hazy and dimly lit, with beds and furniture cut into countless neat fragments scattered throughout. Only in the central area remained untouched—spotless, even dust-free. Tris stood there, dressed in a dark, somber long gown, her hair smooth and flowing, gently swaying in the breeze, making her face appear exceptionally pale—like a female spirit from folk legends. She had not been physically present, but had instead projected her form and strength through the ethereal mirror, reaching across an unseen distance, as if truly there. Thus, she was neither startled nor alarmed by the sense of being controlled and hunted. Upon seeing this, Katrinas Pelle, clad simply in a white saintly robe, did not hesitate at all—she let out a sharp, piercing cry. Waves of sound surged outward swiftly, causing her hair to rise, each strand clearly defined, thick and now tinged with gray and dullness. The shimmering, mysterious full-length mirror suddenly shook violently, as though it might collapse at any moment. Within the room it reflected, fragments of the bed, desk, and chairs grew pale and gray, losing their luster, as though turning one by one into stone. Before Tris, the warm-brown floor had transformed into gray-white stone and swiftly extended toward the only human in the room, like a surging tide. Tris did not attempt to resist; she immediately turned, waving backward as she rushed toward the open window. In the air, strands of her invisible web became visible, each growing dimmer and gradually shifting toward gray-white. At the same time, the dark, deep mirror revealed one crack after another, fracturing with a series of ethereal crackling sounds until it completely dissolved. Yet, just before the mirror vanished entirely, within the now fully stone-like room, the gray-white hue flowed backward in a strange manner, coalescing into a human figure. This figure wore a simple, pure white robe, had a lustrous cascade of black hair, and eyes of a deep, mature yet childlike blue—exactly as the "immortal woman" Catriona had been just moments earlier in the warehouse! One by one, the幽glows faded, and the Viscount of Stafford could no longer see what was happening in the room across from him. He turned his gaze away, fixing it on Sherman beside him, his expression momentarily complex before settling back into normality. "Tris is truly patient," he murmured, shaking his head with a light smile. "She's taken months just to cultivate a new mage to counter me. What exactly does she hope to gain from me?" At that moment, with the connection to Tris severed, the web of threads surrounding Sherman began to loosen, no longer able to bind or restrict her movements. The beautiful young woman remained expressionless, her eyes hollow as she replied, "She wants me to discover who you truly serve." Before Stafford could speak, a subtle spark of emotion stirred in her eyes. She hesitated, asking, "Of all the things you've said to me and the promises you've made—how many of them are truly genuine?" Viscount Stafford paused, then chuckled warmly. "You're probably the most foolish and naive witch I've ever seen..." Sherman's expression froze on her face, and the spark of renewed confidence that had returned to her eyes gradually dimmed. "In fact, we had the chance to act earlier on during the journey..." Folshe whispered, gazing at the warehouse door. Thue replied without turning around, "But you yourself said you always felt the matter wasn't that simple—you wanted to wait a little longer." "This might be the 'astrologer's' intuition, or simply a case of procrastination..." Folshe remarked with a touch of self-mockery. They said no more, once again falling into quiet, patiently waiting. At that moment, a dark flame suddenly erupted on the compacted earth ahead of them. This unusual flame swiftly branched out, gliding along the ground and forming a line of runic script: "The opportunity you have longed for has arrived." Thue and Folshe's eyes widened simultaneously, and they exchanged a glance, yet neither knew what to say or how to respond. "What should we do?" Folshe finally broke the silence after a few seconds.