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Bernadette nodded lightly and handed the gray-white amber, which sealed the Ghost Picture Frame, to Leyton.
She then summoned an invisible servant and took a vertical-eye-shaped ornament from the invisible servant.
sage's diadem?
Leyton's gaze curiously scanned the ornament in Bernadette's hand.
Its core was a vertical eye inlaid with diamonds, shimmering with pure light, giving one an exceptionally sacred and wise feeling, yet appearing quite cold and devoid of warmth.
Bernadette held the sage's diadem in her hand, paused slightly, then gently pressed it against her forehead.
"The effect of time being stolen originates from the inverted picture frame at the base of the high platform!"
Leyton quickly reminded her when he saw this.
Bernadette's body instantly dematerialized, and the next moment, she decomposed into countless complex pieces of knowledge, transforming into a pure information flow creature.
Like a torrent, she surged into the main tomb chamber, covering the inverted picture frame at the base of the high platform.
The complex information rapidly coalesced, reforming into Bernadette's flesh and blood body, and the inverted picture frame on the ground was now in her hand.
An invisible curtain covered the picture frame, isolating its influence on the surroundings.
As the picture frame's influence on the surroundings was isolated, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the enclosed mausoleum, dispelling the invisible restraints and silence.
On the metal lamp stands on the walls, candles rapidly burned, their flames becoming exceptionally bright, but they quickly reached the end of their life, melting away.
The aged corpses on the ground also rapidly decayed, and a foul stench quickly permeated the air.
In just a few seconds, this main tomb chamber became dim.
Seeing this, Leyton stepped into the main tomb chamber, simultaneously rubbing his fingers to create several bright golden flames around him.
"Does the one residing within you, Sasrir, have a way to seal this painting?"
"My method cannot isolate the effect of stealing time for long."
Bernadette handed the picture frame in her hand to Leyton, and the contents of the picture frame were revealed to Leyton's eyes.
It was a portrait of Amon.
Black eyes, black curly hair, a wide forehead, a thin face, wearing a black pointed soft hat, and his most iconic crystal monocle!
"He's quite narcissistic."
Leyton muttered softly to himself, then spoke as if to himself:
"Do you have a way to seal this painting?"
"Place the bone staff in your hand together with that painting..." Sasrir's voice immediately echoed in his mind.
"Okay."
Receiving Sasrir's answer, Leyton handed the gray-white amber, which sealed the Ghost Picture Frame, to Bernadette, and with his other hand, took the portrait of Amon.
Upon receiving Amon's portrait, Leyton immediately took the bone staff from his waist and pressed it against the painting.
A layer of dark, viscous shadow rapidly spread from the bone staff, transforming into a dark curtain that tightly enveloped Amon's portrait.
Bernadette also quickly removed the sage's diadem; her face became somewhat pale, indicating that using this Mystical Item also put a great deal of pressure on her.
With the most dangerous item here sealed, Leyton's tone relaxed considerably.
"There's a passage here connected to the Abyss; let's destroy it while we're at it."
Bernadette nodded lightly and walked towards the other side of the wall.
Leyton followed, simultaneously manipulating several bright golden flames to spread out and illuminate the surroundings.
The original murals on the wall had become extensively mottled due to the accelerated flow of time, and most of them were damaged; even with his Mysticism Magister-level reasoning ability, Leyton could not restore many details of the murals.
Bernadette stopped in front of the only relatively complete mural, and Leyton manipulated a golden flame to float upwards along the mural.
Up to the dome, that part of the mural still retained its colors.
The mural depicted a majestic, continuous mountain range, and on the highest main peak, a cross taller than the mountain itself stood.
The cross was covered in layers of brilliant light, appearing exceptionally sacred.
In front of it, a majestic and tall figure vaguely appeared, with the mountain range resembling a pet prostrate at his feet.
Leyton instantly thought of the War of the Gods, where both the Goddess and Amon would transform into mountain-sized forms.
He then slightly tilted his head and asked in a low voice:
"The 'You' in this mural, it's not a realistic depiction, is it?"
Sasrir probably didn't expect Leyton to ask such a question; after two seconds of silence, his voice echoed in Leyton's mind:
"You could say that; in combat, he would manifest this form."
"Whether it's Giants, or Dragons, or Phoenixes, they are all colossal mythical creatures; this massive posture makes it easier for me to fight."
Bernadette's gaze had already withdrawn from the mural; she was pondering Leyton's words.
The expression in her eyes was obscure, as if in deep thought, and after a long while, she spoke:
"The Ancient Sun God and the True Creator are the same person? Or, more accurately, the same God?"
"To a certain extent, they can be equated; the True Creator is the embodiment of the Ancient Sun God's negative personality and extreme emotions, but he also inherited humanity and went mad as a result."
Leyton nodded lightly, giving an affirmative answer.
"The Ancient Sun God's evil spirit?" Bernadette's eyes flashed as she tentatively offered a guess.
Leyton did not answer this question and refocused his gaze on the mural.
Bernadette did not press further; she had simply made that connection and asked casually.
Their current conversation was undoubtedly audible to the True Creator's will residing within the other party, and discussing this topic would be disrespectful.
Her gaze fell below the mountain range, where two angels with twelve pairs of wings on their backs each held a baby and humbly walked towards the mountaintop.
The baby on the left had slightly curly black hair, while the one on the right had light golden hair.
One had pitch-black eyes, and the other had golden-yellow eyes.
Bernadette looked at the baby on the left and softly uttered a name:
"Amon."
Then, her gaze turned to the baby on the right.
"Amon's brother," Leyton said first.
Bernadette was silent for a moment, then softly murmured:
"Spectator?"
After only a second or two of silence, she began to examine the mural again, looking at the chained Giants and the Dragons whose feet were bound, forever unable to touch the ground.
After viewing the entire mural, Bernadette seemed to want to reach out and touch it, but stopped her movement mid-air, her voice soft, with a hint of reminiscence, she spoke:
"The Pathway belonging to the God of Steam and Machinery, Sequence 8 is called Archaeologist, but it's quite ironic that the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery itself is covering up history."
"This is something my father once complained about to me."
"This is what all Churches do," Leyton said flatly.
Bernadette did not continue the topic; it seemed her earlier remark was merely a momentary Feelings.
Withdrawing her gaze from the mural, she spoke with a slight thoughtful tone:
"That brother of Amon, did his authority come from the Dragons, and the authority of the Giants was left by the Ancient Sun God himself?"
"His mastered authority is greater than that of the current Eternal Blazing Sun, and he also appears to be more powerful, and he doesn't have the madness of the ancient gods."
"Are you asking me?" Leyton looked at Bernadette in confusion; he wasn't sure if she was asking him or talking to herself.
"If you know the answer."
As she spoke, Bernadette had already turned and walked towards the other wall.
"This involves Above the Sequence..."
Speaking in a low voice, Leyton also turned and followed Bernadette's steps.
In a corner, he saw a stone door, only outlined in silhouette, standing inconspicuously.
Bernadette stood silently before this stone door, her eyes becoming extremely deep, losing focus, and appearing blank.
After a moment, they returned to normal, and she said in a low, hoarse voice:
"This is the door connecting to the Abyss."
"Step back a little..."
Bernadette warned, then she herself stepped back a few paces, raising her hand to grasp in the void, dragging out an ancient-style spear, from tip to hilt burning with clusters and specks of bloody dark red light.
The dark red spear, carrying an aura of destruction, plunged into the stone door, and immediately, countless cracks appeared, with a faint, viscous, liquid-like black mist seeping out.
Bernadette raised her right hand again, and a slowly rotating ball of stardust rapidly formed in her palm.
Star after star emerged, densely packed and dazzling.
These stars scattered rays of light, converging into a magnificent pillar of light that completely enveloped the stone door, which was only outlined in silhouette.
Under the starlight, it began to dissolve, collapse, and dissipate, as if it had never existed.
"All right."
Bernadette's voice was as calm and indifferent as ever.
Leyton nodded lightly, speaking with a rather pleasant tone:
"Let's collect our gains; although there are no Demigod-level Beyonder Characteristics, the materials from those Monsters, as well as the Beyonder Characteristics and Mystical Items left behind, can be considered a great harvest."
Bernadette summoned several invisible servants, and they followed the path the two had taken, beginning to collect items and Beyonder Characteristics one by one.
"How convenient!" Leyton exclaimed in a low voice.
"Are you interested? I can give you the method for creating invisible servants."
Having completed a fruitful exploration, Bernadette's voice also took on a slightly pleasant tone.
Seeing Leyton look over, she brought the conversation back to their previous question and answer session:
"What you just said about 'Above the Sequence,' is it related to adjacent Pathways?"
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