As Silas prayed, a lofty, profound, terrifying, and majestic aura descended.
Following the True Creator, that mysterious [Fool] also turned His gaze toward this place.
Silas felt the murmurs in his mind instantly grow louder. Having encountered an enemy, the True Creator's fury was unmistakable.
Come then, Fool. Let me see what you're capable of!
Under the torment of the murmurs, he laughed madly, muttering to himself, anticipating the deity's next move.
Suddenly, Silas felt himself fall into a peculiar state, both dazed and lucid.
He seemed to see, above an illusory sky, a thick and heavy gray fog.
Within an ancient palace there, a towering figure shrouded in gray mist sat behind a bronze table, looking down upon him.
In his daze, he saw standing beside that towering figure numerous forms whose shapes defied description.
These figures were entirely black and gold, the contrast stark, with twelve pairs of pitch-black and mysterious wings sprouting from their backs.
Like angels from myth and legend!
At the towering figure's command, one of the black-gold forms floated down, beating twelve dark wings, crossing the barrier between illusion and reality, and flying into his body.
"Boom!"
A thunderous roar echoed in his mind.
The "black-gold angel" collided with the True Creator's will, producing ripples in circles, seemingly attempting to expel the other party from Silas's mind.
However, a single angel alone struggled to contend with the will descended by a true god. Its momentum was quickly suppressed.
But immediately after, a second, then a third angel descended from beneath the Fool's seat, entering Silas's body.
The three forms touched wings, forming a ring that enclosed Silas's spirit and resisted the True Creator's will.
The True Creator was extremely enraged, the murmurs filled with unwillingness.
Yet ultimately, He could not withstand the combined power of the three angels and was expelled from Silas's mind.
***
Under Mr. A's watchful gaze, that pool of flesh and blood on the verge of losing control suddenly changed.
Silas's face floated atop the flesh and began growing upward. As if being pulled from mud, his neck, shoulders, torso... everything emerged from that pool of flesh.
He once again possessed a complete body.
"Whoosh!"
A blood-red robe materialized, wrapping around Silas. He quietly opened his azure eyes, looked at Mr. A, and revealed a twisted smile.
His jawline traced a perfect arc, the blood-red robe framing his handsome face, the shadow beneath his feet dense as if tangible.
Handsome, mysterious, cold, mad!
"You have rejected the Lord's grace!"
Mr. A shouted angrily, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
Silas said nothing, merely looking at the other with contempt.
With a flip of his palm, he produced from nowhere a pristine white bone.
One end of the bone was sharp, the other somewhat blunt. It appeared to be half a rib.
Fused with his bone, the Demoness of Pain, plus other Beyonder characteristics and the divinity of an evil god's offspring, the Extraordinary item formed within Lanevus's body: the Mutated Agony!
Silas turned the bone, gripping the blunter end in a reverse hold, pointing the sharp spike at his own chest and ribs. Then...
"Pfft!"
Blood sprayed. The white bone was instantly stained crimson!
He had once asked "Red Light" Aiur Moria how to use this mutated Extraordinary item.
Red Light's answer was simple: let it return to Silas's body, and he would naturally know.
The first thing Silas felt was pain.
This was not the simple pain brought by a stab wound. Or rather, a stab wound should not bring such intense pain.
"Swish!"
After the rib contacted flesh and blood, the originally dormant characteristics suddenly ceased being restrained.
Instead, they extended outward, as if merging with the spirituality within his body.
In an instant, Silas's body became extremely sensitive. Everything around him was perceived with minute clarity.
Air currents disturbing a single hair, a snowflake's edge brushing his skin, the friction of the blood-red robe against every inch of flesh... all were reflected with crystal clarity in his brain.
At the same time, his perception of pain and injury was elevated to an incomparable degree!
Silas felt as if every muscle fiber in his abdomen was being split apart, blood gushing from severed vessels, fragile nerves directly exposed to the cold air.
Everything converged into pain so intense it threatened to burn through his spirit, rushing madly into his brain.
A simple stab wound, yet the agony it brought was already so intense he could barely endure it!
"Ahhhhh!"
The surging stimulation exploded in his mind. He couldn't help but release a hoarse roar.
So this is the mutated "Agony"?!
In his head, which ached to the point of madness, Silas thought hazily.
No wonder Red Light Aiur Moria said he would know its side effect the moment he used it.
The side effect, it turned out, was making the body extremely sensitive!
Such intense pain... ordinary Beyonders simply couldn't bear it. They would probably lose control from mental collapse the moment they used it!
"Ahhhhhhh..."
But just then, Silas suddenly heard an equally piercing scream from across the way.
He forced his head up and saw Mr. A clutching his ribs, his face showing extreme agony.
The pain aura of "Agony" was still effective!
Moreover, as the pain Silas experienced intensified, the aura's effect became astonishingly powerful. Even Mr. A, a fellow "Shepherd," could hardly endure it!
"Hehehehe..."
Seeing Mr. A in such agony, Silas couldn't help but laugh. The other's twisted expression was like medicine, easing his own pain.
"Do you like it?"
Silas asked Mr. A softly, using his finger to press the bone's end, pushing it bit by bit completely into his body.
Veins bulged on his forehead, bloodshot eyes bursting, sweat pouring.
Clearly he had reached the extreme of suffering. Yet even so, he maintained his action without hesitation.
Come, feel the pain with me!
"What have you done!"
Mr. A's handsome face became hideously ugly from extreme distortion. He shouted at Silas.
"Guess."
Silas said.
When the entire bone was buried within, he suddenly sensed a peculiar aura.
It was the pure divinity buried deep within him. This divinity had originally been unable to merge with his body, merely creating a constant burden on his spirit.
But with the rib's return, it actually became stable, automatically spreading throughout his body and fusing with it.
The rib's second effect was to merge the divinity with his body, elevating his status!
Abruptly, Silas felt his aura become more solid, the Shepherd potion characteristics within completely under his control.
Though he hadn't yet grazed anything, using them would certainly be smoother and more natural!