As she entered the mausoleum of the "Black Emperor," Bernadette vaguely "saw" a black shadow. However, after she exited the state of the information flood and re-formed her body using vast, pure knowledge, she didn't sense anything at all, as if what she had just experienced was merely an illusion.
This "Mystery Queen" didn't rush deeper into the mausoleum. She remained where she was, cautiously surveying her surroundings.
Without even needing to use her abilities in "Prying into Secrets," everything was clearly presented before her eyes:
The interior of the mausoleum of the "Black Emperor" was completely empty. Besides the pitch-black walls and a raised dais in the center, there was nothing at all.
On the dais rested a throne fit for a giant. It appeared to be made of iron, its surface engraved with intricate and twisting strange patterns. The top of its backrest extended upward, taking the shape of a crown.
At this moment, there was no figure seated on this heavy, massive throne. It seemed to be waiting for its emperor to return.
Just as Bernadette was about to tentatively take a step toward the dais, she suddenly realized that her body was completely immobilized, as if bound to the spot by invisible shackles.
Immediately, pairs of illusory, sacred white wings unfolded from her back, as if she were passively resisting something.
In the next instant, white feathers fell from those angelic wings one by one. In mid-air, they grew deformed, slender, furry limbs, while the gaps between the layered feathers opened wide, transforming into countless eyes.
The distorted feathers then let out crisp laughter, causing the sound of "giggles" to echo within the mausoleum.
They had all come to life, becoming miniature 'feather people'.
This made Bernadette suddenly recall some fairy tales her father had told her, which always featured little elves no bigger than a thumb.
In a flash of thought, Bernadette felt her right eye begin to itch.
The eyelashes of that eye grew rapidly, turning into tiny arms that pushed against her face, trying to pull the eyeball out.
"I can see! I can see!" The blood vessels in Bernadette's right eye bulged, and it spontaneously emitted a youthful, cheerful voice, as if it had gained its own intelligence and consciousness.
This was also a kind of "rebirth."
Almost simultaneously, Bernadette's left ear suddenly drooped down, covering her ear canal.
"I don't want to hear! I don't want to hear!" This ear shouted in a slightly shrill voice.
If she hadn't been using her spirituality to perceive things, Bernadette would have definitely thought a little girl had appeared beside her, covering her ears and stomping her feet while screaming.
Before she could catch her breath, the "Sage's Headband" on her forehead actively detached from her body and floated into mid-air.
On the surface of this vertical eye, inlaid with these "diamonds," countless cold flashes of light appeared in an instant, as if one miniature eye after another was growing out of it.
And within each eye, the figure of Bernadette was reflected.
The "Sage's Headband" had also gained certain living characteristics.
Just as this "Grade 0" sealed artefact was about to awaken and exert some influence upon its target, a pale, slender, illusory palm reached out and firmly grasped it.
The living characteristics of the "Sage's Headband" then quickly dissipated, as if it had reached the end of its life.
This palm, clearly belonging to a woman with a cold and pale quality, came from behind Bernadette. At some point, a figure only visible from the waist up had materialized there.
This figure grew out of Bernadette's back. It was almost transparent and quite illusory.
"She" wore the same clothes as Bernadette and the exact same feathered tricorn hat, her eyes as blue as a projection of the sea. It looked exactly like Bernadette herself, a part of her spirit that had emerged from her body.
However, this half-body apparition of Bernadette wore a pale mask shimmering with a metallic luster on its face.
The mask only had holes for the eyes, with no gaps anywhere else. This made Bernadette's apparition look extremely cold and majestic, yet devoid of the aura of a living person.
This was the third and final "Grade 0" sealed artefact she possessed. It was an item created by Emperor Roselle after his return from the Southern Continent in his later years, called "Pale Death."
Its negative effect was to make the wearer die little by little until they became a corpse and a slave to it.
At this moment, Bernadette was precisely utilizing this point to suppress the abnormal activation of her body.
It was as this half-body apparition emerged that her right eye quieted down, and those eyelashes that had thickened, lengthened, and turned into arms withered and fell off one by one.
Her ear similarly stopped making sounds, slowly opened up, and returned to normal.
If not for this suppression, Bernadette's facial features, arms, and legs would have successively broken away from her and pursued "freedom."
After initially stabilizing her body's condition, Bernadette tentatively tried to step forward, but she still couldn't make any movement. She could only command the half-bodied spirit.
After thinking for a moment, she had the spirit behind her take a ritual silver dagger from the pocket of her clothes, bend down, and draw a circle around the middle of her right boot.
With a tearing sound, the boot quickly became half as short.
Immediately after, Bernadette used the half-body spirit to tear the pants at her left knee, cut off a corner of her coat and shirt, and pulled out a few feathers from one side of her tricorn hat.