North District, Saint Samuel Church.
As soon as Klein entered the great prayer hall, he took advantage of the faint light filtering through the wall behind the altar to naturally sweep his gaze around, taking in all the worshippers praying inside.
With just that glance, Klein swiftly locked onto his target and, without any abnormality, walked forward along the aisle.
In the first row sat an old man wearing a black clerical robe but exuding a cold aura, pale-faced with withered yellow hair. He had his eyes tightly shut, praying intently, and was one of the internal guards Klein had sensed earlier.
He usually rotated to Fridays… Klein didn't truly approach him; staying two rows away, he found a seat and sat down, handing his hat and cane to his personal valet, Richardson.
Then, as he sat down, he quickly pressed the joint of his index finger with his left thumb twice, silently activating his Spirit Body Thread vision.
Suddenly, numerous illusory black threads appeared before Klein's eyes, densely emerging from the bodies of different living beings, extending in clusters towards infinite distances.
As soon as he settled, Klein shifted his gaze and focused his attention on that internal guard.
With that look, he nearly let out a sound of surprise, but thanks to the self-control of a "Clown" and his own anticipation of anomalies, he easily maintained a calm demeanor.
In his vision, although that withered-haired old man also had Spirit Body Threads extending, the interior of his body was pitch black, devouring the origin points of those illusory threads, completely different from a normal Beyonder!
As expected, they had already been eroded by the power of the sealed core, undergoing mutations at the soul level… So, this is closer to the second guess I made last time—they've become part of the sealed core to some extent; once there are signs of losing control, it immediately triggers the instinctive response of that item, forcibly calming it down… No wonder the internal guards must be voluntary and advanced in age; they should have a full understanding of the consequences… Klein felt an inexplicable sigh, ready to turn off his Spirit Body Thread perception and withdraw his gaze.
Just then, he saw a pair of eyes, their irises as black as ink, containing not a trace of emotion.
Beside these eyes, fine deep wrinkles extended bit by bit, like distorted, strange mystic symbols.
These were the eyes of that internal guard!
At some unknown time, he had straightened his body, turned his head, and was looking coldly at Dwayne Dantès!
Klein's scalp instantly went numb, but he forced out a smile and nodded to the other, as if this were just a normal exchange of glances.
That internal guard slowly moved his head, and surprisingly responded.
Then, Klein suddenly felt his surroundings pulled away, first becoming blurry, then settling into clarity.
In that moment, he knew he had been passively drawn into a dream.
Thus, while maintaining his image as Dwayne Dantès, he instinctively looked around and found that he was still in Saint Samuel Church, but all the seats were either broken or toppled, scattered everywhere, as if it had been attacked.
The altar ahead was covered in cracks, overgrown with weeds, covered in dust, as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
That internal guard with withered yellow hair stood beside the collapsed offering box, coldly watching Dwayne Dantès, who was dressed in a black formal suit.
Seeing Klein look back, he slowly opened his mouth, revealing sharp, ghastly white teeth that were anything but even.
And on these teeth were embedded blurry, faint, tiny figures, which had complete facial features and limbs, each with different expressions but all bearing a similar pain, as if imprisoned there, unable to escape.
"Heh…" The internal guard let out a beast-like growl from his throat, bending his waist and back forward.
His ribs, his sides—his clothing bulged and, with a whoosh, grew four skinless arms wrapped in blood vessels.
Immediately, they grew dense black fur, and from the tips of the fingers snapped out sharp claws.
In just two or three seconds, the previously relatively normal internal guard had transformed into a monster lying on the ground with eight "legs", resembling both a spider silently spinning its web in the dark waiting for prey and a deformed black wolf, instilling intense fear.
At the same time, from within the broken, desolate altar, two enormous hands covered in black fur extended out without warning, pressing against the edge, and numerous greasy tentacles that seemed like condensed black smoke spread in all directions, instantly filling the entire great prayer hall.
The chilling aura, extreme fear, and illusory huge blurry figure were penetrating the invisible barrier, gradually emerging.