Lucian's state was akin to being half-asleep, half-awake — everything around him seemed to drift in and out, while sounds arrived muffled and distant, as though they had passed through countless worlds before reaching his ears.
So when Alvin's aged, agonized voice — more tormented than usual — reached Lucian's ears, it took a full several seconds before it formed any impression in his mind.
"The Crown of the Sun?"
"The Eye of God Alvin knows the Crown of the Sun?"
"And reacting so abnormally, so strangely!"
Inside Lucian's sluggish mind, it was as though countless emotion-altering spells detonated at once. A tremor that originated from the deepest recesses of his soul spread outward in an instant, briefly restoring his lucidity. With a weak voice that trembled in disbelief, he asked:
"M-Masterson... sir?"
"Ah!" The moment he heard the name Masterson, the "Eye of God" Alvin clutched his head and let out a piercing howl, as though his agony had reached its absolute peak. The pale green breezes and searing sunlight swirling around his body transformed into a sky full of wind blades and light arrows that swept through the entire hall.
Lucian's brief moment of clarity was suppressed once more by Wind's Slumber. Deep inside, he seemed to grasp something, yet his thoughts refused to turn. At that moment, the wind blades and light arrows struck him without exception — some piercing through the Grand Archanist's Robe's defenses and wounding his body.
Wound after wound split open, yet no blood flowed — it was either vaporized or blown dry. The searing pain helped Lucian suppress Wind's Slumber and Heaven's Light once more, and he prepared to ram open the dark doors behind him, seizing whatever slim hope of survival remained.
The "Eye of God" Alvin's current state was clearly not conducive to conversation.
This Heaven's Light was a quasi-divine level of suppression. Although it no longer had any sustaining power and much of it had already been dispelled by the earlier spells, in Lucian's current state of being under Wind's Slumber's influence, there was simply no hope of truly purging its residual effects. So the moment he crashed through the doors behind him, his spiritual power turned sluggish once more, and his soul along with it grew dull.
The crack of Lucian bursting through the dark doors reached Alvin's ears. His agonized thrashing stopped as abruptly as a frantic alarm clock being switched off, and every wind blade and light arrow in the gray hall vanished into nothing.
Slowly raising his head, Alvin's expression remained twisted, his eyes — deep as a starry sky — utterly vacant. Two lines of golden tears, glowing with a faint sacred light, slid from the corners of his eyes as he murmured to himself: "Don't come near me! Don't come near me!"
"What does that mean?" Lucian thought sluggishly.
Alvin seemed to be struggling to regain control, and said nothing more. Behind him, six sacred wings beat gently, and a milky-white holy light descended upon Lucian like a mother's caress — warm and serene.
The drowsiness vanished without a trace, and Lucian felt as refreshed as if he had just completed a Meditation. The "Angel of Wind" Alvin had dismissed the Divine Art effect of Wind's Slumber!
Without its support, Lucian swiftly suppressed Heaven's Light. Although he still couldn't alleviate its lingering effects, he had at least returned to the state he'd been in before fighting "Alvin" — capable of casting Legendary spells and transforming into an epic knight to wield the Sword of Truth.
In the span of a single minute, Lucian had passed through hope, struggle, and finally the dawn of relief — as though he'd circled the very edge of death. His body and mind were utterly exhausted, yet he'd gained a great deal.
"Alvin is very likely Masterson, sir — but from the looks of it, someone forcibly refined him into a Seraph while alive, erasing his surface consciousness and memories, forging an entirely new personality, and imposing numerous curses and restrictions. That's why he's so conflicted, so torn, and so agonized when his subconscious awareness resurfaces!"
With his mind restored to clarity, the Grand Archanist's intellectual faculties returned as well, and Lucian began analyzing Alvin's — or rather, Masterson's — condition.
Just thinking of what he might have endured sent a chill down Lucian's spine. If he himself were ever caught by those "monsters," the consequences were all too imaginable. That was a fate worse than death — what could be more cruel than having your very self erased while your body kept living on like a walking corpse?
Unlike Masterson, who had foreseen through the Mirror of Destiny that such a fate awaited him — which was why he left the Crown of the Sun behind, hoping to awaken the deepest layer of consciousness rooted in his soul — if Lucian were to end up like him, there might be no recovery ever again.
"It seems the overall structure of the Crown of the Sun holds very significant memorial value for Masterson, linked to certain events — which is why the moment he sensed it, his deepest consciousness immediately resurfaced." After becoming a Legendary mage, Lucian had meticulously examined the Crown of the Sun, and given his depth of knowledge at the time, he was certain — absolutely certain — that the Crown of the Sun harbored nothing else hidden within it. This led him to his conclusion: it was like a hypnotic trigger, where the subject would break free from the hypnotic state the moment they laid eyes on it. "It seems that when he was being refined into a Seraph, Masterson took every opportunity to plant subconscious suggestions in himself."
"'Don't come near me' probably means exactly what it says — if a stranger gets too close, it'll trigger the body's defensive instincts, allowing the 'Alvin' personality to take over and completely suppress 'Masterson,' putting me back in danger." Lucian analyzed the chain of events and decided that his words couldn't be too provocative toward "Alvin." After weighing his tone, he said: "I found the Crown of the Sun and your message in the Great Cross Star Labyrinth. Having become a Legendary mage, I've come as I promised."
Alvin's eyes remained empty and devoid of any light, yet the corners of his mouth curved ever so slightly — a smile more terrible than tears. "At last... the day has come. The faithless one who walks between light and darkness."