Chapter 57: Chapter 55: The Gateway of Knowledge and Shadows

Byrne was utterly astonished and immediately understood why only the Deputy Sheriff on the island of Spirituality was almost a real person.

He was neither the lord of the city nor necessarily the hero who protected the most people, yet he became the emotional nexus of all departed souls.

It was clearly something that defied logic.

The ultimate reason turned out to be that he was the betrayer, something Byrne had never considered, and both Irene and Grandma Narda looked surprised as well.

“Heh, hehehe, hehe.”

The once silvery armor gradually turned into vines of the darkest black, and the smile on the clown mask writhed as if there were insects squirming beneath the dark iron, while a strange, laughter-like sound came from its throat.

Tethered Spirit.

A lower-tier being among the mysterious existences, often transformed from the dead, they retain their former strength and possess some undead-type Extraordinary traits on top of that.

Byrne suddenly realized the cause and effect and couldn’t help but reveal a cold smile, saying,

“It must be that the Empire initially promised you something but then failed to deliver, so you finally came to the painful and desperate realization that you were nothing but a profoundly pathetic clown!”

He drew his flintlock from his waist and pointed it coldly at the clown.

“You are the most despicable traitor, the most pitiful clown, who will forever have to atone for the Cyart people from two hundred years ago.”

Byrne had an extreme disdain for betrayers, especially those who betrayed their kin and friends, without a doubt, they were the scum of selfishness.

“Aargh!”

The clown, now turned into a “Tethered Spirit,” roared and lunged at him. Originally just a mid-level Beginning knight, the monster’s strength had suddenly risen to a high-level Beginning after its transformation, but it could no longer use its former power of Bloodline.

Grandma Narda had already scrambled to the side, mentally cheering the siblings on.

She muttered to herself, “Praise You, praise the great God, You, You, bless them to surely win!”

The Tethered Spirit clown moved swiftly, and due to the uncertain accuracy of the alchemical flintlock, Byrne could not ensure that his bullet would hit, so he didn’t shoot immediately.

He suddenly unsheathed his sword blade and grappled with the Tethered Spirit clown, displaying swordsmanship from his memories that was extremely skilled, managing to hit the Tethered Spirit clown several perilous times, although he also received a few scratches himself.

Its claws were incredibly sharp and carried a woeful green gloom. Byrne quickly felt dizzy and almost couldn’t withstand the spiritual assault.

Conscious entities in the Spirit Realm are not the same as real flesh and blood in the physical world; all injuries suffered ultimately manifest on a mental level.

And the stronger the spirituality, the more damage the consciousness can sustain, undoubtedly, Consecution Extraordinary Exponents with the Power of Consecution had an advantage in the Spirit Realm.

Irene, holding another alchemical flintlock, delayed in firing because the struggle between the two was too close, and it was very easy to accidentally hurt someone.

Relying on the effects of “Profound Memory” to strengthen his training, Byrne’s swordsmanship was already considered top-notch among mortals.

Even as a Consecution Extraordinary Exponent not specialized in melee combat, his physical condition was still much stronger than an average human’s.

However, Byrne had very little actual combat experience, and his fighting experience was still too meager, at least compared to the original Lucius.

The Tethered Spirit clown charged at him time and again like a wild beast that had completely lost its sanity, and Byrne, now cornered, suddenly remembered that he had once fought a similar creature.

It was like a vicious, wounded monkey, attacking in an almost frenzied manner, its claws hugely intimidating.

He recalled how his father had fought and looked at the places on his body where he was wounded, and suddenly it became clear.

As the Tethered Spirit clown suddenly approached, Byrne instinctively wanted to attack but quickly retreated.

Not yet, not now — he couldn’t launch an attack yet; the distance wasn’t enough, the cuts would not be deep enough.

His father had told him that the real master in a battle was someone who learned to control the distance and timing.

Distance, timing, distance, timing…

“Aargh!”

The Tethered Spirit clown roared, lifting its head and leaping towards Byrne. Once off the ground, its body became difficult to dodge.

Now is the time! Accelerate!

Blue light flickered in Byrne’s eyes, and he turned into an afterimage, sprinting forward at an even greater speed in a blink of an eye!

He charged forward, executing a straightforward thrust, just like Lucius used to do!

“Pugh!”

The Tethered Spirit clown, leaping towards him, was immediately pierced through the abdomen by the sword blade. It wailed in pain while Byrne lifted its body with his powerful strength.

Not far away, Irene also silently prayed to the great Lord of the Lost.

“Great Lord of the Lost, please grant me the power to bring destruction to those who have perished!”

Black light, mixed with the aura of destruction, twisted around the bullet. Irene took a deep breath and felt an odd sensation as if guided by a deity.

It must hit its mark, for He had already determined its fate.

“Bang!”

The bullet within the black glow instantly streaked a line of destruction towards the soul that had already passed, landing a Heavy Strike on the head of the Tethered Spirit clown.

How grand You are!

Irene revealed a satisfied smile, feeling as if her deepest faith had been filled.

The wails halted abruptly as Byrne, exhausted, lowered the Tethered Spirit clown. This lowest of mystical beings faded into faint blue spiritual light spots, returning to the enigmatic Spirit Realm.

“It really is an experience outrageous enough, the Spirit Realm is indeed too bizarre.”

Byrne sighed, feeling a sense of excitement lurking deep within. He felt his practical combat experience had grown significantly.

The strength of Extraordinary power is decisive in battle.

But practical experience plays a huge role in battles of equal level, quite naturally.

Irene looked towards the dissipating spirituality and silently wished to sacrifice them to the great Lord of the Lost, but nothing happened.

Feeling a bit regretful, she calmly said

“We are now on the very edge of the Spirit Realm, the fourth ring. There are a total of four rings in the Spirit Realm, and the closer we get to the islands of Spirituality towards the center, the truer and more substantial the history rifts they project.”

“It’s said that if people suddenly enter the core first ring, they might never be able to discern the difference between there and the real world.”

Grandma Narda suddenly pointed to the sky and cried out.

“What is that, what is that!”

Irene and Byrne quickly looked up, and two distinctly different massive vortexes materialized midair.

The purple vortex was dense and full, with its color extending outward from the core, gently transitioning to a soft, bright purple, as if it were emitting a faint glow.

As it continued to rotate and twist, it created a marvelous and captivating play of light and shadow, as if an endless amount of secrets were hidden inside.

The other vortex was pitch black.

It seemed to be a converging point of darkness, absorbing all the light nearby, thick and opaque, spinning rapidly and irregularly, ready to spiral out of control at any moment.

The swirls of black were like a painting of darkness, twisting, entangling, and deforming, leading one to think of enigmatic hidden powers.

They were the gateways of spirituality.

Irene took a deep breath, having finally reached their destination, yet her heart was not at peace:

“They are the ‘Gate of Knowledge’ and the ‘Gate of Shadow’. Once you choose one, the other will disappear, so we can only enter one of them.”

She was quite thrilled inside because, having found the Gate of Shadow, the Fischer family could keep generating new, controlled Extraordinary Exponents.

“The Gate of Knowledge?”

A strong curiosity surged within Byrne, as the Gate of Knowledge held a great attraction for him.

The things behind the gate felt as significant as the most precious treasures or the closest family members, and he could hardly resist the urge to make contact sooner.

“Irene, what’s behind the Gate of Knowledge?”

He gazed at the purple vortex, subconsciously taking a half-step forward, almost unable to shift his gaze away.

“Forbidden knowledge, perhaps even certain Extraordinary knowledge that does not exist in our world, may not necessarily be of use, but coming to understand them almost always requires a permanent price.”

Irene, sensing something was wrong with Byrne, immediately stepped forward, resting her hand on his shoulder and warned:

“Don’t be tempted by the knowledge, we’re here to do what we have to. Let’s go through the Gate of Shadow quickly and give Grandma Narda that potion!”

Byrne suddenly snapped back to reality, nodded, and took a deep breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

The Forbidden knowledge behind the vortex seemed alive, just now tempting him!