Black.
Dense, undiluted black.
As if it were the source of all corruption, the final destination of all destruction, it gathered upon that towering figure, making his armor heavy and cold, his greatsword sharp and deep as an abyss.
Silas gripped his greatsword and strode toward the dragon, step by step.
The potion knowledge that had been infused into his brain now merged together.
Silas felt both strange and familiar with the longsword in his hand, quickly mastering a multitude of sword techniques and forms.
His gaze passed through his helmet, eyes narrowing as he studied the dragon with its ash-white scales, calculating where to strike for maximum effect.
"ROAR..."
Seeming to sense the malice in Silas's gaze, the dragon released an enraged roar.
A terrible pressure, almost tangible, swirled around it. Yet the peculiar mask on its face added a sinister quality to that majesty.
Silas watched it with cold eyes.
He noticed that while the dragon appeared furious, its eyes remained strangely calm.
It was secretly creating illusory duplicates in the darkness.
These duplicates wore sinister expressions, using "psychological invisibility" techniques to conceal their forms as they scattered and vanished from sight.
Disappeared? No, that's not right.
Behind Silas's armor, the crimson glow in his eyes was quickly replaced by gold.
That golden light seemed capable of piercing into hearts, seeing the deepest thoughts hidden within everyone.
Before him, another peculiar world slowly unfolded.
In this blurred, hazy world, layers upon layers of light and shadow drifted and floated. Dense and overlapping, they combined to form an illusory sea.
High above this sea, the sky was filled with countless indescribable figures, wandering through seven streams of clear light in different colors. Within that light lay endless, infinite knowledge.
The Sea of Collective Subconscious and the Spiritual Sky!
In this illusory sea, each ray of light and shadow represented a mental imprint settled deep in people's consciousness.
Among them were memories of ancient ancestors, as well as the present fears of people, certain intense emotions, certain fanatical worships...
Many islands dotted the sea, and even Silas himself was floating above one such island.
This is my mental island...
The authority of the "Spectator" pathway took effect, and Silas quickly understood what he was seeing.
"ROAR..."
At the same time, in the real world, the dragon took flight, circling above Silas's head. Its massive body contained tremendous power.
A flap of its wings stirred up a storm targeting the mind; a breath from its maw spewed forth terrible dragon flames that shattered the spirit.
It dove down, viciously swinging its enormous claw toward Silas's body.
The momentum was fierce, like a steam train charging at full speed.
Silas's gaze turned icy. He dragged his longsword diagonally, then swept it upward, slashing at the dragon's claw.
But the dragon suddenly retracted its claw at the last instant, forcibly twisting its body in mid-air...
"BOOM!"
Silas's abdomen suffered a tremendous impact.
The dragon's tail, thick as a massive tree trunk, had already whipped brutally across his body.
The claw strike from Gluttony had been a feint; the tail sweep was the real killing blow!
A massive creature charging at high speed, gathering all its energy into a full-force strike with its tail, the destructive effect could be imagined.
Yet Gluttony only felt stiff, sluggish feedback from its tail.
"Crack..."
Silas staggered back several steps.
The pitch-black armor on his abdomen had completely shattered, revealing the bloodied flesh beneath.
Though damaged, it was far less than what the opponent had expected.
The "Black Knight's" armor could absorb massive amounts of damage, protecting the body at the cost of the armor's destruction!
"Very well."
Silas's wounds rapidly healed.
The pitch-black shadows surged up, repairing the broken armor.
Around his person, a powerful gale began to form, lifting his giant-like frame. He rose into the air, riding the wind to great heights.
You're not the only one who can fly!
The black knight commanded the sky.
Sword in hand, while the dragon was still pulling up from its dive and hadn't yet turned back to discover him, he accelerated with full force toward Gluttony's broad back.
"Whoosh, whoosh..."
Wind roared in his ears as Silas watched the dragon rapidly expand before his eyes.
When the latter sensed something wrong and began adjusting its posture, he had already closed in, swinging his broad black straight sword horizontally!
The dragon couldn't completely evade.
Its membrane-covered wing was easily plowed open with a black gash.
It cried out in pain, unable to control its rapid descent, crashing thunderously onto the stone-paved street.
The impact toppled the stalls on both sides of the road, and left a massive crater in the ground.
"Thud."
Silas landed not far from it, sword in hand, fully armored, approaching with heavy footfalls.
The dragon opened its vertical pupils, watching the black knight approaching, but suddenly a hint of mirth appeared in its eyes.
"Got you," it said.
At the same time, in the subconscious world, near Silas's mental island.
The gray, hazy sea suddenly parted on both sides, forming a passage.
Several sinister-looking men were rapidly approaching his island along this path.
From their appearance, they were clearly the duplicates Gluttony had just created.
They hadn't disappeared; they had entered the subconscious world, attempting to invade Silas's mental island!
Meanwhile, outside the battlefield, Anderson was desperately trying to escape.
"Such violent noise..."
The dragon's fall had even caused the ground to shake.
Mixed among a crowd of terrified islanders, he thought to himself, "Gascoigne should be able to handle that demigod, right?"
Just as he thought this, a ripple of spirituality suddenly formed ahead.
Without hesitation, Anderson stomped hard on the ground, forcibly halting his forward momentum and reversing direction.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Several wind blades formed in succession on the path ahead of him, carving deep grooves into the ground.
A man in a dark blue clerical robe stood waiting ahead, his expression stern.
Around him, new wind blades were forming.
"I say, Bishop, isn't this a bit much?"
Anderson recognized the man.
He was the bishop of the Storm Church on Toscarter Island, a Sequence 6 "Wind-blessed."
Not only him, but the surrounding bushes rustled, and more people emerged.
Among them were adventurers, "Mandated Punishers" from the Storm Church, and even soldiers carrying steam rifles!
"Anderson Hood, the strongest hunter of the Fog Sea, correct?"
The Storm Church bishop ignored him. Instead, a gentleman in Loen dress stepped out from the crowd, asking with a smile.
"And who might you be?"
"I'm an administrator under the Bayam Governor, responsible for managing civil affairs on Stocat Island. You may call me Carter."
The man's smile was impossibly wide.
"Who would have thought? That great criminal, the Blood Reverend, actually came to my territory and got involved with you.
Anderson Hood, you're now wanted. If you surrender now, we can go easy on you. How about it?"