The mont he saw the painting, even Annan heard a "buzz" in his mind.
——Such dazzling light.
It was no longer just a painting.
It bore no resemblance to Annan’s appearance, but rather to the "self with many heads" that Annan first saw in the "magic mirror"—
But that was not a physical image.
There were no bull heads or lion heads.
...If one had to describe it, it would be like a figure in the daylit crack of "neither dusk, nor noon, nor dawn," a twilight semblance.
It was sothing like a human, but definitely not a human.
Around Its supposed head were the condensed Elental Powers of "Wisdom," "Understanding," "Victory," and "Glory"—four kinds of Radiance.
These four radiances ford a four-pointed starburst—— from any angle, one could see a sacred halo. And as for the humanoid form... it was more like a trailing afterglow of light.
Just like in a neon-lit city on a rainy night, the reflection elongated in puddles.
He looked like a projection cast by a blazing sun, and like a huge four-faced obelisk... but at first glance, one would definitely think it was a faceless divine human figure projected between the sky and the earth, with only the upper half of its torso visible...
If Annan had not advanced to Gold-rank, obtaining full control of the Radiant Elent, the infinite glow contained in this painting alone would have been enough to instantly overwhelm his spirit and intellect.
It was precisely because Annan wielded the Elental Power that the painting did not harm him—instead, it could beco Annan’s best nourishnt.
Annan even felt...
At the sight of the painting, the elents inside him were instantly activated.
If he carried this painting with him, Annan might be able to transform into the "Chariot Mode" without any consumption—and even an eight-fold larger giant of light enhanced by Curse Binding.
And just at the first sight of the painting, Annan gained new power——
Nurous pure white points of light surged out from the painting and flew into Annan’s eyes.
Annan’s pupils, originally like a ragdoll cat’s ice-blue, instantly beca clearer and more transparent, as if they were made of glass.
And amidst the vagueness, Annan saw a certain illusion.
——He felt himself falling towards the Moon from above.
Not like a skydiver... falling from the sky with whistling winds, facing the tough air that blinds the eyes.
But like sinking towards the deep sea... and yet the Moon is clearly above his head.
...Annan "fell upwards" in this peculiar way.
Countless overlapping voices chanted in an ancient language that Annan had never learned:
[——Creator, open The Gate of Gaze and Shaping!]
In an instant, Annan felt a "void."
Just like falling off a cliff in a dream.
But he did not suddenly wake up, and instead the whole world in his eyes stripped away "form," leaving only information.
Just like an ongoing ga being reduced to models and code... That was the "prototype" of all things before they took shape.
The voice then chanted again:
[——Eternal One, open the Gate of Good and Permanence!]
In that instant, Annan’s body felt lighter again.
Even the "models and codes" disappeared... The endless ends of information were purified into streams of light.
Countless "lights" intertwining revealed the essence of information—this is the "ultimate reason" for "why the information exists."
But Annan had not yet stopped.
[——The Fallen, open The Gate of The Worm and Cicada!]
This ti, however, Annan heard nothing unusual.
Annan’s "footsteps" suddenly halted.
That "Moon" was extraordinarily close to him.
Just within reach.
And at this mont, Annan realized... it was not the moon at all, but a door, a mirror.
Annan felt as if he floated to the highest point and as if he had sunk to the deepest part of the sea. He reached forward and instinctively touched the door.
And on the other side, a figure identical to Annan was reflected.
Only, the mirror image had black hair that reached his waist, and dim yellow eyes.
Facing Annan’s mirror image was—his right shoulder also bore the Infinite Mark.
But that mark was a vibrant green, resembling an animated Ouroboros.
"Finally, I’ve found you."
A voice identical to Annan’s, filled with pleasure, echoed in Annan’s heart: "Lend your Wisdom and body... Chariot."
That instant, Annan’s Winter Heart seed to malfunction.
Long-lost fear, anger, despair... rushed in hysterically, like a tsunami suddenly rising and crashing upon the city.
These emotions were so intense, so vivid.
To the point that... they seed not to belong to Annan himself.
But the very next mont, system notifications went off like an alarm, striking intensely.
[You have completed a ritual, your Will attribute 1]
[You have gazed upon a Holy Object, your Corrosion level has reset to zero]
[Your level has increased due to the intervention of "Wisdom"]
[Your level has increased due to the intervention of "Understanding"]
[Your level has increased due to the intervention of "Victory"]
[Your level has increased due to the intervention of "Glory"]
[You have obtained a new mark "Echo of Genesis: Chariot and The Worm"]
[If not removed promptly, you will fall into a random nightmare with the keyword "The Worm" after seven days (Difficulty: Otherworld).]
And then Annan suddenly awoke.
He realized that he had only glanced at that painting.
Those mories instantly turned pale, fragile—as if upon waking from a dream, where the details were nearly forgotten. And the intense emotions that were not his own thinned and disappeared in a mont.
Only then did Annan realize that the painting had increased his level by four!
Not only that, but he even obtained a new ability—within the Enhancent Mastery series, "Group Radiance Shield." This moved him a step closer to inheriting all of Sisyphus’s powers.
—Radiant Sovereign LV35 [Hindrance Mastery LV2 (Frost Aura, Shocking Aura, Frost Domain)], [Enhancent Mastery LV3 (Radiance Form, Group Radiance Weapon, Group Radiance Shield)], [Healing Mastery LV2 (Healing Aura, Holy Domain)]
Yet Annan was only left feeling intense confusion.
"What did I just see...?"
The mory faded, Annan only rembered that the "himself" in the painting was sentient. And... after passing through the triple gates, he felt like he saw sothing.
Paper Princess was obviously surprised as well.
Before putting down the last stroke, she herself did not know what she would end up painting.
However, as a Painting Spirit, Paper Princess was not affected by the power harbored within the painting.
But she realized that she probably had caused trouble.
She could only try her hardest to recall, as one would when trying to analyze the original author’s intention in a reading comprehension assignnt: "I just felt like, deep within your soul, there exists both Twilight and Dawn lights, yet you’ve only displayed Dawn. So I thought of integrating the side of you that had never been shown into the painting..."
"—That is The Worm."
Yawen, who also witnessed the painting but experienced no illusions, stated tersely and without hesitation reached out to touch the painting.
"Destroy it."
He said.
Just like that, the spiritual energy within the painting dissipated.
It was thoroughly obliterated in this fashion.
But at this mont, neither Annan nor Paper Princess had the emotional capacity to grieve for the painting...
"...The Worm?"
"That’s right."
Yawen heaved a sigh, feeling a mix of hindsight worry and relief: "It’s my mistake... I shouldn’t have let you draw a portrait of Annan. But fortunately, the outco is favorable... Never do this again. This ti, it’s on ."
He looked at Paper Princess and then at Annan, his expression subtly complex: "It’s like every na, granting The Worm new power...
"This painting also caused a future Worm to resonate with Annan at this mont. The Reflection in the mirror finally rembered its own form—allowing The Worm to gain a material body... a body that is a complete mirror of Annan at this mont. It also grants him powers of equal intensity but opposite nature to Annan at this stage, as well as the sa Will and Wisdom as Annan.
"But all in all... this is still a stroke of great fortune."
Annan understood what Yawen ant.
Because this implied... The Worm, formless and intangible until now—from today on—has a tangible entity that can be killed.
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