"Your Majesty, I hope to obtain a Beyonder item from the Spectator pathway."
Silas spoke.
"Are you trying to treat your mental condition?"
The Queen asked directly.
She was even more perceptive than Silas had imagined, immediately seeing through his thoughts.
"..."
His intentions exposed so quickly, Silas didn't know how to respond.
"No need to worry. For your pathway, mental instability is normal."
The Queen let out a light laugh.
"After all, there's an evil god overhead, constantly influencing all of you.
Rest assured, I do have a corresponding Beyonder item here that can meet your requirements.
Normal people on the Secrets Suppliant pathway are extremely rare, so I'm willing to provide a little help."
With that, an invisible servant near her floated up and went to the back. Soon, it returned carrying a box.
Opening the box revealed a mirror set in a golden frame. The surface of the frame was patterned like scales, layer upon layer, gleaming with light.
"The Hypnotist's Mirror. J
ust stroke the mirror's surface and a vertical-pupiled eye will appear inside. This eye can hypnotize and suggest.
For you, you just need to tell it to treat your mental condition."
"The side effect of this item is that it can't be used too frequently. Otherwise, the mirror will gradually control you, making you its slave."
The owner of the black boots said.
The legs beneath the cake dress lifted and crossed, switching which leg was on bottom.
"I don't know the extent of the harm to your psyche, so I can't confirm whether this mirror can provide a complete cure. But this is already the best option within 3,500 pounds."
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty."
Silas took the mirror.
After using his spiritual intuition to confirm there were no problems with it, he put it away, placing it in the box and sealing it with a wall of spirituality, planning to take it back and try it out.
His request was satisfied, but on the other side, Sophia still hadn't returned. The two of them stood there in a standoff, the atmosphere somewhat awkward.
Fortunately, at this moment, the Queen on the throne spoke again.
"Actually, I have another Beyonder item here that's extremely suitable for you."
"It comes from a 'Demoness of Affliction' who died in a strange incident... That is, a Beyonder corresponding to Sequence 5."
Silas froze.
A Sequence 6 Beyonder characteristic already cost 3,000 pounds.
At Sequence 5, abilities generally made a leap forward, and the corresponding price would surely skyrocket. With only 3,500 pounds, he probably couldn't afford it, right?
But since she had already brought it up, he might as well listen.
"Its name is 'Agony,' and it's a dagger.
It has two main abilities. The first is a Disease Aura that can create various pathogens around the holder's body, effective within a forty-meter range.
The holder can control the direction of pathogen spread while being immune to disease.
Targets infected by the pathogens will show mild symptoms within ten seconds, become seriously ill within one minute, and completely lose their ability to resist within two to three minutes."
"The second ability is called the Charm Aura. Also within a forty-meter range, enemies will be involuntarily attracted to you, reluctant to harm you, and more easily persuaded by your words.
Again, the longer the duration, the more effective it becomes, but the specific effect depends on the target's personal preferences and your appearance level."
Very powerful. Truly worthy of a Sequence 5 Beyonder item.
Silas thought.
He remembered that the Red Rose Ring Ma'am M possessed could bring disease to people, possibly because she had shepherded a Demoness of Affliction.
But at the time, that ability was suppressed by a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact and hadn't shown much power.
Not only that, but his own face, not to brag, was actually quite decent. That Charm Aura should be able to work.
At this point, he noticed the Queen wasn't finished speaking.
"Besides that, it has an extremely powerful special use called the Curse of Agony."
"The target needs to be within a forty-meter range, and the holder must coat the dagger's surface with their own blood.
After that, the holder will form an extremely strong connection with everyone within that range..."
"What kind of connection?"
Silas frowned and asked.
"The connection is this: when the holder uses the dagger to harm themselves, that pain will simultaneously feedback to everyone within the aura, as if they too had been injured."
The Queen spoke these shocking words in a soft voice.
"A pure 'Demoness of Affliction' characteristic alone couldn't achieve this level. I suspect it's also mixed with partial abilities from some other characteristics."
The Queen analyzed.
Silas felt increasingly uneasy as he listened.
Wasn't this encouraging self-harm?
"...If in that situation, one were to directly pierce their own heart?"
He asked tentatively.
"Everyone within the aura would feel intense pain equivalent to having their heart pierced... It could potentially cause cardiac arrest and death."
The Queen answered indifferently.
Silas fell silent.
An extremely, extremely suitable Beyonder item for himself.
Not even mentioning the first two already very useful auras, just the last Curse of Agony alone, being able to unconditionally attack everyone, was attractive enough.
Especially since Silas's own body possessed powerful healing abilities. General self-inflicted injuries didn't affect him much.
"What about its negative effects?"
"The negative effect is that the holder will accumulate pain daily.
They will constantly feel pain equivalent to a small knife cutting through skin and flesh, and must wound themselves with it once every day."
"Additionally, the holder's charm will cause fanaticism in those around them.
The longer they spend together, the more dangerous it becomes, eventually causing people to develop extreme, crazed thoughts of possessing you.
Only by removing it periodically can this be alleviated, but the accumulated goodwill won't easily disappear."
"Furthermore, the holder's personality will also be affected, becoming increasingly cold as the moon waxes full.
On the night of the full moon, they'll develop a strong craving for human blood, which also requires removal to alleviate."
"Special attention must be paid: when encountering a blood moon, you absolutely cannot use it.
Its previous owner's death was most likely due to using it under a blood moon and suffering an unknown terrible curse."
The Queen slowly finished her explanation. It should be mentioned that a blood moon is a special astronomical phenomenon, referring to when the crimson moon suddenly turns blood red.
Basically, this phenomenon has no pattern.
In mysticism, some believe that under a blood moon the mystical level is higher, making various rituals more likely to succeed.
Seems not unbearable.
Silas thought.
For ordinary Beyonders, this might be a very painful, very dangerous item with terrible side effects.
But for Silas, it wasn't like that at all.
A small knife cutting through skin and flesh? He'd gotten used to that long ago when conducting various rituals. Wounding himself was similarly trivial.
As for the charm and personality effects, the former could be avoided by changing his appearance, the latter could be solved by paying more attention normally.
At worst, he just wouldn't use it when the moon was nearly full.
The only problem was...
"Your Majesty, at what price do you plan to sell it?"
Please just name a price so I can give up on it.
"Sequence 5 main materials are worth at least 8,000 pounds or more. For corresponding Beyonder items, it's even more expensive. 10,000 pounds is the norm."
Ten thousand pounds?
Silas was immediately at a loss for words.
Good grief, he only had a few hundred pounds on him.
Even selling the manuscript would only get him 3,500 pounds. A Sequence 5 Beyonder item actually cost 10,000 pounds! Of course, it was truly worth that price.
"I can't produce that much money."
Silas said frankly.
Although he didn't know why the Queen would take out such an item to tempt him, although this item was extremely suitable for a Shepherd, especially Silas, whose recovery power was even stronger than a typical Shepherd's.
"Seeing as you've helped me, this Beyonder item can be discounted to 8,000 pounds."
The Queen said.
That's still too expensive.
Silas thought, smiling and shaking his head.
"Or, I have a commission here. If you can help resolve it, I can give it to you directly."
The Queen's tone shifted, suddenly saying this.
Here it comes!
I knew it! She wouldn't simply throw out something I can't afford. It must be for something. She's deliberately using it as bait!
Silas's heart stirred with excitement, but he maintained his composure on the surface, asking in an even tone, "I wonder what you would like me to do?"
"I came to Bakerland to prevent a disaster that's about to occur here. I currently can't determine where the source of this disaster is or who the instigator is."
"The only lead I've found so far is that this disaster may be related to a human trafficking case..."
The Queen said.
Hmm?
Upon hearing "human trafficking case," Silas couldn't help but narrow his pupils.