"Your will is not strong enough... and your mind is not calm enough."

"Let me hold onto this dangerous object for you."

Suddenly, countless dark entities emerged, clinging to the floor and walls, closely following behind Merka.

They burrowed into Merka's sleeves, pierced his pores, and converged between his organs to form a black grotesque insect with a terrifying mouth, tearing a large hole in Merka's chest and puncturing through his black robe, pushing out the backdrop he held in his arms.

"Cough, cough!"

Merka grimaced in pain, blood blossoming from his eyes, and a searing pain akin to a branding iron piercing his chest.

Seeing the backdrop flying out of his arms, Merka's heart sank as he reached out to grab it.

But the shining silver sphere brushed past his fingertips and landed thirty meters away from him, rolling incessantly towards the depths of the botanical garden.

"The hand of the wizard!"

Merka shouted sternly as a blue harpy, resembling a flying bird, perched on his fingertip, screeching as it flew out desperately, claws outstretched to capture the fallen backdrop.

However, in that brief pause, the darkness trailing behind Merka had already engulfed the entire corridor and hall outside the botanical garden.

A tentacle, like a sudden alligator emerging from a swamp, sprung from the darkness, hooking onto and piercing through Merka's ankle, causing him to stumble.

Clad in a white shirt and black suit, a tall, slender shadow adjusted the bowtie around his neck and swayed its twisted, mismatched limbs gracefully out of the darkness, slowly approaching Merka.

Leaning on a cane and supported by the slowly moving tentacles resembling wheels behind him, the figure struggled to maintain balance due to his disproportionate body.

With his arrival, an eerie elegance permeated the air, as if he were not a nightmarish figure causing terror and chaos, but a cultured gentleman of intellect.

"You are afflicted, Merka."

"Your abilities fall far short of your knowledge, hence why you are tormented by pain."

"In short, your ambitions exceed your abilities."

"Embrace your fated demise with a calm heart."

"You must now pay the price for your wildly growing hopes."

The words of the owl god drew Merka's gaze backwards, his eyes widening as if, in that moment, he regained the power to see the light.

But instead of light arriving as expected with Merka's vision restored, it shattered and faded away within the owl god's gradually blurred contours and increasingly horrific illusions.

The tapping of the cane sounded like a sinister melody, forcefully invading Merka's mind.

In the owl's plain narrative of shadows, Merka seemed to witness his own death.

In that moment, he truly felt unwell.

He saw his once handsome face rapidly decay into ash, red spots akin to corpse-like markings appearing, his closed upper lip twisting to reveal teeth, his lower jaw accompanying a clear spasm, causing his mouth to gape open, lengthening his swollen, blackened tongue.

The gruesome image of his demise portrayed more horror than death itself, shrieking under the unbearable agony of excruciating disease.

"Come, child."

"You are no longer capable of withstanding more dreadful illusions."

"With your body decaying, it's time for eternal rest."

The owl god spoke, reaching out with a tentacle to pull Merka closer.

But to its surprise, Merka, eyes blazing, clenched his teeth and swung to sever his captured right leg.

"Hmph... futile."

"Power Angel!!"

Several tentacles, as strong as a thousand pounds, surged from behind the owl god towards Merka, only to be blocked by the sudden appearance of the Power Angel before him.

Both sides engaged in a rapid clash, the muscular fists of the Power Angel and the whipping tentacles colliding in midair, the heart-stopping sound of the clash echoing, halting the owl god's assault.

In that moment, Merka swiftly crawled several meters forward. Finally, the bird flying with the backdrop came back and landed in his hands.

Reciting a spell in his mind, Merka commanded the backdrop, forcing his brain to ignore the owl god nearby.

Instantly, the terrifying darkness and the owl god faded away together, the wounds on Merka's body vanishing as if they had never existed.