Kowtow to Him!

"Meooowwwwww!" Purr crouched low on its front paws, hind legs tensed, body held rigid, every hair on end! Count Rekar leaned back slightly, eyeing Purr before him. "Are you cheering me on, urging me to put everything I have into killing him? Yet somehow... that doesn't quite feel like it?" "You cannot kill him!" Purr said resolutely. "He's the one I chose!" Count Rekar's jaw dropped. He stared at the cat and asked, "He's the man you chose?" "..." Purr went silent. "Are you willingly cooperating in his experiments? Have you completely lost your mind over some romantic delusion? Like those blithering fools who would betray and abandon their own family for some ridiculous notion of love?" "Are you out of your mind?!" Purr shrieked. "Tonight, Gloria IX intended to use that seed, nourished by the blood of our Allen family! We were backed into a corner with nowhere left to turn, which is why he went to awaken you—so you could deal with the trouble that Queen posed!" "Heheheh..." Count Rekar began to chuckle. Pointing a finger at his own face, he asked, "Do you take me for an idiot?" "..." Purr stared. "A figure within the Church of Order capable of awakening me—someone on par with an Archbishop of the Wien region—couldn't handle a single Queen of Wien? He wouldn't even need to lift a finger! A word sent through an envoy would have the entire Gloria family on their knees before him, begging for mercy! And he specifically needed to awaken me to solve this? Hahahahaha..." "The one who awakened you is only a God's Servant." "Uh..." Count Rekar blinked. "In the Kingdom of Ruilan, there's a city called Rojia, and in it resides a family named Inmerlais. Because of certain past events, I broke away from the family and lived in the Inmerlais household for a hundred years. I watched his grandfather grow up from a young boy." "His... grandfather?" Count Rekar asked, puzzled. "My time is running short, and you're starting the tale all the way from his grandfather?" "Because when speaking of him, one must begin with his grandfather; there is simply no bypassing him. His grandfather is named Diss, an Inquisitor of the Church of Order." "Hah..." Count Rekar snorted in open dissatisfaction at the beginning of this tale. "In his youth, he condensed a godhead fragment." Rekar's eyes widened, and the blue glow deep within his eye sockets expanded, burning like a pair of blue lanterns embedded in bone. "Has the Church of Order become so terrifying that even an Inquisitor can condense a godhead fragment?" "No. It's because he only wished to remain an Inquisitor; being an Inquisitor was merely one of his identities." "Oh, so that's it... His grandfather was a Temple Elder of the Church of Order?" Rekar nodded. "With a Temple Elder for a grandfather, cultivating someone at the level of an Archbishop of the Wien region would indeed make sense." Evidently, in Count Rekar's mind, he still believed Karen was an Archbishop-caliber figure of the Wien region. "Then, during his middle age, Diss condensed another godhead fragment." "Cough, cough, cough..." Count Rekar began coughing violently. His body had long since lost the physical function to cough, given that his heart and lungs were completely still, but it was an instinctive habit ingrained in his memory. With a retch, he coughed up a puddle of black fluid. Looking at the dark puddle, he couldn't even recall what his final meal had been before death. "And then, in his old age, Diss condensed yet another godhead fragment." Count Rekar stared intently at Purr. "Are you certain you aren't spinning me a yarn? The kind meant for a divine myth overview?" "It is fact. Diss condensed three godhead fragments in total. He was unwilling to enter the Temple of Order, and he even fought the elders of the Temple of Order over it." "Fought them?" "He had his youthful self carry a godhead fragment into the dimensional space where the Temple of Order resides and detonate it directly, intimidating the Temple. Then he had his middle-aged self use the Church of Order's teleportation arrays, conducting rapid multiple transfers to reach the territory of York City, where he helped our Allen family slay our arch-nemesis, the patriarch of the Raphael family." "The Raphael family?" The blue glow in Rekar's eye sockets began to swirl. "I only recall that back when I commanded my fleet, there was a brazen, shameless fellow named Raphael whose job was arranging shore whores for the crew." "That would be him. His family had always been vassals to the Allen family, but as they grew in strength, they turned on us. They began devouring the Allen family from within, wresting away seventy percent of our businesses and gravely threatening our family's survival." Count Rekar spread his hands, nearly growling, "That Raphael fellow's family nearly swallowed my Allen family whole? No, wait... wait! There's more! In your account, that Diss—the Diss who condensed three godhead fragments—used an avatar, an avatar bearing a godhead fragment, which effectively made it a Temple Elder! And this Temple Elder deliberately used the Church of Order's teleportation arrays to come all the way to Wien, just to kill a Raphael?!" Clearly, compared to the Allen family's decline, the latter choice struck Rekar as far more preposterous! "Yes," Purr nodded. "Which idiot made that decision?" Rekar demanded. "Him." Purr extended a paw, pointing toward Old Anderson, who had long since fainted onto the floor. This former patriarch, currently the highest-ranking elder of the Allen family, had remained unconscious here the entire time—and completely ignored. "He ought to be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks," Rekar said. "No, throwing him into the sea would defile the ocean I hold so dear!" Purr nodded in agreement. "When I learned that on the purple bookmark... You know about the purple bookmark, right?" "An official dispatch only a Temple Elder of the Church of Order has the authority to issue, representing the will of the Church of Order, derived from the Light of Order in the mythic overviews of the Church of Order." "They wrote Raphael's name upon that bookmark." *Smack!* Rekar slapped his own face. "So what you're saying is that the family wasn't kept as livestock—they turned into a nest of idiots all on their own without anyone needing to farm them?" "Precisely." "I suddenly feel that being kept as livestock would be preferable," Rekar said. "At least if they were kept as livestock, they wouldn't have gone out to make fools of themselves." "Uh... we don't need to debate that. Let me finish; your time is short." "Mm." "The youthful Diss detonated himself within the space of the Temple of Order, cowing the Church of Order into submission. The middle-aged Diss fulfilled the bookmark agreement with our Allen family, slew Raphael, and presented his godhead fragment to the Temple of Order as a gift. The elderly Diss—the Diss of the present day—after parting with two godhead fragments in succession, chose to return home and sink into slumber, warning the Temple of Order never to cast covetous eyes on the Inmerlais family again. Once his lifespan reaches its limit, that final godhead fragment will likewise be handed over to the Church of Order." "I can understand him," Rekar said. "Only after living through a brilliant life does one come to realize that home is the ultimate haven. I had that very same feeling before I died." "Oh, and before that, Diss performed a blood sacrifice, extracting all the spirituality from the Inmerlais descendants—except for Karen, the one who summoned you from your grave." "Which means he is the sole bloodline heir of that family?" Rekar swiftly seized upon the crux of the matter. "The sole bloodline heir of a family capable of producing Diss!" "Furthermore, he is a soul that descended through an ultra-standard god descent ritual." "An ultra-standard god descent ritual?" "Did you see that dog?" "The dog?" Rekar nodded. "When I first climbed out of the grave, I saw it. That dog is extraordinary." "The evil god summoned by the ultra-standard god descent ritual is sealed within that dog's body." "An evil god is sealed inside that dog?" Count Rekar was somewhat dazed. "Then what about him?" "He shoved the evil god aside, took over Karen's body, and became the new Karen—as well as the chosen heir recognized by Diss." "He shoved aside... an evil god?" "Yes. That's why the evil god now has no choice but to be a dog." "Heh... I no longer think this is a made-up story, because no one would dare invent a tale so absurd." "On top of that, before Karen underwent purification—when he was still just an ordinary mortal—he was already able to employ 'Awakening,' an art restricted to Inquisitor-level figures of the Church of Order. When he mentioned meeting you previously, he hadn't yet been purified; he was still an ordinary human." "This..." Rekar recalled his initial meeting with Karen, suddenly noticing a few anomalies. Back then, the look the boy had given him carried emotions that certainly didn't belong to an Archbishop. It was only later that the boy became entirely composed. So the initial reaction was genuine, and everything after that was a facade? "Diss sank into slumber, wishing for his family to detach from the church and live ordinary lives in the future. But Karen wished to see the true splendors of this world, so Diss paved the way for him. The Allen family was his very first stop after leaving home." Purr tilted its head, glancing once more at Old Anderson unconscious on the floor. "You can call him an idiot, yet he managed to pull off a surprise. On the first day I accompanied Karen to Allen Manor, he arranged for Karen to sit at the head of the dining table, yielded both the master bedroom and the study to him, and made him the de facto patriarch of our Allen family. And precisely because of that, when Queen Gloria IX sought to use the Allen family's blood as food, he went out of his way to awaken you. Awakening you must have required an enormous price, and he was likely full of apprehension beforehand, yet he did it anyway. So, all in all, he has treated the Allen family very well." "He is the sole bloodline heir of that Diss's family?" "Mm." "He is the soul that shoved aside an evil god during an ultra-standard god descent ritual?" "Mmhmm." "And he could awaken corpses while still an unpurified mortal?" "Mmm..." *Bang!* Count Rekar slammed his hand down on the dining table, leaped to his feet, and roared directly, "Then hurry up and round up every marriageable female in the entire clan so he can breed with them!" Purr extended a paw, gently pressing it against the arm of Eunice, who was still asleep beside them. Count Rekar turned his head toward Eunice. In a heavy voice, he said, "I am an idiot." Purr nodded vigorously. "According to the plan, after resolving the matter of Queen Gloria IX, he was going to take her to live with him. What's more, their wedding would have been placed on the agenda, as there were no remaining obstacles to hold it back. I know he tends to shy away from responsibility, but with her, they've kissed, they've embraced—he still holds moral principles and feels a sense of duty..." "Merely kissing and hugging doesn't count for much," Count Rekar said. Purr rolled its eyes at this elder of far higher seniority, who had once brought the Allen family to true glory. "Not every man is an irresponsible scoundrel like you." Purr settled down onto the table and continued, "Now look at what you've done. You gave her a bloodline awakening, and her bloodline concentration happens to be exceptionally high—as if, after the family bloodline decayed to a certain depth, this generation finally produced a prodigy to save itself. But she has to sleep for half a year! Half a year! Don't you think your hands were too meddlesome?!" "It's excessive sleep for half a year, not a coma." "You can't romance someone who's asleep all the time," Purr said. "Doesn't stop them from getting into bed together." "..." Purr was speechless. "Nor does it stop her from getting pregnant and having children," Count Rekar said. "During pregnancy, sleeping more is natural anyway; it's good for the fetus." "Scumbag." Purr, who had always found romance tedious and boring, felt this was somewhat too much to stomach even from Count Rekar. Realizing he had made a blunder, Count Rekar rested his hands helplessly against his forehead, patting it lightly. When other people did that, it made a fleshy *smack smack*, but on his skin-and-bones frame, it produced a hollow drumming sound: *thump, thump, thump!* "My consideration was flawed. No, I overthought it. When he first met me, he claimed to be a son-in-law of the Allen family, and the ocean gave me its confirmation. That was when I began to suspect whether he had enslaved or controlled the Allen family, because in reality, he was certainly standing right in front of my tombstone. And when I was awakened, I saw a useless collateral descendant in a wheelchair at Rank Three." "He's direct line." "The point is that he's useless." "True," Purr agreed with that emphasis. "Then I saw another useless fellow following a different faith system—well, not entirely useless; he seems to have progressed fairly far. Afterward, I saw that mysterious dog, and an aberrant demon wielding an array that clearly carried the imitation and tracing aura of the Church of Principles! Then he told me Queen Gloria was waiting for me. Before I stepped into the master bedroom, I heard this generation's Queen shouting over and over: 'Freedom, freedom, freedom!' I assumed she was being kept as livestock too. For the sake of Gloria III, I granted this generation's Queen release, because I believed death was a form of freedom for her as well." "Though your reasoning was entirely wrong, killing her ended up being the right result. She wasn't livestock kept like pigs; she was tonight's greatest crisis." "Then, I gathered the three descendants in this castle whom I judged to have the greatest potential. As for you, I didn't scan you; I sensed you, because the level of your faith system is extraordinarily high, even if you are a cat. Besides, I saw those portraits in the study, and I noticed a black cat. It was very conspicuous." "Mm." "And why was my portrait missing? Do you know how long I endured the nausea of fondling Gloria III's rear end just to get the painter to do that portrait of me?!" "It was just taken down for temporary use. It will be rehung tomorrow." "Oh, so that's it. Originally, the moment I crawled out of the grave, I wanted to launch a surprise attack on him. But when I thought of facing an Archbishop of the Wien region—even if he must have paid a price to awaken me—I still hesitated. Furthermore, before attempting an ambush, I wanted to come home and check on the clan, picking out a few promising ones to settle them safely first. Aside from that, another reason was that when I first climbed out of the grave, I had a strange sensation. Only after I actually fought did I realize that through death, my family faith system had elevated, granting me comprehension of the ultimate state of the water attribute. Had I possessed such clear awareness the moment I emerged, I might well have struck at him right then, because he might have misjudged my faith rank." "Believe me, if you had struck at him then, you would have crushed him in an instant. Though he underwent God's Revelation... I don't even know if he truly counts as having God's Revelation right now... But it's fortunate you didn't, or I—or rather our Allen family—would be truly finished." "This is an opportunity for the Allen family!" Count Rekar declared. "It is." Count Rekar glanced at Eunice again, then turned his gaze back to Purr. "You could... actually do it too." "I am a cat, thank you very much." "You walk the path of fire. If my water attribute required death to reach the pinnacle of the Ancestor, then you require rebirth. If you can change from a cat back into a human, that will be rebirth. When the time comes, if you find a way to recover to Rank Nine, the bottleneck of the Rank Ten fire attribute might no longer exist. Most importantly, if you can turn back into a human, you can be with him..." Purr rolled its eyes. "I am more like a sacred relic now. So barring any accidents, once he grows stronger, I will form a symbiosis with him." "Symbiosis? That is a bond countless times more intimate than that of husband and wife." "Of course." "So, is he willing?" Purr paused, caught off guard. "Why do you ask that?" "What I mean is, he also has a dog beside him." "You think I can't compare to a stupid dog?" Purr stood up as though deeply insulted, waving its paws. "How could I possibly lose to a stupid dog?!" "That is the dog of an evil god. In terms of soul depth and developmental potential, where exactly do you beat it? If I were him, I would choose to form a symbiosis with that dog rather than you. It's merely a sacred relic; find any low-tier sacred relic as a vessel, and that dog could become just like you. The essence of symbiosis is a bond forged between two souls using a sacred relic as an anchor. The vessel itself isn't that important." "That stupid dog is male! That evil god is male, too!" Count Rekar's teeth ground together, producing a sound akin to laughter. "Khehehe... since when was gender ever an issue?" "..." Purr fell silent. Count Rekar spread his arms wide, leaning back against the chair behind him. "My time is running out. By dawn, I'll likely turn into nothing more than a puddle of dead flesh. Oh, in my current state, I barely have any flesh left; I wouldn't fetch a decent price even if sold to human flesh peddlers. You know, out on the sea, when hard times struck, buying and selling human flesh was commonplace. Once you're used to eating it, sometimes you still crave a bite even when provisions are plenty. Different people have different flavors." Purr cast a glance at the unconscious Judia. "She actually called me father the moment she saw me! Hahaha! I can sense that she takes after me; the flow of her water attribute resonates with mine." "She belongs to the Gloria family, seed you left behind with them in the past." "No wonder she gave me a sense of kinship. So she truly is my daughter—the daughter of me and Gloria III." "It was Gloria III's daughter who bore her for you," Purr mocked. "Seems you still know what shame is after all, trying to gloss over it." "Oh, is that so? Which of her daughters gave birth to my child? I can't recall." "..." Purr said nothing. Count Rekar instinctively reached out and stroked Judia's hair. He said softly, "Back when I wandered and carved out a life on the high seas, I had no concept of home in my heart. I always thought the sea was my true home. Only after that great battle, when I lost many of my subordinates and suffered grave injuries myself, did I feel a trace of weariness toward the ocean for the very first time. From the moment I set foot on land, I felt touched, and somewhat fortunate. Because I knew that on land, there was always a place waiting for my return. You've wandered abroad for a century; surely you understand that feeling?" "Mm," Purr acknowledged softly. "It's the same." "Seeing this bunch of useless, foolish descendants infuriates you, yet you can't help planning for their sake. In truth, there's hardly any family affection left for those wastes. It's only for the sake of the name 'Allen' that you hope it will endure. Because it's an anchor deep within your soul. It proves that even after dying, coming back to life and seeing the family still standing is a good thing, hahaha." Purr nodded silently. "Ah, when I first started out as a pirate, being captured wasn't unheard of. Hanging from a flagpole begging for mercy, kneeling before a mighty foe groveling and offering submission, pleading for his pardon, begging them not to gang up on me—hah, that sort of thing was common. Though the ones who made me beg and kneel all ended up dying beneath my fists in the end, speaking sweet words and flattering others was never difficult for me. A pirate living on the sea inevitably has to rise and fall with the waves. So, while I still have my wits about me..." "What do you want to do?" Purr asked. Count Rekar stood up and placed his hat back on his head. "Go kowtow to him, of course!"