Inside the trench, the corpses that had been floating on the surface opened their eyes one by one. In that moment, they seemed imbued with spirituality as they struggled to crawl to their feet.
The bodies floating near the edges scrambled toward the "shore" first. But their advance was quickly blocked by an invisible restriction. Yet they were not discouraged; opening their mouths, they snapped and tore at the air ahead, flailing their arms, clawing with jagged fingers, and slamming their palms violently against the barrier.
The corpses in the center thrashed in the water for a brief moment before, from down below, skeletons thrust out bony hands and skull-topped necks. These white bones seemed to form floating bridges of bone, allowing the bodies above to step over them and surge to the edges, joining the assault against the restriction.
Finally came the skeletons from the deepest depths of the trench. They crawled up from the bottom, white light flickering inside the hollow eye sockets of their skulls, and launched their own charge against the restriction.
The restriction sealing the trench was likely just like the Triple Seal the Jurist had cast above—a cauldron lid sealing down over everything.
And so, the corpses began clawing and biting from the bottom edges. Slowly, those behind stepped onto the bodies of those in front to scratch higher up, swarming like ants until even the upper reaches of the trench were covered in white bones. Every single one of them poured all their strength into frantically battering every corner of the restriction.
Karen stood where he was. Though he had "Awakened" so many people in a single breath, it hadn't cost him much energy—the drain didn't even match using another Spear of Punishment.
This was because these corpses required no infusion of spiritual power from him. They had already been lying in this swamp steeped in generations of resentment, possessing the conditions for awakening on their own.
All Karen had done was drop a lit match into a barrel full of petroleum.
Yet no one could deny the significance of that initial spark simply because a raging inferno now burned.
Breaking this restriction from the outside would have been nearly impossible. Just as Karen's side could no longer strike the Jurist to disrupt his spellcasting once the Jurist's Shield was raised, the restriction in the trench was equally difficult to breach—at least, Karen and his companions couldn't do it as they were now.
Yet the old adage held true: the sturdiest fortresses are often breached from within.
Crisp cracking sounds rang out. One couldn't tell where the cracks were forming, but it was unmistakably giving way.
First in a few spots, then across whole swathes, until finally, the aura of contamination boiled over, smashing through the shackles that had suppressed generation upon generation of them!
The instant the restriction shattered,
intact corpses, mangled corpses, rotting corpses, white bones—
every last one of them
fell to their knees, prostrating on the ground.
They threw their heads back
and began to weep bitterly!
A black mushroom cloud several times larger than the previous one formed in an instant, billowing upward!
Tyers was stunned. Seeing this, his instinct was to flee. He knew full well that once everything here was exposed, his only choice would be to defect from the Church of Order and go on the run. But if he didn't run now, he wouldn't be able to sustain the operation of those two high-level spells for another second!
But Qihe moved faster than Tyers. In fact, when the corpses had begun crawling from the trench, the mirror that had previously deflected Alfred had reappeared in his palm.
Before Tyers could make a break for it, Qihe's palm slammed down onto Tyers's head. The mirror burned like a branding iron, sinking straight into Tyers's forehead.
Chains instantly burst forth from the mirror, binding Tyers from head to toe and shackling him to the spot.
"In the name of the Law, I apprehend the violator of Order!"
This was an internal spell of the Church of Order, typically used by superiors against disobedient subordinates. Such spells could maximally nullify any resistance from someone within the same faith system.
Qihe had hailed from the Whip of Order; in this regard, he possessed far more experience than Tyers.
"My Lord!" Tyers cried out in terror.
"Hold it a little longer for me! I still have a way!"
"My Lord!!!"
Tyers watched in horror as the gigantic black mushroom cloud rose into the air and collided with the Purification Barrier and Triple Seal above. The array's pressure was transmitted directly to its maintainer. Tyers's body immediately began to convulse violently, plumes of bloody mist erupting from his pores.
The physical strain was secondary at this point. The most terrifying aspect was the tearing at his soul; Tyers could even hear the rasping rip of his soul shredding like coarse cloth.
"Old geezer, he didn't turn into a puddle of pus, you know? Look, he's still standing there. Mmm, still so handsome, so fine. It feels like even from this far away, if I take a deep breath, I can smell him all over.
"Say, could I have fallen for him? That might be a bit too fast, I guess.
"Then again, maybe it's just the contrast with an old fossil like you. Looking at you, then looking at him, he instantly becomes so much more charming."
Luoya's voice drifted through the air once more.
There was neither rage nor panic on Qihe's face. Instead, he appeared remarkably calm. "I have found a second treasure. The secrets this young man harbors tempt me beyond measure. Once this matter is settled, I will add him to my collection and wring his secrets dry, bit by bit."
"Old geezer, what else can you do?" Luoya mocked.
"Heh heh."
Qihe chuckled, shouting:
"Order—Fire of Punishment!"
Black flames streaked with purple patterns spewed from Qihe's mouth, sweeping over Luoya. Engulfed in fire, Luoya was in agony, yet she did not scream. Instead, she fixed Qihe with a chilling gaze.
"Are you planning to use it, Qihe?"
"Yes."
"Without me as a medium, using it will plunge you into eternal depravity.
"Oh, right. The moment you first laid eyes on it and touched it, you had already lost yourself, Lord Jurist."
"After using it this once, I will seal it away again until I cultivate a second you. I will treat this time as an experience, a lesson. The second time, I am bound to succeed.
"After all, mastering the Source of Sin is indeed no simple task."
"It is not a source of sin. It is the purest thing in this world. And you were not contaminated by it—it is simply so clean that the evil and greed already lingering in your heart spread uncontrollably."
"Oh, really? Fine, I hear you. But it doesn't matter anymore."
Qihe looked down below.
"Tonight's harvest is truly immense. I am very satisfied. Now, it is time to put everything in order."
Qihe clenched his teeth fiercely.
The flames drilled aggressively into Luoya's body. Her form began to disintegrate, until at last, she was completely annihilated!
Watching the artifact spirit he had painstakingly cultivated for so many years dissipate like this, Qihe felt a sudden pang of loss. But quickly enough, he rallied his confidence and fighting spirit.
Behind him, the bloody mist around Tyers grew thicker and thicker. His eyes had rolled back, showing only whites, and his body was shriveling at a speed visible to the naked eye. His four subordinates watched this scene in utter terror, unconsciously backing away.
Qihe released the nearly completed Ebb Tide spell and drew a scroll from his robes, holding it aloft in one hand.
The scroll unrolled on its own, revealing a tiny array. This was an exceedingly valuable spatial scroll. It was very expensive, requiring a vast number of point coupons to redeem, yet at the same time highly impractical, as its storage space was exceedingly small—even a shoebox had more capacity than it did.
The next moment,
an archaic copper coin appeared atop the scroll.
Qihe reached out and took hold of the copper coin.
His expression warped rapidly: the corners of his eyes turned up, his mouth curled into an exaggerated grin, and his whole face took on a state of manic excitement, resembling a jester.
For a Lord Jurist to exhibit such an expression showed just how violent the turmoil in his heart was.
When the copper coin appeared, a smile surfaced even on the face of Tyers, who was in agonizing pain behind him. It was as if all the agony and fear of death had become negligible; as long as he could gaze upon it, no sacrifice mattered.
The expressions of the four Order squad members turned greedy and ravenous as well. Their bodies twitched and shuddered as if they wanted to charge forward and snatch it by force. They had actually conceived the thought of robbing something from a Jurist's hands!
Qihe's eyes turned green.
He began to chant:
"O copper coin left behind by the great True God Rax, commune with the will of True God Rax;
"Wipe away all contamination before me, and restore all within sight to tranquility and purity!"
The power of the divine artifact began to manifest. A golden ripple emanated from the copper coin, forming a terrifying barrier above that began to press downward.
Whatever it touched began to perish.
The first things to perish were the two high-level spells covering the ceiling—Purification Barrier and Triple Seal. Both were crushed instantly, unable to put up the slightest resistance.
Golden flames ignited across Tyers's body. At the final moment, he regained his senses, but it was already far too late.
With the annihilation of the spells, his fate was sealed.
The moment was brief, yet to him, it felt like enduring an eternity of purgatorial torment.
Tyers began to wail.
Amid his wails, his body gradually crumbled into a pile of black powder.
Just before his soul was extinguished,
he seemed to see an image of his younger self undergoing purification.
He shouted excitedly back then:
"I sensed the God of Order! I sensed the God of Order!"
Back then, his eyes had been so pure.
He seemed to see himself again when he had just become a member of a Whip of Order squad, holding a copy of the *Code of Order*, having slain a ferocious aberrant demon that had slaughtered several families, while he himself lay gravely wounded in a corner.
Back then, no matter how agonizing the pain was, he hadn't wailed, nor had he felt any regret. He had only placed his one usable hand over his chest with pure satisfaction:
"Praise Order."
When... when did I start turning into this?
Tyers would never receive an answer, for his soul was entirely wiped out.
As the golden barrier continued to descend, the aura of contamination below was steadily erased. Even the earth-shaking wails of the girls in the trench were gradually suppressed by the will of a god.
The golden retriever looked up toward the ceiling. "Woof!"
Purr spoke up. "The aura of Rax?"
The golden retriever drooped its ears, looking helpless.
Purr marched forward and smacked its dog head with a cat paw, scolding:
"Didn't you leave behind any divine artifacts for us to dig up and use?"
"Woof!"
"None? How can you be so stupid! Serves you right turning into a dog!"
"Woof..."
Purr cursed Kevin while sitting down on the floor, pawing at its tail.
Within its tail was a finger of the God of Light. The problem was, ever since helping Karen complete his purification last time, that finger had gone dormant. Drained hollow, it had turned into an ordinary finger, making it utterly useless right now.
Pavaro raised his head to watch the scene above. This was the power of a god. Though not that of the God of Order, it was still a True God.
A derisive smile touched the corner of Pavaro's mouth:
*So even gods can be deceived.*
For at this moment, the power of a god was held in the hands of the Jurist who had engineered this purgatory, aiding him in dissolving every trace here and burying the evidence of his sins.
Alfred also looked up at the ceiling, yet the "performance" from his mouth did not cease; if anything, it grew more passionate.
Without him knowing when,
his instinctive dread of "gods" had gradually faded from his heart.
Was it when Old Master Diss raised a barrier in Oak Cemetery, eyes gleaming with gold, and condensed a godhead fragment just like that?
Was it when Mr. Hoffen, having just danced upon a grave alongside him, turned around and sealed an evil god into a dog's body with his own hands?
Was it the hymn he had heard his young master sing across the spiritual bridge connecting him to Ms. Molly?
Was it his young master's purification? His young master's God's Revelation?
Was it those golden characters his young master penned into his notebook?
Therefore,
what a god truly was did not matter to Alfred. He had never questioned gods, nor had he ever disparaged them.
Yet once he came to believe in one "God,"
all other gods—even True Gods, even Main Gods—were nothing more than false gods and evil gods in his eyes!
Tears streamed from Little John's eyes. He wasn't crying over the current despair; he was simply feeling sorrow—an inexplicable yet tangible emotion.
Inside the pigsty, the numb expressions on the faces of the lying women began turning into sorrow as well. They were mourning a little sister who, amid this torturous torment, would chat with them every night in their dreams.
She was gone. She was no longer here.
Even though their own plight was wretched beyond measure, deep within their hearts, they still harbored sorrow for another.
Little John began sniffling, sucking back his snot. He remembered that day when he had slipped out of his father's car, caught sight of the pigsty, and fled in terror to hide in a corner, shivering violently.
Then, a little girl his age had appeared before him. Her eyes were so big, so beautiful, and her voice so crisp and lovely.
"What's your name?"
"My name's... John."
"You're supposed to ask my name too, you know."
"What's... your name?"
"I'm not telling you! Hehe."
The little girl had run off, then looked back to see him still squatting there and shouted:
"I'll hide, and you come find me! If you find me, I'll tell you my name."
...
"He deployed a divine artifact?"
Adjudicator Ruke let out a long breath. It seemed matters were finally resolved.
Adjudicator Ruke—who had spent the night outside the factory pacing forward and back, forward and back, repeatedly scuffing the concrete ground—took another stride toward the entrance.
Then,
he abruptly halted again.
This time, he didn't see anything, but an inexplicable hesitation suddenly seized him.
*Maybe... wait a little longer?*
...
The barrier above continued to descend. Karen could no longer hear the weeping of the girls in the trench, though they continued to cry.
In life, they had been a group forgotten by this city. When they vanished, hardly anyone had paid attention, as though they were merely dust swept away by sanitation workers every morning—abundant, yet not worth a second glance.
If they ever appeared before someone, people would reflexively cover their noses and complain about the stench.
Now they were dead, but even in death, their wails seemed unworthy of being heard.
Karen looked up toward the raised platform. Holding the copper coin, the Lord Jurist was looking down at him as well.
"Without an artifact spirit as a medium, every time I use this copper coin, it places a heavy burden on me, pushing me one step deeper into losing myself. Had I not been pushed to such extremes today, I wouldn't have been willing to bring it out.
"Still, I believe you won't disappoint me. My mouth is already watering over your secrets. *Hiss*... I truly can't wait."
The Lord Jurist ran his tongue across his lips.
At this moment, whether in his inner thoughts or his outer expression, he appeared feverish and unhinged.
Karen sighed inwardly, though he felt little despondency.
Given the immense disparity in power between both sides, that they had forced things to such a state was already quite remarkable.
He reckoned that using this divine artifact had to come at a terrible price for the other man, or else he never would have saved it until now.
The descending barrier signaled the arrival of the end.
Karen had no inclination to feel anxious, nor could he be bothered to panic or rage, much less indulge in flash-before-your-eyes reminiscence.
His gaze swept over everyone and every pet around him.
Finally, he walked over to Little John, crouched down, and asked:
"Crying because you're afraid to die?"
Little John shook his head. "She's dead."
"Who?"
"Her. I didn't find her, so she never told me her name. I wanted to go play with her again, but Father wouldn't let me come back here."
Karen realized who he meant.
*She's dead?*
Karen looked up at the platform once more. By now, the barrier had descended halfway down the subterranean workshop. Soon, he and the others would likely be crushed into dust beneath it.
The power of a divine artifact was just that terrifying, even if flawed.
*However, did the Lord Jurist have to annihilate that artifact spirit before he could use the Rax copper coin?*
"Big brother..."
Little John suddenly reached out and grabbed Karen's sleeve.
"Can you bring her back to life?"
"She didn't leave a body..."
Karen suddenly realized something. Looking around, he found that Little John wasn't the only one crying; so were the other women in the pigsty.
...
*"Look, they call them 'swine in the pigsty,' and you call them 'soil.' But in my eyes, they—coming batch after batch, dying batch after batch—are the family who raised me."*
...
"Yet in the first place, she never had a body."
Karen closed his eyes and began to ponder:
The Awakening spell aroused the residual spiritual power within a corpse because an "Awakened" person required a physical body as a vessel. Thus, the prerequisite for Awakening was how intact the corpse remained.
But if the being to be Awakened never needed a physical body to exist, would a corpse still be necessary?
Furthermore, spiritual power wasn't exclusive to corpses; it was simply that after a person died, whatever spiritual power remained was almost exclusively retained in the body.
Yet...
what if her spiritual power wasn't preserved in a corpse?
What if, for instance,
it was preserved within the dreams of Little John and all these wretched women in the pigsty?
Tinged with grief, the weeping resonated.
An image surfaced in Karen's mind: a little girl visiting these poor women's dreams night after night, listening to their stories, chatting with them.
With her own power, she provided comfort to their agonizing torment, offering them a fleeting breath of solace in dreams. She had deliberately spent time chatting with them and listening to their stories.
Karen took a deep breath. He suddenly felt an ache in his heart for her—an ache for a "Source of Sin."
"Perhaps I can try."
Karen placed his hand on Little John's forehead.
"Now, picture her in your mind."
Little John obediently shut his eyes at once.
Purr and the golden retriever looked at Karen in astonishment, having no idea what he was trying to do at a time like this.
Karen felt as though he had attained a deeper understanding of the Church of Order's Awakening.
It was not merely "reanimating corpses," nor was it just igniting spiritual power.
Its true essence was:
taking a past existence that left traces behind and pulling it along those tracks back into the present.
From beneath Karen's feet, a black chain manifested once more. It climbed onto Little John's body and turned white again. At the same time, at the center of Little John's forehead, that white chain of Order began to split, branching into numerous slender white chains, just as it had over the trench swamp earlier.
The branching white chains reached out and crept toward the women in the pigsty. Viewed from above, it looked like a white lotus motif gradually blooming.
"Who is he Awakening?" Purr asked.
"Woof? Woof!"
"What? Awakening an artifact spirit?!"
Gradually,
the figure of the little girl emerged in Karen's mind.
He spoke:
"Order—Awakening!"
The white chains began to retract, coalescing once more before Karen. The thick bundle of white chains coiled and spiraled, and at its center, the figure of a young girl materialized anew.
The moment she appeared,
the crushing barrier descending from above halted abruptly, descending not an inch further.
Up on the raised platform, Qihe stared at this sight in disbelief.
"Th-this... this is impossible... how could this be?!"
The artifact spirit he had just annihilated had actually been revived right now?
What was terrifying was that his sole reliance for suppressing everything here was this divine artifact copper coin.
And the revived Luoya no longer bore the numerous seals he had placed on her in the past. In other words, she was now a complete artifact spirit, even if she was still weak.
What was even more terrifying was that
with the artifact spirit present, this divine artifact was no longer under Qihe's control. It would be held by "Luoya," mastered by its own artifact spirit!
The Lord Jurist actually found the urge to flee rising within him, but the copper coin held his palm in a vice-like grip. Not only that, it felt as though his very soul were pinned to the spot, leaving him completely unable to move away!
The divine artifact he had wielded moments ago had now turned into shackles that bound him fast.
Luoya gave an unhurried, comfortable stretch.
Then,
she turned around,
looked up at the Lord Jurist pinned to the platform above,
and beamed as she called out:
"Grandpa, I told you so, didn't I? You really are going to die tonight."
Chapter 146