Promotion, Inquisitor!

Ruke's eyes went wide at once, followed by a faint, wry smirk. "Pavaro?" "It is me, and yet it isn't." Karen lowered the tip of the Sword of Arius to the ground, resting both hands on the hilt, and began regulating his breathing. "I took you for a rat lurking in the sewers, but who would have thought you actually commanded a faction?" Evidently, Ruke had mistaken Neo's crew for Karen's own subordinates. His earlier smile had not been meant for Karen, but for himself. He believed the phone call he had initiated had sealed his present fate. He was wrong. Whether he had made that call or not, he had long fallen under Neo's watchful eye. Yet Karen had no desire to explain anything. He had never liked wasting words before a fight, and this brief exchange served only to make final adjustments to his physical and mental state. "I am willing to submit to you." Ruke fell to his knees before Karen, prostrating himself. "I only ask that you grant me an identity. I will offer you my absolute loyalty." Ruke knew he had nowhere to run. The perimeter was locked down tight, and with no outside help, escape was out of the question. So when "Pavaro" appeared before him, his instinct told him the other party had held back earlier to recruit him. The more cautious a person was, the more they treasured their life. And those who truly treasured their lives were willing to do anything. Yet he was wrong once more. The earlier pause had not been to recruit him, but to keep him alive until someone arrived. Now that person was here, and that person had finished preparing. *Sea God's Armor!* Translucent blue water flowed out from Karen's chest, swiftly enveloping his entire body to form a suit of armor radiating a mysterious, archaic aura. *Dark Moon Blade!* The moment blood-red patterns materialized on Karen's wrist, they were drawn toward the Sword of Arius as if by an invisible pull, sinking straight into the blade. An instant later, red light flared along the groove down the center of the sword. The originally heavy Sword of Arius instantly grew much lighter. With a flick of Karen's wrist, the sword traced a flourishing arc through the air before he held it upright in his grip. The Sword of Arius was indeed a weapon tailor-made for the power of the Dark Moon. Seeing this, Ruke's face filled with disbelief. A heartbeat later, venom flared in his eyes. All his illusions had shattered—the man before him had not come to negotiate, nor had he come to recruit him. Still, clinging to his last shred of stubbornness, he asked, "What good does killing me do you?" Karen smiled. "Tremendous good." *Because you are the opportunity I chose to verify my path to Inquisitor.* Karen charged at Ruke. Ruke slammed both hands against the ground and chanted: "Order — Cage!" Black prisms emerged beneath Karen's feet, but Karen had already darted away in advance. His sparring sessions with Gray over the past few days had not been in vain. Ruke's gaze tracked Karen, and the prisms bursting from the ground pursued him in turn. After pulling laterally across a stretch of ground, Karen still had not shaken them off. Yet right then, his toes tapped the floor, halting his motion instantly. In the next breath, the speed boosts from Dark Moon Blade and Sea God's Armor surged to their peak as he launched a secondary charge straight at Ruke. By now, it was clear the cage could not catch up. Ruke dispelled the cage in an instant, summoning three shields in front of himself. "Order — Shield of Adjudication!" *Bang!* *Bang!* Karen swung the Sword of Arius in mid-sprint, shattering two Shields of Adjudication. In each case, he used the sword tip to pierce a focal point before relying on the Sea God's Armor to forcefully plow through. Facing the third Shield of Adjudication, Karen channeled even more Dark Moon power into the Sword of Arius. Its brilliance flared exponentially. Slicing through the third shield, the blade followed through into a downward slash aimed at Ruke. *Clang!* A pitch-black Sword of Adjudication manifested before Ruke, blocking the Sword of Arius head-on. The powers of both sides rapidly eroded each other. Under Karen's overbearing pressure, the Sword of Adjudication—already a mere phantom—grew increasingly translucent. Wounded, Ruke was greatly diminished in every aspect; he was far from his peak as an Adjudicator. Even so, Karen suspected he must still have a trump card. At last, the Sword of Adjudication dissipated under the relentless pressure of the Sword of Arius. Karen raised his blade once more and slashed down at Ruke. At that moment, Ruke's eyes took on an ashen gray hue. A bizarre sound escaped his mouth, and he raised his hands as though holding an invisible weapon, chopping down toward Karen. Yet there was nothing in his grip, nor was there any threat directly before Karen. Yet inexplicably, a sudden chill of danger washed over Karen. *If it's not in front of me, then it's... behind me!* Instead of bringing his sword down on Ruke, Karen immediately twisted his body and dodged away from the spot. *Rip!* A violent jolt rippled through the Sea God's Armor across his back. Extensive cracks spread over the armor, nearly shattering it. Fortunately, his timely dodge turned the incoming blow from behind into an oblique graze rather than a direct, perpendicular strike, shaving off much of the impact. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been as simple as having the Sea God's Armor broken and recasting it. The armor could not have fully absorbed the hit, and his physical body likely would have suffered severe injury. Once he steadied his footing, Karen saw an ashen skeleton standing where he had just been. It held a scythe whose blade had struck the floor, etching a corroded black furrow into the ground. Ruke faced Karen. Floating before his chest was a gray ragdoll, bristling with steel needles, its expression deeply sinister. As for Ruke himself, the gray in his eyes swirled constantly, and a faint radiance around him was gradually dissipating. Controlling this ragdoll cost him his life force. "You ambushed and wounded me just to save me so you could kill me yourself? What do you take me for—a gift?" Ruke raised his hand, and the gray skeleton lifted its scythe once more. "Even if I cannot escape this time, I will never allow myself to accept such a humiliating end!" The gray skeleton rushed at Karen, swinging its scythe down again. Karen raised the Sword of Arius to parry, following through with a slice toward the skeleton's body. But the skeleton suddenly dissolved into thin air, reappearing from another angle to hack at Karen. Out of options, Karen was forced to dodge again. The Sea God's Armor took another hit, flickering violently before restabilizing. "Are your people still not going to step in? If they don't, you're about to die by my hands!" The gray skeleton charged at Karen again. Karen blocked the scythe with his sword once more. When he went to counter, his thrust was only halfway out when he abruptly retracted it to guard above his head. *Clang!* The skeleton had rematerialized behind him, but Karen managed to deflect the strike from the rear. Immediately after, the skeleton vanished again, attacking Karen from another angle. Karen could only defend passively, not daring to strike back, because every counterattack swung through empty air and opened him up to another sneak attack. Parrying and shifting footing, Karen gradually adjusted his angle relative to Ruke. *Clang!* After the Sword of Arius clashed with the scythe once more, Karen charged toward Ruke at full speed. He didn't have to deal with the skeleton; killing the caster worked just as well! The gray skeleton vanished from the spot again, appearing directly between Karen and Ruke to bring its scythe down on him. Karen pressed the Sword of Arius downward, using its tip as a pivot to drop sideways, sliding beneath the swinging scythe. Without losing momentum, he spun around, whipped the Sword of Arius up, and thrust straight toward Ruke's chest as the distance closed. Yet Ruke showed no panic. Blood began seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Abruptly, the needle-stuck ragdoll hovering before his chest turned blood-red. A phantom of a blood-red skeleton materialized before Karen, raising a crimson scythe to cleave into him! This ragdoll was not the sacred relic controlling the gray skeleton—it had been placed before his chest earlier solely to deceive his opponent! The Sword of Arius pierced right through the blood-red skeleton's form. The Dark Moon power coating the blade twisted the skeleton's lower half, but its arms still brought the scythe crashing down toward Karen. *Bang!* Karen concentrated his defense at his right shoulder, lips moving rapidly in a low chant. The next instant, the blood-red scythe bit into the shoulder armor, temporarily halted from cutting deeper. Yet the gray skeleton reappeared, sweeping its gray scythe toward Karen's neck. "Order — Spear of Punishment!" A pitch-black Spear of Punishment materialized above Karen's head, but instead of directing it at any target, Karen detonated it right there! *Boom!* The spear's explosion and its unleashed power of punishment twisted and stiffened the forms of both skeletons, slowing their movements. Karen himself was blasted backward by the explosion of his own spell. Rolling repeatedly upon hitting the ground, he finally caught himself with one hand against the floor, propping up his body with the Sword of Arius in his right hand. The Sea God's Armor, shattered by the blast, re-formed over Karen once more. Purely physical attacks had no real effect on these two summoned skeletons, whereas the elemental shockwave from the detonated Spear of Punishment had genuinely harmed them. The problem was that their existence was sustained by Ruke sacrificing his own life force. As long as Ruke continued the sacrifice, their forms would quickly regenerate. Even now, half of each skeleton's skull had already knit back together. A mocking sneer curled onto Ruke's lips. "Even if death is certain for me, I will not let myself become a sacrificial toy for your amusement. If your people don't step in, you will be buried alongside me." To Ruke now, knowing survival was impossible, life force was hardly something precious anymore. Karen knew the battle had reached a stalemate. Ruke was truly an Adjudicator forged in the Whip of Order; he was a master of combat. "Spear of Punishment... You are a believer of Order too? I'm curious—just what realm are you in?" Ruke spoke while finishing the repairs on the two skeletons. He intended to kill Karen at any cost the next time they clashed; that was the only pursuit left to him. "Not yet an Inquisitor," Karen replied while soothing the spiritual power churning chaotically inside him from withstanding the blast of the Spear of Punishment. "Not even an Inquisitor yet...? What a pity. If you had reached the realm of Inquisitor, things would certainly be different. After all, Inquisitor is where the accumulation of the three foundational stages pays off." "Very well. As you wish." Karen plunged the Sword of Arius into the ground beside him, placing both palms flat against the floor. A black chain materialized before Karen and began circling around him, stretching longer and wider. With Karen at its center, an arc formed entirely from condensed chains of Order. Karen lifted his head to look at Ruke, his eyes devoid of emotion. Yet that gaze sent an inexplicable chill through Ruke's heart. Clearly, both of them were inside the same workshop; the other was kneeling while he remained standing. Yet for some reason, Ruke felt as though he were standing at the bottom, looking up at someone seated high above, gazing down upon him. Instinctively, he accelerated the repair of the two skeletons. Now, only their calves below the knees remained unfinished, yet their scythes were already swinging anew. "The trial begins!" The toll of a bell rang out abruptly. "Ruke, you have been accused of conducting mutilating ritualistic practices upon ordinary mortals. Do you confess?" "Ruke, you have been accused of murdering colleagues and fellow believers to silence them and conceal your crimes. Do you confess?" "Ruke, you have been accused of betraying the faith of Order and falling into corruption. Do you confess?" Staring at Karen and hearing these words, Ruke couldn't help but chuckle. "Heh... Have you lost your mind, or... Huh?" The black chains that had circled Karen over and over began to merge, forming a massive black circle. When this black circle appeared, Karen seemed to sense, at the highest pinnacle, a boundless chain turning in cold operation, isolated from time and history. The sensation lasted only a fleeting moment before slipping beyond perception. Karen murmured, "Indeed. Order has always existed." Right after, figures began rising slowly from beneath the circle. Behind Karen emerged a group of young girls with vacant stares and numb expressions. They were mere phantoms, yet felt strikingly real—the pitiful girls who had been kept like livestock in the pigsty beneath the sausage factory that night. Though they did not move or utter a sound, a wordless accusation instantly flooded the entire workshop. Ruke's expression contorted in agony. Another ragdoll floated out behind him; now both ragdolls were trembling, and the two nearly restored skeletons began showing signs of slight instability. Wailing and sobbing filled Ruke's ears, shaking his mind and disrupting his spells. To Karen's left rose the figure of a woman with a serene gaze. When she appeared, the sound of ocean waves seemed to whisper around her—it was Madam Annie. To Karen's right rose the figure of Mr. Pavaro, his gaze resolute. When he appeared, a black chain even manifested beneath his feet, only to blend instantly with the surrounding blackness. Karen looked at Ruke once more, demanding: "Ruke, to the accusations stated above, do you confess?" "What is this? What is happening? Impossible... This is impossible!" Ruke had never witnessed anything like this. He had risen from Inquisitor to Adjudicator himself! "It's an illusion! An illusion! Bewitchment... yes, it must be bewitchment!" Karen stood up slowly. From the black circle before him rose a thick, imposing book radiating an aura of majesty—the *Code of Order*! In that moment, the memory of his grandfather Diss reciting the *Code of Order* surfaced in Karen's mind, along with the image of Mr. Pavaro reciting the *Code of Order* before the pigsty. Karen extended his hand, placing his palm upon the cover of the book, and spoke with solemn sincerity: "In accordance with Chapter One, Article One of the *Code of Order*; "In accordance with Chapter Two, Article Two of the *Code of Order*; "In accordance with Chapter Three, Article Three of the *Code of Order*—" At this point, a faint smile touched Karen's lips. In truth, he remembered the exact text of the articles. But the Captain had once said they never bothered memorizing them, because those facing judgment under Order wouldn't have memorized them either. Yet as an Adjudicator of the Church of Order, Ruke was undoubtedly familiar with the *Code of Order*; Karen reciting "Chapter One, Article One; Chapter Two, Article Two" was meant purely to humiliate him. Moreover, most importantly, when the deceased accusers themselves had "appeared," was there any need to consult the *Code of Order*? The whole purpose of turning pages was so that, one day, you would never have to turn them again. "Now, in the name of an Inquisitor..." A black Inquisitor's divine robe manifested over Karen. A streak of gold briefly flickered across the robe, only to recede right after, as if merely to prove: It had once existed, it ought to exist, and it existed now. The aura emanating from Karen underwent a stark transformation. If before he had possessed a vast reservoir and needed to cut an opening to channel the water out, then now, it was as if he stood right beside the reservoir, ladling the water directly from it. Accumulation, comprehension, talent— Everything, in this single moment, was cashed in. "The verdict is rendered—you are guilty!" Karen opened his right hand, and the Sword of Arius planted in the ground flew into his grasp. He strode toward Ruke, the sword's tip dragging along the floor and kicking up a trail of black sparks. Ruke's eyes turned bloodshot. In desperate frenzy, he ordered the two incompletely repaired, erratically controlled skeletons to attack Karen. The skeletons vanished and reappeared on either side of Karen, scythes raised! Without even glancing to his sides, Karen said softly, "Order — Guardian Wall." On both sides of his body, thick, solemn, unimaginably dense black walls manifested. *Bang!* *Bang!* The two differently colored scythes struck the black walls, leaving behind only faint scratches, utterly incapable of piercing them. Karen continued forward. The two skeletons reappeared beside him once more, but as their scythes swung down again, the black walls reappeared to block the blow. Karen kept walking. The two skeletons attacked frantically, relentlessly teleporting to his flanks, yet no matter how they struck, they could not break through the walls. In this manner, Karen drew closer and closer to Ruke, whose hair was now noticeably turning white. He chanted: "Order — Sword of Adjudication!" Three Swords of Adjudication materialized before Ruke, shooting toward Karen. "Spear of Punishment." Three Spears of Punishment formed before Karen, directly intercepting the three Swords of Adjudication and altering their trajectory upward, piercing through the workshop roof and rocketing into the sky. *Boom!* Fanny swayed on the crane boom and instinctively asked, "Captain?" "Maintain your lookout." "Yes, Captain." Concern showed on Fanny's face. She knew full well that even a gravely wounded Adjudicator was still an Adjudicator. She worried something might happen to Karen, yet during a mission, no one in the squad dared disobey the Captain's orders. In the darkness above, Neo gently placed a hand over his face. "I thought you were like me. Turns out, you're not like me at all." ... Inside the workshop, Karen had reached Ruke. "Order — Cage!" Ruke shrieked. Prismatic edges formed beneath Karen's feet, instantly snapping into a cubic cage. Karen said calmly, "Order — Cage!" New prismatic edges formed beneath Karen's feet, expanding outward. The two cages collided violently—a direct clash and attrition of spiritual power. Yet clearly, Ruke, severely wounded and having sacrificed so much life force, was in no state to outlast Karen, who had stepped into the realm of Inquisitor and unlocked all his accumulated potential. *Hum—!* Ruke's Cage of Order burst apart. Karen's Cage of Order expanded rapidly, engulfing Ruke within it as well. *Thud!* Ruke collapsed weakly onto his knees, blood beginning to seep from the pores across his entire body. "Who... are you really...?" That was the question Ruke had asked over the phone, and it was the question he desperately wanted answered now. Karen did not answer. He reached out, pressed a hand against Ruke's head, and laid the Sword of Arius across his neck. *Slash!* Ruke's neck was severed. Karen held up his severed head, turned around, and looked behind him. At the black circle, all the figures began to disperse; every weeping lament and accusation faded away with them. In the haze of perception, Karen seemed to see Madam Annie smiling at him, her voice echoing faintly in his ears: "Your skills aren't bad either—worth forty riels." And then he seemed to see Mr. Pavaro bowing to him: "Praise Order!" The black circle began to fade as well, dissolving into primal chains that sank back beneath Karen's feet. In the pupil of Karen's left eye, a black mark briefly appeared, then receded. Karen tossed Ruke's head aside onto the floor. He opened his hands. The Sword of Arius stood upright before him. Karen brought both hands to his chest and spoke with solemn sincerity: "The trial... has concluded."