Church of Samsara, Church Affairs Building.
The deepest room on the fifth floor was originally supposed to be the office of the Church of Samsara's Chief Bishop for the Kingdom of Vien. Right now, however, Chief Bishop Lord Sako was waiting respectfully outside the office door, showing his deference and obedience.
The Church of Order treated Wien as its primary base of operations and development. While it did not bar other churches from establishing institutions and missionary halls in Wien, everyone in the ecclesiastical circles knew whose territory Wien truly was; the Third Knights stationed in Wien was the best proof.
To the Church of Samsara, however, Wien was alien territory. First, the land had long been occupied by Order, making the Church of Samsara little more than a temporary lodger; second, the people of the Maclay cultural sphere had little interest in the doctrines Samsara preached.
Particularly the Viennese—ever since the Age of Discovery, their ancestors had taken pride in being pirates. This trait, etched into their very bones, made them prefer enjoying the thrills of the present; they couldn't care less about what would happen in an afterlife.
Although the continuous influx of immigrants in recent years, alongside the rise of industry and finance, had expanded the ranks of the bankrupt and lost in rural and urban areas—broadening the Church of Samsara's congregation to some degree—overall it had never managed to gain real momentum.
Therefore, even though Sako was the Chief Bishop for the Kingdom of Vien, his status within the church was actually quite modest. If it were high, he wouldn't have been "banished" here to break new ground.
Unlike the aged, weathered feel of the Church Affairs Building outside, the interior of the office was lavish. Beyond an office study, it included a private suite with two bedrooms and a sitting area.
At this moment, two women were lying in bed. One of them Karen would have recognized: Bertha, who had once served as a secretary at Piaget's psychological clinic.
Bertha nestled delicately against the woman beside her. The other woman's slender legs, even slightly drawn up, were not a bit shorter than Bertha's as she lay flat—and Bertha was already quite tall.
The woman was named Talina, a member of the Simonsen family. In its history, the Simonsen family had produced several "Gatekeepers" for the Church of Samsara, the equivalent of a Hierophant.
Thus, even though the current Gatekeeper of the Church of Samsara was not from the Simonsen family, their influence within the church still ranked among the top three, and they were celebrated as Samsara's "royal bloodline."
It was precisely because she had come that Bishop Sako outside had willingly surrendered his office to her and stood obediently in the hall seeking her favor. He desperately wanted to be transferred away from Wien. Feeling he wasn't that old yet and still had room for advancement in the church, he refused to let slip any opportunity he could seize.
"Bertha, do you really like looking like this?" Talina asked, turning her head toward the woman in her arms.
"Mm."
"Because of the person you're looking for?"
"I don't know."
"Any clues about him?"
"No trace of him at all. It's like he completely vanished into thin air."
"Do you need me to have my people help you search?"
"No need. The fact that you were willing to see me is enough to satisfy me, and I'm very grateful."
"Silly girl, why say such things? In the eyes of others you're a Light remnant, but in mine, you're just an adorable Angel of Light."
"And you? What brought you to Wien?"
"To find my brother. Word reached the family that he's in Wien, but whether he's in York City specifically, I don't know."
"What a pity. My people have already pulled out of York City, or I could have helped you look."
"Don't be silly. That brother of mine loves nothing more than finding a woman who looks like his first love and living a secluded, ordinary life with her. He's an absolute pervert, and he doesn't want to be found."
"Your brother still hasn't moved past the shadow of losing his first love?"
"Not only hasn't he, he's sunk even deeper. Father told him that the woman entered samsara long ago, and he actually dared to talk back to Father over it. If Mother hadn't intervened in time that day, father and son would have nearly come to blows.
"Yet who could have guessed that he would actually make an imprint of his first love's memories? Using a secret technique passed down through Samsara, he seals away other women's minds and implants his first love's memories into them. That's the life he's been living ever since.
"The only problem is that under this method, an ordinary woman's lifespan is drastically shortened—usually they don't last six months. So he has to constantly find new women who resemble his first love to live with."
"I could dress myself up to look like his first love and pose as a model in the newspapers to draw him out."
"What, having me isn't enough? You want to climb into my brother's bed too?"
"What nonsense are you talking? You're the only one in my heart."
"Heh, I don't believe that. They say men's mouths are the most deceitful, but really, women are just as good at lying as men."
"I only hope to cross paths with your brother so I can find a chance to purify that piece of scum."
Bertha sat up from the bed and began dressing.
"Leaving already?"
"I can't linger in York City. The Church of Order is still constantly hunting down Light remnants across Wien. I don't want to drag you into it."
"Don't worry. The Church of Order won't have time to bother with you soon enough."
"Because of the Church of Pamires?"
"Mm."
"I heard the Church of Order lost a knight order."
"Yes. You must know what terrible consequences follow when a space suddenly collapses. The latest news is that among the countercurrents of that shattered space, a great deal of shattered armor from an Order knight order was found."
In fact, Talina knew even more—such as how the person who had used the Church of Pamires's divine artifact to destroy the Cage Space was a sleeper agent placed inside Pamires by the Church of Samsara.
However, such things were not suitable to tell Bertha. They were merely bedmates who belonged to two different camps. In secret they could share a bed, but in the open they were not even permitted to stand together.
"Then isn't the Church of Pamires finished?"
"Mm. Even if the Church of Order lost a knight order, destroying the Church of Pamires is still easy enough. But after this, the loose framework of an alliance will become much clearer and more concrete.
"Just like back then, when numerous Orthodox Churches joined forces against..."
Talina stopped herself.
Bertha paid it no mind and casually finished the thought: "Just like back then, when numerous Orthodox Churches joined forces against the Church of Light?"
Talina offered a faint smile.
"All right. Since you don't need my help finding your brother, I'll take my leave."
Talina got up and embraced Bertha. "Can't you stay with me a little longer?"
"I plan on leaving Wien soon as well. There are many loose ends I still need to tie up."
"All right."
After that token attempt to persuade her to stay, Talina began dressing as well.
Just then, the entire building violently shook.
"What happened?" Bertha asked in surprise.
Dressed, Talina immediately drew a blade hanging by the head of the bed and moved toward the window.
*Crash!*
The window suddenly shattered, shards of glass flying inward.
Talina swung her blade, sweeping back the incoming glass fragments along with the surging gale from outside. But as a final tremor shook the room, she noticed the bedroom walls were gradually turning black.
*Bang!*
The bedroom door was kicked open, and Talina's personal guard rushed in, forming a protective circle around her.
The captain of the guard reported, "Miss, the Church Affairs Building has been sealed by a terrifying array that appeared out of nowhere!"
"What about the building's defensive array?"
"It shattered instantly. It couldn't hold at all!"
"What on earth is going on!"
"Miss, Miss!" Sako came rushing in. "Miss, the one sealing our Church Affairs Building is... is the Throne of Order!"
Hearing those words, a trace of panic surfaced on Talina's face—because she was guilty.
Sako's rank did not qualify him to know the "truth" behind this affair, so he tried to soothe her: "Please wait here, Miss. I will send someone out to communicate and see if there has been some misunderstanding."
The captain of the guard immediately cut in: "It's no misunderstanding! The Throne of Order is an existence on par with a forbidden-rank array. For the Church of Order to deploy it to seal this place, it's definitely not as simple as a misunderstanding!"
Talina made an instant decision. "Rodon, prepare to activate the Samsara Crystal. We're breaking out."
The captain of the guard was startled. "Use the Samsara Crystal? Under... understood, Miss!"
A Samsara Crystal was an exceptionally precious material whose greatest property was absorption and annihilation. If a field of power were likened to a completed jigsaw puzzle, it could forcefully gouge out a piece of that puzzle for a brief period.
This Samsara Crystal was not something Talina's guards normally carried. It was a priceless gift she was supposed to deliver to a high-ranking church official on behalf of her family during this trip to Wien. Now there was no time to deliver gifts; it had to be used immediately.
The captain turned to make arrangements, then suddenly paused and looked back at Talina. "Miss, because the Throne of Order array outside is exceedingly powerful, I suspect that even if we open a gap using the Samsara Crystal, the gap will only remain stable long enough for fewer than ten people to pass through."
In other words, only enough for Talina and her personal guard.
Sako quickly said, "Captain, please escort Miss out of here first. You must ensure her safety at all costs!"
Then Sako bowed to Talina. "Please be at ease, Miss. Whatever misunderstanding this might be, I will lead my men to hold this building and negotiate with the people from Order."
Talina glanced at Sako. She knew that if Sako knew what had happened, he wouldn't be delivering such calm, polite platitudes. In the eyes of this Chief Bishop, the present situation was likely still just a misunderstanding, or perhaps a minor friction and controlled standoff between two churches that would never escalate to bloodshed or an irreversible disaster.
Yet the Church of Order had just lost an entire knight order! Talina dared not gamble, for she knew that once Order learned the truth, its wrath would inevitably incinerate everything here!
Talina looked at Bertha. "You're coming with me."
"All right."
Bertha did not refuse or hesitate, immediately moving close to Talina's side.
The captain said, "Miss, please come to the roof in five minutes. We will open the breach from the rooftop. Once the gap opens, please choose a direction and evacuate immediately. I will lead the men to hold the rear and draw the attention of those Order hounds."
"Good." Talina nodded. "I will take care of your family... all of your families."
The captain and the guards chanted in unison:
"Endless Samsara, loyalty imperishable!"
***
"...Praise Order!"
"...Praise Order!"
Led by his captain, Karen prayed continuously, appending "Praise Order" to the end of every verse.
The captain was praying that no accidents would occur with the sealing of the Church Affairs Building ahead.
Karen, however, felt that while the captain might not know the term "raising a death flag," he certainly understood the concept behind it—and his prayers felt like a deliberate attempt to trigger that very outcome.
Earlier in the car, the captain had said that since the Throne of Order was being deployed to seal the building, they would lose their chance to fish in troubled waters unless an unexpected accident happened.
So... please let an accident happen.
Otherwise, they really would be spending tonight moon-gazing. And furthermore...
Karen looked up. The weather tonight was awful, overcast and threatening rain, completely obscuring the moon.
At last, the captain ceased his prayers.
Karen stopped immediately as well. It seemed the captain had realized how absurd their behavior had been. Fortunately, there was no third person around to witness it.
"Karen, do you often pray to the God of Order?"
"I rarely pray to God to ask for anything. I merely offer greetings and praise to the great God."
Neo said, "I rarely pray to God either. The last time I prayed was when the Count successfully reached an agreement with the church. I thanked God for granting me, while I held on, a ray of hope."
Yet the result...
Karen suddenly realized that the captain's shift seemed to have begun with Elisa's death. In Old Saman's words, the captain had entered a period of losing himself.
Yet in Karen's perception, the captain did not seem lost; it felt more like another consciousness inside him was "awakening."
Though his personality, speech, and actions remained the same, the feeling he gave off was entirely different.
Perhaps the old captain had already "died" when he stood before Elisa's tombstone.
The captain had said that even if he didn't know what he was living for right now, he would still instinctively strive to survive—a state that seemed more like an "absence of subjective consciousness" caused by a handover.
The old was subsiding while the new was awakening; the captain was caught right in the middle.
"Captain, have you ever seen a psychologist?" Karen asked.
"Why ask that out of the blue?"
"I know an excellent psychologist. If you'd like, I can introduce you."
"Do you think I need one?"
"I think you could give it a try."
"Heh, even a Rax copper coin didn't know what I wanted in my heart. I doubt a psychologist would be of any use."
For a moment, Karen found himself unable to argue. He had seen with his own eyes the captain pick up the Rax copper coin with his bare hand, completely composed, only to toss it aside casually.
So, not only did the captain lack mental issues... his psyche was practically invulnerable?
Or perhaps the captain before the change was the real manifestation of psychological problems, and his current transformation was not an ailment developing, but a kind of healing?
Just then, Neo checked his watch and said, "The garrison will be here soon. Looks like tonight is destined to pass without incident. Our prayers have been answered."
The moment the words left his mouth,
*Boom!*
Atop the roof of the Church Affairs Building across from them, a black vortex abruptly materialized, like a hole torn right through the domain covered by the Throne. A string of figures leaped out from the breach, throwing the crowd below maintaining the array into instant disarray. They had never anticipated that the Throne could develop an opening in such a bizarre and unheralded manner.
Karen spoke up: "Captain, an accident happened."
Neo slammed a palm onto the railing before him and remarked:
"Sure enough, God loves taking things in reverse."
Chapter 213