"In the name of the God I revere, I pray for Your divine might to descend and wipe away the dust of Order."
Delon floated in midair. Before him, a magic box continuously flipped and shifted, calculating every detail required to sustain the Throne of Order before his eyes. At this moment, his aged figure emanated a supreme majesty.
The opening page of Mr. Hoffen's notes on spell arrays bore an encouraging maxim:
[Remember, within your array, you are God!]
Beside Delon, more than thirty priests were bolstering his power, including his son Aisen, his daughter-in-law Kaixi, and his younger daughter.
There were four other small groups like this surrounding the Church Affairs Building of the Church of Samsara.
It was together that they had summoned the Throne of Order, sealing off the entire building.
The magic box flipped automatically. For the people of the Church of Samsara inside, breaking through the confinement in a short time was practically impossible. Moreover, the garrison would arrive very soon.
The reason such a time lag existed was secrecy.
In order to launch this surprise raid, the upper echelons of the Church of Order had used the Church of Pamires as a smokescreen to deceive everyone. The hardest part had not been fooling their enemies, but fooling... their own people.
The last orthodox church to be eradicated had been the Church of Light. In the nearly thousand years since, though the balance of power among the orthodox churches had shifted, the overall landscape had remained largely unchanged, and no large-scale church wars had broken out.
The longer peace lasted, the closer the exchanges and infiltration became.
Some moles might have developed into entire families within the rival church long ago, to the point where even the younger generation did not realize their own family were turncoats.
Before the marching knight orders mobilized, the soldiers might have assumed they were only rotating garrisons or setting off to subjugate the Church of Pamires. Aside from the respective corps commanders, only when the knights stepped through the teleportation gate and stood before the sacred domains of the Church of Samsara did the soldiers finally realize who their true target was.
Before the war began, not a shred of information could leak. Delon's department had even conducted a strict internal screening beforehand.
The former department director's hidden identity had long been "known." Even Delon, the deputy director, knew that his superior—who ranked half a grade above him—was not entirely clean, yet the upper echelons had never moved against him.
To the leadership, having a department head who was a mole was actually easier to handle. Knowing his own immense value, he would generally avoid foolishly planting more pawns in his department to hide and avoid exposure, lest any slipup implicate him.
In fact, he would pay special attention to the "purity" of the department's personnel, preventing sleeper agents from other churches from infiltrating and drawing high-level scrutiny to his department.
It truly was a case of one dirty man keeping the entire department clean.
At this moment, what came to Delon's mind was what his grandson had said before leaving home—that he was going to dine with a girl from the Church of Samsara?
Delon did not believe in such coincidences. It seemed that after joining that Hunting Dog Squad, his grandson had changed considerably.
Rather than being angry at his grandson's veiled attempt to probe him, the grandfather actually felt rather proud.
However, what he did not know was that he had another grandson, his daughter's son, currently standing on the rooftop of a tall building in the rear, gazing in this direction.
*Bang!*
A breach appeared atop the Church Affairs Building. It tore open without warning and in an exceedingly bizarre fashion; a corner of the magic box before Delon was shorn away as well.
*A Samsara Crystal?*
Delon immediately realized what the other side had used. This was truly the equivalent of running out of gravel while paving a road and tossing in diamonds instead.
"Aisen, lead a squad in pursuit! The rest of the squads will join me in putting all our strength into repairing the breach and maintaining the array. Remember, this place is key!"
Aisen immediately led a squad to pursue. Just as the opponents touched down, they arrived as well. The instant both sides clashed, a brutally fierce battle erupted.
"Samsara is endless; loyalty never dies!"
Five guards clad in dark red armor charged at the pursuing Order priests. A band of black material was wrapped around their armor; the moment they closed the distance, they detonated themselves directly!
*Boom! Boom!*
Fierce explosions tore through the air. The pursuing Order priests could only raise their barriers to block, but the blasts were laced with plagues, calamities, and other negative elements. Under the erosion of these powers, signs of damage appeared across several priests' barriers.
Many chose to halt and fall back. They were priests from the array department, not knights, garrison soldiers, or members of the Whip of Order with rich combat experience. They were essentially desk workers whose day-to-day duties revolved around research, design, and maintenance.
Faced with the enemy's suicidal onslaught, they were instantly intimidated. Not only did they fail to form an encirclement, but they also gave their quarry a chance to flee toward the east.
"Pursue!"
Aisen cast a layer of purification on himself, plunged into the dense smoke of negative elements ahead, and continued the chase.
Kaixi gritted her teeth, cast a purification on herself as well, and followed.
***
"They actually got away." Karen looked at the captain standing beside him.
Right now, he hoped the captain would order a pursuit, because he saw his socially anxious uncle had already recklessly charged in. Oh, and the woman chasing alongside him seemed to be his aunt; he had seen a family portrait of the three of them at Richard's house.
However, the captain's style had always been to focus purely on benefits. He did not know if the captain was willing to clean up another department's mess.
Neo spoke with a hint of excitement. "How extravagant, using a Samsara Crystal to break out. Do you know how much a Samsara Crystal costs in the point coupon shop? Three million Order coupons.
"The garrison hasn't even arrived yet—the building was only just sealed—and they didn't hesitate to use it to break through..."
Neo lowered his voice:
"This is a big fish. Definitely someone of distinguished status in the Church of Samsara. In normal times, there would be zero chance of hunting a big fish like this, let alone bearing the consequences that would follow.
"Fortunately, it's wartime!
"Hunting Dog Squad,
"move out!"
Neo leaped forward, transforming into a cloud of black mist that drifted down at extreme speed.
Karen opened his sword case, hoisted the Sword of Arius onto his shoulder, and jumped off the rooftop as well, his form turning into black mist as he closely followed the captain.
***
"Miss, you go first! I'll cover the rear!"
Luodun stopped alongside his two remaining subordinates and said to them, "I leave it to you!"
"For loyalty!"
"For loyalty!"
Facing the pursuing Aisen and Kaixi, the two guards charged straight ahead and, without the slightest hesitation, detonated themselves once more.
*Boom! Boom!*
At this moment, any intricate combat maneuvers were a hindrance; time was the most precious thing.
Aisen and Kaixi were blasted backward, though part of it was a deliberate evasion to reduce the blast damage.
Luodun, however, appeared right before Kaixi and swung his blade downward.
*Clang!*
The barrier, already fragile from absorbing the explosion, was cleaved apart with a single strike. A black square appeared on Kaixi's chest and rapidly expanded.
Yet the guard captain gave this Church of Order Jurist no opportunity to evade. Rather than retreating from her counterattack, he swept his blade across.
*Squelch!*
A fist-sized black hole appeared on the armor over Luodun's chest, blood gushing forth. But Kaixi was struck by the blade. Although a protective sacred relic on her body absorbed much of the damage, a gruesome wound was carved from her neck down to her chest, and the negative elements lingering from the explosion began eroding into her flesh.
Kaixi crashed to the ground, her face twisted in agonizing pain as the spiritual power within her churned in chaos.
In truth, she was not skilled in combat either, especially sudden close-quarters skirmishes. She lacked sufficient combat experience, even though she was very powerful.
From the corner of his eye, Luodun saw the male Order priest closing in. He deliberately ignored him, instead raising his blade and lunging recklessly toward the fallen female priest, shouting, "Kill as many as I can!"
Just as Luodun closed the distance and his blade was about to fall, two black halos of light appeared before him.
*Heh, they really don't know how to fight at all!*
Luodun sneered internally. He halted his forward momentum instantly, then pivoted away. As a red glow burst from his armor, he surged backward.
He knew how powerful these two pursuers were. He had to exploit the chaos created by his two subordinates' self-detonations to achieve the greatest possible result.
*Hum! Hum!*
Two black beams of light shot out from the halos, but because Luodun had reversed direction in time, they only grazed his shoulders, carving away two large chunks of armor. By then, Luodun was already right in front of Aisen.
If the man had ignored the woman and slowly engaged him in a steady battle of attrition, Luodun, already severely wounded, would have stood no chance.
Yet to save the woman, the man had cast a long-range spell, exposing a flaw in the process. That was precisely the opening Luodun was after!
A blue music box appeared in Aisen's hand. It split open, casting purple grids of light over the space before him. But Luodun plunged straight through the grid without hesitation. The unarmored parts of his body began to char; his soul endured the searing agony of burning, but he paid it no heed as he thrust his blade toward Aisen.
"Order's... Protection!"
"Too late!"
The power of protection tried to halt the blade's entry, but reinforced by Luodun's force, it breached the barrier. The blade's tip plunged into Aisen's chest.
Aisen's body shuddered, yet no pain showed on his face. Instead, a look of relief appeared in his eyes. Spreading his arms wide, black lightning crackled within his palms.
Luodun gave a savage grin. "Want to take me down with you? Fine, bring it on!"
***
"Captain, the pursuers below are being held back!"
"Our target is the big fish."
"Captain, the pursuers below are in danger!"
"Our target is the big fish."
High above, Karen watched the scene unfolding below with deep concern. After all, the two people down there were his uncle and aunt.
In truth, Karen did not feel any profound affection toward figures like "uncle, aunt, or maternal grandfather." At most, he had a mild goodwill toward them, but he could hardly call it closeness. Yet no matter what, in the study of the Inmerlais house, that woman had shielded him as a son even while knowing he was not hers.
Therefore, even if he did not truly view them as family, he was willing and obligated to protect them whenever circumstances allowed.
But what kind of person was the captain? To monopolize spoils, he had made Karen toss a Rax copper coin at Gendy's squad. Why would he care about what was happening down below? His sole target was that big fish who had used a Samsara Crystal to break through, accompanied by loyal guards willing to self-detonate to cover her escape. She was bound to be extraordinarily plump!
"They're Richard's dad and mom!"
Richard was a member of the squad. If they watched his parents encounter mortal danger and chose to ignore it, that would directly violate the code Neo himself had established for the Hunting Dog Squad.
"Go down then. After you finish, head to Gers Photo Studio!"
With that, the black mist carrying Neo veered off, as if he already knew the big fish's intended destination.
Karen had no time to ponder further. Midair, the black mist dispersed.
[Sea God's Armor]
[Dark Moon Blade]
Raising the Sword of Arius, Karen plummeted straight down from the sky!
***
The lightning of Order in Aisen's palms was about to slam into Luodun's head, and Luodun was ready to exhaust his last ounce of strength to skewer the Order priest through.
Just then, a flash of dark red light flickered. Luodun's body froze. His arms were still gripping the blade, but they were no longer attached to his torso.
Karen gave him no chance to react. In a slaughter, any extra movement before an enemy stopped breathing was pure foolishness. The Sword of Arius slashed horizontally, cleanly severing Luodun's neck. His head flew far through the air before hitting the ground; the headless corpse lost its balance and collapsed.
The entire process was effortless and fluid, because the man had stood there like a log, letting himself be cleaved.
Aisen hastily flung his closing hands out to the sides. Two bolts of black lightning crashed into the ground, blasting out two large craters.
The commotion gave Karen quite a fright. He had nearly been caught in his uncle's suicide attack.
"Karen?"
Clearly, Mr. Aisen recognized Karen as his son's God's Servant friend who had visited their home as a guest.
"Are you all right?" Karen asked.
"I'm fine." Mr. Aisen's expression began to stiffen.
It was hard to imagine that a man who had nearly died taking down an enemy just moments ago would have his social anxiety return the instant the life-or-death crisis passed.
*Uncle, your condition is quite severe.*
Karen even suspected that the previous "end" might have actually felt like a release to this man.
Aisen ran over to his wife and knelt down, casting purification and healing spells over her. A Jurist was naturally capable of basic healing spells, but anything more advanced would require a church hospital. Right now, the most critical step was preventing the toxins from seeping deeper through the wound and causing irreversible corruption.
"Please tend to your comrade. The Neo Squad will continue the pursuit!"
Leaving those words behind, Karen hoisted the Sword of Arius, transformed back into black mist, and departed.
"The Neo Squad... are they our Richard's... teammates?" the heavily injured Kaixi asked.
Aisen continually channeled purification into his own body with one palm while clamping his other hand over his wife's mouth to shut it. "Focus on stabilizing your spiritual power to purge the corruption. Shut up."
"..." Kaixi.
***
"Bertha, is the place you mentioned reliable?"
"If we don't go to my place now, are we supposed to go to one of your Church of Samsara's other strongholds? The Church of Order is clearly targeting you this time. Do you really think they'd overlook your other locations?"
"How far can the teleportation array there send us?"
"It's impossible to send you all the way back to Samsara Valley. It can only reach outside York City."
"That's enough. Their personnel are too densely packed in the city. Let's get out of York City first and hide. I need to find out what on earth happened out there, and why things turned out like this!"
"You really don't know?" Bertha asked. "Heh, you must know something, or you wouldn't have broken out at all costs the moment trouble started. You definitely know the Church of Order is playing for keeps this time, and given your status in the Church of Samsara, you wouldn't be spared once conflict broke out."
Talina did not reply. She did not know what had happened outside, so she did not want to reveal that matter to Bertha.
"I'm the one who truly got the raw deal here. I only came to sleep with you, and now I have to burn this teleportation point. You should know we didn't even activate this point during the last state of emergency."
"I will compensate you. You can rest assured on that."
The two arrived before Gers Photo Studio. Rather than knocking, they walked around to the side of the building. Because the studio sat at the end of the street, it had a side door.
The door was unlocked. Bertha opened it, revealing a staircase leading upward. Rather than heading upstairs, Bertha stood where she was as the aura of Light flowed from her fingertips, beginning the guidance. Promptly, the staircase trembled faintly. The lowest nine steps sank inward, revealing a pitch-black space below.
"A confinement array?" Talina asked.
"Yes. This array is extremely sensitive. Even with the power of Light, a single mistake during the guiding process will trigger the self-destruction of everything inside. That's why I said it's completely safe—no outsider could possibly enter."
Bertha bent down and stepped inside; Talina followed behind.
After walking a short distance, Bertha clapped her hands. Candles inside flickered to life, illuminating an open circular chamber. The teleportation array runes etched into the floor carried an ancient, weathered aura.
At the same time, the light illuminated a silhouette—a figure wearing a silver mask.
Bertha's face filled with utter shock. "How is this possible? How could anyone be in here!"
The man in the silver mask replied calmly,
"Because the array here was laid by me."
Chapter 214