My Grandfather Blew It Up

Neo slipped off the ring from his finger and held it out toward Karen. "Want to put on this mask and try it out?" Karen shook his head. "I'm more curious about your reason for doing this, Captain." Neo put the ring back on his finger. Light flashed across it, and Neo became Neo once more. "The reason, huh... Because one morning when I woke up and washed my face, looking at this face of mine, I suddenly got sick of seeing it, so I thought about trying on another face. "Yet after taking this face off, I regretted it. All I could do was craft it into a mask and put it back on." Karen knew full well this answer was complete nonsense. The reason he was spouting nonsense was that the captain had already laid a chip onto the gambling table; now it was Karen's turn to place an equal chip. As agreed beforehand, they would take turns on equal footing, step by step, so neither side would get the short end of the stick. Neo pulled over a chair, sat down, and nodded to Karen. Karen couldn't find a second chair in the collection room; it seemed Lemar didn't like sharing his collection room with anyone else. Left with no alternative, Karen could only lean against the wall beside him. "I'm not afraid of pollution. Under normal circumstances, I don't have to worry about pollution at all." "Karen, do you know the consequences of saying that? Whenever the squad encounters a pollution threat during missions in the future, you might be assigned to charge in first." "No problem," Karen replied crisply. That dense source of pollution beneath the sausage factory had only made him uncomfortable for a short while due to his initial unfamiliarity, leaving no real mark on him. That was sufficient proof that he didn't need to fear the vast majority of pollution threats in this world. "Go on." Neo raised a hand. Clearly, in Neo's eyes, this secret wasn't enough. Karen continued, "Because this body of mine was personally remade by an evil god." Neo froze. They were not ordinary people who used dramatic exclamations like "good god," "devil," or "demon." In their mouths, an "evil god" referred to only one thing: an existence officially designated as an evil god—an actual deity! After a long pause, Neo asked, "Raniedal?" "Yes." "When you spoke that name to Talina, did you already know I was watching nearby and say it deliberately for my ears? Or did you already anticipate this candid conversation back then and lay the groundwork in advance?" "In truth, I didn't think that far ahead." Karen looked at Neo. "Do you know of Raniedal, Captain?" Neo shook his head. "I don't. I rarely read those mythological texts carefully. I assume this evil god left behind no heritage, right?" "Yes." Karen knew that his dog hadn't left behind any believers—or rather, it had never established a church. That meant unless Raniedal had shone as brilliantly as the God of Order in the previous era, he was destined to be forgotten in the long river of history, his name perhaps only cropping up unexpectedly in the mythological narratives of other churches. Of course, that didn't mean an "unknown" god wasn't powerful. Some evil gods might truly be exceedingly formidable—stronger than ordinary deities, stronger than true gods backed by church lineages, perhaps even stronger than chief gods who possessed orthodox church heritages. It largely depended on who had suppressed them in the end. His dog could only bark, and it didn't seem fond of recounting its past. Karen had merely caught glimpses of its memories when loosening its seal, knowing only that it had once been an admirer of Goddess Mills and that, barring any surprises, its shadow had played a part in the schism of the Sea God Religion. "What is your relationship with Raniedal?" "Hard to say. It's like a pet dog I keep." "A pet dog?" "Yeah. Normally, you can feel how quiet, gentle, well-behaved, and sensible it is, as if it would walk right up to you, stick out its tongue with a smile, and ask you to pat its head. But you can't truly treat it like a pet dog, because it's hard to tell what's hiding behind that smile. Perhaps the happier it seems to smile, the deeper the hatred churning inside." "A very curious metaphor." "Yeah." "Are you a descended evil god?" Many people had misunderstood this in the past. Mr. Hoffen, Purr, Alfred, and Ms. Molly had all believed at one point that he was an evil god. Only Diss had known all along that he wasn't. After a brief hesitation, Karen felt that his chip for this round was already sufficient, but he didn't mind raising the stakes a little higher: "I'm not him. While I don't know your exact situation, Captain, I know very well that I am not an evil god, nor will I be bewitched by one. I am me—a very pure me." "Then your body?" "Merely that my body was remade by an evil god. That's why I can ignore the vast majority of pollution effects—because I myself might very well be the greatest source of pollution." "How did that happen?" "I was naughty as a kid, fell from an upper floor, and ended up like this." Neo tilted his head back and chuckled. "Looks like it's my turn again." "Yes, Captain." "Where should I start? Never mind, you ask and I'll answer." "Who is the 'it' inside you, Captain?" "Before answering that, I want to know: what was your previous guess?" "I previously thought you were a powerhouse among the Light remnants undercover in the Church of Order, Captain." "And then?" "Then, I began to suspect that your losing yourself was a confusion regarding your true identity, because someone wearing a mask is easily influenced by the mask's identity." "And now?" "Now... Actually, during our psychological consultation at the cafe, I already realized all my previous guesses were wrong, completely mistaken from the very start. And when you took off your mask just now, I felt there was no need to keep guessing. I want to hear the answer from you, Captain." "I am Neo," Neo said, looking at Karen with a smile. "Just as you described yourself earlier, I am purely me. At least, for now I am, though I can't guarantee what will happen in the future." "So the 'it' in you, Captain, is actually the intruder?" "Yes. Do you know of the Glan Sea?" "It seems to be north of Wien, not too far away." "Ten years ago... eleven years ago to be exact, back when I was still an ordinary member of a Whip of Order squad, I went with my team to the Glan Sea on a mission. We were pursuing a target by ship when an oceanic whirlpool appeared in those waters." Neo traced several clockwise circles with his finger in front of Karen. Karen understood that this meant something like a whirlpool at sea. "Our ship was swallowed by the whirlpool. I fought with all my might to break free. Although I managed to abandon ship and pull away some distance, in the end, my spiritual power was drained dry, stripping me of the ability to keep resisting that suction. I passed out. "When I awoke, I found myself in an underwater cave. The cave wasn't very large, and because of an elevation curve inside, seawater couldn't flood into where I was lying. Still, getting out was extraordinarily difficult. Back then, not only was I injured, but I was also thoroughly exhausted. "The combat supplies I was supposed to carry on me, like healing potions and stamina-replenishing food, had all been lost in the sea. "I noticed patches of something resembling seaweed around me, though it was black. "At the time, unable to care about anything else, I began eating that seaweed. It did indeed fill my stomach, but very soon, I realized my mistake: what I had swallowed wasn't just seaweed, but likely insect eggs as well. They began growing inside my body. "I could feel my body wasting away with every passing half-day. They were using the energy inside me to fuel their own growth. I was being parasitized. "Looking back now, it was really due to my lack of experience back then. Not only did all the seaweed I ate go straight back to those bugs, but it cost me my already wounded and weakened body. "Yet my survival instinct was very strong back then. No, my survival instinct has always been strong—perhaps that's why no matter what happens now, I habitually keep striving to live on. "I began searching that small ledge, hoping to find something to eat other than that black seaweed. I was truly starving then; I had never been so hungry in my entire life. "And then, in a fissure between the rocks, I found a corpse." "A corpse?" Karen was genuinely surprised. He had assumed that, following the usual trope, the captain would have found a journal or a treasure; he never expected it to be a corpse. "Yes, a corpse. The corpse of a middle-aged man. He wore an ordinary divine robe, the kind without any church emblem. I dragged him out of the fissure. To my surprise, I could tell from various details that he had been dead there for many years, yet his body showed no sign of decay at all. Everything was just as if he were still alive, looking as though he might open his eyes and speak to me at any second. "And then, I caught an aroma coming from him." "An aroma?" "Yes, an aroma. It wasn't that I found him fragrant simply because I was starving out of my mind, nor am I making excuses or laying groundwork for what I did next. Back then, I even checked carefully: the fragrance was genuinely radiating from his body, a very real scent. "And then... I ate him. "Do you find that disgusting?" Karen shook his head. "Not only do I not find it disgusting, but it feels almost natural under the circumstances." "While I ate, the bugs inside me were eating too. I even gnawed down and swallowed his bones. His bones were very soft, every single one of them, chewing like soft cartilage. "Just like that, by consuming him, I survived for several days, right until the bugs seemed to reach a certain stage of growth and left my body on their own. "I still remember that sensation even now. They crawled out of me like a mass migration, and back then, I actually felt a wave of gratitude toward them. "Thank God they weren't the kind of parasites that stayed permanently; they had merely used my body as a temporary incubator. "That corpse was extremely nutritious. Not only did it provide everything those bugs needed to grow, but it also gave me the time to recover my vitality and heal my injuries. "Moreover, I could clearly feel that by eating him, the spiritual power within me seemed to have grown much more robust. "Once I felt mostly healed—and also because even the bone fragments had been chewed clean—I had no choice but to take a gamble. I dove into the water to leave the ledge, and relying on my heightened spiritual power, braving immense peril, I finally managed to break the surface. "My luck held. While adrift, I ran into a fishing boat. They rescued me and brought me back to Wien. "Only after coming ashore did I learn that everyone else in my squad—the captain and the other members—had perished. I was the only survivor." "So when did the change start to occur?" Karen asked. He was sure that consuming that corpse inevitably had lingering repercussions—which was the "it" the captain had to constantly confront. "During the first month after coming ashore, I didn't go to work at the church, and the church didn't disturb me. I stayed quietly at home. The deaths of my captain and teammates didn't make me despondent; I only thought about resting for a while before returning to church duties and applying to join another Whip of Order squad. "However, during that month, I began having frequent dreams when I slept at night. I dreamt of the man I had eaten appearing before me. "He talked to me, constantly preaching the doctrines of Light. "My heart was unmoved by him, but my body gradually underwent changes beyond my control. Within me, the aura of Light actually began to flow. "Isn't that laughable? "Even with my inner faith remaining steadfast, "my body was filled with the power of Light. "I knew "that I "had been polluted." Karen licked his lips. The captain had been polluted by Light. Light and pollution seemed hard to associate with one another, yet what had happened to the captain was precisely that. As a believer of the God of Order, while his inner devotion remained firm, he had gained the power of Light. This was pollution. Light had remade the captain's body. Just as Purr had once said: the distinction between a priest and an aberrant demon wasn't actually that clear-cut. Neo looked at Karen and said, "I initially thought you were like me, using the power of Light as a medium to cast Order spells. But later I realized you were different from me. Pure power of Order is still retained within you." "Yes, that's true." "When I realized my situation, I was very anxious at first, feeling it was a desecration of my faith. But with no other choice, I had to learn how to disguise myself by converting Light power into Order spells. "So I wasn't an undercover agent lurking in the Church of Order, because I was a member of the Church of Order to begin with. "Later on, I applied to join another Whip of Order squad and continued serving the church. After that, I was promoted and allowed to form my own Whip of Order squad. "It was during this period that I discovered something. I had thought being 'polluted' by Light was the end of it, but in truth, it was only the beginning. "I could sense him awakening inside me. He didn't just appear in my dreams; he often spoke in my mind during the day while I was wide awake. After polluting my body, he began focusing on polluting my soul. "The faith I had once thought unshakeable began to crumble. "He began attempting to influence me, control me, alter me... "He even revealed his plan to me: he wanted me to become him, and then continue lurking within the Church of Order. "At the time, I couldn't seek help from anyone else. I could only rely on myself. And then, I came up with an idea." "The method was the mask?" "Yes." Neo nodded, running his finger along the ring. "That was my purpose in crafting this mask. I simply abandoned all resistance against him, even proactively following his guidance, letting him take charge of who I was at the time." Neo gazed at the portraits on the wall. "And I succeeded. For nearly a year, he became me, and I became him. Our roles completely inverted during that period. He took action, he lurked, he worked, he assembled the Whip of Order squad that belonged to me. It was he who set the precedent of recruiting lawbreakers into the Whip of Order squad; afterwards, I merely followed his established practice and used that standard to recruit members. "Then, while he worked, lived, and slept, I began bewitching him, preaching the doctrines of Order to him." "..." Karen was speechless. "Does it sound laughable?" "No." Karen shook his head. "Captain, you're truly incredible." Such a method was genuinely beyond the imagination of an ordinary person. It was effectively: *If I cannot break my inner demon, I will let the inner demon become me, while I become the inner demon—and then bewitch him.* Karen pointed toward the ring in the captain's hand and asked, "So this mask was the most powerful psychological suggestion you gave yourself back then?" "Yes, that was the function it served. When I put on my own mask for the first time, he became me, and I became him. When I took off this mask on my own initiative for the first time, it proved that I had become myself once more. "In the end, after spending a full year, I succeeded. I took back my soul, took back my consciousness, took back my body, and took back my faith. Except... this damned power of Light could no longer be changed. What's more, he left me with a remarkably high realm in the Light discipline and plenty of Light spells." "And what about it?" "Dead." "Dead?" "That's the best way to put it. The portion he released has already been assimilated by me, or rather killed by me. But I know that there is still an exceptionally massive part of him that has yet to be triggered. "Didn't you use the metaphor of me walking into the depths of the flames with a clear mind? After Elisa died, I began attempting to leaf through him." "So that's how it is." "In fact, right before I first met Elisa, I was on a mission with a moderate danger level. But I had just killed him and reclaimed my soul and body, leaving my spirit severely depleted and my thoughts in utter disarray. During the mission, I was even talking to myself while fighting the target. "Then, I was critically injured. "Elisa rescued me. In order to keep me alive, she shared her bloodthirsty aberrant demon bloodline with me. "So now you know why, despite possessing bloodthirsty aberrant demon bloodline, I don't need rest fluid. "What are the murmurs of those ancestors compared to that guy? Hehehe. I even feel that ever since he was assimilated by me, my soul has been a bit too quiet and dull. Having the voice of that bloodthirsty aberrant demon ancestor pop up now and then is actually quite nice—it relieves boredom. It's just a pity that aberrant demon ancestor always prattles nonsense and never dares step inside on his own initiative. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind stepping aside again to play another round of that game." Neo took a deep breath and looked toward Karen. "Alright, your turn. I hope your chip for the second round won't disappoint me." "My surname is Inmerlais." "Inmerlais?" Neo frowned slightly. Clearly, he was unfamiliar with this surname, as Neo didn't come from a church lineage family himself. Furthermore, a family of Inquisitors was far less renowned than Richard's family of Jurists. "Captain, you should know about the explosion at the Temple of Order, right?" "Of course I know. That incident triggered a whole chain of reactions—in fact, it directly pushed forward, or brought about early, this war between Order and Samsara." "Yeah. My grandfather blew it up." "..." Neo.