Revenge!

Neo sat down by the beach. The tide washed over the soles of his boots again and again, receding and returning in an untiring cycle. "Heh... heh..." He started chuckling, his laughter sputtering on and off for a long time. Perhaps the most ridiculous thing in the world was not even knowing what you were laughing at. When Neo looked up once more toward the dark moon hanging in the sky, his smile faded away, replaced gradually by a profound detachment. Karen was not here. If he were, he would probably feel that the Captain he had first known had returned. Neo opened his left palm, held a dagger in his right hand, and slashed a cut across his flesh. Remaining seated, he rested the wounded hand casually on his knee, letting the blood drip steadily. The blood did not sink into the sand; instead, it pooled together into a small puddle. Gradually, the blood coalesced into an elderly face that looked up at Neo. With a rueful, helpless expression, the old face said, "He's gone, so you summon me?" Neo did not answer, turning his gaze toward the sea. The old face continued, "This bloodline ritual to summon an ancestor inflicts severe damage on your bloodline purity. You shouldn't be so reckless, wasting it like this." Neo still said nothing. "He's gone, so let him be gone. He never existed to begin with." Hearing this, Neo finally shifted his eyes back to the old face. "You know I'm speaking the truth. Didn't you tell me in a dream that night about the excellent psychiatrist you visited in the cafe? What he told you has always made a lot of sense. Neo, in trying to prevent yourself from being assimilated by him, you swung from one extreme to another." "He isn't me." "He *is* you," the old face said with absolute certainty. "You carry my bloodline. Through the Light ritual, your connection to me deepened and strengthened. Even though you weren't born of the pure Avanas family bloodline, you carry the spirit that resonates with our family. You're better suited to inherit my will than my own blood descendants. Although I do need to thank him—if not for him, I might not have been able to communicate with you to this degree. But the truth is that I am the sole independent consciousness within your bloodline. My true body may be sealed away, and my memories fragmented—I don't even know where my true body is or who sealed me—but the bloodthirsty aberrant demon within you distinctly exists, and therefore, so do I. He, on the other hand, does not. Neo, if you feel lonely, you can give me the empty seat he left behind. Perhaps I can take his place so you won't feel uncomfortable in his absence." "In your dreams." Facing this blunt rejection, the old face did not grow angry. Instead, it smiled. "See? You can accept him occupying that place in your heart, yet you refuse to clear a seat for me. The reason is obvious: you were assimilated by him. It's nothing more than you being replaced by another version of yourself who believes in Light—like two sides of the same coin. Whether heads or tails, they belong to the same coin. But I am different. You know full well that once you are assimilated by me, I, Avanas, will use my descendant's bloodline to usurp his body and life, gaining a new rebirth. You and I do not belong to the same coin. He and you do. Deep down, you've known that all along, haven't you?" Neo fell silent again. The old face felt rather helpless. He had paid the price of degrading his bloodline to summon it, yet he refused to speak. Such petulance. "Or perhaps you could fully open your memories to me. Maybe I could help you more. For instance, I'm very interested in that subordinate of yours, Karen. My intuition tells me you're hiding a great deal about him from me. At least grant me the same treatment you gave him, won't you?" "You don't deserve it." "*Sigh*..." The old face could not even summon the energy to be angry. "It hasn't been easy for you. Anyone else with both me and him poured into their body would have gone mad or been completely assimilated, yet you still manage to keep yourself intact. But I must say it again: he doesn't exist. He truly doesn't. What he left inside you was only fragments of memory. He was never an independent consciousness; you've just been wrestling with another version of yourself. Do you think he was the one who gave up on revenge? No. It was you, Neo. You were the one who gave up on revenge. You awakened Dorons, you ordered Dorons to march on the town, and you had Dorons display its death and decay. But at the same time, it was you who made it stop and ultimately abandoned the vengeance. Philias never existed from beginning to end—never! He didn't abandon revenge because of some Light; it was because that was the choice of your other self. Could you really bring yourself to let Dorons crush the town? Could you really bring yourself to let Dorons self-destruct and completely corrupt this Dark Moon Island? No, you couldn't. Your identity and your allegiances wouldn't allow it. That is why Philias chose to give up on revenge. In truth, it was you rounding out your own extremes all along. You raised the torch, but you didn't want to set the brushwood ablaze, so you concocted a beautiful excuse for yourself and gave up on revenge. Heh. This was nothing more than a game you played all by yourself." A disdainful smirk curved the corner of Neo's lips. Seeing this, the old face pressed on: "You ought to trust my judgment. Although I'm like a piece of driftwood on the vast sea right now, I've seen far too many storms. I hope you can wake up, Neo. He doesn't exist. Now that he's gone, you can return to your original self. Or perhaps this was your plan all along, wasn't it? Use the most extreme emotions to draw out that nonexistent self, and then use the most fitting excuse to send that nonexistent self away. Because even though he objectively didn't exist, he subjectively exerted a real influence on you. Dorons was controlled by you. Of course, as a divine beast of Light, it might indeed possess a gentle nature." "What about the other people on its back?" "Those were merely illusions you created yourself. You were deceiving others while deceiving yourself. Neo, this was a one-man show written, directed, and acted entirely by you. He does not exist." "He exists." "Unfortunately, our debate will reach no conclusion, nor can it be proven. We can only wait for you to clear your head. I believe it won't take long for you to walk out of it." "No, it can be proven." "How?" "Snake Island." *** Inside the Palace of Longing, there were only a handful of low-ranking guards. They wore uniforms adorned with a single crescent moon rather than armor, and their daily duty was maintaining street order. In truth, they were barely more than ordinary mortals; any martial artist of decent capability had already been mobilized into the legion to intercept Dorons. Dealing with them was effortless. With a simple Light spell, Karen stunned them into unconsciousness. Moving before the coffin, Karen manifested the Sea God's Armor over his body. Empowered by its strength, he slowly pushed open the coffin lid. Lying inside was Bernard himself. His corpse was preserved exceptionally well, bearing no signs of decay. His features differed considerably from the statues and portraits found everywhere on Dark Moon Island, which mostly depicted Bernard in his prime; the Bernard in the coffin had hair streaked half-white. Traces of age were visible, yet he did not look frail. In life, he had clearly been an old man who took meticulous care of his appearance. He wore an aristocratic Dark Moon robe with a full moon embroidered on the chest. On his head rested a Dark Moon crown cap, around his neck hung a string of pearls, his left hand gripped a scepter, his right held a short sword, and a blue conch shell was tied to his waist. Anything buried alongside Bernard was undoubtedly precious, but Karen chose to ignore them. It wasn't that he didn't want them, but rather that he knew full well he might carry these sacred relics away now, only for their resonance to give away his location later. Right now, everyone on Dark Moon Island was focused entirely on Dorons. Once Dorons departed and the threat subsided, they would immediately discover that their ancestor's corpse had vanished. They would mobilize all their strength to track it down, perhaps even enlisting the Church of Order's aid. He wouldn't have time to study and seal these funerary relics. With a little effort, the pursuers would be able to sense them, and taking them along would only invite immense trouble. Most importantly, his primary objective was Bernard himself. Moreover, he had no intention of simply burning the corpse to ashes—that would be letting Bernard off far too easily. He needed to find a quiet, undisturbed place to take his time. Karen took off his clerical robe, stripped Bernard of his lavish attire, wrapped the corpse in his Church of Order robe, and hauled the body onto his shoulder. After a moment's hesitation, he felt this posture wasn't quite right. Though he was carrying a dead man, he didn't want outsiders to see that he was carrying a corpse. In the end, Karen gripped Bernard's arms and hoisted him onto his back. Transforming into a cloud of black mist, he slipped out of the Palace of Longing and materialized once more on the road behind it. Breathing a long sigh of relief, he continued carrying Bernard toward the Bernard Hotel. Along the way, he encountered Order priests and Dark Moon martial artists retreating from the front lines. Several of them took the initiative to greet Karen and ask if he needed help; Karen politely responded that his companion had merely been injured and knocked unconscious, so it was nothing serious. Halfway there, Karen flagged down a passing carriage. The carriage was packed with belongings; the driver had likely been fleeing the disaster earlier, but had returned promptly. Riding in a carriage was far more convenient. When they reached the hotel entrance, the driver brought the carriage to a stop. "Drive in," Karen instructed. "Uh, my lord, outside carriages aren't allowed into the hotel grounds." "I told you to drive in." The driver had no choice but to urge the unicorn forward. The guards at the hotel entrance were far fewer than usual, with only four or five sentries wearing single-crescent uniforms on duty. Seeing an outside carriage approaching, they stepped forward to block it. Karen pushed open the carriage door, leaned out, and barked at them: "My companion is injured and unconscious. Out of the way!" "Y-Yes, my lord!" "Right away, my lord!" The carriage was granted passage. Under Karen's direction, the driver brought the carriage to the courtyard entrance. Karen hoisted Bernard onto his back and stepped down. The driver said hurriedly, "Goodbye, my lord! No need to pay the fare—thank you for protecting our Dark Moon Island!" "The one who protected you wasn't me." "Yes, of course, thanks be to the great Church of Order." "Nor was it the Church of Order." "Uh... then who was it?" "They probably wouldn't care for your thanks anyway." The giant beast Dorons' final halt had earned Karen's heartfelt admiration. Yet if placed in the same position, Karen knew he could never bring himself to show such mercy. That was likely the difference in their faiths. Still, Philias had shown him what true Light really looked like. They were entirely different from the Light remnants he had encountered before; these were genuine believers of Light. Since the Light had chosen its own path to pursue its convictions, it was now time for him to uphold Order in the manner of Order. "You may go." Baffled, the driver could only turn the unicorn around and head back toward the hotel gates. Inside the carriage, Karen had left a hundred Order coupons for the fare. The courtyard was quiet. Although Dorons had turned back by now, the various contingents had not yet returned. The courtyard was not entirely deserted, however; some people, even when present, would never disturb the peace. For instance, Mr. Memphis—his uncle, Aisen—who was currently sitting by the small pond in the center of the courtyard. The Captain had dispatched him to the Palace of Longing to help ignite the conflict. After the chaos erupted, he had hidden for a good while before returning to the hotel according to the Captain's original plan, thereby missing the Whip of Order's mobilization in the meantime. In truth, Neo's squad had gathered rather poorly this time. The Captain was absent, Karen was absent, and Memphis was absent—the three strongest members of the squad were nowhere to be found. But it mattered little. Bishop Wolflen had an administrative background and would not lead troops to set up arrays or charge into battle. Once the Whip of Order squads were assembled, they were quickly parceled out under various bishops, so the incomplete attendance of Neo's squad drew no attention at all. Mr. Aisen stood up and asked of his own accord, "Who's injured?" Virtually every high-ranking priest knew a few simple healing spells. Karen gave no reply, carrying Bernard straight into his own room and dumping the body onto the Captain's bed. Mr. Aisen followed him inside, holding a magic scroll and preparing to cast a healing spell. Karen did not stop him. He simply washed his hands, poured himself a large glass of ice water, and gulped down several mouthfuls. Mr. Aisen rolled Bernard over and saw his face. His hands froze. After a long pause, he turned his head to look at Karen, glanced up at the portrait of Bernard hanging in the room, and looked back down at the figure lying on the bed. Karen spoke up: "It's him." Mr. Aisen nodded, pushed Bernard further onto the bed, pulled the quilt over him, and sat down on the edge of the mattress. Karen said, "Dorons has retreated. By now, it should be nearing the sea." "I saw it from the courtyard." "I reached an agreement with the person controlling Dorons. I promised to help him take revenge on Bernard, and in exchange, he wouldn't let Dorons destroy the town. What do you think?" "Fair and reasonable." "So I need your help next." "Tell me." "Help me activate a teleportation array." "Alright." Karen found communicating with this uncle of his remarkably straightforward. All it took was spinning a reasonable excuse and telling him what needed to be done. "I'm going to change into a clean clerical robe. Go prepare a carriage from the hotel. We'll leave immediately. That place should be unguarded right now, so we can use the teleportation array directly." "Understood." Karen took his clothes and stepped into the bathroom. Stripping off everything, he turned on the shower and rinsed off briefly. It wasn't that he was being overly fastidious; the mere thought of carrying Bernard made him want to wash thoroughly. After a quick shower, Karen dried himself off. Just then, Richard's excited voice rang out from the room. "Oh, Karen, you're actually still sleeping! Do you have any idea what kind of spectacle you missed today?!" Karen dressed and stepped out of the bathroom, only to see Richard lying on the bed, affectionately draping an arm over Bernard. Richard: "..." Blinking, Richard scrambled up, pulled back the quilt, and flipped the body over. Looking at that face, Richard snapped his head toward Karen, and then toward the portrait on the wall. Father and son indeed—the exact same sequence of reactions. "Th-this... wait, no..." Richard was so shocked he couldn't even string a sentence together. Mr. Aisen opened the door, looked at Karen, and said, "The carriage is ready." Karen pointed at Richard. "Carry him and come with us." "Oh, okay." With his father, Karen still needed to invent an excuse; with Richard, he didn't need to offer one at all. Richard hoisted Bernard onto his back and boarded the carriage. Aisen drove outside while Karen and Richard sat inside. Richard was still scrutinizing Bernard closely. "Is this really Bernard's corpse?" "Yeah, I hauled him out of his coffin." "Why did you carry him out?" "Grown-up business. Kids shouldn't ask." "Okay," Richard muttered, his mind still in a daze. The carriage arrived at Tafman's villa. Richard carried Bernard's corpse down again. The villa was completely deserted; the guards had been reassigned long ago, and the servants who had fled hadn't yet returned. Karen led them up to the master bedroom on the third floor and pointed to the massive chandelier overhead. "The array's switch is up there." "Alright." Mr. Aisen transformed into a cloud of black mist and drifted up to the ceiling. After securing his position, he began adjusting the chandelier, but he descended almost immediately. Karen was slightly surprised. "So fast?" "Most of the parts were already in the correct positions. No further adjustments were needed." Had the Dark Moon people studied the array later and simplified the mechanism? No matter. "Begin the teleportation," Karen said. Mr. Aisen activated the array. White light surged from the floor, and the three people along with the corpse vanished from the room. When Karen opened his eyes again, he found himself before the stone stele. "Richard, put the corpse down." "Oh, alright." Richard gently set Bernard on the ground. Seeing this, Karen said, "Pick him up again." "Oh, okay." Richard hoisted Bernard onto his back once more. "Drop him roughly." Richard: "..." *Thud!* Richard dumped Bernard's body face-first onto the ground. Karen turned his gaze toward the corpse pit before them. He had intended to select a few spectators—most notably Lady Jennifer, who had once been Purr's good friend. Karen meant to perform an Awakening on her shortly so she could bear witness. Yet as his gaze swept across the corpses lying in the pit, astonishment and confusion surfaced on his face. He turned to Mr. Aisen beside him and asked: "Mr. Memphis, can you sense any spiritual power in them?" "The corpses have likely been kept here for too long, so their internal spirituality dissipated long ago." "No. When I came here a few days ago, there was spiritual power in them." Of this, Karen was certain. It was an occupational habit of his—most priests of the Church of Order possessed it, but Karen's was far more acute. "Then... did someone perform a purification on them? But I can't detect any lingering traces of purification. To purify so many corpses in just a few days, it couldn't possibly be this clean." Karen suddenly froze. "I understand now." With an expression of disbelief, Karen tapped his forehead lightly with his palm. Shouldn't this have been the Captain's split personality? Yet the reality before him was undeniable: "They... really did embark on a new voyage."