From the moment he woke until now, Bernard had carried himself with utter servility.
He had no other choice. Opening his eyes only to find himself pinned down by so many spell formations left him without any alternatives. After all, his life and death hung on a single whim of his captor.
Operating under that reality, Bernard had pushed his humility to the limit. He wanted to live, he wanted to diffuse the situation, and he wanted to wait for the promise he had slumbered so long to see fulfilled.
Only now did Bernard finally wake to the truth. He was wrong—catastrophically wrong.
Perhaps his tactics would have worked on anyone else besides the young man standing before him.
Yet, put another way, anyone susceptible to such tactics would never have gone out of their way to drag his body all the way from the Palace of Longing to this place and make such meticulous preparations.
It was a paradox. Bernard had failed to realize it at first, though anyone newly awakened from a century of slumber would have found it difficult to grasp their surroundings immediately.
This youth had not come seeking answers. He already knew far too many of Bernard's secrets. Bizarrely, after a full hundred years, the way the youth spoke sounded less like an investigator and more like someone who had lived through it all firsthand.
Nor had he come to negotiate. The multitude of spell formations bound across Bernard's body were not bargaining chips for a discussion; they were restraints to ensure he could not violently thrash or resist when his judgment came.
This was an execution. A judgment decided long ago.
The previous conversation, the probing questions, and the buildup had merely been ways for the young man to trample him for personal satisfaction—a deliberate humiliation before the sentence was carried out.
*How foolish I was. Truly foolish.*
That was Bernard’s only thought now. If not driven by desperation, who would ever willingly bow and scrape?
And once all retreat was cut off, sycophancy lost the very soil in which it grew.
"After talking in circles for so long, this turns out to be a judgment of Light." A bitter smile crept onto Bernard's face. "Light hiding in the shadow of Order... How exhausting it must have been for you, paying such a steep price just for this vengeance."
Karen shook his head. "No, you're mistaken. Dealing with you is merely on my way. I never took a detour for your sake, nor did I ever stay behind specifically for you."
It was true for himself, and it was true for the Captain.
If not for the war between Order and Samsara, neither he nor the Captain would have ever set foot on Dark Moon Island.
Bernard countered, "You could gain immense benefits from me. For instance, the treasures I stashed before entering my slumber. There are three on Dark Moon Island, several more on the surrounding isles, and I know of numerous secret realms rich with precious resources. All of these are fortunes beyond measure, ripe for you to claim. On top of that, I possess a wealth of experience and insight that could aid you tremendously.
"You are only a Radiant Cultivator. I know you must need these things. If you abandon your revenge, you can secure a far brighter future."
In the old hierarchy of the Church of Light, a Radiant Cultivator was the equivalent of an Inquisitor in the Church of Order.
An Inquisitor had moved beyond the rank of God's Shepherd, becoming an authority permitted to execute judgment on behalf of Order. A Radiant Cultivator—also known as a Radiant One—meant one could represent Light itself, shedding illumination upon those around them.
Karen replied, "You should know that everything I said earlier was true. If I wanted to, Dark Moon Island could belong to me in the future. Why would I care about your petty treasures? As for your experience and secret realms...
"I'm sorry, but I am far, far wealthier than you could ever imagine.
"Your life's experience doesn't even match that of a dog in my house."
Karen held out his hand. A stone lamp resting nearby was seized by an unseen force and flew into his palm. A wisp of luminous flame flickered to life upon it, radiating a gentle, sacred warmth.
"Your judgment is utterly meaningless beyond revenge!"
"Stripping away meaning and acting purely for revenge is the highest pleasure."
"You are shockingly short-sighted!"
"I only care about enjoying the present."
"Are you not worried about your future path?"
"The last thing I ever worry about is my talent."
Karen walked to the edge of the sarcophagus and tilted the stone lamp toward Bernard. The flame inclined, spilling onto Bernard's chest.
It was faint, yet it burned steadily into Bernard's soul, inflicting prolonged agony. It was like carving a wound that would never close, letting the blood flow endlessly until the victim succumbed to exhaustion and blood loss.
Karen had envisioned many specific ways to punish Bernard, but in the end, he had chosen this one.
Bernard knew that violent resistance would trigger an instant, brutal slaughter by the formations bound to his flesh.
Inflicting this slow, agonizing torture allowed the flames to roast his soul while keeping a sliver of hope alive in his heart—only to drag him into ultimate despair.
*Speak, then.*
*I give you the chance to keep talking.*
*I am the one who pushed you off the cliff, and I am the one holding the only rope. Even if you know full well this rope will never pull you back to safety, would you have the heart to let go?*
This was true punishment.
"I imagine that when you buried Miss Jennifer alive in her coffin, you stood right here, listening to the sounds of her nails scratching against the wood. You enjoyed that sound, didn't you?
"What a coincidence.
"I enjoy it too."
Bernard's face twisted in agony, but his eyes remained locked on Karen.
"Nothing I say now matters, does it?"
"That's right. But I like listening to you speak."
"I have a secret! I can tell you!"
"Go on, speak."
"Promise me first! Give me a chance to live! I don't know how many years I've slept, but I can feel that the date I've been waiting for cannot be far off!"
"I won't promise you that."
"You don't want to know the secret?"
"I do."
"See, you want to know! You were right earlier—I didn't have to kill Philias and the others. I knew they were good people! They were a bunch of kindhearted fools!
"I knew that if I told them to leave, they would have walked away!
"I never had to worry about them retaliating against Dark Moon Island over a broken promise. They would never do such a thing. They were good people, heh... haha!"
"Yes, they were good people."
"Yet I still did it! I spared no one, slaughtered them all! Even Philias—he may have escaped, but I never worried about him, because he was grievously wounded when he fled. He couldn't have lived long!"
"Yes, he died."
"Someone gave me guidance! Explicit guidance! They made me a promise I couldn't refuse, and that was why I did it! Don't you want to know who?"
"I do."
"Then let me go!"
"No."
Bernard: "..."
A faint smile touched Karen's lips as he watched Bernard writhe in agony. "I'm sorry, but I am not Philias."
"You want me to take this secret to my grave?"
"Suit yourself."
"What is your name?! I at least deserve to know whose hands I am dying by!"
Karen did not answer.
"You don't dare tell me your name! Hahaha! You don't dare! Are you afraid? Oh no, you're not afraid of me—you're afraid of the world outside learning what you're doing right now! No, you're terrified that whoever holds my secret will find out what you've done today, aren't you?!"
"Yes."
"Since you know fear, you should understand just how terrifying that secret is! You should stop right now!"
"Do you know why you must die? Precisely because I am genuinely afraid. The more frightened I am, the more certain it is that you must die."
"You are nothing like Philias!"
"I already told you that."
"Philias was a true believer in Light, but you—you are not!"
"You should have seen earlier that my faith belongs to Order."
"You're nothing more than a remnant of Light hiding within the ranks of Order! How dare someone like you claim to believe in Order? Haha, so this is why the remnants of Light can never be thoroughly wiped out! You hide too well! Like maggots in a public latrine—pale and soft on the outside, yet always lurking in the foulest filth!
"*Aaaargh!*"
The searing agony tearing at his soul drove Bernard's words into manic hysteria. Like a drowning man bobbing frantically on the surface, he could only blurt out whatever came to mind, with no time to polish his thoughts.
"Name your price! Anything I can give, I will give you!"
Karen said evenly, "Everything you cannot have, I already possess."
Bernard's complexion had turned a sickly, waxen yellow. A soul was not liquid, yet his soul seemed to be evaporating. Bernard was drawing closer and closer to death, enduring an agony beyond words.
Looked at from another angle, his will to survive was remarkably fierce.
Karen reflected that if he were the one lying there, he would have long since resorted to a barrage of vile curses, venting every foul word imaginable before death in whatever language came to mind.
Yet Bernard didn't.
And the more Bernard clung to life, the more it proved that Karen's chosen punishment was the right one.
Karen reached out and nudged the flame on Bernard's chest with a fingertip. It truly was endearing.
"I don't believe Miss Purr would ever willingly follow you! She had no interest in men at all!"
"You don't speak for all men."
"She was just a woman chasing pure adventure!"
"Even adventurers get tired."
"She would never endure the boredom of staying confined to a home!"
"Right now, she can endure loneliness better than anyone."
After all, she had spent so long living as a cat in the Inmerlais household without losing her mind, still preserving her noble lady's temperament. When it came to bearing loneliness, Karen knew even he fell short of her.
"What food did she like?"
"She likes fish."
"I thought she was sick of seafood... She was never satisfied with anything I cooked."
"Dark Moon Island's seafood? I've tasted it. It truly is awful."
"I loved her."
"I know."
"Every time she rejected me, it filled me with excitement inside."
"I understand."
"After every rejection, I only wanted to possess her more!"
"I see."
"If not for her formidable strength, she would have become the mistress of Dark Moon Island long ago!"
"I'm well aware."
Karen never doubted Purr's former power. Back then, Sidi had crossed paths with Purr, which was why Grandfather, during negotiations with the Church of Order at the church before his slumber, had deliberately strung Sidi up on a cross to let her catch the breeze.
To have had a feud with a Temple Elder was proof enough of Purr's past strength and standing.
After all, she had once lamented that she regretted adopting the family faith system, having had no idea her ancestor was so weak.
Having set foot on Dark Moon Island and observed Bernard's borderline pathological possessiveness firsthand, Karen understood all the more clearly: had Purr not been so powerful, she would not have faced an untiring lapdog, but a starving wolf baring its fangs.
"She was beautiful, wasn't she?"
"Yes."
"What did you like about her? If you don't want to answer, you don't have to."
"Her figure. I don't care for women who are too thin; hers was just right."
"I..."
"And her temper. She might have treated you poorly, but she often acts coy with me. Sometimes, when she realizes she said something hurtful, she even goes out of her way to comfort me and give me a hug."
"Her... temper..."
"You know, whenever I watch her eat, I find her adorable. She's so easily satisfied. A bag of coffee beans that costs just five Order coupons can make her happy for an entire afternoon."
"Go to hell! *Go to hell!*"
Bernard completely lost his mind, thrashing wildly until the restrictions on his body flared up once more, pinning him down.
Karen truly didn't mind sharing these details, knowing full well they inflicted maximum torment on Bernard.
Nor was it disrespectful to Purr. Had she been here, she would only have egged him on: *Say more, tell him more, make him die in agony!*
Most importantly, Karen knew the crescent rim deep in Bernard's eyes had never faded.
Bernard knew every word Karen spoke was the absolute truth.
Pity he had no idea that Purr was currently a cat.
Even as he struggled, Bernard retained a shred of restraint. Had he dared to strike at Karen, the two failsafe formations Mr. Aisen had prepared would have obliterated his soul in an instant.
This reminded Karen once again how useful the Guman family's method of manipulating formations truly was.
Mr. Hoffen had provided him with an extensive repository of formation theories and diagrams. If Karen could also master the practical execution methods of the Guman family, his future mastery over formations would be unimaginable.
And coincidentally, he carried Guman blood himself.
Diss had never spoken to him about the Guman family. Purr had known, but had never gone out of her way to tell him either, which meant that in their eyes, the Guman family was not someone to be fully trusted.
Mr. Aisen's situation was somewhat better, but only because of his affliction...
A diseased member of the Guman family was far easier to trust.
So the issue likely lay with Old Master Delon. He was certainly different from Diss; he was probably purely loyal to Order.
Yet Karen's maternal grandmother didn't seem quite the same.
She had recognized him, seemed to know of his existence, and had actively helped keep his secret.
When Diss had visited Wien with a clone back then, had he merely killed that annoying little fly, or had he also met with certain people?
Bernard finally quieted down, only to notice that Karen's mind had drifted!
The boy had actually zoned out while torturing him!
A towering wave of humiliation and indignation surged through Bernard's chest. He wanted to roar again, but felt only a profound, soul-deep exhaustion.
"I can tell you that secret."
"Oh, sorry, what did you just say?"
Bernard: "..."
Karen offered him a polite smile.
"Even if you represent Light, you still have no right to judge me! Because back then, Philias never truly believed in Light—he was a traitor to it!
"From the moment I met him, through all the years they lived on this island, I never once heard them praise the God of Light! They praised Light, but never the God of Light!
"Killing them was not making an enemy of the Church of Light; I was purging heretics for the Church of Light!
"So you have no right to judge me! None at all!"
"Do you remember that earlier, I also only praised Light without mentioning the God?"
Bernard: "..."
"There are things you cannot understand, things you will never grasp. Even if I explained them plainly to your face, you would still be incapable of truly comprehending them."
"So you really are the same kind of person as Philias?"
"Yes."
"Then you are in grave danger."
"I am concealed within Order."
"Hahahaha! You're trying to coax the truth out of me, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Let me tell you, it's useless! You have no idea how terrifying they are! You have no idea what price they are willing to pay to eliminate Philias and people like you!"
"Mm, terrifying indeed. The lamp oil is nearly burned out."
Bernard's soul was almost parched dry.
"Release me! I'll tell you everything! Otherwise, no matter how well you hide, someone will investigate my death! I have a pact with them!"
"Tell me first."
"You won't keep your word!"
"You're right, I won't."
"They permit people who question the gods to exist! They even permit priests who question the gods to exist! But they will never allow anyone capable of replacing them to walk the same path!
"Quickly, put it out! I'll tell you everything!"
"Keep talking. Say as much as you can."
"The one who ordered me to kill Philias and the others was Light itself!"
"And the suffix?"
"Put it out and I'll tell you! I can't hold on much longer!"
"I won't put it out."
"The gods have always existed!"
"Mm, I know."
"The gods have always watched over the mortal world!"
"Feel free to keep spouting nonsense."
"The gods will descend!"
Karen's gaze shifted slightly. That was a prophecy—yet Bernard belonged to a century ago, meaning he had known of it back then.
"Light came before me and commanded me to kill Philias and his followers! It promised that when the gods descend, Dark Moon will merge into Light, and I will become an Elder of Light!
"Quick, put it out! Put it out! I am willing to give my spot to you! I'll yield it to you! I can tell you the time and the place! I wasn't the only one—others received the promise too!
"Put it out, put it out, and I'll tell you everything!
"Otherwise, you will never learn this secret! I will take it to my grave!"
Karen remained unmoved.
Summoning the last ounce of his strength, Bernard shrieked, "You monster!"
The flame went out—not because Karen extinguished it, but because Bernard's soul had completely burned away into nothingness. All returned to silence.
"*Sigh.*"
Karen let out a soft breath and stood up. The radiant robes of Light dissipated from his body.
He reached out toward Bernard lying inside the sarcophagus. In his left eye, the profound depths of Order swirled. A black chain snaked out from beneath Karen's feet, wrapping itself over Bernard's corpse.
"Order—Awakening!"
The previous attempt at Awakening had failed because Bernard wasn't dead.
This time, it succeeded, because Bernard was truly dead.
Karen felt the spiritual power within him draining away. Slowly, Bernard's eyes fluttered open.
He stared around in disbelief, then looked up at Karen. His former strength had been equivalent to the Ninth Rank in other family faith systems; awakening him demanded a terrifying price, requiring not merely raw expenditure, but a staggering level of power.
Yet Karen had actually succeeded in awakening him!
How was this possible?!
This was far beyond anything Light could accomplish—far beyond it!
"Who... who on earth are you?"
Karen picked up the stone lamp with his left hand, snapped the fingers of his right hand, and conjured a cluster of black Order flames at his fingertips. Bringing it close, he reignited the stone lamp.
Then, Karen tilted the lamp, letting the black flames of Order—fueled entirely by burning spiritual power—pour directly onto Bernard's chest.
Setting the lamp aside, Karen sat back down against the edge of the stone coffin, lightly clapping his hands together.
"All right. Let us continue."
Bernard: "..."
Chapter 280