Peide Simosen looked at Karen with a touch of helplessness, then took a small stack of point coupons out of his pocket. Instead of tossing them, he bent down and placed them on the ground, explaining:
"They aren't Samsara coupons, they're Order coupons. This is my apology for my earlier joke."
The woman snuggled into the man's chest and smiled. "We simply haven't seen each other in so long that our passions ran wild. Please forgive us."
Karen pointed at the woman again and said, "Return her body to her."
"Oh?" Peide frowned. "I believe I've already shown you plenty of face, friend. Don't push your luck."
Karen replied, "I think my request is entirely reasonable."
Peide said, "Friend, you have no right to interfere in my life."
"I do, because you have violated Article 5, Chapter Two of the *Code of Order*: using the power of faith to harm ordinary people."
Peide spread his hands and looked at Karen. "Are you serious?"
"What you must do now is make amends for your actions and return her body to her. Your culpability can be reduced based on your repentance. Her father is still waiting for her."
"I'm terribly sorry, but her soul has already become nourishment for my darling. This possession is irreversible. She's already gone. Who told her to look a bit like my darling, anyway?"
The waitress who had served them dishes earlier... was she already gone?
Her father hadn't even had the chance to give her the gold coins for her return ticket to the island.
"Under the *Code of Order*, I am placing you under arrest, while petitioning the Church of Samsara to hold you accountable."
Peide said, "My surname is Simosen."
In church circles, no one was unaware of what the name Simosen meant within the Church of Samsara. The current Gatekeeper of the Church of Samsara, Romier, also bore the surname Simosen.
"Understood, Criminal Simosen."
Peide's eyes flared with anger. "Do you have any idea who my grandfather is?"
"I do. The grandfather of Criminal Simosen."
"Ha... haha, is there something wrong with your head? I've already shown you face, and I've shown face to the Church of Order. Now I am leaving with my darling. Oh, right, I will compensate her father."
With that, Peide took the woman's hand, turned, and walked toward the edge of the woods.
He had indeed, as he claimed, shown plenty of face; his temper had been restrained immensely.
Yet from the moment he uttered the words "Dark Moon Island scum" right in front of Ophelia, Karen had no other choice.
"Stay hidden," Karen told Ophelia. "Leave this to me."
Karen dissolved into a cloud of black mist, swept around their flank, and reappeared before them, blocking their path.
"Are you resisting arrest?"
Peide took a deep breath and let go of her hand. The woman stepped back tactfully and pleaded with Karen, "We're simply in love. Peide only did this because he loves me. Please understand."
Karen ignored the woman's words.
"I asked you, must it be like this?" Peide questioned. "Do you realize that even if you drag me before your Bishop or even your Cardinal, I won't receive any punishment? The war is over, and negotiations are finished!"
"This is your final notice. In the name of a God's Servant under the Pavaro Inquisitorial Office and an external member of the Whip of Order squad, I command you to kneel and submit to arrest."
"Hehehe..."
Peide chuckled. Then his palm clenched as a ring on his finger flashed. A miniature teleportation array appeared, followed immediately by a silver spear forming in his hand. His figure vanished and reappeared right in front of Karen, thrusting the spear forward with lethal momentum—he intended to end Karen's life right from the start.
He had only two choices: either use his connections to settle Karen, or silence him permanently. He didn't want this mess reaching his grandaunt's ears; it would ruin the reformed image he had recently cultivated in her eyes.
Most of all, he thought this wasn't even a big deal. He was pursuing his woman, Karen was pursuing his—both were just looking for women, yet Karen was being so obstinately rigid with him?
Damn it!
Karen rapidly retreated as a layer of Sea God's Armor coated his body. Now, channeling the dual-attribute power of Ancestor Allen, he could disguise how his spells manifested: the Sea God's Armor could take the form of a black liquid, and the Dark Moon Blade could be cloaked in black flames.
That was why when he sparred with Gray earlier, neither Gray nor the others noticed anything amiss.
Of course, if he ran into someone exceptionally seasoned and knowledgeable, they might still spot the clues.
Sparks sprayed continuously from the silver spear tip against Karen's chest, but they were all deflected by the Sea God's Armor.
Karen raised both hands, and three condensed Spears of Punishment flew up from below. But Peide merely swept his spear downward, sketching a barrier. The Spears of Punishment detonated, yet Peide rode the momentum to close the distance further, whirling his spear upward into a thrust aimed straight at Karen's neck.
His combat experience was vast, and his strength formidable.
A cubic frame materialized in front of Karen and expanded rapidly; the Order Cage appeared, deploying its defense.
Yet with a diagonal flick of his spear tip, Peide actually deflected the spell before it fully formed. But before he could thrust again, another Order Cage appeared in front of him.
Out of necessity, Peide was forced to thrust forcefully into it.
*Bang!*
The Order Cage shattered, but the shockwave riding the spear tip continued howling toward Karen—only for Karen to already have erected seven layers of Order Barriers before him.
*How can this guy weave spells so fast?*
With the barriers stalling the attack, Karen shifted back. By the time Peide withdrew his spear and ended his first offensive flurry, Karen was already back at his original spot.
Ophelia stood behind a large tree and spoke up, "Let me."
"His surname is Simosen."
This was Karen's warning to Ophelia: the man was royalty in the Church of Samsara.
It was a tragic truth: someone from the Church of Samsara had just cruelly annihilated the soul of a Dark Moon Island subject right here, yet as the princess of the Dark Moon clan, Ophelia was in no position to take action.
This world was forever so pragmatic and cruel.
A scroll was tossed at Karen's feet.
Karen picked it up and whipped it down, channeling spiritual energy into it. The scroll's array activated, and a miniature teleportation circle appeared, revealing a sword hilt.
Grasping the hilt, Karen drew Ophelia's purple greatsword.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Peide was reassuring his beloved:
"Keep your distance. Once I finish him off, I'll take you out to eat. You can think about what you want to eat in the meantime. Heh, or maybe I'll take you to the restaurant of this body's father and have him cook for us. He's sure to pour his heart into it."
Two men, each accompanied by a woman, neither taking the other seriously, and both exchanging words with their companions after the first exchange of blows.
Such behavior was utterly foolish in battle, yet it truly happened, for both believed their victory was certain.
Karen spoke: "If you see me use something that shouldn't appear later..."
Ophelia replied, "I'll pretend I didn't see it."
"No, that means you join in and make sure he stays here forever."
Ophelia paused for a moment, then immediately said, "Understood."
Having finished speaking, the two men locked eyes and charged at each other.
A spear against a greatsword: upon clashing, their weapons collided in rapid succession.
Gray also wielded a spear, so Karen was well acquainted with spear techniques. As they engaged again, the supplementary spells Peide wove alongside his spear thrusts posed considerable trouble for Karen, yet Karen managed to deflect them all.
Meanwhile, Karen continuously escalated the empowerment of the Dark Moon Blade upon the purple greatsword. To an outsider's eyes, however, the greatsword bore no dark red glow; instead, it blazed with scorching flames.
*Bring it on!*
Peide clearly sensed his opponent's offensive building in momentum. What puzzled him even more was how steadily that momentum rose—so evenly that it felt like an exercise in restraint!
And that was indeed the case. Karen worried that releasing too much Dark Moon power all at once would cause his Dark Moon Eye to reveal itself.
Peide thrust and whirled his spear repeatedly, trying desperately to regain the upper hand, while Karen could only pour in more Dark Moon power, dialing up the effect of the Dark Moon Blade step by step.
Gradually, Karen could no longer spare attention for trivial details; most of his focus was consumed by controlling his power. The resulting battle dynamic was that Peide, who was striving to regain the initiative, was forced to purely parry and block against Karen's increasingly ferocious onslaught.
Finally, a talisman dangling from Peide's spear flashed with light, conjuring a vortex. Karen cleaved the vortex apart with a strike, but the resulting blast of wind forced both of them apart, concluding their second clash.
"Darling, he..."
"A bit tougher than I expected, but no big deal."
Karen retreated to his original spot as well. After the exchange, he didn't feel the least bit tired, yet beads of sweat coated his forehead, exhausted solely from reigning in his power.
After fusing with the Dark Moon Eye, he hadn't had a chance to adapt to it at all; he had merely woken up, eaten two meals, and come straight here. In short, he was still unaccustomed to his current strength.
Standing behind the tree, Ophelia called out, "Be careful, he hasn't used his full strength yet. The most terrifying aspect of the Church of Samsara is their soul contracts."
"I know, but I'm hoping he uses it right away."
When facing Talina—that woman from the Church of Samsara—Karen had discovered that his chains could sever Samsara soul contracts. Thus, he was genuinely eager for Peide to use one before him so he could end the fight much more cleanly.
Hm...
Karen frowned slightly. Both named Simosen, of the same family. Karen recalled the captain telling him that Bertha mentioned Talina had an older brother who liked to wander around carrying his girlfriend's soul, hunting for sacrifices to live out their romance.
*Is it him?*
*So your sister died at my hands?*
Peide rolled his neck, glanced around, and said, "Darling, I need to finish him quickly."
With that, he drew the spear tip across his palm, then gripped the weapon. The bloodstained spear emitted a hum, as if answering its master.
A silver radiance washed over Peide, lifting his aura by an entire echelon.
Karen gripped the purple greatsword with both hands. He had been looking forward to his opponent using soul possession, but evidently Peide wasn't ready to resort to it yet. Most likely, invoking a soul contract caused great pain or extracted a heavy toll, making him reluctant.
*In that case, I'll beat you until you have to!*
Both vaulted forward simultaneously. Peide's spear blazed with radiance as it lunged toward Karen.
Karen abruptly flooded the blade with a massive surge of Dark Moon power. He felt his eyes tingle; the Dark Moon Eye was on the verge of manifesting. One could say he was right at his usable threshold.
Yet this power was already terrifying enough!
Peide watched Karen raise the greatsword in both hands and chop down toward him. Even now, he could not fathom why the other man insisted on coating his greatsword with Order flames during combat. Did he really think he could singe him that way?
Did he have so much spiritual energy that he had nowhere else to spend it? The mistake of squandering power mid-battle was something Karen committed persistently, and now he was doing it even more extravagantly.
Even so, Peide hesitated. He pulled back his thrust instead of trading blows, choosing to parry.
Karen's sword cleaved down and was blocked. As he swung for the second strike, Karen's feet left the ground. Having been infused with an excess of Dark Moon power, the speed of the greatsword had exceeded his current control, like a runaway train where Karen could only grip the handrail to keep from being thrown off.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
Through repeated collisions, Peide was shocked to discover that his opponent's offensive had grown even fiercer. Every single strike demanded his complete, undivided defense. Yet he refused to believe anyone could sustain an assault of such intensity—sooner or later, Karen would run out of breath or need to recover, and Peide was waiting for that very opening.
However, Karen's onslaught showed no signs of stopping, let alone abating.
Peide was completely suppressed. After blocking one blow, he had no time to do anything else before throwing his entire being into blocking the next. In this relentless cycle, Peide suddenly realized that if this continued, the other man wouldn't run dry—he would be ground into dust first.
This was Karen's greatest advantage: as long as you couldn't kill or severely injure him right at the start, the longer the fight dragged on, the greater his odds of victory.
When practicing melee techniques, Gray had experienced this firsthand. Now, the spiritual energy Karen had accumulated had doubled, courtesy of that full day and night of restful sleep.
*Boom!*
Peide began deliberately retreating, showing his intent to disengage.
Karen noticed the movement and understood that his opponent was probably going to use some sacred relic to disrupt the rhythm of combat. But Karen didn't move to stop him early. Instead, after Peide threw out a purple gemstone that formed a barrier, Karen smashed through the barrier with a slash and pretended to desperately need to catch his breath. Driving the greatsword into the ground, he dragged it as he took several staggered steps backward.
That final action wasn't entirely feigned; bringing an overcharged sword to a halt genuinely took effort.
Karen panted heavily while watching Peide. *All right, now you'll summon your contracted soul, won't you?*
Ophelia called out, "How much longer can you hold out?"
"A very long time."
"Were you hiding your strength before?" Ophelia had clearly noticed Karen's growth.
"If I said I just recently gained insight into another layer of Dark Moon power, would you believe me?"
"No."
"Then just assume I was hiding my strength."
Karen kept his gaze fixed on Peide across from him. Seeing the glow beginning to radiate between Peide's brows, he knew the man was invoking a contract bead.
To hurry him along, Karen once again poured Dark Moon power into the purple greatsword, reigniting blazing flames across the blade. At the same time, black chains crept out from beneath him, lurking beneath the piles of dead leaves.
Right at that moment,
Far away, in York City, Wien, on the master bed in the rear courtyard of a funeral parlor, a sleeping cat rolled over. In its slumber, it frowned slightly and flicked its tail twice.
And behind Karen, the phantom silhouette of a woman appeared. She wore a hooded cowl, held a wand, and hovered above the ground. Her eyes were open, but vacant and hollow.
Karen sensed the abnormality behind him and turned his head.
"Hm?"
*Why is Purr appearing behind me?*
Almost immediately, Karen realized why: to conceal the Dark Moon Blade, he had been constantly channeling Ancestor Allen's fire-attribute power as a camouflage. Since entering the symbiosis contract with Purr, he had never drawn upon Ancestor Allen's power for such an extended period and in such high quantities. Consequently, it had indirectly triggered the symbiosis contract, manifesting Purr's silhouette to boost Ancestor Allen's power for him.
The appearance of Purr's silhouette was unconscious; because their souls were bound, her apparition had simply manifested to augment his strength.
*Wait... other people summon ferocious beasts or giant palms, which look plenty intimidating at least. But from now on, whenever I fight, am I going to have a girl standing behind me?*
*Is it really Miss Purr?*
Ophelia pursed her lips. The Miss Purr who appeared this time was clearer and more vivid than the one seen in the cavern when retrieving Karen. More accurately, in the cavern it was merely a blur accompanied by an aura, but this time...
*So, he might not be the ancestor's descendant, but he truly is Miss Purr's descendant?*
Opposite them, seeing the silhouette materialize behind Karen, Peide made up his mind at once. He chanted:
"In the name of Samsara, I command thee into the world, to wage war for me!"
In an instant, a terrifying spirit clad in battered armor and clutching a spear appeared behind Peide, gradually merging into him.
This was a dreadful spirit, far more powerful than the one his sister possessed. At the same time, commanding such a spirit extracted a far steeper price, which was why he had been reluctant to use it earlier.
"Roar!"
Peide let out a low roar, his eyes turning bloodshot as his aura surged exponentially!
Seeing this, Karen actually felt a wave of relief. With a spirit this potent, once it turned on him, it definitely wouldn't let Peide escape, right? Dying from his own contracted spirit losing control would make cleaning up the aftermath so much easier.
Peide pressed his spear against the ground, instantly radiating terrifying ripples. His voice took on a majestic, gravelly depth:
"Your luck is good, for I will let you see what the true Church of Samsara is."
"Your luck is even better, for you have seen Order."
Chapter 286