Where Is My Dog?

After pulverizing the heart, before the golden retriever hit the ground, he wrapped his tail around the hilt of the sword. The moment he landed, his tail dragged the Sword of Arius down toward Ino's neck. *Thwack!* Ino's head was severed. Having accomplished all this, Kevin began shaking his tail as if it had cramped up a little. Karen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with a slight chuckle. He had really put his dog to work. Picking up the sword and rising to his feet, Karen coughed violently several times. He was injured. The injury wasn't critical, but it wasn't light either. Fortunately, it wouldn't prevent him from throwing himself into a second battle for now. Still, Karen felt puzzled. By this point, why hadn't reinforcements from the Captain and the others arrived yet? Just as Karen was about to head toward the other battlefield, Kevin caught up to him with a bracelet in his mouth. Oh right, he'd forgotten to loot the corpse. Karen held out his hand, and Kevin let go, dropping the bracelet into his palm. When it came to attention to detail, his dog was indeed more attentive than he was. The situation on the other battlefield was far more dynamic and varied, though it had nothing to do with brutality. Purr and Alfred were putting on a performance together, applying steady pressure on Dart. Naturally, the massive explosion had alarmed this area as well. Seeing Karen emerge holding Ino's bracelet, Dart completely broke down. Hesitating no longer, he turned and fled straight away. Alfred had intended to pursue him and cooperate with his young master to finish him off, but seeing that Karen had no intention of chasing, he stopped. "Young Master, you're injured?" "I'm fine. It's not serious, just need to catch my breath for a moment. These Sea God cultists—especially these leaders—are tough as nails." "Yes, Young Master." "Go find Mr. Wood. Purr, go with him. Summon Aseroth at the landing site and prepare for evacuation." Purr asked in confusion, "Weren't there three signal flares?" "Yes, but the Captain and the others haven't arrived. I suspect something more complicated has developed at the docks. Preparing for retreat in advance is never the wrong move—that's what the Captain has always taught me." "All right, understood." Purr sat on her puppet's shoulder. The puppet turned around and tossed the "Mr. Kevin" puppet it was carrying right before Kevin. "Dumb dog, let's go." "Woof!" Kevin barked. He slipped himself into the leash first, bit the other end out of his puppet's hand, walked over to Karen, sat down, and wagged his tail. Seeing this, Karen said, "Take Kevin's puppet with you. I'll take Kevin with me to smash some eggs." "Sounds like fun! I want to come too, meow," Purr said, but she obediently picked up Kevin's puppet and followed Alfred to find Mr. Wood. Holding his sword in his left hand and the leash in his right, Karen walked forward behind Kevin, who strutted ahead with proud, confident strides. They arrived at the office building he had emerged from earlier. By now, the building was completely deserted; the occupants had likely evacuated. Karen walked into the basement, where the six eggs were still resting untouched, having not been transported away. "I think there are probably even more eggs on their ship." "Woof!" Kevin nodded. "Even if it's connected to that person's return, it's still rather strange for such a large batch of fundamentalist Sea God cultists to suddenly pop up out of nowhere. How was there zero word of them before? Where were they hiding?" "Woof! Woof! Woof!" "I have no idea what you're saying, but I can take a guess. You mean fundamentalism has always been dispersed among those small and mid-sized offshoot churches that splintered from the Sea God Religion? And now, during this period, they've gathered together?" Kevin nodded. "That's the only plausible explanation left." The Sea God had been slain and suppressed by the dog. The Sea God Religion had been shattered by the dog. Although the figure of the God of Order had stood behind it all, the God of Order had never fully descended into the fray. As a result, the Church of Order did not strike down its remnants with the same ruthless resolve it had shown toward the Church of the Mural God. Furthermore, the orthodox Sea God Religion had fractured toward the end of the previous era, and throughout the current era, the small and mid-sized churches splintered from it had posed no real threat, never attracting enough serious attention. Through this dispersion, the Sea God Religion had managed to preserve and sustain itself in fragmented pockets. Their treatment had been far better than that of the remnants of Light. "Now I'm rather curious about what the Captain and the others found on that ship. This organization is no simple group." Karen walked up to an egg and stabbed the Sword of Arius straight into it. The shell shattered, and a head poked out from within. Its eyeballs seemed to dangle loosely, stretched out long, while its mouth and ears were entirely missing—a completely gooey mess, visibly undeveloped. Yet it seemed to possess an instinctive sense of crisis. No, it definitely did. Because before entering that eggshell, it had been a living adult, a believer. With a sweep of the greatsword, Karen decapitated the creature cleanly. Upon hitting the ground with a wet splat, it splattered like a puddle of rotting mud, utterly revolting. Karen thrust his greatsword toward another egg while remarking to Kevin: "Even though I know you brought down the Sea God Religion for her sake, I still think it was a good thing you destroyed it. If the Sea God Religion were still an orthodox church today, would its holy land be filled with rows upon rows of eggs like this, with low-ranking servants of the Sea God bringing buckets to brush them with blood every day? Blood offered up by ordinary believers, who would probably think performing such an act was an honorable and sacred duty. "And the Church of Samsara—I've always wondered: of all those souls in the Gate of Samsara, how many were captured and thrown inside, and how many were offered up voluntarily by believers praying for passage into the afterlife? The latter must make up the vast majority." Listening to Karen's words, Kevin turned his head to look at him, an expression of confusion and reminiscence actually showing in his canine eyes. After piercing the third egg, Karen looked down at Kevin and asked, "What is it?" Kevin immediately shook his head. *Crack... crack...* Fissures appeared across the remaining two ordinary white eggs. The creatures inside had detected the grave danger and were preparing to flee. *Smash! Smash!* With two strikes, Karen crushed the shells and the things within them to pieces. "This egg-smashing game is quite stress-relieving." Now, only the largest black egg remained. "Does a black egg signify a second evolution?" Karen asked. Kevin nodded. "Just as I thought." Karen raised his sword. Suddenly, a soundwave echoed from within the black shell, followed by a dark shadow thrusting out, reaching its two hands toward Karen's head. A flash of Light shone in Karen's right eye, and a beam of pure radiance struck the shadow. Letting out a shriek, the shadow retreated into the shell. *Smash!* Karen shattered the shell, but the black filth remained curled beneath it. "Light—Incineration!" Flames surged. Screaming, the dark figure lunged toward Karen once more, only to be sliced in half at the waist by Karen's sword. Watching it burn completely to ash, Karen deliberately poked through the ashes with the tip of his sword a few times. "I've developed obsessive-compulsive disorder over this. It's all Bernard's fault." Having dealt with the basement, Karen led Kevin upstairs, inspecting room after room on each floor. Quite a few rooms also contained isolated eggs. Karen guessed that those who were close before becoming eggs—couples, spouses, or friends—were separately housed and tended to by whichever partner had hatched first, as each egg had its own blood bucket and brush beside it. Karen spared none of them, smashing every single one. After finishing his sweep of the third floor, Karen entered the communications room where he had previously broken through the window. Without needing to be told, Kevin understood immediately, stepping forward to adjust the formation stones. Before long, the communication formation was established. "Wood? Wood? Is that you, Wood?" Old Anderson's voice came through. "Anderson, it's me, Karen." "Young Master? You've landed on the island and rescued Wood?" "Listen closely. Through your channels, notify the Church of Order in the name of the Neo Squad that a large number of fundamentalist Sea God cultists have appeared on Corona Island and ambushed a Whip of Order squad. Hurry." "Yes, Young Master." The transmission ended. Karen looked down at Kevin. "Sniff around again. Are there any more eggs here?" Kevin shook his head. "Then let's head to the docks." *** At the docks, three ships were ablaze. One burned most fiercely, while the other two had caught fire due to their proximity. *Bang!* *Bang!* Up on a mast, Fanny raised her spell rifle, firing at the robed figures along the shore and in the water. Spear in hand, Gray blocked the robed figures' attempts to climb aboard to extinguish the fire. Wende's figure drifted like a gentle breeze across the deck, coordinating with Gray to strike at the robed figures in the water. The enemy's numbers were far greater than expected; the eggshells discovered earlier were truly just the first batch. On the shore, the Captain was fighting two robed figures on his own. Red bandages wrapped around their faces, marking them as beings on the same level as Ino, whom Karen had just killed. Unable to use his power of Light, the Captain could only employ the power of Order to duel them. Fortunately, he also possessed the bloodline of a Bloodthirsty Aberrant, which could be displayed openly. Although he was slightly at a disadvantage, holding his ground was not a problem. Memphis's performance, meanwhile, shocked everyone except the Captain. He held a floating Rubik's cube in his palm, with clusters of mist swirling in a ten-meter radius around him. He drew the largest crowd of attackers, including two figures in red bandages, yet none could breach his formation's defense; instead, Memphis dragged their subordinates into the formation from time to time to shred them. With him serving as a defensive bulwark and the Captain executing harrying maneuvers, the two of them held the defensive line along the shore firm. The remaining cultists swimming over from farther away were left for Fanny and the others to deal with. Overall, however, the docks were locked in a grueling struggle. Karen stepped into everyone's view leading a dog. Seeing the battle before him, Karen's first reaction was confusion, because the Captain had fired three signal flares signaling an all-out assault. Rubbing his neck, Karen raised the Sword of Arius. "Karen, over here!" the Captain yelled to him. "Coming, Captain!" Karen raised the Sword of Arius and charged directly into the melee around Memphis. It was not that he was deliberately ignoring the Captain, but Karen knew that until the very last moment, the Captain would not use his power of Light. So let him keep sparring; helping Memphis break the stalemate first was the most advantageous move. After all, this uncle of his was a genuine Jurist; his greatest weakness was simply that he wasn't particularly skilled at combat. The Sword of Arius cut aggressively into the fray. After hacking a path through, Mr. Memphis opened the formation and ushered Karen inside. Wasting no words on formalities, Karen said directly, "I'll take the lead on offense, you support me. Follow my pace!" "Yes, understood!" Memphis didn't hesitate in the slightest at Karen's demand; he considered it completely natural. Karen's eyes flushed red as he pushed the power of the Dark Moon Blade to its limit, cloaking and disguising it beneath a layer of Order flames. Immediately after, he charged head-on at the target ahead. Mr. Memphis matched Karen's tempo. Whenever Karen attacked a target, Memphis's formation shielded him from threats coming from all other directions. Before long, robed figures fell one after another under Karen's blade. Karen twirled his blade in a flourish and lowered it to catch his breath. Mr. Memphis promptly cocooned him completely within the formation. "Again!" "Right!" After another flurry of hacking and slashing, Karen withdrew his sword once more to catch his breath. Fighting like this felt remarkably comfortable, like being handed a hot towel and ice water immediately after finishing a round of golf. Of course, such treatment was rare and hard to come by; at other times, he wouldn't find a Jurist dedicated whole-heartedly to supporting him. Yet even though the robed figures suffered heavy casualties, they still refused to retreat. During the next pause to catch his breath, Karen asked, "What did you find on the ship?" "A lot of eggs! White ones, black ones, and even blue ones!" Blue eggs as well? An even higher rank of evolver? Karen now somewhat understood the abnormal reaction of these cultists. They were desperate to retake that ship to save the eggs on board, because the eggs inside the hold held not just their companions and leaders, but perhaps even elder-level figures. So was that why the Captain had fired three signal flares? Because the Captain knew that if they didn't destroy them before they fully developed and hatched from their shells, it would be extremely difficult to wipe them out later. The Captain had always preferred pulling up weeds by their roots; last time, he had even expressed dissatisfaction that he hadn't managed to kill Peder of the Church of Samsara. Just then, Peige ran out from the burning cabin, shouting, "The spell bombs are set!" The Captain immediately ordered Fanny through his blue seashell, "You guys withdraw first, head to the landing site!" "Yes, Captain!" Fanny relayed the order right away and slid down the mast, leaping into the water. Wende, Gray, and Peige did the same, diving into the water to swim toward another area to come ashore. Gauging the timing, the Captain took a minor hit to disengage. "Cover me!" Mr. Memphis opened a gap in the formation. The Captain entered, catching his breath as his wounds rapidly regenerated. At that moment, the two red-bandaged robed figures who had been dueling the Captain charged straight for the ship. But before they could even reach it— *Boom!* A thunderous blast erupted from the cabin. Dense black smoke and flames surged instantly into the air as the ship tilted, beginning to sink at a visible speed. "Just how many eggs were there to require spell bombs?" Karen asked. "More than you can imagine. The cabin was packed with them," the Captain said. "We can retreat too. Break through!" When Karen and the others made their intention to break through evident, the robed figures did not try to stop them; instead, they parted ways, diving into the water one after another in a desperate bid to salvage whatever they could. This sight left Karen rather bewildered. The ship had been blown to bits and the eggs were almost certainly destroyed. Shouldn't they be seeking revenge like madmen? In the end, Karen and the others successfully left the docks behind. When the three paused to rest, Karen asked, "Mr. Wood's wife and daughter seemed to be on that ship." "Rescued them. Gendy and a few of his surviving squad members were imprisoned on that ship as well. I had them head to our landing point first. The mother and daughter know this island well and know the way, so they can guide them. Gendy and his surviving members are severely injured and unfit to fight, so I let them fall back first." "Gendy actually survived?" "Those people probably regretted the attack after pulling it off, so they kept him alive for the time being. But more than half his squad was wiped out, and he was taken prisoner himself. If not for the absurdly massive scale of these sudden Sea God cultists, he probably would have faced trial for dereliction of duty. As things stand, he might still get some credit as an auxiliary unit that assisted us." "And the lion's share?" "Heh, what do you mean, 'lion's share'? It was always our escort mission. I was the one who took the assignment. We withstood an ambush by the Sea God Religion and mounted a successful counterattack. In the face of the wicked Sea God Religion, our Hound Squad defended the glory of Order with unyielding will and indomitable spirit! Right, Memphis?" "Mm. Yes," Memphis nodded. "By the way, Captain, did you have Peige bring the spell bombs?" "Yeah. I originally planned to use them to wipe our asses and destroy evidence, but never expected they'd come in handy here. The only thing I'm worried about now is how many of the ten crows Memphis and I sent out will actually make it to York City." "I used the communication formation to have the people at Allen Manor call for reinforcements for us." "Right. That line was originally shared between our Church, Dark Moon Island, and Allen Manor. If so, reinforcements should arrive soon. All right, no need to worry. "Actually, there's one other thing I find strange. I can't shake the feeling that their obsession with that ship wasn't just because of those densely packed eggs in the hold. But once reinforcements arrive and round them all up, we should be able to interrogate the truth out of them." Karen nodded. Habitually, he raised a hand to touch a certain bald head, only to grasp empty air. "Where is that dog of mine?" The Captain immediately asked, "Where is your esteemed dog?" *** A golden retriever swam out of the water onto the shore, shaking his soaked body vigorously. Opening his mouth, *Plop!* A purple egg dropped onto the sand. *Thump... thump... thump...* Inside the purple egg, something seemed to beat like a heart. "Take me... back... I shall... grant... you wisdom... give you... all that you desire..." Hearing this, Kevin showed a deeply excited look. Then he lifted his hind leg, aimed right at it, and took a precise leak. *Trickle... trickle... trickle...* "You... you... beast!" Kevin grinned, looking exceptionally delighted. Then, Kevin looked up, gazing into the distance to get his bearings, preparing to leave with the egg. But when he lowered his head to pick it up with his teeth again... He froze.