Mural God... Rielsa!

Strictly speaking, the Mourning Pool settlement differed from Hessen City and the Dark Grotto before it. Its nature as a settlement was much stronger, yet no formal factions had ever formed here. The souls gathered around the Mourning Pool treated the waters more like an anchor for insight and cultivation. Those who wanted to come could come, and those who wanted to leave could leave; it was completely free. Everyone had pitched their own tents here. If someone wanted to set up their tent closer to the Mourning Pool, they had to rely on their own strength to vie for it. Consequently, the "academic atmosphere" here was remarkably pronounced. Even so, no outside factions dared to interfere or seize it. Aside from the fact that the current residents of the Mourning Pool settlement would band together to resist, over all these years, the number of people who had studied and meditated at the Mourning Pool before departing was far greater. "So this is divine spring water?" Paxio was clearly intrigued. Muri teased, "Yes, go drink some. Drinking it will make you smarter." Karen drank from a waterskin while Ventura handed him a bowl of black paste, seasoned with condiments brought from their packs. Aisli leaned over and asked, "Captain, when are we heading over?" Clearly, she could hardly wait. So many people already had their toys, yet she didn't have hers. She was naturally envious. "We'll talk after Mars and the others finish setting up the array. Besides, we can't just barge in this time. I plan to send a messenger first to give them a day to consider so they can make their decisions internally." Karen did not want to drag things out. He would like nothing more than a repeat of what happened at the Dark Grotto, where shortly after he came knocking, the three chiefs came out and followed him. However, things were different at the Mourning Pool. Without an orderly chain of command, efficiency would easily plummet when an unexpected situation arose. The worst-case scenario was that after he showed up, they couldn't decide on candidates, and a whole mob rushed out to fight over the Auspices. Breaking into a conflict over something like that really wasn't worth it. Therefore, they had to give them time to settle it among themselves. "All right, Captain." Aisli stepped back and resumed boiling her own paste. Muri touched his inner thigh and looked at Karen, hesitating as if wanting to speak. Karen nodded to him, indicating he didn't need to hold back. Yet Muri pursed his lips and insisted on gesturing outside. Karen had no choice but to stand up, bowl in hand, eating his paste as he walked out of the camp with Muri. Muri whispered, "My inner thigh has been itching terribly these past two days." Karen smiled. "Did you get eczema there?" Muri's lion mane had pierced straight into his thigh; such a long hair had made Karen feel deeply relieved at the time that it wasn't him. "You know what I mean. Doesn't yours itch?" "No." "You feel nothing at all?" "Nothing." Muri blinked in confusion. "Could it really be eczema?" "Could be another condition." "Impossible, absolutely impossible." "All right, no more teasing. It's probably Gaitanbert approaching." "Then why don't you feel anything?" Muri asked, baffled. Karen looked at the spot on his arm where the snake scale had entered, shook his head, and said, "Probably because I've been constantly providing power to maintain and repair the seal." "Maintain and repair the seal?" "Yeah." The snake scale was inside Karen's body. When it was placed in, it had an array wrapped around it, but the environment inside Karen's body was rather unique. To put it in more scientific terms, his body's immune system was remarkably strong; he even had to constantly worry that without protection, the snake scale might be directly dissolved by his body. "I feel like he's coming soon. Or... he's already arrived." "Mhm. I wholeheartedly agree with that piece of nonsense." "Am I still safe for now?" "Heh." Karen couldn't help but chuckle. Muri smiled wryly. "Waiting to die while clinging to hope is the greatest torment in the world. And a person's courage tends to dwindle over time." "Yes, I understand." When Muri first took on this mission, his whole being had radiated the aura of someone marching toward martyrdom. If Gaitanbert had appeared before him back then, he would have walked up and merged with him without hesitation. Now, strung along by hope as time dragged on, he could no longer maintain his initial calm. Because fundamentally, he wanted to live. "You know I had Mars craft me a Mental Bridge scroll on the road, right?" Muri produced two scrolls. "I know. So I had Digat and Paxio make two more for me." "No wonder the two of them were as listless as Mars along the way." "I don't know its exact purpose, but I figured having a few extras couldn't hurt." "Unnecessary. One scroll is enough." "You mean you can completely solve the problem within the duration of a single scroll?" "No. I mean if you haven't succeeded by the time one scroll runs out, you'll have already been dealt with." Muri: "..." Karen patted Muri's shoulder. "Keep your mind right. Remember, you'll be the one facing Gaitanbert's descent in the first round. You must hold firm to your will to survive. Besides..." "Besides what?" "You need to root out the burden in your heart toward the Church of Order and the God of Order. Don't think of your resistance as a sin." "I..." "I'm not telling you to change your faith. It's just my belief that a god ought to favor believers who possess their own personhood. Otherwise, how would they differ from mere puppets?" "I understand." "All right. If it still itches, isn't there sand here? When everyone's asleep, you can drop your trousers and bury yourself in the sand. It'll relieve the itch." "No, I can bear it." "Seems you still have an image to maintain." Just then, Mars walked over and reported, "Captain, the array has been set up." "Good." Karen nodded and walked back to Aisli. Eating her paste, Aisli looked up at him. "Aisli, the array over there is ready. Now pick one of your 'dearest friends' and have it fly to the pool to deliver the message." "Right away, Captain!" *** A giant python was traversing the desert. Most of its body was beneath the sand, and only the rippling swell of sand above could be seen as it moved. Suddenly, a lion pounced, raising a paw and slamming it violently down onto the sand dune below. *Boom!* Sand and soil scattered. The giant python instantly raised its body, its three snake heads rearing up and spitting horrifying corrosive mucus at the lion. The lion let out a low roar as a massive black shield appeared in front of it, blocking all the mucus. Then, with a flash, it appeared behind the python to launch another sneak attack. *Crack!* With a twist of its body, the python vanished from its spot, dodging the lion's attack. Immediately after, a dark cloud gathered overhead. Within the dark cloud, the silhouette of a python seemed to be darting about. Several bolts of black lightning struck down in an instant. With its aura locked on, the lion had no way to evade and endured three bolts of lightning with its physical body. Such injuries would normally have amounted to nothing for it, but the tactile sensation of lightning striking its body stirred the most terrifying memory deep within its soul. At once, it lost its previous ferocity, sprawling on the ground and trembling violently. Seeing this, the python above darted straight downward, opening its maw to snap the lion's neck in one bite. Just then, a halo of light appeared before the lion, and a hand reached out, clenching the empty air. *Squeak!* The python's massive body seemed seized directly in a grip, pinned suspended in midair. The figure of an old woman appeared. She looked up at the python with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Seeing the python still struggling, the old woman swept her arm downward. The python was smashed to the ground, kicking up a shower of sand. Two of the python's heads opened their mouths, revealing two faces. "Lady Sumir? Ah, it's actually Lady Sumir! Praise be to the great God of Samsara!" "Praise be to the God of Samsara!" Sumir looked at them and said, "You two are truly difficult to find." "Is that so? Lady Sumir was looking for us? You should have told us sooner!" "Yes! If we had known Lady Sumir was summoning us, we definitely would have answered your call long ago!" "I know your thoughts, and I am well aware that you have sensed the token. I will not stop you, but I must place a restriction deep within your souls." The two faces fell silent at once. No one was willing to open their soul to let another place a restriction upon it. "I am not making a suggestion for your consideration. I am simply informing you: either open your souls to let me place a restriction, or... be annihilated right here." "We are willing." "We are willing." "Very good. Reveal your third face." The third snake head opened its mouth, revealing a woman's face. Sumir walked up to this face. Though its eyes were closed and it was lifeless with deathly quiet, one could still discern her delicate, exquisite beauty. "The Queen of the Tanshin snake clan of bygone days... Truly bewitching. What a pity she has now had her soul consciousness occupied by you two things. Alas, if not for our church's plans, I would certainly have crushed you two to death on the spot." "My Lady, if not for the two of us brothers, she would have ceased to exist long ago." "Yes, she would have ceased to exist long ago." Sumir could not help but turn back to look at the lion lying prostrate there. It was Gaitanbert, yet it had long ceased to be Gaitanbert. The cause of this was not Sumir, but the simple fact that no one could withstand the erosion of time. The former Tanshin Queen, the former Guardian of the Temple of Order. Sumir did not know the idiom "the fox grieves for the hare," but what she felt right now was the exact same emotion. Especially as a soul entity, she knew all too well that with the passage of time, once her soul began to deteriorate and her self-awareness started to fade, the fate awaiting her would very likely be that of being taken by some promising junior in the church outside to establish a contract. This was the queen's fate, her own fate, and his—the ultimate destiny of all beings inside the Gate. So, why did they choose me back then, and not my sister? *** Waiting for the results was long and agonizing. The three girls—Aisli, Blanche, and Sijini—sat together without speaking, forming a quiet circle. Inside a tent in the distance, Karen, the captain, had long since slipped into high-quality sleep. Yet when Karen's consciousness opened its eyes in a dream, he felt rather helpless, for he knew that with his current soul strength, having an ordinary dream was extraordinarily difficult. Consequently, he rarely dreamed, and every dream carried special significance. "Ah..." Karen let out a sigh as the surrounding scenery began to pile together and take shape. He found himself lying on a bed—large and soft. The setting felt slightly familiar, proving he must have been here before, though certainly not often. Sitting up, Karen rubbed his eyes, contemplating whether to forcibly dispel this dream. After a moment's hesitation, he set that idea aside for now. He knew he was currently lying in a tent within the camp, surrounded by his squad members and shielded by an array on the perimeter. He was completely safe. In that case, there was no need to discard this dream's chance for perception. It was just like divination: it was free anyway. Sleeping was sleeping, and dreaming was sleeping; he might as well treat it as a reading. Karen began observing his surroundings. He still couldn't pinpoint the exact place in his memory, yet he grew all the more certain that he had indeed slept here before. Still, the number of times he had slept in someone else's bed was very few. Looking up at the ceiling, Karen saw a mural painted across it. In the mural, a giant woman was rising from between the valleys. Karen finally remembered where this was—it was the guest room in Piaget's house! Once, when visiting Piaget's home, he had slept in the living room with Piaget that evening, only to be guided into the guest room to rest by "Linda." That night, he had also had a dream in which he stood at the edge of a cliff, watching a multitude of Church of the Mural God believers singing and dancing, before the colossal figure of the giant woman slowly rose from between the gorge. "Why would I dream of this place?" Karen was puzzled. He didn't think he missed his good friend Piaget. In fact, after learning that Piaget had gone traveling with his father-in-law, he had nearly forgotten he even had such a friend. A friend who lends you money is certainly not as easy to remember as a friend who borrows money from you. Karen got out of bed, left the room, and entered Linda's studio. The studio's layout remained as it was, and the mural on the wall was still there. The painting depicted the rooftop of a tall building: Piaget wept bitter tears while clutching a box, Linda's figure soared into the sky, and in the air, a colossal figure was taking shape. Hm? Karen stepped closer to the mural. His attention fell on the giant woman's left hand—there, instead of a palm, was a pond, or rather, a pool. A pool? Karen furrowed his brow. The image of overlooking the Mourning Pool from the rise when they first entered the desert instantly surfaced in his mind. It looked like it, yet didn't. Yet taken together with this dream, the implication became completely different. Was it truly a coincidence? No. The Mural God was sealed by the God of Order; how could she possibly appear inside the Gate of Samsara? What Karen didn't know was that in York City, Wien, Purr at the funeral parlor had woken up and attempted to sense Karen on her own initiative, but failed. Because of their current gap in power and the vast distance between them, only Karen possessed the ability to summon her, whereas she had no way to initiate a summons of Karen. This made Purr furious, for she felt it was utterly unfair, making her feel as though she were merely at his beck and call! Fueled by anger, she was now consuming double portions of tonics every day to build herself back up! While Karen was still pondering the connection between the pool in the mural and the Mourning Pool they were approaching in reality, he suddenly heard footsteps from outside the studio. Hm, this dream of his even had interactive characters? Karen took a few steps to the doorway and saw Linda standing in the corridor. Seeing Karen, a smile appeared on Linda's face as she asked, "Mr. Karen, do you know where my Piaget went?" "Piaget..." "Yes. He left me a letter saying he was going to Wien to open a psychology clinic. He said that was where he and I first met." Karen felt rather helpless and rubbed the space between his brows. In any case, having his friend's wife show up to interact with him in his own dream was truly improper. "Mr. Karen, have you been doing well lately?" "I've been well." "How is your family's business?" "Also well." "Everything is well. That's wonderful," Linda said with a smile. "And you, Linda?" Karen asked out of habit. "I am very well too. I stay by her side, listening to her teachings. I'm very happy." Karen's expression froze abruptly. He realized this was not his own dream; his consciousness had entered an environment beyond his control! Previously, he had assumed Linda was merely a character manifested in his dream, and that everything she said was information he already knew in his heart. But Linda's previous answer had exceeded the bounds of his knowledge. He had always believed Linda died during the summoning ritual; he had never thought she had actually reached the place she yearned for. Even when comforting Piaget in the past, he had never uttered such fairytale-like words. Dreams were projections of reality, and once detached from reality, it meant the dream was no longer under control. Karen began consciously trying to awaken. At that moment, the ground began to shake, and the walls trembled. Linda asked in confusion, "Mr. Karen, we finally met again with such difficulty. Couldn't you stay a little longer? I still want to hear about Piaget. I want to know how he has been doing all this time. I am so sorry toward him. My husband loved me so dearly and was so tolerant of me." "I'm sorry, Linda. We can talk about Piaget later. I have something to attend to right now, so I'm preparing to leave." "But, Mr. Karen, it's not just me who wants to hear you speak. If you wish to leave, you must first greet the other one." "Not just you? Who else?" Linda walked toward Karen, and Karen began to retreat. Stepping into the studio, Linda walked over to the window and drew back the studio's curtains. *Whoosh!* As the curtains were pulled open, a terrifying pressure swept over him. Outside the window was an eye socket framing a colossal eye that had been staring fixedly at him all along! "Mural God... Rielsa!"