Entertaining the Guests!

For some reason, when Muri heard Karen's answer, his heart gave a sudden lurch, and an eerie chill crept up from the depths of his soul. It felt as though the squad captain beside him—who had surpassed him in every aspect—had suddenly turned into an entirely different person. No, it was his aura that had undergone a bizarre transformation, one that struck fear into Muri's heart. Muri recalled what Karen had told him earlier: no matter what happened next, he was to pretend he hadn't seen or known anything, because Karen had promised to keep him alive. He, Muri Benda, wanted to live. One day, he would stand before his grandfather and uncles and tell them just how foolish they had been to abandon him! Taking a deep breath, Muri forced his head up as high as he could, glaring at the lion before him. Gaitanbert began to advance. Each step of its massive paws carried a peculiar rhythm that set off a series of resonant vibrations. Every step felt as if it were landing squarely on Muri's chest. As the distance closed, the pressure bearing down on Muri grew heavier. Even with veins bulging across his neck, the binding token inside his body forced his head down once again. *Damn it!* Muri roared in furious indignation within his heart. Even if one was dedicating everything to the church, did it really have to be done in such a humiliating manner? In stark contrast to Muri's emotional turmoil, Karen was entirely at ease. The three-headed giant python seemed somewhat puzzled; it had not approached him, lingering and circling in the distance instead. This made Karen slightly impatient. He understood why: the snake scale inside him was gone, so Furnites could not sense any reaction from the token. Yet the more critical the moment, the less he could afford to show his inner impatience. All he could do was wait for the fish to bite. And Karen remained convinced that it would. Behind them, Gaitanbert drew nearer. Upon closing the distance to roughly a hundred meters, it came to a halt. It opened its jaws, letting out a roar, and an immensely powerful light erupted from its form and surged toward Muri, leaving behind only a decayed husk of fur and bone where it had stood. In Muri's vision, a lion sprang straight at him, closer and closer... Finally— *Bang!* Muri was knocked down, tumbling into a pitch-black conscious space. He tried to stand, only to find a thick ring of long fur sprouting around his thighs. It spread rapidly, engulfing his entire body in an instant and pinning him in place like a row of steel nails. Gaitanbert's sphinx-like form manifested above, parting its jaws with open greed in its eyes. Beside Muri floated the phantoms of a massive black shield and a black short sword. When Gaitanbert first appeared, they had instinctively begun to vibrate. But as the lion fur extended toward them and Gaitanbert deliberately released his aura of Order, the shield and dagger—which were meant to protect Muri's soul—froze back into stillness. At this moment, his soul was left completely defenseless. Gaitanbert descended slowly beside Muri, opening his jaws to bite down, but a translucent membrane appeared over Muri's body, blocking him. Gaitanbert did not grow angry; in fact, he chuckled. He knew this membrane was the young man's final line of defense and could hardly hold him off for long. It would merely take a little extra effort. Raising a paw, he swatted downward. *Smack!* Muri felt his soul violently tremble and tear as waves of agonizing distortion battered him. Yet he gritted his teeth and endured. Right now, he was not in true despair, because he still had hope in the man beside him! Gaitanbert raised his paw once more and brought it down, remarking as he struck: "The moment I entered here, your resistance became utterly meaningless." Muri did not reply. *Smack!* "If you surrender and preserve a bit more soul power, there's a chance you can retain a relatively intact consciousness after I take over your body. "Of course, if you're unwilling, I don't mind wiping you out completely. After all, nobody wants filthy spots lingering in their new home." Muri glared furiously at Gaitanbert, a ferocious sneer spreading across his face. "That's exactly what I was thinking!" ... Seeing that Gaitanbert had successfully entered his candidate's body and commenced the process of claiming it, the three-headed python hesitated no longer. It began slithering toward Karen. Karen had remained seated there without twitching a muscle, waiting quietly, merely swallowing softly every now and then. Once it drew close enough, the three-headed python spoke: "To become my vessel is your honor." Karen nodded expressionlessly, thinking to himself: *And yours.* "What is your name?" the three-headed python asked. "Karen Silva." "I don't care much for that name; it sounds far too ordinary. From now on, your name shall be... Furnites. Do you like your new name?" Karen shook his head. "Not at all." "Trust me, you will come to love it, and you'll get used to it. Heh." The three-headed python reared up, a beam of black light shooting from its body. Immediately afterward, an enormous python phantom charged toward Karen. It was coming. It was coming. It was finally coming! Karen mounted no defense whatsoever. The python's phantom plunged directly into his body. ... In the center of a pitch-black void, Karen stood quietly. All around him came the stifling hisses of a flicking serpent tongue. Its massive coils wound ceaselessly through the darkness, like a seasoned hunter toying with a captured prey. Karen could entirely understand its mood, because his own mood right now was practically the same. While the three-headed python amused itself with its little game of toying with prey, Karen took the opportunity to examine his conscious world anew. His narrow brush with death beneath the Throne of Order had granted him an unprecedented opportunity. Everything he had once possessed—both what could be shown to others and what could not—was now completely branded with Order, thoroughly whitewashed. By extension, his identity had become unassailably genuine. His origin, his past—anyone looking into his background, even if they uncovered a few loose threads, would find that none of it was a problem anymore. He could now spread his arms wide and invite any inspection. As long as there was no flaw to be found on him and he was as Order-aligned as could possibly be, he was an undisputed, authentic Order priest. This complete whitewashing gave Karen an immense sense of security. He no longer had to hide. When casting spells, he didn't need to worry about sharp-eyed observers noticing anything amiss. He could be calmer, more composed, and far more confident. Right now, he was simply an outstanding, extraordinary young talent of Order blessed with staggering potential. The python's slithering failed to produce the reaction it anticipated. It found this rather odd; it—or rather, they—felt things shouldn't be playing out like this. The crux of the matter was that Karen wasn't playing along. After all, nobody kept feeding bait to a fish already hooked on the line. A human face emerged from the black shadows, peering at Karen. "Where is the binding token on you?" "Lost it," Karen replied. "Please believe me, it wasn't intentional. It even caused me quite a few unnecessary headaches." The moment the three-headed python entered his body, a sensation of fullness suddenly washed over him. The gnawing hunger that had been tormenting Karen eased considerably all at once, instantly relieving his strain. This left Karen in an excellent mood to take his time savoring this sumptuous feast. Even so, he kept an eye on Muri's condition next door through the mental bridge. After all, there was little chance of things going wrong on his end; the real concern was Muri. Just then, a second face emerged from the shadows and spoke: "You actually managed to remove that binding token. You want very badly to live, don't you? You're terrified of dying." "Yes, I'm terrified of dying." The first face chimed in, "Yet you know full well that if you return empty-handed, the Church of Order won't let you off either, will they?" "Yes, you're entirely right." "So what are you still trying to struggle for? Your fate is already sealed." "Brother is right. Your fate is already sealed." Karen nodded. "Right. Both our fates are sealed." "Why aren't you asking us about Furnites?" "Indeed, why aren't you asking who we are?" "From the beginning, I knew that even if Furnites and Gaitanbert were still alive, the beings surviving now would no longer be who they once were." "Then do you want to see what the real Furnites looks like now?" "To be honest, not particularly." "Why?" "Because I'm not very interested. It's not like I know her." "Brother, he's intentionally spoiling our mood. Let's stop wasting time. I'm worried Gaitanbert might have already finished on his end." "Very well, Brother. I don't know why, but the sight of his calm expression and the measured pace of his speech irritates me to no end. I'm going to tear his soul apart and wipe away his consciousness. Let's see if he can keep acting so composed then!" The two human faces retreated into the shadows. Soon, the immense bulk of the three-headed python fully manifested. It parted its three gaping maws and unleashed a deafening roar, releasing a staggering wave of pressure. A pity. Had Karen not locked eyes with the gaze of a god just a short while ago, he might have felt somewhat awed by the spectacle before him. But after an encounter with a god, his threshold had been raised dramatically. No matter how much this three-headed python flexed its spiritual muscles, in Karen's eyes it looked like nothing more than child's play. Just as Karen was preparing to make his move, however, he sensed through the mental bridge that some peculiar change seemed to be taking place on Muri's side. "Pardon me. Please wait a moment; I'll be right back. You all entertain our guest." With that, Karen stepped back two paces and vanished into the shadows. The python's roars, which had been reverberating without pause, involuntarily grew quieter and fainter. They sensed that the consciousness of the person who was supposed to be bearing their opening display of pressure had up and left his own soul. The audience had walked out. Who were the two brothers howling for now? "Brother, he seems to have left. It looks like he used some scroll array mental link to go next door." "I can sense it." "Brother, this is more than a little disrespectful to us." "I can feel it." "Brother, what do we do now? Just take over this place directly? It feels like we've lost a lot of the fun, but I think we should just get to it. Maybe this 'Karen' just wants to run away from his end—like shutting his eyes before execution and pretending nothing is happening." "Let's begin. Claim this body and soul first." The three-headed python threw back its heads, and a dense tide of soul power surged outward from its frame, washing over the surrounding environment. The darkness receded steadily, laying bare the full panorama of this conscious space. The first thing to emerge was a dark moon, shimmering with the luster of Order. "Brother, is this a new legacy of Order? Which moon goddess system did Order absorb this time?" "The Church of Order's status out there is just like our Church of Samsara's here. What's so surprising about that? Isn't it perfectly normal?" A suit of black armor appeared, rich auras of Order brewing within it. "Brother, this guy has two heritages in his body!" "The candidates selected to receive us are all exceptional young elites. What's so surprising about that? Isn't it perfectly normal?" Clad in knight armor and holding a blazing bow and an icy sword, Ancestor Allen stood tall. "Brother, he even has a guardian totem inside him! It also smacks a bit of a family guardian spirit." "He might hail from an Order knight order. What's so surprising about that? Isn't it perfectly normal?" A Door of Order manifested in the space. "Brother, take a look at this door. Doesn't it look a bit familiar?" "There are only so many designs for doors. What's so surprising about that? Isn't it perfectly normal?" Finally— The figure of an old man emerged. He wore divine robes trimmed with gold, his face completely concealed. "Brother, there's another person inside him! A bloodline legacy? Doesn't he already have the knight order? How is there another?" "What's so surprising about... A TEMPLE ELDER?!" The three-headed python froze, utterly dumbfounded. "Brother, don't you feel like... our vessel's credentials are a bit too high-grade?" "Uh..." "I know the Church of Order places great importance on Furnites and wants to bring her back, but choosing such an expensive bowl to hold her seems to be giving us a bit too much face, doesn't it?" "Uh..." "Brother, I have a bad feeling about this. I told you earlier—why did Gaitanbert's vessel have his binding token, while we couldn't sense ours even though it was definitely there earlier?" "It's very likely... the binding token was already melted away by him." "Brother, I'm scared. I think we should slip away." "Yeah. Let's slip away." The three-headed python, cautious by nature, cast aside all greed without hesitation and opted to flee. A swirling vortex opened before it. But just as it moved to dive through the vortex and escape this body, it was horrified to discover a layer of flames burning over the portal. The flames were black, though not completely so. The python paid it no heed at first, but the moment its flesh grazed the rim of the vortex, the fire leapt straight onto its body. "AARGH!" The python recoiled instantly, snapping the vortex shut. "Brother, it hurts! What kind of fire is this?! I feel like I'm being dissolved!" "Flames of Order? Damn it, why do flames of Order deal so much damage to souls now?!" At a considerable cost, the python finally smothered the flames on its body. But when it reopened a vortex, it found the passage still blanketed in those same flames. "Brother, what do we do?" "Forget it! Even if a third of our soul gets burned away, we have to get out! This place terrifies me!" "Alright, Brother, let's charge! My head will lead the way and take the brunt of the damage. Once we're out, I'll go into slumber, and you handle the escape and arrangements!" "Alright, little brother!" *Hum!* At that moment, Ancestor Allen drew his bow and nocked an arrow. A flaming arrow streaked forward, piercing the passage and shattering it to pieces. The python immediately tore open a new passage, but Ancestor Allen loosed another arrow, shattering it once more. "We're trying to leave! We don't want this body anymore!" Ancestor Allen stood there in silence, his features concealed beneath his helm. Had the members of the Allen family seen Ancestor Allen in his current form, they would surely have wept tears of joy. An ancestor clad in Order knight armor meant that the branch established by their family belief system had completed a sublimation from a mere clan to an established church. Given the overwhelming gap between an orthodox church and an ordinary family belief system nowadays, this spectacle was no different from bandits receiving an official royal commission. Had Purr seen him, she would have been even more thrilled. As the partner bound to Karen through a symbiosis contract, Karen could borrow her strength, and she could likewise borrow Karen's. The problem that had vexed her for years—that their "ancestor was too weak"—had actually been resolved in this manner. The original Ancestor Allen was like a cup of water: Purr's cup could never be larger than the ancestor's, and any excess water would simply spill over and be lost. Now, it was as if that cup had been placed inside a massive barrel; even if more water was poured in and the cup overflowed, everything remained contained within the barrel. "Brother, what do we do?" "Open several passages at once! I don't believe he can tell which one is real and which ones are fake!" In an instant, more than a dozen passages opened around the three-headed python. Ancestor Allen drew his bow, arrow nocked, and paused. Right then, a black Rubik's Cube appeared, operating and analyzing on its own. Soon, a black speck of light manifested beneath one of the passages. Ancestor Allen loosed his arrow, obliterating the sole genuine passage. The Key to the Rubik's Cube, which belonged to the Guman family bloodline, had shown no presence when Karen underwent the baptism of the Throne of Order, because the Guman family had long since aligned their bloodline with Order. "We want to leave, and you won't even let us?! Fine, then! You forced our hand!" "Exactly! Did you really think we brothers were afraid of you?!" The aura on the three-headed python shifted, and its body began to dissolve and divide, gradually splitting into three figures. The two brothers each claimed one, their serpent scales turning into armor and their fangs into sharp blades. Leaving aside the motionless Furnites in the middle, they had at least formed two separate combatants. "Haha, Brother, now it's two against one!" Ancestor Allen dropped the bow and gripped his icy sword. Just then, the black Sea God's Armor floated over. It expanded and stretched out first, creating the impression of an invisible figure donning it. Immediately after, the dark moon merged into the Sea God's Armor. Within the visor of the helm, a pair of eyes gleamed into sight, and two black scimitars materialized in its hands as it stepped up to stand alongside Ancestor Allen. "Uh... Brother, now it's two against two." "Shut up!"