A Feud Between Gods

Karen's body was still weak, but that was no issue. Although he excelled in close-quarters combat, he did not rely on physical toughness, and the properties of the Black Prison Castle allowed him to avoid direct physical contact in battle. Before long, Karen summoned the Black Prison Castle. It was a compact fortress bearing an Eastern aesthetic, and every time he summoned it, the corners of Karen's mouth would curl slightly upward in an involuntary smile. Since Muri remained unconscious, the two squads could only summon a single castle, and Karen did not refuse Paxio and the others entry. After all, this group's flaw was merely selfishness; driven into a corner with no way out, they could still be useful. Once inside the castle, everyone immediately used their scrolls to summon their war apparatuses. Karen had originally wondered if there might be a chance to summon them just before being teleported back so they could haul them away, but it seemed he would not be getting that bargain now. Muri was settled into the washroom by Karen, and Sijini went in to use priestly arts to help him wake sooner. As for Paxio, Iraman, Demel, and Digat, the four of them could only sit cross-legged beside Karen for the moment. Karen connected his hand to the vines protruding from the black sphere to control the castle, while casting a slightly helpless glance at the "four guardian protectors" surrounding him. In truth, they were even more embarrassed. Space inside the castle was limited, particularly in the combat stations, which were strictly one person per post. Extra hands could not be packed in, and there was not even room to stand around. Only Karen's command room had a bit of spare space, and the most awkward times were usually when one felt utterly superfluous. "Mars, set up the Hodaman vine binding array." "Yes, Captain." "Ashley, summon Sandy and try to lure the lizard dragon in the sky." "Yes, Captain. Now is the time I need your help, my dearest friend Sandy…" Sometimes things were strange like that. Clearly the most useless monster beast, it nonetheless took the field the most often—so often that even Karen remembered its name. "Ventura, Bart, you are not permitted to attack without orders. Remember, our primary damage output is the magic crystal cannon. Once I give the command, your attacks are meant to seal off the lizard dragon's dodging room and facilitate the cannon's aim." "Yes, Captain." "Yes, Captain." Soon, augmented by the Array Screen, vines spread across the ground within the castle walls and over the exterior walls of the keep itself. Sandy also appeared overhead, proactively flying toward the lizard dragon. Karen kept his eyes fixed on the situation outside, while the magic crystal cannon at the very peak of the castle adjusted its angle. Bart reported, "Captain, people have appeared on the outer perimeter ground." Ventura reported, "Captain, there are people on my side too." "Ignore them for now. Keep your eyes on that lizard dragon first." Gathering a crowd of such diverse identities and species in such a short time meant their location had undoubtedly been sensed. However, considering the remote nature of the region they were in, Karen believed that as long as they eliminated this first wave of pursuers, there would surely be an interval before the second wave arrived. Karen estimated this interval to be at least one day, and at most… two to three days. One problem had to be factored in: these major cities had teleportation arrays, so pursuers from other regions would certainly be able to arrive rapidly through them. In other words, Black Forest City, Dark Grotto, and Blazing Valley would inevitably see large numbers of people teleported in, who would then converge here. In such a short window, it was impossible to lead everyone back to Tagima Village. There was not enough time, and they would inevitably collide with a much larger second wave of pursuers along the way. It was a simple math problem. Only five trialist squads had entered in total. The Samsara squads would surely receive the protection of the Church of Samsara. Once the first wave made contact, as long as the Mural God was not an idiot, she would be able to perceive which side was the Samsara contingent. Therefore, during the second wave of attacks, those two Samsara squads would be abandoned, because the Mural God knew that the person she was looking for had to be in the Order squads. Right now, both Order squads were in one location, while the squad composed of one trialist from each of the six orthodox churches was in an unknown location. Thus, in the second wave, the pursuers the Mural God could command would face a simple choice between two targets. And that was assuming the patchwork trialist squad had not been wiped out in the first wave. If they had already perished, Karen's group might be the sole target of the next strike. If they could not head to Tagima Village now, where else could they hide? Karen disliked the suggestion of finding a place to set up an array to conceal themselves. That was equivalent to burying one's head in the dirt and leaving the outcome to a god's discretion. Yet, ironically, the one acting against them truly was a god. As a giant bird with no special talent other than looking solemn and majestic, Sandy accomplished the luring mission flawlessly. One could tell that the lizard dragon harbored a natural revulsion toward Sandy. It even began flying in a straight line, just so it could bite this damned bird to death on the way while attacking Karen's position. "Pull it back." "Yes, Captain." Under Ashley's direction, Sandy flew back toward the castle on its own initiative, with the lizard dragon chasing right behind, launching into a rapid dive. The distance was closing fast! Karen closed his eyes, concentrating his entire mind on controlling the magic crystal cannon. The cannon had already completed charging. "Bart, Ventura, suppressive fire!" *Twang, twang, twang, twang, twang!* The repeating crossbows fired in rapid bursts, not directly at the lizard dragon, but at the airspace surrounding it. *Boom!* The Judgment-class magic crystal cannon fired. A terrifying beam of black light pierced through Sandy first, then struck the lizard dragon squarely in the head. The lizard dragon's head was vaporized first, and then its upper body was blown apart. A cloud of blood mist bloomed in the sky, and the remaining half of its torso plummeted toward the ground, sliding a considerable distance across the dirt from its forward momentum. Its soul annihilated by the blast, the lizard dragon's ruined carcass rapidly dissolved as well. As for the obliterated Sandy, it came to no real harm; it had merely lost a phantom projection. Its true body might suffer some residual backlash, but that was fine—Ashley's parents would simply bring gifts to soothe it once again. Without any difficulty or unexpected hitches, the full sequence ended with the greatest aerial threat, the lizard dragon, slain outright. "Begin firing on the ground." "Yes, Captain!" Bart and Ventura began firing at the pursuers converging around the castle. One spirit body after another was pierced by the crossbow bolts, their souls dissipating, and shrill screams echoed continuously below. Yet matters were far from that simple. Accompanying a tremor in the ground, an enormous rhinoceros appeared directly before the castle gates and slammed violently against them. *Crash!* The castle gate was battered open. "Mars, set up the Frey Forest array." "Yes, Captain!" "Blanche, focus all your buffs on Mars!" "Yes, Captain!" Blanche concentrated on using her Priest Astral Chain to aid Mars alone. Soon, following the captain's instructions, Mars completed the Frey Forest array. Karen began manipulating the castle to repair the gate, but the rhinoceros had wedged its horn into the doorway. Despite Bart and Ventura constantly striking it with bolts, it refused to back away. These pursuers were all like religious zealots, entirely fearless of death, which made them exceptionally difficult to handle. Many pursuers from the perimeter surged through the breach forced open by the rhino, and four figures even broke through the castle's warding restrictions to land upon the outer walls. Their soul auras were the strongest here. With that, the defense of the outermost walls was breached. Yet Karen did not panic in the slightest. Instead, he began steadily charging the magic crystal cannon once more. Sitting beside Karen, Paxio and the other three sensed the energy fluctuations of the cannon recharging, their faces twisting in shock. Was he going to blast close-range targets with the magic crystal cannon? Given the magic crystal cannon's power, this would reduce all of them to ash! Karen was not Muri, however. While they dared to tease Muri from time to time, they did not dare voice any objection to Karen, who was sheltering them right now. Well, they had objections, but none dared raise them to his face. Instead, Iraman and Demel changed their approach and spoke up together, "Captain Karen, let us go outside and clear out the intruders!" "Sit quietly. When I need you, I will give the order." With that, Karen continued controlling the charging of the magic crystal cannon. This was a more complicated process than before, because he could not allow the cannon to charge fully; he had to control it at about one-third capacity. Once the pursuers had all rushed inside the perimeter walls and began scaling the walls of the castle structure or battering at the entrance doors, Karen commanded: "Everyone in the squad, summon your contracted souls and draw upon their strength!" All members of Karen's squad summoned their contracted souls—this was the first time they were putting their "new companions" to use. Karen ordered again, "Mars, activate the array!" The Frey Forest art activated first. The ivy-like vines instantly received nourishment and stimulation, swelling in thickness and size. Immediately after, the Hodaman vine binding array activated. The enlarged vines seemed to gain a peculiar vitality and intelligence at this moment, automatically coiling around nearby enemies. Because vines covered every surface, almost every pursuer was ensnared. However, this level of binding could not last long, and the damage it inflicted was extremely limited. Under Karen's direction, the magic crystal cannon fired straight upward. Because of the incomplete charge, combined with Karen's deliberate throttling of the blast volume upon firing, the beam of black light stalled shortly after shooting into the air. The beam then scattered, descending like fireworks into countless trails of black flame. Lacking kinetic impact, although the castle caught fire everywhere, the people inside the structures suffered no harm. Yet the flames ignited by the cannon's beam swiftly set the vines ablaze. As the fire spread along the vines, the targets bound by them were consumed by the flames as well. The courtyard inside the walls instantly turned into a sea of fire, filled with the ceaseless screeching of agonized wails. Paxio said in astonishment, "A combination like this works too? Captain Karen, when did you drill and practice this?" Karen replied, "Back when you were still learning how to build houses on the island." Paxio: "..." Once the blaze died down, the strongest pursuers who had spearheaded the charge were essentially dead. Those who ran up afterward possessed quite ordinary strength, though there were slightly more of them. The durability of Bart and Ventura's repeating crossbows had reached its limit, so Karen had Paxio and his group contribute their war apparatus scrolls as replacements. The magic crystal cannon also developed an issue with its barrel due to being overloaded in a short span of time. Karen suspected his control over the energy output during the second shot had subjected the barrel to greater stress. Fortunately, Muri still had another magic crystal cannon scroll, and a new one was summoned and promptly deployed. The battle continued for nearly two more hours. Although the process was practically a one-sided slaughter with no further accidents, the durability of all the war apparatuses held by both squads was essentially exhausted. Unless sent to a specialized department for repair, they could hardly be used again. Fortunately, this defensive battle was finally over. Karen was grateful that those zealots had no understanding of attrition or piecemeal reinforcement tactics, simply throwing themselves forward like moths to a flame, which had actually lightened the burden on his side. Finally, Karen ordered the four under Paxio to leave the castle and eliminate the few remaining stragglers and wounded nearby, reminding them to check the relics strewn across the ground to see where these pursuers had come from. Once the surrounding area was completely free of threats, Karen severed the connection to the black sphere and let out a long breath. Although the Scythe of War had sustained ninety percent of the cost of maintaining the Black Prison Castle, the expenditure required to operate and maneuver its systems fell entirely upon the users themselves. Even Karen felt exhausted, to say nothing of the others. "Ashley, summon another flying creature to scout the skies." "Yes, Captain." Ashley's expenditure was light; from start to finish, she had only been responsible for summoning one dearest friend at the opening and another at the close. Thus, after posting an aerial sentry, she immediately took out stamina-restoring potions and administered them to her teammates. Karen merely sat on the steps, catching his breath. Bart and Ventura were lying flat on the ground, their arms raised and twitching uncontrollably. Blanche was on her knees, dry-heaving. Mars was struggling to stop his nosebleed with Ashley's help. In truth, Karen's consumption was the greatest of all, because he had assisted nearly every teammate. Without him shouldering their burdens, they would never have held out until now. Yet seeing everyone in this state, Karen knew that his side could not possibly survive a second wave of pursuers. Even if Muri woke up now and led his squad, who remained in decent shape, they would stand little chance. Their war apparatuses were completely spent, and these precious pieces of equipment would simply have to be abandoned here; carrying them along was out of the question. Karen stood up and pushed open the washroom door. Sijini nodded to Karen and walked out, while Muri, lying in the bathtub, slowly opened his eyes. "You certainly slept comfortably, managing to miss the entire battle." "There was a battle just now?" Muri looked around at his surroundings in confusion. "Have we left the Gate of Samsara?" "This is the washroom inside my Black Prison Castle." "Oh, I see. Then earlier, I…" "Get up. I need to lie down for a bit. I'm exhausted. If you want to know what happened outside, go ask, and look after things for me while you're at it." "Oh, alright." Muri promptly rolled out of the bathtub and unsteadily climbed to his feet. Karen lay down in the tub. The bathtub was dry; not a drop of water had been run in it from start to finish. After Muri stepped out, Karen picked up a waterskin, uncorked it, and poured water over his face, hoping to soothe himself and clear his head. A moment later, Muri pushed the door open again and said, "There's something very important." Muri took out an object resembling a yellow bean from his chest. This was the portion of memory Gaitanbert had severed just before dying. Fortunately, he had completed the extraction before the restriction triggered and killed him. Karen reached out and took the yellow bean. It was fragile—so fragile that it could not be read beforehand. In other words, if Karen still intended to take it back to report to the high-ranking leadership of Order, he could not peek at this secret memory. "One more thing. Paxio and the others inspected the pursuers' belongings as you ordered. They found that quite a few came from Black Forest City and Dark Grotto—there were identity plaques from those two places among the items. However, no identity plaques from Blazing Valley have been found so far." "No pursuers from Blazing Valley were found?" "That's right." "Alright, I understand." "For our next step, it seems we ought to relocate." "Let me think a while longer." "Alright." Muri backed out of the washroom. Karen pursed his lips. None from Blazing Valley… That did not make sense. From their current location, setting aside the Mourning Pool, there were only those three major cities nearby. Why had people from the other two cities joined the pursuit, while Blazing Valley had none? Unless something peculiar had already occurred in Blazing Valley. Karen knew that beneath Blazing Valley lay a palace, one that had once served as Raniedal's lounge when he discarded trash. Kevin had said that not only was a mental imprint of Raniedal left inside, but also numerous puppets he had coerced the Voss family into crafting for him. Looking at it now, had Raniedal's mental imprint been stirred awake? Ah, of course. Mural God Rielsa had awakened. Setting aside the tremor of divine might, which was enough to startle the vast majority of entities from their slumber, the sheer grudge between Rielsa and Raniedal would have made it impossible for Raniedal's mental imprint not to awaken. The reason Karen had avoided going toward Blazing Valley before was that his body carried the aura of Raniedal's modification. Kevin had warned him that approaching that place might provoke the mental imprint into waking, leading to very dire consequences. Now, first of all, Raniedal's mental imprint had most likely already awakened. Second, Karen's body no longer bore Raniedal's aura. "Hehehe…" Karen began to laugh. He had found his opening to break through the second wave of pursuit: he would head to Blazing Valley and lure the pursuers there. "That's how it should be. A feud between gods ought to be left to gods to settle."