Father?

"That bitch Artemis?" Anyone who could refer to the Moon Goddess in such a tone had to be her contemporary. In truth, there was no need to keep guessing. Seeing how, just moments ago, every depiction of Ankara on the surrounding murals had moved its lips in unison with her words, her identity was already glaringly obvious. The problem was, the more straightforward it was, the harder it was to believe. A scene had already surfaced in Karen's mind: He would walk up to the hospital bed where Neo lay and tell him: "I saw a resurrected Ankara in the Ankara Memorial Hall on the top floor of the Ankara Hotel." At that point, no matter how precious the grapes in Neo's mouth were, he would surely spit them right out. "Ah—" Salayina stretched lazily, her gaze slowly sweeping over the room. Cold sweat broke out across Sains's face. Karen had always felt this manservant was decent in combat but not particularly bright. Otherwise, he wouldn't have crafted his avatar puppet with the exact same height and build as himself. In short, there was simply no comparing him to Alfred. Even more ridiculous was that while terror had flashed across Sains's face when his eyes first fell upon Salayina, by the time he looked over at Karen and the others, his gaze was dripping with murderous intent. Did he want to silence them? Silencing priests of Order right in front of Ankara? Sains's lips trembled as he said to Salayina, "Please go back. Please return right now. Possessing the Holy Child's body puts far too great a strain on Her Eminence." Salayina glanced at Sains and raised a hand. Instantly bound by an invisible force, Sains was lifted into the air, his feet dangling. Streams of yellow light swirled across his body, yet every one of them dissipated before taking shape. "From the day I was born, I never even listened to my own father. And now you expect me to listen to you?" Salayina's fingers slowly began to close. Sounds of crushing pressure emanated from Sains's body, accompanied by an occasional sharp crack of bone. Karen had fought Sains's avatar puppet before and knew the man excelled at defense rather than offense, but it was painfully obvious his defensive prowess was utterly negligible right now. This was no longer a simple contest of brute strength; it was absolute supremacy in the form of power. Though invisible to the eye, Karen could sense that an intangible chain of Order was tightly coiling around Sains, constricting him while deconstructing every spell he tried to unleash. Chains of Order could manifest like this? Invisible chains? Karen stared blankly ahead, his thoughts racing. Perhaps invisible chains were not the true ultimate form of Order, but they were certainly far closer to its essence. Visible chains became physical shackles, while invisible chains served as the moral compass within a person's heart? Salayina looked at Karen with a hint of curiosity, and then a smile actually graced her face. "You're quite an interesting little fellow, aren't you? Hehehe... Here I am having fun choking someone, and you actually start having an epiphany right on the spot?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than Salayina abruptly shouted in Karen's direction: "Hey!" Karen felt as if an entire mountain had slammed directly into him. Stumbling backward several steps, he crashed onto the floor. The thoughts and intuitive insight that had been coalescing in his mind were blown completely apart. Such opportunities were extraordinarily rare; often, a breakthrough in cultivation hinged entirely on that single spark. Yet she had snuffed out that precious moment as if playing a prank. Sitting on the floor, Karen felt warmth trickling from his nose. When he raised a hand to wipe it away, he realized liquid was also flowing from his ears and eyes—blood. "I... cough..." Karen tried to speak, but the moment he opened his mouth, blood welled up as he coughed violently. His head buzzed relentlessly, showing no sign of quietening down. "Karen!" "Captain!" "Captain!" Ophelia, Aisli, and Blanche rushed over at once. Ophelia flicked her wrists, summoning her Dark Moon Blade into her hands, and stared vigilantly at Salayina. Aisli pressed her hand against the tattoo of Mombas the Storm Wolf on the back of her wrist, ready to summon it at a moment's notice. Blanche placed both hands on Karen's shoulders and immediately began healing him. Salayina did nothing to stop them. She simply looked at Karen calmly and said, "Your comprehension is impressive, but some things aren't meant for you to touch just yet. If you keep pursuing that revelation, it will only lead you down the wrong path, because you don't possess the necessary prerequisites to attain it." Karen: "..." Salayina opened her hand, and Sains dropped to the floor. Fractures riddled his body, yet he still struggled to get up. "I beg of you... leave the Holy Child's body now. She truly cannot bear it." With a flick of Salayina's hand, Sains was sent flying, slamming heavily against the wall before sliding down in a miserable heap. Still, prostrate on the floor, he strained to push himself back up. "Bother me again, and I really will kill you. Then there will be no one left to look after your Holy Child." Hearing this, Sains stopped struggling and pressed his forehead against the floor. Salayina walked over to the painting titled *Light of Order*. In the painting, her body was shattering in the jaws of a ferocious beast, like a snapshot of a glass cup breaking apart. Looking at the painting, her gaze gradually grew somber. For this was her end. Under Blanche's treatment, Karen gradually recovered. He stood up and looked at Salayina's back, uncertain of what attitude or stance he should take toward her. Although she had just disrupted his epiphany, she had indeed meant well—even if Karen felt he might have been able to give it a try. The atmosphere lapsed into a brief stillness. Karen asked, "Are you Her Highness Ankara?" "I am not her. She is already dead, shattered into countless fragments right inside that painting. If I must define my relation to her, I suppose I am merely one of those countless shards." "You are still Her Highness Ankara." Karen gestured toward those behind him, placed his hands before his chest, and said earnestly, "Greetings, Your Highness." Aisli and Blanche immediately followed suit. "Greetings, Your Highness." Ophelia put away her Dark Moon Blade and was about to pay her respects as well when Salayina spoke: "A follower of the Dark Moon Goddess is here as well. Are you the nourishment she chose?" Karen did not offer an answer on her behalf; his intuition told him that quietly playing the role of a security squad captain was the wisest choice. Ophelia replied, "I believe she chose me for that purpose, but it seems I am not the one she was looking for." "Oh, really? Then she truly is unfortunate. After fusing with me, she underwent so many cycles of Moon Radiance that this body's potential is nearly exhausted. If she can't find a suitable method in time, she won't have many years left to live. "Of course, my awakening this time places further strain and exhaustion on her body. From her already fleeting lifespan, she will lose another half-year because of today. "Alas, what a pitiful child. Her talent is genuinely remarkable; she was simply too impatient, and perhaps a bit too greedy." Salayina began walking toward the next painting. The end was often adjacent to the beginning. She strolled along, appreciating the paintings one by one. "I truly am not Ankara. If the real Ankara had awakened, you people from the Church of Order would be the first to die. She hates the Church of Order—deeply, profoundly hates it. "So, you should count yourselves lucky." Salayina walked from one end to the other, then circled back. "I don't feel like I'm looking at my own past, nor do I feel much reminiscence or resonance. To me, this seems like the past of someone who merely shared my name, while I am now nothing more than an onlooker. "Back then, Ankara visited the Moon God Church and stole the White Moon Crown. When she fled, she was forced to leave behind a soul imprint. "Later, the Moon God Church managed to find a piece of Ankara's flesh from somewhere, fused that preserved soul imprint into it, and gave birth to me. "The girl whose body I occupy is the first person in all these years capable of successfully fusing with me. I live within her body, but I have little interest in fighting her for ownership of it. "What point is there in seizing a body on the verge of withering away? "Once she dies, I will revert to a tiny fragment, waiting who knows how many years for the next person capable of fusing with me." Salayina finished making the full circle, speaking as she viewed the paintings, and finally returned to her starting point. "The person who painted these was quite dedicated. My memories of Ankara aren't very clear, so I can't tell how much of these depictions is real and how much is fabricated. Still, they are well done. "It fills me with emotion. Even the daughter of a god could reach the end of her life so quickly." In the end, Salayina stood before *Light of Order* once more. "How despairing she must have felt back then." Karen understood that the consciousness before him lacked a sense of ego. Though she still acted under the identity of Ankara, she had no distinct self-awareness. This explained why, upon first waking, she had casually remarked, *From the day I was born, I never even listened to my own father,* yet when faced with confirming her identity, she insisted she was not Ankara. If conditions permitted, Karen might have offered her some psychological counseling, but conditions clearly did not allow for it. If they went through several therapy sessions and she was cured, Salayina would probably be ready for her own funeral by then. "Alright, I'm done looking." Salayina turned around and shook her head. "Perhaps the surroundings here touched her, and in doing so, touched me, causing my sudden awakening. That's the only explanation." "Can... can you go back now?" Sains asked again from the floor. "Of course I will go back. And I know full well that once I do, she will place even more seals on me, because she knows her body can't withstand me waking up another time. "But don't you think I should tidy things up before I go back?" "Please... kill them quickly! We were ambushed by assassins, and they died protecting the Holy Child!" *Buzz!* Sains's body was hoisted into the air once more. His bloodstained face stared at Salayina. "I said before, only the real Ankara harbors immense hatred toward the Church of Order. I don't, which proves I am not Ankara. I... am still me." Sains spoke with immense difficulty: "But the Church of Order cannot be allowed to know of your existence! That was the covenant you made with the Holy Child before you fused with her! Most importantly, without the Holy Child, it will be nearly impossible for you to find another vessel capable of rebooting your consciousness! You know very well that even in our Moon God Church, an existence like the Holy Child appears only once every few generations!" "There are other ways." Salayina's gaze swept across Karen and his companions. "Open your spiritual consciousness to me. I will seal the brief segment of memory in your minds from the moment I awakened." Karen pursed his lips. "I would like to verify first whether you currently possess that capability. If you do, we are willing to cooperate." "You should know that before me, you have no room to negotiate terms, because killing you would be effortless." "You won't, because you are you, not Ankara." Salayina looked at Karen, hesitated for a moment, and nodded. "You're right." With that, she raised her hand, pointed at Sains again, and pulled him forcibly before her. "If you don't want me to annihilate your soul, open your spiritual consciousness." Sains sighed and closed his eyes. Soon, a black light materialized at Salayina's fingertip. It entered between Sains's brows and quickly flew back out. Sains slumped onto his knees, looking as though he had fallen asleep. "See? I've sealed that short stretch of memory. Quite simple. Now it's your turn to have this part of your memory sealed. Once I finish and return to slumber, you will all wake up. It'll be as simple as taking a nap." Karen nodded. "Very well, I agree." Salayina raised her finger. In turn, she first stepped up to Ophelia. Ophelia closed her eyes, and the light from Salayina's fingertip entered, sealing the memory. Next were Aisli and Blanche. Once they had all slipped into a slumber, Salayina came before Karen. "Now, it's your turn." Karen took a deep breath. "Why are you more nervous than those girls?" "I don't know," Karen replied. "Once I seal this memory of yours, I will go to sleep." Karen closed his eyes and opened his spiritual consciousness. Salayina sent a wisp of black light from her fingertip into the space between Karen's brows. Convinced everything would go smoothly without any hitches, she had already begun the process of returning control of the body and sinking back into slumber. Yet the moment the black light entered Karen's spiritual consciousness, Salayina's expression suddenly warped. Her eyes widened in utter shock, and she stared incredulously at the seemingly ordinary security squad captain before her, letting out a bewildered gasp: "Father?"