A Single Glance, Order!

Parting the thick, dark clouds of history, two gazes met once more across endless ages. The ghostly face of Blaizt could not help but cry out in alarm and suspicion within his heart: Why are you still you?! The God-Burial Grounds were inherently a wondrous place; otherwise, those gods on the verge of falling would never have chosen to slumber here. The God of Light had chosen to negotiate with this realm, demanding that the entities within the God-Burial Grounds refrain from interfering with the normal workings of the mortal world. The God of Order, however, had flatly refused compromise or concession. Disregarding the pact left behind by the God of Light, he entered the God-Burial Grounds alone and crushed every clamoring voice. Yet the fallen gods—their shattered corpses, fragmented souls, and drifting grudges—formed fresh nourishment that enriched this realm once more, making it even more sinister and bizarre. Like fertile soil where malice bred, given enough time, it was bound to give birth to a new source of turmoil. The God of Order had certainly foreseen this, which was why he tasked Raniedal with banishing this region. Raniedal, who had always served as the main god's enforcer to handle the dirty work, fulfilled the mission assigned by the God of Order to perfection—though, harboring a small selfish motive, he left behind a marker. This was an instinctive gesture of a god who had grown up in a fishing village. He had always lacked a true sense of security; after all, even in the world of gods, life was never easy or carefree. Whenever a divine war erupted, gods who backed the wrong side would fall in droves. Yet though Blaizt was still Blaizt, he was no longer that skull that had been pissed on back then. His life had long grown still and dead; it was only through the indoctrination of memory boxes and the transmission of soul bloodlines that one soul after another had its original memories wiped away, becoming a new "Blaizt." Thus, the true Blaizt was long gone. Yet the problem was, Blaizt discovered that the owner of this gaze had never been replaced! He was still him. Even though he now existed merely as a dog, the spiritual luster reflected in his eyes left Blaizt certain: He was still the very same person from back then! How had he done it? Why had time failed to erase his existence? Why could he still preserve his true self? Why was he still his original self?! The fires of jealousy completely consumed Blaizt's heart at this moment. He refused to accept it; he was eaten alive by resentment! In truth, Pu'er had noticed this long ago and had once mentioned it half-jokingly. She had said, "Stupid dog, the God of Order really treated you well. Had any other main god dealt with what you did, they certainly would have slain you outright and ended your divinity, yet the God of Order merely sealed you away. You should know that toward the end of the last era, the God of Order went on a frenzied slaughter of gods—there was no reason for him to show you special mercy." In any case, after that single exchange of gazes, Blaizt dragged Raniedal into his own domain. In this domain, he held every advantage. He could control everything; he was the absolute master. Yet in the depths of the pitch darkness, a golden retriever lay sprawled with utter indolence, not even forgetting to give its tail a flick to show its contempt for the place. Compared to the current predicament, Kevin was actually more afraid of a net or a javelin. Since you can't kill me physically in the simplest way... then on the soul level, let's see how you try to bewitch me! Kevin rested his chin on a paw and let out a yawn, looking ready to enjoy the performance Blaizt was about to put on. There was once an old man, the most formidable being I have encountered since returning to this world. He tried every conceivable method to kill me, not hesitating even to deploy his soul fire, yet none succeeded. Well... he did succeed in the end. But even then, he only stuffed me into a living body, forcing upon me the clear boundary between "life" and "death." As for you now, you are just a ghostly face, and not even the complete entity. Come on then. I'm lying right here. Do your worst! Blaizt seemed to realize that he could do nothing to this being, so he did not waste his strength launching any attacks. A ghostly face condensed, manifesting before Kevin. Kevin frowned, raised his head, leaned back, and waved a paw in front of his face, projecting crystal-clear disgust. "Why are you still you?!" Blaizt asked the question bluntly, unhesitatingly ignoring what was happening outside. Kevin continued waving his paw. Blaizt understood what the dog before him was conveying. To learn the answer, he swallowed the humiliation and took the initiative to back away a short distance. Kevin nodded in satisfaction. "Answer me!" "Woof!" Blaizt: "..." A smirk played across Kevin's dog mouth. When he had first descended through the excessive divine descent ritual, only to have his carefully remodeled body snatched away by "Karen," he had been overwhelmed by shame and rage. And when he eventually turned into a dog, he had been beside himself with fury. Yet gradually, he had come to realize that those who had shared his era were now withering away one by one. Just like the Cerberus of Sin suppressed on Fire Island, which had long undergone generations of "self-breeding," or Rielsa inside the Gate of Samsara, who was reduced to an empty husk like a giant walking corpse. Happiness came from comparison. Though his current situation was quite pathetic, at least he was still his original self. Thus, Blaizt's reactions only made Kevin feel all the more comfortable. Perhaps the path he had walked in the previous era had been too bitter and exhausting, so this time, he might as well just lie flat on his dog cushion. Although he knew Karen was not the God of Order, one thing was certain: Karen was growing more and more like the God of Order. Kevin did not mind if Karen inherited the flaws that the God of Order once possessed, even though he knew Karen was fiercely resistant to the idea. For Kevin, the years he had spent following behind the God of Order had been filled with countless moments of dread and terror, but broadly speaking, he had been immensely proud. When you did tasks for other main gods, they would drag their feet on what they had promised, lecturing you about the bigger picture and their reservations. Only the God of Order, once the quota of tasks was met, flung his throne straight out to shatter the Sea God's barrier and helped him suppress and slaughter the Sea God. Those who enjoyed reading divine history considered the God of Order completely heartless, and even people within the Church of Order believed heartlessness was the true reflection of what Order should be. Yet Kevin felt that being able to work for the God of Order would forever be his honor. Small wonder that Lord Dal inside the Gate of Samsara, after discerning Karen's "true identity," had sighed to his own true form: He seems to have reclaimed that position he was once most familiar with. Blaizt's fury had flared long ago. He began cursing Raniedal repeatedly, declaring that the curtain on a new era had risen and the return of the gods was a foregone conclusion. Kevin did not even bother listening. He did not believe that things bred from the dregs of the God-Burial Grounds could know anything about what was happening outside. Once your life experience and worldly knowledge were vast enough, being deceived was no easy feat. Eventually, Blaizt cooled down and asked, "Shall we make a deal?" Kevin tilted his head, offering no response. "I know you can find the location of the God-Burial Grounds. I want you to guide us back." Kevin tilted his head to the other side and ran his tongue over his lips. Clearly, this deal was completely meaningless to him. What family's dog could make decisions on behalf of its master? "This is still an era when the gods have not emerged! If we can seize this chance before then to guide the God-Burial Grounds over, we can take control of this world ahead of time, and those churches won't be able to stop us! "We can establish new rules! We can rule this world!" Kevin sneezed and wiped his nose with a paw. Blaizt suddenly broke into a smile. "Perhaps you don't know who else is buried within the God-Burial Grounds?" Kevin closed his eyes. Had it not looked too theatrical, he would have loved to fake a snore. "Back then, you really should have searched the God-Burial Grounds thoroughly—searched it with great care. Oh, that's right, you didn't dare. Because you knew that even though the God of Order had swept through the place, there were still powerful entities who dared not defy him that he chose not to root out. You could sense them buried deep underground. "Yet I believe nothing escapes the eyes of the God of Order. Do you know, when I prepared to ambush him and unleash my strongest beguilement, he merely glanced back at me, and my body broke apart into pieces! "The God of Order certainly never told you, did he? "Mills... "She is buried in the God-Burial Grounds!" Kevin snapped his dog head up instantly, his eyes widening. If there was anything in this world that could make the great Raniedal spare no cost, it was that beam of moonlight that had shone upon his youth. It was for her that he had embarked upon the path of godhood; it was for her that he had run errands and toiled for the main gods; it was for her that he had suppressed the Sea God with his own hands! Yet in the end, he had still failed to find any trace of her. She seemed to have vanished completely; no matter how hard he tried, he could not detect the faintest wisp of her aura. It was precisely because of this that he chose to study that thing which even the gods dreaded... time. "The God of Order knew long ago that Mills slumbered there, but so that you would continue working for him, he never told you! Hehehe..." Hearing this, the shock on Kevin's dog face swiftly subsided into calm, and the astonishment in his eyes gave way to a profound depth. You underestimate the God of Order. Noticing the shift in Kevin's expression, Blaizt continued, "I will let you witness it. When the time comes, think carefully about whether to accept my deal!" ... With his teammates sacrificing everything to clear the way, the path before Karen was wide open. His Sword of Arius was now buried completely in the chest of the hunched young man's headless corpse. Then, the Fire of Light and the Fire of Order surged simultaneously across Karen's body, converging onto the Sword of Arius and pouring entirely into the hunched young man's form. "Aaaahhhh—!" "Aaaahhhh—!" Five or six distinct shrieks tore out from within the headless torso, giving Karen the sensation of having thrust a torch straight into a hornet's nest. In truth, the hunched young man's body had merely served as a host hive. "You court death!" A man's voice slammed directly into Karen's soul. "Beguilement!" Alfred's voice was low and gravelly. Activating his Succubus Eye, he deliberately drew the mental storm aimed at Karen onto himself. His frame began to tremble, yet his expression remained composed. Opportunities to take action at the young master's side were rare. Compared to death, Alfred cared far more about whether his composure was camera-ready whenever such an occasion arose. "Get off me!" A woman's shrill voice rang out as sheets of frost crept along the Sword of Arius. While this frost could not extinguish the blazing flames of Light and Order traveling through the blade, it surged directly toward Karen. Karen reacted immediately, deploying the water-element power of Ancestor Allen alongside the Sea God's Armor for defense. However, after meeting slight resistance, the frost quickly broke through the barrier of Ancestor Allen's power and seeped through the Sea God's Armor. A layer of rime coated Karen's body first, and in the next breath, he was completely encased in ice, turned into an ice sculpture. "Die for me—!" It was that same woman's shrill screech. The ice shattered, tearing away more than half of the clerical robe on Karen's body and leaving grid-like bloody patterns crisscrossing his skin. "How is this possible?!" In the woman's mind, Karen's body should have fractured along with the ice, scattering across the ground in frozen shards. Yet Karen had endured. "My frost can turn even bones brittle! How could you..." Karen did not answer. He continued pouring flames into the Sword of Arius. The more frantic the entities inside the hunched young man became, the more perilous their situation was—and the more it proved that what he was doing was precisely what they feared most. As for the earlier freezing, he had felt the frigid chill gnawing at his body like countless tiny, razor-sharp insects. But while Ancestor Allen's power and the Sea God's Armor had failed to stop it completely, they had neutralized a vast portion of the force. Combined with the Dark Moon Bones he had absorbed, his physical resilience had been vastly enhanced, allowing him to withstand that freezing strike. Immediately following that, negative energies—curses, calamities, corrosion, and more—began pelting Karen furiously. Karen gritted his teeth, holding the Sword of Arius firmly against his foe as he continued driving flames into the body. At last, the hunched young man's corpse expanded drastically, swelling into a massive blister swirling with mismatched colors and radiating a nauseating stench. Just then, accompanied by a rapid, faint series of crisp snaps, cracks began spreading across the Sword of Arius. This Dark Moon Island blade gifted to him by Ophelia could no longer withstand such violent energy pressure and was teetering on the brink of collapse. Crack... crack... The sounds of fracturing rang out continuously until, with one final crisp snap, the Sword of Arius shattered completely. Desperate to escape this lethal trap, the colossal mass of multicolored pus surged upward at all costs. Karen knew that this opening had been paved by Tafman and seized by his squad members who disregarded all sacrifice. If he let it get away and the battle reset, the situation would never be this favorable again. With no time to mourn the sword that had accompanied him for so long, Karen threw a punch straight into the mass of pus without hesitation. His right arm sank into it almost unimpeded. "You court death!" "Court death!" "Court death!" Several voices shrieked from within the pus, and the sludge began spreading rapidly over Karen, attempting to corrode him completely. Karen said in a low voice, "Chains of Order." Hum—! In an instant, thick Chains of Order burst forth from the mass of pus, only to plunge vertically into the ground, locking the colossal blister in place once more. Karen tilted his head back. The Fire of Order and the Fire of Light surged from his body, transferring onto the chains. Screams tore out from the pus once again; this time, they were effectively strapped to a roasting rack over an open furnace. Due to the influence of Order, Karen's Fire of Light manifested in the black hue of Order as well. Only those experiencing it firsthand could truly appreciate its agony. In truth, from the moment the sea chart was delivered until now, very little time had elapsed. The key factor was that Karen's abundant reserve of spirituality was playing an immense role. Only he could unleash both flames at such an extraordinary caliber while maintaining a steady, unrelenting output of firepower, keeping the bizarre entities within the pus trapped in excruciating torment. Just then, Kevin, who had been lying on the ground as if asleep, opened his dog eyes. In front of Blaizt's ghostly face above, a vertical flute appeared, producing a melodious tune. Upon hearing the sound, Kevin's eyes widened once more. He could never forget this melody, for on countless nights he had hidden furtively behind the rocks, listening to her play while seated upon the sandy shore. She loved music and excelled at many instruments. The Church of Mills held a legend about the goddess: her music had once attracted the Sea God; when the Sea God made demands of her, she answered with the kind of respect a pirate gave a whore. Mills... Kevin's gaze grew vacant. He did not believe the God of Order would have known Mills slumbered in the God-Burial Grounds and kept it from him; that was not how the God of Order did things. Yet this flute, this tune—it truly bore the flavor of Mills's playing. That could not be faked. Heh, Raniedal, listen to this. Is this sound familiar to you? The ghostly face's grin grew thick and twisted. Drawn and empowered by the flute's tune, the rampaging Cerberus of Sin received an "order." Its central head turned toward this direction and opened its jaws. In an instant, a terrifying pillar of molten lava spewed forth, melting everything in its path. Because of the distance, the lava pillar would need a few moments to sweep across the gap—enough time for everyone here to dodge, provided they ended this stalemate immediately. Either retreat and break off the clash, or... die together. Let's see which one you choose! Blaizt the ghostly face was thoroughly pleased with his improvised gambit. With immense smugness, he looked back down below. At that exact moment, Karen happened to lift his head and look upward. This time, without Kevin's interception and without Alfred's interference, Blaizt's gaze finally met Karen's fully. In an instant, the ghostly face's eyes widened. That thick smirk transformed into overwhelming shock and sheer terror. It was a tormenting nightmare buried so deeply within countless "Blaizt" memory boxes that it could never be erased. The Primordial Aberrant Demon, most adept at beguilement, had never been able to purge this imprint from his consciousness. For with just a single glance, it could crush all his pride and carve itself into his memory for lifetimes on end. Blaizt let out a trembling cry: "Order..."