Kill!

"I believe you are Diss's grandson. The phantom behind you already explains everything. I am even astonished by just how deeply Diss doted on you, to have gone so far as leaving his dharma body within your soul. "However, you say you will curse me anew? Heh, what right or ability do you have to utter such words? "You are merely his grandson—nothing more. "In any case, I am very happy today, and my gains have been immense. I can hardly wait to begin my new life. It will certainly be magnificent." Miss Felscher sank her fingertip directly between Philomena's brows. Her body was like soft cream, and before long, her finger had plunged completely into Philomena. Once she entered entirely, Philomena would vanish, and Miss Felscher would return in a youthful body and soul. Karen took a deep breath, unaffected by the scene before him. Instead, he looked toward Madame Felscher, who was reduced to a broken skeleton, and said in a low voice, "Inmeles Family Faith System—Plunder!" The illusory figure of Diss behind him released a faint luster, as though confirming Karen's words. At the same time, a faint halo appeared over Madame Felscher's bones. Crack... Crack... Crack... A series of crisp snapping sounds rang out—not fracturing, but... mending. To her horror, Madame Felscher discovered that the fissures on her skeleton, from which the "egg liquid" had been dripping, were now shrinking and sealing. The smaller gaps had shut completely, while the larger fractures were far narrower than before, and the process was still continuing. "Why is this happening?! This is his curse! This is his curse!" Under normal circumstances, having injuries mend was unquestionably a blessing. But to the present Madame Felscher, the eggshell she had painstakingly broken was now repairing itself, which meant the shackles of the curse were returning—and the egg liquid was already gone. On the other side, Miss Felscher sensed the shift behind her, and panic broke across her face. Even so, she immediately accelerated the process of merging into Philomena. Her arms and chest had already entered Philomena's body. Now the two clung together like conjoined twins. Yet as the final fracture on Madame Felscher's bones finished knitting together, Miss Felscher's fusion ground to an abrupt halt. Madame Felscher was the true master here. Miss Felscher was merely a secondary persona. When the primary persona was broken, the secondary persona could command everything in the dreamscape; but once the primary persona recovered, Miss Felscher reverted to that young woman who could only ride her horse within the sealed memories. This shift between primary and secondary would not change whether Madame Felscher yielded it willingly or not. "No! No! No!" Miss Felscher shrieked in rage, twisting her head toward Karen. "Why?! Why?! Why?!" "Have you forgotten how your primary self used Dalis for experiments? Transferring a curse isn't particularly difficult. Besides, your main body merely cracked the shackles of the curse; the curse itself never vanished or lost its effect. "Of course, what matters most is that I have this very curse upon me as well. Think of it as mutual aid between our kind—whatever you lack, I'll top up for you. "The fire of the curse burns within both of us. Since yours was nearly extinguished, I simply passed a little over to you. No need to be polite. "So, do you see now? The curse Grandfather placed upon you held no profound ulterior motive. He probably just wanted you to live a miserable life, that's all. "I don't know what really happened between you two back then, but I will not overturn a decision made by my grandfather, just as the Church of Order would never overturn an evil god judged by the God of Order back then. "Fascinating. Truly fascinating. "I originally came intending to lift the Felscher family's curse. I thought I might be able to pull it off, but who would have thought that in the end, I'd end up playing the role of the curse's mender?" The surrounding greenery began to fade, and darkness crept into the periphery. This was Philomena's dreamscape, which meant control was returning to her. Having lost the egg liquid and been bound again by the shackles, Madame Felscher no longer possessed the power to maintain control over this place. "No! No! No!" Miss Felscher's body was forcibly dragged out of Philomena. She had been so close to success, yet now, everything had lost all meaning. Darkness rapidly swept over the realm. Then, everything transformed into a black vortex, swallowing everyone present—yes, including that white horse. *** Hum! Returning to reality, in the villa's living room. Karen opened his eyes, immediately met with an awful, aching pain behind them. Yet before he could even rub his eyes, the piercing agony from his chest left him struggling to draw breath. Soon, however, the leaking emptiness across his soul proved to be the true main event. Ever since becoming a servant, Karen's soul had never endured such a devastating blow. First came the self-harm inflicted by the Scythe of War, then repeatedly forcing the scythe to attack, followed by invoking the family faith system to unleash the curse. From broken to overdrawn, it felt as though a single light tap of a finger would shatter Karen completely. Crash! Madame Felscher crawled over along the wall, knocking over a hanging clock. With all four limbs planted on the wall, her body was covered in pustules, continuously dripping pus like an overheated wax figure melting away. This sight was identical to what Karen had seen of Mr. Dalis in the holding cell. One had to admit that Madame Felscher was truly formidable. She had genuinely endured the curse Diss had placed on her, and not only endured it, but even found a way to break through. One could even say she used Diss's hand to absorb the essence of the entire family. Had Karen not intervened, she truly would have been reborn through Philomena. The Church of Order would have gained an absolute "youthful" genius. Yet it was too late for any of that now. Stripped of the "egg liquid," she would meet the same end as Dalis. She could no longer resist the shackles of the curse and would soon collapse under the crushing weight. Still, she had not fallen apart just yet. Clatter, clatter, clatter... Madame Felscher's teeth began to chatter violently. In the living room, the puppets seated upon the various chairs seemed to receive a command. Every one of them rose to their feet, arms outstretched, and lunged toward Karen. Karen raised his hand, intending to ward them off with a spell, but the moment his spiritual power mobilized within him, a wave of dizziness struck from deep in his mind, causing the spell to fail. "Damn it!" The nearest puppet was already before him. Karen had to use every ounce of strength to roll aside, but an evasion of that degree achieved very little. The puppet leaped forward, landing right back in front of him, and drove both arms downward. Thud! Thud! Its rigid, flattened palms stabbed directly into Karen's shoulders. Had Karen not shifted downward, the strike would have targeted his heart. He lacked Neo's ability to relocate his heart, and besides, with two arms stabbing down, there was nowhere to move it anyway. The puppet exerted its strength, intending to hoist Karen into the air, and Karen took advantage of the motion to kick it squarely in the head. Though he could not use spells right now, thanks to the physical enhancement gained from absorbing the God's bone, Karen could still barely manage a few exchanges. Otherwise, with his past physique, falling from a chair might have been enough to give him a concussion. The puppet's head spun around from the blow, yet it abruptly whipped its body around and hurled Karen away. Two other puppets leapt into the air, thrusting toward Karen. Karen could only twist his body in midair, kicking one puppet aside, but the other came from behind and slashed diagonally down with a sharp palm. Rip... A searing pain flared across his back. When he crashed to the floor, he could feel something pressed beneath him, uncomfortably hard. Unsurprisingly, it was likely the strip of flesh that had just been sliced off. Up on the wall, Madame Felscher, her face dripping with pus, shrieked, "He and she actually had a grandson! I'll slaughter everyone by his side just as he treated me, leaving him as clean and empty as I am!" "Looking like that hideous monstrosity, if my grandfather ever fancied you back then, he would've had truly terrible taste." "Heh. If I hadn't had a husband and children at the time, your grandfather would have been with me!" "I'm really curious where you get such confidence. My grandfather couldn't even be bothered to hate you purely. Otherwise, he wouldn't have used you as a test subject while punishing you. "Look at you, then look at me, and you'll know just how deeply my grandfather doted on his and my grandmother's grandson, won't you?" No matter how dire the situation, he couldn't afford to lose the war of words. "Little beast, die!" Thoroughly enraged, Madame Felscher leaped through the air, pouncing toward Karen. Karen kicked off the floor to escape, but she sneered viciously, "Order Cage!" An Order Cage manifested, trapping Karen in place. With a wet tear, Madame Felscher's right arm split open. Liquid splattered as a spider-like appendage burst forth, plunging straight toward Karen. Smack! Squelch! A bone spike pierced the left side of Karen's abdomen, pinning him firmly to the floor. Madame Felscher shook her head, trying her best to fling the pus from her face to clear her vision. Hmm, a miss? On the other side of her body, the skin ruptured again, and another bone spike emerged, stabbing down at Karen. Squelch! This time, it struck Karen's left thigh. "Hiss..." Karen gritted his teeth. He knew she wasn't trying to toy with him; her sole focus was to kill him. It was just that her physical and spiritual condition had deteriorated so badly that she lacked proper control over her movements, causing her strikes to veer off target. Yet with his abdomen and thigh pierced, Karen faintly sensed her preparing to pull, ready to tear him in two. The sensation left Karen feeling stifled and aggrieved. After all, he had just advanced to Adjudicator—a time when his power should have surged, allowing him to test his mettle and master his current strength. Yet because of the damage to his soul, he couldn't even cast spells to fight. He was carrying a treasure vault on his back, but the key was broken! Damn it! Right then, a black shadow emerged from Karen's body, transforming into a python that shot straight toward Madame Felscher. It was Thousand Phantoms. Harassed by Thousand Phantoms, Madame Felscher was forced back repeatedly, letting out bursts of furious roars. Immediately after, that clattering sound echoed once more, and the puppets received another command to rush Karen. Seeing this, Thousand Phantoms instantly broke off its harassment of Madame Felscher, darting back with a whoosh to protect its master. The moment it sank into Karen's body, a pair of black wings sprouted from his back. Likely due to devouring Bishop Dolph's soul, the wings were considerably thicker and fuller than before. Whoosh! Karen took flight, dodging the puppets' onslaught. "Cough... Let's go!" Flapping his wings, Karen flew toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. But right then, the barrier inside the house activated, pressing down like a thick membrane. If it were Karen himself, he could easily shatter such a modest barrier. Thousand Phantoms, however, could not. All it could do was shield Karen with its wings, sending them both rebounding toward the fireplace. Madame Felscher let out a cackle as black flames coalesced before her, while the puppets converged on Karen to shut down any room to maneuver. Just then, the floorboards above gave way. Philomena dropped down, and the instant the tips of her feet touched the ground, her form blurred outward. In a flash, all the puppets symbolizing her uncles and grandfathers detonated into dust. The next instant, Philomena crossed the distance to appear right before Madame Felscher. Madame Felscher froze. Before the flames in her hand could be unleashed, Philomena shattered them with a single punch, and her next blow struck Madame Felscher squarely in the face. Bang! Madame Felscher was slammed against the wall. Philomena followed up, opening her left hand. Hum! The Nightmare Blade flew into her grasp. Madame Felscher shrieked, "I am your grandmother!" Philomena replied, "Grandmother!" Squelch! The Nightmare Blade drove through Madame Felscher's forehead, piercing completely through into the wall behind her, shattering the defensive barrier within the house in the process. A true assassin rarely went for the chest; they always favored spots that prevented the target from uttering any final words. Evidently, Philomena had no interest in hearing whatever her grandmother might say in her dying moments. Between them, there was nothing left to discuss. Squish... Dark pus continuously splattered from the shattered head, hissing as it touched the Nightmare Blade. Madame Felscher's limbs hung limp, drained of all life. Even left untouched, her body would dissolve into a puddle of pus before long. Philomena landed. Without glancing at her grandmother again, she turned toward Karen, crouched before him, and began tending to his wounds. "Cigarette." Philomena paused, reached into Karen's pocket, and pulled out a pack. She drew out a cigarette, hesitating over whether she should place it in her own mouth to light it before handing it to him. "Give it to me." Philomena nodded, placed the cigarette in Karen's mouth, and lit it for him. Taking a deep drag, Karen felt his battered soul soothed. Though several gashes across his body were still bleeding, none of that mattered anymore. "Next time I'm injured, I'm not coming out again." He hadn't expected an actual physical brawl with Madame Felscher. In truth, Madame Felscher had already lost earlier; this had merely been a final, feeble struggle. But Karen hadn't anticipated being even weaker than she was. Hearing this, Philomena nodded. "Yes. Very dangerous." With that, Philomena kept her head down, continuing to dress Karen's injuries. After a moment, she suddenly spoke: "I could hear." "What?" "I said I could hear. When I was sealed in wax, everything you said, I could hear it all." "Oh. Then you heard it. So be it." She had heard that he was Diss's grandson, heard that his surname was Inmeles, heard that his grandfather was the one who cursed the Felscher family. She knew everything. Yet Karen didn't feel it was anything profound. Neo had once reminded him: If Philomena finds out the curse on her family was placed by your grandfather, how will you face her? "Then do you... hate me?" "Why would I hate you?" Philomena asked in return. "What do you think?" Philomena shook her head. "My grandmother found a woman to bear me with my father. My surname may be Felscher, but my birth was only so my grandmother could have a new vessel. "I was merely a tool in her hands, no different from the bowls and plates in this house. "Do you think I still consider myself part of the Felscher family?" Karen nodded. "In this family, only Father was willing to care about me." "Where is he?" "Dead. When the dream was torn apart, he died. In truth, he should have died long ago; he lived in so much pain." "Oh. Hold a funeral for him." "No need. He is buried in my dream." "Hm?" "I plan to turn that dark dream of mine into my father's dream. I'm already used to it anyway. That way, whenever I miss him, I can see him when I dream." "Oh. That's quite nice." After bandaging and treating Karen's wounds, Philomena said with a trace of concern, "The injury to your soul is very severe." "Light another one." Philomena lit another cigarette for Karen, saying, "I feel like there is something extra inside me, but I can't clearly perceive it." "You can treat it as a talent... If nothing unexpected happens, you'll learn everything very quickly from now on." "Oh, is that so." "Your ceiling will be very high too. In short, accept it. It's what you deserve. Consider it the final... no, consider it a gift left to you by your father." "Mm, I understand." "Let's go. Are you going to burn the house down?" "No. Let it rot here." Philomena bent down, sliding one arm behind Karen's neck and the other under his waist, intending to lift him in a bridal carry. "Could we change positions, please?" "All right." Philomena turned and took Karen onto her back. "I think you could just support me as I walk out." "Your injuries are too severe, and your leg is wounded. You can't walk." "Fine. Though this works out well—now I can take time off in broad daylight." "Your fiancée will be very pleased." "Actually, I'm quite irresponsible, only going back to see her when I'm hurt." "Mm, I think so too." "Forget it, I'm done chatting with you." "Then what should I say? I'm asking seriously." "You should say I work hard, toiling for everyone, for the Church, and for the faith, sacrificing family for the greater good." "That would be too hypocritical. You aren't like that. Richard and I sit outside the office, and you just sit in a different spot inside." "Hey, you aren't afraid of me anymore?" "Mm. Not anymore." Philomena paused, then continued, "Because I intend to pledge my loyalty to you."