The large ladybug carrying more than twenty Order priests traveled ahead, while the earth dragon followed slowly behind with its neck held high, carrying an air of reserved pride.
The roads in the underground world had not been formally constructed. Instead, designated transit corridors seemed to have been marked out, and monstrous beasts had used their immense bodies to grind the rocky ground down to a glassy smoothness.
Originally, there were no roads in the underground world; only after countless monster beasts walked over the stone did paths emerge.
Ahead appeared a domed building resembling a theater. Stretching from the main entrance along both sides of the road stood armored lizardman soldiers.
In the underground world, lizardmen held a status similar to "cockroaches." Vast in number and prolific breeders, they could not rival humans in intellect, yet they possessed a peculiar trait: they could evolve by devouring the bodies of their own kin.
Thus, beneath the feet of the armored lizardman soldiers lining both sides of the road lay the corpses of many of their brethren.
Karen was confident that when the Crypt Church chose lizardmen, they had conducted thorough research and concluded that breeding them as low-ranking priests offered the best cost-to-performance ratio.
In fact, this breeding method had likely been deliberately refined by the Crypt Church's leadership many years ago specifically to increase "rearing efficiency."
Looking at the faces beneath the armor—scarcely distinguishable from ordinary humans aside from the tails protruding behind them—Karen couldn't help reflecting on what he saw. He had repeatedly sensed darkness within the system ruled by the Church of Order, but that darkness remained within the boundaries of his comprehension. By contrast, the internal workings of other churches often dealt him a jarring, subversive shock.
You would find yourself reflexively baffled: how could such a model even exist and operate in this world?
Yet that was the reality—or rather, this was the true shape of a world built by gods and the churches beholden to them!
Where had the Church of Samsara acquired all the skeletons of the dead stored in Samsara Valley?
Had the first batch of native inhabitants inside the Gate of Samsara really been painstakingly gathered bit by bit by the God of Samsara as he roamed about collecting souls who died natural deaths?
And this method the Crypt Church used to breed lizardmen... if applied to humans, could it not be used in the exact same way?
The clerical circles had always maintained a critical stance toward the God of Order's wholesale slaughter of deities toward the end of the last era, and even the Church of Order refrained from actively touting that chapter of history.
The Church of Order's demand that other faiths take half a step back to make room for the Code of Order, along with the current state of Order's solitary dominance, had long provoked resentment throughout the entire clerical world.
Yet the reality was... without the God of Order's mighty rise in the last era and the Church of Order's aggressive expansion in this era when the gods no longer walked the earth, this world could never have existed in its present form.
Those regional Inquisitors of Order who brandished the Code of Order to warn, expel, and judge aberrant demons and followers of other churches might seem overly ritualistic now, but in the earliest days, it was precisely the first generation of local inquisitors who had poured out their blood and lives to forge their faith, driving back the forces of other faiths.
Because of this, whenever the major churches wanted to do something outrageous today, they had no choice but to do it secretly within their core territories. Outside, if matters escalated or triggered some catastrophe, they had to fear being held accountable by Order.
And it was for this very reason that when Karen opened his eyes to this world, aside from the lower level of technology, he could relate to and comprehend most aspects of society.
Yet this was not something inherently natural or ordained to be.
It truly was the God of Order and the Church of Order who had forcibly carved out and preserved the secular world from darkness and ignorance.
Karen closed his eyes, his fingertips tapping lightly against the railing.
Sometimes, an experience, a scene, or a spark of inspiration was enough to stir one's soul.
Those formulaic, clichéd, standardized phrases, headlines, and treatises suddenly became truly understood.
Karen had read the book Light of Order multiple times. Every church had its own version of Light of Order, merely under different titles. But now, Karen wanted to find time to read it all over again.
Because it was different. Most other churches spent their time revolving around their own dogmas or worshipping some imagined utopia of their own making, but only the Church of Order had truly transformed the world through tangible action.
This was the true meaning of Order.
A religious faith whose very reason for existence was to oppose divine intervention in the world.
Oh, what a twisted existence it was.
Yet,
it was genuinely so endearing.
Karen smiled. When he opened his eyes again, he found Daina staring at him with utmost seriousness.
And in the distance, Lord Augie and Ashley were watching him as well.
Hm? What was going on?
Miss Daina asked, "Were you just having an epiphany?"
"I just happened to think of a few things and pondered them for a moment. What is it?"
Daina nodded and said, "A pure radiance of Order was emanating from you just now. I sensed it—very clearly."
"My apologies for disturbing you."
"Congratulations. I know such epiphanies are very rare," Miss Daina said.
"Yes, I was fortunate."
Karen took a deep breath, feeling completely refreshed.
In truth, Miss Daina had misunderstood. He hadn't been gaining insight into his cultivation realm, but reflecting on his ideological path. At times, when persisting along a path, one would feel lost, and the best way to dispel that confusion was to let facts speak for themselves.
Miss Daina shifted her gaze away. Just now, as Karen stood by the railing, his silhouette had suddenly overlapped with her adoptive father's in her eyes.
In her childhood memories, her adoptive father often stood before the window, pondering silently alone, and an identical luster would emanate from both of them.
You could never tell what they were thinking, yet you could sense their shifting emotions—be it lost, puzzled, enlightened, impassioned, or joyful!
This proved once again that her dislike for him upon their first meeting yesterday wasn't just wanton petulance; he truly was like her adoptive father. Not just in his movements, habits, tone, and decorum, but down to something much deeper, they were strikingly alike.
After returning this time, should she mention him to her adoptive father?
Miss Daina gave her head a gentle shake, immediately discarding the thought.
Her status made it inappropriate to raise any work-related matters with the High Priest; doing so would only incur his displeasure. If she actually brought it up, the High Priest would see it as overstepping her bounds.
Not only would she be punished, but Karen might be penalized as well.
When that time came, the High Priest might actually send people to construct an inner world to lock her away, and then toss Karen in to keep her company.
Miss Daina felt none of that sentiment where being locked up with such a handsome young man was romantic bliss. The moment she imagined being confined with him and subjected to his endless lecturing from morning till night...
Heavens, that would be terrifying!
Lord Augie had also sensed the ripples of Karen's epiphany. Possessing far more understanding than Miss Daina, she knew that an epiphany capable of influencing those around the person usually appeared only in true thinkers.
During her travels alongside the Whip-Wielder, she had occasionally detected this feeling from him. Other prominent figures of the Church of Order sometimes displayed it as well, but it was most pronounced in the High Priest.
Back when she had first begun following the Whip-Wielder, she hadn't reached her complete form and was not yet mature. Foden, who was not yet the Whip-Wielder back then, frequently accompanied the man who was not yet the High Priest.
That man... could always suddenly exert a majestic ideological pressure upon her, like a mountain standing there that, despite not moving an inch, left you gasping for breath.
Yet what made Lord Augie uncomfortable was that in order to explain the origin of her hatred for Karen, she had modified her memories in that peculiar manner; in her current memory, Karen was a lecher who had molested her.
Now, however, the demeanor Karen projected possessed such depth and intellect.
This instantly created a warped dissonance in her cognitive memory. One could hardly imagine a mature, steady thinker wrapping his arms around her from behind, hands groping all over her body while thrusting and grinding against her, all while gazing deeply into her eyes and uttering profound, thought-provoking words.
Even as a dragon, she couldn't fathom how such a fetish could come to be.
Ashley's perception was far simpler: she merely thought the back of her section chief had looked extraordinarily charming just now.
The young girl had admired Karen for a long time, but she had long abandoned any thought of anything happening between them; for her and Blanche, it felt more like simple idol worship.
As for Purr, since she was not a believer in Order and slept next to Karen almost every night anyway, she felt virtually nothing about it.
She remained focused on stroking the dragon's bottom. Huh, who would have thought a dragon's rump was so soft, meow?
If they could keep a dragon at home, using her as a backrest cushion would probably be exceedingly comfortable, and they wouldn't have to worry about cooling in the summer.
However, at the thought of the upcoming main event being a bone dragon...
Ouch, wouldn't a bone dragon be terribly bumpy and poking?
Kevin, crouched in the corner, kept his eyes closed the entire time, but his little heart thumped away wildly.
While Purr and the others were still wondering whether some connection existed between Karen and the God of Order, Kevin was the very first dog to know for certain that there was absolutely no relationship between them.
By the same token, as the former white glove of the God of Order, Kevin was also the first dog to confirm that the path this fellow was walking was the very same path the God of Order had walked in the past.
Others might not know the size and warmth of the hand, but the glove knew intimately.
Regarding this, Kevin had long resigned himself to fate. He felt as though this was "Time's" mockery of him—a punishment for daring to research the "forbidden secrets of Time." In the last era, when he achieved godhood, the God of Order had already become the hegemon of the divine realm. Was he now being made to witness the God of Order's path to the pinnacle all over again?
Kevin turned his dog head, opened his eyes, and looked at Purr, who was still petting the dragon's rear.
He grinned.
...
The earth dragon stopped in front of the theater entrance. Ahead, the twenty-odd Order priests on the ladybug had already disembarked.
Karen initially planned to step down, but seeing Lord Augie standing motionless on the stairs leading down, he paused as well.
Before long, as if by prearranged schedule, a dozen or so more large ladybugs arrived one after another. Aboard them were members of other churches, though their numbers were small—only two or three per ladybug, typically one principal representative accompanied by two attendants.
Karen originally planned to step down, but seeing Lord Augie standing before the descent stairs without moving, he stopped in his tracks and held back from descending.
Personnel from the Crypt Church began rolling out red carpets. Five were laid out in total: one leading to the earth dragon carrying Karen and his party, while the other four connected to the ladybugs of the other factions.
Miss Daina crossed her arms, her eyes darkening slightly. Clearly, she was deeply dissatisfied that members of other orthodox churches were receiving treatment equal to hers.
Everyone had their own mission; when you enjoyed commensurate treatment, you also had to be prepared to bear commensurate responsibilities.
Just like here and now, she, Daina, ought to enjoy singular, unrivaled treatment.
Yet the Crypt Church had played a trick here. Although they hadn't arranged dedicated earth dragon transports for the others, in every other aspect, they actually dared to strike an artificial balance.
Was this something you, an affiliated church, ought to be doing?
And the reason Lord Augie stood at the head of the stairs without descending was also because she saw right through the Crypt Church's petty schemes.
She was a bundle of contradictions. Strictly speaking, she had depended on the resources provided by the Church of Order to grow to adulthood, but that did not stop her from wanting to break free from the church's shackles.
This might seem unreasonable, smacking of wiping one's mouth clean and running off after eating, but looking at it from another angle, secular nations often produced individuals harboring immense contempt and hatred toward their own people, so it was easy enough to understand.
Once one came of age, naturally one craved more—such as freedom. How much more so for a dragon?
Yet at the same time, this did not prevent her from growing enraged at the Crypt Church's maneuver from the Church of Order's perspective. After all, she originated from the Crypt Church, and now that she could not escape being bound even more tightly to Order, if the Crypt Church dared harbor such petty ambitions, it directly infringed upon her current interests.
"My Lady, you may disembark now," a lizardman guard captain said, ascending the stairs alongside the earth dragon and bowing to Lord Augie.
Lord Augie said nothing. She simply opened her mouth. In the next instant, the lizardman guard captain's head vanished, and his headless corpse tumbled down the stairs with a succession of clattering thuds.
"Mmh..."
Lord Augie let out a soft hum and lightly wiped the corner of her mouth with her sleeve.
Karen witnessed the entire scene unfold.
Though tall, long-limbed, and voluptuous, Karen had never regarded her as an ordinary woman, and reality certainly confirmed it. Snapping off a lizardman's head was as effortless for her as biting into a candied date at afternoon tea.
Predictably, what happened provoked an immediate uproar below. Soon, a group of priests clad in Crypt vestments rushed over, carried away the unlucky captain's body, and some sensible personnel hurriedly withdrew the other four red carpets.
Yet the fact remained: although the Crypt Church made prompt corrections after this display of wrath, the mere fact that they dared attempt it showed how desperate they were to shake off the shackles of the Church of Order.
"This needs to be reported," Karen said.
Miss Daina nodded. "They must be given a warning after this."
As a master, sometimes one could not unleash the dog not out of a stubborn refusal to grant it freedom, but because the master knew full well that once freed, the first thing the dog wanted to do was bite the hand that fed it.
Lord Augie spoke up: "They're being naive. They think relying on other churches—even orthodox ones—can weaken Order's control over them. The Crypt Church is already an extremely loose alliance to begin with. Once they lose their relationship with the Church of Order, the other churches won't uphold the tacit rules the way Order does."
Order wanted you to be a dog, but it was never stingy with the dog food, whereas other churches might very well exploit you for nothing.
Miss Daina walked ahead, followed by Lord Augie, with Karen, Ashley, Purr, and Kevin bringing up the rear. Stepping down the stairs, they made their way inside along the red carpet. Under their team leader's direction, the other twenty-odd Order priests followed behind onto the carpet as well.
After entering the venue, Miss Daina was guided away first, followed shortly by Karen and his party.
After a short while, Karen was shown into a second-floor private box. Below was a stage resembling a boxing ring—or rather, a display platform for a beauty pageant.
Next, candidates from the Crypt Church would take the stage in batches to showcase themselves. If chosen, a candidate had to follow the selector; of course, if selected by multiple parties, they gained the right to choose for themselves.
However, this process was divided into tiers. For example, the batch presented to the ordinary Order priests below was one tier, while the batch presented to Karen and Daina belonged to another.
Different batches corresponded to different tiers of treatment, so practically no confusion or overlap would occur.
Back when Foden selected Augie, it had likely been determined in advance behind closed doors; the event itself was merely going through the motions. There was no way Lord Augie could have been claimed by some ordinary priest with minor family backing—their treatment tier wouldn't have been sufficient to support her growth anyway.
After settling into the box, Karen noticed many boxes opposite his. Yet likely because Lord Augie's act of biting a head clean off had been far too savage, the boxes originally designated for participants from other churches were now empty. The Crypt Church had arranged for them to sit in the standard seating below, though still within a separate section, whereas the ordinary priests of the Crypt Church were seated much more tightly packed together.
The Crypt Church seemed dead set on making moves to de-emphasize the Church of Order's exclusive dominance.
If things truly developed along this trajectory, it was really hard to say whether that bone dragon would ultimately be handed over to Daina according to the tacit understanding.
"Woof."
Kevin looked at Karen and barked.
Purr translated, "The stupid dog says this probably isn't the end. This is..."
Karen nodded and said:
"This is just the prelude."
Chapter 616