A commander teleporting here all alone had likely come with the primary purpose of checking on Miss Daina's condition. Before arriving, he most probably had no idea of the dispute unfolding at that very moment.
Yet simply by stepping forward and issuing a single warning that revealed his identity, he had instantly cowed the Church of the Crypt's dragon lineage into retreat.
And so, the best way to extinguish fury was fear.
Karen had previously enlightened Miss Daina on this subject. When she asked what kind of status Layinao held as commander of the dragon guards, Karen's answer had been that because the Holy See maintained an iron grip over the Order Knights, a knight commander's individual standing fell short of a powerful warlord like Layinao.
However, that premise only applied when comparing their respective standings within their own churches. If one cast that premise aside and weighed the sheer might of the two faiths, an Order knight commander could sit there and Layinao would not even qualify to brush the edge of a chair with his backside.
The clearest example was that Layinao had to kneel in homage before Daina, whereas whenever Daina met those knight commanders, she would eagerly trot over, take them affectionately by the arm, and chime in a sweet, wheedling tone, "Hello, Uncle."
As believers of Order, they knew all too well what the Twelve Knight Orders of Order represented. They were the bedrock of the Church of Order, having followed the God of Order through countless divine wars in the previous era.
Toward the end of the previous era, when the God of Order held supreme dominion, not every deity he slaughtered required his personal intervention. That meant every single one of the twelve—or rather, eleven—knight orders passed down to the present day boasted a record of hunting and slaying gods when traced back to their origins.
Football matches in Yorktown had a tradition: each time a team won a league championship, a new star was embroidered onto their new jerseys. The Order Knights had a similar tradition. Black skulls were carved onto the cuirasses over their chests, each skull representing the number of gods that particular knight order had hunted and slain during the previous era.
When Order previously declared war on Samsara, at least one Temple Elder openly accompanied every departing knight order. This, too, was a system inherited from the previous era, where a branch god would lead a knight order to hunt down another deity.
In the current era, grassroots Inquisitors had clutched the *Code of Order* and driven ecclesiastical authority completely out of the secular world. They had paid an immense price to achieve that, but their success was also made possible by the knight orders backing them up from behind.
Still, because the faithful of Order held such an overwhelmingly favorable impression of the knight orders, over time they grew somewhat numb to it. The recent "First Day War" against Samsara had allowed everyone to witness the knight orders' might once again, but... it was over almost as soon as it began. The war had been fought too fast, and Samsara had capitulated too quickly; before anyone could properly savor the flavor, it had already slid down their gullet.
To other churches, however, the Order Knights were depicted in their internal chronicles as brutally ferocious and cruel. Many had been trampled and devastated by them throughout history.
Though great spans of time made it easy for the protected side to forget, the trampled side tended to remember their hatred and terror with excruciating clarity.
Furthermore, while Order's last formal declaration of war had been against the Church of Samsara, not being formally at war hardly meant they had nothing to do. Dispute mediations, peacekeeping deployments, shows of force to deter ambitions—such operations practically never ceased.
Moreover, whenever a knight order stepped in to mediate, the efficiency was astonishingly high. To these knights, who had grown up listening to the glorious tales of their forebears hunting down gods in the previous era, peace was truly not their passion. They were practically starved for action.
Thus, every mediation began with a blunt ultimatum: *Are you pulling back or not?*
*You had better not pull back—I'm already on my way!*
Over time, circles within the various churches, especially mid-to-lower-tier powers, came to regard any ultimatum from the Order Knights with absolute seriousness. They knew these ruthless madmen were genuinely spoiling for bloodshed—or... dragon slaying.
The thunderhorn rhinoceros beneath Commander Daan took itself off to find a place to rest, while Daan stepped lightly off its back and landed directly on the hospital roof.
Some people's character could be described as upright and uncompromising, while others simply looked upright and uncompromising by nature.
With a square jaw and a burly build, if an artist sketched his likeness directly from life, there would be no need for background stories or explanatory text. Anyone looking at the portrait would know at a glance that he was a loyal, righteous figure. If painted on a mural, his ultimate fate would almost certainly be dying in battle for the sake of justice.
That was why he was a knight commander.
Being conventionally handsome was not the only way to earn points in one's career; that was too narrow a view.
If one possessed distinctive features that matched the professional archetype perfectly, that could add just as many points.
"Greetings, Commander!"
"Greetings, Commander!"
Lennox, Kejin, Augie, and Karen all bowed in salute to Daan.
Daan looked toward Lennox and asked, "How is Daina?"
Lennox hesitated for a moment and inquired, "Commander, who are you referring to?"
Daan frowned. "Tell me plainly. How is Daina?"
Lennox drew a deep breath. "Commander, I do not know who Daina is, nor is she among the church members I am tasked with monitoring and assisting."
"I don't have time for your nonsense." Daan reached out, seized Lennox by the collar of his clerical robe, and hauled him forward. "I am a soldier. Don't play these games with me."
A smile surfaced on Lennox's face. "I can help you check into it, Commander. May I ask what clerical rank Miss Daina holds? I shall look into it for you right away."
"Heh, very good."
Daan shoved Lennox aside and sneered, "Hmph. The atmosphere of our holy church has been completely ruined by bureaucrats like you."
In truth, Karen understood Lennox quite well.
While every diplomatic priest was ostensibly responsible only for foreign affairs, in reality every embassy doubled as an intelligence station.
As the diplomatic priest stationed in the Church of the Crypt, Lennox bore the responsibility of monitoring the dynamics of the host church. Therefore, regarding what had happened today, he was guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty. But so long as he strictly adhered to Order tradition—using the defense that Miss Daina held no official rank and was personally responsible for all consequences of her own actions—he bore no liability whatsoever.
As for whether the High Priest would hold a grudge and find some other excuse to discipline him later, Lennox was not truly worried about that. He knew the High Priest was an exceptional leader, and exceptional leaders did not punish subordinates over private grievances.
This was a case of superiors keeping their subordinates in line while the subordinates, in turn, thoroughly grasped the temperament of their superiors. Daan calling Lennox a bureaucrat was not inaccurate; more precisely, Lennox was a truly outstanding bureaucrat.
Kejin stepped forward at once. "Commander, the dragon lineage's move to pressure the capital today shows utter disregard for the system Order established for our Crypt. I intend to convene an internal church assembly to place the dragon faction on trial for their actions, and I ask that you, Commander..."
With a flick of his arm, Daan shoved Kejin aside without the slightest courtesy. "Don't bring that to me. I am only responsible for executing orders."
He knew what these people were plotting. They wanted to use him as a weapon. He was indeed a weapon, but he answered only to the Holy See.
Daan walked over to Augie. Augie lowered her head before him.
At that moment, Karen, who had originally been standing behind Augie, quietly shifted a few steps diagonally to the side.
*Bang!*
Daan swung a fist, striking Augie squarely. She was sent flying, and her trajectory passed right through the spot where Karen had just been standing.
Moments later, Augie flew back and dropped to one knee before Daan.
Daan raised his leg and kicked forward.
*Bang!*
Augie was kicked flying once more.
A short while later, she flew back again and knelt on one knee.
Karen stood nearby with his head lowered, feeling no particular inner stirrings. Being punished for failing in one's duties was entirely routine.
Honestly speaking, though, he had once viewed dragons through quite a romanticized lens, but the higher-ups of the Church of Order had thoroughly shattered that illusion for him.
The moment you felt someone was abusing a pet, the dragon race had already lost—because you were genuinely likening her to a pet.
Daan did not hold back. Augie took several more punches and kicks until blood finally seeped from the corner of her mouth.
Yet the moment it leaked out, she stubbornly sucked it back in and even wiped away the trace with the back of her hand.
The sight gave Karen a headache. *Isn't that just begging for a few more punches?*
Sure enough, Daan struck Augie twice more. When she flew back this time, she finally propped herself up with one hand against the ground as blood dripped down.
If it had been Karen, by the second time he was knocked flying, he would have manipulated his inner blood and vitality to stage this exact scene. Since the other party was not trying to kill her and merely meant to teach her a lesson, helping him reach the desired visual effect ahead of time would have saved everyone some effort.
Daan let out a long breath. Using an adult dragon as a punching bag without weapons was genuinely exhausting work.
Seeing that Daan had finished, Lennox and Kejin stepped forward to speak, but Daan raised an irritated hand to silence them. Then he looked at Karen and commanded:
"You, take me to the ward."
"Yes, Commander."
Karen could tell that the commander did not recognize him. The way Daan looked at and directed him was no different from ordering an attendant servant.
This was not because Karen felt he ought to be famous, but rather because Daina had not recognized him when they first met either. That meant these individuals had spent a long time in a relatively sequestered environment, completely uninterested in external affairs.
Furthermore, when he escorted Ashley and the others back to the hotel earlier, his clerical robes had been torn during the scuffle with the skeleton, so Karen had changed into more casual robes that lacked any distinct insignia of rank on the chest.
Guided by Karen, Daan arrived outside Daina's ward. He walked in, while Karen remained outside without following.
Before long, all the medical staff bustling inside were told to leave, while Karen, standing at the door, was called in.
"Hold this."
Daan handed a black orb to Karen, who reached out to support it.
Daan then placed both palms above the orb, and a wave of scorching heat immediately radiated from it.
"Endure it. Do not let go," Daan warned.
Karen nodded. Fortunately, this level of heat was nothing to him.
The orb cracked open, and wisps of black gas drifted out. Daan guided them into Daina's body, causing the cross seal on her brow to flare with light in resonance.
Immediately following that, a shadowy black figure manifested beside the bed, looking down at Daina.
The wound on Daina's abdomen began to knit together, while an identical wound appeared on the shadowy figure's abdomen. Her other injuries were also rapidly being transferred and exchanged.
Karen noticed that when Daan occasionally looked toward that dark figure, his gaze held a trace of complexity.
What was the relationship between this shadow and Daina? Father and daughter?
If her foster father was Norton, had her biological father once been a figure on par with Foden and Daan?
The skeleton had remarked before leaving that her father's death might have been somewhat unusual. Factoring in the High Priest's impatience and perfunctory attitude toward her, even planning to cast her into an inner world to live out her life... what sort of identity had this dark figure once possessed?
Every organization, from its humble beginnings to its maturity, from rising in strength to summiting the peak, was bound to see countless developments unfold along the way. Just like the small circle currently around Karen—not even he could predict what changes the future would bring.
This, likely, was a piece of the past belonging to Norton's circle.
The shadow condensed back into black mist, vanished into the black orb, and the orb snapped shut.
Daina was still injured, but she was now out of fatal danger.
Daan reached out and took the black orb from Karen's grasp, but then noticed that not a single burn mark remained on Karen's palms; they were not even red. He instantly turned to Karen and demanded:
"Who are you?"
The absence of burns was simply because Karen had used water-attribute energy to insulate against the heat, which was not particularly difficult. However, preventing that insulation from interfering with the orb's operation required extraordinary finesse in power control.
Karen did not attempt to conceal anything. Concealment was pointless, as the commander would learn his identity sooner or later, and letting his hands be blistered with scars just to hide his ability would have been downright foolish.
"Reporting to the Commander: I am Karen Silva, Head of the Law Enforcement Department of the Whip of Order in the York City Region."
"Department Head?" A look of doubt flickered across Daan's eyes. "At your age, you're already a department head?"
"Yes, thanks to the holy church's recognition and promotion."
"Whose family do you belong to?" Daan asked.
"I am an orphan."
"An orphan?" Daan was surprised once more. "Who is your mentor?"
"Along the way, I have followed and learned from many senior mentors, but none whom you would recognize, Commander."
"So, are you telling me you became a department head at this age purely on your own merits?"
"Everything is dedicated to Order."
Daan raised a hand, gripped Karen's shoulder, and gave it a firm shake.
Karen's body swayed with the motion without resisting intentionally.
Daan patted Karen's arm and chuckled. "I wouldn't have guessed it. You look rather delicate, but your frame is remarkably solid. A warrior?"
"An array master."
"An array master?" Daan shook his head. "On the battlefield, array masters are protected by the bravest warriors. That physique of yours is wasted."
"Vice Commander Liwen once said the very same thing to me."
Karen had genuinely racked his memory for quite a while before recalling the name of the instructor he had once knocked flat using a servant certificate.
In any organization, connections and personal ties held sway, and the military was no exception—only there, it went by camaraderie.
The only card Karen could play here was the retired Vice Commander Liwen. Whether they actually shared any friendship was irrelevant; it cost nothing to test the waters.
"What is your relationship with Vice Commander Liwen?"
"He is my teacher. He instructed me in martial techniques."
Though that instruction had amounted to only half a day of class, after which they had never met again.
"Didn't you say you had no teachers I would recognize?"
"Because Teacher Liwen told me never to speak his name when I went out. He feared being embarrassed."
"Haha. The old vice commander is someone I hold in great respect. I believe his student wouldn't be half bad either. Still, how did you end up in the Whip of Order?"
"That is precisely why Teacher Liwen refused to let me mention him. He felt that joining the Whip of Order instead of a knight order was practically... self-degradation."
"Hahahahaha!" Daan burst into laughter. "Fair enough! Since you are from the Whip of Order, have you investigated the incident?"
"Reporting to you: yes, I was an eyewitness myself."
"Tell me about it."
"Yes, my lord. The matter went like this..."
Karen recounted the events, glossing over some of his dialogue with the skeleton. In any case, like Augie, he had been temporarily misled and delayed.
"Daina stabbed herself?"
"Yes, precisely."
"Why would she do that?"
"Presumably Miss Daina did not want the true assassin to smear mud on her and thereby harm the interests of the church."
Daan nodded. "Where is the replica of the Spear of Rebellion?"
"It was collected by the Sage lineage. The relevant evidence and leads are all in their possession."
"We cannot leave the investigation to them, nor can we expect them to uncover anything useful."
"You are entirely correct, Commander. Only by investigating it ourselves can we reach the outcome we desire."
Hearing that response, a hint of a smile touched the corner of Daan's mouth. He found this young man remarkably sharp and perceptive.
With such an understanding of how things worked, reaching this position at such a young age no longer seemed so unfathomable. Furthermore, with Karen invoking Liwen, Daan considered him half a member of the knight order system anyway.
"Are your people here?"
Karen understood immediately. This was a golden opportunity that had to be seized—a chance to handle an "overseas" case.
Furthermore, this was an affiliated church under Order. Here, even an Order servant could put on the airs of an Inquisitor. If he could establish a special task force here, the tangible benefits alone would be immense, to say nothing of the influence he would gain.
His avenues for advancement in the York City Region had already been suppressed, so why not try opening up an "overseas market"?
Daan had likely come just to see Daina, but upon assessing the situation, he knew he would temporarily oversee the handling of the incident, and corresponding orders from the Holy See would arrive shortly.
Thus, if Daan recommended and requested it, the special task force could be headed directly by Karen.
"Reporting to you, Commander: my people can arrive at any moment! Please trust in the strength of my team. Like the knights under your command, they dare to trample any force that attempts to obstruct Order!"
This was pure flattery, but Karen had no appropriate examples to cite—he could hardly tell the commander that his team specialized in taking down their own superiors.
"Heh, good. Arrange for your people to come over. Set up a provisional task force and begin the preliminary investigation. As for the specifics, wait for my... your administrative branch will issue you instructions."
"Yes, I understand."
"Go ahead and get the work started."
"Yes, at once."
Karen walked out of the ward. He needed to use the communication array to contact Suss. In the past, such special task forces were usually dispatched from the Dinge Region, but now he could tell Suss that he had secured an overseas assignment for him.
Left behind in the ward, Daan looked once more at Daina lying comatose on the hospital bed.
Over the past several years, the High Priest had kept Daina by his side, having her live within the knight order barracks. It had caused Daan immense torment, yet he also understood that this was the High Priest's warning to him.
A warning that even though he had attained the position of knight commander, he had to remain acutely aware of whose man he was, whom he owed allegiance to, and whose words he had to obey.
Daan lowered his head and looked at his own calloused hands. In his ears, the tune of a melodica seemed to echo once again.
He would remember forever.
He remembered that night, weeping as he pulled taut the string of the Demon-Breaking Bow, strangling Daina's father to death.
After that night,
the High Priest never played the melodica again.
Chapter 622