Vows are often spoken to others, but their true function is to bind oneself.
Karen rarely swore in his own name; he preferred following the tradition of church circles by swearing in the name of the "God of Order."
He disliked such formalism, yet he recognized its necessity. Right now, for instance, if he did not say something, he would truly feel a twinge of guilt.
She was still only an infant bone dragon—more precisely, she was currently gravely injured.
Once her wounds healed and she gradually matured with the resources of the Church of Order, to say nothing of her other abilities, the boost she would provide to his defensive capability alone would be staggering.
And that increase in defense would produce an enormous multiplier on Karen's overall combat strength.
Although Karen was accustomed to wielding a greatsword, he was not a pure warrior. In fighting style, there had always been a fundamental difference between him and close-quarters combatants like Muri, Philomena, and Neo.
Karen's vast accumulation of spiritual power allowed him to lavishly expend all sorts of spells in battle. Moreover, his understanding and mastery of spells gave him an innate advantage, making him far more akin to a spellcaster.
At the same time, Karen also studied formation arrays and possessed the boon of the Key to the Rubik's Cube. With a little more time to build his experience and proficiency, he would become an outstanding array master.
He could even be considered something of a... summoner, once he resolved Purr's predicament down the line, allowing him to briefly borrow her power or temporarily restore her strength to aid him in combat.
Though he could not emulate Ashley—whose arms were covered in totem tattoos capable of summoning phantoms of countless monster beasts—a Purr restored to full or even partial strength would be enough to instantly obliterate everything Ashley could muster.
Even when Ashley reached her full potential in the future, without an extraordinary stroke of fortune, she would be hard-pressed to ever find a monster beast of Purr's caliber... well, if Purr could even be counted as a monster beast.
All this accounted only for Karen's primary capabilities. He could convert Light power, and within his soul space stood the two faith dharma bodies of Order and Light holding sway, virtually eliminating the risk of being swayed, corrupted, or led astray by other faith powers. Coupled with the defining trait of the Immorales family faith system—"learning"—theoretically speaking, as long as he had enough time, energy, and resources, Karen could continue branching out into other domains. What had begun as a small grocery store had the potential to expand into a supermarket.
Yet all of this was predicated on having sufficient self-preservation capability in battle. Only then could his other talents be brought to bear with composure; otherwise, he would end up like his Uncle Aisen, who was clearly a Jurist yet pathetically weak in a one-on-one duel.
This was the immense leap the little bone dragon offered Karen. Raising his shortest plank was equivalent to raising his baseline; once that was accomplished, he could focus entirely on pushing his ceiling.
Heh.
Once his wounds healed, he would find Neo for a sparring match.
He truly looked forward to seeing what kind of expression Neo would make when Karen stood right before him, letting Neo's fangs gnaw at him without leaving a scratch.
With the contract signed, the test run came to an end.
Karen spoke softly, "All right, you're tired too. Rest now."
Around them, the dragon ribs propping up the defensive barrier dissolved, and the armor covering Karen retracted. The little girl returned to Karen's back. As her ten fingers withdrew from his neck, they exuded a peculiar restorative fluid that had already closed the punctures. Scars remained, but having Blanche perform a cosmetic treatment would easily erase them without leaving a trace.
"It doesn't strictly have to be the neck. Next time, you can pierce my back or shoulders. You know, in an emergency, we won't have the luxury of fusing while standing completely still like before. A human neck is very fragile, and I'm worried that one day you might accidentally strangle me or slice my head off. Heh."
Karen told a dry joke, but the little girl on his back merely kept her eyes shut, slumped against him as though asleep, without the slightest response. The chill of the joke fell solely upon Karen himself.
"I understand now why Mother and that skeleton appreciated you so much," Lady Augie said through gritted teeth.
"We're not performing a play. You don't need to play the narrator."
Karen glanced around, feeling as though he had forgotten something. After a moment's thought, he remembered.
Walking over to a drift of snow, Karen brushed it aside to reveal Muri lying within, the short blade still stuck in his chest. His body was frozen stiff, but his vital signs remained stable.
Karen dragged Muri out and cast healing spells on him.
Before long, Muri stirred and opened his eyes.
"Pull the blade out," Karen said.
"Yes, Section Chief."
Earlier, Karen had forbidden Muri from pulling out the blade because doing so under those conditions would have aggravated his wounds; it could have waited until they returned to the main city. Now it no longer mattered, for Karen was already exhausted.
*Squelch...*
The dagger came out, blood spraying, turning Muri's already pale face even more bloodless.
Karen lifted the little girl from his back into his arms, sat down, and said to Muri, "Send word. Have them come pick us up."
With that, Karen cast a deliberate glance at Lady Augie kneeling there—a silent warning. Then, he closed his eyes and let his head drop.
He and the little girl in his arms both fell asleep.
...
*Drip... drip... drip...*
A familiar sound of dripping water echoed in his ears.
Even without opening his eyes within the dream, Karen could sense its shape, for it was a dream he had experienced all too often.
Moreover, whenever he came into contact with something tied to divinity, this dream would inevitably appear shortly after.
After a brief hesitation, Karen opened his eyes.
Before him stood the [Scythe of War].
Behind the [Scythe of War] lay a deep, abyssal pool of water.
After his past experience of using the [Scythe of War] to cleave his own soul, Karen no longer feared this projection of the divine artifact as he once had. Yet every time he looked upon it, he felt a faint, phantom ache in his wounds.
The pitch-black scythe swayed gently back and forth, like an executioner making final preparations.
Karen raised a hand and lightly brushed its handle, as though greeting an old friend.
Still, nothing seemed unusual about today's dream. Everything looked just as it always had.
*Gurgle... gurgle... gurgle...*
Bubbles welled up from the pool. Karen took a deep breath. He still remembered the knocking from deep within the pool on that previous occasion, and the inquiry voiced by that presence.
Upon hearing that voice, his body in reality had suffered so much pain that blood soaked through his bedsheets.
Fortunately, there was no knocking this time. As the bubbles continued to surge from the water, the ground before Karen began to rise.
When it remained still, one could hardly discern the topography here, for everything was a silent, uniform black; the only spot one could notice was the patch right before them.
As the ground elevated, his field of view expanded. Below and ahead lay a valley, delineated by deep, towering blackness on either side with a paler tone in the middle.
The aesthetic bore a distinct resemblance to the ink-wash paintings Karen was familiar with.
White began to emerge—scattered specks at first, which soon gathered into clusters and pooled into sheets. Time seemed to crawl, yet also move at blinding speed. As the white spread rapidly outward, Karen saw a set of dragon-shaped bones appear before him.
Its frame was not particularly massive, likely average among dragons—not even as imposing as Lady Augie's body—yet the oppressive weight it exerted while lying there was far more overwhelming.
It was a skeleton of a dragon. It was dead; of that, one could be certain. Yet it felt as though it might awaken at any moment to unleash a roar that struck terror into the heart and compelled total submission.
Piecing this together with what he had experienced before falling asleep, was this dragon skeleton... the Rebel Dragon God?
*Hiss...*
Karen suddenly felt a stabbing agony in his eyes. It struck so abruptly, like two awls driving fiercely into his eyes.
"Ah!"
The pain sprang not only from the flesh, but even more so from his soul, as though his external perception were being gouged out forever.
Karen fell to his knees on the ground, crying out in torment.
Yet right at that moment, Karen heard footsteps. Approaching from afar, they sounded as though they had just brushed past him and were now receding into the distance.
Gradually, the pain in his eyes subsided.
He attempted to open his eyes and look toward the dragon skeleton, but the instant he made the move, that unbearable agony surged back.
Karen was forced to lower his head once more.
Such retreat was unlike his usual character. Most of the time, if he could grit his teeth and endure, he rarely backed down. But this was different. This struggle felt like tightening a noose around his own neck.
Crying out "I will never yield" while strangling oneself to death was absurd by any measure.
A majestic voice resounded at that moment, as though history had ripped through the seal of ages, transcending recorded words to manifest with stubborn defiance.
It was the voice of the God of Order.
It sounded somewhat distant—not beside him, but below and ahead, right by the dragon skeleton.
Karen could already picture the scene in his mind: the God of Order standing before the skeletal remains of the dead dragon, speaking to it:
"All along, I have never liked this world. Now, I shall awaken you, that you may help me shatter it and reshape it into a form that pleases me.
"Order... awaken."
A terrifying consciousness awakened at that instant, followed by a tremendous tremor, and a horrifying dragon roar that seemed capable of suppressing every noise in the mortal world!
...
"Ah..."
Karen let out a groan of pain. He opened his eyes, yet for a long time, his mind remained a complete blank.
It took quite a while for his consciousness to recover from the shock of that dragon roar.
He saw a girl's face very close to his—Philomena.
"You're awake?"
"Mm..."
Karen gave an acknowledgment and looked at his surroundings, realizing he was in a guest room at the Dusk Hotel, not a hospital.
"Actually, your eyes have been open for a while, but when I called you earlier, you didn't respond."
"My brain hadn't rebooted yet. It's fine now."
"Blanche examined you. She said your physical injuries weren't severe. Section Chief Neo and Mr. Alfred visited as well, and they shared the same view—you simply needed rest."
"Then why are you..."
"They're both very busy, and I suppose they felt there was no other suitable assignment for me, so they had me look after you."
"Oh, I see."
"Do you want to get up?" Philomena extended a hand to support him.
"I can manage myself..." She was terrible at taking care of people, and Karen had no desire to extend his bed rest on account of her nursing. Sitting up on the edge of the bed, Karen asked, "How long was I unconscious?"
"Seven days."
"Seven days?" Karen was genuinely surprised. "I thought it had only been a day."
Was it because of that dragon roar? To think it had knocked him unconscious for so long.
Not that anyone would believe it if he told them. Was he supposed to say that he had dreamed of a dragon and been knocked out cold in his sleep by its roar?
Still, an extended slumber had its perks. Karen checked his physical condition and found that he had recovered remarkably well. Most of the exhaustion on the soul level had been mended.
"Has anything happened? Work-related, I mean."
Philomena froze for a moment at the question.
"What is it?" Karen asked.
Philomena answered, "I wasn't prepared, and I certainly didn't expect you to ask me about work."
Even though she came to work every day, the work itself hardly had anything to do with her.
"Actually, the two of us are much the same," Karen consoled her. "Just tell me whatever comes to mind."
"The investigation is ongoing. They keep arresting people and releasing people... and then, uh, well, that's about it."
"All right, I understand."
In truth, that was more than enough. It meant that while he was unconscious, the task force had been functioning smoothly, and Alfred and the others had bypassed the reporting process, vastly boosting efficiency.
Karen felt no disappointment over this; he had always enjoyed working this way. Besides, the task force's primary purpose this time was just putting on a show to rake in benefits, since the real assassin had already been "handled" by him.
Karen stood up. Remembering something, he asked, "Did Commander Daan ever look for me?"
"No."
"Mm. Is there an isolation array set up in the room?"
"Yes, by Mr. Alfred's orders. They're placed in every bedroom and the living room. He said this should become a standard practice from now on to ensure your safety... and your secrets."
"Understood." No wonder his conscious probe couldn't even leave the bedroom upon waking.
Karen walked over to the bedroom door and opened it, only to find someone standing—no, sitting—right outside the doorway.
A broad backside blocked the doorway like a sluice gate.
Karen raised a foot and gave it a kick, frowning. "Why are you here?"
The one sitting at the doorway was unexpectedly Lady Augie.
Karen truly had no wish to see this female dragon; she was an utter nuisance.
Lady Augie turned around. Karen had stabbed her three times and nearly cracked her skull open, yet she looked as if nothing had happened at all. One could only marvel at how terrifyingly resilient the physical constitution of an adult dragon was.
"I was reassigned here to assist the task force. My specific assignment is to protect you while you're unconscious. You are the task force leader, after all."
"I thought the Whip-Wielder would call you back and skin you alive."
"I didn't do anything wrong! You promised you'd help cover for me. That assistant of yours, Alfred, has already drafted a report in your name and submitted it. I'm credited with meritorious service."
At this point, as if worried Karen might misunderstand, Lady Augie hastily explained, "It's not that I wanted to spill everything to your subordinate. Even though he said he was your most trusted aide and one of your own, I still tried to keep some secrets. But as he chatted with me, he guessed so many things that there was no point in holding back anymore, so I had no choice but to recount what happened that day."
"That doesn't matter," Karen waved his hand dismissively. "Now, would you please go guard the hallway outside?"
Lady Augie fell silent, but she didn't argue. She stood up, walked outside the hotel suite's main door, and closed it behind her.
"She's afraid of you," Philomena remarked. "I can sense it."
"You two talked?" Karen asked, somewhat surprised.
Philomena shook her head. "No. It's just that the look in her eyes when she sees you feels familiar."
The unspoken implication was that Philomena felt Lady Augie, like herself, had been traumatized by Karen.
"Philomena, prepare some food for me."
"Yes, Section Chief."
"Oh! Karen, you're awake, meow!"
Purr scurried over and leaped toward Karen, who caught her in his hands.
"Are you all right, Karen?"
"I'm fine. Just the usual coma after soul exhaustion. Everyone should be used to it by now."
"Mm, we really are used to it, because me, the Radio Pixie, and that fun-seeker all have absolute confidence in your soul's recovery speed, hehe meow!"
"I plan on taking a bath."
"Huh? A bath first?"
"What is it?"
"Shouldn't you go check on that Little Bone you brought back first?"
"She's here?"
"Yeah, right in the second bedroom! Strictly speaking, she's considered physical evidence, so of course she's kept in the task force's custody for now.
"Besides, that big female dragon gave a deposition saying you two had already signed a master-servant contract, which Alfred submitted along with the rest. Barring any surprises, Little Bone will be bonded to you as a partner. That way, our family can afford to raise a dragon, haha meow!
"Do you have any idea? Even back in the past, I never imagined I'd be raising a dragon!"
"She's not my pet," Karen reminded her. He and the little bone dragon shared an equal relationship.
"Then am I your pet?"
"No. You're my family."
"So you don't need to worry about that! I'll treat her like family. Even if Alfred hadn't coaxed it out of that big dragon, Kevin saw right through the secrets she carries.
"We made a massive profit—she's definitely family, meow!"
"I'll explain the specifics to you all later."
Karen walked over to the second bedroom and pushed the door open.
The little girl sat on the bed, her white hair draped over her shoulders, her expression tranquil. She was still wearing the ill-fitting robe of Order he had hastily tailored for her.
Then,
Karen's eyes instantly narrowed.
The little girl sitting on the bed had rested her right arm across her lap, while beside her, a large golden retriever held her slender arm in its mouth.
Raniedal liked roasted dragon meat, but a bone dragon had no meat.
Dogs, however, loved chewing on bones.
Chapter 634