When a person's life is under grave threat, clutching at whatever straw is within reach is pure instinct.
Neo had never harbored wild hopes that Karen would come down to back him up. He couldn't even be bothered to ponder the question, because it was utterly pointless.
If Karen came down, he would curse at him: "You've lost your mind."
If Karen didn't come down, he wouldn't feel the slightest resentment. He would understand completely, and not in some self-consoling way.
This wasn't like flipping tables on stage during a commendation ceremony at headquarters, where at worst everyone got stripped of their posts and had to start over from scratch. This was throwing one's life away.
So, Neo naturally seized upon every possibility in an attempt to save himself.
Besides, between playing a loyal devotee of Order and a remnant of Light, the Head of the Reconnaissance Department had long amassed extensive experience in repeatedly leaping back and forth.
It was just that who could have imagined that the apostate imprisoned here—a target Commander Daan had ordered silenced—would harbor such an incomprehensibly twisted stance?
She opposed only the High Priest, not the Church of Order.
And the consequence of missing vital information was simple: the better your performance, the more ridiculous you appeared to the audience below the stage.
This was precisely the predicament Neo found himself in. Once he finished speaking and saw Morindi's expression shift from brightening up to abruptly turning glacial, he realized something was very wrong.
Fuck!
He hadn't consulted a diviner of the Sage lineage before heading out today; otherwise, they surely would have divined that today was inauspicious for going down into caves.
Neo immediately scrambled for damage control: "In moments of crisis, to save one's skin, a person will blurt out any crazy talk. Surely you can understand that, right?"
Morindi shook her head and answered calmly, "You said I was naive, so I will take you at your word."
"This selective belief of yours is truly giving me a headache."
"Perhaps." Morindi turned her palm downward. The heart tendrils already binding Neo began tearing into his flesh with even greater fury. "The moment you uttered those words, you had to die, even if it was just to save your life. Because loyalty to Order brooks no blasphemy!"
"Aaaagh!!"
Neo let out a wretched scream as his body went into violent spasms.
Then,
Neo snapped his head up. His eyes seemed to kindle with two blazing bonfires. Behind him, the phantom silhouette of the Mad Pope manifested, thrashing in frenzied struggle.
The next moment,
The power of Light coursed along Neo's body and, through the tendrils, flowed backward directly into the colossal heart below.
In a deep voice, Neo intoned:
"God said, 'Let there be Light.'"
The power of Light was the bane of all negative-attribute forces, and this enormous heart below stored an immense reservoir of necromantic aura. Neo's action at this moment was equivalent to tossing a spark into a long-accumulated septic tank of marsh gas.
Boom!
Morindi's eyes widened. She had not expected this person before her to genuinely be a remnant of Light, much less that he had set his trap this far in advance.
He had mounted a sneak attack, then willingly allowed himself to be captured, surrendering all initiative solely to get into close contact with her core.
A violent detonation erupted, and a terrifying blast wave tore through the entire karst cave.
Neo's body was sent flying like a deflated leather ball, slammed violently in one direction, and upon impact swept up anew by following shockwaves, crashing and tumbling repeatedly.
At last, Neo crashed into a stone pillar. His body slid down slowly until he was slumped on the ground.
His clerical robes had long been completely obliterated, most of his skin blasted away, leaving large expanses of white bone exposed.
Of his two eyes, only one could still open. The rest of his body was entirely immobilized.
This injury was far more severe than anything he had ever suffered before. Even possessing the bloodline of a bloodthirsty aberrant demon, he was now truly just half a breath away from death, barely clinging to life by sheer force of will.
If a toddler ran over and gave him a gentle kick, that final breath might very well slip away.
Everything within the cave that had once been rugged and jagged now looked as if shaved down over and over by a chisel, turned incomparably smooth.
*Is she dead?* Neo wondered.
If she was dead, he might still have a chance. After such a massive explosion, Karen up above would definitely come down.
Given their friendship, Neo could understand Karen not coming down to save him, but he couldn't accept Karen simply packing up and leaving. At the very least, Karen would linger a bit longer to ease the guilt when burning paper offerings for him in the future.
Then, relying on that fellow's terrifying reservoir of spiritual power to artificially sustain his life, Karen could rush him back to the main city for specialized church physicians to treat him. If so, he might still hold a sliver of hope to survive.
Although his bloodthirsty aberrant demon bloodline would severely degrade as a result, as long as he was alive, he could keep playing the game.
Yet soon,
*Thump...*
The sound of a beating heart shattered Neo's illusions.
If he were able to speak or move right now, he would probably clutch his head in both hands and let out a frustrated cry.
As it was, the only motion he could manage was to close his eye.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to close it, because the next dozen seconds might very well be his last chance to gaze upon this world.
However, following that reluctance, a wave of relief washed over him.
Now he could go see Elisa with a clear conscience, without worrying that she would scold him for not living a proper life.
*Look, my love, there's nothing wrong with how I died, right? I tried my best to keep living, but there really was no way out. You can't blame me for taking life lightly anymore.*
The smoke and dust gradually settled, revealing the state of that heart.
Except the once-gigantic, bright red heart was now shriveled and dark gray.
With a squirming motion from inside the heart, copious amounts of pus and foul fluid spilled forth, and Morindi's body crawled out from within.
Yet there was no hatred in her eyes—only exhaustion.
She was someone who was meant to die anyway, fully prepared to meet her end. But going through this ordeal right before death made her feel thoroughly weary.
"They were right back then. I really do have a fondness for naivety."
Having reached this conclusion, Morindi said nothing more. In fact, it was precisely the extra words she had spoken earlier that had granted Neo ample opportunity to set his scheme.
She raised a hand and pointed at Neo. A bolt of black lightning shot from her fingertip, arcing straight toward him.
Neo did not close his eye; facing death with his eye open was hardly an act of bravery to him.
*Clang!*
A greatsword materialized before him, intercepting the black lightning.
Then, Neo saw a familiar back.
The cave entrance was quite a distance from here, meaning this guy hadn't descended after hearing the explosion—that would have been far too late. He had already come down before the blast even occurred.
Soft golden hair, neat clerical robes of Order, a figure not particularly tall yet conveying a distinct, steadfast posture—like a reef worn smooth by uncounted ages of crashing tides.
Neo blinked his single open eye to express his disgust at Karen's timing. It was simply sickening, revolting, and hopelessly cliché!
Karen held the Sword of Diamans across his chest. Without looking back at Neo, he spoke:
"I came down intending to collect your corpse. Didn't expect you'd still have a breath left."
Slumped behind him, Neo felt those words sounded rather familiar—as if someone had borrowed his own mouth to say something similar not too long ago.
Karen continued, "I really didn't mean to wait for this exact moment to show up; it was just dumb luck that I made it in time. I almost regret it. If I'd known, I should have arrived a step earlier or later on purpose. It's not a stage play—why pinpoint the dramatic entrance like this?
"Saving you this way feels genuinely gross. Why couldn't you have died a bit earlier? It would have spared me the awkwardness."
A furious roar raged in Neo's heart. Sadly, he couldn't speak, so he could only blink hard.
"All right, save that last bit of strength. Don't actually drop dead. If you throw away a chance to live, Miss Elisa will hold it against you."
Neo: "..."
If Neo had any mobility right now, he would surely leap up, point at Karen, and shout to Morindi: *Look! Just look! Doesn't he deserve to die? Isn't he hateful?!*
Immediately after, Karen turned his gaze to Morindi, his eyes slightly darkening.
Pus continued to drip from Morindi's body, yet her expression remained calm as she asked,
"Karen?"
"Yes, I am."
"You should die."
Karen nodded and replied, "Under orders to eliminate the Order apostate."
With that, Karen sank into a defensive stance.
Now that he was down here, Karen's disposition meant that if there were other options, he would try his luck just as Neo had.
However, during that mock banter earlier, Neo's blinking responses had already conveyed key warnings:
First: don't bother with pointless attempts at talking.
Second: she's heavily wounded—she can be taken!
Tacit understanding, once refined to a certain level, could convey vast amounts of information with a single glance—far more efficient than 'woofs' and 'meows'.
Morindi glanced around the cave and asked,
"There are others lurking in the shadows, aren't there?"
Karen replied, "You're welcome to guess."
Behind him, Neo closed his eye.
This was to tell Karen that she wasn't testing him or playing games.
Neo had already interacted with her extensively. This Arch-Necromancer's personality could practically be described as... simple and straightforward.
Among her former companions, she was likely the one who had been very well protected, which fit the team role of an Arch-Necromancer perfectly.
And indeed it was so. Only someone "naive" to an extreme degree would do what she did. Anyone else discovering the High Priest's true intentions would likely bury the secret deep in their heart. Only she had chosen to march alone into the High Priest's office back then, point right at his nose, and voice her stern opposition!
Morindi said nonchalantly, "Once I kill you, I can die in peace. I promise that as long as they don't attack me, I won't attack them."
Karen shook his head. "I'm afraid that's unrealistic. They are willing to die for me."
"Heheh." Morindi gave a dry chuckle. As she smiled, the pus continually dripping down her face flowed into the corners of her mouth—a sight rather nauseating to behold...
Yet in reality, the relatively clean Morindi from earlier was probably the oddity among necromantic beings. Normally, existences of the necromancy branch bore precisely these grotesque traits.
"Willing to die for you."
Morindi repeated the phrase, then murmured softly,
"Very much like him. And once, I too was willing to die for him."
With that, a surge of foul-smelling pus gushed rapidly from the shriveled heart beneath her, as if something was about to emerge.
She had survived the massive explosion, but Foden and the rest of her necromantic summons had all been annihilated. Now, she had no choice but to summon something else.
*Splat...*
Like a hen laying a viscous egg that broke open upon hitting the ground, a man slithered out. He had a square face, thick eyebrows, and sharp, defined facial features—Commander Daan.
He rose to his feet and clenched his fists. In an instant, all the pus clinging to him shattered and sloughed off.
Yet upon closer inspection, one could see pus still seeping continuously from beneath his fingernails and along the ridges of his ears, while his eyes were faintly clouded.
Clearly, the Arch-Necromancer herself was in a dreadful state.
And this was all thanks to Neo.
Through a suicidal assault, he had inflicted a profound weakening on this originally formidable opponent.
Setting everything else aside, that colossal heart alone... was actually Morindi's reservoir of necromantic aura accumulated over all her years of imprisonment. Unlike Karen, who relied on his unique nature to expand his internal spiritual power storage, she kept her reserve externally.
It could be thought of as carrying around her own propane tank.
Sustained by it, the Arch-Necromancer could cast summoning spells relentlessly, conjuring powerful undead creatures one after another to fight for her.
"Phew..."
Karen exhaled slowly and smiled.
"Fascinating."
Neo opened his eye, his gaze narrowing slightly. Karen immediately reined in any dismissiveness and grew solemn.
Having just clashed with Foden, Neo knew all too well how exceptional that pioneering team from the previous era had been.
Almost every single person from that squad, taken on their own today, was a force not to be trifled with.
However, just as both sides were on the verge of clashing, a small figure came scurrying in. It was Kanna.
She didn't run between the two of them, glancing between Morindi and Karen; there was no angst, no hesitation, and certainly no tears or sorrow. Without the slightest vacillation, she darted straight behind Karen, hopped up onto his back, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
The tremendous explosion earlier had scoured this cavern level clean. Not only was Morindi grievously injured, but she had also lost most of her sensory perception of the surrounding area. Thus, it was only when Kanna appeared that she realized the girl had actually come.
Looking at the little bone dragon she had birthed, a warm, gentle smile immediately spread across her face.
Even as the little bone dragon voluntarily jumped onto Karen's back, there wasn't a trace of anger or resentment in Morindi's gaze.
She was simply, purely happy to see the little bone dragon.
"I've failed you. In truth, I regret one thing deeply: not long after you were born, I agreed to let him take you away, because under the circumstances back then, staying with me would have ended poorly for you. Of course, I'm not trying to make excuses for myself. I just wanted to tell you: I'm very glad to see you again."
"Mama..."
Kanna called out as well, her voice carrying little emotion. It roughly amounted to: *I'm calling you Mama because I know you created me, and that's all there is to it.*
A little bone dragon possessed no concept of maternal affection or familial bonds. She hadn't been carried to term in Morindi's womb for ten months; she had been crafted. Hence, her relationship with Morindi was... exceptionally pure.
Put in secular terms, you couldn't expect every radio to harbor a parental complex toward its manufacturer.
Still, Karen was somewhat surprised by Kanna's voluntary appearance. He hadn't brought her down with him, leaving her outside the cavern instead.
Along with Kanna, Alfred and the others had also been left outside.
Yet Karen knew full well his orders would lose all authority the moment he descended. And indeed, that was what happened: once he entered, Alfred and the others followed right behind.
What he hadn't anticipated was that little Kanna would do the same, without any hesitation, even though she knew precisely what she was meant to do once down here.
When dealing with his own people, Karen had always been generous and considerate. He wouldn't force Kanna to choose between her 'mother' and him, even though he held her master-servant contract.
However, if it was Kanna's own choice, then Karen had no need to be coy.
"Let's begin," Karen said.
Propping herself up by the elbows, Kanna aimed her ten fingers toward Karen's neck.
Feeling a cold chill at his nape, Karen immediately reminded her, "Pick another spot."
Kanna didn't reply, but she opened her mouth and sank her teeth into Karen's left shoulder.
*Crunch!*
The little girl's teeth were razor-sharp, piercing straight into the flesh.
Karen gritted his teeth. He didn't find it painful—after all, his pain threshold had long been remarkably high—he just felt an overwhelming, intense itch.
Soon, Kanna's body began to fade, while the Dragon God Armor coalesced over Karen's frame.
Compared to their first fusion, this time was far more orderly. The armor's contours possessed an aesthetic grace, no longer serving solely for defense.
Karen instinctively assumed this was because Kanna had recovered from her injuries. In truth, a certain black cat had fretted endlessly over the image of her dear Karen.
The black cat had deliberately taken the little bone dragon through armor albums, sketched designs, and forced her to study the aesthetics of armor before the little bone dragon could even speak.
There was even a noticeable difference between the pauldrons on Karen's left and right shoulders—a slight asymmetry. That was the prime spot Pu'er had reserved for herself.
Morindi's gaze narrowed. She finally understood why that skeleton held this young man in such high regard.
Though they had only just met, the facts were right in front of her. She knew perfectly well what ingredients she had incorporated into this little bone dragon, yet he had still managed to tame her.
This inevitably brought Norton's silhouette to Morindi's mind once more.
Morindi gave her head a slight shake, casting aside the stray thoughts and forcing herself to concentrate on what was to come. She spoke:
"I originally carved a stone coffin for you from the rock here, but alas, it was destroyed in the explosion just now. For that, I owe you an apology."
It sounded like pre-battle trash talk. Hearing it, Karen politely replied:
"Don't worry about it. If you need one, I have plenty of empty ones at home."
Chapter 639