Betrayal

The six-winged angel had completely abandoned all resistance. As a craftwork created by a god, he was beautiful and exquisite, but he was also fragile. A believer's faith in a god required a process; it might stem from family, from evangelism, or from one's own reflection and cognition. Angels, however, were finished products from the moment of their birth; reverence for gods was inherent in their very nature. Karen had originally expected a duel to unfold within his soul space, requiring a great deal of effort to suppress and wear the angel down. Now, however, that seemed unnecessary. "Are they this terrified even when facing the god of a foreign church?" The dharma body of the God of Order descended slowly, while the angel stood there in continued terror, murmuring under his breath: "My Lord, please grant me direction..." "My Lord, please grant me direction..." He was praying to the God of the Abyss? Unless the will of the God of the Abyss was passed down, he did not dare mount any resistance when facing the aura of a deity? Understanding dawned in Karen's heart. This was the true status of an angel. In the mythological narratives of the *Light of Order*, there were clear records of the Order Knights hunting down evil gods on the divine decrees of the God of Order time after time. Similar accounts appeared in the mythological narratives of other churches as well, perhaps not as frequently as in the Church of Order—tales where a god committed "evil" or due to other reasons, such as "domestic drama," was ultimately slain by a human hero. Other orthodox churches also had histories of wars against hostile deities. Yet there was never any record of an angel from any church slaying a deity—not even a record of an engagement. Reasonably speaking, angels were powerful; as a god's most loyal servants, they were willing to dedicate everything to the divine will. But because it was gods who created them, gods could never allow them to commit deicide. Otherwise, they would no longer be pure, nor holy, nor loyal. Once their hands were stained with the blood of deities, perhaps when they turned back to look upon their own god, the look in their eyes... would change as well. The dharma body of the God of Order began to crush down, and the six-winged angel's body began to twist and warp. The God of the Abyss did not respond to his prayers, so he simply waited to be completely dissolved. *Fortunately...* A wave of relief rose in Karen's heart. Ending so peacefully was probably the best possible outcome for him; this time, he should be able to keep suppressing this hunger craving. From Karen's perspective, the hunger craving was like a rabid dog. He held the leash with both hands, fearing most that this mad dog would riot into a frenzy over a fight. Yet events once again diverged from Karen's expectations—not because an accident occurred, nor because of some sudden twist, but because things went entirely too smoothly. Crushed by the dharma body of the God of Order into a halo of black light, the six-winged angel not only did not resist, but actually began dissolving on his own, even actively cooperating with the god's suppression. And this initiative was like peeling back a fruit's skin and feeding the flesh directly into your mouth, considerately serving it up for you to swallow. In an instant, a tremor of apprehension seized Karen's heart. The dharma body of the God of Order halted, no longer crushing down. Below, the six-winged angel continually disintegrated into starlight-like motes that began seeping into the dharma body. The devouring had begun! And this time, precisely because of the angel's initiative, Karen wasn't even given the chance to veto it as he had in the past! With this rabid dog, you either didn't let it eat at all, or, if you let it take a few bites before snatching the bowl away, its rage and backlash would be all the more violent! Karen clenched his fists and looked up at the dharma body of the God of Order above, speaking with great difficulty: "Do not eat!" At that moment, the dharma body of the God of Order actually lowered its head and looked down at Karen below. For the very first time, the dharma body of the God of Order was no longer synchronized with Karen. *Buzz!* Karen felt his consciousness being crushed. The dharma body of the God of Order was looking at him, but in truth, it was not him. Instead, a chill of unknown origin yet undeniable reality flowed slowly above his head, beneath his feet, and before his chest. It did not coerce you, yet you felt an irresistible urge to follow along, to merge into it. Even if you stood on the riverbank hurling curses and insults again and again, it would offer no genuine response. And this disregard was true disdain. Karen's eyes lost their luster. In an instant, a torrent of negative emotions surged into his consciousness: *Who do you think you are?* *Do you think you can stop it?* *Do you really think you can accomplish this?* Overwhelming negation broke through the defenses of Karen's heart layer by layer. In fact, Karen had always known very well that what he was fighting was not purely a hunger craving, but a manifestation of the rules of Order. When you chose to walk this path, you were free to admire the scenery along the roadside, but inevitably, its dust would cling to your body. "Ugh..." Karen knelt on all fours and opened his mouth. His current expression bore a striking resemblance to the six-winged angel's just before his disintegration; the difference was merely that he was not as exaggerated, lacking that artistic flourish. Yet in reality, they were no different. While you scoffed at the angel's status as a total slave to a god, were you not likewise a slave to the rules? A whirlpool formed beside Karen, like a gaping maw preparing to swallow him whole. Karen began to be dragged, sucked in, falling into the abyss. Fractures appeared across his skin, and in his ears rang a dense chorus of crisp snaps, like dragonfly wings snapping in half. In the very next moment, Karen might shatter completely. It was so much like the scene from that classic mural, except the protagonist had shifted from Ankara to himself. Karen reached out a hand, as if trying to grab onto something, but there was nothing to grasp. He began to cry out in his heart: *Light...* Light did not appear. *Dark Moon...* The Dark Moon did not appear. *Scythe of War...* The scythe did not appear. *Grandfather...* Diss did not appear either. Only the Thousand Phantoms poked its head out timidly, glancing at the whirlpool below and then up at the majestic dharma body of the God of Order above, utterly baffled as to which one was the real Karen. There was no response. The descent continued, and the spark of hope grew dimmer. To Karen, everything felt as though he had returned to the moment he first awoke in this world, entering Madame Molly's "dreamscape" where Madame Molly opened her gaping maw to devour him. Yet that had been a dream, and one could always wake from a dream. But now... Color recondensed in Karen's hollow eyes. Why couldn't he treat this as a dream as well? *This is my soul.* *This is my territory.* *This is my life!* His plunging descent gradually slowed, and Karen's body stood upright. "Some things were added to me, and some things were forgotten. In this world, there has never been any savior." As Karen spoke, he slowly raised his head, gazing at the distant dharma body far above. "I may not dream of being saved, but at the very least, I can bring about destruction!" *Boom!* The vortex began to rise. Having plunged downward, Karen returned to his original place. He stood on the ground, looking up at the colossal dharma body, which gazed back at him with an equally calm expression. "For instance... abandoning the path of Order. I could convert to another faith." When those words were uttered, the entire soul space trembled violently. The two beings of vastly disparate scales continued their stare-down. Karen placed a finger against his brow. "For example, I could convert to Light..." An aura of purification began to emerge. In reality, Karen stood there as a barely perceptible luster shimmered over him. Because Karen's body was remarkably "clean," the purification process could be skipped entirely; next would be the stage of becoming a divine servant. *Buzz!* The dharma body of the God of Light finally manifested, descending behind Karen as if welcoming the birth of a brand-new servant of Light. "I could convert to the Dark Moon..." *Buzz!* The dharma body of the Dark Moon Goddess also materialized, descending to Karen's left. Although Dark Moon Island worshipped the Dark Moon, the heritage of the Dark Moon had in fact been severed, and the image of the Dark Moon Goddess was unknown to the world. If Karen wished, he could become the most complete believer of the Dark Moon Goddess and rebuild the Church of the Dark Moon from the ground up. "I could also return to the family faith system..." Diss's figure appeared, standing to Karen's right. To protect his grandson, Diss had used a blood-sacrifice ritual to sever the path of faith from the church system, which was in truth another retreat for Karen. No matter when, the door leading home would always remain open to him. In the corner, the Thousand Phantoms turned its head to look at Ancestor Allen standing calmly nearby. *Alright, none of this involves you.* The Thousand Phantoms felt a sudden burst of cheer, but soon sank back into sorrow—it seemed none of this involved it, either. "I can sense your indifference. I am just a straw dog to you. But I can choose to close my eyes—and then, even if the heavens and the earth still exist, at least to me, they are gone! "This question— "you tell me how to choose!" The dharma body of the God of Order still towered there, head lowered, locking eyes with Karen. Karen was waiting for it to make a choice—which was, in truth, waiting to make a choice himself. During this past period, many things had happened in the York City Region, and Karen had narrowly pulled through time and time again. Yet the true crisis lay deep within his soul. In the eyes of outsiders, in the eyes of his grandmother and Delon, he was a young man who couldn't be any more exceptional, possessing unimaginable talent. But stripping away the factors of Diss and himself, a great portion of that talent... came from the crisis he had been forced to confront ever since he woke up. Neo had spent ten years not knowing who "he" was—a degree of psychological torment ordinary people could never comprehend. For Karen, every emergence of the hunger craving was an erasure of his very existence. It had granted him the miraculous Chains of Order, allowing him the power to "awaken" corpses before he was even a priest; it allowed him to be mistaken again and again for the return of the "God of Order"; even Ankara's spiritual imprint had mistaken him for her father. Was this good fortune? Yet what was required beneath such fortune was not the self named "Karen." "Raniedal, it wasn't that you failed to overcome me back then; you failed to overcome it. In fact, even I am an object it intends to squeeze out." In Karen's mind arose a Throne of Order, upon which sat the silhouette of the God of Order. *God of Order, I know you once contemplated many methods to rid yourself of the influence of the hunger craving;* *I originally thought both you and I were fighting for our own independent personhood;* *So it turns out...* *we were both merely fighting so that we could continue to exist...* *Crack!* A sharp boom rang out, and the Scythe of War, which had been locked in eerie silence, flew forward with an inexplicable, elusive excitement, slashing down toward Karen. Karen instinctively raised a hand, but his "hand" was far too small, entirely disproportionate compared to the massive Scythe of War. Yet the Scythe of War was caught nonetheless—clasped in a colossal hand. The dharma body of the God of Order had once again mirrored Karen's motion. The scythe struggled, seething with resentment, hungering for destruction and sundering. Karen turned his head to look at it. The dharma body of the God of Order also turned its head to look at it. Both hands gripped tighter and tighter, venting an unspoken bitterness and wrath in complete tacit harmony. The scythe could only endure it passively. As Chains of Order emerged one after another to bind it, it seemed to discover in sheer terror that it was actually being "ordered." Karen looked up once more toward the dharma body of the God of Order. The dharma body no longer stared back down at Karen; it, too, raised its head. *Have you...* *conceded?* Karen smiled, though it was not the smile of a victor. He had once again successfully snatched the food bowl from the mad dog's jaws, but only by threatening to burn the whole house down. Thus, this scythe could not be allowed to become ordered. Once it was fully ordered, the next time the hunger craving struck, it would stand directly on the opposing side—which would be handing his opponent a weapon. Karen loosened his grip, and the dharma body of the God of Order released its hold as well. With a *whoosh*, the scythe flew back into some distant corner of the soul space. This crisis had finally come to a temporary end. Karen took a deep breath. He had been worried that Neo might one day act impulsively and commit suicide, when in truth, the one constantly at risk of "being suicided" was himself. The dharma body disengaged and returned to its position. A portion of the six-winged angel's soul remnant had been consumed, but much still remained—the "dog food" Karen had fought tooth and nail to wrest back. "Thousand Phantoms." At Karen's call, the Thousand Phantoms darted out at top speed, as though it hadn't just been sitting on the sidelines watching the show, but had been ready at any second to sacrifice everything for its master. "Swallow it." The Thousand Phantoms stared at Karen in utter shock, seemingly verifying whether its ears had deceived it. Once convinced it hadn't misheard, it rushed forward at once and opened its mouth. Originally coiled like a mosquito coil, it instantly turned into a python, opening wide to swallow down that mass of the six-winged angel's "gift" in one massive gulp, like an elephant swallowed whole. Its speed and movements suggested nothing so much as a dread that Karen might change his mind. Yet swallowing it down was easy, while digestion would take a very long time. Right now, its middle bulged high into a heap while only its head and tail remained slender, looking thoroughly bloated and comical. ... The clash of soul consciousness concluded with Karen's victory as expected. But during the time Karen was fighting this "civil war," changes had begun occurring in the angel's body, which had fallen into "brain death." It had already been battered and broken, retaining only a tiny spark of life carefully tended by the Abyss like the fragile flame of a candle shielded from the wind. Now, the flame had suddenly snuffed out. The angel's physical body began to slide into complete lifelessness. "What happened?" "The angel's body seems to have changed!" "Should we go inspect it? Something is wrong!" "Who can evade the influence of the Laks copper coin to go check? That coin is the key to maintaining the angel's bodily vitality, but because of that, its power has been fully unleashed. Anyone who approaches will just get lost in delirium!" ... In reality, Karen opened his eyes. A peak confrontation on the soul level had concluded, yet nothing had changed in the real world. The Abyss priestess had picked up a towel and was wiping down the "empty space" before her, then proceeded to wipe her own hands. Karen looked up at the wooden box still floating above. Now was not the time to pull in the net. To move against this place, the garrison would have to be mobilized first. So many high-ranking Abyss priests were hidden down below; once they discovered the anomaly, everyone in the manor would undergo a thorough purge, and he and Richard might not even be able to escape. Most importantly, if he blew the lid off this place right now, no matter how great the chaos, the Church of Order would certainly be able to suppress it. But as long as that process wasn't under his own control, the Laks copper coin could not quietly slip into his hands. Therefore, that angel could not be allowed to "die" just yet. Karen spread his hand, and the Thousand Phantoms emerged, currently resembling a volleyball—terribly round and swollen. "Having swallowed its soul, you should be able to enter its body now. Follow this thread down, take his place, and play angel for a few days." The Thousand Phantoms looked at Karen with deep grievance and profound reluctance, seemingly unwilling to accept the command, not wanting to leave Karen's side for a single moment. Watching its performance, Karen said: "I know you are already thrilled to the core inside. Bad as its condition is, even a weakened soul is an angel's soul, and even a battered body is an angel's body. "I can even be certain that once you enter its body, you will choose to betray me." The Thousand Phantoms shook its head furiously, gesturing that everything Karen said was impossible, that its loyalty to Karen was the most steadfast thing in the world! "I permit your inward betrayal. Furthermore, you have three days to consider whether to betray me in your actions as well." Karen tossed the Thousand Phantoms toward the wooden box. Melting into the box, the Thousand Phantoms traced its way down. At this point, the mass of undigested soul power in its belly was its best guide; it was simply returning instinctively to where it belonged. Finally, the Thousand Phantoms sank into the angel's body, and the faint, snuffed-out flame flared back to life. Within the angel's body arose a silent psychic cheer—no, a roar! It cheered for its freedom; it roared for its rebirth! From inside the Gate of Samsara to outside it, and all the way to this moment, it had finally obtained what it had dreamed of! Under the influence of the Laks copper coin, this wild euphoria gradually evolved into pure release. If not for the layers of seals suppressing it from above, it might already be piloting this battered body, unable to resist soaring into the blue sky or tumbling through the oceans! And then... euphoria gradually shifted into fury: *Whoever dares to enslave me again, I will devour them whole!* ... "The angel has recovered again, and seems even more active than before!" "Yes, I feel it too." "So our worries earlier were unfounded. The angel's condition is improving. If things continue in this direction, before long, the angel will meet the conditions for transport." "Indeed. It is still too dangerous here. As soon as the angel's condition permits, we must bring him back to the Holy Land immediately." "Praise the great God of the Abyss!" ... Karen sat back down on the massage chair and snapped his fingers. The priestess yawned and moved forward two steps. "Mr. Richard, your bath is finished. Now it is massage time." Karen nodded and closed his eyes, slipping back into the illusion's perspective. The beautiful elven maiden flew up behind him, placing both hands on his shoulders to knead and loosen them. Because he was truly exhausted, Karen intended to properly enjoy this soothing massage. As for the Thousand Phantoms released into the angel's body, it was probably cheering for freedom right about now. *Heh, keep celebrating.* *Perhaps you've forgotten whose bidding that Laks copper coin inside you actually answers to.*