Thousand Phantoms had gorged itself until its belly was swollen and round. Its originally slender, six-winged seraph form was now completely ruined, reduced to looking like a winged pig flying in the sky.
In truth, as it went on swallowing, Thousand Phantoms had already realized something was wrong.
In the past, Karen had frequently ordered it to clear the dining table and lick the plates clean. It would gulp everything down whole, then curl up in a quiet corner to sleep and digest. But back then, what it ate was normal, digestible stuff.
Now, however... Thousand Phantoms discovered that what it had swallowed this time was not so easy to break down.
Before, it was cooked food; now, its stomach was stuffed with dirt. It wouldn't drop dead from poison immediately, but indigestion was guaranteed.
Yet it knew full well that it couldn't stop right now. It had to sweep every last scrap into its mouth, leaving behind as little residue as possible.
Karen in this state was simply far too terrifying.
If it dared to be a picky eater at a time like this, Karen would pick it to eat.
Finally, everything was swallowed clean.
*Thump...*
A flying pig landed on the ground. Despite being an incorporeal form of soul consciousness, it landed with a remarkably heavy, tangible thud.
It had reached its absolute limit. If it swallowed any more, it would probably burst.
A sudden wave of dread washed over Thousand Phantoms. Who knew how many more polluted strains like this lurked in this place? How could it ever finish them all!
Could it be... could it be that it was truly going to be stuffed to death here?
At the thought of such a horrifying fate, Thousand Phantoms began to tremble, looking just like an enormous cockroach spreading its wings.
Neo was saved. Yet as the one rescued, he showed not the slightest hint of relief or joy. Looking at his savior before him, his eyes held only cold detachment.
Karen had saved a life. Yet as the rescuer, he felt no heartfelt pride or satisfaction. Looking at the two small mounds before him, greed swirled within his eyes.
After a moment, the first to soften his gaze was Neo.
He wasn't the sort of person to throw a tantrum and whine, *I wanted to die, who are you to stop me, what are you to me?*
A seasoned hound could never learn the emotional pampering and venting of a lapdog, nor could he throw unreasonable fits or ignore everything that had led up to this. He had no choice but to acknowledge the truth: to save him, Karen had not hesitated to trigger the very thing he dreaded most—his hunger addiction.
Most importantly, since he hadn't managed to die... life had to go on.
He walked over to Karen. Knowing that Karen was still fighting off the onset of his hunger addiction, Neo said nothing. Otherwise, by his usual habit, he probably would have pointed at the two mounds representing Light and Bloodthirst and quipped:
"Fancy either of them? Go ahead and play with whichever you like."
Right now, he didn't even dare to let both mounds manifest fully, afraid of provoking Karen.
Finally, Karen took a deep breath, and emotion returned to his gaze.
Neo let out a sigh of relief and said to Karen, "Thank you for saving me."
Karen replied, "Don't mention it."
"Ah, how wonderful. Once again, I can breathe fresh air and enjoy fine wine, good food, and stocks."
"Don't forget the breeze on the rooftop terrace."
With that, Karen withdrew his soul consciousness, leaving Neo's body.
Meanwhile, Neo's withered, aging body began regaining vitality at a rate visible to the naked eye. Fresh flesh rapidly sprouted where the putrid meat sloughed away, showcasing the bloodthirsty aberrant demon's terrifying regenerative power to perfection.
Neo opened his eyes and rubbed his slightly taut face. "Heh, almost didn't make it. Forgive me, Elisa. You see, I've been living quite earnestly all along."
Karen couldn't be bothered to engage with him. Turning around, he looked toward the area where the divine artifacts were being received.
Neo walked over on his own accord, patted Karen on the shoulder, and said, "You were too reckless. And I never realized before just how tyrannical you are."
"Learned it from you."
A smile curved the corner of Neo's lips. "A fine answer."
"I have no desire to debate the meaning of life and death with you, nor can I be bothered to dissect your personal perceptions of living. Those complicated, abstract, twisted things don't interest me.
"All I know is that I am the leader of this volunteer squad. Within my capabilities, I will do everything I can to bring back as many people alive as possible."
"And outside the mission?"
"You are my former superior and an acquaintance. No matter what, I won't just stand by and watch you die."
Neo asked, "Not even a friend?"
Karen shook his head. "Friends require understanding, and I don't want to understand."
"Heh, you understand far too damn well."
"Whatever. In any case, you can't wake a friend who's pretending to be asleep."
The preparations to receive the divine artifacts were finally complete. Nicole and Anlans formally began taking custody of them.
Soon, the two Principle Notes floating above descended. As they neared Nicole and Anlans, the glow upon the notebooks faded, and casing vessels resembling book storage boxes materialized around them, sealing them safely inside.
"It's done!"
"Complete!"
Nicole and Anlans turned toward Karen together, reporting their success.
Meanwhile, Quito and Marina glanced up at the God of Passion's chessboard. They wanted it, but they knew permission would never be granted.
Furthermore, seeing that the members of the Church of Principles had successfully recovered the two divine artifacts—the true objective of this volunteer mission—both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
This damned place was sheer torture. Neither of them wanted to stay a moment longer, to the point that a rebellious thought had crossed their minds: forget any extra objectives, they were done!
Karen did not hesitate in the slightest and ordered at once, "Retreat!"
There was no need to pack up the apparatus, nor was there any point in gathering the leftover materials. Leaving them behind was no great loss, and it was likely that no one would set foot here for another century anyway.
In that instant, everyone turned and sprinted toward the exit.
To their credit, even under such circumstances, the team maintained a basic formation. Everyone understood that in a place like this, chaos meant surrender and death.
Get out, get out, get out!
The mental pressure redoubled instead of easing, all in anticipation of the true release that would come once they were finally outside.
The squad burst out of the laboratory, tore through the tunnel, and emerged into the open. Together, they raced toward the sealing barrier. Outside, they could already see the stationed priests raising their hands, cheering!
Ahead, a teleportation array appeared. Without hesitation, everyone stepped inside, Karen included.
Heavy panting filled the air as an aura of unreality hovered in their minds. Did we really just escape that easily?
*Hum!*
The teleportation array activated.
Finally, everyone emerged outside the seal. A massive crowd of priests wearing robes of Order came running toward them, cheering wildly.
Tears welled in the eyes of many volunteers; others began shouting and screaming. They were out! They had become heroes—living heroes!
Flanked by the Order priests, the group was ushered forward. A communication array had long since been set up there, with a gathering of cardinals and other dignitaries standing before it. The celebratory atmosphere was already palpable.
As Karen walked, he stretched out a hand in front of him, as if trying to touch something. Everything around him felt completely real, yet for some inexplicable reason, he felt a strange sense of haste.
An instinctual suspicion warned him that breaking out shouldn't have been this smooth, yet he found no flaw to challenge in anything before his eyes.
Was it simply going so well that it felt wrong?
Walking forward, Karen glanced at Neo. Neo was also inspecting his surroundings before meeting Karen's gaze. He shrugged:
"Hey, cheer up a bit."
Clearly, he harbored the same doubts as Karen. A hound's intuition forbade them from trusting easily gained meat, yet his nose caught nothing out of the ordinary.
Or perhaps the land of pollution was merely gathering its strength and hadn't used Karen's group as a breach point to force its way out.
Of course, there was another possibility...
Karen and Neo looked back simultaneously at the other volunteers who had emerged behind them. Could one of them be an emissary of the taint?
Has someone extra joined the ranks, or has someone been replaced?
When the two turned back and caught each other's eyes again, it was clear their thoughts had converged once more.
Still, if they were worried about such things, the Church would certainly consider them as well.
In fact, even after making it out alive, they would still face an extended period of quarantine and inspection to ensure no trace of pollution clung to them. Under such scrutiny, how could any imposter remain hidden?
"Grandfather!" Richard bolted toward Delon.
"Karen!"
Bishop Delon walked right up to Karen and pulled him into an embrace.
Richard: "..."
The warmth, the touch, and the clear affection and concern of a maternal grandfather were unmistakably real.
Karen wasn't accustomed to Delon's embraces, but since the older man wished to vent his emotions right now, Karen was willing to play along. After all, his grandfather was factoring in his feelings for Karen's "mother" as well.
His grandparents' favoritism toward him was partly inevitable due to his own excellence, but also because they felt no guilt toward Richard, whereas they did toward Karen's mother.
"May the God of Order be praised that you came out safe and sound." Delon looked at Karen, exhaling a long breath. "Truly, the God of Order has protected you."
"Hahaha! I knew it! Karen, I knew you'd come out alive. You're the genius student I picked myself!" Piro strode over with a pipe clenched between his teeth and seized Karen's hand. "I've already discussed it with Bishop Delon. After this mission, you're bound to get a fairly long period of recovery and screening. We'll use that time to sit down with you and explore some array schematics. Bishop Delon thinks very highly of your talent with arrays too. We absolutely cannot let it go to waste, understood?"
"Yes, Teacher."
Delon then moved to embrace Richard, but because most of his emotional energy had already been spent on Karen, the hug for Richard... felt rather perfunctory.
After all, he was a master of arrays, not a master actor.
Standing nearby, Memphis watched the grandfather and grandson embrace with a smile on his face. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly, but right now, this was undeniably the best possible outcome.
The others were celebrating as well, everyone overflowing with joy.
"Young Master," Alfred said, walking over. "We are about to open a new chapter."
Evidently, the dutiful Alfred was already planning their future career path following this event.
He even felt that Regional Chief Gaspol, who had previously been someone to cooperate with, was now becoming a stumbling block. Since all obstacles in his young master's future had been cleared away by this incident, having Gaspol "promoted" or "demoted" as soon as possible would best serve his young master's interests.
Ventura walked over to the communication array and stood before it. The priest operating the array obligingly swung the lens toward him.
This caught Ventura slightly off guard, and he subconsciously raised a hand to scratch his hair.
He felt he ought to say something through the lens to his grandparents, perhaps that their grandson was all grown up now, but in the end, the words remained unsaid.
Muri walked over and said to Ventura, "If you want to say something, go ahead. Your grandparents are probably watching the communication array in the administrative hall right now."
Families of volunteers were naturally among the first to receive updates on the mission.
"Why don't you speak first?" Ventura offered.
Muri declined, "I have nothing to say."
"Come on. You were pretty worked up when you were cursing your grandfather earlier."
"That was an emotional outburst caused by the pollution's influence."
"Hey, Muri, I might be young, but I'm not an idiot. You don't have to lie to me."
Muri sighed and said no more. He had plenty he wanted to say to his family and his grandfather, but he had never considered using the public communication array to denounce the Benda family for lacking human decency and familial affection.
He simply wanted to prove through his own accomplishments that the family's past coldness toward him—and their decision to abandon him in exchange for that Lord of the Gate of Samsara—had been short-sighted and utterly wrong!
Leon knelt in prayer, gazing up at the sky as he murmured softly under his breath. His loved ones were gone, separated from him by an immense distance, yet they could still hear his quiet whispers.
Vic stood nearby, yawning. He wasn't fond of scenes like this. Though he hungered deeply for rank and advancement, much of his drive stemmed from the bitter fall from grace following his teacher's disappearance.
Having seen the wider world and enjoyed lavish treatment before, he was far more interested in tangible results.
Philomena stood alone, somewhat out of place amid the bustling, lively surroundings. Fortunately, after finishing his less-than-intimate hug with his grandfather, Richard took the initiative to walk over to her.
"Karen can cook for us—oh wait, we have to go through quarantine and observation first."
"Mm," Philomena acknowledged softly.
"Why do you look so down?"
"It went too smoothly when we came out."
"Is going smoothly a bad thing?"
Philomena lifted the pouch in her hand, revealing row upon row of syringes. "We finished before we even used up all the shots."
"Well, my Little Jerry didn't detect any abnormalities."
"I know. Because..." Philomena glanced at Karen, then at Neo. "They didn't notice anything wrong either. It seems we truly have returned safely, with only one casualty."
"Haha, were you worried about that? There's really no need. Just going in was already a tremendous achievement."
Philomena closed her eyes and attempted to enter a dream. She slipped into her dreamscape, and immediately afterward, she left it and returned to reality.
Being able to freely enter a dream meant that they had truly returned to safety.
Quito and Nicole stood before their respective teachers, reporting in hushed voices. Soon, their teachers began comforting them in unison, presumably regarding their failure to retrieve the God of Passion's chessboard.
In truth, their teachers had no right to reprimand them, as the students had undertaken the mortal risk on their behalf.
As for the other volunteers, some had already accepted drinks from the priests and were indulging freely, while others had indeed stepped in front of the communication array to speak with their families.
In the distance, a fleet of carriages belonging to the Church of Order was already rolling in, prepared to transport the volunteers to the church hospital for physical examinations.
"Karen."
"Chief Bern, didn't you say you wouldn't be coming in person?"
Bern smiled. "I only came to see how things were progressing. I never expected you to complete the mission so quickly."
"Actually, Bern arrived not long after you entered," Kumut said with a laugh as he walked over. As the leader of the incident response team, even a Head Bishop had to take a lower seat before him. "Minister Karen, I can see that our Chief Bern thinks very highly of you."
"Thank you, sir."
"Are you thanking me, or thanking him?" Kumut asked.
Bern immediately interjected, "Thanking you, of course, my lord."
"Then it can't be an empty thank-you." Kumut motioned for Karen to follow him. "Come, let me introduce you to these esteemed lords."
Karen knew the names of every one of these figures. One could say they already "knew" each other, but knowing someone before was vastly different from knowing them now.
After this introduction, Richard would be able to send gifts on Karen's behalf during every major holiday.
"This is Lord Hisencaro..."
"This is Lord Henchel..."
With each introduction Kumut made, Karen offered a formal greeting, and the other party courteously returned the gesture.
"This is Lord Diss..."
"Lord Diss..." Karen's head snapped up. The figure standing before him was genuinely Diss.
Yet when Karen blinked and looked again, the figure had shifted into someone else's face, not Diss at all.
In an instant, Karen felt as though he had plunged into an icy abyss.
He immediately swept his eyes across the surroundings. Everything appeared normal. Over there, Nicole and Anlans were handing the boxes containing the two divine artifacts to their respective teachers.
"Minister Karen, a pleasure to meet you," the dignitary said, wearing a gentle, kindly smile.
*Hum!*
Karen raised one hand, and the Sword of Diamans on his back flew straight into his grip. Without an instant's hesitation, he thrust it into the chest of the dignitary before him.
*Either I've gone mad, or the world has.*
Karen believed he had lost his mind, which was precisely why he chose the most absolute, decisive method in this split second to put this world to the test!
It felt real—so intensely real that it surpassed the highest illusion within his comprehension.
*If you are real, you will surely bleed, won't you?*
*Gurgle, gurgle...*
Fresh blood flowed along the blade. He was truly bleeding.
Yet at that exact moment, Karen suddenly felt an overwhelming, isolated chill and estrangement.
The vivid world before his eyes instantly drained into shades of ashen gray.
And when he looked around once more, he saw that the believers, families, teachers, and dignitaries who had been celebrating with the volunteers...
Were all mutilated Order priests who had previously died kneeling outside the karst cave.
Chapter 710