The God of Order's Revelation (3)

"It feels like... it hasn't actually been that long." "Not that long? "To anyone else, it really hasn't been long, but for you, Karen Inmeles, this amount of time is already an eternity—so long it's practically a crime! "You're a servant right now. Do you remember how long it took you to go from servant to God's Revelation the first time? "If memory serves, you completed your purification to become a servant only after arriving in Wien and moving into Allen Manor. And before leaving the manor, you had already attained God's Revelation. "Yet here you are, stuck in the servant realm for so long." "Things are different now compared to the past." "They are different. When you emerged from that polluted pit, you were completely cleansed, but you had also lost all your strength. "You underwent a new round of purification in Allen Manor to become a servant. I witnessed that scene—it was truly arduous. But merely as a servant, your power was already on par with your peak before you ever entered the pit. "So, looked at from another angle, the time you've spent stuck in your current realm shouldn't be counted from when you became a servant again, but from before you entered the pit... "Hell, if we trace it purely by realm concepts, it should be counted from when you first arrived at Allen Manor and became a servant. "Wow, look at that. You've been stuck in the servant realm for so long! Sigh, this talent of yours is simply too mediocre." "What kind of bizarre logic is that?" "Bizarre? Maybe. But you should know that before advancing from servant to God's Revelation, a person easily experiences trance-like states, frequent dreams, and whisper-like auditory hallucinations." "Is that so?" "You didn't know?" "No." "Well, you probably advanced too fast last time, so you didn't feel it." "Then how can you be so certain?" "Lately, you've looked more haggard than before, and your sleep has been poor." "The march is loud, and we're about to face a major battle. Isn't poor sleep completely normal?" "I trust my eyes." "Then shouldn't I say that I trust my own intuition?" "Did you ever seriously think about this issue before I brought it up?" "Admittedly, not recently." "Exactly. Because of Rasma's 'encouragement,' after going through another purification to become a servant, you subconsciously assumed it would be very difficult. That's why your focus lately has been on position and authority. In comparison, you felt you could make more tangible progress there, and indeed, it has continuously rewarded your efforts and cultivation. "However, in terms of personal realm, becoming a servant simply meant reclaiming the peak strength you once possessed; you didn't need to spend time and energy familiarizing yourself with it, understanding it, or mastering it. "In other words, the moment you became a servant again, you were already at the pinnacle of that realm, poised to charge toward God's Revelation." "While I still can't entirely agree with your view, what you said does sound quite nice. From your lips to God's ears. If I really manage to break through to God's Revelation anytime soon, the first thing I'll do afterward is... seek you out for a spar." "I figured as much. Once this battle is over, I'm leaving. I'll return when I can overpower you again." "Why do you sound like a child throwing a tantrum, always eager to play the runaway-from-home game?" "Aha, you're crossing the line more and more these days. Trying to force me to run far away, are you?" "If everything goes smoothly, I'll rise further within the Whip of Order after the war. Exactly how far would you have to run to escape their eyes?" "Out of line. Way out of line." "Besides, who knows how long this war will drag on." "Heh." Karen sighed and asked, "Did Dalivenro go to you for a shave?" "Nothing to do with him." "Neo, I understand how you feel, but you should learn to accept it. If you have any plans after the war that require outside help to carry out, I'll provide whatever assistance is within my power." "Hah, no need." "There's no need to feel embarrassed. Look at me—I didn't feel embarrassed when I asked you to come help me command this war. And back when you pulled me into your squad and took care of me, I didn't feel embarrassed either." "It's normal for you, but not for me." Neo patted Karen on the shoulder, his tone solemn. "A father's love for his son is always selfless, but a father's dignity does not allow him to accept charity from his son—unless he admits he has grown old." Karen was silent for a moment after hearing this. Then he spoke: "Bastard." "Ahahahaha!" Neo laughed for quite a while before stopping. "Still, I'm really looking forward to hearing what divine words you receive during your second God's Revelation. By the way, what were the words you heard during your first?" Karen replied, "'Order is formulated by me, and you must obey it.'" "God's Revelation offers a direct reflection of a priest's potential. Sometimes I really don't understand why, after receiving such words, you still went and questioned them." "Perhaps... I was young back then." "That brush-off is a bit too obvious. You're still young now. All right, hurry up and suppress whatever's troubling you for now. Tomorrow is the main event." With that, Neo turned and walked away. Karen returned to his military tent and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Do you still need ice?" Little Kanna asked. "No, not anymore." "Okay." Little Kanna buried her head back into her exercises. After sitting for a while, Karen leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes. *Whispers... mutterings... auditory hallucinations...* Neo's words echoed in his mind. If he could advance to God's Revelation, his personal strength would take an astonishing leap. It would be a lie to say he wasn't tempted. Human desire was insatiable. Power and personal strength—if he could have both, he wanted both. These would be his capital to deal with Rasma in the near future, as well as the foundation for establishing himself in the Church of Order and the wider religious community. If he could possess power like his grandfather's, combined with an exalted status within the Church of Order, then... Karen opened his eyes and sat up again, pressing a hand against his forehead. What was wrong with him? He had let a few words from Neo derail his focus. Battle would begin tomorrow, and this engagement would decide the safety of Purr and the others, yet he was sitting here thinking about all these messy distractions. Karen reached out, picked up the *Code of Order* resting by the bed, and slipped it under his pillow. He needed to calm down. Leaning back, Karen lay down once more. The hardness and cool touch of the book's cover against the back of his head brought him an immense sense of security, swiftly dampening his restless agitation. Yet the moment Karen closed his eyes, he was hit by a violent sensation of weightlessness, as if beneath him lay not a bed, but a sheer plunge into an abyss. The feeling rapidly intensified. Karen felt as though his hands and feet were stretching upward. Faint voices drifted past his ears—distant, unimaginably far away, separated by countless layers of membranes. Yet their sudden, collective influx sent tremendous shockwaves through his consciousness. That suffocating sense of insignificance, despair, and bewilderment resurfaced, threatening to bury him entirely. Karen struggled. Clenching his teeth, he tried his utmost to sit up again and regain control over his conscious perception. Just then, a roar erupted from beneath him—or more precisely, from the depths of his own heart. A colossal statue of Order began to rise rapidly. In the past, Karen would have thought this was his hunger addiction rebelling once more, attempting to swallow him whole and take his place. This time, however, the appearance of the hunger addiction relieved his pressure instantly; that terrifying sense of weightlessness diminished many times over. Seizing the momentum, Karen pulled upward with all his might using both hands... *** "Huh?" Doing her homework, Little Kanna noticed the disturbance on the bed behind her. Putting down her pen, she got up and walked over, seeing Karen lying with brows tightly furrowed, his expression twisted in pain, a stifled roar continuously rumbling from his throat. Little Kanna tilted her head slightly. She didn't know what was happening to him, but she was well aware that although she had studied history, law, formations, and the like, she hadn't yet learned medicine. Thus, she planned to go call someone. Yet as soon as she turned around, Karen snapped his eyes open and grasped blindly upward with both hands. Little Kanna raised her arm, letting Karen seize it. Karen gripped hard, using her arm as leverage to pull himself upright. If she were an ordinary girl, she would have cried out in pain or been dragged down by his pull. But Little Kanna was, after all, a bone dragon in true form; not only did she remain planted where she stood, almost completely motionless, but her arm barely even swayed. *Spurt...* Sitting up, Karen opened his mouth and vomited a large pool of fresh blood. Immediately afterward, blood began trickling from his eyes, nose, and ears as well. Little Kanna asked with concern, "Karen, are you dying?" Panting heavily, Karen didn't answer her question. The first thought in his mind right now was: *Did I get jinxed by that crow-mouthed Neo?* A fit of coughing seized him, and he discarded the ridiculous thought. "I'll go get the military doctor." "No, don't go, Kanna. I'm fine now." With a major battle looming, Karen could not afford to let word get out that something was wrong with his body. "Your body is so small, yet so much blood came out." "I'm fine now. Could you please help clean this up?" "Okay." Little Kanna nodded, fetched a towel and a basin, and began wiping away the bloodstains. "Did you have a nightmare?" "Probably something like your leg cramps." "Ah, are you growing too?" "Heh, you could say that. Little Kanna, I'm going to sleep a little longer. Don't do any more homework today." "But Sister Purr is going to check it." "I'll excuse you." "Okay!" Little Kanna was delighted. After tidying up, she went into the small washroom inside the tent, poured in water, undressed, and sat down to take a bath. Once finished, she lifted the wooden tub with one hand and dumped the bathwater outside. It was like giving the shell of the golden-armored dragon turtle beneath their feet a quick rinse. The golden-armored dragon turtle let out a low rumble, as if responding to Little Kanna's action with humble deference. Returning to the tent, Little Kanna walked to the bedside. Karen seemed to be asleep, yet also not quite asleep. She quietly lay down at the foot of the bed and closed her eyes. Inside the tent, only the steady breathing of the two remained. At dawn, Little Kanna suddenly opened her eyes and leaped out of bed, holding her right leg stiff and stamping repeatedly against the floor. The golden-armored dragon turtle let out a mournful groan. Fortunately, the cramp in Little Kanna's leg subsided quickly; had she kept stamping, she might have caused internal injuries to the creature. Karen woke up as well. His sleep after the nightmare had been quite peaceful. "Cramping again?" Little Kanna nodded. "I'm growing!" "Once this battle is over and logistics catch up, the cramps will stop." Because they had set out immediately, Little Kanna's modified pills hadn't been replenished yet. After washing up, Karen stepped out of the tent. The chill of the desert morning hadn't receded, but the heat rising with the sun was already gathering strength. *Woooo—* The scheduled horn sounded. The march accelerated further, entering the final sprint to reach their designated battlefield position on time. Suddenly, Karen noticed that the horn seemed to be blowing for far too long. After a moment's hesitation, he reached up to cover his ears, only to find that the sound of the horn didn't change at all. This meant the legion's horn had long since ceased. What continued was his own auditory hallucination. *Damn it!* On the back of the golden-armored dragon turtle ahead, Neo, who had just gotten up, was crouching outside his tent washing up. Looking back in Karen's direction, he raised his toothbrush in a casual wave. Karen sighed in mild resignation. Only after stepping into his tent did the blaring horn in his ears finally fade away. The bad news was that if this condition worsened, he might be unable to distinguish between real events and his own hallucinations while observing the battlefield, which would severely impair his command. The good news was that he seemed to truly be entering the prelude to receiving "God's Revelation," and he could simply serve as a mascot without having to command. It was fortunate that his conversation partner last night had been Neo; had it been anyone else, one might have suspected that the person had deliberately cursed him to usurp command of the army. Just then, footsteps sounded outside. Muri stood before the tent and asked, "Corps Commander, shall we convene the officer-level pre-battle briefing now?" Karen nodded. "Convene it." Muri replied, "Your Divine Will be done." Karen lifted his eyelids and glanced at Little Kanna beside him. Seeing no unusual reaction from her, he asked, "Just now, after I said 'Convene it,' how did Muri answer?" Little Kanna replied, "'Yes, Corps Commander.' Why, what's wrong?" "Nothing... nothing." "Hmm, are you still not feeling well?" Little Kanna stepped up to Karen, looking up and studying his face. "Are you really unwell, Karen?" "I'm fine, don't worry." "Really, Order?" "Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." Karen stepped out of the tent, feigning a relaxed posture as he rubbed the back of his neck. On the golden-armored dragon turtle diagonally opposite sat the command tent, where many officers had already gathered. This meeting could not afford to drag on. Everyone was tense and busy; the corps commander merely needed to reiterate the division of tasks and key points of caution, administering one final dose of preparation for the encounter that could break out at any moment. Even so, Karen pulled out a cigarette from the Church of Thunder, lit it, and took a deep drag. Past experience told him that issues with his soul could be temporarily soothed by it. This time, Karen smoked hurriedly without wasting a single breath. As he dropped the butt, he prayed inwardly that it would work—at least enough to carry him through this battle. Once the fighting was over, he wouldn't mind even if he had to stay in bed for an entire week. "Qianmei." "Your Divine Will be done." Karen: "..." Black wings manifested, and Karen took flight, landing in front of the command tent. When Karen stepped inside, the officers who had been waiting saluted him collectively according to protocol. Yet falling upon Karen's ears was a roaring, mountainous chant: "God!" "God!" "God!" Feigning normalcy, Karen nodded in response while walking over to take his seat. At this point, even knowing that he believed in Order, even knowing that he possessed the hunger addiction... Karen still began to suspect that he had developed some form of psychiatric delusion. *This guy has gone mad. He actually thinks he's the God of Order, hearing every word spoken to him as a prayer to God.* Seeing that Karen had no intention of speaking, Muri presided over the meeting according to standard practice. During the briefing, Neo turned his head toward Karen several times, seeming to notice something off about him. However, he had yet to realize that it was his own blessed mouth that had brought this about. In Karen's ears, he initially heard Muri laying out precautions against the allied forces of the Church of Earth and the Church of Life, but then... Muri: "I believe everyone is no longer unfamiliar with the combat habits of the Church of Earth and the Church of Life. I will remind you all of a few final points: "The Tree of Life possesses an extraordinarily powerful capacity for life regeneration. Those deities whose divine bodies have suffered damage can receive timely repairs upon retreating to the rear, allowing them to return to the fray. Therefore, the key to this battle lies on the periphery of the main battlefield: we must locate the God of Life and eliminate him without delay. Even if we cannot slay him, we must drive him from the battlefield..." Karen: "..." All of a sudden, thanks to his auditory hallucinations, this pre-battle military briefing had become infinitely grander. When the briefing concluded, Muri looked toward Karen, and the officers of all ranks did the same. Karen nodded to them and waved a hand. "Go and prepare." The crowd filed out of the command tent, leaving only Neo behind. Neo walked up toward Karen and asked with concern, "Order, the key to this battle rests entirely on you." Karen pointed to his own ears and told Neo, "I'm experiencing auditory hallucinations right now. Once the battle begins, you have full command." Hearing this, Neo showed an expression of 'just as I expected' and smiled, saying, "I believe you can do it, Order. This battle marks the prelude to our counterattack. Corrupt eternity will finally be purged by us." Karen: "What I'm hearing right now is completely chaotic. Speak less. You can write or use hand gestures." Neo: "I'll be careful. Even if those assassin deities manage to infiltrate, they pose no threat to me. Have you forgotten? Wherever Light shines, they cannot hide. Besides, you were wrong—you said our faction cannot afford the cost of losing me, but the truth is, we refuse to lose any comrade-in-arms..." Although Karen knew Neo wasn't actually saying any of that, seeing the man continue mouthing off after explicitly being told to stop talking made Karen roll his eyes in exasperation. "You idiot." Neo froze for an instant, seemingly caught off guard by Karen's sudden insult. Recognizing the severity of Karen's current issue, he immediately inquired with even deeper concern: "Likewise!"