On one side, swarms of monster beasts from the Church of Life roared and snarled;
On the other, the legion of giants from the Church of Earth pressed forward in orderly ranks;
They were the most potent weapons for smashing through formations, as well as cost-effective cannon fodder.
Now, in the distant field of vision, the sky-filling sand and dust kicked up by their advance was clearly visible, drawing steadily closer.
Most of the people continued to follow Purr in prayer. Facing death for the first time inevitably brought nervousness and hesitation. Prayer could soothe their emotions, ensuring that even if the worst came to pass, everyone could at least depart with dignity.
As the commander here, this was the only thing Purr could do right now, so the cat was fully devoted to it.
Some, however, had long since stopped praying.
A few of them simply did not care, having grown indifferent to life and death long ago. Though their drive to survive had never wavered, they were certainly not about to show fear in the face of death.
Count Rekar, for instance, pulled out a waterskin, took a swig, and handed it to Daliwenluo.
The military camp banned only the abuse of psychotropic drugs; tobacco and alcohol were permitted.
However, Count Rekar's waterskin clearly contained a few special additions.
Daliwenluo took a deep gulp, instantly recognized the taste, looked at him, and remarked, "You've got some nerve."
Count Rekar chuckled. "Just added it in. Haven't touched it before, and who knows when I'll get another chance to indulge? Might as well make the most of it."
As a former Pirate King—a man who had once single-handedly swayed the maritime fortunes of the Wien Empire—he was violent, greedy, lecherous, and rebellious to his very bones. Yet he genuinely feared Karen, so he had deliberately kept his nature suppressed.
He knew full well that Karen held a strict moral code. If he stepped out of line, it would only earn Karen's disgust and contempt.
With so many maids in the manor, they would have lined up for his bed in the old days, yet now he dared not touch a single one.
At most, while bathing, he indulged in having Judia scrub his back. But Judia was an awakened descendant of his bloodline; he was a pirate, not a degenerate, and he wouldn't stoop to anything so vile.
Another crucial reason was that, as the ancestor and family elder, he had to consider the reputation of the two women from his bloodline regarding their maiden homes.
Daliwenluo warned, "Don't drink too much. When we see the young master later, he'll smell the contraband on you."
Count Rekar froze for a second, promptly jammed the stopper back into the waterskin, and nodded. "You make a very good point."
Daliwenluo rubbed his bald head. "I say, why don't you shave your head too?"
"No, absolutely not. I don't want to eat horse dung."
"Hah, and here you are always bragging about your past pirate exploits. Who knew you were such a coward?"
"If you think eating horse dung is a mark of bravery... well, alright, fair enough."
"Heh." Daliwenluo stretched lazily, then reached over to pluck a bright red, cherry-tomato-like fruit from the sapling in front of him and offered it to Count Rekar. "Care for a taste?"
Count Rekar took it and asked, "Not poisonous, is it?"
"If it poisons you, I won't be able to answer to the young master either."
"Fair point." Count Rekar took a bite, his eyes lighting up with pleasant surprise. "Mmm, sweet and refreshing! Quite delicious."
"Glad you like it."
"Why don't you consider a career change? Allen Manor has plenty of hilly ground. When we get back, I'll take charge and lease it all to you. This stuff could fetch good point coupons."
"It only bears one or two fruits at a time."
"Such a low yield? What a pity. Is there any way to boost production?"
"Yes. Water it with the blood of my family members."
"Hey, that's easy! Didn't you say the Life Legion over there is your family's private army? Plenty of them must be your relatives. Once the battle is over, we'll round them up. For the dead ones, store their blood right away; for the living ones, pen them up like livestock and bleed them on a schedule."
"I had the exact same thought, hehe."
"Naturally. With fruit this tasty, we have to let the young master and the others try some."
Not far off, Mr. Aisen was still fine-tuning his magic array, adjusting the positions of the phantoms like the Throne of Order hovering above.
In truth, what he had laid down before were all amplification arrays, with a miniature Throne of Order at the center, which was then projected and magnified in aura through the amplification array.
With folded arms, Kaixi stood behind her husband, watching him work with quiet diligence.
Richard walked over and said to his father, "Dad, at a time like this, shouldn't you say something to Mom?"
Without looking up, Mr. Aisen muttered, "It's not like we're about to die."
Kaixi let out a helpless sigh.
Richard smiled. "Still, it's a rare romantic mood."
Mr. Aisen replied, "Once you get married, you'll realize that so-called romantic moods are usually just torture for men."
Richard nodded. "No, I don't think so."
Mr. Aisen glanced up toward Philomena standing nearby and conceded, "Right, my mistake. You're right."
Kaixi squatted down beside her husband and whispered softly, "Actually, I've always regretted leaving home back then to take a posting elsewhere."
Mr. Aisen shook his head. "No, it was the right decision. I never blamed you for it, because I knew very well what state I was in at the time."
"Really?"
"Really. You were still young back then. Your husband had lost his mind, and your son wasn't particularly charming. Staying in that household was sheer torture."
Richard: "..."
"Mm." Kaixi murmured an agreement, wrapping her arms around her husband's arm and leaning against his shoulder. "You're so wonderful, darling."
Mr. Aisen sighed helplessly. Looking at his wife, he couldn't bring himself to say, *Step aside, don't interrupt my work.* He had no choice but to keep adjusting the array with one hand.
Having braved countless adventures under the identity of "Memphis," Aisen wasn't particularly worried about their present predicament. He firmly believed his nephew was already preparing an assault from the perimeter. But Kaixi was different; she was facing that classic hypothetical: *If the world ends in ten minutes, what would you do?*
Seeing his parents like this brought a smile to Richard's face. He had never blamed either of them, having lived quite happily all along.
Yet that past decision seemed to have remained a thorn in his mother's heart.
To Richard, it really wasn't a big deal—she had simply buckled under family pressure and applied for an external posting. It wasn't as if they had divorced or remarried, and she hadn't come back dragging along some half-sibling.
Richard turned around and found himself facing Philomena. He walked over to her.
Philomena looked at him and said, "I don't need comforting."
Richard pointed to himself. "I do."
"You really are nothing like Karen."
"Come on, how could I possibly be like him?"
Philomena paused, only then remembering that Richard had no idea Karen was his cousin.
Then, self-reproach crept over her. She felt she shouldn't compare him to Karen. She had interacted with Eunice, and she knew full well that she herself could never compare to Eunice either.
That gentle gaze the young woman cast downward from the open window—Philomena had practiced it in front of her bedroom mirror for hours at night, until the muscles around her eyes began to cramp, without mastering even a fraction of it.
"Sorry."
"Uh... why apologize to me? Just because you said I don't measure up to Karen? Bah, being compared to Karen is an honor in itself, haha!"
"You have a remarkably good mindset."
"Well, there's only one first place. You can't just refuse to live happily because you didn't come in first. Besides, the expression on your face just now was so much like my grandmother's. You really are her student."
In Richard's memory, his grandmother would occasionally slip up and compare his grandfather to another "unfamiliar grandfather." His grandfather never got angry, but his grandmother would always prepare pastries and soup afterward to ease her guilt.
What Richard didn't know was that, from his grandfather's perspective, grandfather and grandson were living out an almost perfect cycle of karmic recurrence.
Philomena walked over to Purr and came to a halt beside the cat. If the enemy breached their position, she would protect Purr's escape at all costs. Nothing could happen to Purr; otherwise, something would happen to Karen as well.
"Come, let's go from the top. Great God of Order..."
Purr raised a soft paw, starting the loop again.
The priests below joined in: "O Great God of Order..."
White light—blinding, searing white light flashed in the distance. Long moments later, continuous, rumbling roars finally reached their ears.
Pleasant surprise broke out across everyone's faces. They knew this meant their main force had arrived and formally launched its offensive.
Purr immediately dropped the paw, checked the time on the dial beneath its feet, and said, "We bought more time, but Karen and the others will definitely still choose to strike only when the enemy launches their attack."
Philomena nodded. "Yes, exactly."
Of course, this didn't mean the extra time Purr had secured was useless; it minimized their risk to the absolute lowest.
Once the main legion launched its assault, the Earth Legion's advance on this position ground to a halt. Soon after, the Life Legion's advance ceased as well.
Even though the defenders could clearly make out the shapes of those colossal monster beasts, the creatures did not charge forward with deafening roars; instead, they paused in their tracks.
"Falcon knights, fall back and regroup, meow!"
At Purr's order, the falcon knights took to the skies, scouting the battlefield as they looked for opportunities to rejoin the formation.
At the same time, a few runners consolidated intelligence back to the communications group.
The sheer speed of the Earth Legion's collapse astonished everyone in the communications unit. After just two volleys of artillery fire, they folded like wet paper, completely pierced through by the main legion in a single stroke.
This meant the communications unit was entirely safe, possessing a secure route to withdraw and link up with the main army.
Meanwhile, the Church of Life's monster beasts shifted from stationary observation to a steady retreat.
The Church of Life dared not rush in to reinforce the Earth Legion, terrified of being swept away in the rout, and chose the most conservative response.
"We can't let them pull back so easily, meow."
Philomena asked, "Do you have an idea?"
"Of course! We acted as bait for so long. Meaningful as it was, I still need a chance to show off, don't you think, Little Glutton?"
"You need to ensure your safety. You can't take risks."
"Don't you want to have some real fun, Sleepyhead?"
"I do."
"Hehe, meow." Purr hopped onto Philomena's shoulder and called out to Aisen, "Battalion Commander Aisen, you can drop your amplification array's current effect now. Also, can your amplification target a single person at long range?"
Aisen pulled his arm free from his wife's grasp, stood up, and answered Purr, "It's difficult, but doable."
"Great, perfect." Purr then called out to Daliwenluo, who was sitting in the distance munching on fruit: "Little Baldy, if I'm not mistaken, that sapling of yours and those summoned monster beasts share the exact same source of power."
Daliwenluo stood up and replied, "Yes, that's correct. Those monster beasts are imprints taken from the life seals inside the Tree of Life."
"Can you communicate with them using your sapling?"
"I need to be close, but it shouldn't be a problem."
"Oh, wonderful! You really are an excellent rebel."
"No, I am an awakened one."
"Fine, fine. I need your help. When the time comes, use your sapling to link several of those monster beasts together for me."
"Several? That's a bit tough. I can't keep them anchored."
Purr turned to Richard and shouted, "Young Master Aisen!"
Kaixi: "..."
Richard didn't realize at first that the cat was addressing him, but he quickly snapped to attention: "Here!"
"I hope you can tell me that Little Jerry inside you has learned how to split."
"Yes, absolutely! Little Jerry can split into lots of Little Jerrys now!"
"Good! You'll help Little Baldy anchor them."
"Understood!" Though Richard had no clear idea what they were actually going to do, his response was unwavering.
"And then?" Daliwenluo asked. "What do you plan to do?"
"You'll see in a moment. In short, whenever I see swarms of monster beasts, my paws itch."
Purr immediately issued a rapid succession of commands:
"Two falcons, land and pick us up! Battalion Commander Aisen, watch for my signal and do your utmost to channel the amplification onto me—the longer, the better! Degenerate, lead your cavalry to provide cover!"
Count Rekar shouted in protest, "What kind of bullsh*t nickname is that?!"
"Consider it a friendly warning."
"Thank you very much!"
Two falcons touched down. Purr and Philomena climbed onto one, while Daliwenluo took Richard onto the other.
The two falcons took flight. Count Rekar led his battalion of cavalry out in an assault. Facing the sudden emergence of cavalry, the monster beasts that had been preparing to retreat hesitated instinctively and began organizing their defenses.
However, Count Rekar did not actually order an engagement. Instead, he darted recklessly along the fringes of the combat zone, drawing the attention of the monster beasts and their handlers.
Above, the two falcons reached their designated position.
"That mantis—jump!"
Philomena leaped, and Daliwenluo jumped down as well, clutching Richard.
The three of them landed on the mantis beast's head. The creature instinctively raised its terrifying scythes to slash at its own scalp, but that spot was an absolute blind spot—it couldn't scratch its own head like a human, and its handlers were demanding it maintain formation, preventing it from rolling on the ground.
"Begin, Little Baldy! Link three of them! Young Master Aisen, use your Little Jerrys to help him!"
Daliwenluo drove his sapling straight into the head of the mantis beast beneath them. As the aura of the Tree of Life seeped in, the mantis felt no pain; rather, a wave of profound comfort washed over it.
Simultaneously, two branches branched out from the sapling. Richard spread his hands, and two bloody gashes split open. From them, he flicked out two silkworm-like bugs that hitched a ride along the branches, stretching outward toward two neighboring monster beasts.
With a wet *splat*, the silkworms burst, turning into an ultra-sticky fluid that firmly anchored the branches to the beasts' bodies so they wouldn't slip.
"Oh, heavens, do you have to pull the bugs out of open wounds, meow?"
Richard shook his head. "I figured vomiting them out from my mouth or blowing them out of my nose would gross you out even more."
"What a bizarre concern for your image! Alright, my turn, meow!"
Purr began to pray once more:
"Brother Karen, grant this kitty strength!"
*Huh, the prayer went back to normal?*
*Is my little Karen's crazy phase over?*
The prayer initiated smoothly. Through their symbiosis contract, power belonging to Karen surged into Purr's body.
Soon, a cloud of black mist enveloped Philomena's shoulder, spewing harmless tongues of flame. A woman clad in a long black dress and a red hood, holding a magic wand, materialized and sat perched upon Philomena's shoulder.
She showed no intention of stepping down, crossing her legs and remaining seated. Philomena simply let her stay there.
At first, everyone assumed Miss Purr simply favored this posture. But very quickly, they realized something was off. A stream of crude Wien sailor curses tore from Miss Purr's throat, evoking her adventurer days and her heritage from a pirate clan:
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What the hell is going on?! Oh, so much! So much! So much! It's so huge I can't handle it, meow—!"
Purr snapped her eyes open. From her pupils shot two magma-red beams of light, plowing two deep furrows across the mantis beast's head. Agony drove the beast to thrash and wail, completely ignoring its handler's orders.
"Oooooh!"
The wand in Purr's hand began spitting fireballs, discharging wildly in every direction as a blistering heatwave swept outward.
Only after quite a while did Purr finally rein in this influx of power, which was countless times greater than anything she had ever felt before. She cried out in wild excitement:
"Holy shit! Since when did my little Karen become this strong?! Even I can barely take it!"
A look of pure ecstasy washed over Purr's face. The sensation of being infused with such power brought an intense rush of pleasure. Compared to this, the petty affairs between men and women were entirely unworthy of mention.
For someone who had endured a century in a state of power deficit, it was like a deluge washing over parched, cracked earth.
Power! Power! Power!
She could feel the power. With its aid, for the first time in an eternity, she could attempt to brush against the peak splendor that had once belonged to her.
"Little Baldy, link ten of them for me!"
Hearing this, Daliwenluo split seven more branches from his sapling, extending them outward. Richard tore open fresh wounds on his palms, releasing seven more Little Jerrys to serve as tape.
"Is that enough?" Daliwenluo asked.
"Don't rush! Let me see how much more my little Karen can give me! Oh, heavens, he can still give more! Twenty! Little Baldy, twenty! Link twenty of them!"
Daliwenluo continued splitting branches with a face full of misery, while Richard finally stopped cutting himself and resorted to dry-heaving bugs out instead.
"Is there more, little Karen? Kitty wants it! Kitty wants more! More!"
"Ooooh! Heavens, did my little Karen take performance drugs or something?! There really is more! Thirty! Thirty! Little Baldy, keep linking!"
Daliwenluo turned deathly pale as he forced the branches further. Richard began spitting blood.
"Hahaha! He can still give more! Give it everything! Fifty! Fifty, hahahaha! Little Baldy, Young Master Aisen, give it your all! Kitty's taking you along to win massive merits—massive merits!"
Daliwenluo collapsed onto his knees, his body twitching and his cheeks sunken, as he forced yet another wave of branches outward.
Blood leaked from Richard's seven facial orifices as he dug Little Jerry clones out of his own blood and hurled them outward.
In truth, Karen, perched atop the little bone dragon far in the distance, wasn't faring much better. He was crouched on the ground, seized by acute chest pains right alongside Neo.
It was purely because Purr was demanding far, far too much this time. Yet just like buying her expensive coffee, Karen almost never refused her requests.
Especially right now, Karen understood clearly that Purr, positioned at the center of the battlefield, wouldn't transform into human form just to watch a show.
As for Neo, his heart had nearly stopped from Karen's claim that *Grandma won't need to step in to handle a regional guardian*.
He realized that Karen's comparison of "three of myself" wasn't a unit of raw power, but a unit of combat capability. Though the words seemed similar, they were fundamentally different—Karen was calculating that three copies of himself could coordinate with exquisite perfection.
*The unofficial recruit I brought into the squad now possesses the strength to contend with a regional guardian! Ah, my heart hurts so much from being this happy!*
Little Kanna had no idea what the two men on her back were doing. But no matter how smart a child was, she couldn't help being swept up by the mood. To fit in and match the atmosphere, Little Kanna pressed a dragon claw against her own chest. In her haste, she applied too much force and cracked several of her own chest bones:
Little Kanna: *Oof, it really does hurt!*
"Sleepyhead, signal Battalion Commander Aisen!"
Philomena drew a flare and fired it into the air.
Back in the camp, Mr. Aisen hoisted the Key to the Rubik's Cube, spinning it up at top speed. Beside him, Kaixi and the other array masters who had accompanied them lent their full support.
"Go!"
Staring intently at the flare, Mr. Aisen manipulated the array, casting a beam of light that descended with pinpoint accuracy right over Purr.
"Heheh..."
Purr let out a chuckle, leaning forward and floating into the air. When she lifted her head again, a deep crimson welled within her eyes.
In an instant, red light flared in the eyes of all fifty monster beasts. Their bodies stiffened, completely disregarding the commands of the handlers behind them.
Purr raised her arm, turned, and faced the direction of the Life Legion.
All fifty colossal monster beasts turned in unison, facing their own army's battle lines.
Purr slowly lowered her raised arm until it pointed forward. Chanting an incantation under her breath, she finally intoned in a low, resonant voice:
"[Beast Taming: Surge of the Beast Tide!]"
"Roar—!"
"Roar!" "Roar!"
Fifty monster beasts bellowed. At this moment, the Life priests responsible for commanding them lost all control over the creatures.
"I have unfastened the shackles upon you. Now, it is time to show your fury to those who enslaved you!"
The moment the words fell, the earth shuddered violently.
The vanguard monster beasts that had once belonged to the Life Legion now launched a frenzied, rampaging charge directly into their own main battle lines!
Far away, Neo, still clutching his chest on the bone dragon's back, felt as if he had been struck with a shot of adrenaline upon receiving the battlefield update. Instantly restored to vigor, he barked out an order:
"Pass the word—launch an immediate assault against the Life Legion!"
Having given the command, Neo clutched his chest and squatted back down. Glancing sideways at Karen, he cursed:
"Damn it... my heart hurts so much!"
Chapter 798