Xiti knew full well what an accident during teleportation meant. Even a temple elder swept into a spatial countercurrent might not be able to safely find a breach to escape, let alone anyone else.
Xiti's anger was justified. Karen had "executed" one of her family's finest descendants right before her eyes, and she had endured humiliation from him the entire time, barely restraining herself from slapping him to death in the end.
And yet, an accident had occurred on her own family's teleportation array. When the time came, the blame would still fall squarely on her and the family.
She had swallowed the insult and spared his life, only for the man to potentially "die" in her own home. This feeling of aggrieved frustration was beyond words—she felt as though she were about to explode with rage.
But this time, Rohan was no longer indulging Xiti. He was furious as well, especially after witnessing with his own eyes how Xiti had dealt with the entrance.
A purely physical punch smashing it to bits, wrecking it on the surface;
Then building a small new teleportation hall over it, concealing it in aura;
She had actually handled things that way! That Pangxi Manor had gone all these years without an accident was truly thanks to the blessings of the God of Order and her ancestors!
In the eyes of Rohan, one of the world's foremost array masters, the Pangxi family had spent the last two centuries practically living on the mouth of a volcano. Had the odds been remotely normal, the volcano would have erupted long ago, and when Xiti returned home from the temple, she would have been greeted by the sight of entities from the sealed grounds cohabiting with the manor.
However, Rohan was in no mood to argue about this with Xiti anymore, nor did he care to lecture his old friend on basic array maintenance. He raised a hand, motioning for her to quiet down:
"Karen has likely been teleported into the sealed grounds. Send someone right now to fetch the materials and blueprints for the array structure inside the sealed grounds."
"The sealed grounds?" Xiti paused, startled. "How could he have been teleported in there?"
"Stop asking questions, just get them for me!"
"There are none left."
"What?"
"The relevant records, plans, schematics—none of them are left."
Rohan asked reflexively, "Lost to time?"
Immediately, he realized that was unlikely. Though the Pangxi family had experienced its share of ups and downs throughout history, on the whole it had maintained a high, stable standing within the church. Barring major turmoil, such precious archives would have been preserved and handed down.
"She took them. She sneaked into the family archives and packed away all the relevant records, leaving nothing behind."
"Is this your home or hers?"
"I'd like to know that myself. The arrays and defenses of the manor were utterly useless against her. Later, I even discovered that she once treated this place as a temporary den. During that period, I was at the temple, and she spent more time in this home than I did."
"The danger level of the sealed grounds shouldn't be too high, right?"
After all, the true sealing had taken place in the very early days. The remains left behind after those powerful ferocious beasts and monster beasts were suppressed and slain couldn't be disposed of in time, or perhaps the cost of clearing them back then had simply been too high, so their husks were sealed away somewhere.
Later, as the Church of Order's various systems matured, such "dungeons" requiring reliance on church families to suppress became increasingly rare. Those that had existed previously eventually fell into silence and disuse.
The Church did this to centralize power; otherwise, with a single family like the Pangxi suppressing a dungeon, over time it could easily develop into a semi-independent "holy ground."
"Originally, the danger level wasn't high..."
"Originally?"
"After she went in a few times, she tinkered with some new things inside, causing the chaotic sealed grounds to develop an ord... a system."
Xiti avoided the word "order."
"What do you mean?"
"Meaning those dregs used to be muddled and mindless, but after she went in, they developed a tacit understanding and started trying to breach the seal to escape. That's also why I destroyed the entrance. After all, I couldn't stay at the manor forever to keep the situation suppressed."
"Do you know what will happen if Karen fails to get out, or if something happens to him in there?"
"I know."
"Even if he isn't dead, if he fails to return to Yorktown Region for an extended period, the Holy See will immediately pin the blame on you."
"Rohan, isn't this mess your doing?"
Rohan: "..."
For a moment, Rohan didn't know how to respond, because that was indeed the case. Had he not tried to change the location on a whim and engaged in a duel of array masters with Karen, the accident wouldn't have occurred.
"I'll work as quickly as I can to repair the entrance. Go ask someone else for help—his abilities can help us fish him out."
"Who?"
"Senior Ukonga."
"I'm not close with him. His seniority is far too great."
He was a figure who had survived from the era when Order and Light stood in direct confrontation.
"The power of his divine artifact can diminish spatial barriers and conduct deeper perception. If he's here, even if I can't repair the entrance in time, as long as he pinpoints Karen inside the sealed grounds, I can set up a resonance and teleportation array to guide Karen out.
"Thank goodness Karen is an accomplished array master himself, otherwise even I wouldn't know what to do."
"Must I really go ask him?"
"Go. Think hard about the consequences. In a day at the latest, the Holy See will issue a formal inquiry to Pangxi Manor. You should know full well how much Foden values this successor; he will definitely go straight to the High Priest."
"Fine, I'll go."
Xiti vanished from the spot.
Rohan breathed a sigh of relief, then, as if sensing something, cursed immediately:
"You actually tried to use that teleportation array again?! Xiti, have you lost your mind?!"
...
"Mm, where is this?"
"Probably the Pangxi family's dungeon, since the Siren's true body is here."
As Karen answered Little Kanna's question, he crouched down and pressed his palm against the ground:
"Order—Despair Sealing!"
A black starlight sigil appeared beneath his feet, followed by four walls rising up to form an arched barrier like a massive black bubble. Within it, black lines constantly circulated, catching and devouring every gaze, sound, aura, and consciousness that attempted to pass in or out.
Once it was established, the earlier sensation of being stared at by an unknown number of eyes finally vanished.
Arriving in an unfamiliar, bizarre environment, the first thing to do was to conceal oneself.
"Then what should we do?"
Little Kanna wasn't particularly nervous or panicked; instead, she felt curious about this place, even a bit of fondness. After all, her birthplace—her old home—was quite similar to this environment.
"Wait for rescue. They're probably more anxious than we are."
Karen recalled the struggle for control of the array earlier. In the end, that person's timely letting go had shown immense goodwill, leading Karen to suspect that the counterpart hadn't been Xiti, but the person who had never shown his face yet certainly existed.
Turning his head, he looked at where he and Little Kanna had materialized. A teleportation array had likely stood here originally, but for some reason, it had long since been destroyed—and so thoroughly that any possibility of repair was out of the question.
Yet this spot was crucial. Karen had considerable faith in the abilities of temple elders; their rescue efforts would surely bear fruit. Thus, staying put and not wandering around was the wisest choice.
In the best-case scenario, in perhaps half an hour, a new teleportation resonance would appear here, and by constructing a temporary teleportation array to link with it, he would be able to leave.
"Let's just wait here. There should be a turn of events."
"Should be?"
Little Kanna raised her right hand into a fist, and her left index finger began tapping lightly on it.
Karen noticed this gesture. A while ago, when watching her do homework, she had frequently done this.
At first, Karen thought it was just a quirky habit the little girl had picked up somewhere, but later he discovered that she was using the scarlet octopus's divination abilities to calculate the answers to her homework.
This was an important reason why she had been able to finish her homework early.
The principle was much like other students rolling an eraser during an exam; the difference was that her accuracy rate was exceptionally high.
"Kanna."
"Mm?"
Little Kanna looked up at Karen while continuing to tap her fist.
"Don't use that method for your homework in the future."
"Why?"
"When your Sister Purr comes back to check your homework and makes you recalculate in front of her, if you do that gesture in front of her, she'll go crazy."
"Mm, okay, I understand."
Little Kanna paused in her tapping, looking conflicted.
"What was the divination result?"
"The result is... it seems we shouldn't stay here."
"Then—"
"It's fine. If I divinate a few more times, I can get a result that says we should stay here."
One had to admit, Little Kanna understood probability.
Just as Karen was about to reconsider the situation at hand, the appearance of something disrupted his train of thought.
A colossal crimson eye materialized ahead.
You could clearly feel that it was staring at you, while at the same time infinitely magnifying your presence, turning you into the most "dazzling" existence here.
Immediately afterward, the interior of the arched isolating barrier was gradually dyed blood-red, and projections of eye after eye manifested.
Karen didn't know what this thing was, but it had indeed breached his barrier, and those external gazes were once again directed here.
A vortex formed within the crimson eye; it was both an eye and a mouth, seeking to suck Karen and Little Kanna in.
"Kanna, fly up and provide support!"
"Got it!"
Little Kanna leapt, transforming into a bone dragon. Breaking free from the restraint, she soared into the air to circle overhead.
Karen himself completely abandoned resistance, letting his body be pulled toward the giant crimson eye. Just as he was about to be swallowed, Karen spread his arms wide. In an instant, with him at the center, Chains of Order shot out rapidly, piercing through the eye and viciously looping and skewering through it.
From the outside, it looked as though an eye was being ruthlessly sewn shut.
Karen pressed both arms downward and the chains tightened. Accompanied by a scalp-numbing, violent grating sound, the eye was forced closed.
"Fire of Order!"
Blazing Fire of Order spread along every chain, scorching it thoroughly.
Thick blood began dripping from the corners of the giant crimson eye.
Though it could make no sound, the whirlwind whipping up around it seemed like its horrific wailing.
However, damage of this degree was not enough to deal a fatal blow.
"Eye of Order!"
Behind Karen, a massive eye also appeared.
The Eye of Order snapped open, and the two giant eyes formed a resonance. The crimson eye was forced open as well, which meant the wound that had just been sewn shut was brutally torn open once more, and the crimson eye began to crumble.
Red light and fire started spreading everywhere. In the sky, the little bone dragon swooped down, taking Karen into her body.
Rib after rib wrapped around Karen, shielding him from the external flames while she climbed once more, swiftly pulling away from the sea of fire.
That eye posed the greatest threat to him, so Karen had to eliminate it first.
Yet the commotion here had also drawn the attention of other entities. Mormela the Siren was already advancing in this direction, her song echoing.
"My head hurts..."
The little bone dragon's body began to wobble. Even as an adult, she would be far inferior to Augie in resisting mental power, because Augie's frost dragon attributes leaned toward magic, whereas what the bone dragon took the most pride in was a powerful physical body.
Little Kanna grew disoriented in the song, beginning to spin in midair, while Mormela drew closer and closer. Her solitary arm reached out, the pustule-covered giant hand about to seize the bone dragon.
If they didn't escape this "spotlight" as quickly as possible, all manner of creatures in this "dungeon" would flock over. The prison culture of hazing and preying on newcomers existed here as well.
"Kanna, drop your soul defense!"
Karen pressed both hands against Little Kanna's skeletal frame. Trusting Karen unconditionally, the bone dragon immediately released her mental defenses, allowing Karen's consciousness to enter smoothly.
At the same time, a layer of rust began spreading rapidly across the bone dragon's skeleton—this was the power of Order transformation from within Karen's body.
"Aaaagh..."
Mormela, who had been singing a melodious song moments before, instantly became raspy and agonized. Her massive body swayed from side to side like a vocalist forced to swallow a huge cup of potent poison.
Divinity was inherently the most terrifying form of pollution.
Yet this was the first time Karen had revealed this side of himself so openly. Outside, there were too many concerns, but the sealed entities here were not complete living beings; they were a form of pollution themselves.
Little Kanna, who had been suffering acutely under the Siren's torment, roared at this moment:
"Come on then, let's see who's filthier!"
Almost instinctively, the little bone dragon rammed toward the Siren of her own accord.
In a filthy environment, whoever was filthier held the greater advantage.
Yet this was not what Karen wanted. His goal was to help Kanna break free and escape quickly. But Kanna transformed into a bone dragon was somewhat like Ventura transformed into a giant—after growing massive, her mental control noticeably dropped. Little Kanna hadn't exhibited this strongly in the past, but having her consciousness battered by the Siren first and then empowered by Karen's rust pollution, her emotions had lapsed into a berserk frenzy.
Boom!
The bone dragon slammed violently into the Siren. The Siren tumbled backward, but her hand gripped the bone dragon's body.
However, once the rust was directly touched, the terrifying Order transformation began to operate. Her palm disintegrated rapidly, detaching completely at the wrist.
Inside Little Kanna, Karen also swayed, his head feeling as though it had suffered a heavy blow. Going head-to-head in a war of attrition against an entity of this caliber was exhausting even for him; it was like playing tug-of-war with a giant.
Deep within his soul, the hunger addiction sculpture began to lift its head, and the mire in the swamp began to churn.
It was as if saying: if you can't hold out, let it take over.
But if he let the hunger addiction erupt again and seize control in this godforsaken place, Karen felt he would be completely doomed, falling forever here.
Be quiet for me!
Karen growled inwardly. The hunger addiction sculpture had no choice but to lower its head again, and the swamp deep within his soul gradually calmed.
Outside, the little bone dragon swooped down, her claws tearing across the Siren's chest.
Riiip—
The Siren's chest was like paper before the bone dragon's claws, torn open into two horrifying wounds as waves of intensely thick curse aura surged out like roiling pus.
Yet when these splashed against the bone dragon, they were neutralized by the rust.
Still, this imposed a further burden on Karen. Waves of exhaustion and hollowness washed over his mind one after another:
"Kanna, disengage from the battle!"
Caught up in the excitement, the little bone dragon paid no heed, banking in a turn and preparing for another pass.
Out of options, Karen said,
"I'm getting hungry."
The red in the bone dragon's eyes flickered upon hearing those words.
"Eek!"
Little Kanna was jolted awake in fright. What she used to fear most was Purr checking her homework; now, what she feared most was Karen getting hungry.
Without hesitation, Little Kanna wheeled around in a bank and accelerated, trying to fly toward the perimeter.
However, as she flew past that colossal crucifix, the twelve-winged angel—whose chest was impaled upon it and left hanging there—suddenly raised its arms upward.
When those arms stretched out, what seemed like a holy realm appeared ahead, sealing off all avenues of escape.
Now, Karen finally confirmed that within this dungeon, there actually existed a certain order!
They weren't engaged in endless infighting; rather, they were in a state of dynamic slumber, but once stimulated by something external, they would immediately awaken and cooperate.
In other words, if they remained stalled here, they would inevitably be swarmed and beaten by an even larger crowd!
How on earth had they managed it? Could the Pangxi family really tame a prison this well?
"Qianmei, run for it."
Black wings manifested behind Karen, then swiftly separated from him and dived downward. Between the two pairs of black wings, the phantom of a fallen angel appeared—the product of Qianmei having devoured an angel.
The angel on the crucifix was instantly drawn to this repugnant aura of its own kind. Hatred for heresy eclipsed that for an outside enemy; the angel immediately abandoned the holy realm it had conjured, turning its arms to grasp toward Qianmei instead.
Taking advantage of this opening, the bone dragon burst out of the encirclement at top speed.
Qianmei: "..."
Chapter 840