The Return of the Gods

*Clatter... Clatter...* The chains originally bound around the sculpture of the hunger addiction began to slough off piece by piece, symbolizing the lifting of its shackles. There was no longer any reason to restrain or guard against it, for the entire sculpture had now completely transformed into Karen's likeness. Karen had already suppressed the hunger addiction before today; the intervention by the God of Order was merely equivalent to maxing out the progress bar all at once. Having regained its liveliness after "Diss" departed, the Scythe of War looked at the fully formed sculpture before it. Gone was its former provocation of swaying back and forth as if preparing to strike; in its place was a well-behaved sway from side to side. Although it had not birthed an artifact spirit like Luoya, as a remarkably intact chief-god-grade divine weapon of war, it possessed an instinctual sense of crisis. It was very pure—purely opportunistic. The marsh began to seep with more water, gradually forming a pool. In the center of the pool, coffin-like shadows were rotating. Each shadow was equivalent to a delegated rule of Order. Some shadows were massive, some were dense and heavy, and others were relatively faint by comparison, symbolizing the disparate levels of strength and realm among the occupants of the coffins at this stage. At the same time, this meant that all of them possessed the qualification—just like Pu'er—to pray to Karen for an empowerment of strength. This was the exact treatment enjoyed by the twelve Order Knights in the previous epoch. Their might derived partly from themselves, and partly from the God of Order. Progenitor Allen, kneeling in a nearby corner, was also touched by the flowing water, and his figure grew more refined and solid. This was equivalent to integrating Progenitor Allen's family faith system directly into the system of Order. Henceforth, the upper limit of the Allen family's faith system level would be elevated further, and the stifling frustration Pu'er had experienced in those years would never occur again. Even though "God" merely used his power to wash his hands and boil water, such was the prerogative of a "God." From the day Karen arrived in Wien, the Allen family had married off a daughter, surrendered the position of patriarch, and willingly handed over the entirety of their family estate... That series of early investments had already yielded overflowing profits in recent years, yet now, it had garnered another staggeringly immense return. Similar accounts were not uncommon in the mythological narratives of various churches. Otherwise, people would not be so fanatically obsessed with becoming the retainers and followers of a god. *** Hovering above the rooftop, Karen slowly opened his eyes. God's Shepherd was complete. The darkness stretching endlessly overhead was actually the manifestation of his dharma body. The illusory silhouette of the Gate of Order once again materialized above Luojia City, as majestic and solemn as ever. This meant that, by the judgment of the Gate of Order, Karen now possessed the qualifications to be "guided" into the divine temple. However, Karen had not condensed a godhead fragment. The other temple elders, including his grandfather Diss, needed to condense godhead fragments on their own first before striving to achieve a complete godhead and ascend to godhood; yet the godhead belonging to Karen had been there all along. The hunger addiction counted as one part of it, while the other part rested with the one seated up above. Even so, this did not mean Karen was walking a different path from theirs. The path was essentially the same, except that someone was already standing on Karen's path, waiting for him to carry out the handover. Karen felt that once he reached the realm of "Judge," he would completely usurp the seat of the God of Order. The previous Order would draw to a close, and an era belonging to him would begin. *A Judge... passing judgment upon the gods on behalf of this world.* A bitter smile touched the corner of Karen's lips. He had already comprehended his own Judge realm, and by past experience, advancing smoothly to the next tier should have been a matter of course. Yet here lay the awkward dilemma: upon reaching the God's Shepherd stage, breaking into the Judge realm was objectively no longer under his control. The height of his realm was stuck right here. As for his official standing, the only promotion currently available was to replace Norton as High Priest. In a sense, his role as a "mole" had been played nearly to its limit, and the God of Order seated there had been weakened to a certain "extreme" on his account. Even so, the decaying God of Order had still not collapsed. If Karen wanted to advance to Judge and inherit the godhead of Order, he first needed targets for his judgment—namely, the return of the gods. Yet at present, the gods had failed to break through; the massive meteor shower raining upon the world had still not appeared. Therefore, all Karen could do now was wait—wait for the gods to batter down the decaying God of Order. The gods needed to put in a little more effort. The sooner they succeeded, the sooner Karen could take advantage of the momentum to achieve godhood. Previously, Karen had worried about what would happen if the God of Order collapsed before he had the chance to grow strong enough. Looking back now, he had truly overthought it. She was simply too powerful. The feeling of this safe harbor was so tangible it could almost be touched. Sitting solitary through an entire epoch, enduring the curses and attrition of the gods while being hollowed out by him, even when reduced to nothing more than an empty shell, her divine might remained magnificent, winning more preparation time and strategic advantage for her believers and successor. Thus, what the Church of Order needed to do next was resolve the issue of the rebellious return of the various branch gods of Order, spearheaded by the Black Sea within the Garden of Life. With the great cataclysm broken down into isolated local disasters, the suffocatingly heavy atmosphere had lessened somewhat. Karen withdrew his dharma body, returning the sky full of stars to the night. Then he waved his hand, and the Gate of Order dispersed. He had no interest in visiting the Temple of Order through the God of Order right now. Going there in the past might have been called sightseeing, but going now... was he supposed to participate in post-disaster reconstruction? Moreover, according to the traditions of the Church of Order, temple elders had to be "enshrined," and the High Priest seemed to be suppressing his realm as well. From the perspective of maximizing his own interests, it was best to keep this layer concealed for now. Oh, no, there was no need to hide it deliberately; he had no godhead fragment anyway. *** "It seems you are recovering well." The Oracle stood at the edge of a patch of green shade. In the center, Ukonga was wrapped in vines, and the tree from which the vines originated was being watered with precious elixirs by a group of priests. The High Priest had been extremely stingy regarding the temple's reconstruction work, agreeing only to do superficial token repairs, but when it came to treating the wounded elders, the High Priest was exceedingly generous. At this moment, although Ukonga remained gravely wounded, obtaining a godhead fragment had solved the most fundamental issue. The rest of his recuperation was merely a trivial matter. Ukonga smiled. His lips had not yet healed properly, and this smile tore the corner of his mouth again, twisting it into a crooked sneer. The Oracle stepped forward and pushed the skewed part back into place with his own hands. "It really doesn't matter," Ukonga said, showing no gratitude and instead joking, "Are you still worried that a crooked mouth will ruin my image? My face has already been beaten to pieces." "You are fortunate." "Yes, I am fortunate, even though I'm mangled worse than any of them." "The Lord will bless you." "It's not that I lack respect for our Lord, but I feel that pinning everything on the Lord at a time like this is somewhat inappropriate." The Oracle looked around at his surroundings, where devastation was still visible everywhere. He sighed with emotion. "After a trial of tribulation, what was lost was what displeased our Lord; what was gained was what our Lord approved." "Where exactly is our Lord?" "In heaven, on earth—the Lord is everywhere." At that moment, the Gate of Order produced a tremor. Ukonga asked, "Has someone else condensed a godhead fragment?" "The coordinates are still at the old place—Luojia City." "Then there's no need to pay it any mind. He was probably in a good mood tonight and condensed another one." *** "Nicely painted." "Hmm?" Piaget turned around and looked at Karen, who had appeared behind him without him realizing it. Karen gazed at the painting on the easel. The figure in the painting was him, yet carried an unfamiliar aura, while the texture of the entire piece was thoroughly mesmerizing. "Could you give this painting to me?" Karen intended to give it to Alfred to keep as an archival mural piece. "Of course, no problem." Piaget smiled. "I kept having the same dream. In that dream, I could never see clearly the deepest and most important painting. This time, I saw it clearly, and I painted it." Karen was somewhat puzzled. "It's me?" "Yes, it is you, Karen. This was the most important work painted by the Mural God Rielsa. In mythological narratives, it should be the legendary—*The End of Order*." Piaget paused. "Only, I'm sorry, I cannot understand it." Karen grew thoughtful; he, however, could understand it. For this painting truly was *The End of Order*, because he was about to replace the God of Order. Yet in that case, this was not a curse, but a warning. Why, then, had the God of Order suppressed Rielsa? Karen raised his head, catching a thread of understanding. If one factored in the God of Order returning through his grandfather's body, everything began to make sense. Piaget guessed, "Could it be that the Mural God favored you more?" "She certainly took an interest in me. No wonder I was specially marked by your Mural God inside the Gate of Samsara, and why she went completely mad when she saw me. Your Mural God didn't just take an interest in me—she wanted to kill me." Karen knew that in the Rielsa incident at Samsara Valley, he had been the true catalyst. The reason Rielsa, reduced to a husk driven by residual instinct, had pursued him out of the Gate of Samsara was to hunt him down. Yet by then, he had already emerged and returned to the Order delegation's camp, leaving the Church of Samsara to pay a tremendous price to suppress Rielsa. *The one who judged you as an evil god was the God of Order, yet you came trying to kill me?* Piaget said, "I imagine there must be some special reason behind it." Karen said, "Perhaps your Mural God and my Lord weren't enemies at all. Their relationship might actually have been quite good." *Suppressed and judged as an evil god by the God of Order, with her church wiped out by the Church of Order, yet she still wanted to kill me—'The End of Order'—just to protect the God of Order?* "Yet if their relationship was good, why did it end that way?" "Is it so strange? I find it quite normal." Karen pointed at the painting. "Perhaps my Lord simply didn't want this painting by the Mural God to circulate?" "For your sake?" "Yes, for my sake." "My head is spinning. Still, I won't tell Mr. Bede about today's conversation or this painting." "Where is Mr. Bede?" "He went to procure medicine for me." "I recall giving you tokens. Why..." Karen understood; this was Luojia City, a vacuum of power for the Church of Order. "Apologies, that was an oversight on my part." "You have always been helping me, Karen." "Not at all; in the beginning, I was always taking advantage of you. All right, between friends, let's not say such things anymore. Your physical condition is very poor right now. I will arrange for priests of Order to treat you." "May I decline?" "I am notifying you, not asking for your opinion. I don't want the next time we meet to be at your memorial service." "However, my identity is rather sensitive. It might bring you trouble." "It's fine. The largest remnant organization of Light right now is supported by me. You remnants of the Church of the Mural God don't even rank." "Then I am relieved, haha." "Let me help you pack your things." "No, there's no need. I'll come back here tomorrow night anyway. The treatment won't be that fast, right?" "It will take a few days." "Then there's no need to pack." "All right." Karen's form dissolved into black mist, carrying Piaget along with the wheelchair he sat upon. In virtually the blink of an eye, the two arrived at Piaget's home. On that living room sofa, Karen had once slept for half a night; the other half had been spent in the upstairs bedroom. That was the night he had seen Rielsa in his dream. "I'll go brew some coffee for you." "No, I'll do it. Just sit." Karen entered the kitchen and emerged a moment later carrying coffee and pastries. "Don't you have things to attend to?" "It's fine. I still have time to share a cup of coffee with a friend." Sipping his coffee, Piaget said, "Actually, there's another reason I agreed to the treatment." "What reason?" "After finishing this painting, I felt that I saw my mission." "Only saw it? From Mr. Bede's perspective, he would probably think you have already fulfilled your mission." "Some missions are bestowed and demanded by others, while some are what one truly wants to do oneself." "I recall that you were never an entirely devout follower of the Church of the Mural God." "Yes, I'm not. But I think Linda would be happy to see me like this. When I paint, I feel as though Linda is standing beside me, keeping me company. "Yet the next painting, I believe, will truly belong to me. That is why I need to get my body in proper shape so that I can sustain the completion of my next work." "I wish you success." Karen drained the remaining coffee in his cup, stood up, and said, "I should be going." "Goodbye, my friend." "Goodbye." Karen stepped out the front door before dissolving into black mist and vanishing. Sitting alone before the living room fireplace, Piaget looked toward the direction where Karen had disappeared and smiled faintly. "I wish you success as well, Karen." *** The Garden of Life. The waves of the Black Sea seemed never to know rest, yet they maintained immense restraint, like the overture before a theatrical drama formally raised its curtain, as if merely serving to alert people's attention. Andejin, the squad leader of a coastal monitoring outpost, was currently sitting by the shore, writing a letter to his wife: *My dearest, how have you been lately? You are constantly on my mind, as is our unborn child in your belly.* *I am sorry. Before coming here, I promised to bring you back a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers, but as it stands, I will likely have to break my word.* *War has already reduced this former cradle of life into ruins; even the last remnants of verdant shade have been completely submerged beneath the black seawater.* *When I stand atop the observation altar and look out in all directions, I feel as though I am standing in the most desolate of gravel deserts.* *War is truly terrifying. Those young squad members under my command were originally filled with romantic yearning and fervor for battle, but after coming here and witnessing the reality, they have all fallen silent.* *Yet we do not shun this war, because we have witnessed the crowds liberated from the pocket realms marching past us in long lines.* *Are they human beings...? They might not even be animals.* *To breed life centipedes inside one of the pocket realms, the Church of Life divided a hundred thousand people into a single group, and split millions of people into dozens of groups, fusing their bodies together in symbiosis. No ropes were needed to bind them, for each person was conjoined to the one in front and the one behind.* *They were penned together in rings, feeding troughs stretching before them. Swine in a farm lived happier lives than they did. What is more, it is said that among those hundred thousand, if even a single person died before reaching adulthood, the entire hundred thousand would lose their utility and be disposed of en masse.* *Forgive me, I should not be telling you these things, but I must explain to you the reason my return has been delayed.* *Before me lies the Black Sea—turbid and foul—and from it, the two chief gods of the Church of Life will crawl out.* *I do not want the scenes I witnessed here in the pocket realms to appear in the world outside. I do not want our unborn child to grow up treating such sights as ordinary.* *Just as our battalion commander said:* *'Yes, we know what we are monitoring, but as believers of Order, we have no other choice. Think of our families, think of our homeland, think of the world behind us.* *'Even if a god tries to crawl out of there, we will kick her right back in!'* *I love you, and I love our child.* *Praise be to the great God of Order.* Having finished the letter, Andejin folded the envelope. A black raven flew out; it would fly to the logistics station, where the priests there would inspect it before dispatching it through unified delivery. Yet just as he rose and prepared to walk toward the altar, he suddenly sensed something amiss. He halted his steps, turned around, and looked. In the central expanse of the Black Sea, three gigantic islands abruptly appeared. "Islands... No, those aren't islands—they're heads! They're skulls! Quick, send the signal! Send the signal!" *Boom!!* A violent, colossal wave suddenly surged, turning into a ferocious tsunami that engulfed everything around it. Within the altars surrounding the Black Sea, the Order priests responsible for monitoring did not choose to flee at the first opportunity. Instead, even at the cost of being swallowed by the polluted seawater, they persisted in transmitting the latest data reports. Urgent dispatches were relayed swiftly into the hands of the higher echelons of the Church of Order. Their level of emergency far surpassed that of the Mink Street Incident that had erupted not long ago; for even if a living deity had appeared in the Mink Street Incident, it had remained an internal conflict within the Church of Order, whereas this... marked the true beginning of the calamity! The gods had begun to return.