Once upon a time, Dalivenro had been an upright, straightforward young man.
He had possessed no absolute concept of good or evil, disdained pretense, and preferred dealing head-on. Even when he first faced Karen, he had charged in to fight to the death without the slightest hesitation.
Now, however, he had grown slick... in fact, one could practically call him greasy.
All of this change stemmed from that fateful day in the stables of Allen Manor, where he had enjoyed intimate contact with horse manure.
From that very moment onward, Dalivenro was never the same.
Alfred, of course, did not believe his workplace bullying had altered Dalivenro's temperament. On the contrary, he felt his targeted, tender care had successfully opened the heart of this pitiful soul who had never known a childhood, allowing him to embrace life anew.
Once the oath was sworn, without the slightest hesitation or delay, the inheritance began immediately.
As for any backlash from breaking the oath, Dalivenro could not care less. What did an oath sworn to the God of Life have to do with an Order knight like him?
Pity this Life inheritance, though; in a single day, it had suffered two consecutive downgrades.
When Renaos initially received the inheritance, he stood to become a god naturally once the new era began. By the time it was passed down to Dalivenro, it would probably only suffice to help him condense a single godhead fragment.
Along the path of cultivation, any shortcut taken by unorthodox means brought immense side effects—the most obvious being capping one's potential and strangling one's future.
Yet Dalivenro did not care in the slightest. Strictly speaking, he was merely a puppet whose life and death were entirely controlled by Karen, able to borrow power by praying to him.
Therefore, he had no ceiling problem whatsoever. As long as Karen stood ahead of him, Karen's ceiling was his ceiling.
There was no need to worry about side effects right now; filling his stomach came first. Once his realm was raised, at least next time something momentous occurred, he wouldn't be stuck like this—only able to accompany Neo strolling through the streets to buy divine oil.
Dalivenro planted the vine upright. Its shoots rapidly burgeoned, growing across the surface of the sea into a towering tree.
He had already obtained a considerable legacy of the Tree of Life when the Order Knights stormed the Garden of Life. Receiving a divine inheritance now made him yearn to plant a new Tree of Life in Allen Manor someday.
The tree's roots spread beneath the sea, dense and intricate, constantly bearing translucent droplets that drifted out with the waves. These were the essence of life, bestowed upon the creatures of the surrounding waters. Before long, this once-frigid expanse would teem with fish and shrimp, bursting with vibrant life.
"Perhaps this is the true essence of the laws of Life. Plundering may make one appear stronger on the surface, but looking further ahead, this kind of dissemination and bestowal is what truly nurtures life as a whole."
Dalivenro smiled, tapped his forehead with a finger, and mocked himself: "Good grief, why am I pretending to be so profound?"
Gradually, however, the smile on his face faded, replaced by solemn depth.
"There's nothing wrong with it, either. It's simply that the Church of Life has been treading the wrong path all along."
As the inheritance continued to descend, fruit began to form upon the giant tree.
Originally, this should have been a herald of harvest, a tangible, heavy joy.
Yet the fish and shrimp drawn into this frenzy, leaping and clinging around the roots, were instantly ensnared, their vitality siphoned clean.
The tone abruptly flipped. The scattered vitality turned out to be deadly bait, and the anticipated lively beauty was snuffed out by cold reality before it could even begin.
Because there were few living beings nearby, without further harvest from the outside, the fruits on the tree turned on one another, devouring and crushing their peers to compete for precious nourishment.
Dalivenro stood below, watching calmly.
This scene mirrored precisely what the Church of Life had done across the past several eras.
Endless annexation, endless plunder—even actively cultivating sustenance merely to plunder and annex more effectively...
It was through this that the Church of Life had given birth to two main gods.
Yet even with two main gods, they were threatened by the Light camp in the early days and hunted down by the God of Order in the later era. Now, their ecclesiastical line was essentially wiped out.
At last, the final victor emerged among the cluster of fruits. Shaped like a pear, it gleamed with the luster of amber from within, emitting a faint yet intoxicating divinity under the nourishment of the inheritance.
"Ah..."
Dalivenro sighed with mixed emotions.
"So, no matter how good something given by others is, it's never truly your own. What's free often ends up being the most expensive."
The next instant, Dalivenro leaped toward the fruit and reached out to touch it.
The outer skin dissolved immediately, revealing a flame inside, and nestled within that flame was a godhead fragment.
"Is this the inheritance you give me for swearing that oath? Can't you show... a little creativity?"
Dalivenro chuckled, patting his bald head with his other hand, producing crisp smacks.
"Fine, I'll give you this chance."
With that, he released all physical defenses, allowing the godhead fragment to seep into his palm.
Ponderous power surged into his body, accompanied by a formidable consciousness.
Renaos's voice echoed in Dalivenro's mind:
"The Lord accepts your oath and shall bestow upon you the grace of sacrificing your soul."
Clearly, Renaos already regarded himself as a god.
This was no inheritance at all; it was Life Parasitism. He did not want to die, he wanted to escape, and so he had chosen this method.
Dalivenro nodded. "It is my honor to offer my soul to you... if you can find it, that is."
***
[The Arena]
After completing the call to the vine in his hand, Renaos looked up at Diss before him and said, "I feel as though I've stepped into a carefully laid trap."
Driven into a corner, only to find a believer of Life holding a Life vine right in the optimal location—this was no mere coincidence.
Yet he was utterly powerless, because he truly could not defeat Diss in combat.
Diss raised his scythe once more and said, "You could have chosen not to step into it. The result would have been the same."
Renaos chuckled. "Were it not for the old rules of this era still holding sway, I wouldn't be in such a wretched state, nor would you be so composed."
Diss glanced down at the wounds on his jaw and chest, countering, "If the old rules of this era weren't here, you wouldn't have been able to harm me at all."
"I admire your confidence. In fact, I vaguely suspect it might even be true. Very well, as you and your grandson wish. In any case, as a believer of Life, I am unwilling to see the special inheritance left by my Lord be severed the moment it reached my hands."
Renaos held the vine before him. He allowed the branches to pierce his hands, pouring his gold-tinged blood into it.
Seeing this, Diss launched no further attacks, waiting in silence.
After a long time, as his aura withered, a smile crept onto Renaos's lips.
"Truly, being too confident and too greedy can both ruin things."
With that, Renaos opened his eyes wide and barked, "Forbidden—Life Parasitism!"
His body began to melt, and his soul turned into mist, pouring everything he had into this seemingly magnificent inheritance.
"Hahahahaha! You can no longer stop me! Even if you kill the me here, a new me will be reborn within that person you arranged!
"After this, I will hide in the most secluded corner. I want to see with my own eyes the Church of Order perish in this tide!"
Diss did not attack; instead, he stowed away the Scythe of War.
The Notes of the God of Principles reopened, and Old Hoffen's figure materialized beside Diss. He grinned and called out to the now withered Renaos, "Hey, I told you—no matter where you run, if I can't deduce your purpose, I'll take it as my loss."
By this point, even though Renaos sensed something was wrong, just as he had said, it was too late to stop.
Bestow the inheritance, devour the host's soul, and complete a new cycle of Life Parasitism.
Every preceding step had proceeded smoothly, yet at the very last moment, Renaos voiced his confusion:
"Where... is your soul?"
What answered him was boundless abyss.
Though he should have been the victor, he now found himself banished into an unknown realm.
"How is this possible? How could you be merely a puppet? How could a puppet control a Life vine?!"
Snap!
Without warning, a pair of eyes appeared overhead, their gaze slicing through the dense gloom.
Renaos realized he was standing in a pool of water, and before him loomed a colossal hunger addiction statue whose appearance struck him as familiar.
Silently, Karen's reflection rippled beneath the surface of the pool.
Renaos finally recognized him. "Karen! You're Karen Silva of the Church of Order!"
Karen's fame was no longer confined to the younger generation of the various churches. Ever since the High Priest appointed him as his secretary, even the temple elders who rarely handled worldly affairs knew of his existence.
Renaos pointed at the reflection below. "Why are you down there?"
Karen replied, "Is there a possibility that the one down below is actually you?"
The moment the words fell, as if an invisible hand had dialed the world, the pool shifted angles like the hands of a clock.
Renaos looked up and saw Karen standing above him, towering completely over him, perfectly aligned with that colossal statue to unleash a terrifying, suffocating pressure.
So he had been the one beneath all along?
"No... where is this? Where are we?!"
"You received the inheritance of the God of Life. Could you fail to recognize a place like this? Or is it that... the God of Life's craftsmanship was too petty, too shabby?"
The residents of the coffins were all Karen's puppets. Renaos's parasitism of Dalivenro was tantamount to claiming ownership of Dalivenro against Karen; thus, he was bound to face Karen directly.
"Just what is this place?!"
Evidently, the reason Renaos clung to this question was that he had already formed a terrifying suspicion—one so staggering he could not bring himself to accept it.
"Enough. Your time is up."
Karen raised his hand. Behind him, the hunger addiction statue that shared his appearance raised its hand as well, reaching toward Renaos.
A boundless, sacred aura of Order shattered the last shred of wishful thinking in Renaos's heart. He shrieked, "Why are you here?! Shouldn't you still be in the heavens?! Why are you here?!"
"My apologies. I'm a bit busy right now and don't have time to chat with you."
"Great God of Order! Since You have descended, please grant me a place! I shall offer You the sequence of Life! I am willing to grovel at Your feet and serve as an Order branch god who labors for You!"
Karen smiled and shook his head.
"I don't like Adventists."
Boom!
The hunger addiction statue clenched its fist. The pool boiled slightly, but soon the disturbance dissolved into nothingness, returning to tranquil stillness.
Previously, the most prominent marks in the pool belonged to Dicono, Melindi, and Buken, as they were the strongest among the coffin residents.
Now, Dalivenro held first place, followed by Old Saman in second.
Dalivenro had gorged himself this time; a phantom of the Tree of Life had already sprouted in his pool. As for Old Saman, it was a multifaceted prism, earned from inheriting the legacy of the former Pontiff of the Church of Pamires.
Beyond those, the pool also bore marks that did not belong to the coffin residents—such as a Blade of Nightmare... a round shield... and a white caterpillar.
Karen lingered on the caterpillar for a moment. He hadn't expected Richard to revere him to such an extent; even without going through the baptism of Allen Manor's performance hall, the bond between them was not inferior to Filomena's in the least.
With time pressing, Karen did not linger. He closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he was back in reality.
"Commander?"
Daina looked at him curiously. After Karen entered the communications tent earlier, he had closed his eyes as if asleep.
"Have the messages been sent?" Karen asked.
"Yes, all sent, and replies came back immediately. The Whip-Wielder, the Cardinals... every one of them is beside themselves with anxiety..."
How could they not be?
If they had previously summoned the courage to stage a coup relying on their devout faith in Order, now that their boss had 'returned,' they were undoubtedly terrified out of their wits.
Karen could already envision the Whip-Wielder shivering while eating crushed ice.
"Send the previous reply to the Whip-Wielder once more. As for the other lords... leave them be for now."
"Understood, Commander."
Karen stepped out of the tent. The cylindrical platforms remained standing. Except for a few who had already departed, most of the temple elders from the other churches lingered, desperate to know the Church of Order's next move after everything that had transpired.
In truth, Order's intentions were practically stamped on their foreheads. What the elders likely feared was that since the main goddesses of Life were taken down this time, would their own main gods face a counterattack next, perishing on the eve of their return?
Karen did not join the commotion. Instead, his gaze swept across the area, searching for the High Priest.
He was easy to spot, walking alone across the parched expanse of the former Black Sea.
There was no one beside him, leaving him looking solitary.
Qianmei manifested wings, carrying Karen swiftly through the air toward him.
The vanished Black Sea had been replaced by golden sand. The divine fire had not only brought about the fall and burial of the deities, but had also reduced the contamination to a minimum.
Of course, the primary reason was that those gods had never truly returned to this world. Otherwise, no matter how clean the burn, the fall of three main gods and a host of minor deities would have been enough to turn this ruined Garden of Life back into a contaminated realm of ghosts.
Even now, everyone in this world continued to enjoy the protection of the God of Order.
Karen descended, touching down behind the High Priest.
"Are the notices sent?"
"Reporting to the High Priest, all notifications have been delivered."
And while delivering them, he had conveniently reeled in a big fish that had just taken the bait.
The High Priest continued strolling across the sand, and Karen followed at a steady pace.
After a moment, the High Priest came to a stop. This was the core zone where the three main gods had been incinerated.
Closing his eyes, the High Priest said, "Old friends, unseen for an entire era. Yet when we finally met, it was so fleeting. Especially during our previous encounters, when I didn't know I was Tyranus, and the responses from her side were merely her contaminated parts."
Karen deliberately changed the subject. "I prefer to think of you as Norton."
The High Priest smiled. "Throughout my long years, to have had an experience where I was known as 'Norton' is something I feel very proud of, and deeply honored by."
Karen nodded. Norton was gone, but what had vanished was merely that identity and name.
Norton was a supplement to Tyranus, or one could say Tyranus was an extension of Norton.
"Karen, you are my secretary. I will now give you two paths to choose from."
"Please instruct me, Your Eminence."
"I will arrange for Kreid to become the Acting High Priest to familiarize himself with wielding power. You may continue as his chief secretary to adapt to the environment in advance. With him serving as this transition, the next succession will naturally fall to you. With your ability, I trust you won't let any accidents occur."
"High Priest, I choose the second path."
"My primary energy going forward will not be on the Holy See, because I must walk through each breach one by one, welcoming back my former companions, only to watch them fall.
"In this process, I need someone to make arrangements for me—different environments, different opponents. Some accidents may occur along the way. While they won't cause major waves, proper preparations must still be made."
"Please entrust this duty to me."
"You should understand that if you are absent during a power vacuum, there may no longer be a seat for you when you wish to return. Do not assume Kreid and the others harbor no selfish desires, nor should you believe that your relationship with those individuals on Mink Street allows you to easily sway the Holy See's situation. Karen, do not regret it."
"There is nothing to regret. You have already set an unalterable direction for the Church's operation; Lord Kreid and the other lords can only continue executing it. At such a time, my presence or absence will have no real impact on the situation."
"So, young man, are you simply playful at heart? Weary of the power struggles in the Holy See, do you find it far more interesting to witness the unfolding and concluding of legends from the past?"
"No. It is because I wish to do something for you, and for the other lords."
"Heh. Then tell me, what can you do? You must know that during this time, even the Knights will rarely have the chance to intervene."
"Something very simple, and not unfamiliar to the vast majority of Order believers."
"Oh?"
"I want to prepare a funeral for you all."
Chapter 919