Evil God Designation!

When the violent shockwaves rippled through the area, the French window before Karen spiderwebbed with extensive fractures. Considering this building stood within the Holy See of Samsara, reinforced with embedded defensive arrays, it shouldn't have been so fragile even if it had fallen into disrepair over the years. Lango immediately advised: "Lord Karen, for safety's sake, allow me to arrange your evacuation to a secure area." "No need. The view from here is just right." Karen's gaze narrowed. With a loud crash, the cracked window shattered completely, falling away. The cool night breeze rushed in, extinguishing the restless heat—refreshingly pleasant. Far in the distance, above the Gate of Samsara, a bright moon rose into the sky. Samsara Valley had a unique geography. Encircled by the Sea of the Dead, the island was permanently shrouded in a heavy pall of smog. This was probably the first time in history that the living beings dwelling here had ever looked up and seen a moon. At the sight, Lango's face turned white with shock. Though in his heart he resisted the return of the God of Samsara, that hardly meant he could accept the absurd reality of the Goddess of the Moon stepping out of the Gate of Samsara instead. Karen, on the other hand, felt a sense of surprise that was entirely within expectations. "Lord Karen, excuse me, I must take my leave!" Lango departed in haste. He had only come for a visit and bore no responsibility for VIP security, so he was free to come and go as he pleased. Little Kanna, who had long since fallen asleep in the bedroom, walked out while rubbing her eyes. Catching sight of the colossal moon outside, she muttered: "Just like in my dreams. What an ugly moon." In her dreams, Little Kanna often received memory fragments from the Rebel Dragon God. Evidently, the Rebel Dragon God had held Artemis, the Goddess of the Moon, in very low regard. Ukonga also walked over. Watching the scene in the distance, his expression was conflicted and tangled, but having not yet adjusted to Karen's "new identity," he held his tongue. Muri, however, let out a sigh. "Minister, I feel like there's a breath pent up in my chest that I just can't let out." Karen smiled faintly. "That's quite normal. I felt the same before. The psychological buildup for a tragic, heroic climax was set up so well that when events instead unfold in an orderly, measured fashion, you're not just uncomfortable—you might even feel a bit let down." "Exactly, that's it." Muri nodded vigorously. "Who could have imagined the Moon Goddess would walk out of this gate?" "All right, get used to it gradually. Stop thinking about playing the tragic hero all the time. We must learn to embrace the elegance of Order." "Understood, Minister." "Understood, Karen." Back then, the High Priest had spoken those very words to him; now, Karen felt he had pretty much adapted. Still, Karen reached out and patted Ukonga on the back, reminding him: "If you can't hurry up and switch gears, then we might as well get used to this kind of dynamic." Ukonga's expression turned even more complicated. Had he adjusted, he probably would have chimed in earlier with: *Well said, my son!* Yet not to mention saying it aloud, merely running the thought through his head sent shivers down his soul. *Boom!* An even more violent roar shook the air. This time, massive cracks split across the ground, as if the island harboring countless undead creatures was about to shatter into pieces. Then came an intense wave of chanting prayers, followed immediately by the synchronized discharge of spells and war machines. Ear-splitting grinding produced terrifying acoustic waves, thinning even the heavy smog overhead—evidence that the gate was being forcibly shut against resistance. Finding an opening at last, Ukonga laughed. "Excellent! The Church of Samsara has made a move against the Moon Goddess." Muri licked his lips and remained silent. Karen shook his head with a slight smile. "There was never a second choice." What church would allow a foreign god to stride brazenly into the world from the heart of its most sacred core? In the past, someone might have harbored naive hopes that friendly dialogue could secure peaceful coexistence—anything to preserve their own strength as much as possible. Yet in the Garden of Life, the High Priest had summoned elders from many orthodox churches to witness—broadcast live—the ravenous hunger and sheer horror of a returning god. Moreover, Samsara Valley had gained firsthand experience from the Rielsa incident... Consequently, the Church of Samsara—which last time had acted timidly, reluctant to suffer losses only to incur even greater devastation—demonstrated immense resolve and decisiveness this time, from top to bottom. They were truly united in purpose, striving to bar the Goddess of the Moon, Artemis, behind the gate. If she truly broke through, the entirety of Samsara Valley would become the goddess's first afternoon tea upon her return. "Kanna, let's take a closer look." "Mm, you got it!" Little Kanna leapt out the window, her bone dragon form expanding in size. Karen, Muri, and Ukonga stepped onto the dragon's back. With a resonant roar, the bone dragon soared over the Gate of Samsara. The Gate of Samsara had not closed entirely. Half of the goddess's body was trapped between the double doors, her visage deeply shrouded in a veil of moonlight. Karen knew this was not done to display divine mystery or majesty, but simply to hide her emaciated, skin-and-bones appearance from view. Below, aside from Samsara's legions already in formation, undead creatures from caves across the valley—whether solitary or pack-dwellers—had all been forcibly summoned. Dispatched like expendable fodder, they hurled themselves at the goddess's divine body. Most were annihilated before they could even draw near, and only a tiny fraction ever reached her divine frame. Even so, the assault never slackened; if anything, the onslaught intensified. Evidently, the Samsara leadership understood all too well that war against a deity was a form of "performance art" bound to demand staggering sacrifices. He only wondered whether Samsara's priests would possess the same resolve as the Order knights once the expendable undead thralls were completely exhausted. "Kanna, drift a bit to the side." The bone dragon pulled away from directly above, shifting to the flank. Her presence had begun causing signs of frenzy among the skeletal undead below, many of whom were already drifting toward her of their own accord. Little Kanna had no desire to pick up skeletal figurines here, nor did Karen intend to disrupt Samsara's campaign against the Moon Goddess. On the distant horizon, Karen detected a familiar aura: a priest clad in Order vestments mounted on a falcon, flying outward against the prevailing currents. Ukonga fumed, "The diplomatic envoy stationed here ran away at the first sign of trouble?" Muri explained, "The upheaval here is enough to temporarily disable every teleportation and communication array in Samsara Valley. To send word back about what's happening, one has to leave the valley first and reach a nearby island to transmit a message home." "Oh... right, I see." Ukonga cleared his throat twice to mask his embarrassment, glancing specifically at Karen. Fortunately, Karen didn't seem to mind his momentary lapse in judgment. Karen produced the golden page he carried with him and began writing on it. Under present conditions here, Mr. Hoffen's Post Office was probably the only thing capable of functioning normally. In the city neighboring Luojia, there was not only a top-clearance teleportation array access network, but also a special operations branch of the Whip of Order—possessing authority equivalent to Karen's own interim office—which compiled top-secret intelligence in real time. Before long, Mr. Hoffen's reply materialized on the golden page: "Karen, your guess was right. Major turmoil has broken out at the Moon God Church as well." Karen nodded. Barring any surprises, the entity received at the Moon Wheel... was the God of Samsara. The Church of Samsara was fending off the Goddess of the Moon in Samsara Valley, while the Moon God Church was resisting the God of Samsara at the Moon Wheel. This was the exact mirror image of the scene on the ice plains not long ago. The former had been believers welcoming the wrong god; the present was deities returning through the wrong gate. What was more, even if the upper echelons of Samsara and the Moon learned of each other's situations, they could never agree to release their grip simultaneously and let their respective master gods return home. For whoever let go first would forfeit all initiative at the cost of total annihilation. The master god who broke free first could unleash divine wrath to slaughter their landing ground, or rush back to their own church and cooperate with their believers to forcibly suppress the other god. It was a classic prisoner's dilemma. Simple to understand, yet virtually impossible to resolve. It was hard to imagine that even though *he* had remained frozen there, motionless for so long, it had not in the least impeded the steady realization of his grand design. Karen suddenly realized that if one traced backward from the fact that Norton was Tyrannus—even though Norton had believed back then that he was suppressing Tyrannus—he had in truth descended many, many years before Kevin, making him the genuine first returned god. When the God of Order had borrowed Grandfather's body to gaze upon this world, standing before the doors of the Divine Administrative Hall, she had smiled as she watched Norton emerge. That smile had conveyed not merely the God of Order recognizing Tyrannus, but an innate trust and certainty from the depths of her heart. Though the God of Order back then had not known what the so-called arrangement was, she had known clearly that with Tyrannus already in position in advance, the plan would inevitably unfold without a hitch. Just as Karen could place unconditional trust in Alfred, and Alfred would never let him down. Grand ideals required exceptional operators to execute them. From founding the Church of Order and penning the *Light of Order*, to establishing the partner relationship between Order and Principle... It could be said that Tyrannus had dedicated his entire life to bringing the cause of Order into reality. *Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!* Terrifying cascades of moonlight crashed down, ruthlessly crushing and harvesting every living creature in their path. The fissure in the Gate of Samsara widened, and the Moon Goddess's form emerged further. Yet she was undeniably at her weakest. Unlike the God of Samsara, who upon return could draw directly upon the boundless souls within the gate for rapid replenishment, the world within the gate and the gate itself spared no effort in collaborating with the Church of Samsara outside to suppress her. By the same token, the God of Samsara descending onto the Moon Wheel could not partake of the dense moonlight and iridescent radiance accumulated there; instead, he had to endure its immense pressure. Both deities were forced into the most agonizing, torturous, and heavily restrictive grounds imaginable, locked in a final struggle before their return. "Heh..." Karen couldn't help letting out a chuckle. Another thought occurred to him: previously, fearing targeted strikes and surprise attacks by the Church of Order, both the Church of Samsara and the Moon God Church had abandoned their peripheral missionary zones early on to consolidate their strength at their cores. In other words, the very cream of both orthodox churches was concentrated here, only to be... squandered in these holding battles. Resisting the catastrophe of the gods' return had seemed to be the Church of Order's exclusive historical mission. Yet when all was said and done, the twelve Order knight legions had not even had a single chance to make direct contact with a god. Instead, the other orthodox churches, one after another, were desperately pouring their family fortunes into a cause that had nothing to do with them. Knowing Alfred's habits, Karen could roughly guess how he would chronicle this stretch of history: ["During this epoch, the entire ecclesiastical realm stood united in heart and purpose, demonstrating astonishing cohesion and a spirit of sacrificial devotion as they committed everything to the great cause of resisting the return of the gods!"] You couldn't even accuse him of fabricating it, because it was true. Meanwhile, throughout this period, the Church of Order had stubbornly conserved its forces (sending no troops and fighting no battles) while sabotaging mankind's united front (by invading the Church of Life). Below, the carnage worsened. Even though Samsara Valley possessed a reserve of undead far surpassing that of the Church of the Burrow's lineage, after Rielsa's previous rampage and the present attrition, their stores were nearly exhausted. The legions of Samsara had no choice but to face a deity directly. Massive casualties—no, vaporizations—began occurring in rapid succession. Karen saw their cowardice, and he saw their panic. In truth, aside from the Order knight legions who exuded a grim, rigorous discipline, legions of other churches—regardless of their superior equipment or personnel caliber—performed quite mediocrely when dragged onto a battlefield of this scale. Yet this time, not even the elders of the Samsara Temple retreated to preserve themselves; they were truly throwing everything into the fray. If they failed to stop her, all was lost. They had already torn off all pretenses and committed sacrilege against a god. If they could not bar her here, total annihilation awaited their church! *Boom!* The Gate of Samsara rumbled. The goddess was on the verge of breaking free, but a terrifying force surged from within, dragging her back a considerable distance. Countless soul fires clung to her, burning in sacrificial immolation, pinning her in place once more. At first, Karen thought one of the "Lords" had stepped in, but looking closer, he realized it was simply a newly marshaled second wave of the soul legion arriving from within the gate, launching a follow-up offensive. "This time, is no Lord accompanying them?" This puzzled Karen. Not only was there no Lord turning against the deity, but the previous success on the ice plains had relied on Holy Light Knight Levetina using divine techniques to deceive them. Now that the Holy Light Knight had fallen, who was conducting the deception here? The believers of Samsara bowed daily before the Gate of Samsara, just as the followers of the Moon Goddess did before the Moon Wheel. Yet even under such scrutiny, the deception had succeeded. That meant the entire preceding series of miracles and divine revelations was fake—fabricated by human or divine hands. Just how... had it been done? Just then, ancient runes flowed along the pillars of the Gate of Samsara. Black light and shadows manifested on the great doors, and the supreme divine might belonging to the God of Samsara suddenly descended! Below, the battling Samsara believers let out exhilarated cheers, believing their own master god had arrived on the field. The high-ranking figures, like Romir and the others, showed doubt and alarm, for in the past, miracles had unfolded in this exact manner numerous times—only for the Moon Goddess to appear instead. Ukonga: "The God of Samsara has arrived?" With that, Ukonga grabbed Karen's wrist and urged anxiously, "Lord, let me escort you out of here!" An evenly matched spectacle was fine to watch, but if the God of Samsara truly descended now, the Moon Goddess would undoubtedly be suppressed, and for the successor of the great God of Order to linger here would be perilous. Karen pulled his hand free and pointed downward. "Look closely. That is not the God of Samsara." Indeed, it was not the God of Samsara. For soon, the ancient runes on the pillars began to melt. The light and shadows on the doors began to melt. Even the divine might of Samsara began to melt... Everything possible and impossible seemed as though it had merely been painted on, and the paint was dissolving away. Another phantom of a deity surfaced. In her left hand was a water basin like a sea of lakes, while her right was a phoenix wing. Her face was delicate, radiating an eerie, mysterious aura. She was not a true god; she was merely a divine soul, devoid of a divine body, having fallen long ago. No, precisely because she had renounced her body and sacrificed her godhood, had she obtained the possibility of continued existence. Mural God—Rielsa. She had sacrificed everything solely to paint the miracles and divine revelations that preceded the return of the God of Samsara. It was she who had painted here, deceiving the Samsara believers, and deceiving the coordinates for the god's return. The Mural God's soul ignited with divine fire and slammed directly into the Moon Goddess's body. Already under immense pressure from inside and outside the gate, the Moon Goddess finally let out a shrill scream. Within the gate, thunderous rumblings resounded as the long-dormant, battered body of the Mural God charged out once more, locking onto the Moon Goddess's torso, pinning her so she could not break free. Karen could even see, trapped within Rielsa's broken body, Kevin's clone—Lord Dal. He had originally wished to escape the Gate of Samsara and return to reality as himself, only to be mistaken for "Karen" by the Mural God's mindless, purely instinctual body, which had dragged him forcibly back inside and sealed him deep underground. The Mural God had been a weak deity, and now she could hardly even be considered one. Yet she still burned herself forcefully, kindling that insignificant divine fire. And small though the spark was, at the Moon Goddess's direst hour, it succeeded in setting alight the pyre beneath her. Rielsa's mangled body let out a roar, while Lord Dal, trapped inside, wailed in misery. Rielsa's soul, amidst the self-immolating divine fire, smiled. She raised her head and looked into the sky. She knew that beyond the most distant era sat the figure she could never forget. Everything had been decided back then on Mount Anlaminde, at the banquet of the gods hosted by Light, when she, a minor deity of painting, had laid eyes on Order for the first time. ["You said you wanted a world without gods... Then I will spend my life painting the end of the gods."] ... Church of Order, Divine Administrative Hall, tea salon. "Draft a decree." "Understood." Alfred immediately drew a dark golden scroll from beneath the tea table, then picked up a quill, ready to record the High Priest's will. "Effective today, revoke the evil god designation of Mural God Rielsa."