Order's Terrifying Foundation!

Karen arrived at the perimeter of the First Knight Order's encampment accompanied by the order commanders. Unlike his previous visits, the sky overhead had grown gloomy and extraordinarily oppressive. This was due to the preheating process. Though they had not yet officially awakened, as preparations got underway, a collective will that had brewed across an entire epoch finally raised its head. The commanders accompanying him had been forcefully suppressed by Karen's countermeasures, but whatever reluctance, anger, or discontent they had harbored earlier finally subsided into calm at this moment. They had longed to seize the vanguard rotation onto the battlefield, yet now that they stood here, who among them would dare vie with the predecessors sleeping beneath? Who... possessed such qualifications? The inscription carved upon the great canyon at the entrance of the encampment began to radiate light, as though freshly retraced, glowing with renewed brilliance. Because it was a spiritual imprint, what every viewer perceived was presented in the script most familiar to their own heart: "I voluntarily sleep here to fulfill my oath and stand as the final line of defense for Order." In Karen's eyes, the characters appeared vigorous and forceful. Ever since Alfred had seen this stone monument, he had turned it into copybooks upon his return, tracing and practicing whenever he had leisure. Thus, it was not without reason that Compasini had passed his legacy to him, Old Hoffen had taken him as a pupil, and even Tyrannus held him in high regard. Having only learned Chinese from Karen, he had managed to grasp the very art of calligraphy from it. Such comprehension could only be described as terrifying. At this moment, Daan could not help stepping up to Karen's side, sounding as if he were reciting the words and yet also offering a final reminder: "The final line of defense." Karen glanced at him and replied, "Is it possible that you, all of you, the knight orders, are also what Order seeks to protect?" Pointing toward the entrance of the encampment ahead, Karen continued, "In their eyes, you—the living generation among us—are cherished and worthy of protection." Daan was rendered speechless. He gave a self-deprecating smile. Although this young man had only just become Acting High Priest, he had long been adept at positioning every decision upon the moral and spiritual high ground. To possess legitimate authority while commanding such conduct—a superior like this was the most terrifying of all. Given enough time, he truly stood a chance of becoming a second Boss. The only pity was that unlike the Boss, he lacked the powerful endorsement of Tyrannus's identity. What Daan did not know was that the young man he felt pity for held an identity that overwhelmingly eclipsed Norton's. After losing any possibility of their main gods returning, the orthodox churches had resisted the return of subordinate gods and formed a direct alliance with Order. Indirectly, this demonstrated the undisputed supreme status of a main god to a religion. It was merely that Karen's true identity was not convenient to disclose at present. Once exposed, the fragile order painstakingly brought together would be instantly overturned. The entire religious community would never tolerate a situation where, after their own main gods had perished, the Church of Order alone retained such an intact legacy of its main god. That would truly mean everyone else labored in vain only to serve the Church of Order's wedding banquet. Walking into the canyon, they officially stepped into the First Knight Order's encampment. The Giant Bone Gate loomed ahead of everyone. Commander Silma voiced his confusion, pointing a finger at a gatepost. "How did this gate turn into this?" Little Kanna, who had been following behind Karen, tilted her head up to gaze at the sky. Pouting her lips, she unfortunately did not know how to whistle yet, so she could only let out "ooh-ooh" sounds, putting on the best performance she could to pretend this had nothing to do with her. The gateposts of the Giant Bone Gate were pitted and riddled with hollows, as though heavily chewed by termites across large swathes. Yet what kind of termite could possibly gnaw on a giant gate forged from divine remains so resilient? It could not be that Benavis, the insectoid epoch hegemon from multiple epochs ago, had secretly slipped in to descend and specifically gnawed on it just to deliver a show of strength to Order, could it? In truth, whenever Kanna had sneaked in to chew on it in the past, she had patched it up afterward. But due to the knight order's preheating, all the installations within the encampment had received fresh maintenance, so her previous cover-ups had naturally vanished. Acting as though he had not noticed a thing, Karen walked straight inside. Seeing this, none of the commanders bothered about the chewed-up gate anymore and followed along. When all was said and done, it was merely an ornament; even if it were hauled off entirely, it would not be worth fretting over right now. Zhongtasen, seated atop a massive tome, flew swiftly over. "Greetings, Acting High Priest." Karen produced a scroll and handed it to Zhongtasen. "By decree of the High Priest, Order's First Knight Order is commanded to undertake the final preparations before awakening." Zhongtasen took the scroll, unrolled it for verification, and then rolled it shut. "Please follow me. Respected commanders, please wait here." Immediately after, Zhongtasen glanced at the massive tome beneath him, then pointed toward Little Kanna, and asked, "Will you ride with me, or take her?" "Kanna." "You got it!" Little Kanna stepped forward and transformed into a bone dragon. At this point, her physique was no longer inferior to Augie's. Reasonably speaking, her human form could have grown larger and more mature as well, yet in fact it had not changed in the slightest. It was likely deliberate on her part; she liked her current appearance and relished the feeling of being treated like a daughter by Karen and Purr. With Zhongtasen leading the way in front, Karen stood atop the bone dragon and followed him toward the summit of the pyramid ahead. Below, where an endless expanse of permafrost should have lain, the ground was currently undergoing full-scale thawing and upheaval, like a frozen giant slowly regaining body warmth. As Zhongtasen led the way, he cast occasional glances at the bone dragon. Suspicions arose in his mind, but he dared not utter a word. Even if this bone dragon had indeed chewed on the Giant Bone Gate, she was, after all, the Acting High Priest's dragon—who would dare punish her? A light barrier rose at the summit of the pyramid, and Karen stepped down from the bone dragon. The battle standard of the First Knight Order of Order stood right here. In the previous epoch, this battle standard had always been held by the God of Order. During the divine war between the two great camps, even the God of Order had frequently mobilized fallen believers to rise again and meet the fight. Later, when the divine war ended, from the time the God of Order broke away from the Light camp to his subsequent slaughter of the gods and reign over the divine realm, the frequency with which he mobilized the First Knight Order actually grew lower and lower. Ordinarily, the First Knight Order appeared only in oral mythic accounts. Whenever he was dissatisfied with his subordinates' performance, the God of Order would ask: "Must I deploy the First Knight Order for such a trivial matter?" It was also from that era onward that the First Knight Order entered a stage of constant expansion, continuing all the way to this day. Outsiders had no way of knowing just how profound the heritage here truly was. Even Zhongtasen, the administrator here, was unaware, for an ordinary person could not finish leafing through a tenth of the massive tome beneath him in an entire lifetime. It was no longer used simply as a register, but had become a dictionary to consult only when needed. The reason Daan and his fellow commanders had previously wanted to claim the vanguard before the First Knight Order was also out of worry that the sleeping predecessors were so numerous and formidable that the living might not even get a chance to take the field. Zhongtasen began, "Please present the second—" Before he could finish, the battle standard, standing quietly in place, suddenly fluttered on its own without any wind. A terrifying, resonant battle intent erupted from within the standard, causing the pyramid beneath to tremble as well. An anomaly had occurred once more—this was not the first time such a shift had taken place in the First Knight Order's encampment in recent years. The terrifying battle intent formed an invisible spiritual storm that swept in all directions. Zhongtasen could only drop to his knees, gripping the edges of the giant book beneath him with both hands to prevent his soul from being blown out of his physical body. Karen's gaze narrowed slightly. Rather than retreating, he faced the storm head-on. He heard countless voices calling out: "Lord!" "God!" This was not rejection, much less rebellion, but the battle intent condensed within this standard across countless ages cheering for him. Inside the pyramid, every coffin began to quiver slightly, and an intense, overflowing impatience began to diffuse all around. Even standing far in the distance, Daan and the other commanders felt the immense pressure, and even more so, an eagerness that words could scarcely describe. A sudden realization dawned on them: if the predecessors sleeping here knew that this bunch of juniors had actually tried to snatch away their opportunity to fight, they would probably tear them to pieces upon awakening. Daan raised a hand and said, "Compared to the predecessors sleeping here, we truly have no right to say we fear waiting." The others nodded one after another. This served as the final verdict on their recent palace coup incident, setting the keynote for resolutely executing the War Court's battle plan moving forward. At the summit of the pyramid, Karen walked toward the battle standard step by step. An overly passionate summons could also be a form of pressure, but fortunately, the hunger addiction within his body had a high tolerance for stress. Seeing this, the prostrate Zhongtasen desperately wanted to remind Karen that he only needed to unroll the second decree scroll without forcing himself forward. However, he was completely unable to speak now, incapable of projecting even a strand of spiritual intent. Then, he watched as Karen grasped the battle standard. Zhongtasen's eyes widened. This was a divine artifact! Bearing the collective wills of the First Knight Order across countless ages, how could it be touched so directly? A gigantic dharma body gleaming with a golden luster emerged overhead. Not only did Karen touch it, but drawing upon the dharma body's strength, he slowly pulled the battle standard free and raised it high. Within the hands of his dharma body, a colossal battle standard appeared as well. At this moment, he resembled a true deity, stirring the most terrifying force beneath the Church of Order into awakening. The sight was breathtakingly magnificent. Few people knew Karen's true cultivation realm, and Karen had never gone out of his way to publicize it, as doing so would invite unnecessary complications. Yet now, he no longer gave thought to such reservations, for he truly could not bear to disappoint the fervor of the First Knight Order's predecessors. Their silent dedication, enduring in dormancy since death, deserved respect and affirmation. Countless strands of will surged into Karen's mind, compelling chains of Order's rules to encircle the hunger addiction. With its eyes closed, though unable to provide individualized, special attention to every single one, it could at least offer a mechanical response. In the past, Karen had viewed this as the ruthlessness and coldness of gods; only when it happened to himself did he realize that this was truly the only feasible way, for only by doing so could everyone be acknowledged. "Temple... Elder?" Zhongtasen's jaw dropped. "At such a young age..." Silma: "He's already a Temple Elder?" Fritz: "So young, yet standing at the pinnacle of both status and realm... Has such a figure ever appeared in the Church's history?" Previously, one of the pillars supporting Karen's transcendent status in the Church had been the terrifying talent he demonstrated. This talent had made the succession ranking within the Whip of Order willingly yield, allowing Foden to easily elevate Karen to the system's number-two position, since nobody wanted to provoke an enemy for their family and faction who could live for more than four hundred years in the future. Now, potential had translated into reality. It was no longer an anticipated threat of the future, but a tangible oppression right before their eyes. Roselimen: "But shouldn't a Temple Elder enter the Temple and be barred from holding administrative posts?" Daan spoke up: "Rules are dead, but people are living. Are you willing to defer to him, or would you prefer Kred find you a new successor?" The others fell silent, yet their expressions showed they agreed with Daan's words. Knights were innately inclined to respect the strong. Since they had to choose a supreme commander anyway, why not choose someone who could crush them in a one-on-one duel? That way, if they were ever wronged, they could take it in stride. After Karen waved the battle standard several times, dense dark clouds gathered over the encampment. From deep within the storm clouds, a thick bolt of lightning struck down. Tremendous though its momentum was, it carried not the slightest lethality; like warm running water, it flowed through Karen's dharma body, coursed through his physical form, and finally soaked into the pyramid beneath him. Above every single coffin, a silhouette materialized. All had their eyes closed, yet they swayed in unison. They began to utter sounds, speaking continuously, taking oaths repeatedly, growling in low voices. Intuitively, even though they had not yet officially awakened, they had sensed the call of duty, knowing that they were about to step onto the final battlefield. Karen took out the second scroll and unrolled the decree. The battle standard stopped waving and stood erect once more. Yet within the pyramid below, the vibration of the coffins grew louder and louder. The silhouettes above the coffins became denser, and those voices gradually converged into an outcry that began to fissure this small world. The awakening priests stationed below and on each level of the pyramid wore stunned expressions. They had clearly not yet commenced the awakening process, yet the dormant beings seemed driven by instinct toward a revolt. The problem was that deploying the First Knight Order demanded utmost timing and efficiency. The optimal approach was to organize them according to legion structure, place war armaments beside them, and enable them to arm themselves and form coherent formations the very instant they woke, before immediately marching through the pre-erected teleportation gates into the most agonizing and brutal battlefields. If these preparations were not in place, it could easily result in catastrophic losses! Scrambling up from his giant book, Zhongtasen shouted to Karen, "High Priest, please quickly invoke the final decree to soothe them, or disaster will strike!" This disturbance completely surpassed anything before; even the response evoked within the pyramid when the previous High Priest gave a speech here fell far short of what was happening now. Zhongtasen did not fear any danger the riot might pose to himself; he simply could not bear to see the hard-earned legacy of countless predecessors sealed here wasted in vain. Karen immediately unrolled the third scroll. After spiritual power was infused into it, the scroll flew forward and condensed into Kred's image before the pyramid. "I am High Priest Kred. Now, by..." *Boom!* Before Kred's phantom could finish speaking, the scroll was torn to shreds, and the illusion dissipated. The decree of this current High Priest met with rejection from within the pyramid. *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* In the next instant, atop the highest tier of the pyramid, the lids of several coffins were blasted open. Within these coffins, Karen sensed the aura of deities! Although the hierarchy within the pyramid was not simply divided such that higher levels housed stronger figures, it was undeniable that those sleeping on the topmost tier were unquestionably the pinnacle in terms of status, standing, and cultivation realm. Fallen deities... also slept here. Suddenly, terrifying gales penetrated all barriers of the First Knight Order's encampment and poured in. Zhongtasen screamed at once, "Enemy attack!" Daan shouted immediately, "Whose legion is closest to here? Mobilize troops, quickly!" These gales were suffused with the auras of deities—they had breached from the outside! The Church of Order had just weathered a succession of divine wars. Although they were fought by the subordinate gods, everyone had witnessed them. At this juncture, they could only assume by reflex that deities hiding in this world were moving against the First Knight Order. *Roar!* The bone dragon above the pyramid unleashed a roar. Around her, the embryonic form of a Great Isolation Array manifested. Without needing Karen's command, Little Kanna prepared to shield the pyramid. Yet before the array could fully form, Little Kanna heard Karen's voice from below: "Hold." Karen's dharma body boomed with a resonant voice: "Everyone, stand down. This is not an enemy attack." Those hidden gods had not even dared show themselves when facing the tombstones of the Temple; only if their brains were waterlogged would they dare come here directly to attack the First Knight Order. Furthermore, the outer defenses of the First Knight Order's encampment were even more formidable than those of the Temple of Order. Though these gales had entered from outside, they were undeniably summoned from within and did not count as foreign intruders, which was why the defenses had not been triggered. The most likely scenario was that the sleeping deities whose coffin lids had blown open on the top tier were summoning their power back. Karen looked down. Standing at the very apex of the pyramid, he was closest to the topmost tier. However, as Karen sought to investigate more closely, a pitch-black liquid began to surface on the top tier, gradually rising until it completely blanketed the entire level. No—they had existed before, only invisible. Now, spurred by the coffins and external changes, they were manifesting physically. Once the liquid completely submerged the tier, the very apex of the pyramid was swallowed as well. Zhongtasen was sealed off above, his soul and consciousness completely locked down. *Drip... drip... drip...* The sound of water droplets rang crisp and clear. Karen's eyes slowly widened, for this scene was all too familiar. He had dreamed of a similar scene countless times: before him lay a pitch-black pool of water. And from within that pool, he had heard the voice of a god. The gales overhead plunged into the pool. Immediately after, the beings sleeping within seemed to undergo further revival, though one final step still remained. Yet by virtue of their divine nature, even without fully awakening, they could radiate a far more distinct and clear will. Surges of mighty divine auras began to rise. Among them, three auras were particularly staggering. Based on his firsthand experience observing battles at the Garden of Life, the Ice Plains, and the sky above Wien, Karen was certain that these three auras were unequivocally at the level of main gods—and extraordinarily formidable main gods at that. The three auras emerged one after another across the surface of the pool. The first wore divine robes of Order, his face pale and stern; The second was bare-chested, terrifying void countercurrents flowing tamely within his body like living totems, his right hand loosely grasping empty air; The third was clad in armor, enveloped in a thick aura of slaughter, both arms held forward with hands loosely cupped—just like the second, he appeared to be awaiting the return of a weapon belonging to him. All three of them were figures Karen recognized. Especially the first. Records of him were utterly nonexistent in the outside world, and within the Church of Order, only individuals of Foden's stature were permitted to read them. After becoming Secretary-General to the High Priest, Karen had specifically pulled up records of all subordinate gods of Order; this one had been filed separately at the very bottom. Indeed, he had once been one of the Twelve Order Knights, but his title had been—the Knight of Betrayal. The Knight of Betrayal—Taoris! He had been one of the earliest Order knights to follow the God of Order, possessing seniority on par with Tyrannus, yet he had betrayed the God of Order and mounted a challenge against him. When reading that record, Karen had found it inconceivable: the God of Order held absolute power over life and death of his Order knights, so how could he have dared to challenge him? Yet the fact remained that the god accepted his challenge. After his defeat, his title was changed to the Knight of Betrayal, and he was permanently expelled from the ranks of the Twelve Order Knights. And yet, he was sleeping here, awaiting awakening? No, that was not it. Karen understood. Taoris was not a conventional Order knight; he had not been awakened by the God of Order after dying. He had been alive back then, which was why after challenging the god and being slain, his remains could be placed here to await his true first awakening. The second silhouette emerging from the pool was the God of Chaos. His body could contain the most chaotic, unpredictable void countercurrents, and what his right hand loosely held was the Sword of Chaos. That sword was currently keeping the God of Order company beyond the epoch, holding at bay the footsteps of epoch hegemons throughout history. The third figure was the God of War. What his hands held in empty air was the Scythe of War—and the true body of that scythe was currently in the hands of Karen's grandfather. No wonder that during the divine war over Wien, phantom forms of these two had appeared above yet were never struck down; what they had projected there were not their true selves—their true selves lay right here! Were they... allies? Otherwise, there was no explaining why they had been arranged here. So even in the previous epoch, there were deities who agreed with the God of Order's methods, deities willing to seal themselves away to help him fulfill his ideal? Furthermore... although the High Priest was nominally the commander of the First Knight Order with sole authority to mobilize them, the reality was that to genuinely summon the full might of the First Knight Order, only one person could do it—either the God of Order descending in person, or Karen himself, who possessed the legacy of Order. No matter how outstanding the awakening priests were, no matter how willing they were to sacrifice, no matter how many awakening implements—even divine artifacts—they possessed... they could never awaken true deities. Looked at this way, there was a reason why the Church of Light had not resorted to a final desperate war when it ultimately collapsed and dissolved during its struggle with Order. The secret records of Light had likely documented the true secret within the First Knight Order of the Church of Order. Regardless of whether they could actually be awakened, in an epoch where deities did not walk the earth, knowing that the other party possessed slumbering gods within its foundation meant one would never dare push things to total ruin—because you knew an inevitable defeat awaited. The God of Order had truly amassed a terrifying foundation of assets for the Church of Order. No—it was the gods and venerated figures of Order's lineage who, for the sake of the new epoch, had made preparations so abundant that later generations could hardly believe it. Karen suddenly recalled the words High Priest Norton had once spoken to him: "We do not want that tragic brand of heroism. We believers of Order must become accustomed to the elegance of Order." It turned out that this elegance was so blunt and simple. It was not complicated at all, even a bit superficial—like noble ladies and gentlemen posing on the balcony of their ancestral castle with expensive tableware and red wine, striking a deliberate pose. Yet as a successor of future generations, Karen rather liked this superficiality. At that moment, ripples stirred across the surface of the pool. The voice of the God of War rose from beneath, entering Karen's consciousness. Karen had heard these words once before in his dreams by that pool. Back then, when he was still so weak, hearing it had caused him divine backlash, leaving him covered in blood, so much so that Ventura, worried for his health, had slept on the floor in his bedroom for days to look after him. At the time, he had wondered about the exact source of that voice, accompanied as it was by muffled thumping sounds, and could only guess that the speaker was imprisoned; as it turned out, he was not imprisoned, but lying inside a coffin. "Order... how much longer must I wait?"