Dis and the God of the Crypt

Even Karen could not help but smile upon hearing this title. "So you see, Light truly is a fine teacher to Order. Not only did it blaze trails and fall into pitfalls on Order's behalf back in the last era, but in this era, worried that Order might feel lost and bewildered after its decline, it didn't even hesitate to perish over a thousand years early—all to amass rich experience for Order on how to be proper remnants. "Even if you searched through every school in Wien, you'd probably be hard-pressed to find a teacher with such 'selfless devotion,' wouldn't you?" Neo rolled his eyes at Karen. "I used to be an Order priest myself. Sigh, what a splendid religion it was, yet here it is, completely squandered. If you, the Acting High Priest, don't feel heartache over it, I, the Pope of Light, certainly do." Karen took a sip of water and spread his hand, a ring of Order laws surfacing in his palm. "Emotionally, I should feel heartache; but rationally speaking, we are turning the goal of our faith into absolute reality. I should be happy." "For that goal—is it worth it?" "Without that goal, there would be no God of Order, no Church of Order, and certainly no Church of Order as it is today. Since the responsibility has fallen upon our generation, all we can do is keep the mission in mind and remain true to our original aspirations." "That exact passage was in the article published under your name in yesterday's Order Weekly. Chatting with you like this is truly perfunctory." "Where would I find the energy to write articles right now? Alfred must have written it and published it under my name." "Heh, you're truly lucky. When you first set foot on the soil of Wien all by yourself, you already had such an outstanding manservant following you. Tell me, did he ever imagine back then that one day he would succeed Lord Tyrannus?" "When I snapped open that plastic Whip of Order ring you gave me, I never imagined that this stingy captain of mine would one day become a pope, either." Just then, a slight ripple of energy stirred outside the carriage, but it quickly subsided. Andrew appeared beside the carriage and reported to Karen, "High Priest, it was an assassination attempt by a small band of Light remnants... Light priests. It has been properly dealt with." Having delivered his report, Andrew vanished. Karen smiled and asked Neo, "Tell me, were they targeting you or me?" "Targeting me." Neo reached out to touch a lumicrystal ring on his finger—a replica of the Pope of Light's regalia. "In the eyes of many Light priests, I, this Pope, am nothing more than a traitor to Light propped up by Order." "Heheheh." Neo pulled out a cigarette, held it between his lips, and said, "Tell me, if the Church of Light hadn't perished over a thousand years ago, would they be able to help out more right now?" "There are no such 'what-ifs.' Even though the God of Light stands behind the God of Order now, Light's choice back then was clearly a passive evasion. At the outset, He probably didn't fully agree with Order's vision." "Then why did He step up after all?" "Isn't that just like you? Just moments ago, you questioned me, but that doesn't prevent you from standing behind me at the most critical moment." "In front of you." "Behind me." "In front!" "Let's compromise. We'll stand side by side and put Eternal at the very front to take the lead." "Fair enough." The carriage teleported to York. Just as they emerged from the teleportation array hall, they saw Bern waiting there specifically for them. Bern boarded the carriage and bowed to Karen. "Greetings, High Priest." Neo laughed. "Hey, are you performing performance art?" Even after Bern had been awakened, Karen had told him that such formal salutations were unnecessary. Bern replied, "In the eyes of bureaucrats, there is procedural legitimacy: the High Priest holds the highest legal authority—surpassing even our Lord." Neo asked, "Do you believe that?" Bern replied, "I don't. But that doesn't stop me from deriving a sense of personal worth and satisfaction from it." "Hahaha!" "Hahaha!" Both of them laughed, and Neo handed Bern a glass of red wine. Holding his wine glass, Bern said to Karen, "High Priest, Delon came to see me just now." "Sigh." Karen let out a sigh and pressed the cool glass against his forehead. Bern's brow furrowed. That gesture was supposed to have been his, yet Karen had beaten him to it. *What do you have to feel helpless about?* *I didn't spend half as much effort arranging things for my own flesh-and-blood son as I did for your relatives!* Neo asked, "How's the Hierarch on your end?" Bern took a sip of red wine and answered, "Completely sidelined. All technical priests from the Church of Pamires have been relocated to the Order Knight Legion's garrison, ready to be deployed in one of the upcoming rotations." Neo chuckled. "Ha, Order is dragging its affiliate churches along to burn together." Bern shrugged. "Under Order, all are equal, after all." Karen lowered his glass and looked at Bern, who immediately sat up straight. "High Priest, when Delon came to complain to me, I could tell he was actually somewhat pleased inside. I even felt like he was deliberately showing off, though he probably wasn't conscious of it himself." People were complex and contradictory. He did not want his wife to sacrifice herself, yet there was no denying that when she made that choice, he had been deeply moved. Neo downed the red wine in his glass in one gulp and cursed, "Damn this twisted, pathological Order idea of romance." After finishing his report on recent affairs, Bern got off the carriage. Neo got off as well; he was heading to the cemetery to visit his wife. The carriage finally pulled up in front of the Guman residence and came to a stop. Just as Karen stepped down from the carriage, he saw his grandmother walking down the street toward him in a long yellow dress, carrying a shopping basket. Madam Tangli said, "What a coincidence." Karen smiled and reached out to take the basket. Madam Tangli handed it over and naturally looped her hand around his other arm. This time it truly was a coincidence. His grandmother genuinely had not been home earlier and really had gone out to buy groceries. But when the carriage entered the district, she had already been nearly at the front door; sensing the carriage, she had backed away and waited for a moment for this vehicle bearing its distinct insignia to arrive. However, with Karen's current realm, sitting inside the carriage allowed him to effortlessly encompass all of York within his perception. His grandmother had made no deliberate effort to conceal her presence, so he had "seen" it plain as day. In life, there were times when one had to see through things without calling them out. Grandmother patted Karen's arm and let out a sigh of relief. "I heard you went to the battlefield. I was really worried you'd get hurt." "I only went to observe the battle, not to fight. But you, on the other hand, have given me quite a headache." "What, did you come back today specifically to talk me out of it?" "No, I just missed the soup you brew." "Now that's more like it." Grandmother smiled. "Come, let's go inside and sit down." Karen walked through the front door. Inside the living room, Delon, Mr. Aisen, Madam Kaixi, Aunt Luxi, and Uncle Dake were all seated. Dake's prosthetic leg rested on the coffee table, and Delon was using tools to adjust the array patterns inside it. The moment Karen walked in, Kaixi and Luxi grew the most emotional. The young man who had once come to their home for meals and delighted the old matriarch was now the Acting High Priest of the Church of Order. "Greetings, High Priest." "Greetings, High Priest." Dake was excited as well, but when he stretched his leg, it triggered the array currently under calibration, flinging his entire body backward. Karen's gaze focused, and an invisible force caught hold of Dake, sparing him from slamming into the wall. Seeing this, Delon simply shut down all the arrays in his son-in-law's prosthetic leg for the time being, intending to recalibrate them later. Karen sat down naturally on the sofa. Delon turned around with a chuckle, looked at Karen, and said, "Church affairs must keep you very busy, don't they?" "I'm mainly running errands. I don't have to worry too much about administrative duties." "You must stay safe. Your status is critical now; it concerns the big picture." "Mm, I will." "Richard just stepped out." Mr. Aisen pulled out a sheet of black paper, preparing to fold an origami crow to summon his son back. "It's fine. There's still some time before dinner. I'll go find him; he's by the river." Karen stood up and walked out. Kaixi pressed a hand to her chest. "Karen's status was high before, but seeing him again this time made me so nervous, I nearly fell to my knees." Dake said, "Tell me about it—I literally took off." "You lot. No matter how high his status is, haven't we known him and lived like family for ages?" Delon shook his head, looking upon the younger generation like country bumpkins who hadn't seen the world. Then he left the living room and stepped into the dining room, his elderly body carrying a sprightly gait. As he drew near the kitchen door, he deliberately slowed his steps and adopted a stern expression. Looking at his wife, who had begun bustling in the kitchen, he reproached her, "Just look at you. The boy is a High Priest now..." "Acting." "We don't hold with prefixes in this house." "You'd better press down your vestments—your old tail is sticking straight up." Delon frowned. "Look at you. Because of your business, the boy had to make a special trip back." "He only came to see me? He couldn't have come to see you? Besides, he didn't try to talk me out of anything." "With his position, how could he bring himself to urge you otherwise? Listen, my dear, couldn't you reconsider? Even if I'm gone, with you here, this family will at least have a pillar standing." "You old codger. Once you're gone, my home is gone too." The stern facade on Delon's face could no longer hold. The gaze he turned upon his wife held only tenderness and regret. "In the end, I failed my promise. I promised you a lifetime of happiness." "All right, all right. One sweet word is enough to get the point across—do you expect me to keep playing along? Go fix your son-in-law's prosthetic leg and stop bothering me while I make soup." "Ah, alright." After Delon left, Madam Tangli gradually slowed the movement of the kitchen knife in her hand. Gazing through the kitchen window at the flower beds in the yard bathed in the colors of the setting sun, she murmured, "Dying of old age is so dull. Dying like this is far more interesting." "Hey!" Richard skipped a stone across the river, skipping it eight times in succession. Just as he prepared to show off to Philomena, he saw her casually flick a pebble. The pebble traced a wide circle across the water's surface, even churning up a whirlpool, before flying right back into her hand. "Impressive, impressive." Richard started clapping. Philomena said, "Karen is at the house." "Mm." "Aren't you heading back?" "It's not convenient to talk at home." Richard skipped two more stones. Behind him, Philomena respectfully lowered her head, looking at the figure that had appeared before her. Karen looked at her and asked, "Can you still keep your power under control?" Philomena smiled. "Right now it's just one godhead. Dreaming is all it takes." "Mm. Did you have lunch here?" "Yes, we had—" Karen cut off Philomena's litany of dishes and said, "Madam Tangli is preparing dinner." Philomena nodded. "Understood. I'll go make an appearance." Once Philomena left, Karen walked toward Richard. Today, Richard had not warmly gravitated toward Karen the way he usually did upon his arrival. Instead, he faced the river, appearing uncharacteristically quiet. Assuming he was worried about the conscription, Karen consoled him, "Your grandfather has reached the age threshold and must be conscripted. As for your grandmother, that was her own choice. We cannot interfere. Try to take it in stride." Richard shifted sideways, leaning toward Karen, and bumped Karen's shoulder lightly with his own. Karen looked at him with some surprise. Richard turned his face to look at Karen as well. Behind him were the warm ripples of the river, setting off his smile. "Bro, I can finally help you." "I say, why do you still have to keep me here?" Rasma spread his arms wide, looking at Old Hoffen and Dis seated before him. Dis paid him no mind, keeping his eyes closed. The three had developed a habit by now of sitting together over tea every afternoon until dinnertime. Rasma continued, "Karen is already Acting High Priest! Even if he were a remnant of Light, it wouldn't matter anymore! The fucking Church of Light has been rebuilt, and it even made front-page headlines in Order Weekly!" Old Hoffen said, "Your legs are attached to your own body. You're the one who won't leave." Rasma sputtered, "I—" Old Hoffen said, "According to the traditions of your Church of Order, the High Priest holds the highest legal authority. When a retired High Priest meets the current one, he has to salute. Hurry back and kowtow to my grandson." Rasma clenched his fists, stood up, and glared at Old Hoffen. "The Church of Order has no kowtowing ritual!" Old Hoffen chuckled. "Alright, alright, we go through this routine every day. You're the one who doesn't want to leave, yet you constantly insist you're being kept under guard. "By the way, did you receive a conscription notice? I heard your Church of Order has categorized all the elderly priests into tiers. "As a former High Priest, shouldn't you take the initiative, set an example, and go sacrifice yourself in the very first batch?" Rasma said in utter gloom, "I signed up, but my turn is ranked dead last." Old Hoffen called out, "Rigged!" Rasma retorted, "That's because I'm practically the youngest one in the shrine!" The horn of a hearse sounded from outside. Mason must have brought back a new client. Soon, Mary's shouting drifted up from the courtyard downstairs: "Damn it, why didn't you have the nursing home aides wash the client first? How am I supposed to prepare dinner like this!" Old Hoffen couldn't help sighing with feeling. "Dis, looking at it now, you were right to keep the family away from church circles." Dis slowly opened his eyes and spoke. "The spiritual imprint I left there has transmitted a perception. The crypt... is shaking again." Old Hoffen asked in confusion, "What, is that fellow finally coming out this time?" Rasma said, "The shrine's gravestones will suppress that place. Even if it comes out, it will be taken down by the gravestones." Dis stood up and patted Old Hoffen's shoulder. "Coming." Old Hoffen responded, his form dissipating and transforming into a book that landed in Dis's hand. Rasma stood up as well and asked, "Preparations were made there long ago. Are you still going?" "Mm." "Dis, are you really that curious about that mysterious God of the Crypt?" "If Raniedal hadn't been there last time, it probably would have come out." "What do you mean by that?" "Inside that crypt, there are two gods." Rasma's eyes widened instantly. "Why didn't you report such vital intelligence to the church? That way, the church could have made countermeasures in time and arranged a second wave of personnel." "No need. I'll watch over it." "I'm coming too!" Dis looked at Rasma without speaking. Rasma said, "Dis, what's with that look? No matter what, I still have a godhead fragment, and my cultivation has stabilized very well here recently." Dis replied, "There are some battlefields where individuals below godhood have no right to participate." Rasma fell silent. The feeling was all too familiar, and the exchange was all too familiar; dusty memories began to assail him. The Notes on Principles began flipping its pages, vibrating with the excitement of a worshipper: "Dis, you can become a god right now?" Dis looked out the window at the sky. "The God of Order's era suppression is growing weaker and weaker." Pausing, Dis added, "I'm not certain, but it seems... there's a bit of a chance now." The crypt, silent for a time, rumbled once more. Before this, there had not been the slightest warning, and the outpouring of power was exceptionally violent. Fortunately, the Church of Order had long since prepared precautions in advance against hidden gods across the world. "Heheheh..." A piercing laugh echoed from the depths of the crypt. Immediately afterward, an exceedingly thick crimson pillar of light shot forth. Above the crypt world, there was no sky—only endless rock walls. Drawn by the pillar of light, the rock walls began to melt, and skeletons of monstrous beasts sealed within began to plummet. A massive, withered hand reached up from below and gripped the outer rim. A terrifying tremor rippled outward with this spot as its epicenter, spreading across the entire crypt world. Every race dwelling here felt an intense palpitation of dread. Soon, an impact far more real than any inner foreboding arrived. Skeletons sealed within the overhead rock walls for countless ages plummeted and reanimated one after another, roaring as they charged toward settlement after settlement of the races in the crypt world. The five gravestones that had stood quietly near the crypt all shot into the sky. The gravestones cracked open, revealing five tall figures clad in Order vestments. Striking together, they severed the pillar of light by sheer force. Just then, Dis stepped out from a teleportation array. One of the elderly men from the gravestones spoke: "You're here again. I told you, you're not needed here. If you want to die, you'll have to wait your turn in line." "Hahaha!" "Hahaha!" The figures emerging from the other gravestones laughed as well. Dis offered no argument, simply sitting down where he was. He rested a book on his knees, followed by a scythe, which he planted in the ground before him. At a time like this, explanations were meaningless, nor did he need to explain. Just as those five gravestones had said, everyone had to wait their turn. The crypt began to fracture and widen continuously. Finally, a deity covered in rot revealed its true form, its immense divine might radiating in all directions. The five figures from the gravestones cast spells in unison. Chains of Order poured from their bodies, forming a forbidden seal that bound the deity's body. The deity began to struggle. The five figures were like five candle flames, flickering ceaselessly yet refusing to be snuffed out. Then the five began to burn. The Flame of Order spread along the chains of Order onto the deity, making this god—who had lurked dormant for an entire era and had long since withered into frail decay—feel the intense malice and resoluteness of Order. While burning, the five chanted in unison, as if calmly welcoming their own liberation, or bidding a final farewell to this world: "Praise be to the great God of Order!" Dis, who sat waiting quietly in the distance, murmured a reply under his breath: "I raised him."