Bede’s entire sequence of movements were extremely fluid, to the point that it was easy to suspect that he had done this many times before and had even formed a habit.

Piaget licked his lips and marveled, “Mr. Bede once mentioned to me that he has a daughter. I don’t know if his future son-in-law would feel a chill if he saw this. He might never dare abandon his wife for the rest of his life.”

Karon was struck speechless. He turned his head to glance at Piaget. The man looked back and asked, “What?”

“Heh.” Karon felt that Piaget had already guessed at the relationship between him and Bede, but was simply pretending to be ignorant.

Bede walked back. The fighting continued up above, and the three of them crouched back in a corner of the wine cellar. Karon crouched in the middle, Piaget on his left and Bede on Karon’s right.

“How much longer will they fight?” Piaget asked.

“It won’t be long. This is York City,” Bede said.

Karon nodded. Both sides had to be eager to end this fight as soon as possible, no matter what methods they used. They were in York City, Veyn’s capital, one of the greatest metropolises of the current age. Every major church had offices in the city, and plenty of personnel. Naturally, that included the Church of Order.

Light vermin feared that if a stalemate dragged on, reinforcements would arrive from the Church of Order.

As for the priests of Order, they also feared that if the stalemate dragged on, they would receive reinforcements.

Karon kept reciting the opening, “O’ Supreme God of Order, Chain of Order that judges all...”

***

Reisen sat in a car, his old butler standing outside the door while staying on guard. There were violent explosions up ahead, and the dense, choking faith aura could be felt even from the distance they maintained. It all clearly indicated just how intense the battle was.

Pain could be seen in the old butler’s expression. He bent at the waist and softly commented, “Young Master, our losses...”

The fiercer the fighting, the more members of the Raphael family who would die. Those people were the family’s foundation, the support of their faction.

Reisen did not react. In a distant point in the sky, a patch of dark clouds appeared. Its appearance was especially abrupt at this time, because it was striking even in the pitch black night. The old butler’s heart skipped a beat and he cried out, “An Expositor!”

Reisen leaned his head out the car window to look at the dark cloud up above.

“Young Master, an Expositor has taken action. The Light vermin should soon be suppressed.”

Reisen indifferently replied, “If this Light vermin were so easy to suppress, why would an Expositor need to act at all?”

While speaking, Reisen lifted his wrist to check the time. “This can’t be dragged out.”

“Young Master!” Reisen looked back out and saw a massive figure of light take form on the ground. At first, it was hard to make out what the figure was, only that it was huge. As it slowly rose upright, he recognized it as a glowing tower.

“That is the Tower of Light, Young Master! It is a high level Art of the Church of Light. It is said that in the dark lands of void, if you erect a Tower of Light, it will not take long for that region to be purified by light.”

As the Tower of Light rose, its spire pierced the dark cloud above. The two sides violently clashed, and light and shadow flickered back and forth rapidly beneath the black curtain.

There was a buzzing sound. White spots had already appeared on Tirsen’s chest and arms. It was visible damage caused by the power of Light entering his body. It could instantly erase the vitality of his skin, muscle, and even bone.

However, the woman he faced was already sitting on the ground. Her hair was disheveled and her body was covered in wounds from his whip. While her eyes still carried a fierce defiance, the damage to her body had weakened her to a point that could no longer be reversed.

To be precise, her soul energy was strong, but was bound by her body.

She was a strange woman. Tirsen felt that if she were given another year or two to digest more of her soul’s power, or to improve her body’s capacity to endure it, he would cease to be her match. There was a strange feeling about it. Could there be something special about this woman’s soul, something sealed deep within it?

Tirsen thought of a possibility, but dismissed it as impossible. After all, did the remnants of the Church of Light still have the ability to receive a god’s reincarnation?

Turning his head, Tirsen looked at another battle. The Light warrior who followed the Light Knight path had also reached the end of his strength once Adjudicator Luke had intervened. Tirsen had not directly clashed with the man, yet he also felt unusual. He had such a pure light aura.

Blood dripped from Luke’s hand as he gripped a Sword of Judgment. In front of him, Vernon was on his knees, holding himself upright with his sword. Around them lay the corpses of several squad members.

“Just now, which god’s will did you summon onto yourself?”

Vernon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “You are not worthy to know.”

Luke frowned slightly. His eyes then swept over to Tirsen’s side. That man was also about to finish his fight.

The quality of this batch of Light Vermin was terrifyingly high. This man and woman, one following the path of the Light Knight and the other the path of the Light Arcanist, both possessed astonishing talent. It was almost certain that they hid some secrets within.

How could they bear to...

Oh, that’s right. They’re here for that artifact.

Unlike Mr. Pavaro, who had taken action to save someone, and also unlike that idiot Tirsen, who had even dared to try to hide things from the Expositor, commanding his subordinates to take part in that Bloodspirit Powder business, this group of Light Vermin dared to meddle because of the thing the Expositor had placed there.

They are truly well informed.

Luke remembered a line he had once seen in scriptures from the Church of Light: The eyes of Light can see everything illuminated by light.

Luke raised the Sword of Judgment again. Under normal circumstances, Light vermin like this would be captured alive and taken back to the Church of Order to study, but this time, that could not be done.

Across the battlefield, Tirsen soaked his whip with his own blood as he prepared to swing.

However, at that moment, the Tower of Light suddenly flared brightly.

If it were compared to a lamp suddenly lit beneath a black curtain, then everyone suddenly stood in the most blinding region of its illumination. Light covered Vernon and Helen, seeming to inject them both with new strength while also awakening in them some new function. Light saturated the environment, and anyone who dared to launch an assault against a being of light would also have to endure the repulsion of that light.

This was a large-scale Art.

“They’re using this Art?” Luke was puzzled. In the middle of battle, using a large-scale Art was extremely ill timed.

Then Luke understood. “He’s sending a warning.”

The light on Helen and Vernon transformed into wings that looked like flames. In both of their eyes, a stubborn resolve could be seen.

Tirsen retreated three steps. He did not dare take a blow at this moment.

Luke did the same.

The remaining members of the Order’s Whip squad were no different. Had the Adjudicator arrived any later, they might already have been cut down by the Light Knight. They clearly possessed the ability to contend with the man, or even to suppress him, but when faced with an opponent who was willing to wound himself in order to kill, these people simply lacked the resolve to engage.

Helen and Vernon also did not choose to continue fighting. Their bodies floated up and rushed for the Tower of Light.

Yet as they drew near, the dark cloud overshadowing the area suddenly fell, like a hand pressing down upon the tower. The tower immediately started to tremble violently.

Elder Dock stood on the roof holding his wand. His white hair scattered completely as he let out a roar in his heart. “Get lost.”

His words were not directed at what was above him, but at his two students. The white light in the Tower of Light swept over them again, then two streaks of light broke free of the glow and fled into the distance.

There was a buzzing sound again. At this moment, the power of the dark cloud intensified even further. Blood began to seep from Elder Dock’s eyes, ears, mouth, and nose as a brittle cracking echoed from within his body.

The Expositor in the dark cloud above was formidable, but Elder Dock was not unable to fight him. The reason he had fallen to disadvantage from the start was because he was not here to fight this battle.

When your church had already perished and the label of vermin had already been pasted to your forehead, then even having a satisfying fight was a luxury. Elder Dock knew he might be able to hold the Expositor in a stalemate, but as soon as further reinforcements from the Church of Order arrived, he would have no chance at all.

He had erected this Tower of Light in order to send a warning outward: We have been exposed.

This Light elder, who had once been evaluated by Karon to be a reckless brute, really had always disliked the apostle, Bertha. When it came to personal action, the old man was very free and casual.

However, at this moment, he did indeed shoulder his responsibilities. He would rather fall to a disadvantage during the current battle, if it allowed him to transmit a message that danger had arrived.

There was a violent crash. The black cloud pressed down again. The Tower of Light began to fracture.

Elder Dock clenched his teeth. The body that had bent at the knees straightened again. His body began to burn, the flames climbing up the Tower of Light. In an instant, the entire tower was ignited in scorching fire.

Then, several more strands of black cloud drifted over from the surrounding sky.

Below, the black whistle in Tirsen’s chest pocket let out a faint hum. This meant that other squads of the Order’s Whip were approaching.

Luke pursed his lips tightly as he looked around. He already sensed the aura of other Adjudicators rushing over.

The first to arrive were reinforcements from the Church of Order, but it was clear that forces from other churches in York City would soon follow.

The dark cloud in the sky suddenly ignored the tower’s flames and pressed straight down. Seeing this brought shock to even Elder Dock’s eyes. He was doomed to lose, and had never even thought that he could win. He had not even considered the possibility of escape. All he wanted was to buy time for other believers in York City to withdraw.

Their opponents had already won, because their reinforcements were already arriving. Why would they still force a strike at this moment, even at the cost of injury? What confused Elder Dock even more was the fact that the Church of Order’s forces were arriving in batches. If they had discovered him, why would they not concentrate their power before attacking?

But none of that mattered anymore. When a figure in dark red divine robes appeared before him, Elder Dock only showed them a smile. The other man ignored how his own body was being fiercely burned by the Light aura. He extended two fingers and pressed them to Elder Dock’s brow.

However, an instant before contact was made, Elder Dock completely ignited his soul. A chance!

There was no explosion. After Elder Dock’s body and soul rapidly melted, what formed was a sphere of light less than three meters in diameter. A simple explosion may look grand, but for true experts, it would not have any real effect, but condensed power was different.

There was no sound of explosion, only dissolution.

When the halo dissipated, only a figure in dark red divine robes remained. The robes concealed his body, but beneath it, from chest to thigh, molten light churned like magma. Bone and viscera were already exposed.

“Pursue and kill the Light vermin,” his voice echoed across the area, and then he vanished.

Tirsen and Luke immediately saluted, accepting the order, yet both men’s eyes grew dark. Could this matter truly be kept secret? They might be able to block the mouth of one of their own like Mr. Pavaro, but they could not seal the mouths of Light vermin unless they killed them all before they were intercepted. However, with other forces from the Church or Order joining in, that would became extremely difficult.

“Adjudicator?” Tirsen looked at Luke.

The man responded coldly, “Pursue and kill the Light vermin.”

After speaking, Luke vanished from where he stood, chasing after the two streaks of light which had fled. Their current gamble was that only the participating group of Light vermin knew about that matter, which meant that the two who had escaped could remain alive.

Tirsen snorted and also turned into black mist to chase.

***

“Young Master, the Tower of Light has collapsed. The Expositor won.”

Reisen said, “There’s another reason he wanted my people involved. He didn’t want any fish slipping through the net. You may think his opponent lost, but in fact, that was simply sending a signal.”

“Young Master, you mean...?”

“Sigh. Our people died for nothing.”

***

“Apostle, the Tower of Light.”

“It was a signal. Issue orders at once: all believers within York City must withdraw from the city as quikly as possible. Do not trust that you can remain hidden, because what will come next will be a massive manhunt jointly carried out by all of the churches, led by the Church of Order.”

“Yes, my lady, but Elder Dock—”

“His soul will enter the embrace of Light.”

Bertha took out a red sheet of paper, rolled it up, and swallowed it. Her face then began to change, her hair color shifting, and even her height and build were altered. She no longer resembled Linda, but had returned to her original appearance; a tall, aloof woman with long red hair.

She left the clinic and entered the elevator. At the same time, the clinic’s security guards, cleaners, secretaries, receptionist, and nearly half of the psychologists all left their posts before it was time for them to get off work.

The entire clinic instantly grew cold and sparse. Some of the doctors who had been hired later on opened their office doors and craned their heads, not knowing what was happening.

“Boss, did we go bankrupt?”

***

“This power of Light feels so comfortable,” Piaget said.

Bede said, “Long ago, whenever people from the Church of Light preached, this is what they would do. They would preach doctrine first, then summon light to make everyone present feel warm in body and heart. Many people mistakenly thought it was a god’s caress, and thus became believers of Light.”

“This little bit of light isn’t enough to make me betray Linda.”

Karon had been left dizzy by the intense brightness earlier. Even though they were in the basement, the light seemed able to penetrate solid barriers. In any case, it was able to be clearly felt. He wondered if this might be considered some kind of radiation.

He stood and said, “It seems like everyone up there has dispersed.”

Bede said, “Let’s leave first. Karon, I will return to Allen Manor.”

“And you?” Karon looked at Piaget.

“Seeing the state of this basement, my house should already be in ruins, and next door should be in even worse condition. My clinic may also have lost all ability to operate. I plan to follow Mr. Bede back to his family’s manor.” Piaget had always been a very free spirited person. Of course, Karon felt part of that was the man’s true temperament, while another part was the fact that he had never lacked money throughout his entire life.

“To be safe, I’ll check again.” Bede walked to the corpse he had killed and dipped a finger into its blood, beginning to draw in front of him.

“Can it really be done so carelessly?” Piaget asked.

Bede replied, “Isn’t this how the most primitive murals were made?”

He suddenly stopped while drawing.

“What is it?” Karon asked.

“There are still people. Two. Their auras are familiar to me. It’s that man and woman from the Church of Light.”

“It’s not over?” Karon asked in confusion.

“They were sealed, sealed deep underground. That old man used the Tower of Light to send a warning, but that was only one thing. His true intentions may have been to cover everyone’s eyes and protect his two prized students. No one would expect his two students to be currently sealed deep underground, sleeping and slowly recovering.”

“Can’t they hide in a basement?” Piaget asked.

Bede glanced at him. “You are an ordinary person. I have no family faith. Believers of the Wall God Church are no different from ordinary people. Karon follows a church faith, but because of his special purification, he is also seen as an ‘ordinary person’ now. All three of us are ‘ordinary people’ to their senses. We may as well be three drops of water in the sea.

“They can’t do that. Even if a fish hides in the darkest depths under water, it can still be easily found, so this method is necessary.”

“Underground next door?” Karon asked. “How deep.”

“Thirty meters.”

“How long until their seal ends? How long until they wake?”

“It will be some time. One month, maybe three. It’s difficult to say, because right now, they are only sealed away so that their auras cannot be found. To be safe, the seal should gradually begin to transform so that it can nourish them and help them heal after about a month, which is why the process will take a long time.

“What? Do you want to dig them out?”

“I’m just asking.” Karon shook his head. “I’m not insane.”

The basement door was twisted and deformed, jammed so tightly that it was impossible to open. Fortunately, several extra “skylights” had been opened into the basement, so the three just climbed out.

There were many broken corpses on the ground, most of which belonged to people from the Raphael family. The few that were intact had been burned to charcoal.

“How does it feel?” Karon teased.

“Pleasant,” Bede replied. “Come with me. We’ll go this way.”

Bede led Karon and Piaget away from the street. After they entered a café that remained open throughout the night, he finally let out a breath. Here, they could hear the distant sirens of fire engines, but they seemed stuck, and showed no intention of getting closer.

The cafe owner walked up to Bede.

“Arrange for us to return to the manor.”

“Yes, Patriarch."

“Karon, what about you?” Bede asked.

“I’ll make a call.” He called home. , and hung up after speaking briefly. When Karon returned to the table, he saw Bede and Piaget standing there waiting for him.

“There’s a car outside. We’ll be leaving first,” Bede stated.

Piaget walked over and gave Karon a light hug, then went with Bede out the café’s door.

Bede stopped and turned back to look at Karon, reminding him, “Make some time to return to the manor and see Eunice.”

Those words felt like they came from a father-in-law scolding his son-in-law, “How long has it been since you came home?”

But because Karon’s status was special, Bede could only choose a more tactful expression.

Upon hearing the name Eunice, Piaget did not show any surprise at all. He even nodded along, saying, “Exactly. Exactly.”

“I understand, sir. After I finish what I have on hand, I’ll go back to see her.”

Karon stood there, watching the car carry Bede and Piaget away. The outcome seemed unchanged, because Piaget had come to York City to wait for someone, and had met him.

Karon’s instincts told him that Bede was hiding a deep secret. He was someone who qualified to sit face to face with Tiz in his study and talk.

Karon had checked things with Pu’er and had also had Alfred personally comb through Mr. Hoffen’s notes and various books from churches. The conclusion seemed to be that believers of the Wall God Church were not good at fighting. Even so, when it came to Bede, Karon started to doubt that conclusion.

Still, he could not send someone to assassinate Bede just to confirm those suspicions. Even more absurd, Bede might even be capable of foreseeing that Karon sent people to kill him.

The man could also not be threatened with his own family. He was someone who could watch even as their manor collapsed, sitting on a distant hillside and painting the scene.

“Sir, do you need anything right now?” The café owner was also part of the Allen family, but only the core members of the family knew Karon’s identity.

Karon looked at his filthy, dust covered clothes. “Can I bathe here?”

On the second floor, the café had private rooms with bathing facilities and beds. It was only then that Karon realized that this world had not only pastry shops, but also cafés.

No wonder this place was open 24 hours. The patrons who visited this café ordered a different kind of coffee.

Even so, Karon declined the owner’s suggestion of a female attendant to help bathe him. Indulging like that in a venue run by his wife’s family was something Karon would only do if his brain had been stuffed with fermented herring.

After bathing, he changed into a fresh male server’s work uniform provided by the owner. Karon felt greatly refreshed.

After going downstairs, he sat and ate the simple meal that had been prepared for him. When the last piece of veal steak went into his mouth, a secondhand black Pons pulled up to the café’s entrance.

Karon said his goodbyes to the owner, who bade Karon farewell with great respect.

Alfred got out and opened the rear door for Karon, who climbed in.

Entering the car, he found it a bit cramped. Little John was in the front passenger seat, while Mr. Pavaro was beside Karon. The reason the cabin felt cramped was that a dog lay in the middle, and a cat settled onto Karon’s lap.

Mr. Pavaro asked, “Did the snake come out?”

Karon smiled. “And it was hurt.”

“You’ve suffered for it,” Mr. Pavaro said.

“This actually had little to do with the case you were investigating, yet without that case, I might not have been able to break the situation so easily.”

“Let the child give you the address. I asked him at your home, but he told me that without your instructions, he can’t reveal the location.”

In the front passenger seat, Little John lifted his chest and turned his head to look back.

“The address?” Karon asked.

“Marston Sausage Works. It’s beneath a factory building.”

“Alfred?”

“Understood, Young Master.” Alfred started the car.

Little John spoke up. “Sir, do you know what they call that place?”

“What do they call it?”

“The pigpen.”