Tonight, Only Two People Would Die

Rhine West Cathedral, main hall.

Bishop Keli sat beneath the enormous statue of the Rhine God, gently turning the pages of the Forbidden Book in his hands.

He was the only one in the entire cathedral. Half an hour ago, High Priest Heli had transferred away every Rhine Knight stationed at West Cathedral.

The cathedral looked utterly empty, but Ke Li did not care. On the contrary, he rather enjoyed this solitude. Most of the time, he found dealing with those foolish mortals exhausting. They were far too shortsighted, able to see only a few feet in front of them.

But he was different.

His eyes could already see far into the distance, transcending time and space to reach the distant future.

Yet those mortals could neither see nor understand it. Being with them was truly agony. If he had a choice, Ke Li would rather spend an entire day alone in silence than endure ten minutes surrounded by those mortals.

At the end of the day, they had long ceased to be the same kind of people.

In this world, there were only two beings capable of stirring Ke Li's interest... no, two existences.

The first went without saying—the Rhine God.

And the second...

Ke Li's fingers gently brushed across the Forbidden Book.

Naturally, it was Visas, the one whose soul had long since been annihilated.

This man had been jointly executed by the Gods centuries ago. Even his corpse had been carved into countless pieces, yet he had still left behind one indelible fragment after another in this world. One such fragment resided within Ke Li's body. Whenever he used this eye to gaze into the distant future, Ke Li could not help wondering what sort of scenery its true owner had seen during the age of the Gods.

How... enchanting.

Ke Li let out a soft sigh.

Unfortunately, such scenery could never be seen again. Visas no longer existed, and what the Forbidden Book recorded was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Like this eye—it was undoubtedly the most powerful and beautiful eye Ke Li had ever seen. The Rule Gaze sealed within it was simply irresistible to him.

Yet even so, he felt that something was missing.

It felt as though, powerful as this eye already was, it ought to have been even more powerful.

As though this eye was incomplete in Ke Li's possession.

But no one knew what part was missing. Not even the Forbidden Book contained any clearer record.

Thinking of this, Ke Li felt lonely again.

He wanted to know whether the holders of the other body parts felt the same way—whether they too had used this immense power to see a more distant future.

Unfortunately, he could not find such people.

Ke Li slowly closed his eyes and shut the Forbidden Book in his hands. The chains attached to it swiftly tightened as the book closed, preventing the sealed forbidden knowledge from leaking out.

He then placed the Forbidden Book beside him, slowly opened his eyes, and looked at the man who had suddenly appeared in the center of the cathedral.

"I am quite surprised you really came to find me first." Ke Li chuckled. "I had thought you would wait until after I met my other guest before appearing, Father Ulu."

A bolt of lightning flashed past, suddenly turning the dim cathedral as bright as day.

The mud- and rain-soaked man walked forward slowly, leaving blasphemous stains upon the cathedral's sacred carpet.

Ulu stopped and raised his head to look at Ke Li beneath the statue. Only then did the roaring thunder slowly arrive.

"It has been a long time, Bishop Keli."

"Mm... we have indeed met. Though we corresponded by letter most of the time, I suppose we really did meet once or twice."

"Once," Ulu answered softly. "Only once, ten years ago."

"Is that so?" Ke Li looked down at Ulu and smiled. "You were still a child ten years ago, weren't you? A dull child. There were too many dull children back then, so it is hard to remember anything special. But things are different now, Ulu. You are different now. Ever since receiving the message Kaisai sent back, I have wanted to meet you."

"I killed Kaisai," Ulu said. "And Lu Ji too."

"I know." Ke Li nodded, wholly unconcerned. "So you killed them. If you had truly died at their hands, that would have been far less interesting, would it not?"

Ke Li's gaze gradually lowered to Ulu's left hand, then fixed tightly upon his middle finger, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Because you have it. You have that finger. So nothing you accomplish would be surprising, would it? I once believed that finger possessed only the Rule of Termination, but you used it to kill Kaisai. That means... it has other powers unknown to anyone, powers even the Forbidden Book does not know of, doesn't it?" Ke Li suddenly grew excited. "I had actually thought of this long ago, but I could never prove it. Thankfully, there is you. Truly, thankfully, there is you. You can help me solve this mystery, can't you?"

Seeing Ke Li smile at him, Ulu was silent for a while before asking, "You knew I would come looking for you?"

"Of course." Ke Li folded his hands together and watched Ulu with a confident smile. "No one in this world understands you better than I do at this moment."

"Then could you please drive those worms away?"

The smile on Ke Li's face gradually vanished. "What did you say?"

"I said, could you please drive those worms away?" Ulu repeated. "The worms wandering through this city, the worms leaping like fish across the fields, the worms... that take human lives."

By the time Ulu finished speaking, the smile on Ke Li's face had disappeared completely.

"You are saying you came for those worms... the Holy Worms of the God's Chosen Plan, correct?"

Ulu nodded. "Yes."

Ke Li sighed softly, helplessness and disappointment mingling in his eyes. "Look at that finger of yours, Ulu. Look at it. You should have felt it already, shouldn't you? The power it contains, the Rules it seals—how powerful, how beautiful, how... immortal."

His gaze gradually lowered, settling upon Ulu's mud-streaked face.

"With such power, should you not be like me, seeing a more distant future? How can you be so... shortsighted? You and I should have been the same kind of people. Having seen such scenery, you should not wish to stop. You should be like me and seek more, and more. Rather than be as you are now." He paused. "You disappoint me, Ulu. You truly disappoint me. I had thought we would have more to discuss. I had thought that once you came, I would no longer be so lonely."

Ulu was silent for a moment before saying, "So can you drive all those worms away?"

Ke Li's gaze instantly turned cold.

"It seems we have nothing to discuss." Ke Li spoke flatly. "I expected too much from you, Ulu. You are merely a fool who was lucky enough to obtain that finger. That finger cannot bring someone like you anything more. Your fate is already decided. It is like how I wish to speak with you of the sky, of the scenery beyond the white clouds, yet all you can see is beneath your feet—even the filthiest worms beneath them... Fine. Worms it is. If you wish to discuss them, it is not as though I cannot oblige you."

Ke Li paused. When he looked at Ulu again, his gaze had turned mocking and derisive.

"It seems you fully understand the God's Chosen Plan. Since you want it stopped, I can tell you clearly that I can indeed stop them." Ke Li raised a hand. A black worm emerged from his palm, and with a slight squeeze, it instantly crumbled into powder. "Just like that. But how will you convince me?"

Ke Li looked down at Ulu.

"Will you kneel and beg me now, cut off that finger and offer it to me as a gift, or will you try to defeat me and force me to obey your orders?" A mocking smile rose on Ke Li's lips. "You had best hurry. Tonight is critical. After tonight, many people will die."

"No, Bishop, not that many people will die." Ulu answered calmly. "Tonight, only two people will die."

"You and me."