Tonight, Only Two People Will Die

Rhine West Cathedral, Main Hall.

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

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

This made the Great Cathedral seem very empty, but Keli didn't mind. On the contrary, he quite enjoyed this time alone. Because most of the time, Keli found dealing with those foolish mortals to be extremely tiring. They were too short-sighted, their eyes only able to see a few meters ahead.

But he was different.

His eyes could already see very far, transcending time and space, reaching the distant future.

But those mortals couldn't see it, nor could they understand it. So being with them was truly a torment. If he had a choice, Keli would rather stay quietly by himself for an entire day than endure ten minutes surrounded by those mortals.

Ultimately, they were no longer the same kind of people.

In this world, there were only two people... oh no, two existences that could pique Keli's interest.

The first, needless to say, was naturally the Rhine God.

As for the second,

Keli's finger gently rubbed the Forbidden Book.

Naturally, it was that fellow whose soul had long since been annihilated—Visas.

This fellow, who had been jointly executed by the gods thousands of years ago, whose corpse had even been cut into countless pieces, still left behind one indelible part after another in this world. And one of those parts was within Keli's body. When using this eye to look into the distant future, Keli couldn't help but wonder what kind of scenery the true owner of this eye had seen with it during the age of the gods.

It was truly... something to aspire to.

Keli sighed softly.

It was a pity that such a scene could never be seen again. Visas no longer existed, and what was recorded in this Forbidden Book was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Just like this eye, it was absolutely the most powerful and beautiful eye Keli had ever seen. The sealed Rule, [Gaze], was simply irresistible to him.

But even so, he felt something was missing.

It was as if this eye, while already very powerful, should be even more powerful.

As if this eye, in Keli's possession, was incomplete.

But what that missing part was, no one knew. Not even the Forbidden Book had a clearer record.

Thinking this, Keli felt a bit lonely again.

He really wanted to know if the other Corpse Pieces holders also felt this way, if they also saw a more distant future by borrowing this powerful strength, just like him.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find such a person.

Keli slowly closed his eyes, simultaneously closing the Forbidden Book in his hands. The chains that came with the book also quickly tightened as the book closed, preventing the sealed forbidden knowledge from leaking out.

Then Keli placed the Forbidden Book beside him and slowly opened his eyes again, looking at the person who had suddenly appeared in the center of the church.

"I'm surprised you would actually be the first to come find me," Keli said with a light chuckle. "I originally thought you would appear after I had finished meeting with my other guest, Father Ulu."

A flash of lightning streaked across, suddenly illuminating the slightly dim Great Cathedral as if it were daytime.

The person, covered in mud and rain, walked slowly forward, staining the sacred carpet of the Great Cathedral with profane dirt.

Ulu stopped and looked up at Keli beneath the statue. The rumbling thunder only slowly arrived.

"Long time no see, Bishop Keli."

"Hmm... we have met, although most of the time it was through correspondence, but I think we did meet once or twice."

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

"Is that so?" Keli looked down at Ulu below and smiled. "You were still a child ten years ago, weren't you? A boring child. There were too many boring children back then, it's hard to have any special memories. But now it's different, Ulu, you are different now. After receiving the news from Kaisai, I've been wanting to see you."

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

"I know." Keli nodded, but didn't care at all. "If you killed them, then you killed them. If you had really died at their hands, it would have been meaningless, wouldn't it?"

Keli's gaze gradually shifted downwards, moving to Ulu's left hand, and then staring intently at the Middle Finger, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Because you have it, you have that finger, so it's not strange for you to do anything, is it? I used to think that finger only had the Rule of [Termination], but you were actually able to use it to kill Kaisai, which means... it has some unknown power, a power that even the Forbidden Book doesn't know about, right?" Keli suddenly became a little excited. "Actually, I had already thought of it, but I couldn't prove it. Thankfully, there's you, really, thankfully there's you. You can help me solve this secret, right?"

Seeing Keli smiling at him, Ulu was silent for a moment, then asked, "You knew I would come to find you?"

"Of course." Keli clasped his hands together, gazing at Ulu with a confident smile on his face. "In this world, no one understands you better than I do at this moment."

"Then could you please expel those Worms?"

The smile on Keli's face gradually disappeared: "What did you say?"

"I said, could you please expel those Worms?" Ulu repeated. "The Worms that wander this city, the Worms that leap in the fields, the Worms that... take human lives."

By the time Ulu finished speaking, the smile on Keli's face had completely vanished.

"You said you came for those Worms... which are the 'Holy Worms' in the God's Chosen Plan, right?"

Ulu nodded: "Yes."

Keli sighed softly, his eyes filled with helplessness and disappointment: "Look at that finger of yours, Ulu, look at that finger. You must have felt it, right? How powerful, how beautiful, how... immortal the power it contains, the Rule it seals, is."

His gaze gradually shifted downwards, staring at Ulu's face, which was covered in mud.

"With such power, shouldn't you, like me, see a more distant future? Why are you so... short-sighted? You and I should be the same kind of people. After witnessing such a scene, you shouldn't think about stopping. You should, like me, pursue more, more. Not like this." He paused, then said, "You disappoint me greatly, Ulu, I am truly disappointed in you. I originally thought we would have more to talk about. I originally thought that with you here, I wouldn't be so lonely."

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

Ke Li's eyes instantly turned cold.

"It seems we have nothing more to talk about," Ke Li said indifferently. "I had too high expectations for you, Ulu. You are just a fool who luckily obtained that finger. That finger cannot bring anything more to someone like you. Your fate is sealed. It's like I want to talk to you about the sky, the scenery behind the white clouds, but you can only see what's under your feet, even the dirtiest worms under your feet... Fine, worms it is. If you want to talk about them, it's not like I can't."

Ke Li paused, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Ulu again turned to mockery and sarcasm.

"It seems you have fully understood the God's Chosen Plan. Since you want it to stop, I can tell you very clearly that I can indeed make them stop." Ke Li raised his hand, and a black worm emerged from his palm. Then, with a slight squeeze, the worm instantly turned into dust. "Just like this. But how are you going to convince me?"

Ke Li looked down at Ulu.

"Are you going to kneel down and beg me now, cut off that finger and offer it to me as a gift, or are you thinking of defeating me and forcing me to obey your orders?" A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Ke Li's mouth. "You'd better hurry. Tonight is crucial. After tonight, many people will die."

"No, Bishop," Ulu replied calmly, "Only two people will die tonight."

"That would be you and me."