I Did It! I Did It!

"Teacher, we're here."

Isaiah opened his eyes and saw the colossal device that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

"Obedience of Heavenly Voice," he murmured. "I've finally seen it."

Mina, standing beside Isaiah, was also studying the device. But unlike Isaiah's appreciation, her face was filled with anxiety.

"Teacher," she said quietly, "Contract Land wouldn't want to use that thing..."

"If they confirm that I have four Corpse Pieces," Isaiah said calmly, "then I don't think they'll hesitate."

Mina grew even more worried. "Then what should we do?"

"Don't panic, and don't make that face. We should have clear consciences right now." After softly reassuring Mina, Isaiah looked up at the massive figure walking toward him and smiled. "Good afternoon, Warden."

The Warden stopped before Isaiah. He was built like a small mountain, exerting immense pressure. Other than Isaiah, not a single Sorcerer from the Star Relic Sect dared meet his gaze.

"Welcome, Isaiah," the Warden said slowly. "Come with me. We have prepared lodging for you."

"Oh? Warden, you'll personally show me the way?"

"Of course," the Warden said. "You are different."

Isaiah smiled. "Then I'll gladly accept."

The Warden nodded and began walking ahead, with Isaiah at his side. Though it was their first meeting, they resembled old friends who had not seen one another for years. At their mutual signal, Contract Land's Guardians and the Star Relic Sect's Sorcerers deliberately slowed their pace, leaving the two men space to speak alone.

"I noticed you were looking at Obedience of Heavenly Voice just now," the Warden said first.

"Yes," Isaiah replied. "It is difficult not to look at it after arriving here. It is simply too eye-catching."

"And how did it make you feel?"

"Power and authority."

"Yes. Power and authority." The Warden's voice deepened. "It is a weapon created by the Gods, symbolizing their supreme will. If a god commands a mortal to die, that mortal must die. No matter their status or strength, they cannot resist, because this is the ultimate authority and power... Do you understand what I mean, Isaiah?"

"Of course." Isaiah nodded slightly. "You are warning me."

"Very clever." The Warden praised him. "I like speaking with clever people. There is no need to beat around the bush or speak in circles, and they do not trigger my intolerance for fools. Unlike the representatives from the other churches, who can only be shocked and ask why."

Isaiah did not ask something as pointless as whether that representative had been Rhine's. Instead, he sighed softly. "As expected, you met before I arrived. So you have decided to change Heaven's Obedience's target to me?"

"That is why I said you are clever." The Warden said, "But I can also tell you that things have not reached that point yet. There is still room to salvage this."

"As long as I hand over the Three Corpse Pieces?"

"Two will be enough."

"Oh? There is actually a way out?"

"Yes. You may keep one Corpse Piece as your trophy, whichever one you wish." The Warden said, "Together with the one you already possess, you will still be the strongest person in this world."

"Then what about Obedience of Heavenly Voice?"

"We will use Ulu's name according to the original plan, then reclaim the finger and the eye." The Warden said, "But you can no longer set your sights on those two Corpse Pieces."

"Indeed." Isaiah nodded. "That would be too greedy."

"It is good that you understand." The Warden escorted Isaiah to the entrance of his lodging, then stopped. His eyes beneath the chains stared straight at Isaiah. "Then what is your decision?"

"I do not see any reason to refuse." Isaiah said calmly. "If I truly have those Three Corpse Pieces."

The Warden narrowed his eyes slightly. The relaxed atmosphere of friendly conversation instantly plummeted, and even Mina, more than ten meters away, felt as if the air around her was freezing solid.

After a long silence, the Warden slowly spoke. "So this is your decision?"

"I have no intention of disrespecting Obedience of Heavenly Voice, nor do I have the ambition to hoard the Three Corpse Pieces." Isaiah said, "But I cannot produce something I do not possess. Warden, rather than coercing me here, you should find the real culprit. If I die, so be it. But if Obedience of Heavenly Voice is wasted and that damned man is allowed to roam free, that would not be a good thing."

The Warden stared directly at Isaiah. The crimson eyes beneath his chains were like ghostly fire in an abyss, as though they might devour the entire world in the next instant.

But in the end, he did nothing. He merely said flatly, "I understand what you mean. But rest assured, I will not let a single person who deserves death escape."

With that, the Warden turned and left without looking at Isaiah again. Contract Land's Guardians dispersed with him.

Only then did Mina dare approach. She asked cautiously, "Teacher, that Warden..."

"He is far more uncompromising than I expected." Isaiah said indifferently. "My status means nothing in his eyes, and he will have no reservations toward me. Once he confirms that the Three Corpse Pieces are in my hands, he will act immediately. Before we arrived, he had already discussed this with several other major churches. Now it seems the other churches have agreed as well."

"This... isn't that too fast?"

Mina immediately panicked. In their original estimation, even if Contract Land truly decided to move against Isaiah, there would certainly be a long period of bargaining first.

After all, Isaiah was currently the strongest beneath the Gods, a figure second only to one person within the Star Relic Sect.

But now, it seemed that Warden did not care about any of that. It directly disrupted their plans.

"This is not particularly surprising." Isaiah said, "That Warden is not an ordinary man. I could see his uniqueness. If nothing unexpected happened, he should have lived from the Era of Divine War until now."

"The Era of Divine War?" Mina's eyes widened. "Wouldn't that make him over a thousand years old? Is that really possible?"

"Contract Land is a prison jointly created by the Gods. Then having a Warden capable of living forever alongside that prison is not surprising." Isaiah said evenly. "Only someone like that can better carry out and defend the Gods' will. That is also why he can completely disregard my status... Would a creation of the Gods fear the strongest person beneath them?"

"...Then what should we do?"

"As long as it has not reached the point of immediate execution, there is room for negotiation." Isaiah's tone remained calm. "In the end, it was never surprising that they would shift Heaven's Obedience's target to me. They merely moved up the timetable and skipped some unnecessary detours. Since they have become urgent, we will become urgent as well."

Isaiah's calm gradually settled Mina's unease. She said nothing further and simply waited quietly for his orders.

"The most direct and effective method." Isaiah spoke slowly. "Let them know that the real tongue is still alive. Go. Do as I told you before. I am certainly under their close surveillance now. Only you can accomplish this."

Mina nodded and was about to leave when Isaiah called her back.

"Also, contact that Bishop from Rhine for me." Isaiah said indifferently. "Tell him I would like to invite him for afternoon tea."

Mina hesitated at the request. "Teacher, based on what I know of Bishop Luo Qi, I do not think he would dare come."

"Just deliver the message." Isaiah turned and entered the room. "If he does not wish to come, I will go find him."

"Yes!"

Mina was about to carry out his orders when she saw Isaiah, who was nearly inside, suddenly freeze. Then he sharply turned his head and stared in a certain direction.

The abrupt change startled Mina. "T-Teacher?"

Isaiah ignored Mina. His gaze kept sweeping through that direction as he looked at the tents, the Guardians, and the representatives of the major churches. Every object and every person fell under his scrutiny.

He found nothing unusual, but he knew it was not his imagination.

Thus, after a brief silence, Isaiah chuckled. "You actually dared come to a place like this... You really are something, Hand Eye."

Before Isaiah discovered him, Bai Wei had already withdrawn his gaze and concealed himself.

He had deliberately allowed Isaiah to know of his presence.

If Obedience of Heavenly Voice and that Warden were not enough to pressure him, what about adding Bai Wei himself?

Bai Wei had already begun to enjoy his game against Isaiah, though Ina beside him was not enjoying it much.

After the meeting ended, Ina had worn an expression as if she wanted to speak but hesitated. She clearly had many questions for Bai Wei, yet did not know whether she should ask them.

In the end, Bai Wei could not bear to watch the daughter of an old friend continue struggling like that. He smiled and said, "Your curiosity is quite strong."

"So you noticed after all."

"It would be difficult not to notice. You were far too obvious."

"...Those matters were simply too shocking." Ina said softly. "It is difficult for me to pretend I heard nothing."

"Too much curiosity is not necessarily a good thing, but there is one thing I can tell you."

"What is it?"

"I am not here to destroy the world."

Ina instantly shuddered.

As for Bai Wei's identity, she had only been guessing so far, and Bai Wei had never explicitly explained it. Both sides merely understood without saying so.

But now, Bai Wei was clearly admitting that he was Visas.

"A thousand years ago... what exactly happened?" Ina could not help asking.

"Unfortunately, I cannot answer that." Bai Wei tapped his head with a finger. "To be honest, I slept for a very long time and only recently woke up. Because of that, I lost some memories. There are many things I cannot remember."

"Is that so?" Ina was somewhat disappointed.

"Yes, that is all it can be." Bai Wei said with a smile. "I will tell you once I remember."

"You are joking." Though Ina felt this was merely Bai Wei's excuse, she could not call him out directly. She could also see that Bai Wei had his own matters to attend to, so she gave him a standard Knight's salute and took her leave. "Then I'll be going."

Bai Wei very much wanted to remind Ina that she was his superior here and had no need to be so respectful toward him. Especially at the earlier meeting, Ina's behavior had made Bai Wei seem like Lyra's true power behind the scenes.

Though that was not exactly wrong, so Bai Wei said nothing more and simply smiled and nodded.

Before walking out of the room, Ina hesitated for a moment, then turned back to Bai Wei. "No matter who you truly are, as long as my father believes in you, I will believe in you as well. You do not need to explain anything. After all, you saved all of Lyra."

Bai Wei looked at Ina, somewhat surprised by her sudden declaration. After briefly considering it, he answered in a very serious tone.

"Don't worry. I truly am not here to destroy the world... at least not right now."

Ina: "..."

Watching Ina leave with an indescribable expression, Bai Wei shrugged with considerable amusement, then leisurely lay down on the bed.

But he was not preparing to rest. He was preparing to reel in the net on the other side.

He Wei Ni Ya frowned as she looked at the strange magic array before her and Ai De Wen, who was muttering mysteriously within it.

"Almost done, almost done." Ai De Wen's face was overflowing with uncontrollable excitement. "I'm about to unravel the greatest secret in this world."

Ai De Wen was creating the magic array he had mentioned earlier, the one meant to block the Gods' sight.

The reason the array looked so strange was that all sorts of bizarre fake Corpse Pieces—severed fingers, eyeballs, and internal organs—were planted around its edges.

Ai De Wen had inserted every fake Corpse Piece he had taken from Nameless Town's warehouse upside down into the array. He looked like a cultist preparing a sacrifice.

Well, he was a cultist to begin with. A genuine, unadulterated cultist without a trace of impurity.

"It's finished!" As he drew the final stroke of the array, Ai De Wen trembled with excitement from head to toe. "I really am a genius."

He Wei Ni Ya, who had watched for quite some time, asked, "Will this work now?"

"Of course!" Ai De Wen said. "As long as I enter a dream within this array, these fake Corpse Pieces will block the Gods' sight for me. At that point, no matter what I do in the dream, the Gods will not discover it. I can even bring it into reality and completely master the greatest taboo in this world!"

"What do I need to do?"

"Just stand guard for me!" Ai De Wen could no longer wait. He sat cross-legged at the center of the array. "Don't worry, I will absolutely share this knowledge with you afterward! Ah... Don't touch those fake Corpse Pieces! They are not real, and they are still unstable. Once—"

"I know." He Wei Ni Ya impatiently cut Ai De Wen off. "Hurry up."

"Of course!" Ai De Wen closed his eyes, still muttering continuously. "It has to work. It has to work!"

The array activated at once, and crimson light enveloped Ai De Wen.

He Wei Ni Ya immediately felt something strange. Ai De Wen was clearly right before her, yet it felt as if she could not see him.

He Wei Ni Ya narrowed her eyes.

Those fake Corpse Pieces really did work.

But even she could sense that the array was indeed unstable. The crimson light enveloping Ai De Wen flickered between bright and dim. Ai De Wen, his eyes tightly shut, frowned as sweat continuously seeped out. He was clearly struggling to maintain it.

Since that was the case...

He Wei Ni Ya's lips curled slightly.

Then I'll lend you a hand.

He Wei Ni Ya took a filthy wooden box from her pocket and opened it, revealing a Corpse Piece identical to those surrounding the array—an ear.

But unlike the others, this one was real.

He Wei Ni Ya kindly inserted the ear into the edge of the array. In an instant, Ai De Wen's body turned completely crimson, like a duck about to be boiled alive.

Yet Ai De Wen felt no pain. After a brief daze, he instead burst forth with even greater excitement.

"Ha ha ha, I did it! I did it!"

Then his head tilted to one side, and he completely entered the dream.