A Cultist's Struggle

How dare you speak like that!

The young man who was about to jump into the river was enraged by the words of the youth on the bank. His face, which was originally pale from the cold, turned red, and he climbed up the gentle slope of the riverbank in a few steps.

Old Kohler stared in astonishment, his eyes wide.

Wow, that's amazing! Just one sentence and he willingly went ashore...

What difference would it make if I told you?

Luther, the young man sitting on the shore, asked casually, "Weren't you already prepared to die?"

After saying that, he gently lifted his foot and kicked the young man who was about to get ashore back into the river.

He'd already climbed up, so why were they kicked down again?

Old Kohler was filled with surprise and confusion as he watched the other man slowly walk down the slope to the water's edge. The young man struggled violently in the water, trying to climb out. But Luther simply stretched out his foot, stepped on his head, and forcibly pushed him underwater.

Can the dead control the living?

Luther's cold questioning echoed mercilessly across the silent river, accompanied by the violent splashing of water. He would stomp for a while, then release, leaving the young man enduring the agony of drowning, only occasionally getting a breath of air.

Meanwhile, he continued to say:

Even if your mother is bullied and lives on the streets, what does it have to do with you?

You are dead!

"You abandoned your family when you were planning to die. Now you want to make amends? It's too late!"

"Just go and die."

Old Kohler was too horrified to speak, watching as Luther questioned and tortured the poor young man until the latter stopped struggling and slowly sank to the Tussock River.

"You... you killed someone!"

He said, his voice trembling.

Luther glanced at Old Kohler, but didn't see him do anything. The young man who had sunk into the river actually surfaced again, though he looked dead. He grabbed the man's collar, dragged him ashore, pulled open his shirt, and plunged his hand directly into the man's abdomen!

"Cough cough!"

The young man suddenly opened his eyes, coughed violently, and vomited a large amount of water mixed with blood.

He was forced to breathe, a hand squeezing his lungs, forcing his delicate internal organs to expand and contract, expelling river water and expelling cold air in its place. Extreme pain and the lingering fear of suffocation filled his mind; he didn't even realize that his stomach had been pierced.

Seeing that the other person had almost fully recovered, Luther withdrew his hand; the other person's abdomen was completely unharmed.

"Mingming-"

The young man was coughing and crying, and his pitiful appearance made Old Kohler feel sorry for him.

However, although he cried pitifully, he no longer had the urge to die. After catching his breath, he stared blankly for a while, then silently got up, exchanged a glance with Old Kohler, and walked towards the end of the smoke-filled street.

He shouldn't be dead, right...?

Old Kohler watched his retreating figure, lost in thought. Turning back to look at the shore, he saw that the blue-eyed youth had vanished without a trace.

That young man is really resourceful, but his methods are a bit extreme.

Old Kohler recalled the thrilling scene from just moments ago, still feeling lingering fear.

On another note, did he stick his hand into that man's stomach and squeeze his lungs hard...? A damp, cold wind blew in, and Old Kohler shivered; he quickly wrapped his coat tighter around himself.

That can't be, I must have seen it wrong.

Old Kohler decided to stop thinking about the strange things he had just witnessed. This was the East Borough; if he didn't want to die an unexplained death, he had to learn to ignore it.

I'll just go to the nearby coffee shop and scrape together breakfast with my meager pennies. May the Storm bring me some work this afternoon.

Old Kohler, who was only in his thirties or forties but looked much older, prayed, bowing his head and walking into the acrid smoke.

The Shadow Ascetic had digested a little more of the Potion.

As Luther walked back to his residence, he sensed changes within his body and felt slightly puzzled.

I didn't do anything special; I just saved a young man who was feeling down.

This was the first morning after moving, and he had planned to take the opportunity to familiarize himself with the surroundings. However, he didn't expect to encounter what just happened after only a short stroll.

Think carefully about your actions and how they might have coincided with the name of the Potion, leading to indigestion.

Regarding the "concealment" aspect, it might be because my actions are quite Concealment, seen by only a very few people, which aligns with the power of the shadows. As for "monk":... a monk is a practitioner who studies divine knowledge and also has the obligation to spread the gospel.

So, does that mean Shadow Ascetic is someone who "spreads the gospel in secret"?

As for the gospel being spread... it's probably just extreme and Degeneration emotions.

Looking back, everyone who witnessed his abilities was quite terrified. Some even experienced fear, despair, and pain. Luther guessed that if they were directly converted into believers of the True Creator, the Potion might be digested even faster.

By combining this with the name of the next Sequence, "Rose Bishop," Luther gradually gained a deeper understanding of this Sequence.

This Sequence is practically a story of a cult follower's struggle within a cult!

First, one prays to an evil god to establish a connection; then Listening blessings, becomes a believer, and then begins asceticism until one attains the position of bishop.

I feel like it's even a bit inspiring.

As the smoke gradually cleared, the outline of the building came into view, and Luther returned to his rented Apartment.

He Door Opening and went inside, and immediately saw his landlady Emily. She was carrying a schoolbag and wearing a veil, looking like she was on her way to school.

Good morning, heading to school.

"Um."

Emily glanced at Luther's straitjacket, hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "Do you have some kind of mental illness?"

"It's nothing serious, just schizophrenia."

Luther waved his hand and said.

He wasn't talking nonsense; the severe visual and auditory hallucinations, the presence of other personalities in his mind, perfectly fit the definition of schizophrenia. In the hospital,

The doctor made the same diagnosis. All we can say is, hopefully the condition will improve after the Potion is digested.

"I see."

The landlady said, seemingly not very knowledgeable about mental illness, "If you break something because of a mental episode, as long as it's not very valuable, I won't ask you for compensation."

Thank you for your understanding.

Luther smiled and said that although he was not short of money, he still accepted the other party's kindness.

Over time, he found the girl to be a very nice person. In this chaotic East Borough, her parents had passed away, yet she was still struggling to survive. His younger sister told him that her bedroom light had been on late last night; she had been studying diligently. It seemed she wanted to leave the East Borough this way.

Luther doesn't dislike people who try to save themselves.

After saying goodbye to the other person in the porch, Luther continued walking into the Apartment. He saw that breakfast was already set on the dining table in the living room, and his sister Cecilia was waiting for him behind it.

"Welcome back, brother. How is the scenery outside?"

"It's incredibly ugly, nowhere near as good as Tingen."

Luther smiled, sat down, and picked up a piece of bread from the plate.

He could survive by absorbing large amounts of raw meat. However, he still felt that eating with his sister as usual brought him a sense of Ritual and helped stabilize his condition. For this, he was willing to expend some of his Spirituality and use the Phantom Tide in his mind.

The logic Acting the "Shadow Ascetic" Potion's role is pretty much clear. The next step is to try to make contact with the extraordinary community here, while simultaneously trying to digest the Potion and reduce the madness.