Blackstone Territory, a private residence.
A large number of guards surrounded the place. Knight Yiman, clad in armor, charged in at the head of the group and kicked the door open.
Bang!
"Ah... sir!"
A woman standing by the soup pot was so startled that she dropped the spoon in her hand. Beside her, a farmer knelt on the ground. "Sir... you... you..."
Several children began to cry.
"No one in the back!"
Eight-Fingers came in too. Looking at the scene, he frowned in confusion. "Could it be... the intelligence was wrong?!"
This looked like an ordinary family. There was no way they could be connected to the mastermind behind everything.
Knight Yiman's expression was stern. He suddenly stepped forward, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and tasted it. A smile appeared on his face. "There's salt in the soup, and meat... Since when could ordinary farmers afford to eat this well? Or... were you preparing it for someone else? Search the place!"
The farmer's face immediately turned ashen. Then a group of soldiers rushed in and began smashing everything in sight.
"There's a cellar!"
Eight-Fingers searched every inch of the floor. Suddenly, he pulled up an iron ring and shouted.
When they lifted the hatch, they found a passage leading underground.
Knight Yiman's expression remained grim as he charged in first.
"Honestly... he's really going all out to clear his name."
Eight-Fingers shook his head and followed him.
Before long, the sounds of weapons clashing and several screams came from the cellar.
A bloodied man was dragged out by Eight-Fingers like a dead dog. "Soft hands and fine skin. He's probably some noble lord! Knight Yiman, do you know him?"
"Jon Davis!"
Knight Yiman nodded. "A cadet branch of the Davis Family, reported missing during the Black Crow War..."
"Well, that solves the case."
A smile appeared on Eight-Fingers' face.
The next morning.
Aaron ate breakfast as he listened to Albert's report.
A wise man didn't put himself in danger. As a lord, Aaron had plenty of subordinates. Why risk his own life? The time limit on his spiritual power had already passed...
Besides, Knight Yiman was there to charge into battle for him.
He only had to stay in the safety of his villa and wait quietly for the results.
"Under interrogation, Jon also revealed a hidden organization plotting to oppose us, along with a list of its members..."
Albert handed Aaron a list.
Aaron took a sip of meat soup and glanced at it casually. "As expected, they're remnants of the Davis Family... But they'll only grow weaker. They're nothing to worry about."
"What should we do about the aftermath?" Albert asked hesitantly.
"Have Knight Yiman execute Jon himself. Then write up a report on what happened and send a copy to Sothoth Castle. That's all."
Aaron waved a hand.
The fallout from this incident would pass soon enough.
There was also an unspoken benefit: caught up in such a major affair, Knight Yiman had been overwhelmed with work and quickly returned to his territory. He no longer had the time or inclination to bring up the marriage alliance.
Dream World.
Diat.
The former Department Store, now a branch of the Order of the Light of Redemption.
Olivia, Lin, and several ordinary people were praying.
"Praise our Lord!"
"You are the Spirit of Unknown Void, the Absolute Neutral Entity, the Silent Observer..."
"You are the symbol of free will, the Sole Redeemer of the apocalypse, the highest and most exalted light..."
"Please hear the prayers of your followers. Please cast down your merciful gaze..."
The symbol of free will? When did I get another authority? Don't make things up...
Aaron watched the scene, his eyelid twitching. Then he established a "connection."
"Our Lord!"
Lin shuddered, a look of reverence appearing on her face.
Olivia's body, meanwhile, trembled uncontrollably.
After coming into direct contact with this great being, she could feel that he was undoubtedly an existence on equal footing with the Cocoon.
An existence that humans couldn't perceive or describe, and that filled them with terror!
And yet, he didn't erode her reason. Instead, he felt as warm as the sun in the depths of winter.
Whatever doubts and confusion she had still harbored vanished at once.
"There are already this many people?"
Aaron glanced over Lin's congregation and saw that there were already more than twenty members. Of course, only two were Beyonders.
That meant only those two could sense his presence after the mysterious connection had been established.
As for the other ordinary people, they could only gaze at everything in confusion or pray with even greater devotion.
He listened quietly to Lin's report, affirmed her contributions to the congregation's growth, and approved her "request" to establish another permanent altar here. Then he severed the connection.
"Our Lord has turned his gaze elsewhere..."
Lin stood and announced loudly, "But he is watching over us—every one of us! He has recognized our devotion and permitted us to build a second temple in his honor..."
The ordinary members of the Order of the Light of Redemption cheered. Olivia smiled too.
Then, while the ordinary members began gathering materials to build the altar, the two leaders of the Order of the Light of Redemption came together.
"Did you feel it? That was our merciful Lord..."
Lin spoke softly.
"How merciful, how forgiving..." Olivia wiped the corner of her eye. "I can hardly wait to draw closer to our Lord..."
Compared to entities like Black Sun and the Cocoon, this one really was kind. He bore humanity no ill will. That was so rare!
Lin's little face creased slightly. "It's just a shame that our Lord still hasn't recognized us or bestowed his Path upon us..."
"As long as we remain faithful and continue to make offerings, the day will come when our Lord grants us everything," Olivia said firmly.
"You're wrong. I haven't bestowed a Path because I really don't have one..."
Aaron watched from the side, the corners of his mouth twitching.
Still, he was curious about which Path the mysterious energy produced by his dream-walking might belong to.
"Come to think of it, strengthening my own consciousness with mysterious energy has had less and less effect... It's more worthwhile to shelter believers and have them offer their spirituality to me. That's a triangular trade. Spirituality comes from mysterious energy, and that comes from me. So why can an offering break through the world's barrier and reach reality?"
A question arose in Aaron's mind, but he knew this wasn't something he could understand yet.
"Speaking of which, I'd be satisfied even if I could find a way to use the mysterious and wield the extraordinary in reality, even if there were heavy losses..."
Just then, a member of the congregation came running over in a panic and shouted, "Saintess, Bishop... something's happened!"
Aaron followed Lin and Olivia into another room, where he saw an injured man lying on the floor.
A layer of pitch-black, viscous flame covered his arm. It continued to burn, yet strangely, it wasn't very hot. Instead, it made them feel cold.
The injured believer was unconscious, and his life force had weakened to a dangerously faint level.
"Barnard, what happened?"
Olivia looked at the man who had brought them the news.
"We went out as ordered to search for supplies and survivors. Then we ran into a group of people wearing black clerical robes, with burn scars on their bodies. They tried to recruit us, but of course we refused, and a fight broke out..."
Barnard spoke with shame.
He had once been a soldier and had received good training. Among the ordinary members of the Order of the Light of Redemption, he was one of the best.
Armed with guns, he could even fight the monsters. But now, cold sweat poured down his forehead. He was clearly terrified.
"It's the Black Sun Cult. Their influence has spread here."
Lin gritted her teeth.
Before you continue