Edge of Losing Control

Outside the alley lay a bustling market. It was mid-morning, and the aroma of fried bread, the hawkers' cries, and the rumbling of carriage wheels constantly drifted in from the street.

Ivan was currently lying beside a wooden crate deep in the alley, his transparent, umbrella-shaped body pressed against the cold stone floor, his tentacles struggling to curl beneath him.

If anyone were to pass by at this moment, they would surely be terrified by the sight:

A jellyfish larger than a bucket was wriggling against the ground, its entire body glowing with a blood-red light, like a monster that did not belong to this world.

With no time to investigate the burning sensation, Ivan struggled to concentrate his Spirituality, maintaining his concealment to avoid drawing any surrounding attention.

Sunlight spilled into the corner of the alley, passing through and reflecting off his body, casting flickering light and shadows against the wall.

"What is that?"

On the other side, Gais noticed the anomaly.

He moved his feet cautiously, walking slowly toward the place where the light source was flickering.

Ivan only felt this burning sensation becoming more intense and bizarre than when he had previously broken through the shackles of his faith energy.

It was as if something that had been asleep for thousands of years was slowly waking up within his body.

Immediately following, an ancient and frenzied aura seeped out from within him, like an invisible mist, weaving through his complex tentacles and drifting slowly toward the mouth of the alley.

That aura carried the briny scent of rivers and lakes, while simultaneously bearing an indescribable chaos.

A lady was passing by the alley entrance holding a cute brown Teddy dog. The docile puppy seemed to have smelled something; it suddenly leaped from her arms, its fur standing on end, and barked wildly at the depths of the alley.

The roses in a flower basket in front of the florist shop adjacent to the alley, which had been blooming brilliantly, withered instantly the moment the aura drifted past, turning into a clump of shriveled, dark red matter.

Ivan could clearly feel that this aura had even stirred the faith energy flowing steadily within his body.

His mind-reading ability, which had previously only been able to hear Gais and Little George, suddenly spiraled out of control. The sounds of the market flooded into his mind like a tidal wave. Merchants were calculating, "I need to earn more shillings today," a noblewoman was complaining, "Why is the air in the West District so stale today?" A gentleman was thinking, "I must go to Mr. Felin's tailor shop to see if my custom morning coat is ready"...

Countless chaotic thoughts mixed with that frenzied aura, causing his consciousness to gradually blur.

On the verge of his spirit dissipating, a string of syllables echoed in his mind.

"Na... ra..."

The voice was layered and overlapping, indistinguishable in gender, sounding like countless people chanting in unison, or perhaps the roar from the throat of a wild beast.

The whispers were unintelligible, yet they made the burning sensation and the ancient aura radiating from his body even more frantic.

Ivan felt he was on the edge of losing control, and he couldn't help but think:

"If you don't court death, you won't die."

Faith energy was being consumed crazily, and at the very last second, Ivan reset the state of his body.

His body began to differentiate, but unlike before, the scarlet light spots exploded into the sky like fireworks at a circus.

The light spots flickered continuously, gradually turning into a peaceful, ghostly blue.

After shedding the scarlet, the light spots gathered in the air, and the transparent, blue-glowing jellyfish reappeared.

Only a single tentacle carrying a dark red glow remained on the ground.

Ivan's tentacle touched his newly formed body.

"Well, my faith energy has dropped another chunk. I clearly just told myself not to use my abilities recklessly."

Gais walked to the wooden crate at the corner of the alley, but the scene before him dealt a heavy blow to his psyche.

From his perspective, he saw countless long, transparent objects in the air.

They looked like bubbles blown by a mischievous child, or perhaps twisted, transparent strings.

Refracted under the sunlight, those things did not scatter colorful light, but a monotonous red, as if they were alive, entangling and dancing.

They looked just like grotesque tentacles.

Boiling bubbles constantly rolled and burst upon those tentacles, and an ancient, terrifying aura slowly overflowed from them.

Before Gais could react to this sight, those tentacle-like objects suddenly exploded, scattering into red dots across the sky.

The red dots flickered continuously, gradually turning into a faint blue light.

As the lights alternated, Gais felt a splitting headache.

The next second, those blue lights vanished. It was as if a red object had appeared on the ground, but before he could see it clearly, it disappeared into nothingness.

Gais panicked for only an instant before immediately squeezing his eyes shut and praying devoutly:

"Great Lord of All Spirits, please grant your most devout servant Gais your blessing, and let me remain undisturbed by these evil illusions!"

He had mistaken the scene he just witnessed for an illusion created by some hidden entity.

After experiencing the incident where his memories were tampered with, Gais was exceptionally cautious regarding these anomalies.

Receiving Gais's prayer, Ivan, who had just gathered the discarded Remnant Corpse of his spirit back into his spiritual body, realized:

"Did Gais just see my process of differentiation and reorganization?"

He carefully checked the memory of the scene and found that only a portion of his tentacles had failed to conceal themselves; he hadn't exposed his full form to Gais.

"Ugh, how embarrassing. It feels like being caught using the restroom by someone else..."

Ivan did not want to expose his jellyfish form to Gais; after all, this guy was not as easy to fool as Little George.

If Gais were to see that the jellyfish was something he had purchased himself, he would likely grow suspicious and report the matter to the Night Watchmen.

"How is my differentiation anything like the ritual of an evil creature? To say such things about me—it's just a few extra tentacles, that's all!"

"No wonder the gods have no concrete form; they are probably afraid that their true appearance would shake the faith of their believers."

"Only the great Lord of one's imagination is the most perfect image."

At this moment, Ivan felt immense regret; he really shouldn't have manifested his form in front of so many people yesterday.

"Hmm, I must find a way to remedy this during tonight's Baptism Ceremony."

Ivan composed himself, adopting a secretive and grand tone to respond to Gais:

"Hold fast to your faith, and protect your original heart."

Hearing the response from his Lord, Gais exhaled and opened his eyes. Sure enough, all the eerie, evil scenes had vanished.

He couldn't help but marvel that he truly worshipped a secretive and great existence, one that answered every plea of its believers.

The Gais who once believed in atheism had vanished, replaced by a Missionary with devout faith in the Lord of All Spirits.

"Praise the great Lord of All Spirits!"

Watching the devout believer Gais from the air, Ivan couldn't help but pat his tentacles together.

He felt the cluster of red light he had just absorbed into his own spiritual body, paused for a moment, and let his voice drift into Gais's mind once more.

"My child... the time has come."