Omniscient Carbuncle turned its gaze toward Jody.
"Hehehe~~ It's your turn."
With Omniscient Carbuncle's laughter, a new spinal chain carrying a book arrived before Jody.
The twisted face gained a measure of calm. The face on the cover said:
"Those who kill me are saved; those who love me are imprisoned forever.
Those who consume me rot; those who fear me remain long!"
"Guess two characters!"
Another bizarre question.
Jody kept thinking, trying to find a possible answer.
She considered countless possibilities before, under Omniscient Carbuncle's urging, blurting out in panic, "Time!"
Omniscient Carbuncle erupted into maniacal laughter again:
"Hehehehe!!"
"Wrong answer!"
Jody was dumbfounded. She repeatedly demanded, "Why isn't it time? Every one of your riddles clearly has something to do with time!"
Omniscient Carbuncle laughed to itself. Then the cover that had posed the question announced the answer:
"The answer is: knowledge!"
Jody shook her head and asked, "Why knowledge? Why?"
Omniscient Carbuncle chuckled. In a low voice, it said, "You're still young. You don't understand."
"Knowledge has four poisons. Overturning cognition is killing! Loving knowledge is obsession—it is imprisonment!"
"Consuming knowledge leads to excess; fearing knowledge is reverence! Only by revering knowledge can one... hehehe!"
Omniscient Carbuncle looked at Jody and said, "Your punishment is here—a tiny little punishment!"
"Since you gave the wrong answer, your punishment shall be based on that wrong answer."
"I punish you! Your perception of time shall become chaotic, accelerating your experience of time!!"
"Hehehe!!"
As Omniscient Carbuncle's voice fell—
Jody, who had been speaking moments ago, suddenly seemed to have been muted.
The sight made Charles, who was still lying prone on the ground nearby, feel his scalp go numb.
This damned place was terrifying enough already. Now she had to feel time speeding up—one minute in reality might feel like