Within the sacred pillar of light, the tree burls and flesh, deprived of external support, rapidly crumbled, like snow encountering a red-hot iron ball.
Amidst the indescribable hissing sound, Cynthia's face contorted in pain.
She struggled to turn left and right, look up and down, her expression gradually turning to fear and confusion, as if she had finally realized that something was wrong with her.
"General..." Her voice trembled as she looked ahead, filled with fear and despair, only to find a stranger's face.
Klein could have fed the " Creeping Hunger " with Cynthia's remaining flesh and spirit, but for now he only sighed and said calmly:
"Don't come into contact with strange objects or religions anymore."
In his view, Cynthia's current state was either due to involvement with a cult or because of some dangerous object that had connected her to something unseen, which explained her response.
Cynthia vaguely understood something, and tears suddenly streamed down her face as she became just a head and a few bits of flesh.
"Yes, it is the Mother Tree of Desire, it is the Celestial Sect..."
"General, General, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
"Help me! Help me!"
The Mother Tree of Desire... the Celestial Sect... this is outside the scope of my occult knowledge... Klein's expression remained unchanged, his gaze filled with pity as he looked at the distraught Cynthia pleading for help. He opened his arms again and spoke in a low voice:
"Death is not the end; you will find salvation with the divine."
Another clear, pure beam of light descended, freezing Cynthia's beautiful face, streaked with tears, in a perfect stillness.
Her gaze suddenly turned to despair, yet a glimmer of hope remained for heaven after death.
Under the " The Sun's " light, her head and remains melted and disappeared at a visible speed, achieving final Purification.
Klein watched this scene seemingly calmly, without any change in expression or movement for a long time.
Once everything had calmed down, a slight smile played on his lips, a bitter laugh barely concealed.
"What a crazy and chaotic world..."
His recent experience made him hesitant to directly " Spirit Channeling," and the many strange aspects of the situation made him abandon his plan to bring Cynthia's spirit above the Gray Fog to "question" her. Faced with the inability to dispel the evil feeling and its increasingly severe Corrosion, he could only choose to Purification Cynthia in time. After all, this was a world with a true god, and perhaps heaven truly existed after death.
As for the backlash from " Creeping Hunger," Klein wasn't worried for the time being. After spending so much time together, this magical item, which was sealed to some extent, had become more and more compatible with him. It no longer required him to feed it immediately after each use. It had returned to its original state, and once activated, it would only eat once every 24 hours, regardless of how many times it was used. Of course, on days when it wasn't used, it definitely didn't need to eat.
Therefore, Klein still has ample time to find food for the " Creeping Hunger " without harming innocent people.
If all else fails, he can throw them onto the Gray Fog... Klein looked around and found that the members of the general's guard and the male and female servants in the house had all broken free from the influence of the amplified desire and had passed out. This included the maid who had grabbed her companion's throat at the door to gain praise and recognition, as well as the blonde secretary, Luan.
"Indeed, only by addressing the root cause of the problem can things be truly resolved..."
"According to Amyrius's description, Luan is at least Sequence 6 Beyonder, suspected to be the ' Baron of Corruption,' and may even have secretly reached Sequence 5... He was so easily controlled by amplified desires, which shows that the power he gained through Cynthia's descent was of extremely high quality. So why did I only have a wet dream...?"
"If we don't consider it a magical item, Luan and I should be on the same level..."
"Was it because the power Gray Fog intertwined with reality provided assistance? Was it because of the limitations of Amyrius's 'temporary contract'? Or perhaps both?"
"Hmm, without them, as Cynthia's primary target, my desires in that area would definitely be amplified to the extreme, and it wouldn't just be a beautiful dream..." Klein habitually reached out his right hand to stroke his face, transforming back into Amyrius Rieveldt.
With the others no longer in immediate danger, he carefully examined the room, and suddenly Spirit Intuition struck him.
Klein took a few steps forward and came to the spot where Cynthia had disappeared. He bent down and picked up a necklace from the pile of tattered clothes on the bed.
The necklace had a pendant the size of a knuckle hanging from it. It was entirely black and shaped like a miniature rhinoceros horn. Its surface was extremely dull and covered with numerous cracks. Apart from a slightly eerie feeling, it had no Spirituality radiance whatsoever.
"Is this the dangerous item that caused Cynthia's mutation? Because it had been connected to that unseen being, it had completed its mission and poured all its power into Cynthia's body?" Klein made a preliminary guess based on the pendant's condition and previous experiences.
He examined the scene for a while but found nothing else. He then took out the paper figure, cleaned up the traces, and lifted the spell. He then walked over to his blond secretary, Luan, who had been briefly devoured by the flowers and still showed some signs of Corrosion. He raised his knee and kicked Lu Er'an a few times with his toes.
Given Amyrius's personality, he shouldn't be capable of squatting down to wake his secretary... Ha, that guy's Pride and condescending attitude was really annoying, I wanted to punch him... Klein stopped what he was doing and watched Luan slowly wake up with a serious and solemn expression.
"General..." Luan was momentarily confused, seemingly unable to distinguish whether he was dreaming or in reality.
As someone in a superior position, I have no obligation to explain... Klein looked down at him and said in a low voice:
"Wake up all the lightly wounded here. Some of them will heal the rest, while others will immediately investigate the Celestial Sect on Oravi Island. They worship an evil god called the ' Mother Tree of Desire,' hmm... start with the people around Cynthia."
"I'm waiting for your report in the study."
After saying that, he held the broken, miniature rhinoceros horn pendant, turned around, walked out of the master bedroom, and entered the quiet, unaffected study.
As a high-ranking military figure, although he faced some helplessness when dealing with the kingdom's top brass, having to selectively ignore certain matters—for example, the fact that the new governor had arrived shortly after the telegram ordering his removal from the post of Governor Aston indicated that the new governor had departed well in advance, and that Amyrius Rieveldt, as the supreme commander of the Central Sonia Sea, had received no such news—he still wielded absolute Authority on Oravi Island when dealing with Secretary Luan, the local police force, and members of the naval base. He didn't need to conduct his own investigation; he had plenty of manpower to arrange things.
Demigod only need to be on guard against unexpected events and wait for news; they don't need to be busy or busy!
Inside the study, as Klein listened to the chaotic footsteps, terrified screams, questions, and conversations outside, the image of that dazzling Starry Sky and that brightly shining the Star involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
"What does this symbolize?" Klein frowned, sat down in the chair behind his desk, his figure disappearing into the darkness brought by the curtains.
He quickly made some connections, because the myths and legends of City of Silver and Emlyn White's descriptions of the Sanguine made him confirm that the " The Moon " pathway had some authority over "reproduction," which was quite consistent with Cynthia's intentions and actions.
"A dazzling Starry Sky... Mr. 'Door' told Emperor Roselle that the Tarot card corresponding to the goddess is ' The Star,' not ' The Moon.' Could this illusory Starry Sky symbolize Her? Hmm, ' The Moon Primordial ' is suspected of being a disguise for some god, Angel, or high-ranking Devil, while the goddess has the honorific name ' Crimson Moon.' Could it be that She impersonates ' The Moon Primordial,' occupies the corresponding position, and wields the necessary authority?" Although Klein knew that such thoughts were extremely blasphemous, he still couldn't help but suspect the Evernight Goddess.
However, he quickly dismissed this conjecture, because both Lilith, the progenitor of vampires, and the "Primordial Moon" exhibited only pure "reproduction," without any mention of appetite, arrogance, or the need for recognition. This contradicted the behavior of some of the previous victims, and the other titles of the Goddess of the Night did not include the corresponding domains.
"This does fit the characteristics of the ' Devil ' pathway. The ' Apostle of Desire ' is an expert in similar areas... Could it be that the one replacing the ' The Moon Primordial ' is truly a high-ranking Devil, or even the Devil King who calls himself the ' Dark Side of the Universe,' Sequence 0 ' Abyss '? This is very likely, but the problem is that it shouldn't present an illusory Starry Sky and bright the Star. Neither the ' The Moon ' nor the ' Abyss ' has anything to do with similar symbolic symbols..." The more Klein thought about it, the more he felt that this guess was problematic.
Amidst a jumble of thoughts, a concept suddenly came to mind.
A concept that frequently appears as an important part of the occult knowledge he has come into contact with, yet has never been described or explained in detail!
That is, the " Astral World "!
Apart from a few organizations like the School of Life that believe in niche knowledge such as an " World of Absolute Rationality," most mysticisms describe the world as composed of "reality," " the Spirit World," and " the Astral World."
Needless to say, knowledge of the "real Spirit World " is the foundation of many Ritualistic Magic and extraordinary abilities, but the " Astral World " is basically a blank in Klein's understanding.
"So, the illusory Starry Sky represents the ' Astral World,' and the bright the Star are some entity within the ' Astral World '? I've always suspected that the ' Astral World ' is the abode of the true gods, so it's not impossible that this symbolic image represents the ' The Moon Primordial '..." Klein stopped thinking about it and waited for the results of his subordinates' investigation while recalling the details of the past few days.
Time ticked by, and Klein finally heard familiar footsteps coming upstairs and approaching.
The blonde secretary Luan, knocked on the door and entered, bowing her head and calmly reporting:
"Your Excellency, we have located the Celestial Sect and captured their leader."
"This clue was provided by Miss Cynthia's parents."
"This sect has been quite active in Oravi in recent years. Its mission is to go naked, return to nature, and indulge one's nature. It believes that humans can achieve Spirituality liberation in this state."
"Reproduction is a byproduct of this idea."
After a pause, Luan added:
"Their leader is an Beyonder, Sequence 8 ' Lunatic '."
" Lunatic?" A " Lunatic " from the " Prisoner " route? Related to the Rose School of Thought? Hmm, the Rose School of Thought has two factions: "Temperance" and "Indulgence," and the latter's philosophy fits the situation quite well... Klein was startled, but outwardly remained calm as he said:
"Bring him here."