Chapter 287: Grandpa

Peld lay on the ground, staring at the motionless Karon ahead of him.

He was worried. He was nervous. To a certain extent, his opponent had already defeated him, but now, he still had hope of relying on his uncle’s soul to complete a final reversal. He believed in his uncle.

Back when the previous generation of the Church of Reincarnation had been rising to power, his uncle had been one of the truly outstanding figures. If not for dying prematurely due to an accident, he absolutely would have been cultivated as a candidate for the next generation of Gatekeepers.

However, the pendant hanging against Peld’s chest had already begun swaying gently. Through it, he could contact his grandaunt, because it was a gift she had personally given him during his sixteenth birthday ceremony.

He did not wish to use it.

This time, he had already violated her orders by leaving to search for a body suitable for carrying his beloved.

He did not want to disappoint his grandaunt. Although she herself had no children, she had many brothers and sisters, which meant she also had many grandnephews and grandnieces to choose from.

Behind Peld, the woman nervously gripped the tree bark with both hands. She worried deeply about her lover’s condition, yet she also clearly understood that she had only recently occupied this ordinary human body and possessed no combat ability whatsoever.

Behind Karon, Ophelia’s gaze constantly shifted between Karon, Peld, and the woman behind Peld. She was worried about Karon, but he had repeatedly prevented her from intervening, and that caused her to be unwilling to act rashly now.

She had already made her decision. If anything happened to Karon, she would immediately move and kill both Peld and the woman.

Still, Ophelia also understood what Karon had been worried about all along. This Simons fellow most likely possessed holy relics capable of transmitting information. Meanwhile, the people from the Church of Reincarnation were still staying at the nearby hotel.

Ophelia began planning her route of attack. How could she kill Simons as quickly as possible and prevent him from making any further moves?

Perhaps... She could imitate the woman beside him. Act weak. Act lost. Act helpless. Walk over, kneel down, beg him to stop the soul from attacking Karon... then strike suddenly.

A niece personally valued by Tafmann was bound to resemble him in certain aspects. Ophelia would never show mercy when mercy was inappropriate. After all, not long ago, she had personally watched the severed heads of her two older brothers get kicked around like balls.

In short, the battlefield that had been incomparably chaotic moments ago suddenly fell silent.

And the center of that silence rested upon Karon. Meanwhile, he had already closed his eyes.

***

All around him was endless darkness. Karon stepped out from that blackness, bringing the only source of light.

This was a form of inner vision. It did not even require any Art to serve as guidance or a medium. One only needed to enter a meditative state to clearly perceive the condition of the spirituality within their body.

As Karon stepped forward, the light radiating from him began spreading outward.

Darkness ahead was gradually driven away. If viewed from above, it resembled a grayish-brown stain being revealed.

A middle-aged man wearing damaged armor stood there. Grayish-brown veins spread outward from beneath his feet, extending across a vast area as he used them to suppress Karon and seize control of the body.

In truth, he had already been doing this for some time. Ever since entering Karon’s body, he had continuously been trying. Yet now, seeing Karon calmly emerge from the “outer edges,” he immediately understood things had not progressed as smoothly as expected.

He had already contaminated a large area, but when Karon’s light illuminated the surroundings, the man realized that the corruption he had caused resembled nothing more than a blemish on the skin.

“I’m very curious,” the man said. “What exactly are you within the Church of Order?”

Karon looked at him. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “You barged into my body uninvited, and the first thing you do is question me about my identity? No country’s laws or customs work that way.”

“Karmond Simons.”

“Karon Silva.”

“I want to know whether you deliberately followed Peld and waited for him to make a mistake so you could bait him.”

“You mean, was my appearance here at the direction of some upper echelon of our Church of Order?”

“I believe that is a possibility.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that is a possibility at all. As the victors, why would our Church of Order specifically target a pack of defeated dogs like you? All we wanted has already been obtained at the negotiation table. We have no interest in childish games like this. I mean... fishing enforcement. Hmm... I’m not sure you understand that term.”

“So tonight’s incident was entirely coincidental?”

“Yes.”

“You only sought justice for that girl because you happened to eat at that restaurant?”

“Yes.”

“That simple?”

“It’s that simple.”

“I failed to restrain my junior properly.”

“It’s fine. Since your Reincarnation side can’t discipline your people properly, we of Order will help you do it.”

“Very well. We admit defeat. Peld will be arrested by you and confess to his crimes. Reincarnation will offer compensation for this matter. And on his behalf, I also promise you we will not seek revenge against you because of it.

“I believe that, with the strength you’ve displayed and your current age, your status within the Church of Order must already be very high. Naturally, you would not fear retaliation from defeated dogs.”

Karon remained silent.

Karmond asked, “You wish to kill him?”

Karon still said nothing.

“You have secrets you need to protect?”

At those words, a smile returned to Karon’s face.

“Now that I think about it,” Karmond continued. “The flames that appeared around your body during that battle... they were hiding something, weren’t they? You carry secrets. You don’t wish for them to be exposed.”

Karon answered, “You know, the more you say, the less likely it becomes that you’ll survive.”

“It doesn’t matter. You never intended to let me live anyway. but if you intend to completely erase my soul, that will be difficult. The resilience of my soul surpasses your imagination.”

Karon shook his head. “Not long ago, I completely erased another person. I don’t think I’ll encounter anyone harder to kill than him anytime soon.”

The process of killing Bernard had truly been exhausting.

“Your soul-consciousness space is far larger than I imagined. I cannot suppress your soul and seize control of your body, but driving me out will be just as difficult for you. If I wish it, I could even carve my spiritual imprint into this place. Do you know what that means?”

“What does it mean?”

“It means tearing open a gap in your faith and mixing impurities into it. That would obstruct your future growth and development. You have a much broader future ahead of you. It is not worth staining it with shadows because of this. Even I find it a pity. Truly.”

“That... heh.” Karon laughed softly. “I’m not lying to you. I genuinely don’t fear that.”

Karon truly was not afraid of any sort of corruption. At this point, his faith was practically a general store already, packed with all kinds of miscellaneous things.

“Sign a vow pact with me. Promise to hand Peld over to Order for judgment, and I will immediately leave your body.”

“In truth,” Karon said. “I’m more interested in seeing how you intend to damage my body or leave behind your so-called spiritual imprint. I am somewhat expectant of how you would cause trouble inside me.”

“You...”

“I’m not being sarcastic. I’m completely serious. When your soul charged through the purification barrier despite severe damage and entered my body, I genuinely froze for a moment. I never expected you would do something like that. I compared it to a game. And I want to play, because to me, this is a game I will not lose.

“This isn’t mockery. It’s the truth. In my eyes, you still cannot compare to that dog.”

Karmond laughed. “I admire your pride and arrogance. It reminds me of myself when I was young.”

“Do you think hearing that would make me happy?”

“You possess a better future. Stop now. Peld can become your friend. The war between Order and Reincarnation has already ended. Negotiations between the two orthodox Churches have concluded. In the coming centuries, the Church of Reincarnation may very well become the Church of Order’s greatest supporter. Relations between the two sides will likely remain excellent for hundreds of years. You can establish a relationship with Peld and use it to support your future path, and in that relationship, you would hold the superior position.

“Oh, right. The Reincarnation Gate will open next month. With your age and your excellence, you will certainly obtain a place from the Church of Order. Once you arrive at Reincarnation Valley, we can provide you with certain conveniences and opportunities during your trial within the Reincarnation Gate.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Every condition I’ve discussed with you can be sealed through a vow pact.

“And Peld himself is not stupid. He simply cannot let go of that relationship, but he does fully understand what choices are truly correct and farsighted. As the loser, he will not resent this outcome.”

“No,” Karon replied, “what I meant was, I still don’t know how to get my own name onto the list.”

“...” Karmond.

“You strike me as an intelligent and calm person,” Karon continued. “But unfortunately, I’ve never liked negotiating with people. Especially people I dislike.

“You only need to know one thing. That little girl’s name was Reima. Her father had already accepted that she would follow the person she loved and fly far away. He had even prepared her ticket home. But her father will now wait for her forever, so I cannot negotiate with you. And I absolutely cannot sign a vow pact with you. That would violate my principles as a person.

“Hah... Recently, I nearly twisted my own views regarding marriage. I understand exactly how uncomfortable it feels when your emotions and principles pull in opposite directions. So I’d rather firmly hold onto my own sense of right and wrong. I’ll simply follow the Code of Order.”

Karmond stared at Karon. “Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps you are overly confident in yourself? My soul contains the power of Reincarnation. I haven’t even truly begun exerting my full strength yet. You still have no idea what consequences await once we engage in a true conflict within this body.”

“And has it ever occurred to you,” Karon replied. “That perhaps the one who’s overly confident is actually you?”

“So there’s no room left for negotiation?”

“There isn’t. I already broke one girl’s heart tonight. At the very least, I should do something for her. For example, killing the bastard who uttered the words ‘trash.’

“Hmm... actually, now that I think about it, ever since I met her, she’s always been the one giving me gifts. I’ve never given her anything in return.

“A Simons family head. That gift should be valuable enough.”

“What a pity.” Karmond sighed. “I truly did not wish to destroy the rise of a genius. Your future was destined to shine brilliantly.”

“Fine. Let me give you a little motivation. Talina. Do you know her?”

“You know Talina? Of course I know her. I’d recognize her even after she’s been burned into ashes.”

“Though I wasn’t the one who burned her, I did stand beside her and blow on the ashes a little. You know how it is. Dust landing on your shoulders always feels uncomfortable. And I’m a person who enjoys cleanliness.”

Karon watched as Karmond’s eyes gradually reddened. His aura changed as well. Emotions no longer required observation through expressions. They were transmitted with perfect clarity. He was enraged. Good. Move already. Stop wasting words.

“So you truly have always harbored hostility toward our Church of Reincarnation. A genius like you cannot be allowed to rise!”

Karon nodded. “Everyone in Reincarnation is trash.”

Karmond’s body began enlarging. More grayish-brown shadows flowed from him, spreading rapidly outward in all directions as he strode directly toward Karon.

“You can hide your soul-consciousness first. That way, I won’t be able to attack you directly. In this consciousness space, which even shocks me with its scale, locating you would genuinely be difficult.”

“Don’t provoke me. I have no intention of hiding from you. I’ll stand right here. Come.”

“Very well.” Karmond walked toward Karon step by step. As the distance between them narrowed, the space beneath Karon gradually rose higher, as though layers of stairs had formed beneath him.

Karon stood at the very top. The surrounding space seemed compressed until only the staircase remained. “I can even lower the difficulty further for you.”

“Even though you killed Talina... even though you harbor hostility toward Reincarnation... I still genuinely admire you. I’m sorry, but I still must destroy you.” Karmond began ascending the stairs. His footsteps were unwavering.

At that moment, a figure appeared beside the staircase. It was blurry, and covered in frost, yet flames also surrounded it.

“A family faith system?” Karmond frowned slightly. “Does it originate from the girl behind you? Did you form a symbiotic relationship with her?”

Frost capable of freezing souls and magma capable of melting all things alternated across each step of the staircase. Every step Karmond took forced him either to endure bone-piercing cold or scorching heat. Yet he continued advancing upward steadily.

“Perhaps,” Karmond observed. “You should directly summon your Order faith.”

“Even if I summon nothing at all,” Karon replied. “you still cannot suppress or expel my soul from this body.

“But I want to try something. I want to see whether, if you truly manage to leave behind a Reincarnation spiritual imprint inside me, I might be able to make use of it somehow.”

“Didn’t you just call Reincarnation trash?”

“Trash depends on how you use it. Offal makes excellent soup.”

Karmond continued climbing. At that moment, a pair of eyes emerged beside the staircase: the Darkmoon Eyes opened.

The light they cast resembled tangible hands pushing toward Karmond. He resisted the pressure without retreating.

Then, the eyes gradually extended into outlines, as though a crude body were being sketched solely to support them. It was a woman dressed in native Darkmoon attire, and her eyes were the Darkmoon Eyes themselves.

“Darkmoon?” Karmond froze. “You carry Darkmoon blood!”

Karon also froze. This woman... is she the deity of Darkmoon? Does the Darkmoon worshipped by the people of Darkmoon Island actually possess a divine incarnation? Why have no records of this appeared within the island’s texts?

Darkmoon Island literature often personified the Darkmoon as a woman, but that was not part of a strict faith mythology system.

No, no. Something’s wrong. Suddenly, Karon understood. The development history of Darkmoon Island was not particularly long, and its most glorious era was even shorter. However, the Darkmoon hanging eternally above this region of the sea had likely existed long before any large-scale civilization developed upon Darkmoon Island.

“So Darkmoon truly possessed a deity, but somewhere within Darkmoon Island’s faith system, a historical discontinuity had occurred.” Karon then recalled how the Church of the Moon Goddess had sought to integrate Darkmoon into its own system. Did they already know the deity represented by Darkmoon?

Karmond continued advancing upward beneath the pressure. “If you refuse to use the faith Order, then you cannot stop me. I don’t even need to activate the imprint of the Reincarnation Gate!”

Then—

Karmond’s eyes abruptly bulged. Shock exploded across his features because above the staircase appeared a figure radiating holy brilliance. “Light?!”

The power of Light crashed downward toward Karmond. “Reincarnation!”

Behind the man appeared the shadow of a giant gate. The two faith powers immediately began clashing violently.

Karmond could no longer raise his foot. “You’re actually Light vermin! Hahaha! So this is the secret you wanted to hide? You’re actually Light vermin hiding within the Church of Order!”

Instead of continuing upward, Karmond rapidly retreated. The grayish-brown light that had spread throughout the surroundings also rapidly contracted. He no longer intended to continue fighting. He wanted to withdraw from Karon’s body immediately.

As long as he escaped, even if he abandoned Peld, Karon still would not dare harm Peld because Karmond had already grasped Karon’s secret. A genius of Light hidden inside Order. Haha!

Sensing the opponent’s intentions, Karon did not panic. If the opponent had fought him outside in the real world, Karon would indeed have found him troublesome, but this opponent had voluntarily entered his body. If Karon still failed to handle him under those circumstances, then he truly would have let down his own dog too badly.

Thus, Karon closed his eyes. As Karmond contracted into a ring of light and prepared to escape the body, he suddenly discovered Karon appearing above him.

No. More accurately, the space above resembled a curved dome. Karon’s figure became infinitely towering.

His eyes slowly opened as he gazed downward upon Karmond from above. A massive, majestic black chain appeared and began rotating.

That is the symbol of Order! Karmond roared, “How is this possible?! How can someone who believes in Light also possess Order?!”

The moment Karon fully opened his eyes, the Chains of Order shot straight for the ring of light. The phantom of the Reincarnation Gate appeared once more, only to shatter instantly beneath the impact of the Chains of Order.

“No... impossible...” The ring of light formed by Karmond began collapsing into scattered starlike fragments.

***

Meanwhile, changes were occurring outside. The silver ring on the ring finger of Karon’s left hand suddenly flickered. A silver mask appeared upon his face.

***

High above, behind Karon, the figure of an old man appeared. He looked elderly, yet his figure stood incomparably tall and majestic.

The faith system of Progenitor Allen had been borrowed through Karon’s symbiotic relationship with Pu’er, but Karon himself also possessed his own family faith system. Tiz had transformed a church faith into a family faith system through a blood sacrifice ritual, and that system existed entirely with Karon alone. Within the Immers family faith system, Tiz occupied the same position as Progenitor Allen, and Karon was the sole inheritor of the second generation.

The old man extended his hand toward the scattered starlike fragments. Immediately afterward, some of the dispersed fragments were forcibly gathered back together. A much smaller and blurrier Reincarnation Gate was dragged out.

Then, the old man casually flicked his hand. The imprint of the Reincarnation Gate was tossed directly toward Karon, the motion so casual it resembled a grandfather tossing his grandson a toy he liked.

Karon stared blankly at the aged figure, then murmured softly, “Grandpa...”