Kross turned to look at the long-abandoned church, his eyes narrowing slightly.
That church was a relic from ages ago. Long before the Katar Kingdom was even born on this land, faith in the God of Order had already taken root across the world.
The philosophy of the God of Order viewed order as the core principle of all things, dedicated to creating a stable world free from external interference.
Its ideology formed the prototype and foundation of human society. Thus, humans had established the primordial status of the God of Order early on. Its faith was the most ancient and enduring, with legends claiming it to be the most powerful of all deities.
During its peak, only the divine title of the God of Order existed across multiple eras.
However, it was at its very zenith that its philosophy clashed, and its divinity was split in two, giving birth to the God of Chaos.
One treated disordered chaos as freedom, while the other held regulated order as truth.
Consequently, the dominant status of the God of Order plummeted, and these two supreme deities spent their existences in a death struggle.
The church before Kross's eyes had once belonged to the God of Order, but the God of Chaos had also left its mark there.
Kross's gaze was profound, as if trying to see through the church just as time had.
"Captain, what's wrong?"
A relatively young hunter walked to his side, quite confused by the complex expression Kross was showing.
Kross glanced at him and said in a low voice, "Take a few people and search this place thoroughly. I suspect that woman just now was a remnant of Chaos."
"A remnant of Chaos!" the young hunter exclaimed. "They still dare to show their faces? Aren't they afraid the Original God Church will hunt them down until they're extinct?"
Kross took a pack of white-colored cigarettes from his pocket, pinched one out with two fingers, and then motioned toward the young hunter.
The young hunter waved his hands hurriedly. "Those cigarettes are too light. I don't smoke woman-cigarettes."
"Are you an idiot?"
Kross was infuriated by this newcomer's 'bluntness' and cursed in frustration,
"I'm telling you to give me a light!"
"Oh..." The young hunter smiled sheepishly and quickly leaned over. A small flame condensed from the red mana in his palm, lighting the captain's cigarette.
Kross glared fiercely at this lackey who had no sense of observation, secretly vowing to make life difficult for the fellow once they returned!
With the cigarette in his mouth, Kross spoke somewhat indistinctly, "Those rats in the gutters can never be fully exterminated. Even the church isn't omnipotent. You must always assume the worst when dealing with those people."
"Check this place well. I'm going back to interrogate that woman."
Kross exhaled a cloud of white smoke, looking at the cigarette in his hand with a conflicted mind. He muttered something like "what does being light have to do with women" while giving the young hunter a swift kick before turning to leave.
...
A pure night sky was filled with dense stars. By the cold starlight, two shadows could be clearly seen in the desolate wilderness far from the city.
One lay on the ground sobbing quietly, while the other sat nearby, her emerald eyes raised slightly, taking in the brilliant starlight.
For the first time since her birth, her heart was this peaceful. The time was quiet and beautiful.
Only the low sobbing coming from beside her occasionally made her feel a bit irritable.
But she didn't dare show it.
Moen reached down to touch his lower body. It was empty. Tears of grievance began to flow uncontrollably once again.
It was gone, really gone. Everything was ruined...
It was hard to imagine that a middle-aged man who looked to be over forty was currently crying like a wronged little wife over a 'small matter.'
The only thing to be thankful for was that they had actually escaped from right under a god's nose.
Even Ruiya... or rather, Miss Morai, had been shocked beyond words by Moen's escape speed. She had discovered for the first time that Moen's talent for running away was simply unmatched, commanding deep respect.
She also found it hard to imagine how the usually solemn and meticulous Bishop Moen didn't look human at all when he ran; he looked more like a stray dog fleeing in panic.
On the open wilderness, under the pale starlight, the figure of a third person appeared.
He wore the same attire as Moen and approached the two with an equally serious expression.
"Moen..." Morai nudged him gently, reminding him that someone was coming.
"What do you want!" Moen pushed her away, his tear-filled eyes showing nothing but anger and disgust toward her. However, his mincing attitude and strange voice made Morai feel a wave of nausea.
How had Moen become like this?
"Bishop Moen..." the man said expressionlessly as he reached them. "Our plan failed. Neither you nor your creation managed to meet the cult's targets."
Moen turned his head at the sound, his expression changing. "Duoze!"
The man called Duoze frowned and asked with some confusion, "What's wrong with your voice?"
Clearly, he wasn't yet aware that some minor changes had occurred in Moen's body.
Moen's face stiffened, and he quickly skipped the topic.
"This mission failure wasn't our fault at all! The cult misjudged the situation! A god intervened! The plan was never going to succeed!" Moen shouted emotionally, venting all his bottled-up frustration onto the other man.
However, Duoze wasn't about to coddle him like Morai did. He had come with a mission from the cult to hold them accountable. Being yelled at like that would make anyone angry.
"Wasn't it you who said the vessel possessed by that god had been expelled? That's why the cult organized this operation! Clearly, your intelligence was flawed, causing the cult such losses and even making us lose our important stronghold in Yiertaya! How do you intend to atone for this?" Duoze said sharply.
Morai watched silently from the side as the two bishops fell into a fierce argument, not daring to get involved at all.
Suddenly, she felt a vibration in her pocket and took out her communication screen box.
"Moen, it's Kaiya, the eldest son of the Kritov family. He's calling. Should I answer?"
Morai held out the communication screen box with both hands, her voice weak.
Moen answered with an air of impatience.
"What is it?"
On the glowing screen of the communication screen box, Kaiya's face appeared, contorted with manic rage.
"What the hell is your Diao Cult doing? Why did a god intervene? Why didn't you do your intelligence work properly beforehand!"
"That was a god! A god! I almost got killed by her!"
Kaiya's roar was even more furious than Moen's or Duoze's. A few unknown birds were startled from the roadside woods, and even the ears of the three present were visibly stung by the volume.
"Why are you screaming so loud? Who could have predicted such an unexpected situation!" Moen retorted unceremoniously.
"Shut up, you sissy!" Duoze barked.
"You dare call me a sissy?" Moen's eyes widened, fuming with rage.
"Your Diao Cult is simply the most useless of the useless!" Kaiya was hysterical.
In the open wilderness, the sound of the three men arguing echoed continuously. It was earth-shaking, endless, like two armies clashing where no armor remained intact. It filled the ears, silencing the heaven and earth, as if the world were collapsing and the seas were drying up.
Only Morai sat alone in the corner, hugging her knees.
She looked like she had completely lost all hope in life.
Rate on N.U.
