Chapter 134: Awakening

Chapter 134 Awakening

It was already very late, yet Karen remained propped against the headboard, reading the newspaper.

Though he had told Alfred that they should rest first and that Purr and Kevin would return on their own;

until they actually came back, Karen found himself unable to sleep.

An ordinary family would be sick with worry if a single cat or dog went missing, to say nothing of the fact that the cat and dog in his household had long transcended the definition of mere pets.

Lifting his gaze to the wall clock, he saw it was already past three in the morning; lowering his head with a sigh, Karen turned another page of the newspaper in his hands.

Finally, a rustling stir echoed from the direction of the rooftop stairs.

Karen flung back the blanket and stepped out of bed to see the returning Purr, who was drenched from head to toe, standing on the floor and shaking her body, sending droplets of water flying everywhere.

"Where is Kevin?"

"Watching over something."

Karen walked into the bathroom to fetch a dry towel, then knelt down to help dry Purr off.

"Watching over what?"

"Bodies. Two corpses."

"Whose bodies?"

"Inquisitor Pavarotti, and the other is a female devotee of the Mills Faith. If nothing goes amiss, it should be the Annie from the journal."

Karen's hands froze in place, forcing Purr to actively lean her body forward, rubbing herself back and forth against the towel.

"Dead?"

"Mm, dead. Killed by the people from the Church of Order. Mr. Pavarotti was first ambushed and cut down by a Whip of Order squad, but Annie appeared and rescued him. Then, before the two of them could flee very far, they encountered an Adjudicator, and were directly pierced into human honeycomb briquettes by the Sword of Adjudication."

Karen resumed the movements of his hands, continuing to dry Purr's coat;

just then, Alfred, having heard the commotion, walked up the stairs as well.

"Radio Sprite, I need a cup of hot coffee right now."

"Right away."

Alfred walked back down to pour the coffee.

Purr continued, saying, "Both bodies were washed down into the river channel. The stupid dog and I took the opportunity to dive into the water, drag the corpses into a nearby drainage ditch, and hide them. But the people from the Whip of Order are likely still searching for the bodies, so we should go collect them right now.

If there is danger or if the hiding spot is discovered, the stupid dog will give us a warning.

Running back and forth is truly exhausting. If it weren't for the fact that the stupid dog can't speak—and fearing that he would just bark at you for ages after returning, leaving you all to guess wildly—I would have been the one responsible for watching the bodies."

"Kevin can write."

"Deciphering his dog-scratch script is worse than just guessing at his barking."

"Then let us go right now." Karen tossed the towel aside and stood up.

Alfred walked up, carrying the coffee.

"Can it not wait until I finish a cup of coffee first? You know, coffee is very hot and needs to be savored slowly."

Alfred smiled and said, "No need. I added plenty of ice cubes to your hot coffee. Drink it now, while it's cold."

...

Alfred drove, while Karen sat in the passenger seat cradling Purr. Purr first provided a rough location, and once they drove near, Purr gave more specific directions.

"The car cannot be driven too slowly," Karen reminded. "We cannot let anyone see that we are searching for something."

"Yes, Young Master."

"Right there, below that slope," Purr said.

"Understood. I will pull the car over by the slope."

The car had just come to a halt when a golden retriever bounded up from beneath the slope. Karen opened the car door and stepped out. "Is it safe?"

Kevin nodded vigorously.

Karen glanced around and said, "Then let us move quickly."

"Young Master, please remain in the car. I will go down to carry the bodies. Once they are loaded, we can drive away immediately. This is the most efficient way."

"Very well."

Karen agreed to this plan. After Alfred and Kevin descended the slope, he climbed into the driver's seat, with Purr resting on his lap.

Karen turned on the car radio, which happened to be playing a sorrowful love song. The lyrics were ordinary, and the melody was ordinary as well—one could say it possessed no distinctive qualities.

Immediately after, Karen pulled out a cigarette, lit it, held it between his fingers, reclined the car seat, and bent his right leg up. The car window was rolled down halfway, allowing the rainwater to pelt inside, quickly dampening his face and upper body. The cigarette butt, shielded near the bottom of the car door, was not extinguished by the rain.

"What are you doing?" Purr asked.

"Creating a cover," Karen replied.

"You certainly are cautious."

"It is a very good habit to have."

From time to time, Karen waved the glowing cigarette butt in his hand, looking exactly like someone who had just suffered a broken heart, parking his car alone by the roadside on a rainy night, venting the emotional wounds within his heart.

The cigarette had nearly burned down; he tossed it out, lit another, and continued to hold it.

Purr had intended to tease Karen with another couple of words, but suddenly seemed to sense something. Lying on Karen's lap, she pretended to face downward as if asleep, but actually opened her mouth and bit Karen's thigh to alert him.

Karen tilted his head back and began to sing along with the music from the radio, slightly out of tune, yet with a very loud voice.

In the car's rearview mirror, a dark silhouette flashed past and vanished. Karen noted that it was a man carrying an umbrella and wearing a black robe; he walked past just like that, moving very quickly.

After a moment, Purr turned over and said in disbelief, "To think we would actually run into one."

"Is it someone from the Church of Order?" Karen asked.

"I am not certain. It was a cleric, that much is true, but there is a chapel of the Abyss Faith nearby."

At this point, the golden retriever ran up to the road, looking left and right, before turning back down once more. A moment later, Alfred emerged carrying two corpses. Karen, sitting inside the car, reached out in advance to open the rear door.

Alfred placed both corpses onto the back seat. Lacking the time to arrange them properly, he vaulted directly over the roof of the car, dropping down to slide into the passenger seat. Kevin took a running start, leaping through the car window, and was caught by Alfred.

Karen immediately started the engine and drove away from the area.

On the way back, Karen drove very fast, frequently checking the rearview mirrors;

Alfred, meanwhile, was incessantly tuning the radio, his eyes constantly tinged with a faint crimson;

the golden retriever kept his head out the window, scanning and observing the outside;

in short, the atmosphere inside the car was dead silent, everyone vigilantly watching to see if anyone was following them.

After driving into the apartment complex, Alfred once again carried both corpses by himself up the side staircase, while Karen took a towel to wipe down the back seat, erasing the residual traces of blood;

once the cleanup was finished, Karen walked up the stairs to enter the home and came to the second floor, where Alfred had placed the bodies of Pavarotti and Annie in the bathroom.

Only now did Karen have the opportunity to carefully observe these two corpses.

Mr. Pavarotti's state of death was the most wretched. His body bore various wounds, which must have been left behind during the initial battle;

Madam Annie's body bore only one type of wound, which consisted of holes pierced through her by the Sword of Adjudication. Furthermore, at the position of Madam Annie's forehead, there was also a hole, right between her eyebrows.

As she lay on the bathroom floor, the white of the porcelain tile beneath was visible even through the cavity in her forehead.

Mr. Pavaro was riddled with punctures as well, yet his skull remained intact.

The golden retriever had dragged a bath towel across the floor, spreading it out to lie on its side while fastidiously drying its own coat;

Alfred then inquired, "Master, is an 'Awakening' possible?"

Karen shook his head, replying, "The corpses are too severely damaged; an 'Awakening' is highly unlikely to succeed."

"Woof!" (Their remains are premium specimens well worth preserving and collecting.)

Purr glared at the golden retriever and translated, "He says it truly is a pity."

Karen nodded, murmuring, "Even so, I wish to try."

Alfred retreated to the bathroom doorway, Purr followed suit, and the golden retriever gathered the towel in its jaws to shift closer to the threshold.

Karen resolved to attempt the "Awakening" on Lady Anne first, for setting aside the cranial wound, her remains were generally less mangled than those of Mr. Pavaro;

The principle of "Awakening" lay in summoning the residual spiritual energy dormant within the corpse—memories were housed within this spiritual force, holding little true relation to the physical brain.

Karen closed his eyes, reciting silently within his mind, grasping for the familiar sensation that had accompanied his previous successful undertakings;

Presently, a coil of black chains materialized beneath his feet, beginning to revolve around him; unlike the rigid manifestations during the past awakening of Count Recal, these links possessed a distinct vitality, losing their stiff nature and fluidly adapting to the contours of the bathroom layout.

Karen opened his eyes, fixed his gaze upon Lady Anne, and extended a finger toward her, intoning solemnly:

"O great and supreme God of Order, herein do I borrow Your might, and by the Laws of Order, I awaken the entity before me!"

The chains extended outward, sinking deep into Lady Anne's corpse.

Yet after a long while, her body remained entirely motionless, showing not the slightest inkling of revival, and the chains slowly retracted, returning to rest beneath Karen's feet.

Karen spoke up, "The residual spiritual energy within her is far, far less than I had anticipated."

Purr offered, "It must be due to the Sword of Judgment; while it claims a life, it simultaneously obliterates any lingering elements within the vessel, amounting to a form of purification."

Alfred remarked, "So, this is merely a purified vessel of relatively high quality?"

Such a thing was of immense value to aberrant demons, aiding them in piecing together their own forms, much like the late Lady Molly.

Alfred continued, "Then Mr. Pavaro stands even less of a chance; his remains are far more mutilated, and he too was transfixed by the Sword of Judgment."

Karen nodded, conceding to Alfred's deduction;

Nevertheless, he turned toward Mr. Pavaro's body and chanted once more:

"O great and supreme God of Order, herein do I borrow Your might, and by the Laws of Order, I awaken the entity before me!"

The dark chains at his feet stretched toward Mr. Pavaro, a gesture born merely of Karen's desire for closure; regardless of how hopeless it seemed, he wished to see the ritual through.

Yet to everyone's astonishment, the moment the black chains submerged into Mr. Pavaro's corpse, the frame began to quiver faintly, signaling an unmistakable momentum toward "Awakening"!

Purr asked in bewilderment, "This shouldn't be; why wasn't the spiritual energy within him completely eradicated by the Sword of Judgment?"

Beholding the spectacle before him,

Karen replied:

"Because he truly believed in Order."