Chapter 149: Inquisitor, For What Do You Judge?

Chapter 149: The Inquisitor, Why Stand in Judgment?

Though the mask had been transformed into a ring, resting upon the ring finger of his left hand, Karen raised his arm nonetheless. He feigned holding a physical mask in his hand and, facing the glass, pressed it onto his face.

Then, still pretending to wear it, he reached up and drew it away.

From first to last, the reflection of his countenance underwent no alteration, and not a single shift flickered within his gaze. Yet, deep within Karen's heart, an extraordinary sensation stirred.

It felt as though a door that did not exist had just been swung wide by his own hand, only to be closed once more.

Nothing had truly changed, yet a low, drawn-out groan of friction, like the creak of heavy door hinges, seemed to echo against his ears.

Stepping back in silence, Karen seated himself upon the bed tucked behind the dressing mirror, its surface draped in pink linen. Leaning slightly forward, his eyes remained fixed upon the glass before him, and he sank into profound contemplation.

At that precise moment,

A single black chain began to spread slowly from beneath Karen's feet, rippling outward until it covered the walls of the bedroom, enveloping everything as if to sever the chamber from the outer world;

Yet it also seemed to sit in quiet vigilance, listening, waiting for the fruits of Karen’s thoughts.

The bedroom

Plunged into instant, absolute stillness.

…

"Brother, come quickly."

Serena dragged her brother by the arm as she hurried upstairs. Just as she was about to step into her bedroom, Lemar pulled her back.

"What is it, Brother?"

"Hush!"

Lemar raised a finger to his lips, gesturing for his sister to be silent.

"He is comprehending. Do not disturb him."

"Comprehending?"

Serena poked her head inside, watching Karen as he sat motionless on her bed, staring intently into the dressing mirror. She sighed softly, "A man lost in thought really does possess a certain charm, doesn't he?"

Lemar looked around the room. In truth, he could sense an aura of Order rippling through the bedroom, a clear sign that the man within was grasping some deeper truth. What he had not anticipated, however, was that Karen could plunge directly into such a state the moment he received the mask, while still under another's roof.

With a faint click, Lemar's left eye seemed to invert. The normal iris rolled downward, replaced by a crystalline blue pupil.

Through it, he beheld the chains of Order cloaking the bedroom walls.

This was no spell, for it bore no trace of active magic. Had it been a spell, he would not have needed the Eye of Hickson to see it.

How then had these chains formed? They seemed almost projected... a projection of the soul?

"Serena."

"Yes, Brother?"

"I don't think he is a mere God's Servant."

"But back then, he used the basic defensive magic of a God's Servant. He just... used rather a lot of it all at once."

"Rather a lot..."

Lemar did not bother to unpick the logic for his sister, knowing she had no need for it. Some people possessed perfectly clear logic yet consistently made the wrong choices, while others, whose minds were entirely devoid of reason, always managed to choose correctly.

"Brother, how long does this state of contemplation usually last?"

"Under normal circumstances, the longer the better. It is rare, exceedingly rare."

"Oh. Then you must help guard him, Brother. Don't let anyone disturb him."

"..." Lemar was silent.

"Is the shop door locked? We wouldn't want a customer wandering in."

"It's locked."

"Oh, good." Serena patted her chest lightly. "Have you ever entered this state, Brother?"

"Of course."

"But surely you didn't last as long as he does."

"Er..." Lemar stammered.

Serena continued, "Even if you lasted a bit longer, Brother, the quality certainly wasn't as good."

Lemar could not help but roll his eyes.

He had heard it said that when a girl looked for a boyfriend, she would unconsciously measure him against her brother. He had long been mentally prepared for this and believed he could accept it.

But for his own sister to immediately turn him into a laughingstock—what was the meaning of that?

…

Karen’s contemplation endured. Within the mirror before him, the figure of Mr. Pavaro materialized, even though Karen had not channeled any soul energy into the ring.

In the glass,

Mr. Pavaro stood outside his two daughters' bedroom, listening to the sound of their weeping, his expression etched with grief.

But then,

The image shifted. Mr. Pavaro was thrusting away the bag of Blood Spiritual Powder that had been delivered to his doorstep.

Immediately after,

The mirror showed Mr. Pavaro at the moment of his arrest, shouting through the clink of handcuffs:

"Praise Order!"

Finally,

The vision froze on the scene beneath the sausage factory, just as they had entered the underground pigsty. Mr. Pavaro pushed away the hand offered to support him, forcing himself with great difficulty to stand upright. With a solemn, reverent countenance, he began to recite the Laws of Order.

Loyalty to Order. A true Inquisitor ought to be exactly like Mr. Pavaro.

And now, Mr. Pavaro's mask rested in his own hands.

Thus, when he donned this mask, he could directly borrow Mr. Pavaro's identity and become an Inquisitor.

Not a false Inquisitor, but a true one.

Currently, he held the rank of a God’s Shepherd.

This realm did not seem to match the station of an Inquisitor, even though he had long mastered Awakening, an ability only an Inquisitor should possess.

Yet if the two could be woven together, seamless and tightly bound, it seemed it would be for the best, perfectly suiting this image and this mask.

At that moment,

To the left of Karen's body, the phantom of an Inquisitor's uniform materialized. The vestments were pitch-black, exuding an ancient, solemn majesty.

Lemar’s gaze narrowed. "He is about to advance to an Inquisitor!"

Serena completely forgot her previous insistence that Karen was a mere God's Servant, and murmured, "Ah... how incredible."

Lemar, meanwhile, pressed his lips together.

So, had he been waiting all this time, just for his identity to fall into place, so that his realm of power could simply match it as a byproduct?

So many people dedicated their entire lives with bitter ingenuity, yet could not advance a single inch in their realm, while he actually seemed to be shopping at a mall, buying a fine hat and then casually purchasing an entire suit just to match it?

For a moment, Lemar felt far less heartache over the precious materials he had expended in making that mask earlier.

He did not dislike flattering the powerful out of a sense of lofty purity, but because he understood clearly that in the eyes of the strong, your flattery would only appear cheap;

Therefore, this kind of investment in Karen and the release of a favor owed became immensely valuable.

His own sister's vision was indeed excellent.

A pity, though, that he was already engaged.

...

At this moment, the mask was no longer just a concealment of appearance for Karen; now, he could even directly leverage this opportunity to replace Mr. Pavaro as an Inquisitor—not in terms of official rank, but in realm.

In the unseen depths of fate, perhaps this was the true gift Mr. Pavaro had given him, though the man himself might not have known it.

But just as Lemar had said when examining Mr. Pavaro's face-skin, he could feel that the owner's heart had been deeply peaceful when providing the skin.

Karen had once asked Purr why his own path of advancement felt so difficult, yet there were still so many powerful existences in this world.

Purr had first rolled her eyes at him: "Your advancement is difficult?"

After her mockery, Purr still understood the thoughts in Karen's heart and replied, "Because you yourself chose the most difficult path."

If faith were compared to a snow-capped mountain, then all believers were eating the snow upon it; there was snow at the foot of the mountain, and snow along the mountain paths, which, though slightly dirty, was very easy to obtain;

Yet some people specifically desired the snow at the very peak of the mountain, not hesitating to climb for it, and even having to break through the layer of ice above.

Many people simply ate casually, while those who were a bit more particular would step slightly off the mountain path to pick it up and eat, because there really was no difference; for thousands of years, even several epochs, everyone had eaten this way, not just the Church of Order.

But Karen had a grandfather who explicitly told Karen that eating this way was wrong.

At this point, Karen let out a sigh;

He did not rush to "put on the clothes," but gazed once more into the mirror before him.

Within the mirror, the figure of Mr. Bedd appeared.

He and Mr. Bedd were sitting on the sofa in the patriarch's bedroom of the Allen Manor; Mr. Bedd was painting, and he had said to him that he used a part of himself to take the key, and the remaining part of himself followed the self that took the key into the studio to retrieve the painting tools.

Thus, Mr. Bedd was able to look forward to the scene of his family's destruction to seize the opportunity to create a deeply moving painting, while simultaneously running off to Luojia City to negotiate a collaboration with Dis.

It seemed that the choice of his future father-in-law was actually a better fit for this mask.

When he put on the mask, he was an Inquisitor of the Church of Order, believing in Order, possessing the integrity and image an Inquisitor ought to have;

When he took off the mask, he was simply Karen.

Splitting himself apart, allowing each part of himself to do the work corresponding to that part.

As his thoughts reached this point,

To the right side of Karen's body, a phantom image of an Inquisitor's uniform also appeared, likewise black, but appearing somewhat lighter, without that heavily ancient atmosphere.

"Brother, how can there be two of them?"

Lemar blinked, speaking in a tone of slight disbelief: "He... is choosing."

"Oh, so the church's system of faith is actually this good, letting you choose for yourself when you advance;

I think the one on the right looks better, wearing it will make him look younger."

"Uh..."

Lemar wanted very much to explain to his sister that it was not like that, but after a moment's hesitation, seeing that his sister only cared about which clothes looked better, there was no need to explain.

At this moment, the Inquisitor's uniform on the left began to drift away slowly, becoming more transparent than before, while the newly appeared uniform on the right drifted slowly to the front of Karen.

"Hehe, brother, see that? Brother Karen's taste is exactly the same as mine."

But immediately afterward, the Inquisitor's uniform that had already drifted to his front was moved away again—no, it was pushed away.

This one, he doesn't want either?

Lemar took a deep breath; this action seemed to portend one thing, which was that he still had choices.

"Brother, I regret it now. If I had known, I wouldn't have listened to you and awakened the Yekailin family bloodline. How wonderful it would be to believe in the church, so free, to be able to pick and choose like this, just like selecting clothes, where God is like a passionate salesgirl... mmmph..."

Catherine's mouth was covered by Lemar.

"Sister, remember, it is fine normally, but at this time, in this place, you must not be disrespectful to God."

Catherine nodded immediately, and Lemar released his hand.

"Further, do you feel that your ancestor, Yekailin, is close and warm?"

"Not warm at all, even very distant and lofty."

"Even so, you still share a bloodline inheritance, but the distance between those Gods in the church and their believers will only be more distant, even... freezing cold."

"Then what Brother Karen is doing is..."

"Your brother doesn't know either."

Lemar shook his head, looking at his sister:

Fortunately, he was only engaged.

...

Karen knew of a conversation between the young Dis and Purr decades ago, when Dis had returned from the Temple of Order:

"The Temple Elder asked me a question. He asked me, what does Order seem like to us believers?"

"Oh, and how did you answer, Dis? Is it light, the sun, the air, the truth of how all things operate, the faith one strives a lifetime to realize?"

"My answer was that it is merely a mask; those outside the mask cannot see the real you, while you, however, can use the name of the mask to do anything you wish to do."

...

Order... mask.

The real self, the false self, the self without a mask, the self wearing a mask, the self within Order, the self outside of Order.

Therefore, there actually existed a dividing line.

Where, precisely, did that line fall?

Karen raised his left hand, his index finger tracing aimlessly in front of him, as if wishing to draw that line; he was attempting to comprehend his grandfather's description of the relationship between Order and the mask.

Gradually, accompanied by the movement of Karen's fingertip, a very tiny cut opened upon his finger, and streams of fresh blood continuously welled out from the tip, beginning to float where his finger had passed;

Slowly, yet another Inquisitor's uniform appeared before Karen; different from the previous two, this uniform was stained with blood, like intentionally inlaid red patterns, not appearing messy but rather very exquisite and well-matched.

When this phantom of clothing appeared, an aura entirely different from before emanated forth.

"Brother, why do I feel that this aura is just a little bit familiar?"

Lemar gritted his teeth, both his left eye and right eye revealing an expression of shock at this moment, saying word by word:

"Because this is... the aura of the family faith system."

Just like the two of them, just like the Voss family and the Yekailin family, it was an aura belonging to the family faith system!

Lemar really wanted to shout out loud:

How could a cleric of the Church of Order manifest an Inquisitor's uniform from a family belief system? What on earth was going on!

Since when did the Church of Order belong to his family?

Just how many secrets were hidden within this young man?

What kind of "monster" had his sister actually fallen for?

Ah,

Suddenly, he no longer felt any heartache over those materials;

Lemar even felt a tinge of regret—regret that he hadn't embedded a few more diamonds on that ring to show his sincerity. After all, though those things looked nice, they weren't worth much.

Sitting by the edge of the bed, a faint smile appeared on Karen's lips.

He felt a sense of warmth and familiarity, as if his grandfather were standing right in front of him, watching over him.

Grandfather had been the person who treated him best ever since he first opened his eyes in this life.

Subconsciously, Karen reached out his hand, wanting to touch the space before him. It was an instinctive choice, for he trusted Dis unconditionally.

But midway through stretching his hand, a very rough, sketched drawing suddenly materialized in the mirror;

In the sketch, an old grandfather held a sword in his hand, while a man and a woman lay on the ground, bleeding.

Then,

It was under that same setting sun that Dis had returned home and told him he was tired and wanted to sleep for a while.

The outstretched hand suddenly froze.

For Karen realized with absolute clarity one thing: the path Dis had chosen in his youth was wrong.

These were words Dis had spoken himself!

This meant that when Dis returned from the Temple of Order years ago, his discourse on Order and the mask during his conversation with Purr was not absolutely correct.

Those words might be right, but the emotional meaning behind them might not be what he had originally thought!

In an instant,

The three Inquisitor uniforms floating around Karen vanished completely without warning!

"It seems Brother Karen doesn't like any of them."

Lemar slowly exhaled: This... is so extravagant?

Karen closed his eyes, no longer looking into the mirror;

So,

What exactly was the relationship between Order and the mask?

The reason for an Inquisitor's existence was to judge, so how was the standard of judgment defined?

The Regulations of Order?

...

Blue Bridge Community, Allen Apartments, fourth floor, the study.

"Meow!"

Purr, who was lying on the desk drinking coffee, reading a collection of essays, and basking in the sun all at once, suddenly noticed that the box on the desk was moving on its own.

The box opened by itself, and the black notebook inside floated up, its pages turning automatically before radiating a faint, golden glow.

Purr raised its head and looked over, discovering that line of golden script:

"Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth."

...

Lem

In an attitude of supreme, unblemished piety:

"Praise be to Order!"

The violet radiance flickered once more,

And Karen reverted to his original self,

His gaze was utterly luminous, so clear that it seemed unable to tolerate the slightest speck of impurity. He raised his hand, pointed toward the heavens, and declared in a flat, yet piercingly distinct cadence:

"The God of Order, sired by a whore!"

—

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