Chapter 213: This is My Territory

Chapter 213: Here, This is My Turf

"In the name of the God I revere, I pray for Your divine might to descend and wipe away the dust of Order."

Delon floated in mid-air, a magical box spinning and shifting endlessly before him, calculating every precise detail required to sustain the Throne of Order ahead; his aged silhouette, in this moment, exuded a supreme majesty.

The opening pages of Mr. Hoffen's notes on formations contained this piece of advice for learning:

[Remember, within your formation, you are God!]

Around Delon, over thirty priests were bestowing blessings upon him; among them were his son, Eisen, his daughter-in-law, Kathy, and his youngest daughter.

There were four more small groups like this one, encircling the administrative building of the Church of Samsara.

It was they who had collectively summoned the Throne of Order, sealing off the entire building.

The magic box continued to rotate automatically; it would be virtually impossible for those from the Church of Samsara inside to break through the confinement anytime soon, and besides, the garrison would arrive shortly.

The reason for such a time lag lay entirely in secrecy.

To launch this surprise attack, the high officials of the Church of Order had used the Church of Pamilies as a smoke screen to deceive everyone; the most difficult part of this was likely not deceiving the enemy, but deceiving... their own people.

The last orthodox church to perish was the Church of Light; in the nearly one thousand years since, though the relative strengths of the orthodox churches had shifted, the general landscape remained largely unchanged, and no large-scale ecclesiastical wars had broken out.

The longer the period of peace, the more intimate the exchange and infiltration between them became.

It was possible that some traitors had already developed into entire families within the rival church, to the point where even the younger generations of those families had no idea their household was composed of moles.

Before deployment, the marching knights might have thought they were just executing a routine garrison rotation or setting out to campaign against the Church of Pamilies; aside from their respective commanders, it was only when the knights passed through the teleportation gates and stood before the holy lands of the Church of Samsara that the soldiers finally realized who their true target was.

Before the war was unleashed, not a single shred of news could be leaked; Delon's department had spared no effort in conducting a strict self-screening beforehand.

The hidden identity of the original department director had long been an open secret; even Delon, the deputy director, knew this superior half a rank above him was somewhat unclean, but the higher-ups had left him untouched.

For the higher-ups, a department head being a mole was actually easier to handle, because he knew his own value was immense; to remain hidden and avoid exposure, he generally wouldn't foolishly plant more of his own people in the department, lest a single careless mistake implicate him;

in fact, he would pay extra attention to the purity of the department's staff to prevent infiltrators from other churches from exposing themselves and drawing the higher-ups' scrutiny to his entire department.

It was truly a case of... ruining himself to keep the whole department clean.

At this moment, what came to Delon's mind were the words his grandson had said before leaving home—going to have a meal with a girl from a family of the Church of Samsara?

Delon did not believe the world held such coincidences; it seemed that since joining that Hounds squad, his grandson had undergone quite a transformation.

As a grandfather, far from being angry that his grandson had subtly tested him with ulterior motives, he actually felt a touch of pride.

However, what he did not know was that he had another grandson, who was currently standing on the rooftop of a tall building in the rear, gazing down at this very place.

"Bang!"

A breach appeared at the top of the administrative building, manifest without any warning and utterly bizarre, and a corner of the magic box before Delon instantly chipped away.

A Samsara Crystal?

Delon immediately realized what they had used; this was truly using diamonds to pave a road when one ran out of pebbles.

"Eisen, lead a team to pursue! The rest of the teams, join me in repairing the breach with all your might to ensure the formation's operation. Remember, this is the key!"

Eisen immediately led a team to give chase, arriving just as the enemy touched down; the moment the two sides clashed, a brutally tragic battle erupted.

"Samsara is endless, loyalty is immortal!"

Five guards clad in dark crimson armor charged toward the pursuing priests of Order, a loop of black objects wrapped around their armor; upon closing the distance, they chose to detonate themselves directly!

"Boom! Boom!"

Instantly, violent explosions resounded, forcing the pursuing priests of Order to erect barriers to block the blast, but these explosions carried elements of plague, calamity, and other negative attributes, causing signs of fracturing to appear on the barriers of several priests under the erosion of these forces.

Many chose to halt and retreat at this moment; they were priests of the formation department, not knights, nor the garrison, nor the Whip of Order with rich combat experience—they were more like clerical staff, whose usual duties were research, design, and maintenance.

The desperate, suicidal momentum of the enemy instantly intimidated them; not only did the encirclement fail to form, but it gave them an opportunity to escape toward the east.

"Pursue!"

Eisen cast a layer of purification upon himself, plunging entirely into the dense fog of negative attributes ahead to continue the chase.

Kathy bit her lip, also applying a layer of purification to herself before following.

...

"They actually managed to escape," Karen said, looking at the captain standing beside him.

Right now, he hoped the captain would give the order to pursue, because he saw his socially anxious uncle charging recklessly ahead; oh, and the woman chasing alongside him seemed to be his aunt—he had seen their family portrait of three at Richard's house.

But the captain's style of operation had always been driven purely by profit, and he didn't know if the captain would be willing to clean up another department's mess here.

Neo spoke with a hint of excitement: "How extravagant, using a Samsara Crystal just to break through. Do you know how much a Samsara Crystal costs in the points shop? Three million Order points.

The garrison hasn't even arrived yet, and the confinement was just established, yet they unhesitatingly chose to use it to break out..."

Neo lowered his voice:

"This is a big fish, definitely someone of noble status within the Church of Samsara. In ordinary times, it would be impossible to get a chance to hunt a big fish like this, let alone bear the consequences it would trigger.

Fortunately, this is wartime!

Hounds squad,

Move out!"

Neo leaped forward, turning into a black mist that drifted downward at extreme speed.

Karen opened his sword box, shouldered the Sword of Ahrius, and jumped off the rooftop as well, his form dissolving into black mist as he closely followed his captain.

...

"Milady, you go first, I'll hold them off!"

Roton halted his steps along with his remaining two subordinates and said to them:

"Please!"

"For loyalty!"

"For loyalty!"

Facing the overtaking Eisen and Kathy, the two guards charged forward and, without a moment's hesitation, detonated themselves once more.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

At this moment, any complex exchange of blows was a liability; time was the most precious existence.

Eisen and Kathy were blown backward, though this also involved active evasion to reduce the damage of the blast.

Yet Roton appeared before Kathy, bringing his blade down in a slash.

"Bang!"

The barrier, already fragile from absorbing the explosion's damage, was cleaved open in a single strike, and a black square appeared on Kathy's chest, rapidly expanding.

But the captain of the guard gave this spellcaster of the Church of Order no chance to dodge; instead of avoiding her counter-offensive, he swept his blade across.

"Pfft!"

A fist-sized black hole appeared on the armor at Roton's chest, blood gushing out, but Kathy was struck squarely by the blade; though a protective sacred artifact on her person helped negate much of the damage, a horrifying wound was carved from her neck down to her chest, and the surrounding negative attribute forces from the explosions began to corrode into her body.

Kathy collapsed to the ground in immense agony, the spiritual power within her falling into utter chaos.

She was not actually adept at combat, especially this kind of sudden close-quarters melee; she lacked sufficient dueling experience, even though her intrinsic strength was profound.

From the corner of his eye, Roton saw the male Cleric of Order closing the distance, but he deliberately ignored him. Instead, he raised his blade and lunged recklessly toward the female Cleric lying on the ground, roaring:

"Taking down one is better than none!"

Just as Roton closed in and his blade was about to fall, two black halos materialized before him.

Heh, they don't even know how to fight!

Roton sneered inwardly. He arrested his momentum instantly and wrenched himself backward, his armor erupting with a red radiance as he propelled himself into a retreat.

He knew the power of these two pursuers, which was why he had to capitalize on the chaos caused by the self-detonation of his two subordinates to secure the greatest possible tactical advantage.

Buzz! Buzz!

Two black beams shot from the halos, but thanks to Roton's timely reversal, they only grazed his shoulders, shearing off two large sections of his shoulder armor. By then, Roton had already appeared before Eisen.

If that man had ignored the woman's existence and engaged him in a slow, steady, and tactical duel, Roton, who was already severely injured, would have stood absolutely no chance of winning.

But to save the woman, the man had cast a long-range spell, exposing a flaw in his execution. That was precisely the opening Roton was counting on!

A blue music box appeared in Eisen's hand. As it cracked open, a series of purple energy grids spread across the space before him. Yet Roton plunged into the grid without a moment's hesitation. The unarmored sections of his body began to scorch and blacken, and his very soul burned with agonizing torment, but he disregarded it entirely as he drove his blade toward Eisen.

"Order's... Protection!"

"Too late!"

The protective barrier resisted the blade's advance, but augmented by Roton's raw power, the steel broke through the obstruction, and the tip pierced deep into Eisen's chest.

Eisen's body shuddered, yet his face showed no sign of pain. Instead, a look of profound relief washed over his eyes. He spread his arms wide, and black lightning began to crackle and flow within his palms.

Roton grinned savagely. "Want to drag me down with you? Fine, let's do it!"

...

"Captain, the pursuers below have been ambushed!"

"Our target is the big fish."

"Captain, the pursuers below are in danger!"

"Our target is the big fish."

Karen watched the unfolding situation from the sky with deep anxiety. After all, the two individuals below were his uncle and aunt.

In truth, Karen harbored no extraordinary feelings for relatives like an uncle, an aunt, or a grandfather; he merely possessed a slight fondness for them, far from true intimacy. However, in the study of the Inmeles residence, that woman had shielded him as her own son, even though she knew perfectly well he was not.

Therefore, even if he did not truly view them as kin, he was willing and obligated to protect them whenever circumstances allowed.

But what kind of man was his captain? For the sake of monopolizing spoils, Neo had once ordered him to throw a Lax copper coin at Gendi's squad. How could such a man care about what was happening below? His gaze was fixed solely on the big fish who was breaking out using the Samsara Crystal, the one for whom so many loyal guards were willing to blow themselves up just to cover her retreat. She was bound to be an incredibly lucrative target!

"They are Richard's father and mother!"

Richard was a member of their squad. If he were to watch his parents face mortal peril and choose to ignore it, it would undoubtedly violate the very code Neo had established for the Bloodhound Squad.

"Go on down, then. Meet at the Gels Photo Studio once you are done!"

With that, the dark mist surrounding Neo veered sharply away, as if he already discerned the destination where the big fish intended to flee.

Karen had no time for further thought. High in the air, the dark mist dispersed.

The Sea God's Armor.

The Dark Moon Blade.

Raising the Sword of Alius, Karen plummeted vertically from the sky!

...

The Lightning of Order within Eisen's palms was about to strike Roton's head, and Roton was prepared to expend his final ounce of strength to completely impale the Cleric of Order before him.

At that exact moment, a streak of dark red light flashed by. Roton's body froze. His hands were still gripping the hilt, but his arms had already been severed from his torso.

Karen gave his opponent no opportunity to react. In a life-and-death struggle, any superfluous movement before the enemy drew their last breath was nothing short of foolish. The Sword of Alius sliced horizontally, effortlessly severing Roton's neck. His head flew far through the air before dropping to the ground, and the headless corpse lost its balance, collapsing into the dirt.

The entire sequence was seamless and effortless, as though the opponent had stood there like a block of wood, waiting to be struck down.

Eisen immediately flung his hands out to either side just before they clapped together. Two bolts of black lightning crashed into the earth, blasting two cratering holes into the ground.

The sudden commotion startled Karen. A split second more, and he might have been obliterated along with the enemy by his own uncle.

"Karen?"

Evidently, Mr. Eisen recognized Karen as the divine servant and good friend of his son, someone who had previously visited their home as a guest.

"Are you alright?" Karen inquired.

"I am fine." Mr. Eisen's expression began to stiffen.

It was difficult to fathom that a man who had been on the verge of a mutual destruction with an enemy would immediately succumb to his severe social anxiety the moment the life-and-death crisis was averted.

Uncle, your condition is truly severe.

Karen even suspected that the prospect of an "ending" just moments ago had actually represented a form of release for the man.

Eisen hurried to his wife's side, kneeling down to begin casting purification and healing spells. A standard Cleric naturally knew basic healing arts, but advanced treatment would require a trip to the Church Hospital. For now, the absolute priority was preventing the toxins from penetrating deeper through the wounds and causing irreversible corruption.

"Please tend to your companion. The Neo Squad will continue the pursuit!"

Leaving those words behind, Karen shouldered the Sword of Alius, dissolved back into a cloud of dark mist, and departed.

"The Neo Squad... is that our Richard's... teammates?" the severely wounded Kaixi asked.

Eisen used one palm to continuously channel purification magic into his own body while using his other hand to pinch his wife's mouth shut, forcing her to be silent. He said:

"Focus on stabilizing your spiritual power to expel the corruption from your body. Shut up."

"..." Kaixi.

...

"Bertha, is that place you mentioned truly reliable?"

"If we do not go to my place now, do you expect to head to another stronghold of your Samsara Church? The Church of Order is clearly targeting the Samsara Church this time. Do you honestly think they would overlook your other strongholds?"

"How far can the teleportation array there take us?"

"It is impossible to send you all the way back to the Valley of Samsara. Its range only extends to the outskirts of York City."

"That is enough. The enemy's forces are too densely deployed within the city. We will leave York City first and hide. I need to find out exactly what happened out there, and why things have escalated to this point!"

"Do you truly not know?" Bertha questioned her. "Heh, you must know something. Otherwise, you wouldn't have thought to break out at all costs the moment trouble started. You definitely know the Church of Order is playing for keeps this time. Furthermore, given your identity and status within the Samsara Church, you would never be spared once a conflict erupted."

Talina did not respond. She was genuinely uncertain about what had transpired on the outside, and thus chose not to disclose that matter to Bertha.

"I am the one who was truly wronged here. I merely came to find you for a tryst, and now I have to expose this teleportation hub. You should know we did not even activate this point during the last state of emergency."

"I will compensate you. You can rest assured on that front."

The two arrived at the side of the Gels Photo Studio without knocking. Because the studio was situated at the end of the street, it possessed a side door.

The door was unlocked. Bertha pushed it open, revealing a flight of steps leading upward. Instead of ascending, Bertha stood in place and channeled the aura of Light through her fingertips to guide the mechanism. Shortly after, the staircase vibrated faintly, and the lowest nine steps sank completely, exposing a pitch-black subterranean space.

"A confinement array?" Talina inquired.

"Yes. This array is incredibly sensitive. Even with the power of Light, the slightest error during the guiding process will trigger a self-destruction mechanism for everything inside. That is why I told you it is absolutely safe—because it is impossible for any outsider to enter."

Bertha bent over and stepped inside, with Talina following closely behind.

After walking a short distance, Bertha clapped her hands. Candles flared to life within the space, illuminating a vast, circular chamber. The runes of the teleportation array inscribed upon the ground exuded an ancient, weathered aura.

At the same time, it illuminated a silhouette, a figure whose face was concealed behind a silver mask.

Bertha’s countenance twisted in shock, and she gasped, "How is this possible? How could anyone have broken in here!"

The man in the silver mask replied with absolute tranquility:

"Because the array here was laid by my own hands."

———

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