Chapter 238: The Fall of the Sea God!

Chapter 238: The Demise of the Sea God!

"Have you discovered anything?" Neo asked Karen, "Or, is there something you want to say to me?"

Karen looked once more at the inscription on the stone monument—yes, Raniedal, without a doubt.

Immediately after, Karen turned his gaze toward the sculpture at the center of the fountain.

The man's physique was somewhat lean, his facial lines sharp and distinct, projecting an aura of solitude and contemplation.

Then, Karen intentionally looked toward the head of the sculpture—ah, he was not bald.

"Hmm?"

Neo prompted him again with a low grunt from his nose.

Karen hesitated; he did not know what to say. Should he say: Captain, everything our entire team has encountered today was actually orchestrated by my dog?

However, Karen was fully aware that the activation here and his team's trials today had nothing to do with the current Kevin.

It was merely that the dog of the past had left behind a toy, and now, someone had picked it up again to toy with it.

"I don't know much about his affairs."

"Well, I believe you," Neo replied. "But there is a place you might be interested in, or rather, a place that could be useful to you, if what you told me before is true."

"Captain, which matter are you referring to?"

"You told me before that your body was once modified by Raniedal."

"So?"

"So, there is a place I cannot enter, but you might be able to."

"Where?"

"The top floor of the old castle."

Karen followed Neo into the castle, choosing to climb through a window instead of entering through the main doors.

Upon landing, Karen found that the room was half-situated in light and half in darkness, as if time itself had been sliced apart here.

"This was arranged like this deliberately; you should understand these things better than I do," Neo said.

"It's to deepen psychological suggestion. What we encountered outside the castle and what we encounter inside should be of entirely different magnitudes. The people running this place must have concentrated their main energy right here."

"Yes, fortunately I didn't bring them in with us, otherwise I worry that after this ends, my team might gain a few more fools. I wouldn't be able to abandon or kick them out, and could only arrange an ending for them in the next suitable mission where they sacrifice themselves to save everyone, which would be quite troublesome."

"Captain, I don't think these words are appropriate to say to a squad member like me."

"Hearing it does no harm. Don't worry about other team members thinking you are ruthless or attacking you because they see through your purpose; they might call you cold-blooded over drinks in private, but in their hearts they actually agree with your methods.

However, I think if the reward is generous enough, many illnesses can probably be cured outright."

Karen did not reply but silently followed Neo as they continued forward, the two of them ascending the stairs from the first floor until they finally reached the fifth floor.

During this time, Karen felt as though he were walking through an amusement park at night; the arrangement of many items, even when not activated, could still inflict great discomfort upon one's inner mind. If activated, that distortion and slicing of time would be enough to completely subvert a person's previous understanding of time.

By the time they reached the fifth floor, Neo checked his wristwatch and said, "Our time is still quite ample. If we miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to get back in next time; I expect we'll be placed on the unsuitable testers list. Oh, right, I almost forgot—since you're here, is it because you were isolated, or was the entire team isolated?"

"The entire team was isolated."

"Then the time for our entire squad to exit is drawing very near, but time is still sufficient." Neo casually asked while recalculating the time, "How did you manage it?"

"The operators created a fake version of you."

"Hmm, and then?"

"In front of all the team members, I shot the fake you right in the head."

"Hmm?"

"The fake you."

"You really didn't hesitate to strike."

"Because I knew it was fake."

"Alright, you did well. Those fellows using us as test subjects in this manner—even if the rewards given afterward are generous, we must still curse them fiercely in our hearts. Of course, making their test encounter problems so it becomes hard to maintain is also an excellent expression of that.

We've arrived; it's this door."

Neo pointed at a large red door in front of them. The appearance of this grand door here seemed completely mismatched with the surrounding decoration and layout style, yet for that very reason, it highlighted its distinctiveness.

"I can't push it open; it feels like a solid wall. You try."

Karen nodded, reaching out his hand to touch the door, but he did not perceive any resistance, nor did he even feel anything at all, because Karen's hand passed directly through the door.

Watching this scene, Neo nodded and said:

"Very well, now I completely believe that this body of yours was modified by an evil god."

"Captain, you didn't fully believe it before?"

"I always believed you, but completely believing is a higher level."

Karen reached his other hand inside as well; at this moment, ripples appeared layer upon layer across the door, and the door before his eyes resembled a vertical surface of water.

"Captain, do you want to come in together?"

Karen withdrew one of his hands and extended it toward the captain.

"If a problem occurs when I enter, will I get directly stuck to death here?"

"This is just spiritual consciousness."

"But the sensation of death is real. If one deems oneself dead here, what kind of chain reaction do you think our bodies in reality will make? Spiritual type spells are most adept at this."

Hearing these words, Karen suddenly realized that if his marksmanship had been slightly more precise earlier and he had successfully headshotted Marlow, wouldn't Marlow then be...

Poor Marlow was merely fooled by the fake captain.

"Then you stay outside, and I will go in to take a look."

Karen was truly very curious about what kind of toy his dog had left behind all those years ago; if he lost the opportunity before his eyes, waiting for the next time would be difficult, even if the former master of this object was currently acting as a dog in his own home.

"No, I am willing to give it a try."

Neo grabbed Karen's hand, and immediately after, his body also seemed to obtain the qualification to enter this door. The two of them quickly vanished inside the door.

"Buzz!"

Behind the door lay a vast sea of stars, immensely beautiful.

Yet these were not true stars, but a type of algorithm; it was the core that structured the entire space of consciousness. Walking within it, one could perceive one's own insignificance—this was a crushing force originating from the level of intellect.

"I think this space must be the thing left behind by Raniedal," Neo said. "A sea of intellectual stars."

Karen nodded, but then another grievance welled up within him. If his dog had left behind anything else, he might have been able to sneak it away, which on paper could still count as returning an item to its original owner, yet he just had to leave this behind... he could not move it even if he wanted to.

Sigh, it was no wonder Raniedal had left so few traces in the world. Not to mention among ordinary people, even among clergymen, basically no one knew that such an evil god had once existed.

If the dog had left behind things like an Evil God's Blade, an Evil God's Sword, an Evil God's Axe, or an Evil God's Shield in those years—even if they all carried the prefix "tattered" or "fractured"—his renown would certainly be different.

Karen and Neo continued their advance inside. Just as the two of them thought that behind this door would be entirely this kind of stellar brilliance, another door appeared before them; this door was not red, but blue.

"Try again to see if we can enter."

"Alright."

Cullen extended his hands once more, but this time, the doors barred his path.

Seeing this, Neo let out a sigh of disappointment and remarked, "It seems we are thwarted; we can only go this far."

With that, Neo turned around, gesturing toward the direction from which they had entered as he continued:

"The contents of this room must have been left behind by Ranedal. I would even venture to guess that they cannot enter through that red door;

because they fear that a forced entry would destroy these stars within, they can only borrow the 'wisdom' here to maintain this conscious world.

It is a pity that we, too, cannot enter this innermost door; likely no one has ever stepped inside to see what it contains."

What the captain meant was that what Ranedal had left behind might be an "intellect" in an abstract sense. The relevant departments of the Church of Order, fearing they would damage its internal structure, dared not dissect it, leaving them no choice but to implant it here like a component to keep things running.

"This is the most important place, yet simultaneously the most insignificant," Neo sighed. "Come, let us go back."

"Creak..."

Just then, Neo heard the sound of a door opening behind him.

Turning around, Neo saw Cullen grasping the doorknob, pulling the door open.

"Captain, we cannot phase through this door, but it can be pulled open."

"Oh, is that so?"

Neo walked back, and together they stepped into this innermost room.

To be precise, it was a shack.

For the two of them had emerged from a tattered wardrobe, and in this shack built of piled stones, that tattered wardrobe was likely the most valuable object present.

Neo began to scrutinize their surroundings closely, prompting Cullen to ask, "Captain, can you tell what era this is from?"

"The traces of any era have very little to do with the poor."

Cullen nodded and said, "I believe this must be the place etched deepest into Ranedal's memory. It is highly probable it was his very first home."

"Yes, I think so too. Then these three tightly shut windows..."

"We can push them open to take a look."

Neo smiled and said, "Prying into the profound memories of an Evil God seems somewhat improper, doesn't it?"

Though his words said one thing, Neo nonetheless walked toward the first window on the left.

"I believe the Great Evil God would not mind such a trivial matter." Cullen also approached the window.

After this ordeal, Cullen felt it necessary to properly interrogate his dog once he returned home. He could not simply let its past slide just because it could not speak; take this incident, for instance—if he had known this earlier, he wouldn't have been so tense for so long at the beginning, and he wouldn't have almost broken Marlo directly.

Cullen seemed to recall that when everyone was "arranged" into the sealed spaces, it wasn't just Richard frantically making hand gestures at him; in the distance, Marlo had also been desperately gesturing at the wound on his shoulder, as if protesting something to him. But then again, perhaps his eyes had played tricks on him—yes, he must have misseen.

In any case, the task of interrogating his dog would be better left to his cat.

Neo reached out and pushed open the first window.

Once the first window opened, the view outside revealed a vast, azure sea. A beautiful young maiden in a long white dress was walking along the sandy beach, gathering the ocean's bounty, while behind her, a ragged youth followed with careful, hesitant steps.

The sunlight, the beach, the waves, the beautiful maiden, and the youth—it was a cliché scene, yet one that people never tired of watching.

Many could project themselves into that young maiden, and many could project themselves into that youth.

In those innocent years of youth, perhaps a ray of sunlight would spill down, illuminating a strand of fine hair or the slight curve of a lip, instantly touching someone's heart.

Everyone had once been of that age, and everyone had lived through it. Closing one's eyes to ponder, it seemed everyone could find a similar scene, except that she might never know that a gaze belonging to someone else had once fallen upon her.

At this moment,

Neo and Cullen both rested their elbows on the windowsill, looking for all the world like two brothers living on the second floor of a street-side building, who enjoyed standing by the window to peer out and critique the passing beauties.

"This youth is the Evil God?"

"He should be."

"That is truly unexpected. To think an Evil God once had such a side—honest, dull, and shy. That someone like him could later grow into an Evil God, tsk tsk.

By the way, is that young maiden an ordinary person?"

"If I am not mistaken, that young maiden should be... Mielse."

"The Goddess Mielse?"

"Yes."

"So the Goddess Mielse and the Evil God once shared a bond close enough to have fallen into the same paste jar together."

The people of Wien loved eating soybean paste, and almost every household had a paste jar; thus, two children falling into the same paste jar implied their families were exceedingly close and could share the jar—the Wien version of childhood sweethearts.

"I believe the Goddess Mielse and the Evil God never fell into it together."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Neo observed more intently and discovered that the youth was merely following the older sister walking ahead, tracing her footsteps from a distance. The older sister ahead had turned back to look at him, but it was only a polite smile; by the looks of it, the two did not seem to know each other at all.

"Hiss..."

Neo took a deep breath and continued:

"Why do I feel a bit of pity for this Lord Evil God?"

"I do too," Cullen chimed in.

Neo turned his face to look at Cullen and asked, "Have you ever lacked women in your life?"

"What?"

"I mean, when you say those words, does your conscience truly not ache?"

"..." Cullen.

Looking through this window, the young maiden kept walking, and the youth kept following her. The two walked from early morning until midday, from midday until dusk, and from dusk into the stars.

Perhaps this memory was simply too beautiful, so beautiful that its owner wished it would never end, progressing in this manner forever and ever.

"Let's look at the second window," Neo suggested.

"Very well, Captain."

The second window was pushed open, and the view outside transformed into a stretch of rocky reefs. A young man stood there, watching a woman as she boarded a small boat under the gaze of the entire island, sailing into the boundless ocean, eventually to be swallowed by a massive wall of water and a vortex.

This scene was one Cullen had witnessed when he unleashed the seal on his dog.

Neo spoke up: "The day the Goddess Mielse achieved godhood."

Cullen nodded.

To ensure that the courtesans on the island would no longer be bullied, Goddess Mielse had willingly entered the sea to become the Sea God's lover. From that moment on, pirates never dared withhold payment from courtesans, lest they face the punishment of being swallowed by the ocean waves.

Paying a courtesan, in truth, encompassed both respect and dignity.

"He was enraged," Neo pointed at the young man standing before the window.

"Mhm."

"Therefore, I am quite looking forward to the third window. The ancient Church of the Sea God was once an orthodox church, but it fractured at the end of the last era. Among the several fractured churches that inherit the Sea God's teachings today, the highest is merely a mid-sized church.

The collapse of the Church of the Sea God—does it share some connection with this Lord Evil God?

Hold on,"

"Don't speak,

I want to push the window open and see for myself!"

What Karen actually wanted to say was that he didn't know either.

But he could probably guess that it must be something like this.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the origin of his "Sea God's Armor." It couldn't possibly have been obtained by the hound back then, approaching a love rival to curry favor, could it?

Neo opened the third window, and in an instant, a terrifying majesty swept out.

Karen, who was walking toward the spot, was also suppressed by this dreadful pressure, instinctively bending his waist, barely forcing himself not to kneel. Ahead, Neo gripped the edge of the windowsill with both hands to support his weight.

The suddenness of this terrifying aura left them completely unguarded, presenting a style entirely different from the tranquility of the first two windows.

Finally, Karen adapted to the pressure, walked to the side of the windowsill, and looked out.

Before them lay a boundless azure ocean; Karen and Neo now felt as if they were leaning against a porthole, peering outward.

But down below, in the deep recesses of the sea, a massive empty vortex had appeared, within which stood a gargantuan sacrificial altar, its scale comparable to a small island.

And upon that altar, a man of incomprehensible size, clad in ancient, simple blue armor, was bound and locked by chains of molten lava erupting from deep underground. He was struggling, and with every throe, a terrifying thunderstorm gathered above like the roaring of the ocean, yet every effort proved utterly futile.

"Is this... the Sea God?" Karen asked in disbelief.

This was truly a body as colossal as a mountain. An entity like this, even without divine power, could dominate the seas through sheer size alone.

Neo extended a finger and pointed overhead.

Karen craned his head out, gripping the edge of the windowsill with both hands to look upward, where a black throne floated directly above.

Neo spoke, asking, "What do you see?"

Karen replied, "The Throne of Order."

Neo said, "So, the one who helped the Evil God suppress the Sea God back then was our God of Order."

Karen nodded and said, "But the one who judged Raniedal as an Evil God was also our God of Order."

Just then,

The silhouette of a man appeared above the Sea God's altar. The disparity in their sizes was like a pebble to a mountain peak, yet upon his appearance, a dismal aura seemed to dye the surrounding seawater as well.

The man held a mass of magma in his hands, and beneath the altar, vast quantities of lava began to bubble and surge forth, about to submerge the Sea God's massive frame.

"I once swore that I would make the Church of the Sea God perish and bring about the downfall of the Sea God. Today, I have done it."

"Raniedal, in the name of the ocean, I cast a curse upon you!"

The Sea God's furious roar reverberated through the surrounding space.

"I curse you, that your divine status shall be stripped away!

I curse you, that your freedom shall be suppressed!

I curse you, that your body shall be plundered!

I curse you, that your soul shall be exiled!

I curse you, that your dignity shall be trampled upon!

Hahaha,

I curse you,

To be a slave for generations, living just like a dog!!!"

Above,

After listening to the Sea God's curse upon him, Raniedal smiled with dismissive scorn, speaking with utter contempt:

"Heh, childish."