Chapter 271: Revenge

Chapter 271: Revenge

Ophelia's mouth parted slightly, a profound sense of sheer absurdity flooding her heart at this moment.

This,

Again?

Whether it was the dappled shadow of the dark moon that revealed your true self at the very beginning, the curtains drawn aside under the guidance of the dark moon, or the mountain currently collapsing right before her eyes.

The manifestation of faith and the decree of destiny kept meeting in succession, creating the most fatal and exquisite romance beneath an almost inconceivable unspoken understanding.

Ophelia had never denied her affection for Karen, nor had she deliberately tried to hide it, but after failing to receive a genuine response from him, she had prepared several times to use her reason to sever this feeling that could have no outcome.

The road of life is long, and emotional matters are like the brim of a hat on one's head; if you keep turning your gaze upward, you can only see the color of the brim, and thus mistake this slice of the brim within your sight for the entirety of life.

In fact, the scenery on both sides of the road is abundant and rich; the vast majority of people, upon maturing, do not place their entire lives upon emotional matters, not because they cannot afford it, but because they deem it unworthy.

Yet the development of things always defied expectations, and Ophelia felt that if time were stretched out right now, she could even imagine an elderly version of herself sitting by a pond with a blanket draped over her lap, her thoughts flying back to the present.

She already had so many scenes to reminisce upon, each memory capable of turning into a natural smile at the corner of her mouth in her old age.

Yet, she had never even been in a relationship.

On Karen's side, there was mostly a sense of helplessness; though the Captain was not present in person, the Captain's influence was still executing its precise role.

Were it anyone else, Karen probably wouldn't believe it, but since it was the Captain, Karen felt it was somewhat to be expected—he was just that capable of cooperating, just that capable of suiting the occasion.

However, after a brief surge of emotion, the two quickly restored their calm.

For the ground beneath where they sat was rapidly rising, and the magnitude of the ascent was immensely vast.

Karen knew the cause of all this was that Dorons had been successfully awakened by the Captain, but Karen knew even better that if it were merely the giant tortoise sleeping underground waking to break through the earth, the area beneath them couldn't possibly shoot up to such an extent.

The only explanation was... had the spot he and Ophelia chose to sit on happened to be a certain part of Dorons?

For instance, the giant tortoise's head?

Ophelia unrolled her scroll, and as a miniature teleportation array appeared, that great purple sword was drawn by her; the position the two currently occupied was simply too high, making it easy to slide off, so Ophelia subconsciously raised the great purple sword, intending to find a secure anchor point upon it.

Seeing the girl preparing to stab downward right here, Karen was startled.

If beneath the two of them was indeed Dorons's head, and she thrust this sword down, Dorons—who likely already had a waking temper—might have its fury completely ignited.

Karen immediately reached out, grabbed Ophelia's shoulder, and exerted force backward.

Ophelia was slightly surprised, but out of an instinctive trust, she still released her grip on the cliffside and moved backward along with Karen's body, the two sliding down from midair together.

Karen's body transformed into a mass of black mist, enveloping Ophelia along with him; the momentum of their descent slowed, and they veered into another direction, circling toward the opposite side.

And at that moment, a piercing green light struck, as if everything in the surroundings had been dyed green.

Because Karen had brought Ophelia flying right in front of Dorons's eyes, and just one of its eyes was roughly the size of a storefront on a street in York City.

Before its gargantuan physique, Karen felt as though he were a tiny insect.

Hopefully, it would ignore the two of them just like insects.

The truth turned out to be exactly so.

Dorons paid no mind to the mass of black mist flying past its front; its massive head was reared high, and beneath its head hung long, trailing whiskers, still entangled with many vines and even large trees.

A sleep of over a hundred years had long since fused its body tightly with this surrounding environment.

When its tortoise shell revealed itself, that pool looked like a gemstone resting upon its shell, like the most natural adornment upon its body.

Stories are always easy to exaggerate, especially when mythic elements are involved, the degree of exaggeration becomes even greater.

It was said that over a hundred years ago, Philias and his one thousand followers had arrived at Dark Moon Island by riding upon Dorons.

For the colossus before them, with its mountain-like tortoise shell, carrying a thousand people would simply be all too easy.

Accompanied by the acceleration of its awakening process, its body began to continually reveal itself, and its limbs reached the ground.

Above its head, a patch of dark clouds was gathering;

Around it, a swath of blue water mist began to condense.

Its eyes, which had originally emanated green light, subsequently shifted gradually into a pure white color.

It was a divine beast of light, yet it did not remain within the narratives of mythology, because it had been moved by Philias and its heart turned toward the light.

When it had just awakened, what flowed out was a natural primal instinct, but when its consciousness completely woke and dispersed, the side of light naturally began to present itself.

Looking at it again at this time, you would not feel fear because of its massive body; instead, you would sense a current of peace and serenity, such that even a child would dare to proactively seek it out to play and frolic.

The dark clouds above its head also gradually turned to white, and though it was already evening, it felt as if rosy dawn light was pouring down from above.

It was beautiful, exceedingly beautiful, a pure beauty that broke free from physical constraints and could only be perceived by the soul.

Ophelia could not help but speak up: "It's so beautiful."

If there were a choice, Ophelia truly wanted to stop to observe and caress it at close range, but Karen, who had enveloped her within the black mist, did not make the slightest pause, continuing to fly rapidly away toward the outer perimeter.

Finally, after crossing through that swath of blue water mist, Karen stopped and touched down.

The technique of Black Mist Stealth generally only supported short-distance movement under normal circumstances; if another person was brought along, the burden did not merely double but increased several fold, and having flown such a long distance just now, even with Karen's accumulation, he perceived a wave of exhaustion at this moment.

With both hands propped on his knees, he bent over and began to pant, taking advantage of this opportunity to recover as much energy as possible.

Ahead, the giant tortoise Dorons stood like a sacred

It is furious,

It demands vengeance,

The betrayers,

Must pay the price!

Ophelia closed her eyes in anguish; in truth, ever since returning from Snake Island that night, she rarely spoke of "Ancestor Bernard" anymore.

As a member of the direct lineage, raised from childhood as the successor through her uncle's backing, she could comprehend Ancestor Bernard's choice.

Yet Ancestor Bernard had packaged his own image far, far too perfectly; generations had grown up listening to his grand achievements and love stories, and when a rift appeared in that image, it was truly difficult to accept all at once.

Nonetheless, Ophelia took a deep breath, determination flashing in her eyes, and said, "It cannot be allowed to reach the town."

Karen nodded but said nothing.

In his heart, he actually harbored no particular bias;

Bernard had betrayed Philias back then, slaughtering nearly all of Philias's followers and burying his wife alive—that empty coffin was likely intended for Philias himself, though some mishap that night must have allowed Philias to escape.

This kind of hatred, this blood debt, being visited upon Bernard's descendants over a century later by the awakened behemoth Dolons, was entirely justified.

Karen had always possessed his own moral compass, but his moral compass had always been highly flexible.

Still, he was not truly worried that a tragedy would unfold next.

Yet seeing the anxious expression on Ophelia's face, Karen could only speak to comfort her:

"Rest assured, it won't make it to the town."

To stop a frenzied, savage beast was difficult, exceedingly difficult.

Particularly when the main military force of Dark Moon Island lay with the offshore fleet; if the fleet were recalled, they could likely defeat Dolons, but it was obvious that Dark Moon Island could not simply summon portals for its fleet the way the Order of Order had during their last expedition.

The fleet could not possibly arrive in time, and relying solely on the native forces of Dark Moon Island to intercept Dolons in a timely manner was somewhat unrealistic.

However, right now on Dark Moon Island, the two orthodox Churches were holding a conference.

The Church of Samsara could choose to watch from the sidelines and ignore it, but the Order of Order could not do so, because Dark Moon Island maintained a cooperative relationship with the Order.

On the surface it was a partnership, but in reality, both sides knew that Dark Moon Island had thrown its lot in with Order.

The Order of Order could not simply watch its subordinate's homeland get leveled by a giant beast; it would be one thing if it were beyond their reach, but right now, this was happening right under their noses.

Cardinal Crede, who was specifically in charge of war affairs within the Order of Order, was present himself, along with a host of Chief Bishops from various major districts; setting aside those bishops who had risen through the administrative ranks, the majority still possessed the formidable strength expected of a bishop.

Not to mention that every bishop was accompanied by the most elite squad of the Whiplash of Order from their respective districts; though used as a ceremonial guard during the conference, no one could overlook their combat prowess.

This force was so powerful that, if Crede wished, he could completely stage a coup on Dark Moon Island, since the offshore fleet could not return in time to reinforce them anyway.

Hearing Karen's words of comfort, Ophelia nodded, her expression easing significantly; her stance was firmly rooted in protecting the people of Dark Moon Island, without a doubt.

Ophelia lamented, "Fortunately, it is while the two grand Churches are holding their conference on the island."

Karen really wanted to tell her that if the two grand Churches had not chosen to hold their conference here, then Dolons... would never have awakened.

Because the captain, that madman, would never have had the chance to come to Dark Moon Island and stir up trouble.

...

The commotion caused by Dolons instantly shocked over half the island, for the anomaly in the sky was simply too conspicuous.

The people of both grand Churches were also startled and drawn by the disturbance.

A soft flying carpet rose into the air, and Romil the Gatekeeper sat upon it, holding a cup of black tea, sipping it silently.

In front of her sat two men, both very young.

One was named Xiding, the very man who had served as the spokesperson for the Church of Samsara on the first day of the conference, and he was quite handsome. His performance that day had been foolish, filled with nonsense and ridiculous remarks.

Of course, that was not entirely his fault, because under those circumstances, as the defeated party, the Church of Samsara offered no grand stage for him to display any brilliance.

The other man was named Peide, Romil's grandnephew, bearing the surname Simosen.

That day in the gallery, upon learning that Romil belonged to the Simosen family, Karen had deliberately wondered whether Talina, whom he had killed, might be related to her.

And indeed she was; Talina was Romil's grandniece.

In her pursuit of the realm of Samsara, Romil had never married and naturally had no children, but the Simosen family would only ever lack gatekeepers, never a continuous stream of descendants.

Now, due to the defeat, an extensive reshuffling of internal power had occurred within the Church of Samsara; the old, established families within the Church had regained control, and a member of the Simosen family, revered as the royalty of the Church of Samsara, taking the seat of Gatekeeper once more was the finest proof of this shift in power.

In times of crisis, the majority within the Church still instinctively trusted those ancient families, whose histories were almost as long as the Church itself, to lead them out of the quagmire brought about by their defeat.

Xiding gazed at the distant, advancing behemoth and remarked with awe, "Its body is truly immense."

Peide spoke up, "The deep-sea giant tortoise, a Bursak variant; records from the previous era note their presence in the vast oceans, but they have always been incredibly difficult to find. First, because their numbers are exceedingly scarce, and second, because the occasional few who did see them never returned alive to tell of what they witnessed."

Xiding immediately replied, "So that is how it is. My thanks."

Peide unreadably continued sipping his tea.

"Peide, you truly have matured a great deal. When I initially brought you along, I was worried you wouldn't be able to control your temper."

"Because of what happened to Talina?" Peide smiled faintly. "The Order of Order killed my sister, and I hate them for it, but hatred should not be expressed in such a manner."

"To hear you say these words proves that you have truly cleared your mind."

Peide lowered his head and said, "I am deeply sorry. The person I was in the past disappointed you."

"It matters not; everyone has had their absurd moments in youth."

Deeply loving a girl, continuously searching for women who resembled her, forcibly infusing them with her memories to recreate the illusion of being with her, enjoying the sweetness of love without the slightest regard for the fact that the women receiving those memories would soon suffer physical failure and die, only to move on to the next vessel—

Indeed, even such behavior, in the eyes of someone of Romil's status, was nothing more than a "young man's absurdity."

"The people from the Order of Order should step in to stop it, shouldn't they?" Xiding inquired.

Romil gave a slight nod and said, "Of course. How could a master sit by and watch their own dog's kennel be torn down?"

...

Tafman chose not to continue pursuing the captain; now that Dolons had awakened, his immediate task was to prevent this giant beast from entering the town.

The captain's figure appeared upon a hillside; standing here, he could gaze out at Dolons advancing in this direction, while behind him lay the town.

Nio slightly spread his arms and leaned his body forward, sensing the cool evening breeze brushing against his face.

He was somewhat intoxicated—no, he was already thoroughly drunk on the moment.

Snapping the fingers of his left left hand and raising his right hand in a hollow grip as if holding a non-existent baton, his body began to sway in small, rhythmic rotations; the distant rumbling generated by the beast's advance served as the perfect background accompaniment.

The tempo grew faster and faster,

The snake-head mask on Nio's face slipped off, clattering to the ground;

Immediately after, the ring on his fingertip flashed faintly, and his face vanished as well, leaving behind only a featureless visage of blood.

The entire scene appeared serene yet bizarre.

The moonlight fell upon him, casting a gentle, warm luminescence, but what emanated from him was a tremor bordering on madness.

As the piece concluded, Nio turned to face the town; within the town, crowds were currently fleeing in sheer panic, but with the giant beast's imminent arrival, evacuating now was utterly impossible.

Nio lowered his right arm, swept his left arm behind him, and bowed deeply:

"My apologies, for the sky has turned dark, and thus, no light can be seen."