Chapter 307: Can't Afford to Provoke!

Chapter 307: Not to Be Trifled With!

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

The sound of heavy, labored breathing echoed, as if the monstrous nose of the phantasm Compasini were hovering right in front of one's face, right behind one's back, right above one's head. In the encompassing darkness, it existed without form, yet it was scrutinizing the intruder with meticulous care.

It brought a trembling, dense wave of unease, as if a single half-step in any direction would plunge one over a cliff, straight into the cavernous, blood-stained maw of the phantasm.

Karen crossed his arms and waited in silence.

Richard sat on the ground, his body beginning to shudder slightly, but upon looking at Karen, he instantly found his composure.

In truth, had Richard come to face this selection entirely alone, he would have been far calmer than he was now, for he would have known that he could rely only on himself; now, with Karen to lean on, his emotions were instead prone to fluctuation, precisely because he possessed this luxury of dependence.

"Roar!"

At that moment,

a long howl suddenly erupted, and within that crashing wave of sound, the human soul felt like a small boat on the verge of capsizing at any moment.

A faint black radiance materialized around Karen, enveloping Richard as well and shielding him from the impact of the roar.

The sound gradually faded into nothingness.

Richard lifted his head and touched the tip of his nose.

Was it raining?

No,

it seemed to be snowing.

Karen had noticed it too; the surrounding temperature seemed to have shifted.

Altering the temperature within an illusion?

It was achievable, yet of little practical effect, because every single participant in this selection possessed an exceptionally high baseline of ability. They knew full well that everything within the illusion was false, and they understood even better that they could neither freeze to death nor perish from the heat.

If it were merely the torment of simple cold and scorching heat, the vast majority of those with a determined will could endure it.

Would it truly be that simple?

...

Above the statue of the phantasm Compasini, Bishop Bourne swept his gaze across the 198 candidates standing within the circles of light below.

The gaze of the statue beneath his feet shot into the sky, transforming into a curtain of light that showered over the entire field.

The stone chests nearby had fully opened, and the several spiritual-type sacred artifacts within had already begun to circle the examination grounds, reinforcing the formation.

On the periphery, a group of formation-type priests deployed from other dioceses were maintaining the array, while eighty proctors scanned the entire area without blinking, keeping watch over every movement.

Bishop Bourne sat down,

and spoke:

"The selection..."

...

The blackness continuously receded.

Everyone on the examination grounds could now be "seen," each appearing in their respective positions according to the original arrangement.

This scene made Richard incredibly embarrassed, because he was sitting right in front of Karen, looking a bit like someone who had been about to commit a misdeed after the lights went out, only for the lights to suddenly snap back on.

But very soon, Richard no longer needed to worry. Along with a howling gust of wind and snow, many people let out wretched cries, then collapsed, rolled, and crawled, and the orderly formation of the examination grounds was instantly shattered.

Richard relaxed.

Then, he was sent rolling backward by the wind and snow, only to be caught and hoisted up by Karen's outstretched hand.

Borrowing this strength, Richard steadied his posture once more. He wanted to stand upright just like Karen, but found himself entirely unable to do so; the wind seemed to grow more powerful the higher one's altitude, forcing him to crawl on all fours.

However, looking around, Richard discovered that fewer than thirty people could still maintain a standing posture. This meant that the vast majority were just like him, reduced to crawling on the ground; with enough company in his misery, Richard could feel perfectly at ease.

Ahead, a towering snow-capped mountain manifested; every person present was, in fact, currently situated on the path leading up the mountain.

The scenery here gave Karen an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as though he had seen and experienced it somewhere before.

Just then, Bishop Bourne’s voice rang out: "The rules of the selection: within the designated time, the five individuals who climb the highest along the mountain path will obtain the recommendation qualification for this diocese."

And with that, it ended.

A very brief explanation of the rules, because the method of selection was exceedingly simple.

What the designated time was, remained unknown, because one only needed to advance or crawl upward at all costs to ensure they remained in the fifth position, or, provided others could no longer hold out, choose not to give up and keep crawling forward; overtaking them to enter the top five was also viable.

Karen immediately analyzed the profound meaning beneath the brief rules, because he had also noticed that including himself, only nearly thirty people could still maintain a standing posture.

This meant that these thirty individuals possessed relatively robust soul strength, capable of resisting the pressure exerted by the wind and snow upon the soul.

Yet some people, due to various innate and acquired reasons, had no way or were temporarily unable to achieve such intensity of soul strength, but they were not without a chance to win.

As long as one could endure, keeping on crawling, keeping on crawling, even if slightly slower, once the people ahead could no longer persist and one crawled past their highest coordinate, one could replace them.

Within the designated time—this duration could be defined freely.

The crowd began to move.

Some were walking, some were crawling.

Some who had initially been walking gradually began to resort to crawling.

Because crawling offered far less resistance than walking, making it much more energy-efficient.

Karen was still walking, while Richard followed behind him, using Karen to block the wind as he crawled.

On the left, the young girl, Aisly, was walking with a furrowed brow, and then, she began to bend her waist.

On the right, the young man who hailed from the knight orders kept his spine perfectly straight, advancing with determination. This time, however, he cast several pointed glances at Karen beside him; it seemed that only at this moment did Karen finally deserve a glance or two from his eyes.

The pride of some was etched into their bones, while that of others was painted upon their faces; this fellow clearly belonged to the latter category.

Behind them, the youth who played with pebbles continuously tossed a pebble forward, then walked over to pick it up, tossed it forward again, and walked over to pick it up once more. His movements were seamless, as if what he kept tossing from his hand was not a pebble at all, but a series of ropes, borrowing momentum.

To the right, the dozing girl had already lain flat down; she could technically be considered crawling...

Because her eyes were closed and she seemed to still be asleep, but her neck and buttocks continuously heaved up and down, resembling a maggot that persisted in advancing amidst its dreams.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

"Haha, you lost. You take this stretch, I'll take the next."

"Fine, fine, a bet's a bet."

The pair directly behind was also advancing on foot.

Up ahead, Leon and Laure also continued to walk forward. They carried the burden of their images, and furthermore, that circle of people quickly gathered together, dividing into two rows—one row in front and one row behind—and they would take shifts.

This method of "teamwork" could indeed conserve energy, but Karen believed that this test would not be so simple as to allow people to exploit loopholes.

After all, the purpose of the selection was to choose five individual quotas, not to select a five-person team.

Sure enough, when everyone advanced to where the snow was thickest, the temperature plummeted abruptly.

This was no longer low temperature in the traditional sense, but an assault directed at the soul; compared to this bone-piercing, forest-like chill, that bit of wind seemed to amount to nothing at all.

Leon, Laure, and the others no longer continued their teamwork, because everyone's rate of speed had ceased to be the same. What existed now, and what they could see of each other, were all soul bodies; every individual gave a different reaction when their soul endured the freezing cold.

"Ah..."

Accompanied by a series of miserable shrieks, dozens of figures vanished into thin air; they had not died, but had merely withdrawn from the trial, though they might well be injured because of it.

To Karen's left, Aislee curled her body, shivering uncontrollably as she pressed forward in a hunched stance, turning her head to glance at Karen—and more specifically, at Richard, who had been crawling behind him all this time, her tongue flicking across her lips as if she were tempted to act.

On his right, the young man from the Order of Knights maintained his icy, aloof expression, his every step measured and steady.

"Hoo-hoo-woo-woo... woo-woo-hoo-hoo..."

Behind them, the sleeping girl who moved like a maggot began to show a look of agony on her face; even though she was still asleep, she must have been caught in a nightmare.

The boy throwing pebbles continued at his previous rhythm, his pebbles beginning to radiate a faint warmth.

These pebbles were likely not sacred artifacts but rather some sort of companion entity; upon closer inspection, Karen noticed that every time the boy picked up and threw a pebble, the one he retrieved would merge into his palm, while the one he cast away would regenerate anew.

What kind of trick was this?

Karen truly could not guess.

As for the person behind him, he had already begun to fall behind because he had started arguing with himself; as the temperature plummeted and his soul began to suffer, he refused to accept the outcomes of his own rock-paper-scissors games.

Karen checked on Richard and found that although his little cousin was trembling, his crawling pace remained steady; he could still hold on.

At that moment, among those ahead, figures began to vanish in rapid succession, as though continuing forward would transition them into a new stage.

As they walked, Leon and Laure broke into wails, and the originally scattered group completely collapsed at this juncture; two figures vanished as they chose to abandon the trial.

Leon clutched his hand and Laure covered his face, both groaning in agony as they continued to force themselves forward.

"Ah!"

To the left, Aislee stared at the back of her hand, which had already become frostbitten; it wasn't the appearance of chilblains, but rather her body... no, her soul being frozen to the point of brittleness.

This sensation was akin to having one's soul gradually turn into a block of ice from its very core—a form of torture, an unbearable torment.

Karen reached up to touch his own neck and found that ice had also formed there, yet he did not feel much pain, experiencing only a slight sensation.

When the nails at his fingertips transformed into something resembling ice crystals, Karen actually smiled.

No wonder it felt so familiar,

No wonder it felt like deja vu,

Having arrived at this point,

He was finally certain,

Was this not identical to the other divine revelation he had experienced when he denied the revelation granted to him by the God of Order during his own awakening!

Ice, snow, mountain ranges, a solitary soul walking alone—it had been a hopeless expedition, but in the end, he had gritted his teeth and endured to the very finish, completing his own revelation to himself.

To think that this scene was actually one of the formations, and was even being used as an exam question for selection?

So, what should this scene be called within the Church of Order?

Just as certain ferocious beasts were suppressed and gradually integrated to become a spell or a summon within the Church of Order, Karen did not find it particularly strange for this phenomenon to appear here.

But its actual significance could not possibly be revelation, lies, or rebellion; it was highly likely meant to serve as a form of internal punishment within the Church.

Perhaps, after being passed down for so long, the specific origin of this formation was no longer traceable, but it was indeed terrifying.

Karen continued forward, even having to slow his pace slightly to wait for Leon and Laure ahead.

Pain, it was truly painful, but for someone who had already experienced it in its entirety, the impact was vastly diminished.

For the greatest agony stemmed from the boundless despair ahead; this place was relatively better, because a snow-capped mountain stood before you, and though it was immensely towering—so towering that it made you feel incapable of climbing it—it was far kinder than the complete absence of hope Karen had experienced before.

Consequently, the freezing at this moment was nothing to Karen.

To the right, ice crystals appeared on the face of the young knight, yet he still advanced with steady steps.

The face of the boy throwing pebbles remained unaffected, but the stones he cast had turned to ice.

The sleeping girl closed her eyes, crying and screaming, seemingly on the verge of waking, though if she could stay asleep right now, it seemed like an excellent method of self-delusion.

That "captain's relative" had already fallen far behind, rendered a blur by the obstruction of the wind and snow.

It was also due to the blizzard that the scenes Karen could observe were limited strictly to his immediate surroundings.

Casting a final glance at Richard, he saw his cousin panting as he persisted in crawling, seemingly fixing his eyes solely on Karen's boots, looking at nothing else.

Karen stopped, bent down, and reached out to pull Richard up, offering his right arm so the boy could cling to it as they advanced; Richard did not resist, pressing his face completely against Karen's arm, as if only this could provide the sense of security he so desperately needed.

Although standing up meant facing harsher winds, compared to the freezing of the soul, the initial wind could almost be described as gentle.

The reason Karen pulled Richard up now was not that he wanted to deprive him of an independent opportunity to temper himself, but because he worried that as the freezing intensified, a sudden loss of strength would loosen Richard's soul, causing him to be swept away by the wind before Karen even had a chance to react and grab him, so it was better to hold onto him beforehand.

Automated translation systems often fail here. Seeing this, Aislee's eyes brimmed with an envy that was almost palpable, and she made no effort to hide it; if looks could manifest physically, she was essentially using her envy as a bedsheet, flapping it over and over against Karen's face.

But Karen chose to ignore her completely.

It is only natural for me to drag my own cousin, but who exactly are you?

Seeing Karen dragging another person along, the young knight beside him flashed a look of fury!

He was not, of course, accusing Karen of helping him "cheat," but was rather enraged that while he himself walked alone, Karen was dragging a liability, making his own standard of difficulty look inferior, which made him deeply uncomfortable!

Karen sensed the furious glare from his right; as a psychiatrist, he could easily guess what the proud young man was thinking, and if the blizzard weren't so deafening, making him loath to engage in verbal contact with those around him, he really would have liked to tell Aislee on his left to go over to the right and ask that young knight for a hug.

The freezing began to intensify further!

It was no longer just ice crystals in a few corners of the body, but a large-scale freezing of the torso; more and more people chose to withdraw, for this pain was not something an ordinary person could endure.

Leon cast a glance back and then continued forward, his pride refusing to allow him to withdraw now.

Laure, meanwhile, stumbled as he forced his way forward.

Gradually,

The severity deepened further.

When the freezing reached its absolute limit, the ice... like fire, began to "burn" your body.

The bodies of many began to dissipate; some lost their elbows, some the corners of their foreheads, and others their calves.

Yet in truth, as long as you were still willing to walk upward, you could maintain your forward progress even if both your legs were gone, because those present here were all souls, devoid of substantial physical bodies.

Aislee finally couldn't bear it anymore, edging closer to Karen as she walked, saying:

"I want it too..."

Karen feigned deafness.

Aislee shouted again: "I want..."

Karen continued to ignore her.

This girl was indeed innocent and cheerful, but she was also a bit too overly familiar.

Richard was already weeping; if Karen hadn't been pulling him along, he felt he would have given up long ago, for he was in so much pain, and so full of despair.

Crying was hardly a disgrace, because more than half of the remaining people on the field were crying.

At this point, a new phase of freezing emerged; upon crossing that line, a succession of figures vanished, having finally failed to hold on and choosing to give up.

Past this line, among those who were still enduring, Karen took a rough count; within his field of vision, there were only a dozen or so people, and factoring in those on the periphery, there should be another dozen or so, meaning that fewer than thirty people were likely still holding on.

These thirty people could be considered as having entered the true elimination stage.

"Ahhhh!"

Laure could finally hold on no longer, collapsing to his knees, weeping as his form began to dissipate.

Leon glanced at the spot where Laure had vanished, then continued walking, moving like a living corpse.

Indeed, everyone present, including Karen, had now become nothing more than walking dead.

Karen’s mental state remained intact, but the "freezing" and "burning" upon his body were no less than