Chapter 439: Father?

Chapter 439: Father?

Artemis, that wretched woman?

One who could refer to the Moon Goddess in such a tone had to be a figure from her own era.

In truth, there was no longer any need to keep guessing; considering how the Ankarian visages in the murals across the surrounding walls had all opened their mouths to speak in unison with her earlier, her identity was already plain to see.

Yet the issue was that the more straightforward it seemed, the harder it was to believe.

A scene was already flashing through Karen’s mind:

Walking up to the hospital bed where Neo lay and telling him:

"I saw a revived Ankara in the Ankara Memorial Hall on the top floor of the Ankara Hotel."

At that moment, no matter how precious the grapes in Neo’s mouth were, he would surely spit them out.

"Ah?"

Salaina stretched her limbs, her gaze slowly sweeping across the room.

Right then, cold sweat began to pour down Science’s face.

Karen had always felt this manservant was someone of decent strength but lacking in intellect, otherwise he wouldn’t have modeled his clone puppet precisely after his own physique; in short, he was simply incomparable to his own Alfred.

Furthermore, what was even more ridiculous was that his gaze had initially fallen upon Salaina with terror, yet when it swept over Karen and the others, it actually bore murderous intent.

Did he want to silence them?

In front of Ankara, he wanted to silence the Clerics of Order?

Science’s lips trembled slightly as he said to Salaina: "Please return, please return this instant. Your occupation of the Divine Child’s body is truly too great a burden for her to bear."

Salaina looked toward Science and extended her hand.

Science was instantly restrained by an invisible force, his feet leaving the ground as he hovered in mid-air; though ripples of yellow light coursed across his body, they dissolved before they could even take form.

"From the time I was a child until I grew up, I never even listened to my father's words, and now you expect me to listen to yours?"

Salaina’s palm began to slowly close, and the sound of crushing flesh and bone continuously echoed from Science’s body, with a sharp snap ringing out from time to time.

Karen had once fought Science’s clone puppet and knew this man excelled not in offense but in defense, yet it was painfully clear that his defensive capabilities were not even worth mentioning at this moment.

This was no longer a simple crushing of strength, but an absolute superiority in the very nature of power itself.

For although it was invisible, Karen could perceive that an invisible Chain of Order was presently coiled around Science, binding him tightly while simultaneously deconstructing every magical force he attempted to release.

The Chain of Order could actually manifest in such a way?

An invisible chain?

Karen stared blankly ahead, but his mind was already racing at high speed: an invisible chain might not be the true manifestation of Order, but it was absolutely closer to the essence of Order.

A visible chain becomes a shackle, whereas an invisible chain is the moral compass within a person’s heart?

Salaina looked toward Karen with a hint of perplexity, and then, a smile actually surfaced on her face:

"You are quite an interesting little fellow, hohoho. While I am over here choking someone for fun, you actually start gaining enlightenment right on the spot?"

The moment the words left her mouth,

Salaina suddenly directed a sound toward Karen’s direction:

"Hey!"

Karen felt as though a great mountain had smashed directly into him; his entire body stumbled backward repeatedly until he fell sitting onto the ground, the atmosphere of contemplation and enlightenment that had just coalesced in his mind completely dissolving.

One had to understand that such an opportunity was exceedingly rare; many times, a breakthrough in a certain aspect lacked only this singular spark.

Yet she, in a jesting and frightening manner, had directly snuffed out this "precious spark."

Sitting on the ground, Karen perceived blood flowing from his nasal cavity, and when he raised his hand to wipe it away, he discovered that liquid was also trickling from his ears and eyes—it was blood.

"I... cough..."

Karen wanted to open his mouth to say something, but the moment he did, blood was continuously coughed out.

His head was buzzing even more intensely, refusing to quiet down even now.

"Karen!"

"Captain!"

"Captain!"

Ophelia, Aislee, and Blanch rushed over immediately. With a flick of her hands, the Blade of the Dark Moon appeared in Ophelia's grasp as she glared warily at Salaina before them.

Aislee placed her hand over the tattoo of Mombas, the Storm Wolf, on the back of her wrist, prepared to summon it at any moment.

Blanch placed both of her hands upon Karen's shoulders and began to administer treatment to him.

Salaina did nothing to stop any of this, merely watching Karen quite calmly as she spoke: "Your capacity for comprehension is very high, but there are some things you are not meant to touch. Continuing to comprehend them will only lead you down a mistaken path, because you simply do not possess the necessary prerequisites to achieve it."

Karen: "..."

Salaina released her palm, and Science crashed down. Multiple bones across his entire body were fractured, yet even now he was still attempting to stand: "I beg of you, leave the Divine Child's body now. She truly cannot endure it anymore."

Salaina waved her hand, and Science was sent flying backward, slamming heavily against the wall before sliding down in a wretched state, yet as he lay prone upon the ground once more, he still struggled to rise.

"If you annoy me again, I will truly kill you, and then there will be no one left to look after your Divine Child."

Hearing these words, Science ceased his struggles and pressed his forehead against the floor.

Salaina walked over to the painting titled *The Light of Order*. The depiction of her within showed her body fracturing inside the colossal maw of the ferocious beast, looking just like a frozen frame of a glass cup shattering to pieces.

Gazing at this painting, the look in her eyes gradually sank into gloom.

For this was her end.

Under Blanch's treatment, Karen gradually recovered. He stood up and looked at Salaina’s retreating figure, unsure of what attitude or stance he should adopt to face her.

Although she had just destroyed his enlightenment, she had indeed meant well, though Karen felt that he might have been able to attempt it.

The atmosphere here fell into a brief freeze.

Karen spoke up to ask: "Are you Her Highness Ankara?"

"I am not her. She is already dead, split into countless fragments within this very painting. If one must define the relationship between her and me, I suppose I am merely one of those countless fragments of hers."

"You are still Her Highness Ankara." Karen gestured with his hand toward those behind him, then placed both hands before his chest, saying earnestly: "Greetings, Your Highness."

Aislee and Blanch immediately mirrored the gesture: "Greetings, Your Highness."

Ophelia sheathed the Blade of Order and was preparing to join in the greeting when Salaina spoke: "A believer of the Dark Moon Goddess is actually here as well. Are you the rations she selected?"

Karen did not speak up to help answer; instinct told him that remaining quietly as a security squad captain was the wisest choice right now.

Ophelia spoke: "I believe she chose me for that purpose, but it seems I am not the person she was looking for."

"Oh, is that so? Then she is truly unfortunate. After fusing with me, she has still endured so many cycles of moonlight; the potential of this body is already nearing exhaustion. If she cannot find an appropriate method in time, she will not survive more than a few years.

Of course, my awakening this time will bring a further burden and depletion to her body. From her already dwindling years, she will lose another half-year because of today.

Alas, truly a pitiful child. Her talent is genuinely good, she was just too impatient, and perhaps a bit too greedy."

Salaina began to walk toward the next painting; the vicinity of the end was often also the beginning.

She began to appreciate the paintings one by one, walking past with slow steps.

"I am truly not Ankara. If the true Ankara were to awaken, you people of the Church of Order would be the first to die. She hated the Church of Order, very, very deeply.

Therefore, you ought to rejoice."

Salaina walked from near to far, and then looped back from afar to near.

"I do not feel as if I am looking at my own past, nor do I find much resonance or nostalgia within it. To me, this seems to be the history of someone who merely shares my name, while I am now nothing more than a bystander.

Long ago, Ankara came to the Church of the Luna, stole the Crown of the White Moon, and was forced to leave behind a soul imprint during her flight.

Later, the Church of the Luna somehow procured a fragment of Ankara's flesh, infused that preserved soul imprint into it, and thus I was born.

The girl who currently inhabits this body is the very first person in all these years capable of successfully merging with me. I survive within her, yet I possess no great desire to contest her ownership of this vessel.

A body on the verge of withering away—what purpose would there be in seizing it?

When she dies, I shall revert once more into a tiny, solitary fragment, waiting through unknown ages for the next soul capable of merging with me." Salaina completed a full circle, speaking as she gazed at the portraits, finally returning to her point of origin.

"The one who painted these portraits was indeed devoted. My memories of Ankara are not entirely clear, so I cannot discern how much of these depictions is fact and how much is fiction, but they are well executed.

It moves one to reflection; even for the daughter of a god, her lifetime could be concluded so swiftly."

Ultimately, Salaina stood once more before the Light of Order, murmuring, "How utterly despairing she must have been back then."

Karen understood that the consciousness before him lacked any anchoring sense of self; though she still utilized Ankara's identity, she possessed no clear self-recognition.

This explained why, upon her initial awakening, she could bluntly declare, "I do not even heed my father's words," yet when confronted with the reality of confirming her identity, she maintained she was not Ankara.

If circumstances permitted, Karen might have offered her some psychological guidance, but clearly, the current situation allowed no such luxury.

Were she to undergo several courses of therapy and find healing, Salaina would likely have to prepare for her own funeral by the end of it.

"Very well, I have seen enough."

Salaina turned around and shook her head, saying, "Perhaps it was the environment here that touched her, and touched me in turn, causing my sudden awakening. That is the only plausible explanation." "Can you... return now?" Scence, prostrate upon the ground, inquired once more.

"Of course I shall return, and I am well aware that upon my retreat, she will impose even more seals upon me, for she knows she can no longer endure another awakening of mine.

But do you not agree that before I depart, I ought to properly conclude the matters at hand?"

"Please... kill them swiftly. We were ambushed, and they perished while protecting the Divine Child."

"Hum!"

Scence's body was hoisted into the air once more, his blood-streaked face staring intently at Salaina.

"I have said before, only the true Ankara would harbor such immense hatred toward the Church of Order. I do not, which proves I am not Ankara. I am... still myself." Scence spoke with great difficulty, saying, "But the Church of Order must never know of your existence; this was the covenant agreement you struck with the Divine Child before your fusion. Most importantly, without her, it would be exceedingly difficult for you to find another vessel capable of restarting your consciousness. You know full well that even within our Church of the Luna, an existence like the Divine Child appears only once in many generations."

"There can be other ways." Salaina's gaze swept across Karen and the others. "Open your minds and consciousness to me, and I shall seal this brief passage of memory since my awakening within your minds." Karen pursed his lips and said, "I would first like to verify whether you truly possess this capability at present. If you do, we are willing to cooperate with you."

"You should be well aware that you have no room to negotiate conditions before me, for I could take your lives with the utmost ease."

"You will not, because you are yourself, not Ankara." Salaina looked at Karen, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, saying, "You speak truly."

Thereupon, she raised her hand and pointed at Scence once more, forcibly dragging him to face her.

"If you do not wish for your soul to be annihilated by me, open your mind." Scence sighed, and ultimately closed his eyes.

Presently, a thread of black radiance manifested at Salaina's fingertip; the light entered the center of Scence's brow and swiftly flew back out.

Scence sank to his knees upon the ground, appearing as though he had fallen into a deep slumber.

"You see, I have already sealed this brief memory. A simple matter indeed. Now it is your turn to have this portion of your memories sealed. When I have completed this and return to my slumber, you shall all awaken, as simple as having taken a brief nap." Karen nodded his assent: "Very well, I agree."

Salaina raised her finger, approaching Ophelia first in due order. Ophelia closed her eyes, and as the radiance from the fingertip entered, her memory was sealed.

Next came Aislinn and Blanche.

Once they had all drifted into a state of unconsciousness, Salaina came to stand before Karen.

"Now, it is your turn."

Karen inhaled deeply.

"Why are you more tense than those girls?"

Karen replied, "I do not know."

"Once this memory of yours is properly sealed, I shall enter my slumber."

Karen closed his eyes, releasing his mental consciousness.

Salaina cast a strand of black radiance from her fingertip into the center of Karen's brow, assuming everything would proceed smoothly without any complications. Thus, having performed the act, she had already initiated the process of relinquishing the body to sink back into sleep.

Yet the moment the black light entered Karen's consciousness, Salaina's expression suddenly altered. A look of sheer astonishment filled her eyes as she stared in utter disbelief at the thoroughly ordinary security captain before her, uttering an incredulous gasp: "Father?"