Chapter 473: Evil God Knight, Official Attack!

Chapter 473: Heretic God Knights, Formally Strike!

"Have you been waiting long?"

"No, Captain."

In truth, Karen had walked right past Philomena earlier, but she had not recognized the visage of "Pavarotti." Though she had visited Pavarotti’s home—the funeral parlor—not everyone possessed the sharp eye for such minuscule details.

Glancing at the time, he saw it was already late into the night. The old captain’s vessel must have left port by now, and reluctant to trouble himself further at this hour, Karen found an inn and requested two rooms.

The accommodations were decent, each room featuring an individual bath pool. The proprietor claimed the waters were drawn from a volcanic hot spring, though filling it required an additional fee.

Karen paid the sum, and the attendant followed him in to help start the water. Once the pool was nearly full, Karen walked over and dipped his hand in to gauge the temperature.

The heat was not extreme, yet it carried a distinctly scorching sensation. This, however, was not the natural efficacy of a hot spring; the inn had spiked the water with a certain mineral stone powder.

Soaking in such a pool would induce a sense of mental euphoria, misleading guests into believing the spring possessed potent medicinal qualities. In reality, it was akin to mild heavy-metal poisoning, stimulating human potential into a brief high before ushering in a period of deep exhaustion.

Karen shook his head, lacking the energy to confront the landlord for a refund. He walked into the shower stall instead, rinsed off, and then lay down upon the bed.

"Knock... Knock..."

He had barely settled when the sound echoed at his door.

Karen intended to ignore it, but the knocking persisted. Resigned, he rose and opened the door. Standing outside were two young women, neither appearing older than twenty; they wore no makeup, lending them a clean, delicate appearance.

"Sir, do you require a massage service?"

"Sir, our techniques are very good."

It seemed this establishment offered a dual combination of hot springs and confectionery.

"No need, thank you," Karen declined. He nevertheless retrieved a hundred-order voucher from his pocket and handed it over. "Do not disturb me again."

"Thank you, sir."

"You are truly generous, sir."

In regions where war had erupted, Order Vouchers tended to hold their value firmly. This was especially true now; the fluctuating prices of Samsara Vouchers and Moon Vouchers were quite drastic. While the Moon Voucher fared slightly better due to its alignment with Order currency, people still preferred direct payment in Order Vouchers.

Just then, the door to the adjacent room creaked open. Philomena leaned her torso out, turning her head toward them, and happened to catch sight of Karen handing the vouchers to the girls.

Karen offered Philomena a subtle smile and a nod, saying, "Get some rest."

"Yes."

Having dismissed the girls, Karen closed his door and returned to bed, soon closing his eyes and drifting into slumber.

Next door,

Philomena walked out onto the balcony holding a water glass, facing the deepest and most towering dormant volcano on Fire Island.

She took a sip of water, hesitated briefly, and then dropped a piece of ice into the glass.

She took another sip, frowning slightly.

Before their separation, the words Purr had spoken surfaced once more in her mind.

Was that cat right?

If she truly defeated her own grandmother, would she still have a chance to choose her own life anew?

That curse,

would it finally end?

Philomena raised the glass in her hand and poured the ice water directly over her own head, soaking her hair and clothes in an instant.

Right then, a knock sounded at her door.

Imitating Karen, Philomena retrieved a hundred-order voucher, walked over, and pulled the door open.

Standing at the threshold was a fit, young man with a bare torso. He had slung his shirt over his shoulder and rested one hand against the doorframe. Looking at the dripping-wet Philomena, he swallowed hard instinctively and asked,

"Do you require a massage service, beautiful lady?"

"Bang!"

Philomena kicked him squarely, sending him flying backward, and slammed the door shut.

In the end, she had failed to restrain herself.

Awakened by the commotion from his deep sleep next door, Karen merely rolled onto his side, dismissing it as nothing of consequence.

...

Out upon the waters at the periphery of the harbor, the small pirate ship lay anchored alongside the sea beast. Compared to the rudimentary shack built upon the creature's back, the ship was naturally far more comfortable. Having finished their meal, everyone sought out their own corners to rest.

As for the ship’s original crew, they were left with no choice but to sleep in the corners of the deck. They harbored no complaints, however, for the strength these newcomers displayed was more than enough to flatten any dissatisfaction in their hearts.

Inside the captain’s quarters, Alfred sat at the desk, organizing his journals and sketches from the journey. Purr and Kevin, meanwhile, had monopolized the berth that originally belonged to the captain.

Purr rested her head against Kevin’s belly, sleeping sweet and sound.

From time to time, Kevin would gently flick his tail, brushing away the bothersome mosquitoes for her.

Alfred turned his head to look at the cat and dog upon the bed. Taking in this heartwarming vignette, he picked up his fountain pen and wrote in his booklet:

"I will keep a constant eye on Kevin on behalf of the Young Master, for we can never entirely lower our guard around him. I imagine even Raniedal himself would loathe being treated purely as a dog; it would strip him of whatever dignity he has left.

Yet one thing seems certain to me, and that is Kevin truly possesses a brotherly affection for Purr.

Even gods possess a trace of humanity.

For the sake of the Goddess Mils, Raniedal climbed the path to godhood step by step, ultimately slaying the Sea God. Though I have at times wondered if the Goddess Mils even knew of his existence, or if her feelings toward the Sea God were truly born entirely of coercion."

Writing to this point, Alfred used his pen to strike through the latter half of the sentence. He felt that as members of the "family," writing such malicious gossip about Kevin behind his back was somewhat inappropriate.

He treasured his notes deeply, believing that the contents of his journals might well become the skeletal framework for the mythological narrative of the new faith in days to come.

There was no need to burden Kevin with such tabloid scandals based on a momentary whim of speculation. Otherwise, thousands of years from now, believers might still be endlessly debating this very riddle of Raniedal.

For a dog so infatuated with a goddess that he was willing to sacrifice everything for her was simply too relatable a figure for many common folk.

Alfred continued to write:

"The Goddess of the Dark Moon, for the sake of revenge, was willing to offer her supplications to the Young Master.

I know the 'God' of the Young Master's imagination ought to be akin to the relationship between heaven, earth, and a straw dog.

This proves once more that the definition of a 'God' the Young Master held long ago was entirely correct.

If a god is merely a title given to an entity that has grown powerful to a certain degree, then there is truly no necessity for them to be worshiped."

Alfred silently paused his pen.

After a moment's hesitation, he decided to write down the following thoughts anyway:

"I, too, feel trepidation; I, too, harbor doubts; I may even feel unease. For as the Young Master grows progressively stronger, there may come a time when my observations reveal circumstances I would prefer not to witness.

If one day the Young Master deviates from the path he once spoke of, should I step forward to remind him?"

Alfred closed his eyes, sinking into profound contemplation.

After a long while,

he opened his eyes once more,

and wrote with utmost solemnity upon the page:

"I must have misunderstood then."

...

At the foot of the volcano lay a mine. Originally, it had yielded a continuous stream of fire-attribute magic stones, a property belonging to the Delan family, one of the three titans of the Fire Island.

"The Delan fleet has set sail, the Castle fleet has set sail as well, and oh, there is the Watson family fleet too! Those are the three oldest pirate families in the Romaford League, and universally recognized as the three strongest!"

Though the night was now deep, many silhouettes were still laboring within the mine. There were not only workers from the Delan family, but also those from the Castle and Watson families.

Three carriages approached, each followed by a cohort of elite guards.

Shortly after, the three family patriarchs stepped down from their carriages.

Two elderly men, namely Winbot Delan and Millis Castle, and a middle-aged woman of mature charm, Celine Watson. She was the current spokesperson for the Watson family; the true head of the family was her son, but he was still young.

Under layers of guard protection, the three patriarchs walked into the mine. Observing their path closely revealed that they were no longer following the route of the ore vein, but a new tunnel intentionally excavated from within the mine.

"Even up until now, I still feel that our plan carries great danger," Celine said. "We might unleash a true demon. Legend has it that the God of Fire was injured just trying to seal him."

"Legends come in many varieties. Why must you believe the worst one? I prefer to believe that the God of Fire buried a treasure here, likely a divine artifact, right, old Winbot?"

"Heheh, although my family prides itself on possessing the inheritance of the Fire Church, if it were truly that legitimate and comprehensive an inheritance, would my family still need to lie low here and be pirates with you all?

Wouldn't it be far more comfortable to establish a church?

As for legends, I know nothing of them. I only know that my ancestors chose to settle and operate here, surely with a purpose.

I won't lie to you, throughout the history of my Delan family, there have always been records of family youths gaining insights and breaking through in strength after tempering themselves in this volcano. The Delan family also has a traditional custom of having sixteen-year-old youths live in the mountain for a month every year.

I think this should explain a few things."

"Then wouldn't that mean the two of our families are cooperating with your Delan family, and the thing dug out in the end is to help your Delan family advance?"

"Exactly, exactly, we are at a big disadvantage here, aren't we, hahaha."

Old Winbot smiled and spoke: "In the Romaford League, it has always been my Delan family leading the way, and your two families also branched out from mine. I am not afraid to say what you might dislike hearing, but the reason the League could secure a foothold here, manage this sea territory, and become the lords of pirates is precisely because of the sincere unity of our three families.

Your two families trust my Delan family, and my Delan family will naturally reward you. The ocean is vast, and it can accommodate the joint development of all three of our families.

This time, as long as we awaken the object of inheritance, we can rely on its power to expand our influence and territory."

The three patriarchs arrived at the end of the tunnel. This place was already deep within the volcano, and a red curtain appeared ahead.

Old Winbot commanded: "Open it!"

The subordinates stepped forward and pulled the curtain aside. Beneath the curtain, there was shockingly a tightly closed eye.

"It is hard to imagine just how massive it must be. I heard that Dark Moon Island once experienced the trampling of the sea beast Dorons. Looking at it now, this... entity buried beneath this volcano is not smaller in stature than Dorons."

"Is it a person or a beast?"

Old Winbot spoke: "This must be the messenger guarding the divine artifact. The people from the Light side were correct; a sacred relic is indeed buried beneath this volcano."

"I am quite curious, how did the people of Light know about this place, and even guide our excavation and preparation route?"

"There is no need for curiosity. As the former number one orthodox church, even if the Church of Light has perished now, it still possesses far more information than pirate families like ours. Compared to them, we are simply like elephants and ants."

Old Winbot shook his head and said: "It is said that an elder of Light successfully went to the God-Burial Ground and returned decades later, having received an inheritance from the God-Burial Ground. I suppose the God of Fire must be buried in the God-Burial Ground as well."

"In that case, it makes sense. Is the elder of Light we are to welcome in two days the very one who went to the God-Burial Ground?"

"Yes, exactly. Only he can have a way to awaken this guardian messenger."

"But does this mean we will break ties with the other orthodox churches?"

"Are you mad? Even if we obtain these things, it is impossible for us to challenge those orthodox churches. As ants, we must have the awareness of being ants.

Once the messenger awakens and the divine artifact is possessed by our League, I will immediately order the arrest of the remnants of Light, using their corpses and blood to express loyalty to the orthodox churches.

Though this is doing things a bit dishonorably, it doesn't matter. Anyway, those remnants of Light have long been used to it, haven't they?"

The three patriarchs burst into laughter together.

Entirely unnoticed by them, deep within this giant eye, a tiny ripple actually arose.

...

An invisible thought spread outward from the dormant volcano, like a crouching giant beast quietly observing the world.

And this ripple, which could not even be counted as an investigative consciousness, was enough to leave the vast majority of people entirely unaware. Only a tiny minority could have a slight yet inexplicable sensation.

On the hotel bed, the fast-asleep Karen frowned slightly. He instinctively perceived something, but having conscious contact during sleep, he subconsciously thought he was about to have that kind of dream related to the War Scythe again, and immediately resisted it by instinct.

One must know that after the last dream, grandpa's phantom had still not recovered even now.

With this resistance, it ended.

Karen opened his eyes and sat up from the bed, feeling somewhat puzzled:

"No, it was resisted successfully just like that this time?"

...

The small pirate ship, the captain's cabin.

The bald head of Kevin, who was being used as a sleeping mat by Pu'er, moved slightly twice, and the dog tail that had been wagging all along stopped at this moment.

He was an evil god. No matter how miserable this evil god was now, he was a true evil god after all.

On the Altar Island, apart from Karen who was the involved party possessing the Eye of the Dark Moon, only he could see the silhouette of the woman in red, and accurately sniffed out her components.

At this moment, when the ripple spreading from the bottom of the dormant volcano swept to his place, he instinctively sensed it, and even caught it.

As for Pu'er who slept pressed against him, because the distance was too close, added to the fact that her soul level was inherently high and the finger hidden in her tail played a part, under the guidance and transition of Kevin's "antenna," she caught this ripple too.

...

"Mmh..."

Pu'er rubbed her eyes and found herself lying on a sandy beach.

Oh, this was a dream.

She certainly would not panic; after all, she was a cat who had seen the world.

But when she climbed up and looked at her cat paws, she suddenly said with some vexation:

"Sigh, I am truly fallen. Even in a dream, I don't turn into a human and am still a cat."

She remembered that during the first few years of being a cat, in her dreams, she could often turn into a human, and would feel quite lost upon waking up.

But after being a cat for a long time, she gradually got used to it. The probability of being a human or a cat in dreams began to approach equal levels. Up until now, it seemed she hadn't appeared in a human body within a dream for a very long time.

But because of Karen, Pu'er felt she should rekindle the feeling of being a human, yet now there was none.

"Woof woof woof woof!!!"

"Roar roar roar roar!!!"

A burst of noisy sounds came over. Pu'er looked up and saw Kevin's silhouette ahead.

The bald big Golden Retriever was roaring furiously at a dog that was slightly larger than him in build, and the opposite side was also roaring back at Kevin.

"Oh, my goodness. In a dream, I can actually dream of the stupid dog. Sigh, stupid dog, see how well I treat you and how much I look after you."

Pu'er walked over. Only when she walked a bit closer did she realize that the one arguing with Kevin was not an ordinary dog. That big black dog had three heads, its eyes gleaming with red light.

"Woof!"

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

Evidently, a single canine maw stood no chance in a shouting match against three, and Kevin instantly found himself at a severe disadvantage.

The three-headed hound began to press forward, closing the distance, yet Kevin refused to show weakness. Yielding not a single inch, he stubbornly maintained his fierce verbal assault.

As the gap between the two beasts narrowed, the three-headed hound crouched low, coiling its body to spring forward and tear him apart. It was clearly brimming with confidence in its anatomical superiority—in a true mauling, three mouths would undoubtedly hold the upper hand.

Sensing a presence behind him, Kevin glanced back and spotted Purr. He felt a flash of confusion as to why he was seeing Purr *here*, yet he instinctively lashed his tail, signaling for her to get away.

At this moment, he could not even tell if this Purr was merely a figment of his dream or if she had truly entered his conscious mind, but either way, he refused to let her come to harm.

Purr, however, utterly ignored the silent commands of Kevin’s tail-signals.

It was true that she was the most pampered member of the household, but in her past life, she had always been the undisputed leader of the pack!

Instead of retreating, Purr accelerated her pace and darted directly behind Kevin. With a sudden bound, she leaped onto his back—a perch long familiar to her.

"Think you're a big deal just because you can bully someone with three mouths? If you want to mess with my stupid dog, you'll have to answer to me first! You want a fight? Bring it on! We're afraid of you? Even giving you a one-head head start, we'll still beat you into the dirt!"

With those words, Purr’s left paw swiped toward Kevin's head but caught only empty air.

She immediately shifted lower, grabbing a fistful of the fur on the scruff of Kevin's neck to anchor herself, while her right paw whipped through the air as a blade of flame materialized in her grasp.

"Evil God's Knight, charge!"