Chapter 524: Old Age Hot-Blooded Anime

Chapter 524 An Old Man's Passionate Anime

In truth, the time left for Karen to contemplate was not much, because from the start, he had no idea that the one summoning him through the silver mask was Bishop Dorfo, leaving him with absolutely no preparation time for thought.

Fortunately, Karen possessed ample experience in embodying the role of a "grand figure" within such a game; he understood perfectly that once he accepted the pious "summons" from Bishop Dorfo, it was utterly impossible to discuss or negotiate with him, and every response had to remain brief and incisive.

Praise be to fortune, the words spoken by Mr. Dalis when they had previously dined together still lingered in Karen's mind:

His own father could never, like other bishops encountering such a matter, write a suicide note and commit suicide just to preserve a final shred of dignity.

Following this train of thought, it was best to let Bishop Dorfo write that suicide note.

The one answering his summons was himself; that Elder of the Temple had not appeared for some unknown reason, so... he probably could not come at all, could he?

Even if he did return, he surely would not agree to a direct conflict with the Grand Priest just for the sake of the Naton family, would he?

Stepping back ten thousand paces, even if the most extreme situation came to pass, could a mere regional bishop ever outweigh the prestige of the Grand Priest?

Having returned from Fire Island, with Viek by his side, and having personally witnessed the interactions among the Grand Priest, the Whip-Bearer, and Thyssen, Karen felt his own perception of high-level political struggles might even be a touch sharper than that of Bishop Dorfo.

Viek had told him clearly that the current Grand Priest’s attitude toward the Temple was the fiercest and most unyielding of any Grand Priest in history.

"Yes, I understand, please rest assured, I shall write the suicide note immediately, and then announce it to the entire Church."

Bishop Dorfo complied at once, for he felt the method proposed by the "Great Being" carried immense reason!

That a bishop holding a position far from the front ranks within a regional faction and bearing a terrible reputation should fail to see the high-level situation as clearly as a student of the former Grand Priest and retainer of the conservative faction's leader was indeed the most normal thing in the world.

Excellent, the matter was settled.

Just as Karen prepared to utter his closing words to terminate this sudden "meeting," Bishop Dorfo spoke once more:

"There is one more matter upon which I wish to consult your great and learned self, please forgive my presumption, this is not out of greed, but rather because the matter is exceedingly strange, concerning the inheritance of the Naton family, and it is something that has manifested in my son."

Your son?

Karen instantly ruled out Terrisen and Vicolai; Bishop Dorfo had three other sons, but the one he spoke of ought to be Mr. Dalis.

During their post-meal reflection earlier, Karen had remarked to Neo that Dalis was either the only sober soul among this pack of madmen, or he was the greatest madman of them all.

"Speak..."

"Yes, it concerns my second son, Dalis. I suspect my second son suffers

Loss, bewilderment, regret, and a torrent of other emotions churned within his heart, as if an entire rack of spice jars had been shattered, their disparate colors and flavors mixing into a chaotic slurry.

In the end, it all dissolved into a long sigh:

"I wanted so desperately to condense a shard of the godhead. I wanted to see the grand Temple of Order with my own eyes; I wanted to serve the great God of Order from up close.

And so, I resorted to certain unsavory means to prolong my lifespan.

I hoped that I could achieve it, even if it only meant granting myself the sliver of a possibility.

I am no longer clean, Rohan.

I was terrified that even after committing so many wrongs, I would still fail to condense a shard of the godhead.

But I was even more terrified that after committing so many wrongs, I *would* succeed in condensing it.

That is why I avoided you. I made sure you couldn't find me. I wanted to make one final, desperate push.

As for what the ultimate outcome will be, I accept it all."

Cullen slipped the silver mask into his robes, intentionally reaching in to brush his hand against it:

"No matter what happens, even if I sink into eternal depravity and become a rotting prisoner, I will still remember the friendship the three of us once shared."

Cullen sat down cross-legged, and his body began to float. Wisp after wisp of a peculiar soul aura drifted out from that massive black bell, darting into Cullen's body. Immediately following that, his soul energy began to erupt like an ignited volcano.

So this... is the soul strength of a being at this level.

Cullen had always possessed immense confidence in his own soul power, but only now did he truly witness what true terror meant.

He was still far too distant from that realm. The power of that tier remained completely beyond his current reach.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

This place seemed to be a small island. As his body began to levitate, dense, heavy thunderclouds rolled across the sky, and waterspouts formed upon the surrounding sea.

And this was merely the beginning.

It was as if everything around him was water being gradually heated, marching step by step toward a roiling boil.

Will I be able to experience a scene like this firsthand one day?

Cullen knew clearly that this was an incredibly rare experience. If he could preview it in this manner ahead of time, it would undoubtedly provide immense guidance for his future path of growth.

He was not worried about "pulling at seedlings to help them grow"; he had absolute confidence in his own talent.

However, just as Cullen was preparing to steady his state of mind to welcome this experience, his vision began to distort, and his senses plunged into chaos. It felt as though his entire being was being seized by countless giant hands, tearing him apart.

More agonizing still was the fact that his mental willpower was simply too unyielding. This high-frequency tearing inflicted immense torment upon him, severing all his perceptions of the outside world—he could neither see nor hear—yet the sensation of pain persisted, and he was denied the mercy of losing consciousness...

There must have been a glitch here; due to the extraordinary circumstances at the time, the silver mask had failed to record certain memories, resulting in a skipping frame.

"Ah..."

He had no idea how much time had passed. Cullen knew that his physical body in reality must have exhibited a corresponding reaction, but thankfully, everything finally settled into stillness.

"Hehehe... Hahaha..."

His vision gradually shifted from a blur back to clarity.

Cullen was crouching by the shore, laughing uproariously.

Yet as he laughed, tears began to stream down his face.

"I actually... succeeded... Rohan, can you believe it? I actually succeeded. But now, I don't know how to face you. Should I deceive you, my dear brother? If I go to see you, should I conceal this past from you?

If I come into close contact with the God of Order, when I draw near to the great God, the God will surely see right through the filth upon my soul, wouldn't He?

So,

should I really go to the Temple of Order after all?"

Out on the sea ahead, wind and waves surged. Following closely, the phantom projection of a majestic gate began to gradually manifest.

This was the Gate of the Temple. So long as the Temple sensed that someone in the world had condensed a shard of the godhead belonging to the Order alignment, it would automatically appear before them, guiding them into the Temple of Order.

"The gate is about to appear. Rohan, should I go inside to see you?"

"You will go in."

A voice echoed from behind.

Cullen turned around and saw the newcomer. Then, Cullen froze.

Though much younger than the grandfather in his memories, to be precise, this should be Diss in his young-to-middle-aged phase, likely around thirty years old.

According to Cullen's prior understanding of his grandfather's past, Diss had displayed a terrifying level of talent from a very young age. In the words of Pu'er: whatever Diss wanted to learn, he mastered it with a single glance.

Therefore, even though Pu'er had watched Diss grow up, Pu'er had never presumed to be Diss's teacher, because Pu'er had essentially taught Diss nothing at all, nor did Diss need any teaching.

Pu'er was a genius in her own right, but Diss was a being whom even Pu'er considered a genius.

Before the age of twenty-five, or perhaps even a few years younger during his youth, Diss should have been developing along the traditional path of the Church of Order. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known... no, if that weren't the case, the likes of Rasma and Thyssen would never have met Diss.

In his youth, Diss had been granted the opportunity to enter the Temple of Order to pay his respects. Rasma and the others seemed to have been present as well at the time. Then, when facing the Temple Elders, Diss had directly revealed his stance and attitude.

Pu'er had remarked that it was truly a display of mercy that the Temple Elder hadn't slapped him to death right then and there.

But later, when Diss condensed three shards of the godhead, one of which was his younger self... it seemed that the Diss of that era was not merely relying on youthful arrogance. He possessed a genuine baseline of confidence.

Because his grandfather's time in the "starter village" was simply too brief, it was difficult for Cullen to estimate the specific level of strength that corresponded to any particular age bracket.

Yet looking at Diss at this age, Cullen felt that he should have reached a relatively stable plateau.

Cullen remembered clearly when Diss had lamented to him that because he had walked too fast in his youth, by the time he woke up to reality, he found there was already no turning back.

"Who are you?"

Diss shook his head and said, "The deeds are already done, so why continue this hypocritical acting here? You know full well you will enter that Gate of Order. You crave to enter that place to receive the blessing of extended lifespan it offers.

Yet, you still insist on finding a justification for the filthy things you have done, just to rid your conscience of guilt.

A person like you is truly tedious."

"Who on earth are you!"

"I have no interest in introducing myself to you. I came looking for you because you stole something belonging to a friend of mine..." Diss pointed a finger toward the mysterious giant bell resting on the ground. "It wasn't enough for you to plunder his family's ancestral holy artifact; you even slaughtered and refined his entire clan into this giant bell to provide you with vitality."

"I am quite curious as to how you discovered this. I remember distinctively that on that night, I left absolutely no one alive."

"Yes, you left no one alive. My friend's wife killed her own three-year-old child with her own hands. Before she killed him, she recounted the events of that night to the child, and told him your identity.

You had actually ingratiated yourself with his family very early on, even becoming a guest in their home. Consequently, you left behind far too many clues for me to track you down.

She killed her own child and concealed the child's corpse.

Therefore, after you finished slaughtering his family, even though you conducted an extremely meticulous search of the entire estate and left no one alive, you missed a single corpse. You failed to perceive it, and thus you left it untouched.

I found that child's corpse. When he was born, I had personally bestowed a blessing upon him.

I awakened his spirit, and he told me what his mother had said to him that day."

"So what? What did you come here to do?"

"To seek vengeance." Diss let out a soft sigh. "I do not have many friends. He was one of the very few whose company made me feel genuinely happy."

"Heh, a pity. You should have come a little earlier. That way, you might have stood a chance. As for now... you no longer have any chance.

Perhaps, this is the very blessing the God of Order has bestowed upon me."

Karen raised his hand and pointed at Dis.

"You should have reported me to the Church of Order instead of coming here alone."

"It would be useless. When the Temple sees someone who can condense a shard of godhood, they are like hungry dogs catching sight of a bone. In matters like this, they have absolutely no bottom line.

Besides, there is one thing I need to remind you of, because you have misunderstood."

"Oh? What is that?"

"I did not arrive late. In fact, I arrived a long time ago."

"A... a long time ago?"

Dis nodded,

and said with profound calmness:

"I gave you time to bear your fruit."

——

More to come tonight.