Chapter 540: Kill!

Chapter 540: Kill!

"I believe you are Dis's grandson; that figure behind you has already explained everything. I am even thoroughly shocked by the sheer extent to which Dis must have doted on you, to the point of leaving his dharma body within your soul.

"But you say you want to curse me anew—ha, what qualifications or abilities do you possess to speak such words?

"You are merely his grandson, nothing more.

"Regardless, I am very happy today, and my harvest is great. I cannot wait to begin my new life; it will undoubtedly be spectacular."

Miss Felsher plunged her fingertips directly into Philomena's forehead. Her body was like a block of soft cream, and before long, her fingers had completely sunk into Philomena's body.

Once she completely entered, Philomena would vanish, and Miss Felsher would return anew with a young body and soul.

Karen took a deep breath, remaining unswayed by the scene before him. Instead, he looked over toward Madam Felsher, of whom only a broken skeleton remained, and said in a heavy voice:

"Inmeles family belief system—Plunder!"

The phantom of Dis behind him released a faint, gentle luster, as if corroborating Karen's words.

At the exact same time, a faint glow appeared on Madam Felsher's bones.

"Crack... crack... crack..."

A series of crisp snapping sounds rang out—not of fracturing, but of... healing.

Madam Felsher discovered with horror that the cracks upon her skeleton, from which "egg liquid" had previously been dripping, were actually contracting and mending at this moment. The smaller crevices had completely closed up, while the larger fissures were significantly narrower than before, and the process was still continuing.

"Why is this happening? This is his curse! This is his curse!"

Logically speaking, under normal circumstances, the healing of injuries was absolutely a good thing. But for the present Madam Felsher, the eggshell she had finally managed to break apart was now being repaired back together. This meant that the shackles of the curse were about to return once more, and the egg liquid was already gone.

On the other side, Miss Felsher sensed the change behind her. A look of panic appeared on her face as well, but she still immediately accelerated the process of merging into Philomena.

Her arms and chest had already entered Philomena's body; right now, the two of them were pressed tightly against each other, resembling a pair of conjoined twins.

Yet along with the healing of the very last gap upon Madam Felsher's bones, Miss Felsher's merging process became directly stuck.

For Madam Felsher was the true master of this place, while Miss Felsher was merely a subordinate personality. When the primary personality was ruined, the subordinate personality could take control of everything in the dream; but when the primary personality recovered, Miss Felsher changed back into that young woman who could only ride a horse and take a stroll at the seal of memory.

This shift between master and subordinate would not alter regardless of whether Madam Felsher actively granted it or not.

"No! No! No!!!"

Miss Felsher let out a furious scream. She turned her head to look at Karen:

"Why? Why? Why!"

"Have you forgotten how your true form used Daris for experiments? The transfer of a curse is not that difficult. Moreover, your true form merely broke the shackles of the curse; the curse itself is actually still there and has not lost its effect.

"Of course, the most important thing is that a curse like this also exists upon me. Let us just consider it as mutual aid between two people of the same kind—whatever you lack, I will supply a little to you.

"The fires of the curse burn upon both of us. Yours is about to die out, so I am simply transferring a bit over to you; there is no need to be polite.

"So, do you see? The curse Grandfather placed upon you did not have too many alternative meanings; he probably just hoped that you could live very miserably.

"I do not know what exactly happened between you all back then, but I will not overturn a decision made by my grandfather, just as the Church of Order will not overturn the evil gods designated by the God of Order back then.

"Very interesting, truly very interesting.

"I had originally intended to come and break the Felsher family curse, and I felt that I ought to be able to achieve it. Yet I never imagined that in the end, I would actually end up coming here to act as the 'tinker' for this curse."

The surrounding green shade began to fade gradually, and darkness had already appeared at the periphery.

This was Philomena's dreamscape, which meant that the initiative was currently returning to its rightful owner.

Madam Felsher, who had lost the egg liquid and had the shackles placed back upon her, was already powerless to continue controlling everything here.

"No! No! No!"

Miss Felsher's body began to be forced to detach from Philomena. She had been truly very close to success, but now, everything had lost its meaning.

Darkness began to swiftly blanket this place.

And then,

Each and every thing turned into a black vortex, sweeping everyone here—well, including that white horse—into its depths.

...

"Buzz!"

Returning to reality, the villa living room.

Karen opened his eyes, followed immediately by a terrible, burning ache within them. Yet before he could even find the time to rub his eyes, the piercing pain coming from his chest made him suffer to the point of being nearly unable to breathe.

But very soon, the sensation of leaking air from all sides at the soul level proved to be the true main event. Ever since becoming a God's servant, Karen's soul had never suffered such a heavy blow.

First was the self-harm of the Scythe of War, then multiple instances of forcibly urging the Scythe of War to launch attacks, and then utilizing the family belief system to activate the curse. His soul went from broken to overdrawn, as if the addition of a single finger gently poking him would cause Karen to crack wide open directly.

"Clang!"

Madam Felsher crawled over from the wall, knocking over a wall clock.

Her limbs were planted against the wall, her entire body covered in pustules, with purulent fluid continuously dripping down, resembling an overheated wax sculpture that was melting.

This scene was identical to Mr. Daris whom Karen had seen inside the detention house cell.

It had to be admitted that Madam Felsher was truly formidable, because she had actually endured the curse Dis had placed upon her, and not only had she endured it, she had even found a method to break the situation.

It could even be said that she had utilized Dis's hand to absorb the essence of the entire family. Had Karen not appeared, she truly could have obtained rebirth within Philomena's body.

The Church of Order would also have gained a "young" absolute genius.

But it was too late to say anything now. Having lost the "egg liquid," she would meet the exact same end as Daris. She could no longer continue to resist the shackles of the curse, and would soon collapse under the heavy pressure.

Yet for now, she had not yet fallen apart.

"Clack clack clack... clack clack clack..."

Madam Felsher's teeth began to clash rapidly together. Upon the various chairs in the living room, the puppets who had originally been sitting there seemed to receive a tug; one by one, they all stood up, opening their arms as they pounced toward Karen.

Karen raised his hand, wanting to use a spell to conduct a blocking defense, but the moment the spiritual energy within his body was mobilized, a wave of dizziness came from the depths of his brain, and the spell casting failed.

"Damn it!"

The closest puppet had already arrived before Karen. Karen had no choice but to exhaust his strength to perform a side-roll, but a dodge of this degree was fundamentally ineffective. With a single leap, the puppet arrived before Karen once more, pressing its arms downward.

"Puff! Puff!"

Two flattened palms pierced directly into Karen's shoulders. Had Karen not shifted downward slightly, the position the opponent originally wanted to attack would likely have been his heart.

He did not possess that ability of Neo's to move one's heart elsewhere. Besides, with two arms piercing down, there was no space to move it to anyway.

The puppet exerted force, wanting to lift Karen up. Karen took advantage of the momentum to kick the opponent's head squarely.

Although he had no way to use spells right now, thanks to the elevation of his physical quality after absorbing the God's bone, Karen was still barely able to cope for a few turns. Otherwise, with his former physical quality, falling off a chair would probably result in a direct concussion.

The puppet's head was kicked facing backward, but it abruptly twisted its body, flinging Karen directly out.

Two other puppets leaped up, thrusting toward Karen.

Karen could only force his figure to turn mid-air, kicking one puppet again, but he was slashed diagonally from behind by another puppet using its razor-sharp palm.

"Rip..."

His back instantly stung with a burning pain. Upon landing, he could still perceive that something was being pressed underneath him, carrying a bit of a rough, uneven sensation.

Without any surprises, it ought to be the flesh from his own back that had just been sliced halfway off.

Upon the wall, her face a mask of oozing purulent boils, Madam Felsher shrieked:

"To think he and she actually have a grandchild! I shall slaughter every single soul around him, just as he did to me, until he is stripped bare and clean, just like I am!"

"Looking like the ghoul you are, if my grandfather had actually fancied you back then, it would have truly shown a wretched lack of taste."

"Heh, if I hadn't been burdened with a husband and a child at the time, your grandfather would have been with me."

"I am truly curious where you derive such confidence. My grandfather could not even be bothered to hate you purely; otherwise, he wouldn't have used you as a mere experimental subject while doling out your punishment.

Just look at yourself, and then look at me, and you will know exactly how much my grandfather doted on the grandchild born of him and my grandmother, will you not?"

No matter how desperate the situation, one must never lose the war of words.

"You little beast, go to your grave!"

Thoroughly provoked into a frenzy, Madam Felsher leapt forward, lunging straight at Karen.

Karen dug his heels into the ground, preparing to flee, but his opponent simply let out a sinister laugh:

"Cage of Order!"

The Cage of Order materialized, binding Karen’s form tightly in place.

With a sickening snap, Madam Felsher’s right arm split open, spraying foul juices to reveal a spider-like appendage that thrust violently down toward Karen.

"Clap!"

"Puff!"

The bone spike pierced directly into the left side of Karen's lower abdomen, pinning him ruthlessly to the floor.

Madam Felsher shook her head violently, attempting to fling away the pus obscuring her face to clear her vision.

Hmm, a miss?

On her other side, the flesh ruptured once more, and a second bone spike burst forth, plunging down toward Karen.

"Puff!"

This time, it struck cleanly through Karen’s left thigh.

"Hiss..."

Karen gritted his teeth. He knew it wasn't that she wished to torture him; she was single-mindedly intent on his death. It was only because her body and soul were in such a wretched state that she lacked precision, leaving her clumsy and inaccurate.

Yet now, with both his abdomen and thigh pierced through, Karen could faintly sense her preparing to tear him asunder, to rip him clean in half.

This sensation filled Karen with a sense of suffocating frustration. After all, he had just ascended to the rank of Adjudicator—a time when his strength should have leaped forward, a time to test his new capabilities on others. Yet, due to the severe trauma to his soul, he found himself utterly incapable of channeling spells for combat.

He carried a grand treasury on his back, but the key was broken!

Damn it!

At that crucial moment, a dark shadow materialized from within Karen, transforming into a python that darted straight at Madam Felsher; it was Thousand Charms.

Harassed relentlessly by Thousand Charms, Madam Felsher was forced backward, unleashing a volley of furious roars.

But immediately afterward, the eerie clacking sound echoed once more as the puppets received a new command, lunging toward Karen en masse.

Seeing this, Thousand Charms instantly abandoned its assault on Madam Felsher, sweeping back with a swift whoosh to protect its master.

The moment it submerged into Karen's body, a pair of black wings erupted from Karen's back. Likely due to consuming the soul of Bishop Dolph, these wings were now far fuller and sturdier than before.

"Swish!"

Karen took to the air, narrowly evading the puppets' onslaught.

"Cough... let's go!"

With a beat of his wings, Karen flew toward the French window, but at that exact moment, the boundary within the house activated, pressing down with a crushing, membranous barrier.

Had it been Karen himself, he could have easily shattered this mediocre barrier, but Thousand Charms could not. Thus, the spirit could only shield Karen with its wings, bearing him along as they were both sent hurtling backward toward the fireplace.

Madam Felsher let out a mocking laugh as dark flames condensed before her, while the puppets surged forward in unison to seal off any space Karen might use to maneuver.

Just then, the ceiling overhead shattered, and Philomena’s figure descended. The moment her toes touched the ground, her form blurred out, and in an instant, all the puppets representing her uncles and grandfathers exploded into fine dust.

In the next breath, Philomena glided right before Madam Felsher.

Madam Felsher froze, and before she could unleash the flames in her hand, Philomena shattered them with a single punch, following up with a second strike delivered squarely to her face.

"Bang!"

Madam Felsher was smashed hard into the wall. Philomena followed through, opening her left palm.

"Buzz!"

The Blade of the Incubus flew through the air, settling firmly into Philomena’s grasp.

Madam Felsher screamed frantically:

"I am your grandmother!"

Philomena replied flatly:

"Grandmother!"

"Puff!"

The Blade of the Incubus pierced straight through Madam Felsher's forehead, pinning her deep into the wall behind her, while simultaneously shattering the defensive barrier within the house.

A true assassin rarely stabs the chest when executing a target; they invariably choose the precise spot that robs the victim of any final words.

Clearly, Philomena had no desire to hear whatever her grandmother might wish to say in her dying moments;

Between them, there was nothing left to discuss.

"Squelch..."

Black, foul pus splattered continuously from the ruptured skull, hissing violently as it touched the Blade of the Incubus. Madam Felsher's limbs went limp, all signs of life vanishing entirely.

Even if left untouched, it would not be long before her corpse dissolved completely into a puddle of rot.

Philomena descended lightly to the floor. Without casting another glance at her grandmother, she turned toward Karen, kneeling before him to tend to his wounds.

"Cigarette."

Philomena paused, her hand reaching into Karen's pocket to retrieve the pack. She drew one out, hesitating for a moment over whether she should place it in her own mouth to light it for him.

"Give it to me."

Philomena nodded, placing the cigarette between Karen's lips before striking a flame for him.

Taking a deep drag, Karen felt his battered, fractured soul grow quiet. Though the wounds on his body were still bleeding, they were of little consequence now.

"The next time you are injured like this, I will not come out again."

He had not expected to engage in an actual life-or-death struggle with Madam Felsher. In truth, she had already "lost" prior to this, reduced to a final, desperate death throe, but Karen had not anticipated that he would be the weaker of the two.

Hearing this, Philomena nodded and said, "Yes, it was very dangerous."

With that, Philomena lowered her head to resume dressing his wounds. After a brief silence, she suddenly spoke:

"I could hear you."

"What?"

"I said I could hear you. When I was sealed away by the candle wax, everything you two said, I could hear it all."

"Oh, if you heard it, then you heard it."

She had heard that he was Dis's grandson, that his surname was Immortals, and that it was his grandfather who had placed the curse upon the Fisher family; she knew everything now.

Yet, Karen did not feel much of anything about it.

Neo had once cautioned him, asking how he would ever face Philomena if she discovered that the curse on her family had been laid by his own grandfather.

"Then do you... hate me?"

"Why should I hate you?" Philomena countered.

"What do you think?"

Philomena shook her head, saying, "My grandmother found a woman to bear me with my father. I carry the name Fisher, but my birth was merely because my grandmother wanted to find a new vessel.

I am nothing but a tool in my grandmother's hands, no different from the bowls and dishes in the house.

Do you truly believe I would still consider myself a part of the Fisher family?"

Karen nodded.

"In that entire household, only my father truly cared for me."

"Where is he?"

"Dead. Once the dreamscape was torn apart, he died. He should have died long ago, in truth; he had been living in agony all this time."

"Oh. Let us arrange a funeral for him."

"There is no need. He is buried within my dream."

"Hmm?"

"I intend to transform my pitch-black dream into the dream my father used to have, because I have grown accustomed to it. In the future, whenever I miss him, I will be able to see him in my dreams."

"Oh, that is quite nice."

After Philomena finished bandaging and treating Karen's wounds, she spoke with a note of concern: "The injury to your soul is exceedingly severe."

"Light another one."

Philomena lit another cigarette for Karen and said, "I feel as though something extra has appeared within me, though I cannot perceive it clearly."

"You can consider it a talent... barring any unforeseen circumstances, you will learn everything very quickly from now on."

"Oh, so that is how it is."

"Your ceiling will also be very high. In short, accept it. It is what you deserve—consider it the final... no, consider it a gift left to you by your father."

"Yes, I understand."

"Let us go. Are you going to burn the house down?"

"No, let it stay here and rot."

Philomena bent down, slipping one hand beneath Karen's neck and the other beneath his waist, intending to lift him up in her arms.

"Could we change the posture, please?"

"Alright."

Philomena turned her body sideways and hoisted Karen onto her back.

"I think I could just be supported as we walk out."

"Your injuries are too severe, and your legs are hurt; you cannot walk."

"Very well. Still, this is quite nice; I can take a vacation now in broad daylight."

"Your fiancée will be very pleased."

"In truth, I am rather irresponsible, only returning to see her when I am injured."

"Yes, I think so too."

"Forget it, I am not chatting with you anymore."

"Then what should I say? I am asking seriously."

"You ought to say that I work tirelessly, exhausting myself for everyone, for the Holy Church, and for the faith, sacrificing my small family for the greater good."

"That would be far too hypocritical, for you are not like that; Richard and I sit outside the office, while you simply changed places to sit inside."

"My, you are no longer afraid of me?"

"Yes, I am no longer afraid."

Philomena paused,

and continued:

"Because I intend to offer you my loyalty."