Chapter 640: God, I Have Sinned!

Chapter 640 Gods, I am Guilty!

If Neo could speak, he would probably be laughing out loud right now, laughing until his Adam's apple cramped.

Karen also smiled to himself; it was indeed awkward.

Lowering his head, he looked down at Kanna, whose hand he was holding; the little girl was expressionless, always remaining utterly serious whenever she was with Karen.

Yet she differed from Philomena; she had no psychological issues, for as long as one possessed no psyche, no issues could possibly exist.

The woman standing before Morindi spread her arms wide, and over a dozen massive tentacles erupted from within her body like spider legs, giving her the sudden appearance of a human-faced spider.

This was likely no effect of a secret art; she herself was bound to be a magical beast.

Within the Church of Order, there were precedents of magical beasts obtaining legal status, the most common being the temporary aberrant demons that Inquisitors could hire; early on, Alfred had held such a position on Mink Street, which counted as one of his most cherished and glorious achievements today.

After all, not just any aberrant demon was qualified to work under Lord Dis!

Even higher-ranking ones existed, granted status across different systems and departments, though rarely as core entities; take Lady Ogi, for instance, whose standing was actually quite elevated—by rights, Karen should address her with honorifics as "Milady" upon meeting—yet within her own echelon, her status was quite low.

The highest tier would undoubtedly be the Guardian Sacred Beasts in the history of the Church of Order, but to put it plainly, while those beasts should have been on par with the branch gods, within that specific stratum, their status was also the lowest.

A look of contemplation flickered in Neo's eyes; was this spider woman also a member of the early High Priest's entrepreneurial team?

Upon his return, he could thoroughly look through the records to see which department's leader she actually was; this identity of hers was likely hidden, making it a perfect piece of information asymmetry to curry favor with;

Granted, that was assuming he could return alive.

Red silken threads emanated from the spider woman, possessing an inherent cutting attribute that formed a massive web, sweeping down toward Karen.

Little Kanna released Karen's hand, took two steps forward, and transformed into a small bone dragon, her dragon claws swinging as she used her own body to forcibly intercept the entirety of the dense web.

Concurrently, the aura of the undead began an encroaching counter-invasion along the web, entering a stalemate with the spider woman below.

At this moment, Karen was not idle either; with Kanna shielding him, he unreservedly began to condense his spell, and a majestic magical aura instantly brewed around him.

Continuing a one-on-one duel with the opponent's summons was not only too troublesome but also highly inefficient; Neo had already set an example, and the wisest choice was to directly attack and weaken Morindi.

Otherwise, heaven knew how many more summons she could churn out, like a queen ant laying eggs.

On Morindi's side, a spell incantation also commenced; before long, a cluster of black circles materialized before her, with undead creatures of every imaginable variety slowly emerging from each ring.

It felt as though her elite forces had been depleted, and she was now resorting to a motley crew to make up the numbers.

Though it was equally possible this was an effect she had intentionally contrived.

His spell fully condensed, Karen said in a deep voice:

"Order—Desolate Devouring."

Originating from beneath Karen's feet, a layer of darkness rapidly spread outward.

With a wave of Morindi's hand, those newly summoned undead creatures actively moved to block it; the vast majority of them were swallowed as if by a mudslide the moment they touched the darkness, yet subsequent waves of undead continued to emerge from the circles, joining the effort to stem the tide.

Karen's gaze hardened as he began to expand the scope of the spell.

Soon, an even grander black mudslide enveloped the area, and Morindi actually increased the number of black circles to maintain a higher frequency of undead emerging to fill the void.

Karen expanded the spell's scale once more, and Morindi chose to keep pace again; within the cavern floor, half the area was consumed by the black mudslide and the undead creatures stepping forward to be swallowed, the violent magical collision causing the cavern to tremble anew.

Was she trying to compete with him in terms of sheer accumulation? And that too under the premise that her heart was already damaged to such an extent?

Or rather, was her objective identical to his, both of them preparing a decisive masterstroke?

Karen believed it was likely the latter.

At Karen's side, the Rubik's cube had stopped spinning once the defensive array materialized; yet in truth, another cube inside Karen's sleeve had been spinning frantically without pause, as he was currently deploying the next array, while the stationary one outside was merely left there to serve as a misdirection.

In all probability, the opponent was harboring the exact same intention, so he could not let her continue preparing so comfortably; he had to interrupt her.

Karen began to prepare a forced termination of the spell at hand and the array under construction, intending to charge forward lightly equipped with his sword, gambling that she would be tied down by her own preparations and unable to react in time!

Out in the darkness, Alfred commanded through the mental chain:

"Philomena, move! Ventura, prepare to cover her retreat!"

Alfred had also observed the unusual nature of the situation, sharing the same suspicion as his young master, which prompted him to react first.

Philomena moved, holding the Blade of Nightmare as she appeared like a ghost less than three meters away from Morindi; naturally highly talented, she had inherited her grandmother's "legacy" and had spent the past days walking with Madame Tangli every single day;

A while ago at the Vien Restaurant, her sneak attack had made even the skeleton extremely uncomfortable.

It could be said that, excluding Neo, the current Philomena had become the highest damage dealer in Karen's small team.

Even for Karen, if he were assassinated by Philomena without wearing the Dragon God Armor, he would be left in a wretched state; an assassin's style of combat inherently amplified the fruits of battle, otherwise, why not fight openly instead of launching a sneak attack?

Morindi merely smiled; she sensed Philomena's approach but made no other defensive moves, seemingly because the majority of her focus was occupied by Karen.

Yet this wide-open posture caused Philomena's gaze to shift; she couldn't quite gauge the true intentions of this grand mage, and intuition told her a trap lay ahead, yet she could not choose to retreat and abandon this ambush.

And so, Philomena's figure flashed as she crossed the final short distance, the Blade of Nightmare in her hand tracing a daunting, chilly gleam as it slashed directly across Morindi's throat.

Morindi raised her left hand with casual ease.

"Clap!"

Her hand actually caught Philomena's wrist, and applying a surge of force along with it, the Blade of Nightmare broke free from Philomena's grip and slammed directly onto the ground.

For an assassin, such a scenario was tantamount to a complete failure of the assassination.

Philomena had never anticipated that this grand mage could pull off such a maneuver; let alone the fact that she was severely injured, even if she weren't, no one could deal with a close-range assassin strike so effortlessly.

But the reality was indeed so.

Karen, still mid-cast, narrowed his eyes, while Alfred in the darkness slightly parted his mouth; the shift had arrived too abruptly, so suddenly that it caught everyone completely off guard.

At this moment, Philomena did not choose to passively break free or retreat; instead, she closed her eyes toward Morindi:

"Enter..."

Morindi jerked her hand downward, dragging Philomena's body and smashing it toward the ground.

"Boom!"

The speed was too fast, and it always landed with precise execution.

Philomena was heavily slammed into the ground; leaving her heart behind, Morindi followed immediately after, instantly sealing off any opportunity for Philomena to maneuver, bringing a hand blade slicing straight down toward Philomena's head.

It was utterly baffling; before Morindi, Philomena looked like a simple, naive little girl.

Alfred came to a sudden realization and immediately shouted: "She is..."

Forcibly ending his array, Karen responded: "I know..."

"Eye of the Succubus!"

Alfred activated the Eye of the Succubus, pushing the illusion effect to its maximum, and within Morindi's vision, everything underwent a drastic change.

Yet Morindi chose to directly close her eyes, her hand blade continuing its descent; however, seemingly influenced by Alfred, the hand blade originally aimed at the head ultimately struck Philomena's chest.

"Crack..."

Her palm embedded itself inside, and with a subsequent jolt of force, Philomena's body convulsed violently as blood began to seep from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

"Roar!"

The roar of a giant echoed as Ventura, transforming into a stone giant, leapt into the air and crashed down toward Morindi.

His original task was to cover Philomena's return after her strike, but he truly had not expected her to be instantly overpowered by the opponent, so his entry was a moment too late.

Morindi’s initially closed eyes snapped open, a singular brilliance rippling through her pupils, fixed upon Ventura with palpable force.

In an instant, the raging Ventura felt his consciousness spin violently, his entire surroundings upending into chaos.

Alfred immediately shut his eyes, filled with profound shock, for the illusionary effects he had cast upon Morindi had somehow been transferred to Ventura by an unknown method.

The straying petrified giant landed awkwardly as Morindi materialized atop its form, driving a fierce kick directly into the back of the giant's neck.

"Bang!"

Ventura’s massive body crumpled forward as if struck by lightning.

Upon hitting the ground, Morindi spread her left hand, conjuring a black spear of judgment, but as she prepared to plunge it into Ventura’s back, Alfred forced his eyes open once more.

Morindi shifted her gaze to him.

The terrifying suppression of her spiritual force plunged Alfred into utter despair, unable to comprehend what manner of monster he was fighting against.

"Thud!"

Alfred fell to his knees as Morindi materialized before him.

He attempted to lift his head and resist, but Morindi granted him no such chance, slamming her knee directly into his face.

"Bang!"

Alfred was sent flying backward.

Morindi spread her right hand, fashioning a sphere of black lightning in her palm, intending to hurl it at Alfred while he was still airborne.

However, she froze mid-motion, sensing that Karen had forcefully aborted his spell and was already charging toward her.

Smiling, Morindi spun around, and in a flash, the black lightning sphere slammed directly into Karen's chest; yet before it could detonate, his silhouette dissolved into nothingness.

Following this display, Morindi ceased her movements and swept her gaze across the area, finally locking onto Karen's true position.

Karen stood directly above her heart, a dense, roaring blaze of Light fire rising from his hands.

Neo had already proven that Light power countered the undead; could this shriveled, blackened heart endure another roasting from the flames of Light?

Blood leaked from Karen’s eyes—the backlash of violently terminating an active spell—but his voice remained entirely calm: "You win."

Morindi shook her head and replied, "No, I lose."

Karen pursed his lips, glancing down at the heart beneath his feet, which still seeped with foul pus: "I truly never expected that your strongest undead summon would be you, who has been standing before us all along."

Hearing this, a smile graced Morindi’s face once more: "Are you the only ones permitted to deceive, while I am forbidden a little cleverness of my own?"

As it turned out, the Morindi who had been standing on the heart this entire time was merely a creation she had summoned.

And the real Morindi...

From the shriveled heart beneath Karen’s feet slithered a woman drenched in rancid, foul pus, her entire body severely withered like a dried corpse save for her face.

Her face was identical to Morindi’s, but this was her true self, preserved within the heart all along.

In the distance, the summoned Morindi pointed a finger toward where Neo sat and said:

"My true body was nearly blown to pieces by him, forcing me to place it inside the heart while swapping this one into play."

Karen shrugged and asked, "Then this summon of yours, who is it?"

"Do you want to see?"

Karen nodded and answered, "I do."

"Very well, I shall grant your request."

The skin on Morindi's face began to peel away like melting wax, revealing an entirely new visage—a face not unfamiliar to Karen, or rather, one known to every believer of the Church of Order: he was... Norton.

It turned out she was utilizing the undead summon of Grand Inquisitor Norton.

No wonder she could effortlessly cast aside Filomena, kick Ventura down, and directly suppress Alfred on a spiritual level.

The previously manifested Foden and Daan were already immensely powerful, but this one existed on an entirely higher echelon, perhaps several echelons above them.

His appearance was a dimensional strike.

"I am curious, why didn't you use him sooner?" Karen asked.

Morindi shook her head: "Because when this summon taps into his true power, he can only fight for one minute, and I have never been able to control him properly.

The Grand Inquisitor back then must have already been incredibly formidable; the gulf between him and us is like the gulf between you and your subordinates, perhaps even greater.

I never managed to create a perfect replica of him.

In truth, everything could have been so simple had you been the first to descend, or if the scout you sent ahead hadn't been so resourceful and scheming.

I could have killed you in the safest possible manner.

Heh, I lost a long time ago; the little bone dragon has been accompanying you since you arrived, and with her protection, even if I had deployed the Grand Inquisitor's summon directly, you could have evaded and endured that brief window even if you couldn't defeat him.

Thus, that final struggle to contest spells with you was nothing more than a ruse to prompt you into a swift strike, just as you tried to lure me closer earlier.

But she..."

Morindi looked toward Filomena, who lay coughing and twitching in a pool of blood,

"An exceptional assassin."

Morindi then looked toward Alfred, who lay prone on the ground: "He is quite excellent as well."

Finally, Morindi looked at Karen and said, "My performance wasn't very convincing, was it?"

"No, you played your part well; we all fell for it. For you, this was never a fair duel to begin with."

Morindi shook her head: "I never craved a fair duel, nor will I harbor the slightest resentment. I can no longer move."

The wax-like substance on Morindi’s body melted away completely, fully exposing the youthful countenance of Grand Inquisitor Norton, and the dissolution continued, indicating that the operational lifespan of this undead summon had reached its end.

Meanwhile, the spider woman who had been tangled with the little bone dragon ceased all movement, standing frozen in place.

Morindi sighed and said, "You may kill me now."

Karen withdrew his palms, and the previously roaring Light fire vanished into nothingness.

Morindi frowned, deeply perplexed.

Karen spoke: "Upon my return, I will report to the higher-ups that the mission failed, and let them dispatch others to complete it."

"But you must know the consequences of failing such a mission."

"Very grim consequences, I am aware."

"If you had chosen to abandon it from the start out of a belief that it was impossible or too costly, I could understand. But now, you have won. The moment that fire descends, my true body will burn to ash. Why?"

Karen cast his gaze toward the fallen forms of Filomena, Ventura, and Alfred.

"Because you did not kill them."

"Hmm?"

All were heavily wounded, yet none were dead; she clearly possessed the opportunity to slay them all using Norton's summon just now, yet she had held back. For instance, that hand-blade strike could have decapitated Filomena, yet she ultimately chose only to slash her chest.

Morindi smiled: "Heh, you truly are a strange one. I merely couldn't bear to kill them; I never intended to trade that for a favor. Do not hesitate, strike."

"I cannot strike, for it would be utterly meaningless. I am taking my people back for treatment. Farewell."

"Listen..." Morindi called out, halting Karen. "I am capable of changing my mind."

Cullen asked in bewilderment, "What?"

"Buzz!"

The shriveled heart suddenly burst apart, and a terrifying spell formation activated, instantly locking down all of Cullen's chances to maneuver, trapping even Morindi's true body within its confines.

Next, it was no longer the "Norton" standing there who spoke, but rather the desiccated corpse of Morindi lying in the pus at Cullen's feet, who opened her mouth and said:

"I am deeply sorry. Your final decision to hold back and not kill me did indeed move me. I could have changed my mind and spared you, if only you had not used the magic of Light.

But now, I have no choice. I must act against you; this is my duty as a believer of Order.

Yet, putting aside our allegiances, I feel guilt toward you. If there were a chance, I would be willing to compensate you.

Regrettably, I am about to die, so there will be no chance to make amends. I am truly sorry."

Immediately following,

Morindi spoke in a heavy, resonant voice:

"Life Sacrifice————Forbidden Curse: The Seal of Tyranus!"

On the periphery, behind the "Norton" who stood there nearly half-melted, a magnificent, towering illusory figure appeared. The silhouette of this figure was almost identical to the Lord Tyranus depicted on the mural, a fact that practically verified the speculation regarding the identity of the current High Priest.

But now, all of that seemed to lose its meaning.

From the eyes of "Norton" shot forth majestic beams of light, enveloping the sealed area where Cullen stood. Above the sealed zone, a massive black silhouette of Lord Tyranus manifested, his hands interwoven, actively executing the confinement.

Though the little bone dragon rushed forward in a frenzy, it was still too late to stop it.

A terrifying force of containment instantly locked down Cullen's body and then seeped deep into his soul; everything, absolutely everything, was about to plunge into an eternal stillness—such was the power of a Forbidden Curse.

Morindi, having sacrificed her life and now on the verge of death, looked up at the motionless Cullen standing above, her eyes filled with an apologetic gaze.

Yet, precisely during her final moments, she suddenly watched in sheer horror as the black silhouette of Lord Tyranus above—who had already completed the curse and was gradually dissipating—slowly knelt down in a bizarre and unnatural posture.

The kneeling silhouette of Lord Tyranus actually re-interwove his hands and began to lift the seal of the Forbidden Curse.

In the mystical ethereal spaces,

Morindi could even hear a voice that should have been majestic, but was now incomparably humble:

"God, I have sinned."