Chapter 710: Ants

Chapter 710 Ants

The true scene made one's heart tremble.

The colleagues, elders, and friends interacting with you either had no eyes, a massive hole in their chest, or their necks were completely dislocated, actually facing away from you as they conversed.

Everything was far too detailed and logical; originally, all untrue illusions could be termed a phantom realm, but everything prior made Karen feel that the word "phantom" simply could not encapsulate it.

If he had not just come "out" of the underground cave, and if he were not currently encountering a divine pollution event where any bizarre occurrence was possible, he would never have second-guessed it;

If he had just woken up, pushed open the window, and stepped straight into "this place," then truly not a single shred of wariness or hesitation would have arisen.

Furthermore, even with such a clumsy transition, under the premise of absolute skepticism, one still could not capture the slightest trace of falsehood in this world.

If his grandfather had not been guarding him, and if the Inmeris family belief system had not provided a blessing at the critical moment, Karen would have already succumbed to it.

Of course, this illusion would not last for long, but it was enough to accomplish its purpose.

For instance... those two notebooks of principles were about to be delivered into the hands of the two deceased Order Justices, and they now... were the embodiments of this divinely polluted land.

The concentration inside had already contracted, and the pollution was not considered extreme; although he and his companions had experienced a few twists and turns, they had still successfully completed their objective, but what if all of this was intentional on the part of the polluted land?

Leaving those two notebooks of principles in the underground cave was a variable conundrum for the Church of Order, which wished to permanently seal this place;

Yet storing those two notebooks on the altar might make it difficult, or rather require an extremely vast length of time, for the pollution here to saturate and influence them;

Was it possible that the polluted land had deliberately used them as couriers this once?

However, Kevin had clearly told him that divine pollution did not possess an individual will in the traditional sense.

But if this was a collective will, wasn't it a bit too meticulous?

Or perhaps,

Both what Kevin said and what he observed were correct?

Divine pollution had no will, while the pollution before his eyes did; between the two seemingly contradictory points lay an overlapping layer, which was...

The god was not dead!

The experiment might not have failed as the outsiders imagined; it might have succeeded!

So now,

Did it want to leave this place?

Cold sweat broke out on Karen's forehead; no matter how dangerous or bizarre a masterless land was, there was a limit, and one could at least gamble on probability and luck, but if there was a will here capable of manipulating everything:

Then every single action taken by him and his companions was merely a game right beneath its eyes.

The Sword of Diamens was drawn by Karen, and he rushed toward Nicole and Anlans at his maximum speed; the notebooks of principles absolutely could not be handed over.

That "she" might want to utilize the power of these two divine artifacts to break the seal and escape!

However, the moment Karen launched his actions in an illogical manner, the surrounding wind seemed to grow thick and viscous.

If he had been one of the actors on the stage previously, then right now, he was a disruptor crashing up from below.

A force, or perhaps it could be called a rule, was actively repelling him.

Karen lowered his head and discovered a square grid appearing beneath his feet, and the grid was expanding outward, square after square, dense and countless, with no end in sight;

A chessboard...

So, all of this was the doing of the God of Infatuation's chessboard.

This proved from another angle that an entity was controlling this divine artifact.

Everything around began to distort, and light and shadow were shifting rapidly and irregularly at this moment, like a movie being played on fast-forward.

But this was not targeted at Karen; it was targeted at those people who had not stepped out of the screen and still treated this place as the real world.

Karen's actions would be "re-interpreted"; he might not even appear as "Karen" anymore, but rather as some other figure, while the real Karen might still be standing in place under the guidance of Master Kumute, greeting the other masters one by one.

The purpose of doing this was simple: to reshape abnormal behavior back into normal behavior and then guide it.

Karen instantly discerned the intention of this chessboard, but he currently had no way to break through the "perspectives" of the others.

At this time, between Karen and Anlans and Nicole, there were a total of six companions, meaning that on Karen's direct path of approach, those six people could be "brainwashed" to intercept him; they were Philomena, Richard, Ventura, Muri, Leon, and Neo.

The others were further away; as long as his speed was not significantly reduced, they would have no chance to strike at him, at least not before he obtained the notebooks of principles.

Karen was already prepared to be blocked, because if not for the sudden glimpse of "Dis," he would have been entirely unable to break through the deception of the chessboard, so he did not believe the others could recognize him.

What he needed to do next was to evade their interception without truly harming them.

...

"My grandmother will send us isolation meals then, and there will definitely be a portion for you."

Philomena responded, "You are her grandson, I am not."

"No, you misunderstand, she will send them to Karen, and then bring a portion for you and me along the way; it might even be a lower-tier version of the meal."

"Aren't you jealous of Karen?"

"Jealous? Are you jealous of Karen?"

Philomena shook her head.

"Exactly, so how could I be jealous of someone who is like my own brother, hehe."

Brother?

He really is your cousin.

Philomena's thoughts shifted; if Richard regarded Karen as his own brother, then for herself, what kind of role did Karen occupy?

The "Great Existence" in Mr. Alfred's words?

He would instruct her on how to act and express herself on certain occasions, and he would criticize and guide her; "brother" felt a bit inappropriate, too low;

So, a feeling like an uncle?

Philomena did not want to think of another word in the same generation as an uncle.

Richard was still chatting with Philomena when, right at that moment, a justice clad in the robes of Order suddenly drew a sword, first stabbing a justice in front of him to death, and then immediately rushing toward Anlans and Nicole, who were handing over the divine artifacts.

In the distance, "Karen" turned his head, looked over, and shouted to everyone, "Quick, stop him!"

Almost as a subconscious reflex, Philomena's figure bolted out, arriving behind the assassin, and thrust her dagger downward.

"Clang!"

The assassin's swift reaction astonished Philomena; the opponent's speed did not alter, yet they still calmly parried this sneak attack from behind with their sword.

Philomena flung her dagger, which the assassin perfectly evaded with a side-step;

Immediately after, Philomena drew the Nightmare Blade, her figure flashing in succession as she arrived at the assassin's flank, hacking down with her blade.

The sword in the assassin's hand parried once more, and at the instant the weapons

Filomena felt only as though an invisible, heavy blow had struck the back of her head; far from pulling the assassin into her dream world, she had instead been utterly cowed by the sheer strength of the opponent's soul.

What kind of assassin was this, to possess such terrifying spiritual power?

The assassin did not linger to entangle with Filomena, but seized this opening to create distance.

Yet right at that moment, a colossus descended from the heavens.

Cullen slipped to the side, narrowly evading the impact.

As a massive stone fist swept toward him, Cullen raised his hand: "Chains of Order!"

Thick, heavy chains materialized, binding Ventura's arms first before spreading with astonishing speed to shackle his feet.

"Roar!"

……

Ventura let out a furious roar, his body enveloped in coils of yellow vines that he was now attempting to burst open by brute force.

He had initially thought it would be easy, having immense confidence in his titanic physique, but when he exerted his strength, he found the yellow vines around him completely unyielding; instead, he lost his balance and crashed forward.

Ventura: "?"

He had seen it quite clearly just now—after dodging his descent, the assassin had merely raised a hand with casual ease to cast an instantaneous spell, so how could it possibly possess such formidable potency?

……

"Bang!"

Muri arrived before the assassin, his round shield raised to form a massive barrier while his short blade rested upon it, unleashing a powerful, slashing blade-aura.

A burst of flame erupted in front of the assassin as a blinding fire serpent soared into the sky, coiled once in the air, and then slammed down violently, swallowing the blade-aura whole.

Just as Muri braced himself to weather the fiery impact, he found that the seemingly ferocious flames suddenly dispersed into mere sparks, and immediately afterward, at the weak point of his round shield, a tyrannical ice spike manifested, piercing a gaping hole straight through it.

Muri knew his interception had failed, but as he prepared to shift his position, a giant pupil suddenly materialized before his eyes, and within that pupil, he saw his grandfather, Mobitten.

Muri lost himself for a fraction of a second, and by the time he snapped out of the vision, he realized the assassin had already slipped beyond his perimeter of control.

This was not an illusion… nor had he succumbed to any spell earlier; the opponent had merely conjured the image of his grandfather to distract him, equivalent to flashing a poster in front of his face to make him expose a flaw.

"How… how is this possible?"

How could this assassin be so intimately familiar with him?

……

Leon intercepted the assassin—or more accurately, he merely assumed a blocking posture, only to be bypassed in the next instant as the assassin darted past, casually slapping him away with the flat of the blade.

The penultimate obstructer was Richard.

He had actually been standing in the same position as Filomena earlier, but Filomena's speed was simply too fast; fortunately, Richard's inner "Little Jerry" took over.

Instead of rushing blindly to block the assassin, he anticipated the movement and ran ahead, waiting in ambush along the path.

Yet watching the assassin bypass one companion after another at breathtaking speed, the pressure on Richard intensified dramatically; he spread his hands, and instantly, strands of silk shot toward the assassin, each thread bearing highly adhesive and corrosive properties.

Cullen chose to catch one of the threads with his bare hand, and his palm was instantly "burned" into a wound, but the moment a mere droplet of blood welled out, the surrounding threads recoiled in sheer panic as if they had seen a ghost, ultimately tangling themselves into a chaotic mess that wrapped around Richard himself.

Fortunately, he was immune to his own silk and did not have to worry about dissolving himself, but the sticky threads still bundled him into a giant cocoon, causing him to hit the ground with a dull thud and go rolling away.

Cullen was finally about to reach Anlans and Nicole; now, only one last obstacle remained, because that person had stood closest to the group from the Church of Principles since the very beginning, loath to part with the two divine artifacts that had been retrieved only to be handed over.

This person was Neo, and he was also the most troublesome of them all.

Cullen did not think he could easily slip past his interference as he had done with the others.

And once his speed slowed down, he would be cornered by all his subordinates rushing from behind, leaving him absolutely no chance to halt the transfer of the divine artifacts.

However, Neo stood there motionless; despite being the closest, he showed not the slightest inclination to step in and protect them.

Cullen: Did he recognize me?

Neo: Steal it, hurry up and steal it. Although I think you've gone completely mad trying to openly steal divine artifacts here—under the watchful gaze of so many people and so many eyes, the probability of you successfully walking away is probably one in ten million—but since those two artifacts aren't mine anyway, I'll bet on your one-in-a-ten-million chance of success. If you really manage to steal them, I'll just give chase; during the pursuit, once we're out of everyone's sight, won't I have a chance to launder the artifacts for myself?

Neo had not recognized Cullen, at least not yet.

But he did not interfere; the assassin's target was the Church of Principles, so what did that have to do with his own Church of Light… oh no, his Church of Order?

Having just failed his attempt at "sacrifice," he was exactly at the point of reclaiming his passion for life; naturally, if there was entertainment to be watched, he would watch it to the fullest, being the type of person who feared a grand spectacle the least.

Cullen finally arrived before Nicole and Anlans, who were currently opening the boxes containing the divine artifacts—only halfway open, not yet fully revealed.

Yet they too sensed the assassin's approach, and two sacred tools fell from their respective persons, a pendant and a wooden tablet.

The pendant radiated a yellow light that enveloped the duo, while the wooden tablet burst into flames; the smoke rose perfectly straight, and immediately a hand reached out from within as a bald demon roared and lunged toward the assassin.

Research scholars could possess very high positions and realms of cultivation, but they generally did not know how to fight; Cullen had known this long ago.

What gave them the courage to deal with him so perfunctorily while in the middle of official business?

In truth, Cullen had misjudged them, because the moment Cullen erupted, Nicole and Anlans's teachers had urged them in unison: "Do not be distracted by external influences, quickly hand the divine artifacts over to us so these people from Order won't get greedy!"

Setting aside the long-standing, almost partner-like relationship between the Church of Order and the Church of Principles, anyone with a normal brain would know that it was impossible for the people of Order to forcibly plunder the artifacts of the Church of Principles in such an open and public setting.

But these two students believed their teachers' words implicitly, and being young, they did not think things through completely—no, in truth, the chessboard was utilizing the collective mindset of everyone to create this deceptive environment, and the words spoken by the people within this environment were exactly what they themselves believed they would say.

Thus, in the eyes of these two students, the divine artifacts they had worked so hard to bring out were inherently at risk of being coveted by the Church of Order, given that Order's own divine artifact had been lost inside and not retrieved.

The bald demon collided with Cullen, but failed to knock him away; it was as though Cullen's body possessed a viscous, pulling force that neutralized the impact while simultaneously using the demon's body to accelerate once more, like a gymnast vaulting over a horse.

The power of the Sea God's Armor acted as a lubricant at this moment, and at the instant of departure, Cullen slapped his palm against the bald demon's back; a spear of judgment forged from magic was manifested directly inside the demon's stomach, causing the belly to bulge abruptly before bursting with a loud pop.

A hole was blasted through the demon's stomach, its arms went limp instantly, and its body began to dissipate.

As for that protective barrier, Cullen thrust the Sword of Diamans into the ground, unleashing power through the earth to erupt within the barrier, completely overturning this shield that appeared solid but was laughably impractical in actual combat.

In the next instant, Cullen's sword was poised to slash toward those two "teachers."

Yet right at that moment, a half-opened notebook of principles began to operate, and the protective barrier that Cullen had just overturned returned in an entirely unpredictable manner; Cullen's sword was a mere fraction of a distance from the two teachers, but in the end, he failed to reach them, and they were re-enveloped by the barrier.

"Sigh."

Cullen knew he had failed, because once this shroud fell, he would be utterly unable to breach it in a short amount of time, while his own subordinates from behind had already caught up.

Of course, from their perspective, they certainly wouldn't be the only ones fighting; perhaps he had already "killed" and "repelled" many other clergymen earlier—in short, the chessboard was fully capable of weaving a scene that appeared entirely normal to them.

However, right at that moment, someone moved.

Neo, who was already positioned at the closest possible distance, suddenly bellowed: "Catch the assassin, protect the divine artifacts!"

Neo lunged toward Nicole and Anlans, assuming a protective stance, while simultaneously channeling an Order spell; massive black spikes erupted rapidly from the ground, attempting to form an obstructing barricade.

But by a stroke of misfortune, one of the spikes collided with the box containing the notebook of principles; the defensive power of the half-open box had already deteriorated, and its tremor triggered a disruption in the functioning notebook of principles, causing the barrier that had trapped Cullen to begin shaking in a chain reaction.

Cullen immediately used the edge of his blade to pierce the loosened barrier, his form lunging straight for the notebook of principles, delivering a highly careless and perfunctory slash as he passed by Neo.

"Ah!"

Neo was "swept away," flying a great distance.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Cullen delivered another strike, severing the heads of the two teachers from the Church of Principles, while two chains flew from his hands to seize the two notebooks of principles along with their boxes into his grasp.

The Fire of Order ignited within his palm, adhering to the two divine artifacts, for Cullen no longer had the time to analyze and study how to use the notebooks of principles; he had to stimulate the operation of these two artifacts in the most direct and jarring manner, which was currently the only way to quickly break the effects of the Goddess of Infatuation's chessboard and rouse everyone to their senses.

Right at that moment, from the unseen depths, Cullen heard a voice laced with fury:

"Ant, do you have any idea whose will you are defying?"

A sudden, terrifying pressure descended, crushing Karen's body and soul, freezing him in his tracks, demanding that he kneel and submit!

This pressure was not pure; it felt mottled and tangled, yet the distinct aura of a god could still be clearly sensed within it.

Karen gritted his teeth, his knees buckling for a fraction of a second before snapping straight once more; to face such invisible, crushing momentum, one had to fight back with an equal measure of will, and so Karen lifted his head, stared into the void ahead, and countered:

"My apologies, but among all the wills I have ever rebelled against, you do not even make the cut."