Chapter 69: Lord Evil God, Arranged!

Chapter 69 Lord Evil God, Arranged!

The Immeles house,

Third floor,

The study.

Karen kept staring at the candle. The blue flame flickered from time to time, yet clearly the doors and windows of the study were all shut, and there was no wind at all that could seep in.

That sensation of being watched had been present the entire time, starting from two particular corners of the study;

Yes, two gazes!

Karen could be absolutely certain that two gazes were currently watching him.

At first, they were observing with curiosity;

Subsequently, they began to examine him earnestly;

Immediately after, they began to sink into some sort of contemplation;

Now, their gazes were gradually becoming gentle.

The initial sense of oppression and tense atmosphere was progressively dissipating, and the feeling of sitting on pins and needles had also vanished;

Karen's posture shifted from rigid and upright at the very beginning to a pursuit of comfort.

His back leaned against the chair, his hands rested on the armrests, and though his gaze did not leave the candle flame, his legs had naturally crossed over.

The flame before his eyes was like a painting, and Karen was looking at its continuous "dance" in an appreciative manner;

At the same time, he was well aware that while he was looking at the painting, he himself was also a painting in the eyes of others.

It was difficult to describe this atmosphere in concrete words,

It was not freezing, nor was it grimly cold;

An appropriately subtle restraint, a slightly hesitant dignity;

Perhaps this would leave you somewhat at a loss, but in reality, it could bring you a certain peace of mind and quiet beauty.

The candle,

Had already burned halfway.

You would not feel it burned too slowly, because you were not enduring days like years;

Nor would you wish for it to burn any slower, because there was no need.

The candle fire burned, without that black, white, or yellow smoke, but there was another thing rising along with the substance of the burning, which was called being at home wherever one is.

…

The Oak Cemetery.

Alfred was controlling his emotions, trying as much as possible to recover his facial expression management.

In fact,

If one analyzed his previous reaction with rationality,

For instance, when Dis asked: You are disappointed?

At this juncture, the optimal reaction analyzed by rationality, and the only reaction, was: Praise Karen!

Because apart from this reaction, the result brought about by any other reaction would be being obliterated on the spot by Dis.

When you were no longer "loyal" to his grandson, then you also lost the necessity of existence in Dis's eyes.

Even, to prevent you from deriving "hatred" after producing a sense of "shame" from being deceived, the simplest and most straightforward way was to handle you directly right here.

For his family,

Dis could do anything,

The name of Order was merely a rag in his hand, taken to wipe the dining table for the family.

Fortunately,

Alfred was originally an extremely rational person, and extreme rationality was often only a sheet of paper away from paranoia.

Once this fire was lit,

There was no longer any need for others to add firewood; Alfred himself could exert an absolutely powerful subjective initiative, being a mature bonfire that would go gather wood and chop wood by itself to burn itself.

He firmly believed his choice was correct, and in the future, it would only be more correct;

This had already sublimated from "speculation" to "adoration," and then from adoration, condensed into "faith."

Therefore,

After receiving Alfred's response, Dis no longer looked at him.

"The Church of Principle did not take my corpse away, you looked after it?" Mr. Hoffen asked Dis.

"Your corpse is of little value," Dis replied very bluntly. "An academic existence like you only has value when alive. However, indeed, I made some arrangements, otherwise your current corpse probably wouldn't be here either. In our eyes it has no value, but in the eyes of the Church, it can at least count as a makeweight, better than nothing."

"That's why I say, truly interesting." After Mr. Hoffen climbed out of the grave, his whole being was noticeably more buoyant than when he was alive before. "Knowing that one has a severe illness and not much time left to live, one can accompany you to perform a grand divine descent ritual and go wild; after dying, one can actually climb out again to complete the ritual of sealing an evil god.

Dis,

You really make my life exciting even after death."

Mr. Hoffen was so excited that he began to raise his arms and dance, except that the skin on his face was truly sagging too severely, and against the background of the night rain, what was presented was a sort of scalp-numbing horror.

But he himself took pleasure in it; a person who had died once, he had long since let go of what should be let go, and he was very pure.

Dis just stood there, watching this old friend who had strictly abided by dogmas and been rigorous his whole life now "giving way to unbridled behavior."

Alfred, who had finished his emotional management and recovered a modicum of calmness in his heart, upon seeing this scene,

Made a fist with his right hand and placed it by

"You will only dance until your bones shatter, but you will never dance to exhaustion," Diss replied composedly.

"Hmm?" Mr. Hoffen instantly waved his hand, gesturing for Alfred to pause the 'music', then wiped the rainwater from his face with both hands, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Apologies, apologies. It is my first time being dead; I lack experience."

Diss had awakened him so he could assist in sealing the evil god.

If he were to scatter his bones all over the ground right here by dancing, it would truly be a rather mortifying affair.

Mr. Hoffen sat straight down, heedless of the mud on the ground; after all, he had already been soiled from the moment he crawled out from the earth.

"Diss, we can begin our preparations now. As for the specifics, you arrange them. You know what I am good at, do you not?"

Diss nodded and sat down as well.

Alfred followed suit and sat down with them. To think that I... could hear the plan to seal an evil god from such a close proximity?

If making it onto a mural was a beautiful vision for the future, then right now, Alfred felt he was experiencing the very reality that must follow after "making it onto a mural."

To be able to deliberate upon the final destiny of an evil god.

Good heavens, only figures upon a mural could ever assemble such a gathering!

"I said just now that its state of existence is quite peculiar, and this is because the divine descent ritual was only half-completed.

If it had already entered 'Garen's' flesh, or if it possessed a physical body crafted by itself with a very high degree of compatibility, its state of existence would have changed accordingly."

Mr. Hoffen said, "Much like mist turning into water droplets, making it convenient to contain in a vessel."

Alfred nodded.

"I attempted to release the soul fire, yet I could not destroy it. Instead, just to sustain the soul fire, my own arms were burned.

Therefore, the first step of the plan is to make it separate itself from its current state."

Mr. Hoffen intended to stroke his chin, but the old skin upon it had long since sagged down, so he stroked the hanging fold of flesh as he spoke:

"To fish, one must use bait."

Alfred nodded.

"The bait is something I have already prepared," Diss said. "Because it no longer has the means to modify a second body—it has lost that capability—I am uncertain if it has a time limit on its existence, nor am I certain whether it will gradually fade into oblivion with the passage of time, akin to those soul forms that have separated from their anchors.

But since it clearly knows I am by Garen's side and yet still dares to linger around, it means it can only choose Garen's body.

Because, it is capable of discerning my true realm."

Even an evil god would retreat upon discerning his true realm.

"Using Garen as bait, then." Mr. Hoffen did not seem surprised at all. "But if it knows the fisherman is holding the rod, will it dare to take the hook?"

Alfred nodded.

"Therefore, the fisherman needs to leave the fishing rod," Diss said.

"There must be a very fitting reason," Mr. Hoffen reminded him. "This reason must be convincing enough to make that evil god believe you have no choice but to leave."

At this point,

Mr. Hoffen reached up to pull at his own eyelid,

and then said to Alfred, who had been sitting there nodding continuously:

"Hey, come over here and help me hold my eyelid up. It has sagged down."

"Right away."

Alfred immediately stood up, squatted behind Mr. Hoffen, and extended two fingers to help pull Mr. Hoffen's eyelid upward so he could maintain an "open-eyed" state.

At any rate, he would feel no pain now even if he did not blink. As for whether it would harm his eyeballs or jeopardize his vision... he had less than three days left to "exist," so why care about being nearsighted or farsighted?

"Yes, excellent. Pull it a bit more outward at an angle."

"Understood. Like this?"

"Mm, mm, not bad. That will do."

Mr. Hoffen looked at Diss with his sinisterly charming phoenix eyes,

and continued:

"So, you have actually prepared this reason already, have you not?"

"Yes," Diss replied. "Rasmar has already come out to meet me once."

"Oh, heavens, that is truly no small feat, for it must have required a tremendous amount of courage on his part.

However, a single Rasmar is not enough."

"There are also three elders from the Temple of Order whose consciousness projections have already arrived in Luo Jia City."

"Whew... three elders from the Temple of Order. Goodness, what a grand turnout. Then there should be other clergymen from the Temple of Order as well. Even if they are only there to make up the numbers, that scene is bound to be quite extravagant."

"The courier who currently delivers those meaningless official documents and letters back and forth to my regional management office is a squad leader of the Whip of Order."

"Heh, hahaha." Mr. Hoffen could not help but laugh out loud. "Then right now, there must certainly be a vast number of clergymen of various ranks from the Church of Order rushing here from other nations. They might not have entered Luo Jia City yet, but the moment the time comes, they will pour in immediately.

Furthermore, with such a massive mobilization of pomp, the other orthodox great churches will surely take notice as well; it is impossible to completely evade their eyes and ears.

Therefore,

I can even boldly surmise

that perhaps one or two consciousness projections of elders from the deepest core of the other great churches have also arrived at the periphery of Luo Jia City, only they are currently concealing themselves."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Diss's mouth

as he said,

"Most certainly."

"Hmm?"

"Because once I take that step and completely unleash my realm, due to my identity as a believer of the Church of Order and because I follow the path of faith in the God of Order, I will automatically condense a portion of a godhead belonging to the God of Order. Though it will be a very, very small portion—one can only call it a fragment of a godhead—it is already enough to make the other orthodox great churches unable to sit still.

For if they obtain this fragment of my godhead, they could even develop a new system belonging to Order within their own churches."

"In the past, they never had such an opportunity," Hoffen laughed. "Because first of all, those who can reach that step are all immensely powerful, difficult to kill, let alone speak of plundering them. And every existence of this caliber would, from a very early stage, inevitably become the true core personnel of their respective church, receiving focused cultivation and protection.

Before taking that step, perhaps ten or twenty years in advance, they would have already chosen to go into secluded cultivation deep within the church.

Only you are different,

Diss.

Only you managed to deceive so many people, allowing you to remain in the judgment office of Luo Jia City all this time.

Even a man like Rasmar, knowing your strength was not what it appeared on the surface and knowing you had hidden depths, would absolutely never dare to believe that you had already reached that step.

An elder-level figure about to condense a fragment of a godhead,

actually left isolated outside the core system of the Church of Order for so many years,

and furthermore,

even developed an adversarial relationship with the Temple of Order.

Good heavens,

this is simply a once-in-a-thousand-years golden opportunity!"

They could not sit still; it was utterly impossible for them to sit still, for an additional belief system was equivalent to granting their church an extra lease on life to continue its endurance!

Therefore..."

Mr. Hoffen suddenly lowered his voice, leaning his face forward as he asked:

"Therefore, how did they find out?"

Because of Diss’s existence, and given his current distinct nature, the Church of Order would undoubtedly spare no expense to seal off this news.

This was an internal schism, a fracture at the absolute pinnacle.

A faint smile brushed the corner of Diss’s lips: "It was I who leaked the news."

"Hahahahaha..." Mr. Hoffen burst into uproarious laughter.

Laughing and laughing,

His jaw dislocated.

"Mmh... mmh..."

Alfred reached out, propping up Mr. Hoffen’s chin.

Diss reached out, giving it a gentle tap, and with a sharp click, the jaw snapped back into place.

"Diss, I feel like a mannequin made of building blocks right now."

"No need to get used to it; you will be gone in a few days anyway," Diss consoled him.

Mr. Hoffen nodded: "Your consolation is always so heartwarming."

Then,

Mr. Hoffen tilted his head slightly, pressing his face against his shoulder to prevent a second dislocation, and continued:

"The Church of Order must be in absolute torment right now. If they move against you, even if you surrender without a fight, or even if you take your own life, it would still be a monumental loss for them.

But you will never surrender without a fight; that is not your style, Diss.

Thus, once you choose to tear off the mask and enter complete opposition, the price they must pay to resolve you will be immense, making the cost even higher.

Yet if they do not resolve you, leaving an Elder-level apostate who has condensed a fragment of a godhead out in the world—whether he starts his own religion, joins another, or is hunted to death by other faiths—it would be a devastating blow to the very foundations of the Church of Order.

Diss, you truly are a devout believer in the God of Order."

"I still firmly believe so to this day," Diss said. "Even after I cursed the God of Order as being raised by a whore, the fragment of his godhead still formed within me.

This is the personal validation from the God of Order himself, identifying his most loyal believer, heh."

"Hahahahahahaha." Mr. Hoffen roared with laughter again, and Alfred immediately propped up his chin ahead of time.

"This catalyst is more than enough. Diss, I believe that evil god is also waiting for this exact opportunity. The wisdom of an evil god is beyond doubt. It is simply waiting—waiting for the moment you can no longer control your realm and finally condense the godhead fragment, forcing you to step into that vortex of chaos.

When that time comes, you will have no leisure to tend to other matters, and Karen will lose your protection.

It can then attempt to reclaim that body it so carefully refined.

Oh,

I actually feel a bit of sympathy for that evil god now. It is truly pitiable. A house it built with its own hands, only for someone else to move in, while it has to endure the wind and rain outside, constantly staring at that house with resentful eyes."

"So, a few months ago, when Karen suggested to me that he wanted to go to school, that he wanted to pursue further studies at a foreign university, I refused him."

...

"I do not feel at ease with you traveling far from home."

"But Grandfather... I have already grown up. According to the customs of Roga City, I have already turned fifteen and reached adulthood."

"In my eyes, you are still just a child, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless... I am dead."

Because that evil god knows perfectly well that as long as you remain in Roga City, it has no way to lay a hand on you, for I would appear by your side in an instant.

...

"You certainly fret your heart out for this grandson," Mr. Hoffen remarked. "But I can understand. Before I died, he called me Grandfather, and I was truly overjoyed at that moment.

So what if he is an evil god? An evil god with such a sweet tongue, an evil god who calls me Grandfather—what harm is there if I treat him as my grandson?

If I were to speak of it, how grand it would sound. This life has been entirely worth it!"

"He called you Grandfather during your burial as well."

"Oh? Really? Ah, what a truly good child."

"You can turn around and look at the inscription beneath your tombstone," Diss reminded him.

Mr. Hoffen turned around immediately, looking down at the base of his own tombstone.

"Everyone is like a spider weaving a web in life.

Whether in anticipation or in dread, they will regardless, at some entirely unforeseen moment, become entangled with the web of another.

This connected web can be vast, so vast that it grants you the illusion of being able to go wherever you please;

Yet it can also be microscopic, so small that a single gust of wind can easily scatter the vastness you so self-righteously presumed."

Mr. Hoffen took a deep breath,

And cursed:

"I cannot shed tears right now, but this child is truly too endearing. He is mourning me, he is missing me, he has regarded me as a cherished relative worthy of looking back upon in his journey of life.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

Diss,

I am going to seal that evil god, pack it up neatly, and deliver it to my lovely and sensible grandson!

Oh,

Good heavens,

Grandfather loves you, my little Karen."

Beside them, Alfred lamented in his heart:

"Is this... the great charm of the Lord Evil God... bah, no, the great charm of the Great Existence!

I am just like Mr. Hoffen, deeply captivated by the magnificent charm of the Great Existence, willing to offer everything for him!"

"Diss, come, let us continue. The bait is ready, and it will take it—it will inevitably take it. So, where is the vessel?

Where are we going to seal that Lord Evil God?

It needs to be convenient to carry, easy to conceal from prying eyes, yet capable of exerting its effect at any moment. We cannot just seal it away in a cellar; what would be the point of that?"

Diss reached out, and a leash flew into his palm. He gave it a gentle forward tug.

That golden retriever

Was pulled right before the three of them.

Diss said indifferently:

“Let the Evil God… be a dog.”