13 Mink Street

“What they call reincarnation, you treat as inventory...” Nio repeated the line, tilting his head as he looked over at Bertha sitting in a corner. “I can feel my bias against Reincarnation. Before, I didn’t know where it came from, but now I understand. It isn’t bias; I simply feel disgust toward the entire Church of Reincarnation.”

Bertha pursed her lips tightly, uncertain if she should even respond. She had already grown wary of Nio’s temperament.

The man continued, “And you, an Apostle of Light, chose to share a bed with Reincarnation.”

Bertha knew these words were directed at her, and she hurriedly replied, “I know that opinions within the ecclesiastical world regarding the Church of Reincarnation have always been divided, but my contact with them was largely to borrow their strength. You may not understand just how far the Church of Light has fallen.”

“I don’t,” Nio replied. “But I do know this: if Light must rely on filth to descend, then what appears will never be Light.”

“In the world of churches, where is there any true purity?” Bertha spoke through clenched teeth, gathering her courage. “Even the purest Light has already fallen, while the filthiest Reincarnation still stands.”

This time, Nio did not grow angry with her. Instead, he said, “That’s different. Existence does not justify itself. Just because something exists does not mean it must have a reason to exist. Even if Light has fallen, as long as people still yearn for goodness, Light still exists. It simply no longer exists in the form of the Church of Light.”

“And Order?” Bertha asked.

“Order is different.”

“How is Order any different from Reincarnation? Order awakens the dead, Reincarnation calls them back. Isn’t it the same?”

“Order does not awaken souls, but the residual spirituality that remains within corpses. After death, a body is no different from a sword or blade left behind by its owner.

“Reincarnation, on the other hand, imprisons souls.

“Do you know why the First Knight Regiment of the Church of Order is considered the strongest of the twelve, feared by every orthodox church? Or why the Church of Reincarnation has no such terrifying army? It’s because the Awakened of Order retain their original awareness and cognition. They have free will.

“Every priest qualified to enter the First Knight Regiment willingly signed an agreement before their deaths. They chose to continue contributing their strength after death, in order to defend Order. Not one single coffin in the First Knight Regiment is bound with chains. The entire regiment has living personnel only to handle their transport. There are no guards. When they awaken, they organize themselves into battle formations according to rank.

“Would the Church of Reincarnation dare treat their reincarnated the same way? They wouldn’t dare, because they know that if those imprisoned souls were freed, the first thing they would do is tear apart their captors.

“That is where the true strength of the Church of Order lies. You may see their corruption and decay, but you cannot deny that throughout generations, since the last epoch, there have been many who genuinely believe in Order. They are the ones who truly uphold the Church of Order.

“As for the Church of Reincarnation... I’ve heard that many of their mid to high-level members refuse to form reincarnation pacts before death. They would rather die cleanly than be tormented and enslaved afterward. They do not believe in Reincarnation themselves, yet they preach it to the world.

“The doctrine of Light is to cleanse one’s sins and face life anew. Reincarnation tells people that suffering in this life is predetermined, and that devotion will bring a better life in the next. What Reincarnation promotes is passivity, and numbness.

“In reality, if someone tells you to accept your unchangeable fate and lie quietly by the roadside of life, there are only two possibilities. Either he is a fool, or he thinks you are.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Bertha asked.

“I don’t know...” Nio shook his head. “Maybe this photo studio stirred up too many memories.”

“You... lost your memory?” Bertha asked in surprise.

“Not exactly lost. More like curiosity.”

“Curiosity?”

“Like reading someone else’s diary. The act of peering into another life is fascinating, isn’t it?”

“I... I don’t know.”

“I want to ask you something; Since you were so close to her, does that mean that the upper authorities of Light are also closely connected to Reincarnation now?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Hmm?”

“But I’ve heard some things. It seems that some elders in the Central Administration support borrowing Reincarnation’s power to revive Light. However, there hasn’t been any concrete action from the church as a whole. My relationship with her is personal. I think it’s only an idea for the moment, to use the contradictions between orthodox churches to gain support and rebuild the Church of Light.”

“No. It’s more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“The gods... will return.”

“I’ve heard those rumors too. I pray every day that the God of Light will return and save the church. For that, I would give everything!”

Nio could tell that Bertha’s words carried no lie. Her faith in the God of Light was absolute, unlike the feeling Karon’s declaration of faith in the God of Order had conveyed, even though Karon’s words had sounded more convincing.

“If the God of Light returns, you would accept anything?”

“Yes.”

“What if the God of Light were to emerge from Reincarnation Valley?”

“How... how could that be possible!”

Nio let out a long sigh.

“I think I finally understand why Order is attacking Reincarnation.”

Buzz! Talina vanished from where she stood to reappear on Karon’s left, a black dagger driving toward him. Again? Not even Gray would use the same move twice in a row.

With the Darkmoon Blade empowering him, Karon pushed his speed to the limit. He ignored the threat at his side and surged straight ahead, only to cut sharply to the side after several steps. The Aelius Sword swept a slanted arc, and Talina’s figure appeared just behind the blade, so close to being cut in half that even she was startled by Karon’s speed. However, her following reaction was even faster. More precisely, it was the reaction of the Raimond Church soul that currently possessed her.

She shifted in the opposite direction as Karon’s recovering blade, while simultaneously closing in on him and thrusting her dagger forward again. What started as a feint, meant to test how he would recover, transformed into a real strike the moment she sensed that the sword’s return was a fraction slower than before. The black dagger drove into Karon’s armor. The Sea God’s Armor froze at the point of impact, locking an outer layer in place while the inner portion layer was dissolved by the water flowing within the armor. This stripped the attack of most of its lethality. That was the flaw of an incorporeal weapon, but Talina had no better option. Nio had already removed her real daggers.

The Aelius Sword swung around again. Talina swayed aside while slashing her own palm open. Her blood instantly formed a crimson dagger that she stabbed into Karon’s armor a second time. This one bit deeper, and the portion that entered did not dissolve. Guided by the blood, a new force burst forth within the armor itself, and it pierced through. Karon let out a muffled groan as pain flared along his ribs. He had not expected this woman to weaponize even her own blood, nor find a counter to his Sea God’s Armor so quickly. This woman, no, this soul from the Raimond Church, possessed terrifying experience in assassinations.

After landing a successful strike, Talina retreated at precisely the right moment, narrowly avoiding the returning sweep of the greatsword. Everything about her movements was precise, almost contemptuously so. She moved like someone playing with their prey. But just as Karon had paid for not understanding his opponent, she was about to pay for not understanding him. The edge of the Aelius Sword swept past her, and though the blade itself was only so long, the weapon did not end where the sword ended. A dark red lash shot from the tip like a serpent flicking its tongue. Talina had only calculated the blade’s length, and had never anticipated this extension. The lash tore her abdomen open, and when she landed, she clutched her wound as blood began to pour out.

Karon did not pause to address his own injuries. The section of the Sea God’s Armor over his chest had already frozen over, sealing the wound and purifying it at the same time. Facing his renewed advance, Talina vanished once more. Just as before, killing intent appeared behind him, but this time Karon did not hesitate. Gripping the sword with both hands, he rotated it downward and behind while retreating at full speed.

Talina appeared, and this time she did not disappear again. She was real. In effect, she was throwing herself onto his blade. What she did not know was that Karon had extravagantly released droplets from the Sea God’s Armor into his surroundings to create a physical perimeter. Both Gray and Wynn had warned Karon that any waste of spirituality in a real battle was an insult to his own life, but Karon possessed more spirituality than most people could even imagine. He could afford such extravagance.

Forced into a direct clash, Talina’s hands flared red as she tried to forcefully wrench the blade aside, but the Darkmoon Blade excelled in exactly that kind of deadlock. After only a moment of contact, sharp pain tore through her hands. She bit through her tongue and spat out blood, forming another crimson dagger. This time, she aimed for the back of Karon’s head with her blade. If he continued his thrust, the Aelius Sword would indeed pierce her, and a single sideways slash would bisect her, but he was also aware that the blood dagger would reach his skull in return. The earlier blood dagger had already penetrated his armor. Before, it had struck his chest, but this time, it would strike the back of his head.

Karon did not believe Talina would trade her life for his, but the soul possessing her, he believed, absolutely would. An assassin would use any means to kill their target, and from their earlier close-quarters exchange, Karon had already sensed the emotions radiating from the soul. There was a desire for death, a desire for release. It could not disobey Talina, nor break free of her control, but it did not mind taking its master down with it, should that be the price of freedom.

Karon had no intention of trading lives. He turned, withdrawing his sword, yet even in that motion forced out one final angled slash of the blade, a last flicker of stubbornness. The blood dagger brushed past his cheek as he evaded, and the two pulled apart once more.

At almost the same moment, a black chain appeared at Karon’s feet. It did not shoot toward Talina immediately, instead soundlessly stretched into the darkness beneath the cover of the night. If this was how she wanted to fight, then Karon would answer in his own way.

Talina’s hands had become a bloody mess, as though they had just been seared with a hot iron. Regret flickered in her eyes as the dark red bead at her chest shone again, drawing the black shadow over her inward. This time, a woman’s figure emerged and overlapped with Tanila’s body. Perhaps the woman had noticed that the soul from the Raimond Church wanted to drag her to her death, or perhaps she had simply judged that continuing in close-range combat without a real weapon was too disadvantageous for her. Either way, she changed tactics.

Her eyes briefly returned to normal, then turned white again. Despite her ruined hands, she forcibly formed a ritual array. Green starlight flared beneath her feet, and the wind rose around them as two azure lions appeared at her sides. With a shared roar, they hurled themselves at Karon.

“Order—Protective Wall!” A massive black barrier rose before him, yet the expected impact never came. The two azure lions passed straight through the barrier and continued lunging for him.

Soul-attribute attacks. Karon’s right eye filled with holy radiance. “Light—Soul Mantle!”

A vast cloak woven of white feathers descended before him. The lions crashed into it, but could not break through. Green ripples spread across the surface like a captured animal thrashing inside of a sack. Karon immediately followed up with purification, and the force washed over the cloak, causing both it and the lions trapped within to dissipate together.

Karon let out a long breath. Gray and Wynn were no longer sufficient to measure his own strength. For some time, Karon had been unable to judge just where his true limits lay. Finally, he was facing an opponent who gave him the feeling of a genuinely satisfying fight. He knew that his captain had already removed all of Talina’s equipment, leaving her at an innate disadvantage. In a sense, that was unfair, but Karon felt no guilt over it. She had brought in outside help of her own, and in any case, given the rigid, doctrinal way she fought, Kaorn believed he would still have beaten her even if she had been fully equipped. Strength and knowing how to fight had never been the same thing.

What truly surprised him was the method of sealing souls away only to summon them out in battle. Karon was certain such an Art had to come with a heavy cost, most likely life force. The dead could not appear in the world without being supplied with life force, and for Talina, someone who could casually expend a Reincarnation Crystal worth three million Order credits, the dark red bead on her chest likely stored a considerable reserve of life. As always, in any circle, power and background offered an innate advantage.

Talina continued casting. A massive green serpent appeared before her. Parts of it were not yet fully formed, even as its body started moving. Karon advanced, his sword in hand. He did not move quickly, almost as though he were wary of the serpent’s imminent attack. However, behind Talina, the black chain that had already circled around her and was rushing for her with great speed.

The green serpent suddenly twisted its head to look behind, clearly sensing a disturbance, but an instant later, it turned back to focus on Karon while letting out a low, vicious growl.

Did it not notice? No, it noticed. It’s choosing to pretend otherwise.

Just like the previous soul from the Raimond Church, this soul’s intentions were even clearer. This soul was suppressing the serpent’s instincts to guard the rear, deliberately creating an opening for Karon. The contracted soul wanted Talina dead even more than her actual opponent did.

The chain reached the woman’s feet and plunged straight into her body.

“Ahhh~!” Talina let out a sharp scream. The dark red bead at her chest began to tremble violently as three figures of different colors appeared around her, all wailing in unison. Karon recognized two of them, while the third was a soul she had not yet used.

That meant she had formed pacts with three dead souls.

A sharp pain seized Karon’s chest. It hurt badly, but he forced himself to endure, pressing a hand to his wound as his spirituality was rapidly drained. The sensation nearly identical to when he had used the chain to Awaken the dead.

At this moment, the black chain began to turn white, and it wrapped itself around the three contracted souls.

The bead lost all its glow. In that instant, it lost all control over them, replaced by Karon’s white chain.

“How can this be? How can this be? No, impossible! This is impossible!” Talina stared at the scene in horror. This was more unbearable than the threat of death itself. This overturned everything she had believed in since birth. The reincarnation pacts, severed from her without her consent, had never behaved in such a way before. This meant that the very foundation that the Church of Reincarnation took the most pride in had developed a crack, and the one in control of that crack stood right in front of her.

At this moment, she would have preferred to see Karon defeat her and kill her in an ordinary manner. What she could not bear was watching him tear apart both her pride and her faith with his chain.

Talina gasped for breath. She felt that the man before her was even more terrifying than the masked figure in the basement. “Who are you? Why is this happening...?”

Karon looked at her and replied, “The existence of the Church of Reincarnation has disrupted the Order that should exist between life and death.”