Amidst the holy beam of light, having already lost its support from the external power, the tree warts and flesh rapidly disintegrated. It was like snow meeting a red-hot metal ball.
Amidst an indescribable sizzling sound, Cynthia's face winced as abnormal agony showed itself on her face.
She turned around with great difficulty, looking up and down, her expression turning horrified and confused. Finally, she realized that there was a problem with her.
"Admiral..." Her voice trembled as she looked ahead with fear and despair, but all she could find was an unfamiliar face.
Klein could've fed Creeping Hunger with Cynthia's remnant flesh and Spirit Body, but at that moment, he sighed and said with a calm voice, "Try not to make contact with strange artifacts or religions in the future."
From his point of view, the reason why Cynthia had turned into this monstrosity either had to do with a cult or some particularly dangerous artifact. She had connected with some existence which couldn't be looked at directly, resulting in such a response.
Cynthia seemed to understand something as her remnant head and tiny bit of flesh suddenly wept.
"It's the Mother Tree of Desire, the Heavenly Body Sect...
"Admiral, Admiral, I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
"Save me! Save me!"
Mother Tree of Desire... Heavenly Body Sect... This isn't within the confines of my knowledge of mysticism...
Klein maintained his expression as he looked pitifully at the pleading Cynthia. He spread his arms again and said in a deep voice, "Death is not the end. You will be redeemed when you are at god's side."
Another pure beam of light landed as Cynthia's beautiful, weeping face completely fixed in place.
Her eyes widened in despair, but there was the remnant hope of being sent to heaven after death.
Under the sun's radiance, her brain and remnant flesh melted away at a discernible pace. By vanishing, it had obtained its final rite of cleansing.
Klein looked silently at this scene without any expression or movement.
After everything calmed down, he curled the corner of his lips and chuckled, finding it hard to hide his sorrow.
"This is really a crazy and chaotic world..."
He didn't dare to channel Cynthia's spirit after what had happened. The many oddities had made him abandon the thought of bringing Cynthia's Spirit Body above the gray fog to "inquire." Faced with the irremovable evil and the ever-worsening corruption, he could only choose to have Cynthia be cleansed. After all, in this world with true gods, there might exist a heaven after death.
As for Creeping Hunger's backlash, Klein was temporarily not concerned. After spending a long time with it, this mystical item which had been sealed to a certain extent had adjusted to him. It didn't need to be fed after every use. It had been restored to its original state. Once it was activated, it just needed to eat once in a twenty-four-hour period, regardless of how many times it was used. Of course, there was no need for it to be fed on the day it wasn't used.
Therefore, Klein had plenty of time to seek out food for Creeping Hunger without harming the innocent.
If the worst comes to the worst, I can throw it above the gray fog... Klein surveyed his surroundings, and he realized that the bodyguards and the male and female attendants in the room had shaken off the influence of their magnified desires, and they had fallen unconscious. This included the maidservant who was strangling her companion in a bid to obtain her approval and praise, as well as blond secretary, Luan.
Indeed, once the problem is resolved at its root, everything will come to an end...
According to Admiral Amyrius's description, Luan is at least a Sequence 6 Beyonder, and he's suspected to be a Baron of Corruption. He might've secretly reached Sequence 5... Even he was so easily controlled by his magnified desires, which means that the power that descended with the help of Cynthia is extremely potent. But why did I only have a wet dream...
Ignoring my mystical items, Luan and I should be at the same level...
Is it because a portion of the gray fog's power, when mixed with reality, provided me with help? Is it because of the restriction from Admiral Amyrius's temporary contract? Or could it be a mix of both?
Yes, if it wasn't because of these factors, as Cynthia's primary target, my desire towards sex would definitely be magnified. This wouldn't just be me having a romantic dream... Klein habitually reached out with his right hand to cover his face as he changed once again back into Amyrius Rieveldt's appearance.
As the lives of the others weren't temporarily under threat, he carefully observed the room when his spiritual perception was suddenly triggered.
Taking a few steps forward, Klein came to where Cynthia had vanished. He bent down and picked up a necklace from a pile of torn clothes on the bed.
A pendant that was the length of a finger segment hung from the necklace. It was completely black in color and looked like a miniaturized rhinoceros horn. Its surface was full and covered in cracks. Apart from exuding evil, there were no lustrous spirituality activity.
This is the dangerous item that caused Cynthia to mutate? As it had connected to the existence which couldn't be looked at directly, it had completed its mission, allowing all its powers to be injected into Cynthia's body? Klein made a preliminary conjecture based on the pendant's situation and from his past experience.
He checked the area and found nothing. Hence, he pulled out a paper figurine and dealt with the traces left behind. He dispelled the prohibition from the charm before walking towards Secretary Luan, who still had some signs of corruption due to temporarily being devoured by the flowers. He raised his knee and kicked him a few times with the tip of his shoe.
With Amyrius's character, it's unlikely that he would crouch down to shake his secretary awake... Heh, this fellow's arrogant way of looking down on others sure is irritating. I really want to beat him up... Klein paused as he watched sternly as Luan gradually woke up.
"Your Excellency..." Luan was in a momentary daze, as though he couldn't tell dream from reality.
As a high-ranking superior, I'm under no obligation to explain... Klein looked down at him and said in a deep voice, "Wake up all the lightly injured people. Get a number of them to treat the remaining people while the others are to investigate the Heavenly Body Sect on Oravi Island. They worship an evil god named Mother Tree of Desire. Um... Start the investigation with the people around Cynthia.
"I'll be waiting in the study for the report."
With that said, he held the cracked rhinoceros horn pendant and turned to leave the master bedroom before entering the unaffected silent study.
As an important member of the military, although he was somewhat helpless when faced with the kingdom's upper echelons, he needed to choose to ignore certain matters. An example was the telegram which relieved Aston from his post as governor-general and the arrival of the new governor-general. This meant that the new governor-general had departed ahead of time; yet as the highest-ranking commander of the Central Sonia Sea's navy, Amyrius Rieveldt had not received the news at all. However, on Oravi Island, to Secretary Luan and the local police system and naval base personnel, he still held absolute authority. He didn't need to do the investigations himself, as he had plenty of people at his disposal.
A demigod only needed to be wary against any accidents and await news. There was no need to busy themselves!
Inside the study, as Klein heard the chaotic sound of footsteps and horrified screams, questioning, and exchanges, he couldn't help but have the starry sky and the bright, lustrous star surface in his mind.
What does it represent? Klein frowned and sat in the armchair behind the desk. His figure sank into the darkness brought about by the curtains.
He soon made certain connections. Due to the legends from the City of Silver and Emlyn White's description of the Sanguine's situation, he confirmed that the Moon pathway controlled a portion of the authority over reproduction and proliferation. This coincided with Cynthia's intentions and actions.
A starry sky... Mr. Door informed Emperor Roselle that the Goddess's corresponding tarot card is The Star and not The Moon. Could it be that this illusory starry sky represents "Her"? Yes, The Primordial Moon is suspected to be a particular deity, angel, or high-level devil's alternate identity. The Goddess has the honorific name of "crimson moon." Could "She" be the one passing herself off as the Primordial Moon and occupying the corresponding spot so as to control the required authority? Although Klein knew that such thoughts were sacrilegious, he couldn't help but suspect the Evernight Goddess.
But he soon rejected that conjecture. This was because, be it Vampire Ancestor Lilith or the Primordial Moon, what they projected was only "reproduction and proliferation." It didn't include the recognition of gluttony, pride, and desire. This was at odds with a number of victims earlier. The other honorific titles of the Evernight Goddess didn't include the corresponding domains.
This does coincide with the traits of the Devil pathway. A Desire Apostle is an expert in such matters... Could the one subjugating the Primordial Moon be a high-level Devil, or even the King of Devils who's known as the Dark Side of the Universe, Sequence 0 Abyss? This is very possible, but the problem with this is that it shouldn't produce an illusory starry sky and bright stars. Be it Moon or Abyss, they have nothing to do with the corresponding symbols... Klein found his conjecture problematic the more he thought over the matter.
Amidst his thoughts, he suddenly thought of a concept.
It was something important back when he was first educated in mysticism but had never received a detailed description or explanation!
That was the astral world!
Apart from the Life School of Thought and a few other organizations' belief in uncommon concepts such as the world of absolute rationality, most schools of thought in mysticism believed that the world was comprised of the real world, the spirit world, and the astral world.
There was no need to explain the real world. Knowledge of the spirit world was the foundation of many ritualistic magic and Beyonder powers. It was only the astral world where Klein's knowledge about it was basically zero.
Therefore, the illusory starry sky represents the astral world. The bright star is a particular existence in the astral world? I've always suspected that the astral world is where the true gods reside. Then, this imagery which represents the Primordial Moon isn't something unacceptable... Klein didn't think further as he recalled the details of the past few days while awaiting the results of his subordinates' investigations.
Time ticked by when Klein finally heard a familiar gait approach.
Secretary Luan knocked before entering. He bowed his head and coldly reported, "Your Excellency. We've already found the Heavenly Body Sect and captured their leader.
"It was a clue provided by Miss Cynthia's parents.
"This sect has been rather active in Oravi over the past few years. They do not wear clothes, in a bid to return to nature. Giving themselves up to their instincts is their purpose, and they believed that humans can attain liberation of their spirituality in such states.
"Reproduction of the next generation is a subsidiary product of this belief."
After pausing for a moment, Luan added, "Their leader is a Beyonder, a Sequence 8 Lunatic."
Lunatic? A Lunatic from the Prisoner pathway? It has something to do with the Rose School of Thought? Yes, the Rose School of Thought internally has two factions, "temperance" and "indulgence." The latter's beliefs are rather identical to the present situation... Klein was alarmed as he said in a stoic tone, "Bring him here."
