Chapter 629: Naturism Sect
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 Naturism Sect...
"Admiral, Admiral, I don't want to die! I don't want to die!
"Save me! Save me!"
*Mother Tree of Desire... Naturism 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
activities.
*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 Naturism
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 of 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 cosmos and the bright, lustrous star 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.
*Cosmos... 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 cosmos 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 the
illusory cosmos 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 cosmos 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 Naturism 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."