Chapter 320: True Terror

If he had not been grazed by the Redina’s mental beam, Karon really would not have discovered anything abnormal about the illusion beast. He would simply have assumed that Redinas were this powerful.

The void was a very special place. The young people participating in the exam had basically never been to Ogureth Fortress. On top of that, Redinas could not adapt to the environment outside of the void, which made it almost impossible to see one in the real world. The novelty of the creatures led to a preconceived impression.

As for Ashley’s description of a Redina... such adjectives had a very large range. After all, Ashley herself had definitely never fought a Redina before.

“Mars.”

“Captain!”

“This round depends on you. I’ll support you, but you handle the overall control. I’ll handle the details. Hold out until the Redina’s drugs wear off. As soon as that’s done, it’ll collapse.”

“Captain, why don’t I support you instead?”

“No need. You need an opportunity to perform.” This was the first time since forming the squad that Karon lied to preserve his image as captain.

His current mastery of ritual arrays meant that he could assist in operating one, could patch weaknesses or stabilize details, but actually presiding over one himself was still beyond him, especially an array of this level. If he tried to force it, mistakes would easily appear.

Still, Karon had already decided that as soon as he returned home, he would start to focus seriously on studying Mr. Hoffen’s notes and would stop wasting so much time on miscellaneous books on the shelves.

Mars looked very excited, as he was finally being given a chance to take the field. Under his control, no matter how many times the Redina attacked the ritual array, it remained stable. Although a great burden also fell upon Mars himself, with Karon’s help, his energy consumption and overall burden remained within an acceptable range.

The other members of the squad stood and watched the Redina outside. The illusion demon increasingly looked as though it had gone berserk. At this point, everyone believed the captain was right. The Redina’s escalating violent emotions meant it already foresaw its own ending once the effect of the stimulants passed.

“What’s the purpose of using stimulants?” Vintral asked in confusion.

Karon answered, “To accelerate the rate at which squads are eliminated. Also, it might be that the illusion beasts that are truly expensive are the Psyens that are coming next.”

Time passed, and the Redina outside of the array began showing clear signs of weakness.

At present, six of the ten squads that had entered this round had already been eliminated by their Redina. Squad 1 was the first to kill their illusion demon, though only after paying a considerable price. Squad 7 was the next to resolve their target. That squad had remained very solid all along. The other squad that was still holding out was actually the squad with that sleepy girl Philomena. Initially, they had been in a very precarious situation, but Philomena had used a bolt of black lightning to pierce the Redina’s head, ultimately completing the kill. However, Philomena herself looked extremely disheveled. Her body was covered with terrifying wounds, and all of her teammates were also seriously injured.

Of the four remaining squads, it was almost a certainty that Philomena’s would be eliminated next, because they no longer had any potential left to squeeze out for the next round. Philomena seemed to understand this as well. After killing the Redina, she sat down, her gaze somewhat empty.

At this moment, however, the organizers made a rather interesting adjustment. They cleared away the fields of the disqualified squads, and as the area shrank, the remaining squads were pushed together. Four small squares merged to form one large square. Because of this, all three squads were able to observe Squad 3 from up close, as Karon’s squad was still not finished.

***

Squad 1.

“Captain, are they controlling the pace again?” Pasquio asked.

Murray shook his head. “It doesn’t look like it.”

“I also don’t think that should be what they’re doing. If they rely purely on the array for defense without actively attacking, their Redina won’t just weaken on its own. They’ll only be consuming their array master’s power for nothing, and that will only lead to their array not being able to be maintained any longer. They’ll still have to go out and fight. If they’re only doing this to let their other teammates recover, it’s been more than enough already. It’s impossible for them to sacrifice nothing and simply walk to the end in a complete state.”

“Pasquio, do you think there is a possibility...”

“What possibility, Captain?”

“That everything you just said is clearly understood by the people in Squad 3?”

“This... of course.”

“So under the premise that they understand that as well, yet are still choosing to do this, you can put away your doubts and consider a possibility that seems less likely.”

“A possibility that seems less likely?”

“The one you just mentioned; the Redina weakening on its own.”

“How could that be possible? No one’s attacking it. It’s just slamming into the defensive array...”

“The Redina is already growing weaker.”

“What!”

At this moment, the squads inside the other three barriers were all focused on Karon’s squad, because it was clear to see that the Redina, which had been so aggressive earlier, was showing signs of weakness. This change was rather unbelievable to the other squads, but they were able to participate in this final selection and had reached a late stage, which was enough to prove their own excellence. Therefore, they all very quickly began to understand, and with that understanding came an absurd feeling.

Murray said, “They injected the Redinas with a strong stimulant.”

Pasquio pursed his lips tightly. “So what were we doing just now?”

The bald captain of Squad 7, Kane, stuck out his tongue to lick a wound on his wrist before cursing, “Squad 3 just sitting there waiting only makes our earlier struggle look stupid!”

A woman beside him said, “Our real competitor isn’t Squad 3, but Squad 1.”

Clearly, both Squad 1 and Squad 7 had eliminated Squad 3 from their list of competitors. They had already tacitly accepted that Squad 3 would obtain one of the slots. The level of control and tactical judgment Squad 3 had demonstrated left the other squads very apprehensive.

Philomena bit her lip, closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh.

She was not envious, jealous, or even regretful. She simply wanted things to end sooner. She wanted to leave this exam and have a proper sleep. However, she also felt that it was likely that she would have a great deal of difficulty falling asleep.

The Redina was already lying motionless on the ground outside of the array. The side effects of the stimulants had completely manifested, yet Karon still hesitated, because he suspected the Redina might be hiding one final surprise attack. The safest option was to remain inside the array and keep waiting. Mars could maintain the array for quite a while longer. However, continuing to wait would only provide the other three squads with more time to recover.

Time itself had value, but that value was relative.

Earlier, while the other squads had been exhausting themselves fighting directly against their own Redinas, Squad 3 had only been draining Mars’s strength to maintain the ritual array while everyone else preserved their strength while waiting for the Redina to burn itself out. During that stretch, Squad 3’s advantage had grown the fastest. After all, they preserved themselves almost perfectly, while the others had all been paying a price in injuries and exhaustion. Damage of that level was not something that could be recovered from quickly without treatment at the Church Affairs Hospital.

But now, the Redinas had already been defeated, which meant that Squad 3’s advantage had stopped increasing. The other squads would not be able to fully recover with such a short amount of time, but every extra moment they received to recuperate would narrow the gap a little more.

So Karon decided not to wait any longer. He stepped out of the array and walked up to the Redina. The side effects of the drugs had completely broken the creature. It lay on the ground, no longer even having the strength to stand, much less launch some desperate final attack.

Karon raised his hand, and the ground began trembling faintly. The enormous black cone emerged once more, piercing the Redina’s body from below. As the cone expanded, the illusion demon’s body was ripped apart, and chunks of flesh slid down the sides.

Storm clouds reappeared within the final four squad barriers, meaning there was a ten-minute countdown for the next round to begin.

Karon closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Behind him, the Kendos Triple Defensive Array stopped operating, and Blanche began enhancing Mars to help him adjust his condition.

Ashley said, “Next is the Psyen.”

“Mhmm. Tell me about it.”

“I only saw an introduction to Psyens in my dad’s notes. He drew a picture of one and wrote an analogy, saying it was like one of the two round balls on that part of a man’s body. Um, Captain, can you imagine it?”

“Mhmm. I have the image.”

“Ah, mm... that’s what they look like. It’s really good that you can imagine it, Captain.”

“Does your dad like using that kind of analogy?”

“It was his diary. He didn’t intend for others to read it. I happened to flip through it before when I was trying to find love letters he wrote to my mom.”

He wrote a diary he didn’t intend for anyone else to read? Karon felt that Ashley’s mother should have read it long ago.

“Tell me about Psyens.”

“My dad doesn’t seem very familiar with them either. He only wrote one line: once one appears, it can be anywhere.”

“That’s all?”

“Mhmm, that’s all.”

“Hmm, I understand. From that, could a Psyen possess unimaginable speed?”

“Captain, I thought the same. So, are we going to summon Monras?”

Do you want your father to be sterilized so badly? However, from a daughter’s perspective, there did not seem to be any reason to worry about such a thing. Still, Karon felt rather embarrassed.

“Don’t rush. Let’s first see how the situation develops. If necessary, I’ll help you summon Monras together.”

“Alright, Captain.”

“Vintral, Bart, Blanche, you three will operate as an independent combat unit. Prioritize protecting Blanche above all else. You’re cleared to use your trump cards.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Mars, remain inside the array and rest. I need you to ensure that for the next round, you’ll have enough power to operate the Mental Bridge Array.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Vintral, Bart, and Blanche were capable of forming a simple triangular formation on their own, and Karon needed to remain beside Ashley while determining whether or not it would be necessary to summon Monras.

In other words, this round required them to confront the Psyen head-on and eliminate it immediately.

The best-case scenario was to have two squads eliminated in this round, which would grant Squad 3 and the remaining squad the two available slots without needing to face the final round of the exam. Philomena’s squad was clearly unable to pass this round. Their expressions showed no sign of wanting to continue to fight. What Karon was most worried about now were Squads 1 and 7. If those two squads continued to endure, his own squad would also be forced into the final round, which they would have to rely on luck to pass.

The storm clouds began rolling. The cracks were slow to appear this time. After the roiling storm clouds gradually dispersed, the sky became clear. Everyone raised their heads to look upward, wondering if something had gone wrong on the organizers’ side.

And at this moment, Karon, the captain of Squad 3; Murray, the captain of Squad 1; and Kane, the captain of Squad 7, almost simultaneously shouted to their members, “Careful! It’s already here!”

The moment the three captains finished speaking, a round ball covered in folds and grooves surfaced from the tiles within all four barriers.

Unfortunately, this was not the time to speak. Otherwise, Karon might have told Ashley that next time, he recommended her father use a more refined analogy, such as... a walnut.

The Psyens’ eerie appearance instantly pulled the situation into the illusion demons’ own rhythm. Light condensed with the round ball. Blanche immediately cast black umbrellas that offered mental defense over Vintral and Bart, while Karon cast purification on Ashley. The other squads basically performed the same actions. Given the circumstances, no one rashly attacked.

However, the light inside the round ball did not release. It acted more like a trigger, and the floors of the four barriers released a burst of dazzling white light. In an instant, both vision and consciousness were filled by this white light.

***

“Ah...” At that moment, Cardinal Claude happened to wake up, and said, “There’s been too much going on lately. I was a little too tired and ended up dozing off.”

“Please take better care of your health.”

“You really must look after yourself.” Mosvath and Glorian immediately reacted with concern.

In truth, Claude had first pretended to sleep, but after closing his eyes, he really had fallen asleep, because his exhaustion was not feigned.

“Have they already reached this round?” Claude asked.

“Yes. The Psyens have deployed their mental domain.”

“Hmm. Everyone was hit?”

“Because it was transmitted from below, instead of from the air like before.”

“Oh? They played dirty.”

This was really no different from changing the original structure of the selection, altering a tacit understanding between the candidates and the organizers.

Glorian smiled. “This is also to allow the Psyens’ ability be displayed better. This isn’t only for the selection exam, but also to give the final two squads another excellent tempering experience, which should allow them to better adapt to the environment behind the Reincarnation Gate.”

Claude said, “This time, it is for the selection exam, so all procedures serve the exam. However, for next year’s event, the procedures and rules need to be more detailed.”

“Please rest assured. They will be.”

“Please rest assured.”

“I remember Psyens’ mental domain works in reverse?”

“You remember correctly. Other illusion demons use mental attacks, while Psyens use mental blessings. They can use their ability to bless a target’s mind and soul, causing their soul and mind to enter a false amplified state for some time, essentially trapping their heart within walls of their own consciousness. So, theoretically speaking, the stronger one’s soul and mind, the higher the walls formed of their consciousness will be. After receiving amplification, the relative volume produced by the amplification will also be greater, making targets more easily trapped by themselves. This kind of trap causes a sort of self-denial, but as long as they can overcome it, they will gain a further improvement in regards to their self-recognition. This way, after entering the Reincarnation Gate, they will be less prone to accidents.”

“What about the breaking point?” Claude asked. “I don’t want this group of young people, especially those who have reached this stage, to be trapped to death within a prison of their own consciousness. Just like an array, once things exceed the breaking point, it will immediately slide toward an unpredictable result.”

“Please rest assured. So far, we have not encountered a situation where the amplification effect has lost control. We have found many priests, demonic beasts, and demonkin with powerful souls to experiment on. After their soul strength was amplified, they were still very far from triggering the breaking point.”

“Oh, right. I remember the Shadow of Order seemed to have conducted such research?” Claude asked.

“Our Shadow of Order did indeed conduct research on it, but later, the results were taken by the Whip of Order and applied to interrogation.”

“Voren really does like moving anything good he sees to his own side.” As Claude spoke, he pointed at the image before him. “Is there no way to display the consciousness scenes within the mental domain?”

Glorian said, “For now, that is not possible. As soon as any sort of observation is forced in, it damages the Psyens’ ability. However, if any Psyen eliminates a squad in this round, relevant memory images can be extracted from it. As for the Psyens that fail to eliminate their squads, they will naturally no longer exist, so there will be no way to obtain their memory images.”

“Then this has become somewhat dull and boring. I’ll sleep a little longer.”

***

When Karon opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a vast white space. Before him stood a door. The door stood in place by itself, with no walls on either side. Not far away, there were five other doors. Karon could sense that they should correspond to the five squad members under him. Even Mars was pulled in? That makes sense. The Kendos Triple Defensive Array is weak from below.

However, this method of sending the illusion demon in from underground, no, of letting the illusion demon launch an ambush and prepare things underground in advance, was truly shameless. During earlier rounds of the exam, the tiles on the ground had been regarded as unbreakable existences.

“A mental illusion?” A relaxed smile appeared on Karon’s face. He reached out, preparing to open the door that stood before him.

However, before his hand could touch the doorknob, the door opened by itself. It then grew to be infinitely large, while he became infinitely small by comparison. His surroundings also became a field of stars.

His expression turned solemn. This meant that his mental defenses had somehow been bypassed. How had this been done?

Karon quickly understood. It was not that his mental defenses had been bypassed from the outside, but that he had entered his own “inner heart.”

This field of stars felt familiar to him. It was very similar to when he and the captain had entered Rhanedar’s “brain” together in the consciousness space.

“Karon, my grandson.” Tiz’s voice suddenly was heard.

Karon turned to look and discovered that the scenery behind him had grown distorted. His young grandfather was standing above a palace, holding a black crystal that emitted an aura of sanctity.

“Grandpa?”

“Karon, my good grandson. The path of the God of Order will be walked again by you. You will return to the position where the God of Order should be.”

“What?”

“You are my hope. Everything I have done is so that you can reach that stage. Then, I will take everything from you.”

“Grandpa? That’s impossible.”

“I do not want a godhead shard. I want to become a god!” After saying this, Tiz held the godhead shard in his hand and flew towards the palace below.

Boom! An unimaginably terrifying explosion appeared, and Karon could not help closing his eyes.

“Karon. Oh, my Little Karon.”

“Pu'er?” Karon opened his eyes and saw Pu'er in human form floating before him.

“Oh, my Little Karon. You have to work hard.”

“What?”

“Light awakened Order, so next time, it should be Order’s turn to awaken Light. Hehehe...” Pu'er began laughing, and as she laughed, the majestic figure of Light appeared behind her, also laughing. Immediately afterward, a vast and solemn voice rang out: “Light shall return from Order.”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“Kevin?” Karon turned to see the large golden retriever running toward him from the distance. The dog ran to Karon and rubbed against his pants. Just as Karon was about to habitually reach down and stroke the bald head, he saw the golden retriever disappear. In its place, a melancholic man knelt before him.

“Please rest assured, great God of Order. I will enter slumber and await your awakening. Your most loyal guardian, Rhanedar, will accompany you as you once again walk the path of return!”

“No. No, this is impossible. This is impossible!” Karon reached out and pressed a hand to his forehead.

At this moment, he suddenly discovered that a Chain of Order had appeared beneath his feet. This chain began extending endlessly, extending, then extending again, until finally, it reached a supreme throne.

On that throne sat an enormous black shadow. It was majestic. It was solemn. Its finger held the chain that extended from beneath Karon’s feet. “I am waiting for your return. I am waiting... for my return.”

Then, Tiz, Pu'er, Kevin, the Throne of Order, as well as everyone Karon had known or seen since he had awakened until now, all tore away their masks to reveal another side to him. Some were calling to him, some were anticipating him, and some were waiting for him.

Karon clutched his head with both hands. He sensed that his awareness was being torn apart bit by bit, as though countless white ants were gnawing at him.

This feeling was extremely similar to the book The Rogart Manor, which he had recently finished. Throughout the first half of the book, everything had been normal, but in the second half, every person and thing had overturned all former impressions.

Karon was now experiencing the protagonist’s hysteria. And the protagonist’s final ending in the book was... he went mad.

***

Inside each of the four barriers, a Psyen floated quietly. White light from their bodies fell upon the six young people within each barrier. The difference was that three Psyens were quiet, looking like large, elegant walnuts as they demonstrated the ability that belonged to them, while one Psyen was also quiet, yet deep within its consciousness, it was already letting out a scream of terror. It wanted to immediately stop what was happening, but had discovered that not only was it unable to interrupt its own ability, it could not even move in the slightest. As for the outside world, everyone was naturally completely unaware of the illusion demon’s situation.

If its soul could take physical form, it would be seen that it was staring at a young man before it while trembling violently.

It would look as though it was seeing true terror!