Chapter 554: Making Sure Silver Lamp Has Nowhere to Run

Ashe and the others immediately turned around, staring down the empty corridor rather than looking at the scene inside the hall.

They had already witnessed the power of a worship ceremony at the hospital camp. Even from a distance, merely watching one could draw its influence toward them.

Only Tahmas could occasionally steal a glance inside. The burning ideal he carried in his heart not only allowed him to withstand the bone-deep dread of the Twisting Green at night, but also kept his own resolve from being overshadowed by other sources of power.

"What is the Transcendent Temple's worship ceremony like?" Iger asked. He could not hear a sound from inside. "Why is it completely silent?"

Tahmas responded, "Hard to say."

"Then what are they doing?"

"Several strange patterns appeared in the air, and everyone is just staring at them."

"What kind of patterns?"

"I can't describe them. They look simple, yet somehow profound."

"Can you draw them in our palms?"

Tahmas did not refuse. He traced the patterns he saw onto Ashe's and Iger's palms. As his finger moved, the expressions on their faces grew increasingly strange. In the end, the two exchanged a glance and fell into thought.

Iger asked again, "How are the patterns arranged?"

"They're divided into grids by horizontal and vertical lines. Some have sixteen grids, some twenty-five, some thirty-six. Most of the grids contain those patterns, but some are left empty."

Ashe blurted out immediately, "Sudoku!" He had once been obsessed with the brainteaser when he was bored in middle school.

“What is Sudoku?”

At Tahmas's question, Ashe and Iger fell silent. Harvey understood their reaction. It was almost absurd that someone of Tahmas's age had never even heard of Sudoku, but Harvey wasn't close enough to him to bother softening the moment. So he simply explained, matter-of-factly, "It's a logic puzzle where you arrange numbers according to certain patterns and work out which numbers are missing."

"Oh," Tahmas paused, then laughed. "I see. It's the kind of game I'm the worst at."

Ashe quickly changed the subject, muttering, "Wait, the Transcendent Temple's worship ceremony is just a bunch of people playing Sudoku together? That's nothing like what I imagined a worship ceremony would be."

Tahmas responded, "To outsiders, the worship ceremonies of most sects seem completely incomprehensible. I once saw a sect whose worship ceremony consisted of everyone going to sleep together. They followed the Grand Law of Idle Clouds, whose ideal was for everyone to live leisurely lives."

"A worship ceremony isn't just about worshipping the Grand Law. It's also about worshipping the ideal. Every sect's ceremony is connected to what they believe in."

It all clicked for Iger. "So a worship ceremony is when believers envision the future in which their ideal has been realized, thereby resonating with the Grand Law."

Ashe caught on as well. So a sect that pursues a life of leisure worships by sleeping. A sect devoted to exterminating all evil worships by gathering together to relax and unwind. And the Four Pillars Cult... they just give themselves over to pleasure.

"What does transcending consciousness have to do with playing Sudoku?" Harvey asked, puzzled. "Is their ideal future just playing Sudoku?"

Iger analyzed. "They don't know what the future looks like after transcending consciousness. They can't even imagine it. But a worship ceremony requires every believer to participate, so they substitute intellectual games instead. Sudoku is probably just one option. Other forms of worship likely exist as well.

"That said, this situation is very advantageous for us. All the Transcendent believers are sitting in their seats, so any unusual movement will be obvious. The moment Silver Lamp tries to seize a Grand Law, the believers will undoubtedly stop her.

"Now we only need to worry about whether Silver Lamp will give up on acting tonight. But the Transcendent Temple's worship ceremony is probably this kind of stationary ceremony every night, so waiting longer won't help her. If we leave instead, she may not even find suitable scapegoats."

The reason Ashe and the others believed Silver Lamp would act as soon as possible was the location of the Grand Law of Transcendence, since they were both on the lowest floor. If Silver Lamp wanted to seize a Grand Law and escape, it would be anything but easy. It would resemble fighting her way from the hundredth floor all the way down to the first. If she had scapegoats to divert attention, however, the difficulty would decrease significantly.

Without a doubt, Ashe and the others were the perfect scapegoats.

Then why didn't Ashe and the others simply leave the Transcendent Temple's headquarters and wait for her outside? Because the worship ceremony took place at night. If they did not stay inside the building, they would never dare spend the night in the wilderness. If Silver Lamp really seized a Grand Law and escaped, they would have to wait in a nearby town until daylight before continuing the pursuit. That would effectively mean missing the entire opportunity to confront her.

Tahmas asked, "What if Silver Lamp really disguises herself as us and frames us for stealing the Grand Law? Have you thought of an escape route?"

Ashe looked at Iger in surprise. Iger did not look back at him. Instead, he said to the Crowslaughter, "There's no need for an escape route. The moment Silver Lamp successfully seizes a Grand Law, chaos will inevitably break out. Since she can host a Grand Law, she'll certainly do so immediately and use its power to fight her way out. Once the ceremony is disrupted and everything descends into chaos, we'll block the exits. Ashe will find an opportunity to host the other Grand Law, and together we'll attack Silver Lamp from all sides. We'll definitely catch that woman."

"Aren't you afraid the Transcendent Temple will mistake Ashe for the one who stole the Grand Law?"

Iger smiled. "As long as he doesn't try to take the Grand Law away and helps stop Silver Lamp from stealing it, why would the Transcendent Temple turn against him? Besides, unlike Silver Lamp, Ashe can achieve a hundred-percent Divine Possession. You should understand what that means to the Transcendent Temple."

Tahmas suddenly understood. In any sect, achieving a hundred-percent Divine Possession was equivalent to becoming the Grand Law's spokesperson, the unquestionable leader of the sect and the embodiment of its ideal. If Ashe could demonstrate perfect Divine Possession without taking the Grand Law away, the Transcendent Temple would not hate him, though neither would they necessarily welcome him. As long as Ashe did not follow the Grand Law of Transcendence, he would remain a heretic.

That said, if Ashe helped stop Silver Lamp and saved the Grand Law for the Transcendent Temple, then even as a heretic, he could still earn their highest regard. The orderly Transcendent Temple would have no choice but to repay Ashe for such a favor. Favorable as that scenario might be, there was just one catch...

"Your plan has a major flaw," Tahmas remarked. "After Silver Lamp steals the first Grand Law, she will either immediately go for the second one, or the Transcendent Temple will protect it. Either way, there's no way we can get close to the second Grand Law. And once chaos breaks out, the Transcendent Temple will definitely have people keeping a close eye on us.

"First, let's rule out the possibility that she manages to steal both," Iger said. "If that really happens, there's nothing we can do. But the Transcendent Temple, whose reactions are faster than their conscious thoughts, is unlikely to give her such an opportunity.

"As for the possibility that the Transcendent Temple protects the second Grand Law, that is indeed very likely," the fraudster raised three fingers. "But once you understand three prerequisites, that obstacle ceases to be a problem.

"For starters, Divine Possession gives the user combat power far beyond the Legendary Rank. We were able to injure Silver Lamp before only because of your Gray Fox relic, Tahmas. Without it, no matter how cleverly we planned, Silver Lamp could have simply relied on her overwhelming strength to brute-force her way through any crisis once she achieved Divine Possession.

"Secondly, Silver Lamp needs to escape the building, while the Transcendent Temple, whose believers are constantly losing their self-awareness, will undoubtedly stop her with their lives. There are certainly believers within the Transcendent Temple who have achieved Divine Possession, and they pose a genuine threat to Silver Lamp.

"Last but not least, Silver Lamp is a greedy, reckless lunatic, and this is a completely open space where everything is within sight."

Tahmas's distorted voice grew hoarser. "Could she possibly—"

"There is no better battlefield than this," Iger said. "Silver Lamp will most likely try to seize the second Grand Law using the overwhelming power of Divine Possession, all while whittling down the Transcendent Temple's high-level combatants. If she realizes she cannot succeed, she will still have to kill anyone capable of threatening her. She can then pin the blame on us and escape the building without worry.

"As the casualties mount, the Transcendent Temple will sooner or later stop paying attention to us. We only need to wait patiently for our opportunity," the fraudster smiled. "If Silver Lamp fails to break through the second Grand Law's defenses, it matters little. Tahmas, your Gray Fox Blade is more than capable of piercing them. Ashe can then reach inside and touch the Grand Law, completing Divine Possession. After that, it will be our turn to save the Transcendent Temple and stop Silver Lamp."

Tahmas said, "But a lot of people will die."

"Yes. Silver Lamp will kill a lot of people," Iger stressed. "Many others will survive because of us, however. If the Transcendent Temple doesn't send people to stop us, or if we could approach the Grand Laws more easily, all of this would be much simpler... But there's no other way.

"Two days ago, we told them a villain capable of disguising herself and achieving Divine Possession was hiding somewhere in this building. Yet compared to us heretics, they trust their own security system more.

"If they had trusted us and conducted a thorough search of the entire building, Silver Lamp would have been caught long ago, and they would never have had to suffer through this disaster."

During his time as a Crowslaughter, he had seen plenty of situations like this. The Crowslaughters took the straightforward approach of identifying evil and eradicating it. The world, however, had proven time and again that things were rarely so black and white. Aside from the fact that not everyone was willing to trust them, there was the bigger problem of them not always being right.

Just as there had been those who refused to believe them, only to have their entire families slaughtered in the end, there had also been those who trusted them, only to suffer devastating losses. With that in mind, it was only natural that the Transcendent Temple would trust its own judgment over a handful of outsiders like them.

When faced with the test paper called fate, everyone had their own answer. Until the results were announced, nobody would ever believe their own answer was wrong.

For Tahmas, the only difference now was that back then, with Kalan, Yelu, and Tahnom by his side, he had never had to face such things alone. So, just as he had always done, he voiced his confusion, "We already knew all of this was going to happen. Is there really no better way?"

"The world isn't going to be that kind to us," Iger said. "This outcome you find so hard to accept is already the best we can achieve."

Ashe joined in. "Yes. When you really think about it, we have already done the best we can within the limits of our abilities."

The fraudster glanced at the cult leader in surprise. He genuinely had not expected Ashe to agree with him, even if the plan had originally come from Ashe himself.

"Do we not want to help the Transcendent Temple? That is not it. They are the ones refusing to trust us, treating us as heretical merchant travelers and ignoring the information we gave them. If you insist on placing blame somewhere, they brought this upon themselves.

"If Silver Lamp doesn't make a move, there is nothing we can do either. The Transcendent Temple will only see us as outsiders plotting against them. Only after Silver Lamp attacks the Grand Laws and causes mass casualties will we have a chance to approach the Grand Law, achieve perfect Divine Possession, and save them in the guise of heroes while standing against the evil disaster known as Silver Lamp.

"That way, we can capture Silver Lamp and earn the Transcendent Temple's friendship, securing a pass into the Music Day Alliance..." Ashe looked at Iger. "Isn't that right?"

Iger met his gaze. "That's correct."

"This really is the best possible plan. The guidance I received from the Virtual World... it really was exceptional," Ashe said. "We may have foreseen everything, but that doesn't mean we conspired with Silver Lamp to bring disaster upon the Transcendent Temple. We simply chose the least terrible option available to us. The Transcendent Temple isn't wrong either. It's only natural they don't trust us, and they certainly can't allow outsiders to approach their Grand Laws. Besides, what does the Transcendent Temple have to do with us? The only person at fault is Silver Lamp. She is a walking disaster, the source of all this evil. We are nothing more than her victims. But..."

Ashe furrowed his brows and closed his eyes. His lips moved, but his voice gradually faded until it was almost inaudible. After a moment of silence, he drew a deep breath and opened his bright eyes, staring straight at Iger. "But how can the world be like this? How can they be like this? How can we be like this?!"

With each question, Ashe's Sacred Realm quietly spread out, enveloping everyone within it. Before anyone could react, Ashe turned to Harvey. "Ghost King, draw everyone's attention. Disrupt their worship."

Harvey said nothing. He simply summoned Alice, entered their combined state, activated Frost and Flowing Fire, and headed toward another passage.

It was in the middle of his speech that Ashe suddenly remembered his conversation with Harvey that afternoon. He could not help mocking himself for being slower to realize this than a necromancer. Fortunately, Harvey's questions had forced him to confront the truth, allowing him to act without the slightest hesitation. "Crowslaughter, throw me in with everything you've got."

Tahmas clenched his fist, producing a series of sharp cracks that sounded almost explosive.

Ashe looked at Iger. "Rusty Crow, you know how to coordinate with me, right?"

Iger lowered his eyes. "Of course. I've always been the one coordinating with you. You've never once coordinated with me."

Ashe grinned. "Next time, for sure. For now, let's be gentle with this world together."

Tahmas scooped Ashe up into his arms.

Ashe froze. "I thought I told you to throw me."

"I can run faster than you can fly."

"I'm a Sacred Realm sorcerer. Can't you throw me in a more dignified position—"

The moment Harvey transformed into the Wraith Knight, spreading despair and drawing the attention of every Transcendent believer away from the worship, thunderous bursts erupted beneath Tahmas's feet. In the span of a single breath, he reached the railing of the spectator stands and hurled Ashe into the air.

Ashe spread his Gold and Silver Wings, adjusting his flight path as he descended from a hundred meters above the ground.

His target was the Grand Law of Transcendence. He would seize it before Silver Lamp could, taking over the role of the antagonist she was meant to play and leaving her nowhere to go.