Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 501: Believer +1, Believer -1
"Squeak squeak squeak...!!"

The arthropod was held in Milo's hand, its sharp pincers and claws tearing wildly at the skin on the back of Milo's hand, the sound of its exoskeleton rubbing against each other sending chills down one's spine.

However, none of its biting attempts left any marks on Milo's hands.

...

Milo held Isabel in one hand and the arthropod in the other.

His expression was somewhat strange.

Because he had seen the creature he was holding in his hand before, and he had seen it in the Abyss World.

But isn't the Abyss just a figment of imagination?
Why do the creatures from that story appear in the real world?
This is not a good sign.

...

"Pfft!!!"

Just as Milo was pondering, a globular, highly corrosive brown liquid suddenly spewed out of the arthropod's mouthparts. The liquid evaporated into thick smoke the instant it came into contact with the air, making a hissing and boiling sound.

Milo frowned and crushed the arthropod with a backhand.

Along with that, the scorching flames surging from the crack in his hand instantly incinerated the arthropod's body.

……

He then released Isabel's neck.

The latter's legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, greedily inhaling fresh air. Just a moment ago, she was still shocked as to why Milo would attack her.
However, after witnessing Milo pull such a long centipede out of her hair, she was now completely terrified.

"Cough cough cough..."

Isabel coughed for a long time, supporting herself on the floor with both hands, before she finally calmed down.

She looked up at Milo, her face pale and tears glistening in the corners of her eyes, bewildered.
"Excuse me, what exactly is this...?"

But Milo ignored her, squatting beside the ashes of the arthropod, his brow furrowed, silently pondering something.

The Wendigo squatted down next to Milo, resting its chin on its hand, but it was clear that it wasn't very interested in the ashes left by the arthropod. It was simply trying to imitate Milo's actions, and even "manually" frowned at itself.

...

The eerie scenes in the abyss are still vivid in my mind.

It was Milo who personally executed those guys one by one with his scythe. In the abyss, these centipede-like creatures "lived" in the eye sockets of everyone in the church. The creatures replaced their eyeballs and occupied them.

This includes Daisy, the choir, the deacons, and even the parishioners.

Milo never seriously considered what the metaphor of this scene in the abyss might be, simply because it was the abyss and he had already destroyed that non-existent world with his own hands, so it wasn't worth wasting any energy on in-depth discussion of such a question.

It wasn't until Milo noticed something was off about Isabel that things changed.

Until the centipede that had been coiled in her long hair was pulled out.

Milo was starting to feel a little lost.

His first thought was—could it be that I didn't wake up in the real world, but instead found myself in another abyss world?

But he quickly dismissed this possibility himself.

The deceptive nature of the Abyss lies in its ability to create a series of inherently illogical things, gradually leading you to perceive them as reality. Rather than striving to mimic the real world, Milo's two experiences entering and exiting the Abyss clearly demonstrate that the Abyss "despises" the real world. Its rules are distinctly different from those of Imnar.

In short, if everything around him connects with Milo's memories, then this is not the abyss.

Of course, this method of judgment is based on the premise that Milo has not yet lost his way.

The terrifying thing about the abyss is that it presents you with a series of things that are completely different from or even contrary to the real world, but if you are not careful, you will eventually fall into it and regard the experience of the real world you once had as a false dream.

...

Can a fictional world composed of imagined content truly affect reality?

A small clump of ash on the smooth blue brick floor made Milo fall into deep thought.

……

"You didn't feel a thing with such a huge worm crawling all over you?"

Milo then turned his attention to Isabel, whom he had almost strangled to death. The young contract scholar shook her head blankly, seemingly still reeling from the shock, whether from the insect or from Milo, it was impossible to know.

"Thank you... thank you for your help, sir..."

Isabel's voice trembled noticeably; she couldn't even stand up at that moment.

"I...I'm so glad I came to see you...really...I can't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't done it..."

As a contract scholar, Isabel's sanity level is definitely not up to par.

Because she grew up under the strict protection of the Contract Organization, every ancient text she came into contact with had been reviewed and screened by the Contract Organization at every level. Therefore, she had not been truly baptized by the torrent of ancient knowledge and could at most be considered a paleolinguist or archaeologist.

This is fundamentally different from the aggressive academic style of Raven's generation, who would devour any text they came across. The original school lacked a cautious attitude.

For the Monsis school in particular, finding the texts was already a blessing from heaven, a stroke of luck that had been used up half a lifetime. Whether they went mad or died after reading them was no longer a concern.

Of course, it's also possible that everyone firmly believes their will can withstand the erosion of distorted knowledge.

Or perhaps, they were already captivated the moment they obtained the books, since their weak souls simply could not resist the allure of those texts.

In short, the result is that while countless people flock to it, there is only one raven.

The fate of the others is self-evident.

……

As for Isabelle…

Milo knew that from the very beginning, when he brought Daisy back from the brink of death in front of a group of contract scholars, the part of the woman’s mind that belonged to academia and faith had already undergone some changes.

Perhaps it was because he was facing a shadowy figure he could "look directly at," but Milo was more inclined to believe it was due to his own personal charisma.

In short, the part of Isabel's will belonging to the Golden Tree has begun to waver.

Of course, after this "minor incident," she will probably soon drift further and further away from the Golden Law.

This is probably what the Scarlet Witch meant by "faith plunder".

Milo, who is already in the ranks of the superiors, doesn't even need to do anything deliberately. His very existence has the ability to attract faith, and those weak and powerless souls will be led by the superiors without even realizing it.

...

Gazing into Isabel's tearful, endearing eyes, Milo was certain: Faith +1.

Well, since the Golden Tree of the Awakened World is dead anyway, it's reasonable for me to take in the believers He left behind.

I don't know what use a kid with such a terrible sanity level is...

……

After much thought, Milo decided it was best to figure out what was going on with the arthropod, so he helped Isabel, who was slumped on the ground, to her feet.
"Here's what we'll do: try to recall what's happened to you these past few days..."

The next second, puff!

A burst of blood-red light exploded in the air.

Milo immediately turned his face away.

The expression on his face was a little bad.

...

At this moment, he was holding another centipede covered in blood.

This one, however, burst forth from Isabelle's mind after she broke through her skull.

...

Looking at Isabel lying back on the ground, and the bloody hole on her forehead.

Milo sighed:

"Okay, then there's no need to recall."

(End of this chapter)