Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 801 Everyone's in Trouble
The addition of reindeer enthusiasts gave the team a clearer navigation route. The direction they had previously seen from the eyes of the old witch, the goddess of tears, was too vague, but this time the male and female enthusiasts were a decent guide.

The spoiler book was in Milo's hands, so he wasn't worried at all.

...

There were no obstacles on the journey ahead. The Southern Territory lived up to its name of being a lost land. Most of the islands were still in a primitive state, and even the native civilization had an ancient and wild atmosphere. Some islands were even inhabited by uncivilized barbarian tribes. For several days in a row, the snake ship did not encounter a single Bloodborne believer at sea, and the days suddenly became boring and tedious.

If we're talking about the most troublesome member of the group, it has to be the snake-man prince whose status has plummeted.

Woti Iger.

Just two months ago, he was still swaggering around in the Golden Kingdom, easily dominating the Golden Clan with his reputation as the Father of the Serpents, acting like a mid-to-small-sized boss.

Who knew that after returning to his hometown, he would be demoted back to his original form, even worse than before, and directly become the follower of these damned humans.

It would be a lie to say that it didn't harbor resentment. From the time it was still in its mother's womb, the resentment from its mother was one of the nutrients that fueled its development, which also shaped Woti Iger's pathological personality as an adult.

But in the end, what he loved and feared most deep down was the great Igor. This love and fear transcended everything, and all his resentment and hatred towards Milo could be temporarily set aside.

He dared not disobey Igor's will, nor was he willing to do so.

He would even go to great lengths to fulfill his duty as a follower, simply to win his father's favor.

So on that day, at the edge of the Zar Islands settlement, the first place where the strange phenomenon appeared was actually deep in the sea. A giant beast in that trench was awakened by a divine messenger and ordered to intercept the snake ship. Without thinking, Woti Ig immediately started tearing into the beast.

This was the first tremor felt by those on deck, originating from below the sea.

...

Although his redemption weakens him somewhat, he is still the offspring of the father of all serpents and the earth goddess Coatrycoe. Dealing with a beast lurking in the deep sea should be a piece of cake for him.

However, due to his old injuries, Woti Iger still suffered a loss, as many of the black scales that had just grown on his body were torn off again, and blood flowed in the seawater.

And then came the most frustrating moment.

When he killed the sea monster and dragged his exhausted body back to the surface to look for the snake boat, he found the sea calm and the group of people had been gone for quite some time.

……

...

In contrast to the plight of this "daddy issue" patient, in another corner of the world, another unfortunate soul is also experiencing the heaviest test and torment of its long life.

That was Imnar returning to the Temple of Hooked Finger.

This ancient fraudster, who has always believed that chaos is the ladder to progress, follows its will from being lost to finding itself, from the world of clarity to the abyss.

As the first Great Old One to attempt to deceive the gods and seize control of the star core Azadi in this era, Imnal did not participate in the Blood Moon Cataclysm. This was not because it was wiser than the gods, but simply because it was imprisoned in the prison of Qadas for the entire time. This, in turn, allowed it to reap many of the remaining fruits of this godless era.

For example, the faith that has nowhere to go under the command of the various temples.

Just as the Golden Law Temple used a blade as a vessel for faith, other temples had similar remedies.

The gods have departed, but there are still many lazy and good-for-nothing old souls in the temple. Although there are significant risks involved, compared to the result of the kingdoms under the temple being ravaged by the worms of faith, it is a last resort to have the old souls temporarily preserve this part of the faith that should have been submitted to the gods as vessels of faith.

This is Imnal's spring.

Its fractal rules are sufficient to allow it to transform into any existing Great Old One in the Dreamlands.

Prior to this, it conspired with the man who called himself Crow to assassinate an old member of the Temple of Hooks, allowing Imnar to take the place of that priestess and become a member of the Temple of Hooks.

Then came the beating I got in Derasrien.

If it weren't for the curse rooted in his mind, Imnar, who managed to escape successfully, would never have taken Milo's threat to heart.

Komilo only gave it three months. Once those three months were up, its inner fear would drive it to chant the melody that summoned the Old God Pagon.

Imagine if you personally summoned the plague god who had banished your father—what would the outcome be?

Just thinking about it made Imnal shudder.

It doesn't have many options.

The first step was to find the Three Ladies of Sorrow, which Imnar immediately ruled out.

It probably knew something about the origins of these three old witches, and it would never provoke them.

As for the second request, helping Milo find the girl named "Enid Kent," this option was also excluded because Enid was the target of the Three Ladies of Sorrow's search. The first and second options were actually the same thing.

The only remaining option is to help Milo find Aegon, who was transformed into a god.

……

This is not difficult.

In the city of Derasrien, she is the beaten-up Imnar, but in the Temple of Hooks, she is still the ancient priestess who is among the top-tier warriors.

In this position, she can not only receive the power of faith from the lower believers by virtue of her status as a priestess, but also manage some of the temple's in-depth affairs.

It easily found the progenitor Aegon deep within the temple. Naturally, it also learned of the so-called god-making plan that was now targeting the temple's higher-ups.

In their theory, the will of the gods does not perish; they have simply gone to distant places. Suitable divine embryos can become new bodies for the gods, and once a suitable opportunity is found, the will of the gods can descend upon one of these divine embryos.

But before that, they need to refine the divine embryo through countless trials, making it powerful enough to contain the will of the gods.

Refining the embryo with the bloodline of an ancient dragon is only the first step. The most important step afterward is to test the embryo's ability to accept the power of faith.

Otherwise, even if the will of the gods returns and descends, it will be of no use if the weak body cannot accept the faith from believers; a weak god is useless.

So while the Golden Law was plotting to take Milo's life, the silent Temple of Hook was actually focused on forging the divine embryo.

Countless divine embryos were successfully refined from various temples and transported to the Hook Finger Temple. During this period, almost 99% of the divine embryos died because they could not contain the power of faith. Every day, the remains of divine embryos that were either insane or shattered were thrown into the furnace to be burned.

...

When Imnar found Aegon, she was undergoing a trial to absorb the power of faith.

Compared to the mystical elders and priests in the temple, Imnar, being an ancient being, clearly possessed a higher level of theological knowledge, and he saw the problem at a glance.

The theory that the divine embryo is tested by absorbing the power of faith is not wrong. However, these low-level souls who have lived for a long time but have only received blessings and never faith do not understand that the power of faith will not kill the divine embryo. What really kills the divine embryo is the large amount of mixed and base human nature mixed in with faith.

That contains all love and hate, affection and enmity.

It stems from the yearning for deities in the minds of every believer at the bottom of society, and from the noble purity or the base greed, anger and ignorance deep within their souls.

A thousand believers will have a thousand different interpretations of God's teachings.

All these chaotic thoughts and emotions, good and bad, are compressed into one brain at once, resulting in only two outcomes: death or madness.

This is why all those in power throughout history have had to sever their humanity; if they want to draw immortal power from faith, they must completely cut off the source of their humanity.

It refers to Imnar's series of "seductive words" to Milo at the opera house that day.

In fact, what it said was the truth.

……

...

The elders of the Hooked Finger Temple infused Aegon's body and soul with the power of faith.

This also marked the beginning of her death countdown.

As the little brat named Aegon was about to be torn apart by that mixed and terrifying humanity, Imnar had no choice but to step in and take over that tangled mess of human depravity.

To take it into one's own mind.

...

"It's done..."

"The divine body is complete!!!"

"This child held on!!!"

In the Temple of the Hooked Finger, Aegon survived, absorbing a large amount of faith power.

The temple's high-ranking officials were overjoyed.

...

Outside the temple, Imnar frantically suppressed his wails in a deserted corner.

Its pupils, and its soul, are now being eroded by that terrifying humanity.

It underestimated the "toxicity" of something that even the gods wouldn't touch.

I thought I could control them, but the truth is that it has played countless roles over the long years, but has never truly touched the good or bad humanity deep in the souls of these characters.

Amidst the wails, some strange changes were quietly taking place on Imnar's body.

It knew it had made a grave mistake, but it didn't realize which was more terrifying: facing Pagon directly.

...

……

Compared to Imnar, who escaped from the abyss after going through countless hardships, an even more tragic story is unfolding in another corner of the world.

Other people risked their lives to escape the abyss, but this old man recklessly plunged into it.

I'm talking about you, Hastings.

Since receiving the secret guidance of the Eye of Thinking, he steadfastly followed in the footsteps of the Golden Tree, traversing mountains and rivers to reach the desolate world of lucidity...

(End of this chapter)