13 Mink Street

Such a simple ritual array was naturally just as simple to activate, yet Alfred had still designed a special motion for the activation. It was much like that night in Roja City, when he had carried a radio on his shoulder, playing music while gently swaying in step with his young master.

Observe, imitate, learn, and understand. He did not dare hope to share his young master’s mind, but at the very least he had to keep up the appearance of keeping pace.

Alfred took a half-step back, bowing slightly while swinging his right arm back and placing his left hand to his brow, pinching the brim of the hat he was not wearing today, a hat that did not exist. He then raised his head slightly to reveal eyes that had already turned red. “As you command, Young Master.”

Alfred snapped his fingers. The ritual array activated.

There was no brilliant color, no shaking or tremor. A small hole blasted open at the center of the ritual array, much like the pressure valve of a pressure cooker being blown off. From that small hole, a wisp of black mist sprayed out, that gradually thickened. The small hole was being forced to grow larger and larger, like a dam being worn away from a breach.

Little by little, the breach expanded until it filled the entire circle of the ritual array. The black mist poured as though erupting from the mouth of a thick well. Once it surged upward, it began to gather into a sphere, creating what looked rather like a gigantic black mushroom that continued to swell.

The most terrifying part was that this corruption would not be blocked by the factory roof. It could pass through physical matter to expand as far as possible. It even had its own instincts; Like water flowing to low ground, it would automatically extend toward where people were.

From the moment the ritual array opened to the moment the corruption started to spread took almost no time. It was such a brief moment that Expositor was only able to shout a single line, “Pavaro, why are you here?”

Zeric had been told by Luke that the Adjudicator had personally killed Mr. Pavaro, so naturally, Zeric’s first reaction was not to assume that Mr. Pavaro had been awakened, but that Luke had deceived him.

However, by the time Zeric’s second reaction kicked in, prompting him to use an investigative Art to enhance his vision, the corruption had already blown open.

At that moment, Zeric froze. He reflexively shouted, “Pavaro, have you gone mad!”

Earlier, Mr. Pavaro had shouted the same thing at Karon, but hearing those words from the Expositor’s mouth, Karon found nothing but irony. He believed that Mr. Pavaro had been worried about the potential risk to the ordinary people who lived nearby, but how could the Expositor care about that? What this man feared was that everything he had prepared and done might be exposed.

It was similar to how Elder Dock had raised a Tower of Light earlier in the night, allowing almost every church in York City to see the beam of light in the darkness. This time, what arose was a tower of corruption, yet this too would draw an unknown number of gazes.

With no time to think about anything else, the Expositor began to chant. A black mark appeared at the center of his brow, “Order—Purification Ward.

“Order—Triple Seal.”

Two high level Arts were instantly used. A curtain of black light appeared above the factory. When it made contact with the rising corruption, the black barrier reacted violently, and the two began quickly to cancel each out. A void seal then descended, like a pot lid pressing from above.

At this moment, the Expositor’s power was fully displayed without any reservation. He had forcibly suppressed what had appeared to be an irreversible scene, suppressing the rising corruption and forcing the already gigantic mushroom back down.

“Wow!” Seeing this, Karon let out an unconscious exclamation. This could also work.

Pu’er spoke, “He won’t be able to hold for long, not unless he underwent a purification like yours.”

“He’s also injured.” Karon remembered the good news “Little John” had told him.

He felt a trace of discomfort. This kind of corruption could silently affect ordinary people, but because he was a Divine Shepherd, he was more sensitive to it. At the moment, he felt the same sort of unease as standing in an area with an open gas leak.

“O great supreme God of Order, chains of Order that judge all... Order—Protective Wall.”

Three black walls appeared around Karon, isolating him from the corruption. This corruption would have a major impact on ordinary people, but for a priest, it did not pose too great a problem.

Alfred was demonkin, so there was no need to worry about him being affected by the corruption.

Pu’er and Kevin did not need to worry either. Their souls were far too high a rank to be impacted. This level of corruption could not touch them.

As for Mr. Pavaro, his current state of existence had essentially transformed him into a kind of demonkin, while Little John had long since been corrupted by this source.

On the platform up above, Zeric was already struggling greatly to suppress the pressure of the rising corruption, but also knew that he absolutely could not release it at this moment. If he could not press this anomaly back down, as soon as the matter was exposed, an investigation would be inevitable and he would not be able to escape those above him.

At that point, he might even need to leave the Church of Order and flee as a wanted man. That was not at all what he wanted.

“Alfred, give him some pressure.”

“Yes, Young Master.” Alfred stepped forward, his red eyes locked onto the Expositor up on the platform as he activated his Succubus Eye. However, when Succubus Eye swept for the Expositor, a token appeared before the man, propping up a barrier that simply blocked the influence of Alfred’s Succubus Eye.

He continued to press, but could not pierce the token’s obstruction.

A moment later, Alfred leapt up, ready to charge up at the Expositor and engage in close combat, but a mirror appeared in front of the man. A silver beam shone from the mirror and struck Alfred. His body, which had only just leapt up, was instantly bounced away.

The mirror moved to chase him, but after traveling a certain distance, it was forced to pull back to the Expositor. Alfred landed and looked up, unwilling to accept such an outcome.

The other side stood there and allowed him to attack, and yet he was still incapable of breaking through his defense. This was an absolute gap in strength.

Mr. Pavaro also walked forward, and he soon arrived beneath the platform. He had previously told Karon this scheme was madness, but now that the corruption had already been detonated, Mr. Pavaro had no choice. He could only join this weighing of scales.

He was an existence that was about to vanish. Compared to the ordinary people in the city, he absolutely could not accept Karon dying in front of him. At the very least, Mr. Pavaro could not accept Karon dying in front of him as he did nothing.

Mr. Pavaro spread his hands as he began to chant. Two clusters of black flames rose from his palms and shot up at the Expositor.

The token in front of the man still maintained a barrier, but the scorching black flame that came from the same source caused the barrier to start to warp.

Alfred stood up, activating his Succubus Eye once again as he looked upward. Under the dual pressure, the token’s deformation accelerated.

“Woof, woof.”

Pu’er said, “This Expositor should be from the Whip of Order. People from that branch usually have excellent fighting skills.”

Each church consisted of multiple departments, and each department required various roles. Not every priest was good at fighting. Someone like Mr. Hoffen, who had been devoted to research, and someone like Mr. Pavaro, who had mostly focused on administrative duties, were often not very skilled at combat.

The golden retriever seemed to be preparing himself to go up as well, as he started pawing at the ground with his feet.

“Are you insane?” Pu’er cursed.

“Woof.”

“Don’t go causing trouble!”

The golden retriever wanted to carry Pu’er, leaping up to charge the platform so that Pu’er could attack the Expositor like a knight atop her steed with her claws.

Pu’er unequivocally rejected that idea.

At this moment, the corruption was still being suppressed, but what could not be avoided was that it had already spread throughout the lower portions of the factory. As the girls lying in the pigsties were enveloped by the corruption, they all revealed expressions of joy, as they could sense that their release was approaching.

“Little John” had mentioned that all of the women had been given forbidden drugs, which meant that they could only lie there and wait to die. The process itself was torturous.

All the while, the stalemate above and below the platform continued. The token seemed to have reached a critical point, but the flames that Mr. Pavaro released were also gradually weakening. His residual spirituality was nearly exhausted from his awakened corpse.

This was not something that could be changed by resting or not resting. Once the consumption of spirituality passed a certain threshold, he would leave the world completely.

Karon stepped forward and began to chant, “O’ Supreme God of Order, Chains of Order that judge all, grant authority to punish acts that violate Order and cleanse its defilement... Order—Spear of Punishment.”

A Spear of Punishment appeared above Karon’s head. Because of the special nature of his abilities, he only knew one offensive Art, and there were limits to its uses. That meant that the best way for him to use it was to cast it at a critical moment when both sides were deadlocked, and then aim to crush the balance in one blow.

Under Karon’s guidance, the Spear of Punishment adjusted its direction, lining up with the Expositor on the platform.

“Woof, woof.”

Pu’er instantly shouted, “Behind Alfie!”

Hearing the warning, Karon shifted his gaze and pointed with a finger.

The Spear of Punishment flew out, not at the Expositor on the platform, but behind Alfred’s back.

Pfft. Pfft.

The sound of something being pierced rang out. The Spear of Punishment continued flying forward, having skewered two members of a Whip of Order squad who wore black robes. They had used Arts to conceal themselves and had been silently approaching Alfred from behind, each carrying a dagger branded with black runes.

Alfred’s full attention was dedicated to wrestling with the Expositor’s defenses, which left him with no way to sense what was behind him. Fortunately, Kevin had discovered the two in time.

After the Spear of Punishment flew a certain distance, it exploded. The bodies of the two squad members that were carried along with the spear were blasted to pieces.

Their ambush had failed, but behind the Expositor, the Whip of Order squad captain, Tirsen, suddenly appeared, and behind him stood four more squad members.

Each Whip of Order squad consisted of one captain and twelve members. During the earlier battle on Apple Street, as well as the two squad members who had been lost even before that, Tirsen’s squad had suffered extremely severe casualties.

Even so, their appearance completely shifted the balance. Not even Karon believed that even if he forcibly prepared another Spear of Punishment, he would be given another chance to skewer two people at once.

The Expositor could continue to prevent the corruption from breaking free, and that allowed Tirsen to lead his remaining subordinates and kill everyone else present.

“Woof.”

Snap. Pu’er slapped Kevin’s head with a paw. “You don’t need to tell me! I know we’re finished!”

“Sir, do not worry. I am here.” Tirsen drew his whip and prepared to jump down from the platform to deal with the people below. However, the moment he left the platform, something yanked him back. Zeric’s hand was extended, and holding onto Tirsen’s shoulder. “Sir?”

“Help me. Share some of the pressure.”

“Sir—” Before Tirsen could choose to agree or not, Zeric simply transferred control of the Purification Ward and Triple Seal Arts he had been maintaining entirely onto Tirsen. Both men were part of the Church of Order, which meant that Tirsen could take the two high level Arts.

During the transfer, Zeric’s attention swept over to Karon on the floor below. The young man had just used the Spear of Punishment.

Forced to take on the Expositor’s Arts, Tirsen’s face contorted in pain and he let out a shrill scream. He felt as if he was about to be crushed flat, while also as if he was about to be drained dry. He was personally completely unable to support the burden of two such high level Arts, but Zeric’s hand remained pressed to Tirsen’s shoulder, making it impossible for the man to break free. “Hold on. I need time to use Receding Tide to pull this corruption contamination back. Order—Expositor’s Shield.”

The warped token fell to the ground. Replacing it was a massive ancient shield that fell to stand beneath the platform, completely separating the space above and below the platform.

Zeric was slightly worried that there might be another Spear of Punishment.

With the Expositor’s Shield closing their path, Tirsen’s four surviving subordinates had no way to go down from the platform. Of course, even without the shield, they probably would not have gone down. Their captain’s screams filled their hearts with panic and nervousness.

In truth, Zeric wanted very much to spare another hand and eliminate everyone below, but Tirsen showed far greater resistance to supporting Zeric’s Arts than the Expositor had expected. He had no choice but to immediately cast Receding Tide to reduce the pressure on Tirsen.

If Luke were present, it would be much better. With both Luke and Tirsen sharing the burden, Zeric would have been more composed.

***

Outside the factory, Adjudicator Luke stopped in place. He could see the Triple Seal above the eaves, as well as the Purification Ward down below that was locked in a tense cancellation with the rising corruption.

The man had also seen Tirsen enter with his men.

Luke then saw the Triple Seal and Purification Ward shake violently. Their earlier steadiness was gone, replaced by strain and uncertainty.

Luke seemed to realize something and chose to stay where he was instead of entering the factory.

***

The Expositor’s chanting continued to echo through the area. It took a long time, proving that even at his level, it was not easy to use this Art.

When his chanting ended, Zeric’s eyes turned gray. “Order—Receding Tide.”

Gray light quickly spread out. Like a tide pulling back, the corruption that had been erupting upwards immediately showed signs of collapsing and it started to be compressed downward.

Tirsen, who had felt on the verge of having his soul and body tear apart, finally saw some of the agony fade from his expression, though it did not entirely vanish.

Beneath the Expositor’s Shield, Alfred had already closed his eyes. Blood dripped from their corners. He had overdrawn his ability.

Mr. Pavaro knelt on the ground. The flames from his palms had long since gone out.

Little John, perhaps because he had breathed in some of the dense corruption that surrounded them, slowly woke back up. He first touched his head, then sniffed hard. “So fresh.”

Kevin carried Pu’er to Karon’s side. She suggested, “This Expositor is able to endure far more than we imagined, Karon. Why don’t we run while we still can?”

Mr. Pavaro turned his head. Corpse spots had already spread across his skin in patches. “Did your grandfather never tell you that there are grades of Expositors too?”

“Grandpa never told me about Expositors at all.”

After all, Tiz was an Inquisitor, but apparently had little contact with Adjudicators, Expositors, and even Bishops. The one he might have had some contact with was the Church of Order’s High Priest.

“Oh, no wonder. The one above us is a highest grade Expositor. My case should never have fallen under his jurisdiction, and yet he was still able to take it. Of course, this is also the first time I’ve actually seen an Expositor’s true power. Is he really injured?”

“Yes.”

Mr. Pavaro let out a helpless sigh. “You should leave quickly. You can still escape now.”

“Do you now feel my method was right?” Karon asked.

The man shook his head slightly. “It can’t be considered right, but it also can’t be considered wrong.”

A protective umbrella could often be turned upside down, not to block the rain from above, but to suppress what rises from below.

In the world Karon had known, there had always been inspectors. In ancient times, imperial commissioners had been dispatched to patrol the provinces. Even in modern times, there were still investigation teams.

Mr. Pavaro’s tragedy was that within the established rules, he could never pierce that umbrella, and had instead been strangled with its frame.

Thus, Karon chose another method, one that would be impossible to ignore.

He looked up. Above, the contamination was still being forced down, compressed further and further. Once it was pressed down far enough, it could be resealed.

“Let’s go,” Pu’er urged. “If there’s anyone to blame, it’s that Expositor for being too resilient. Also, the contamination here simply isn’t concentrated enough.”

“Still... it doesn’t sit right with me.” Pu’er’s words stirred something within Karon. His gaze fell to the nearby trench that was filled with a dark liquid. Bodies floated across the surface, while beneath them, pale bones could be vaguely made out.

Little John’s earlier words echoed in Karon’s ears. These women had been forced to ingest forbidden drugs and had been tortured to death. Their corpses which had been filled with resentment had been thrown into that trench to serve as nourishment that had nurtured the holy relic’s spirit into awakening.

Karon suddenly laughed. “There are two sources of corruption here! What we detonated earlier formed from the resentment of the girls who were left to die in the pens, but this trench contains another source. A cultivation pool deliberately constructed, and what lies in it is the true corruption.”

If the pens were seen as an orchard, then the trench was where the overripe fruit had been left to ferment. The orchard only bore fruit of one generation, while the trench held the accumulation of many.

Pu’er smacked Kevin on the head. “Why didn’t you notice this?”

Kevin blinked. “Woof woof!”

“There’s a ward blocking your senses? And the corruption in the trench has been filtered, so it can’t even be detonated? Even if we wanted to trigger it, you won’t be able to locate a focal point like before?

“Then what use are you? What kind of heretical god are you?”

“Woof!”

“What? You’re saying you’re a dog now?”

Alfred visibly strained himself to wipe the blood from his eyes and force them open. “Young Master... I can try to set another ritual array inside. Perhaps we might get lucky...”

“No need.” Karon rose to his feet. He looked at the floating corpses and the bones beneath the dark liquid, then closed his eyes.

Limited by his rank, most of his Arts required incantation, which meant that he could not cast them instantly, but there was one exception. It was something he had been able to use even before becoming a Divine Servant, even before being purified.

The next moment, a black chain coiled into existence at his feet.

“They are only asleep,” Karon quietly stated. “So I will now awaken them.”