13 Mink Street

Luke’s eyes immediately bulged, and then a half-smiling expression appeared on his face as he asked, “Pavaro?”

“It is me, and yet not me.” Karon placed the Aelius Sword on the ground, gripped the sword hilt with both hands as he started adjusting his breathing.

“I thought you’d be a rat hiding in the sewers. I didn’t expect you would actually have your own power.” Clearly, Luke had already placed Nio and the others within Karon’s sphere of influence. The smile he had just revealed had not actually been directed at Karon, but at himself. Luke felt that it was the call he had proactively made that had determined his current situation. He had guessed wrong, because whether he had made that call or not, he had already long been targeted by Nio.

Karon had no intention of explaining anything to Luke, because Karon had never liked speaking much useless nonsense before a fight. This current exchange was merely his way of making some final adjustments to his physical and mental state.

“I am willing to submit to you.” Luke knelt before Karon. “I hope you can grant me an identity. I will offer you all of my loyalty.”

Luke knew he could not escape. The outer perimeter was already controlled and sealed off, and he had no external support at all. There was simply no possibility of surviving.

Therefore, with “Pavaro” appearing before him, Luke subconsciously assumed that the reason the other side had stopped earlier was in order to subdue him. The more cautious the person, the more they cherished their own life, and those who truly cherished their lives were willing to do anything.

But once again, Luke had guessed wrong. The assault had not been halted in order to subdue him, but to leave him there while the squad waited for one more person to arrive. Now, that person had arrived, and that person had also finished adjusting himself.

Sea God’s Armor! Blue crystalline currents flowed out from Karon’s chest and rapidly spread over his whole body, forming a suit of armor suffused with a mysterious and ancient aura.

Darkmoon Blade! The crimson pattern that appeared from Karon’s wrist was drawn to the Aelius Sword the moment it formed, flowing straight into the blade. The next instant, a red glow flared within the groove along its center.

The Aelius Sword, heavy just moments before, suddenly felt much lighter. Karon flicked his wrist, and the blade arced in a clean flourish before coming to rest upright in his hand. The Aelius Sword truly was a weapon tailored for Darkmoon power.

Seeing this, Luke’s face filled with disbelief, but immediately after, a trace of venom appeared in his eyes, because all his fantasies had just been shattered. The one before him clearly was not there to negotiate, nor had he come to subdue him.

Still, with his last bit of stubbornness, Luke asked, “What good does killing me do for you?”

Karon smiled. “A great deal.”

Because you are the opportunity I chose to verify my path of Inquisitor.

Karon charged at Luke. The man slammed both of his hands to the ground and began chanting, “Order—Cage!”

Black prisms rose from beneath Karon’s feet, but he had already dodged in advance.

His exchanges with Gray over the last few days had not been for nothing.

Luke’s eyes followed Karon, and the prisms atop the ground pursued him as well. After opening up a bit of lateral distance, Karon still failed to shake off the prisms, but at that moment, the tip of his foot touched the ground, and his body instantly came to a stop. Then, with the speed boost he received from the Darkmoon Blade and the Sea God’s Armor, he instantly pushed to the limit and charged straight at Luke for a second time.

By that point, the prism was clearly too late to catch up to Karon.

Luke instantly dispersed the Cage and erected three shields in front of himself.

Order—Shield of Judgment!

Bang!

Bang!

As he ran, Karon swung the Aelius Sword and instantly broke through two of the Shields of Judgment, essentially choosing to break their weak points with the edge of his sword before relying on the Sea God’s Armor to force his way through.

Faced with the third Shield of Judgment, Karon poured even more Darkmoon power into the Aelius Sword. Its glow surged as it cut through the third shield and continued a downward arc toward Luke.

Clang! A completely black Sword of Judgment appeared before Luke and blocked the Aelius Sword.

The two men’s powers rapidly eroded one another. Under overwhelming pressure from Karon, the Sword of Judgment, which was already rather illusory, began to grow increasingly transparent.

Luke was wounded, and weakened in every aspect. He no longer possessed his peak strength as an Adjudicator. Even so, Karon felt certain the man had managed to keep something in reserve.

At last, the Sword of Judgment dissipated under the sustained pressure of the Aelius Sword. Karon raised his blade again and struck toward Luke.

At that moment, Luke’s eyes turned gray. A strange sound escaped his mouth as he lifted both hands as though gripping something and moved them down at Karon. However, there was nothing in his hands, no visible threat before Karon.

And yet, without reason, he felt danger.

If not in front, then...

Behind.

Karon did not bring his blade down upon Luke, but instead twisted around and moved away from where he stood.

A sharp impact struck him from behind. The Sea God’s Armor that covered his back shuddered violently, and a large section cracked beneath the blow, and nearly broke completely. Fortunately, the attack landed at an angle due to Karon’s evasive movement, rather than coming down cleanly, and that succeeded in reducing much of its force.

Without that, it would not have ended with just the armor breaking once and being summoned back. This strike was too powerful for the armor to fully absorb, and it might have injured Karon’s body.

After steadying himself, he looked back at where he had been standing. A gray skeleton had appeared there, holding a scythe. The blade had struck the ground, carving a corroded black line across its surface.

Luke turned to face Karon. In front of his chest hovered a gray cloth doll, its body riddled with steel needles, its expression eerie and sinister. The gray swirled in Luke’s eyes, while the faint glow covering his body steadily faded.

Controlling the doll was consuming his life force.

“You have me ambushed and wounded just to be left for your own personal kill when you arrive? What do you take me for, a gift?” Luke raised his hand, and the gray skeleton raised its scythe again. “Even if I cannot escape this time, I will never accept such a humiliating ending!”

The gray skeleton rushed at Karon, its scythe held high and then swung down again.

Karon raised the Aelius Sword to block, and then followed up with a slash at the skeleton’s body. However, the skeleton suddenly dispersed, reappearing in another direction and slashing at Karon again.

Left with no choice, he could only dodge again. His Sea God’s Armor took another hit, and it flickered for a moment before restoring itself.

“Are your people still not going to act? If they don’t step in soon, you’re going to be killed by me.”

The gray skeleton charged at Karon again. He blocked its scythe yet again with his sword, and when he counterattacked, he moved his blade only halfway before immediately withdrawing it to block above his own head.

Clang!

The skeleton had again reappeared behind him, but this time, the strike from the rear was also blocked by Karon.

Immediately following the failed attack, the skeleton dispersed, shifted to another angle, and then attacked Karon once more. He could only passively defend, as he did not dare attack. Every attack he made would miss and leave him open to a sneak attack.

As he kept blocking and changing his position in this manner, Karon slowly adjusted the angle between himself and Luke.

Clang! After the Aelius Sword met the scythe once more, Karon burst forward at full speed, rushing straight for Luke. He did not necessarily need to destroy the skeleton itself. Dealing with the caster would work just as well.

The gray skeleton vanished from where it stood to reappear in between Karon and Luke, once again bringing its scythe down at Karon as he shot forward. He brought the Aelius Sword down, using its tip as support as he dropped his whole body down and to the side, narrowly evading the strike. Then, without losing any momentum, he spun and swung the sword while closing in on Luke, thrusting the blade straight at the Adjudicator’s chest.

But Luke did not panic. Blood began to flow from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. At that instant, the rag doll floating before his chest, the one covered with steel needles, turned red, and a blood-red phantom skeleton appeared in front of Karon, a blood-red scythe raised to and slash down at him.

The doll was not the holy relic controlling the gray skeleton; Its placement before Luke’s chest was merely intended to deceive his opponent.

The Aelius Sword pierced the blood-colored skeleton’s phantom form. The Darkmoon power on the sword caused the skeleton’s lower half to distort, yet its two arms still drove the scythe down at Karon.

Bang! He concentrated his defenses at his right shoulder. His lips began moving rapidly in a low chant.

The blood-red scythe became embedded in the armor, unable to go any further for the moment.

At that moment, the gray skeleton appeared again, and the gray scythe swept at Karon’s neck.

Order—Spear of Punishment!

A black Spear of Punishment appeared above Karon’s head, but he did not direct it to fly at any target. Instead, he chose to simply detonate it immediately.

Boom! The explosion of the Spear of Punishment, and the punitive force it carried, distorted the two skeletons and caused them both to stiffen up. Even their movements slowed, while Karon himself was blasted away by the very spear he had summoned. He repeatedly rolled across the ground, until finally stopping himself with one hand braced on the ground, the Aelius Sword in his right hand supporting his body.

The Sea God’s Armor, which had already been blown apart, reappeared on his body.

It had become clear that purely physical attacks had no obvious effect on the two summoned skeletons, but the power diffused by the Spear of Punishment’s explosion had certainly damaged them.

The problem was that the skeletons persisted because Luke was sacrificing his own life force to empower them, so as long as the man continued his offering, their forms could recover very quickly. Even now, the two skulls were already halfway repaired.

A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Luke’s mouth. “Even if I am doomed to die, I will not let myself serve as a sacrifice for your amusement. If your people still do not act, you will be buried with me.”

For Luke, he knew that he could not possibly survive after this, so life force was no longer anything truly precious to him.

Karon understood that this fight had already entered a deadlock. Luke truly deserved his reputation as an Adjudicator who had served in the Whip of Order. He was a skilled combatant.

“Spear of Punishment... you are also a believer of Order? I’m curious, what is your true rank?” As he spoke, Luke continued repairing the two skeletons he controlled. For their next clash, he intended to kill Karon at any cost. It was the only thing the man could still pursue.

“Not yet at the Inquisitor level.” As Karon answered, he was also calming his internal spirituality, which had become somewhat chaotic after withstanding the explosion of the Spear of Punishment.

“So you still aren’t an Inquisitor... Pity. If you had, things would be different. An Inquisitor represents the culmination of the three foundational stages. Very well, as you wish.”

Karon drove the Aelius Sword into the ground beside him and placed both hands on the ground. A black chain appeared in front of him that began encircling him. It grew longer and longer, covering more and more. With Karon as the center, an arc composed entirely of Chains of Order took shape.

Karon lifted his head to look at Luke. There was not the slightest emotion in Karon’s eyes at this moment, yet his gaze filled Luke with a chill for no apparent reason. Though they were in the same factory building, and Karon was kneeling while Luke himself remained standing, the Adjudicator somehow felt as if he himself were standing below while his opponent was seated above, looking down on him from on high.

Subconsciously, he sped up his repairs for the two skeletons. At this point, only their lower legs from beneath their knees remained unrepaired, yet the two scythes were already starting to move again.

“Judgment begins!” The sound of a bell suddenly tolled. “Luke, you stand accused of conducting rituals that harmed ordinary people. Do you admit it?

“Luke, you stand accused of killing fellow members and other believers to conceal your crimes. Do you admit it?

“Luke, you stand accused of betraying the faith of Order and falling into corruption. Do you admit it?”

Luke stared at Karon as he listened, and then suddenly laughed. “Heh! Have you lost your mind, or... hm?”

The black chains circling Karon began to draw together, fusing to form a vast, dark ring. As it took shape, Karon felt, for a fleeting instant, something far above, an endless chain turning in cold motion, untouched by time or history. The sensation vanished as quickly as it came.

“So it exists,” Karon murmured. “Order exists.”

From within the ring, figures began to rise. Behind Karon appeared a group of young girls, their eyes dull, and their expressions numb. They were phantoms, yet they felt real. They were the girls once kept beneath the sausage factory, raised like livestock. They did not move or speak, yet their silent accusation filled the entire space.

Luke’s expression twisted in pain. Another doll rose up behind him, the two dolls now trembling. The two skeletal constructs he was repairing began to destabilize. His ears were filled with crying. It shook his focus and disrupted his Arts.

To Karon’s left, a woman appeared; calm, and with the faint sound of waves accompanying her presence: Annie.

To his right, Mr. Pavaro appeared, his gaze steady. A black chain flickered into existence beneath the man’s feet before merging into the darkness.

Karon looked back at Luke. “Luke, do you admit to the charges against you?”

“What is this... what is this? Impossible... impossible!” He had never seen anything like this. He had risen from Inquisitor to Adjudicator himself. “It’s an illusion... yes, an illusion!”

Karon rose slowly. From the dark ring before him, a heavy, solemn book emerged, radiating authority: the Code of Order.

In his mind, he saw Tiz reciting it, and Mr. Pavaro standing before the pigpens doing the same.

Karon placed his hand on the cover. “According to Article One, Chapter One of the Code of Order...

“According to Article Two, Chapter Two...

“According to Article Three, Chapter Three...”

A faint smile appeared on his face. He knew the book’s actual contents, but as the captain had once said, the members of the Whip of Order never bothered memorizing it. Those they judged rarely did either.

Luke, however, must know it well. This was humiliation.

And more than that, when the dead accusers had already appeared, what need was there to consult the text? The purpose of turning the book’s pages was, one day, to no longer need to.

“Now, in the name of an Inquisitor...” A black Inquisitor’s robe formed around Karon. A trace of gold touched its surface, but then faded, as if only to prove it had existed, should exist, and still did.

His presence changed. Before, it was as though he stood before a vast reservoir, needing to open a channel to draw from it. Now, he stood at the very edge, drawing directly from the depths.

Accumulation, insight, talent, everything converged in this moment.

“I hereby pronounce you guilty.” Karon opened his hand. The Aelius Sword flew into his grasp. He stepped forward, the tip of the sword dragging along the ground, leaving a trail of black sparks.

Luke’s eyes blazed red. He forced the unstable skeletal constructs to attack. They vanished, reappearing at Karon’s sides, their scythes upraised.

Karon did not even look at them. “Order—Protective Wall.”

Two ancient, heavy black walls formed at his sides. The scythes struck.

They left only faint marks. Karon continued forward.

The skeletons reappeared again and again, striking again and again. Each time, the black walls formed, impenetrable. Step by step, Karon closed the distance.

Luke’s hair had begun to turn white. “Order—Sword of Judgment!”

Three blades formed before him and shot toward Karon.

“Spear of Punishment.” Three spears appeared before Karon, intercepting the blades and deflecting them upward. They pierced the factory roof and shot into the sky.

Up above, Fannie swayed on some rigging. “Captain?”

“Maintain watch.”

“Yes, Captain.” She was worried. Even wounded, an Adjudicator was still an Adjudicator. But no one disobeyed the captain during a mission.

In the darkness above, Nio placed a hand over his face. “I thought you were like me. It seems you’re not.”

Inside the factory, Karon had already reached Luke.

“Order—Cage!” Edges formed beneath Luke, snapping into a cubic prison.

Karon calmly stated, “Order—Cage.”

Another set of edges spread beneath him. The two cages collided, their spiritual power grinding against one another. But Luke, already wounded and having sacrificed so much life force, could not endure the contest. With a low hum, his cage shattered.

Karon’s cage expanded and enclosed the man. Luke collapsed to his knees, blood seeping from his every pore. “You... who are you...”

It was the same question he had asked on the phone.

Karon did not answer. He pressed a hand to Luke’s head. The Aelius Sword rested against his neck. The blade cut cleanly through.

Karon lifted the severed head. He turned. The figures within the dark ring were fading. Their silent accusations dissipated with them.

For a moment, he seemed to see Annie smiling, her voice echoing faintly, “Your technique is quite good. Worth forty rels.”

Then Mr. Pavaro bowed to him. “Praise Order.”

The dark ring dissolved, returning to chains that sank back beneath Karon’s feet. A black mark flickered in his left eye, then vanished.

Karon dropped Luke’s head. He released his grip. The Aelius Sword stood upright before him.

Hands placed before his chest, he spoke aloud, “Judgment complete.”