The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 558

Chapter 558: In Custody

 

Due to not being able to grab a brick towards the end of her fight earlier, Lily was caught up in a battle trance. It drove her to tear into the stricken monster. Her powerful jaw ripped its flesh and bones as she dragged the monster from one end to another. It took Hao Ren some effort to pull the werehusky, who was deep in her battle trance away from the monster, and he almost took a bite for his troubles. The werehusky was not even that protective of her food on normal days. This was a whole new level.

“Can you stop biting people when you fight?” Hao Ren pinched Lily by her ears to get her to settle down. “And you almost bit me!”

The golden glow faded from Lily’s eyes as she cooled down. “Oh… I couldn’t control myself. Got too into it.”

Vivian gave the blood stains by the edge of Lily’s mouth a weird look. A mischevious smile appeared on her face and the latter was unnerved by it. “What are you staring at, Battie?!”

Vivian pointed at Lily’s mouth. “Lick your mouth, take it in.”

“Awoo?”

The werehusky then quickly ran to a corner to puke.

“I suppose this thing here won’t be going anywhere?” Hao Ren carefully went up to the monster. The latter was beaten to a pulp, but it was still alive. Yet, because of its broken limbs and massive loss of blood, it could no longer attack. All Hao Ren saw was a charred human ball attempting to stand up, like it did not feel any pain. The whole thing gave him goosebumps and a few of the Aerymian Elves started to whisper amongst themselves. “What is that?”

“Is it a local? Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Are there any signs of life…”

After confirming that the monster could no longer do any harm, the captain of the Royal Guard declared that the emergency was over. Nonetheless, the soldieres still held their weapons and formed a ring around the hall. At the same time, a cardinal yelled, “Quick, tend to His Holiness!”

The scroll brought by the monster masquerading as a ranked knight was clearly imbued with a curse or some foul magic. The pope was seemingly petrified the moment he read the scroll. It appeared as though his soul had been taken by the scroll. The proclaimation of the pope returning to the goddess caused even more unease. A few of the cardinals made their way to the pope once they broke out of their stupor, however no one dared to do anything rash. The pope was still reading the scroll. His facial expression was stiff, and veins started to pop on his skin. His eyes were lifeless, yet he was still breathing. No one knew what to do.

But as everyone was fretting about, the pope suddenly shuddered as the light returned to his eyes and the mark of death faded away. Breathing heavily, the old clergyman exhaled deeply.

A few cardinals quickly stepped forward. “Your Holiness…”

“That was vile magic. A evil god was trying to dominate my mind, but it underestimated the faith I have in the goddess.” The pope waved his hand, signaling that he was fine. “The heretics think that everyone is as weak-willed as them. They actually thought of using this to test my faith… I am fine. I could still vaguely tell what was going on. What became of the heretic?”

The cardinals and knights escorted the pope to the monster. The latter was still struggling and the moment it noticed that the pope was unharmed, it let out a string of violent screams. That meant it was still capable of cognitive thoughts. The pope frowned as he looked at the monster, sympathy appearing in his eyes. “Poor thing. It was created by the heretics using foul magic… I can feel at least 10 other suffering souls within it. John is one of them.”

Hao Ren asked some of the attendees around him and learned that John was the name of the knight, whom the monster had impersonated. It seemed like the heretics were able to corrupt a ranked Church Knight. Either by force or brainwashing, they turned the pious warrior into a part of the monster.

King Mhoren ordered the great hall to be sealed off and most of the unrelated personnel were dismissed. The Aerymian Elves were also evacuated to other rest areas in the Royal Palace. The scene quickly calmed down, and aside from Hao Ren and his crew, only the king, the pope, Marshal Ophra, a few cardinals and princes as well as their guards remained.

“How did the heretics even get in here?” Becky, in view of her special status, was not evicted. With a panicked look on her face, she said, “This is the Royal City!”

“Perhaps they have been pushed to the brink,” Marshal Ophra’s voice was calm, and it helped ease the nerves of those present. “We have been targeting this Cult of Origination in our recent sweeps. They are a loose organization, and should have no more than a dozen at the core of their cult. However, they have about 10 other splinter cults of various names and sizes. These cults have already taken a heavy beating… Seems like they are now fighting like cornered beasts.”

“It is a shame for the Hollettan royal house that our estemeed guests have been rudely shocked by this ruckus.” Anger appeared across King Mhoren’s face. The smiling king had his temper too. “For that, I am deeply sorry. You have witnessed a big disgrace.”

Hao Ren waved the king off. “No worries about that. Anything can happen in the Macr… Ugh, I didn’t mean that. I mean I’ve seen plenty, and I’m very used to such incidents. As for the heretics… what sort of information do you have? I will need them as well.”

Hao Ren had made a request to Ophra before leaving previously. In order for him to search for clues regarding the goddess of creation, he needed to know what the gigantic floating brain was—the one summoned by the heretics. If it was possible, he would connect with the brain again to glean more information on the “Origin of Life”. And in this trip to Holletta, learning more about the heretics was one of Hao Ren’s agendas.

Marshal Ophra nodded. “We do have some progress on that, but… let’s wait until the end of the banquet.”

Hao Ren surveyed the area and agreed that the ruined hall was not the right place for that.

Lily had finished puking by then. A distraught look was on her face as she complained, “The blood’s long expired… Can’t it just let a werewolf fight normally?!”

Hao Ren glanced at the werehusky. “No one told you to bite it, right? Don’t be such a dunce. You won’t die from not biting it, right?”

“Fangs and claws are part of a werewolf’s usual combat style.” Vivian shrugged. “That’s how a normal werewolf would fight. Doggie’s brick and bladed claw attacks are what you would call heretical.”

Lily’s tail perked up. “That’s right! Biting someone is in a werewolf’s nature! Deal with it!”

Vivian smirked. “Then, lick your mouth again and recall the taste.”

“…Urkk!!!”

This time around, even Hao Ren could not stand it. “Vivian, didn’t you taste it earlier too?”

“…Urkk!!!”

While he waited for the two supernatural ladies to look for a place to puke, Hao Ren approached the pope. “Are you alright, old man? What’s up with the scroll?”

The pope looked at Hao Ren, and seemed hesitant about allowing Hao Ren to view the dangerous scroll. He quickly realized that this group of outlanders had abilities beyond his understanding. Frowning for a bit, the pope eventually passed the scroll to Hao Ren and cautioned, “Vile magic inhabits this scroll. Please, be careful. It will attack your soul when you read it.”

Hao Ren took the scroll and found that it was similar to a normal piece of paper, albeit its material was rather suspect. It felt neither like paper or skin. Before opening the scroll, he telepathically asked the MDT, “Are there any spiritual barriers in my mind that can withstand this spiritual assault?”

“It’s not a big deal. Your spiritual barrier is reinforced by the goddess herself. If that fails, I can help you cast a few more defensive spells.” The MDT vibrated in Hao Ren’s pocket, signaling its confidence. “If your spiritual parameters fall below a certain threshold, I’ll knock you out at the first possible moment.”

Hao Ren was speechless.

There was something wrong with the MDT’s protection methods!

Regardless, Hao Ren felt that he needed to see what was inside the scroll. Not that he was seeking death, but he was curious about what the heretics had conjured up. In this world, there were huge gaps in their history, and their religious teachings were patchy at best. Even the Disciples of Glory had no understanding of the things that happened during ancient times. So, how did a cult made out of riff-raffs gather so much information about the goddess of creation? Even if their cult teachings were suspect, they could somehow summon something that was associated with the goddess. Where did they gain such knowledge?

Perhaps, a clue or two lay within their spells.

Hao Ren allowed the MDT to scan the scroll for any rogue data transmissions before he opened the scroll cautiously.

It was blank.

Hao Ren had prepared himself for an attack, but realized that it was not forthcoming.

“There’s nothing—” He turned the scroll about, but before he could finish, a strange screech came out of the scroll, and it disintegrated.

Chapter 559: Doing Something Befitting a Demon King

 

Hao Ren observed the disintegrated scroll before him as a confused look appeared on his face. He did not know what had exactly happened. “What’s this… Did I tear it apart?”

“An intelligent spiritual signal came from the scroll, but it was destroyed with it.” The MDT flew out of Hao Ren’s pocket and scanned his body as well as the pieces of the scroll. It was only after a few sweeps that it realized what was going on. “Ohhhh… I understand now. The attack was imbued with divine power.”

Hao Ren felt goosebumps forming all over his body. “Divine power?!”

“I know this may be a bit much to digest,” the MDT suddenly swapped to telephatic speech. “It seems like the scroll carried some sort of divine power, however it is very weak. Perhaps it’s been touched by a real god before and was imbued with a little bit of divinity. But, is enough to inflict indefensible mental damage.”

Hao Ren looked up to find everyone staring at him. The pope and the cardinals’ gazes made him especially uncomfortable. He quickly waved his hand. “Uh, I’m fine… Let me study this further.”

As he spoke, Hao Ren took the MDT to an empty corner. With the tattered remnants of the scroll in his hand, he said, “This is from a real god? Don’t tell me it’s a holy relic of the goddess of creation?”

“That’s the only possibility.” The MDT was busy scanning for any remaining traces within the scroll. But by then, whatever energies that were imbued within the scroll had dissipated, and the scroll was nothing but a piece of paper. “Seems like the heretics somehow managed to get their hands on a real holy relic. There’s little wonder why they dared to proceed with the assassination attempt. If it had been successful, they could’ve announced that the pope received divine punishment for turning his back on the goddess’ teaching. But that’s a goner now.”

Hao Ren pursed his lips. “The heretics are certainly capable, however this scroll is really suspect. If it had been your usual enchantment scroll, it wouldn’t be too big of an issue. But, divinity? …Don’t tell me that the goddess has used this before?”

“Not exactly. It showed attributes of a secondary reaction. That means it was used in a ritual related to the goddess. Perhaps an ancient race used it as a ritual item a long time ago.” The MDT took the opportunity to impart some knowledge about divinity to Hao Ren. “Divinity is a rather complex concept… It’s an extension of the information projection theory, and information disruption. Divinity doesn’t necessarily require a real god’s touch, and not everything a real god uses will be bestowed with divinity. This requires a rule for the projection, and one of it is rituals. Sometimes, the items used during a ritual by mortals may catch the attention of a god, and it is then bestowed with divinity. It’s not considered a holy artifact of course, but it’s also not something normal. The scroll in your hand is something like that.”

“A ritual item used by an ancient race…” Hao Ren demurred. “The Ancient Magic Kingdom? That can’t be right… They don’t use Letta Runes, and faith in the goddess back then was not comparable to the present… They probably couldn’t have produced something like this.”

The MDT shook itself. “This scroll is probably not from this planet… Its material is very special; a mix of very complex synthetic fabric. This needs high-level technology and that doesn’t match the technological level of this planet or the Ancient Magic Kingdom. I suspect that this thing came from the same place as the summoned brain.”

Hao Ren nodded, and frowned almost immediately. “So, if this is a holy artifact of the goddess, why did it attack the Pope? I’m pretty sure there’s no one more pious than the Pope?”

“What if it attacks indiscriminately?” the MDT suddenly suggested. “The goddess of creation in this world is clearly unstable, and everything related to her seems to go haywire. It’s very hard to determine the volatility of any holy artifact related to her.”

Hao Ren nodded again, and agreed that it was a possibilty. He then took a curious glance at the shredded pieces of paper in his hand. “Why did this thing tear itself apart?”

“Because it used divine powers to attack you.” The MDT bumped Hao Ren on the chest. “And you’re an apostle.”

“Huh?”

“You’re an apostle, the kind that signed a contract. So technically speaking, when the attack happened, it was between the goddess of creation and Madame Raven. And clearly, Madame Raven is ranked way higher than the goddess of creation, thus your rank is higher than the scroll. Divinity is something like hierachy; it’s effective, yet rigid. If a power of lower authority tries to challenge the information signal of something of higher authority, it will only bug out.”

Hao Ren was perplexed, but felt like a big shot because of it. “Why did it sound like I was forced to do this?”

The MDT smashed itself against Hao Ren’s head. “Nonsense! You’re a member of the clergy! And you’re the type that reports directly to a goddess! So, even if you’re a no-good, cocaine-snorting, chain-smoking, womanizing excuse of a human being, you’re still a member of the clergy. Therefore, can you for the love of god have some self-awareness and act like you fit the status?!”

Self-awareness was not Hao Ren’s strong point and he pretty much lost the whole image of a clergyman the moment he said “hi!”. “Heh, I never knew… This status actually has some real effects? What can it do aside from trashing that scroll? Hao Ren asked as he pointed at the scroll.

The MDT pondered for a bit. “Does having a longer designation than most when you print out your ID count?”

Hao Ren was speechless.

He the stored a few pieces of the scroll into his Dimensional Pocket before he went up to the pope. After some deliberation, he decided to hide the part about “divinity” to prevent a large scale collapse of their faith. “This thing only works once. It was ruined the moment you withstood it.”

The pope took the tattered remnants of the scroll and found that it indeed did not pose any further threat. He quickly passed it to one of the cardinals beside him. “Put it aside. I speak for the Church and I apologize to all of you for what happened today. Also, you have my gratitude for assisting us in taking down this heretical creature. Cardinal Malfoy, take this heretic to the penitentiary. Perhaps it can still speak.”

Y’zaks made way to allow a few Church Knights to tie down the still-struggling monster. After some effort, the knights finally managed to secure it before they stuffed it into a cage. Before they left, Y’zaks asked as he frowned, “You plan to interrogate this thing?”

“We’ll do what we can.” The old priest in white robes called Malfoy nodded. “If it can still understand us, I hope it’ll admit its crimes to redeem itself.”

It was clear that even the priests manning the penitentiary were not confident about getting the monster to actually divulge anything useful. This was the headache that the Disciples of Glory faced. Most of the time, the heretics only used such foul amalgamations of blood and flesh, or magical rock monsters to do their bidding. The true perpetrators were never seen. It took multiple sweeps by the Church and Royal Knights to actually threaten the core of the cult. It was the hardest task they had faced so far.

Y’zaks pondered for a bit before he asked, “What do you think about the interrogation of a soul?”

Hao Ren felt that Y’zaks finally said something befitting his status as a demon king.

Holletta had a brief understanding of souls, and some who were expectionally powerful could even sense them. However, their understanding and research had not reached the point of extracting a soul to beat it senseless. So, both the pope and Cardinal Malfoy were rather dumbfounded. Y’zaks quickly expalined, “I have the ability to control souls, and if you find it necessary. I can pull out this creature’s soul. If my guess is correct, one of the souls inside is dominant, while the rest are just simply trapped within the shell, Knight John included. Maybe I can still save the innocent. Does that go against your teachings?”

Vivian prodded Hao Ren by the arm. “Seems like ole Y’zaks is doing something befitting a demon king.”

Chapter 560: The Cult of Origination

 

Ever since he came to Hao Ren’s place, Y’zaks had never had a chance to showcase what a demon king could do. Aside from going back home to bring his daughter and followers back, most of his time at home was spent eating, sleeping and reading the papers. On most occasions when he went out looking for work, he ended up drinking coffee with the police for scaring the life out of someone. It was only lately that he started to bring his daughter out to look for discarded electronics (and fight off abduction syndicates). His routine was similar to that of a retired elderly’s. But as he mentioned the interrogation of the heretic’s soul, the old demon king finally showed what he could do.

Heck, he put it across in a way that made it seem like such a thing was as commonplace as drinking water. That was how imposing his aura was.

The pope’s first reaction to Y’zaks’ suggestion was that of pleasant surprise before he started to frown. It was clear that this was not present in the goddess’ teaching. He also had some reservations about dragging someone’s soul out of its shell: this was a natural reaction. As Y’zaks noticed his reaction, he turned his gaze to the monster that was trapped in the cage. The latter was a hideous amalgamation of flesh and blood made through foul magic. Despite its monstrous combat strength, the magic was inherently unstable. Y’zaks was unsure if the magic holding the monster together was fading or it was the damage dealt to it earlier, but it was clear that the monster was disintegrating very rapidly into a pool of rotten mud.

“I suggest that you make up your minds fast. This thing here won’t last another two hours.” Y’zaks shrugged. “The extraction and interrogation of a spirit is not something evil. It’s the same as interrogating a person. You just remove the risk of the target dying during the interrogation process. This greatly increases the chances of you getting the information you need. The flesh is mortal but a spirit is eternal and can withstand all sorts of stimuli. Another thing, in this process I will also release the souls that are trapped within the monster. Even though their lives are forfeit, they can at least rest in peace.”

The pope was just about to speak before little Y’lisabet interjected, “Don’t fret too much! Heretics aren’t treated with tender loving care during your interrogations, right? So, what’s the difference between torturing a body and a soul? Besides, a soul can’t bleed.”

Becky was hiding in a corner. She understood that being someone who was a hard carry, it was better for her to just keep quiet. But even now she could not help but mutter. “Why do I feel like this father-daughter duo’s going to drop some orange loot…”

Lily rolled her eyes. “What? A legendary newspaper roll and a screwdriver?”

The pope had completed his deliberations by then. He went through the teachings of the goddess in his mind and finally gave a nod. “This is not normal… but there’s nothing in the goddess’ teaching that’s against this. The situation demands urgency, so I shall leave it in your good hands.”

Y’zaks gave a satisfied grin and left for the penitentiary with the interrogator-cardinal. Before he left the building, he turned to Hao Ren. “Wait for my good news. It won’t take long before it speaks.”

Y’lisabet hopped happily behind her dad. “Papa, wait! I’ll help you poke a few holes in it!”

Everyone there had cold sweat. Demons would be demons alright… Even if they were righteous, they would still do things the demon way!

Thankfully, there was no taboo about “soul interrogation” in Holletta, or else the pope would not have agreed so easily.

With things as they were, the banquet could no longer continue. King Mhoren extended his apologies to Hao Ren and Hilda again. What happened that day was no small matter for a king, but Hilda and her ministers were unperturbed. The elven queen gave King Mhoren a gentle and graceful smile. “Your Majesty, you do not have to apologize. Accidents do happen and we are used to it. The Hollettan cuisine was certainly exquisite, and you have our thanks.

Marshal Ophra muttered subsconciously, “What do you mean by you’re used to it?”

Vivian sighed. “The Aerymians have been used to accidents happening since they were young. Outsiders may not understand it, but there’s always a risk of something going wrong, like an explosion, earthquakes, toxic gas emissions, firestorms and the likes while having dinner.”

Marshal Ophra’s eyes widened as she was stunned. Hao Ren chipped in, “Just treat it as they’re in very arduous training to be heroes. You know how things are, I’m not able to explain every detail that conforms to your worldview, so let’s just leave it at that.”

The Aerymians had completed their task on the planet, and the only things that Hao Ren had to to was settle the final details. The elves bade farewell and left Holletta the way they came. Five hundred odd elves went through the teleporter in Becky’s basement like an assembly line, and Marshal Ophra was there to see them off. She looked amazed as she saw the elves simply vanishing. She the n asked Hao Ren, “Since you’re that capable, why don’t you set up a bigger portal? Or, build a bigger teleportation gate…”

“I do have those, but that is on a place without a owner, or at my own place.” Hao Ren smiled at the general. “If I were to place a teleporter than could send ten thousand men across every minute on your land, others notwithstanding, would you not be concerned?”

Marshal Ophra smiled and did not reply. There were much to be said about this, but there were equally much that cannot be said. The marshal wisely decided to let the topic slide.

After a short while, Becky had appeared. The mercenary lass was busy directing traffic earlier and now just unfastened her corset without much of a thought as she fanned herself. Looking at Hao Ren as she continued fanning herself. “Mr Landlord, can you bring something for me next time around?”

“What you want?”

Becky’s face turned sour. “There’s no television, or game consoles, or computers or internet here! Having lived here for a while aside from the balls, I have nothing to do but lay with the fish… I’m BORED!”

Hao Ren smirked. “So now you miss the life on Earth?”

Becky almost wanted to cry. “I miss the television set in the living room and Lily’s notebook! Can you please bring a set over next time? I’m not asking for free. I have plenty of moolah! You can take two catties…”

Listen to this overnight millionaire’s calculation unit, catties!

Big Beardy who had been silent tihs whole while suddenly chipped in. “He’ll need to bring a power generator for you as well… and how do you even set up the internet here?”

Hao Ren gave Big Beardy a surprised look. He never thought that the ascetic monk who was detached from all worldly needs could pull out such high tech terms. “Seems like you’ve picked up quite a bit, I thought you’re just busy trying to live your ascetic life!”

Big Beardy grinned. “Electrification is a part of Earth’s system. Deal with it.”

“…. Where did you learn that from?”

Lily jumped up and down. “Me! Me!”

“You and your nonsense.” Hao Ren glared at the werehusky before turning to Becky. “Sure, I’ll bring you a set of home electronics and power generator the next time around. I’ll install a signal converter as well, that’ll solve the internet issue.”

Becky leapt in joy while Hao Ren started imagining Becky will be cooped up in the basement as trying to figure out how to connect the telly to the power generator as she sticks the LAN cable into the teleporter’s control panel in the attempt… He never knew how his imagination could run that wild. Perhaps it was a passive ability.

The crew decided to take a break at Becky’s place after sending the elves off. Marshal Ophra had ordered her subordinate to retrieve a box from her quarters back in the royal city. And after dismissing the servants, she opened the box in front of Hao Ren. “This is the information that we have managed to gather so far about the Cult of Origination. There’s their religious text and some of their ritual items. The church had kept a copy for themselves. I’ve specially kept this for you.”

Big Beardy immediately made a religious symbol before him. “The Goddess have mercy. May this heretical items do no more harm.”

“These heretics have indeed done quite some damage.” Marshal Ophra signed. “But I’m worried that they were just merely the outer layer.”

Hao Ren was looking through some of the documents as he heard what Ophra said. “What do you mean?”

“This is their creed , the ‘original text ‘ used by the core members of the cult.” Marshal Ophra siad as she picked a thick hard cover book out of the box. “Based on what the creed says, the Cult of Origination is under the control of an even more powerful force. They are just the word bearers.”

Chapter 561: The Voice of the Master

 

Hao Ren once dealt with a group of heretics in Dragonspine Ridge. He had seen their scripture at that time, but he did not know the complete structure of the Cult of Origination. He thought that the black book was their original Bible. It now seemed like the structural form of the Cult of Origination was very different from a normal religious organization. The group of heretics that was destroyed in Dragonspine Ridge was just one of its outlying groups. The scripture he got was clearly not the original Bible used by the core personnel. According to Ophra, many things in the original Bible were unique.

Hao Ren opened the black leather handbook. The handbook was just placed on the table and it gave out an unpleasant vibe as though some kind of evil obsession was still attached to the pages. The black handbook was not printed, instead it was written by hand. The edges of those words had a strange sense of jitter as if the writer had transcribed the crazy characters in a state of extreme agitation. It seemed as though the writer was losing self-control. Hao Ren tried to concentrate on fighting against the page that brought him a sense of exhaustion, and found some of the marked paragraphs under Ophra’s guidance.

“…The Voice of the Master let us praise the true name of the goddess. However, this real name cannot be spoken in human words, only devout believers can recite the name in their hearts… We serve the pure, primitive flesh and blood in order to get closer to the sacred form, so that we can wash away our sins…

“…The Voice of the Master fall upon the prophet and tell the prophet in the voice of the soul that the Disciples of Glory are guilty. They have stolen the blood of the goddess to extend their sinful lives. You will go to the mountain of the west and break a branch. Carve it into a stick and it will become the weapon as well as mark that the goddess has given her heir. Then, the judgment of the Disciples of Glory will come. When Manura, the scourge star shines again, the trial will come…

“…The mountain men who serve the flesh and blood walk barefoot around the Voice of the Master and the wounds on their bodies are healed again. They are clean because they have cleansed all of their sins with a portion of the flesh and blood. The Voice of the Master told the prophet that he is acting for the goddess. So the prophet commanded the mountain men to pay respects to the sacred statue of the goddess, not to the Voice of the Master, which is right…”

The words on the strange book continued to remain jittery. Hao Ren was already having headache after reading a few paragraphs. He rubbed his eyebrows and asked, “How did the heretics read this thing in one breath? The words are all jittery.”

“These blasphemous books have the power to attack one’s mind.” Big Beardy glanced at the book but frowned and immediately moved away. “The more pious one is, the easier one will be attacked by the book. Probably, only the heretics who are completely deviated from the teachings of the goddess can read it.”

“It’s also true that the heretics revered the goddess. Just that, their goddess isn’t so much in line with your goddess.” Hao Ren closed the damned book and asked, “What’s the Voice of the Lord?”

“It sounds like a radio station!” said Lily.

“Ahem… It’s definitely not the same as the Campus Radio.”

“This is the difference between the original Bible and the teaching code circulating outside.” Ophra just answered Hao Ren’s question, not caring about the Campus Radio remark. “In the original Bible, there is ‘the Voice of the Master’, whose source is unknown. According to the information available, the Cult of Origination began to develop after it received some kind of revelation from the Voice of the Master. All their actions, including doctrinal codification and the ritual of flesh and blood, are the teachings of the Voice of the Master. But when they faced the outside church, they hid the existence of the ‘voice’, and pretended that they were following the goddess’s order.”

Hao Ren frowned and asked, “Why do they hide it?”

“Perhaps it is also on the order of the Voice of the Master, because it doesn’t want too many people to know of its presence,” Ophra said and shook her head. “We’ve only found these things recently, and it’s unclear if the Voice of the Master is a human being. We can just roughly infer that ‘it’ should be a role similar to a god’s messenger, whom the Cult of Origination regards as the incarnation and mouthpiece of the goddess. Many of their miraculous abilities are also obtained from the Voice of the Master.”

The words “god’s messenger” gave Hao Ren the shivers as soon as he heard it. Thinking about it, he seemed to do the same job. Then he suddenly remembered the giant brain he had dealt with in the cavern at the Dragonspine Ridge.

“Does the Voice of the Master refer to the giant brain?” Lily also thought of the same thing. “It seems that the thing is also called ‘God’s messenger’ by the heretics.”

Hao Ren recalled the situation at that time and got various speculations in his mind. “At that time, at Dragonspine Ridge, the one that the heretics summoned was not the real giant brain, according to Y’zaks, it’s called the befalling… Is it true that those at the top of the Cult of Origination have the ability to summon a real ‘giant brain monster’?”

“They don’t need to summon the real one,” Vivian suddenly interrupted. “That kind of giant brain monster should have a strong mental capacity, and can even project its mental power across the universe to other planets. So it only needs to cast its own shadow into a part of the human brain, then it can ‘appear’ on Holletta out of thin air. I think there should be such a strong type of giant brain monster. ”

Hao Ren gently shook his head and said, “No, I think it is the senior members of the Cult of Origination summoned the real giant brain, or there’s a giant brain accidentally came to this world. Do you remember the scroll that the assassin used to assassinate the Pope at the dinner today? Data Terminal and I analyzed its composition. That thing is not the product of this planet. Probably… There is a giant brain monster hiding on this planet.”

Ophra immediately looked serious and said, “This information is vital. I must inform the king and the Pope now.”

“Well,” Hao Ren nodded and said, “We can’t stay here to help you, so we can only wish you well. According to my speculations, the giant brain will interfere with the mental state of ordinary people, so there should be a mass phenomenon of insomnia, nightmares, and madness in the vicinity of its hiding place. And the key figures of the Cult of Origination are also ordinary people. They can’t live completely away from other people. If they’re with the giant brain, there are definitely traces left behind. You can start with this clue.”

Ophra nodded slightly while Big Beardy stepped forward, looked at Hao Ren and said, “I will stay to assist the Church to deal with this matter. This problem is extraordinary, and I, as a devout believer of goddess, cannot sit idly by.”

Hao Ren scratched his head and asked, “Then, do you need to inform the other three?”

Of the four ascetics, only one stayed, the other three guys had gone and traveled around the world. One was hunting on the African prairies, one was digging ice in Antarctica, and another one was in India competing with locals to challenge the limits of survival. Hao Ren did not know where to find these people.

Big Beardy shook his head and said, “No need, it’s quite troublesome. Four of us work with one heart. I can do it here without them.”

Well, he was quite sensible…

Hao Ren rummaged through the files in the small box. He wanted more information about how to summon the giant brain, but the related file was not in the box. He asked about this, and Ophra could only shake her head and said, “To summon the kind of monster you said seems to be a very top secret of the Cult of Origination. Only their ‘bishop-level’ people know the method, and there is no written information circulated, should be passed on by word of mouth. During the arrest, all the bishops had committed suicide, and even if those who were caught alive, they would have been killed before the trial for inexplicable reasons. The sect must have some way of controlling life to keep its members from betrayal. This is by far the biggest problem.”

Hao Ren frowned. If the giant brain was not caught, his investigation into these heretics was meaningless. What he wanted to know was the secret of the goddess of creation. He could not interfere in the sectarian warfare on the Holletta and if he insisted on it, Raven 12345 would give him the “blessing” for violating the employee code…

But he also knew that some things took time to solve, so he could only nod and said, “That’s it, at least we have collected the information… Let’s go back and see if Y’zaks has done his job.”

Chapter 562: Don’t Join the Cult If You Aren’t Born Lucky

 

Although Hao Ren was curious about the process of the “soul trial”, he did not dare to look at the scene in order to protect his heart. Instead, he went to Becky’s house to see the elves off and received some information about the Cult of Origination. The interrogation process was just over when he and the others returned to Helcrown.

With Ophra leading the way, they went straight to the cathedral and met the pope and several bishops in a simple but very spacious room. The pope looked slightly tired. Today’s assassination was still a shock for him, but after all, with the support of divine power, he recovered quickly. And both Y’zaks and Y’lisabet stood in the room. It seemed that ‘work’ was completed.

When Y’lisabet saw Hao Ren, she immediately jumped to greet him excitedly. “Uncle Ren! It’s done! The Rune of Affliction is very useful!”

Hao Ren patted little girl’s exquisite little horns. After a period of getting along, he knew that the little demon liked them to fondle her little horns, which meant intimacy—and then he looked Y’zaks and asked, “Wang, is it really ok to let your daughter learn these?”

Y’zaks also agreed and nodded. “It’s a bit late to learn Soul Extraction and Rune of Affliction at this age. But after all, the child’s bloodline was not pure, so she was supposed to learn demon spells later than her peers.”

“… That’s not what I meant. Forget it. Did you get the answer?”

“The monster is an ‘Abomination’. The Cult of Origination made it using ‘divine power’. This is similar to necromancy, but what it’s created are living things that are not afraid of various sacred forces, so I suspect that the Cult of Origination really mastered some of the knowledge related to the divine power, but they use it in the evil ways.”

Y’zaks sat on the wide-back chair as he spoke. “Also, the Cult of Origination didn’t know the real situation of the banquet held at the palace today. From the outset, the people of the Disciples of Glory have been keeping the secrets of the Firstborn and us, and have sent false information to some suspicious people, so the Cult of Origination mistakenly thought that today’s imperial feast was just an ordinary noble banquet. Their assassination plans have been planned for more than two months, and have even infiltrated a portion of the royal guard and the higher order monks. They chose to do it today because the King and the Pope were here, and some of the soldiers on duty in the palace were under their control. More importantly, they got some sort of ‘divine weapon’— that is, the scroll. But they had bad luck. They didn’t expect the banquet was actually hosted to entertain a bunch of alien supermen and so their plan has failed because of us.”

When Lily heard this, she thought she played a big part in it. She wagged her tail happily and said, “So I’m very powerful right!”

“Yes yes yes you’re the best,” Hao Ren said and pressed Lily’s head to stop her from jumping.

Before Lily could say anything, Vivian asked, “You are taking advantage of the mealtime right?”

Ophra looked unusually serious and asked, “They have infiltrated into the Royal Guard and the higher order monks? How did they do this?”

“Because they are good at controlling the mind,” answered Y’zaks. “They got many evil spells from an evil god. These heretics were very patient. They didn’t wait to be killed while all of you were closing in on them.

“The evil god should be the Voice of the Master.” Hao Ren immediately recalled the information he had just learned today. “And then? Did you dig out the list of people they’ve infiltrated into from that monster’s soul?”

A white robe cardinal shook his head and said, “No list, that monster is just an assassin, he doesn’t know anything too detailed. And even if we have a list, it’s useless. After the assassination, we went after the guards on duty but found that many of the guards had disappeared. We found the bodies of some guards near the outer wall of the palace. From their posture, we could see that it’s suicide, but it’s possible that they’re forced to commit suicide under mental control, and other missing soldiers should have the same fate. These heretics have the power to control the human minds, which makes every action so watertight that almost none of their men can be caught alive or leak the secret – except this time. We have successfully tortured the soul of the heretic during interrogation.”

Hao Ren touched his chin and said, “So it means… all the people they’ve infiltrated into are dead?”

The pope sighed and replied, “Yes.”

Lily suddenly interrupted, “But how do you know the rest of the guards are not controlled by the heretics?”

Hao Ren did not get it and said, “Didn’t all the guards that were under mind control had already run away?”

“They let some of the abandoned ones go out and grab your attention and pretend that everyone has been evacuated after the incident, so that we don’t suspect the rest of the guards and just roughly check them,” Lily said, then shook her head and continued, “but God knows how many of the rest of the guards are still under their control.”

Vivian immediately looked at the husky with surprise. “Oh well, doggie, I didn’t expect that you’re quite smart.”

Lily hugged her arms as she continued to wag her tail, and said, “Of course. After all, I’m a writer. And you know what the spies did when the country was in a mess? I knew it! I tell you…”

Hao Ren hurriedly pressed Lily’s mouth. “Don’t talk about irrelevant things… Don’t bite my hand!”

“In short, all soldiers and church monks will be investigated,” Ophra said while she put her hand on the hilt, “and the current situation is not as good as we thought. But fortunately, the problem has been exposed. Otherwise, I’m afraid it will develop into a disaster.”

“Have you found the lair of the heretics?” Hao Ren asked while looking at Y’zaks.

“They have fled,” Y’zaks shrugged and said, “and they are mentally connected.”

Vivian immediately asked, “What about the scroll? Where did the scroll come from? Who sent them? What was it originally for? ”

“This is interesting,” Y’zaks laughed and said, “In the soul memory of the Abominations, the scroll came from ‘somewhere far, far away’, a ‘great’ creature brought from the goddess to the Cult of Origination. They call that great creature the voice of what?”

Hao Ren reminded, “The Voice of the Master.”

Y’zaks patted his big bald head and said, “Oh yes, the Voice of the Master. I’ve mentioned that it’s certainly not the Campus Radio… You know that, too?”

“Looks like it’s about the same as I guess,” Hao Ren laughed and said, “A giant brain has come to this planet, and it has the ability to bring things from its place. But it must not be easy, so the Cult of Origination has only got a scroll so far, and what they can do is summon the giant brain.”

He then looked at the pope and Ophra and said, “I’m quite straightforward – Can you handle this yourself?”

“This is our duty.” The pope nodded and said, “Let us deal with it.”

“Then I have to leave now.” Hao Ren said and stood up, “I had to deal with something more troublesome than those heretics – the two steel wire balls that were dug out of your planet.”

After leaving the cathedral, they would go to Tannagost via the teleportation portal in the basement of Becky’s house. The whole basement smelled like wine: The elves accidentally knocked down a little wine rack. Becky looked at the wine cellar sadly and said, “I have to let them dig another wine cellar. It’s too unreliable to put my precious wine in the exit.”

“Remember to pay attention to the situation here,” Hao Ren reminded Becky before leaving. “You are now a noble, can directly participate in a lot of things. If there is any progress on the investigation of the heretics, please let me know immediately. Also, Big Beardy will stay here, you two can take care of each other, safety first, if you’re no match for them, just run…”

Becky nodded repeatedly and said, “Don’t worry, I’m good at it.”

Hao Ren was silent.