Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The waves shattered the moon's reflection, breaking it into shimmering ripples.

This wave originated in District Five, sweeping through District Four, Three, and Two, its fragmented form moving along, revealing the faces of the Inquisitors—some filled with fear, others with resolve.

If He could, He would have lured them to follow Him forward, but not today. His power was limited within this grand sealing ritual, and He had a roadblock to deal with.

Look, the roadblock appeared.

Though it was just a dove.

***

"Did you kill that hideous thing influenced by both the Silver Moon Maiden and my Lord?" Moses watched as Hui Cui slowly put away his sniper rifle, commenting, "As expected of the Inquisition, always so ruthless. But even if you killed that monstrosity now, it's too late."

"Hmm," Hui Cui turned his head, his lowered eyes clearly deep in thought, "Suye Azari is confirmed dead, but most of the Silver Moon Maiden's power has escaped."

"Indeed," Moses snorted coldly, "Did you really think He would share life and death with a physical anchor? Besides, that tree-like thing was so ugly... He abandoned it. It helped Him find the 'Conch' here, but couldn't break through your defenses. What use was it then? Better off dead; He surely has other means."

"Tsk tsk," he clicked his tongue at Hui Cui, "Young man, all your efforts were in vain."

Hui Cui pondered for a moment, then said, "Hmm, thank you."

Moses frowned, "Huh?"

"Thank you for watching over the 'Conch'," Hui Cui explained, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to focus on Suye Azari. The situation on the battlefield isn't good; many people have fallen asleep under Shuye's influence. If the Silver Moon Maiden uses their dreams to find the 'Conch,' passing through their dreams, they will wake up as madmen."

With that, he gave Moses a faint smile.

"Saving them is all thanks to you, truly very grateful."

Moses: "..."

Moses: "Damn! Where did the war lunatic find a freak like you!"

Being shot by a contradictory apostle and still calling it cool, an evil god is already strange enough! And now you, a contradictory apostle, are just as strange!

Moses was so angry he wished he had died nine hundred years ago, but unfortunately, reality was that he had barely survived until today.

He stomped the ground with his steel trident—given to him by Hui Cui when he asked him to watch over the 'Conch'—his entire being more irritable than before, shouting, "Do you have time to talk about this? Don't underestimate that harlot! My Lord and I thought we had escaped Her ambush, but in the end—She's here!"

The water waves, carrying the shattered moonlight, arrived.

The moment the wave crested in the sealing chamber, Hui Cui's smile vanished. He picked up the white automatic pistol he had hardly used, and without aiming, fired.

The transparent, icy bullet penetrated the crashing wave.

The wave was originally an illusion, or rather, a dream superimposed on reality. After the Illusionary Tree fell, the forest disappeared, and the water waves that once brought a tangible chill became intangible.

But Hui Cui's shot still hit its mark under his ability, freezing the wall of waves from the dream mid-air.

The shimmering moonlight within also froze, and Hui Cui, moving faster than any human could follow, reversed his grip on "Giant Spirit Sneeze" and fired forward.

"Boom!"

Hundreds of small steel pellets spewed from the shotgun, each striking a piece of frozen moonlight on the ice.

The ice shattered with a loud boom! The struck moonlight vanished, as if they were bubbles in the water.

Moses frowned, gripping his trident and using his body to shield the 'Conch' from the frozen wave. Hui Cui strode forward, firing the second shots from the white automatic pistol and "Giant Spirit Sneeze."

A second wave surged at the same moment, but just before it froze, it seemed to lose its momentum, unable to maintain its forward rush, dispersing from its peak.

It changed quickly, but Hui Cui reacted just as fast, altering the trajectory of the transparent bullets, which fell and struck their targets.

A third wave crashed down, carrying more broken moonlight.

The broken moonlight leaped between the water and ice, many of them eliminated by the shotgun, but as they refracted, the moonlight rapidly multiplied, trying to reflect onto the whitewashed walls.

Without turning back, Hui Cui's spare shotgun suddenly spun, as if held by an invisible hand, and fired at the wall.

The wall collapsed, and the moonlight that hadn't yet reached it perished.

Realizing something, Moses immediately tucked the 'Conch' into his chest, wrapping it in his tattered white robe to prevent the moonlight from reaching it.

Hui Cui glanced at him in slow motion.

Facing the Silver Moon Maiden, this ancient merman could be trusted, he judged.

A new wave was surging, and continuing the battle in this small space against a portion of the Silver Moon Maiden's power was not ideal. Hui Cui planned to retreat outside the building.

To do so, he first needed to ensure the 'Conch' was in a place where no light could reach it.

Hui Cui tried to make Moses understand his intention.

But before he could communicate, he saw the blue-haired merman's face show surprise.

A feigned delicate female voice laughed softly in their ears.

The continuous sound of waves, which had been echoing since the dream overlapped with reality, paused for a moment when the laughter sounded.

Why does the sea produce unceasing waves?

It is the monsoon blowing, the crust moving, a pale celestial body orbiting the planet, causing the tides to rise and fall.

So, if She wishes, She can, in an instant, calm the waves.

In that instant, the dream deity's apostle, who had appeared with the wave, vanished entirely.

The 'Conch' he had protected in his arms fell unprotected, all the light from outside reflecting on the honey-colored amber wrapped in transparent tape.

The moonlight spots danced on the visible web-like patterns of the "conch" shell.

The muzzle of Hui Cui was already pointed at Him, but even he, at this moment, did not know whether to shoot and kill both the light spots and the "conch."

Just this instant, only this instant was needed.

All the flickering broken moonlight vanished; He had successfully entered.

The sound of waves reappeared, and the blue-haired mermaid also reappeared, but her face looked very pale after she appeared.

His disappearance was so brief that upon returning, he could even catch the "conch" before it hit the ground.

But what good was that?!

"... Your Inquisition's sealers," Moses, who caught the "conch," swallowed countless curses and gritted his teeth, "why didn't you use opaque tape?"

Because although the conch blower was dead, His residual power remained active, and an observable window had to be left, Hui Cui recalled the numerous management regulations for the "conch" established over the past nine hundred years, his brows furrowing.

After a moment, with a tense expression, he solemnly said, "At this point, there is only one way."

"What other way!" Moses glared at him.

"We will enter that dream, and I will go and kill off this part of the Silver Moon Maiden's power." Hui Cui said seriously.

"..." A fitting approach for the contradictory twins, Moses was speechless.

"Can you bring me in?" Hui Cui asked while loading bullets into his gun.

Seeing the murderous intent in Moses' actions: "..."

Noticing that Moses did not answer, Hui Cui tilted his head to look at him, thinking Moses was scared. Even with a face as cold as ice, he still tried to soften his expression and asked again, "Can you bring me in?"

Moses felt that if he answered no, Hui Cui's loaded gun would be aimed at his forehead.

But he really couldn't!

The apostle of the Dream God bound in that dream sea was almost sweating, but as a senior who was born over nine hundred years earlier than this young man, Moses managed to remain calm and simply said, "Wait a moment."

He turned around, raising the "conch" to eye level, thought for a moment, and then tore off the wrinkled tape on it.

Then, with an air of complete control, he commanded, "Turn around first."

If it were another Inquisitor, they might have thought this evil god's apostle was untrustworthy, perhaps planning to steal the "conch," but Hui Cui looked at Moses and really did turn around.

As a senior, I should really give him a good beating to teach the young people about the dangers of the world.

While thinking this, Moses mouthed something to the smooth, rounded surface of the amber, to the distorted reflection of himself on it.

"Lin."

He called out.

Using a divine name would be safer, but in their previous two communications, he actually did not want to contact that seed again, so he did not ask.

I hope this strange sound from others is indeed His true name, Moses thought.

In the next moment, he saw his reflection in the amber transform into a young man with a blurred face.

This young man had silver eyes.

***

A huge wave crashed through the Grand Sealing Ritual Room.

It was just an illusion; nothing in the room was wet.

But Lin was drenched.

"Lin!" Chixia was startled.

Or rather, startled twice. First, by the appearance of the giant wave, then relieved when he realized nothing was damaged or wet. Turning his head, he was startled again when he saw Lin's hair and clothes soaked, water dripping from his body.

"What happened to you!" Chixia hurriedly grabbed a blanket—when he returned to the office to close the door the second time, his intelligence returned, and he remembered to bring some emergency supplies, such as food, water, electric hot water bottles, and blankets.

"It's fine, probably a curse."

Lin used the reason Hugo and the Chief Inquisitor acknowledged to brush it off, wrapping the blanket around his hair, then sneezed.

"..." Damn, don't tell me he's going to catch a cold?

At this moment, footsteps approached, and Lin perked up to see three combat teams coming to assist in the defense.

Finally! He wondered why only a group of ritualists were assigned to defend. Seeing them urgently asking for updates, not only Chixia but also Lin, who felt unwell, breathed a sigh of relief.

Among these dozen or so people was an elemental mage who enthusiastically helped, extracting the water from Lin's clothes and hair. These combat inquisitors set up defenses inside and outside the Grand Sealing Ritual Room and persuaded the two ritualists to rest, especially Lin, who kept sneezing.

A few minutes later, Lin, hugging a hot water bottle and wrapped in a dry blanket, sat in the corner.

Chixia wanted to take care of him but had no idea how, so Lin sent him away to look after the immobilized Hugo.

At this moment, he heard someone calling him.

Bai Li?

It was still morning; she should be rehearsing at the theater. What urgent situation has arisen?

Lin was really tired but still needed to respond to her to prevent his only believer from doing something rash.

Through the many mirrors in the ritual room, following the call, he came to a mirror and was surprised to see Moses.

Where did this merman pop up from... Wait, who is behind Moses?

... The Chief Inquisitor?!!!