Chapter 465

Chapter 88: Speculations Part 2

“…In other words, you once fell into an illusory ‘dream’ in the capital. In that dream, did it make you see fragments of your past memories?”

After my disjointed explanation, Angel finally understood what I was trying to say. He then stood up, looking at the now still and non-wriggling meat on the ground, stroking his chin as he fell into thought.

“The hospital room, blood therapy, vessels, black cloak… That humanoid abyss, it knew you before. You both stayed in one place, and it wanted you to remember there… And the experiments there seemed to have progressed further…”

I looked at Angel and asked after a while, “Did you know this would happen from the start?”

“Hmm… Hm? What?”

The man seemed not to understand my meaning, so I extended my hand and pointed at the meat, “This, it moves.”

“No, I didn’t know,” the blond man shook his head gently, “That was just a guess of mine. But from what we can see now, the guess has almost become a fact…”

He seemed about to say more, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence, his elegant eyebrows slightly furrowed, his eyelids blinking rapidly, and he fell back into deep thought again.

I didn’t want to interrupt him, so I waited quietly. After a while, I couldn’t help but look at the piece of meat again.

… That thing isn’t moving now.

But it’s clearly not dead, because the veins on the meat are still wriggling, like countless thick tapeworms attached to it.

So disgusting…

Is it really parasitizing a heretic’s body?

So disgusting…

My scalp was still tingling, as if pricked by countless needles, goosebumps rising on my arms layer upon layer. I felt my body stiffen, my head buzzing with noise, and my extreme aversion and rejection had never dissipated since earlier. I couldn’t think properly anymore; my mind was filled only with one thing I dared not deeply consider, yet no matter how much I tried to avoid it, I couldn’t ignore the possibility.

I saw this in the dream…

That strange dream—if it was indeed Elushi recreating our former clinic according to her own memories, shaping everything she had seen and experienced… No, there’s no ‘if,’ it must be exactly like this…

Which means—

“Little Black Charcoal, let’s go through this from the beginning.”

The tent was quiet for a moment, and then Angel turned to look at me.

He had long since put aside his usual carefree attitude, and his deep green eyes reflected his seriousness and solemnity.

“Mmm…”

I nodded absent-mindedly.

“A year ago, the Church discovered a cave used for experiments near the gully west of Woodward Forest, where you appeared at the time, and they found their research results in the cave… a few pills of blood-red color.”

Angel lowered his head, organizing his thoughts as he spoke, his tone steady and slow.

“Regardless of the components of the blood pills, assuming in the heretics’ expectations, its effect could grant ordinary people powers surpassing those of gods… The heretics wanted to defeat the Church. They had foolish and blind ambitions, and they went mad for it. This unrealistic goal required enormous manpower and resources…”

“Mm, their solution was to infiltrate West Continent over these years, inciting and seducing some blind followers to become new disciples of the Gate of Truth. As for gold coins… I think the large quantities of lotus grass transported from Silgara to East Continent must be an important source.”

“When you were in the Valen Empire, you encountered such a group of people… I read Carlos’s report, which said that one of the second-stage heretics elevated to third stage during your battle due to some unknown reason, gaining power comparable to that of the ‘Blood Sacrifice,’ but died soon after. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

I nodded again.

Valar and that golden mask, they weren’t killed by me in the end. The raging karma burned away their blood and life; they died from their desire for power.

“Did you see him eat anything?”

“…No.”

I thought for a moment; I didn’t seem to recall seeing anything.

Angel pondered for a moment.

“But if he had eaten something beforehand… for example, the finished product of the blood-red pill.” He tapped his cheek with his fingers, continuing his speculation, “I assume they already had the finished product. After all, a year has passed, and they may have made progress through continuous experimentation. That thing indeed works…”

“But it’s still in the experimental stage. The heretics began to experiment internally among their members, letting a small number of heretics take it first… And as you saw, someone gained third-stage karma power in a short time.”

The blond man glanced at the piece of meat and continued, “As for that corpse, later Bishop Hobbs ordered it to be wrapped up and placed in the underground prison of the Winter City Diocese. Chris carefully examined it and found nothing unusual. I didn’t pay much attention after receiving the report. Now thinking back… There must be something fishy going on.”

“My speculation is that it might be the first batch of people who ate the experimental product… Clearly, the effect wasn’t ideal. However, the heretics didn’t give up, and such experiments continued for another year. A year later, they seemed to have new results.”

“New… results?” I rubbed my temples, frowning and asking.

“You’ve already seen it, it’s this piece of meat.”

“……”

Could this thing be parasitizing inside someone…

Could Teresa be like this too!

I looked at the tumor on the ground, my hatred surging again, my spine feeling cold, and I felt like vomiting.

“They seem to have achieved significant success in certain aspects.”

Angel looked at the tumor with a low voice, “Judging from this battle, the reason why the Church did not immediately send out the First Knight Order was that there was not enough emphasis on this threat internally. Many people… including myself, see the Truth’s Gate as a desperate and disorganized group, much like bandits.”

“Indeed, in the past, the Truth’s Gate had several members that the Church feared greatly, such as Rodchas and Amir… However, including the top demon, they all died in the conflict twenty-one years ago. That was the most glorious battle of the Sword Saint and also considered by the Church as the battle that ‘eliminated all demons.'”

“After twenty years, even if new members emerged, it would only be one or two at most, and they wouldn’t be worth fearing… Furthermore, the Truth’s Gate would not risk everything in a single battle; they must have other intentions… This was our initial judgment.”

“But now, there are ten third-stage heretics among them. This is something none of us expected. It was impossible for things to turn out this way. If the third stage could really be so common, appearing in ten at once in a single battle, then the Church would have lost long ago… I heard Isaac’s report, he said that these third stages do not seem as powerful as we thought, right?”

“Mm…”

“Why is that?”

—Because they are just experiments.

These people also took some kind of drug, allowing the disgusting tumor to reside within their bodies, thus gaining power comparable to the Blood Sacrifice stage, but not as strong as true third-stage beings. Perhaps there are other restrictions…

However, at least they possess terrifying regenerative abilities.

The heretics’ experiments are nearing success…

“Angel…”

My voice was somewhat hoarse, and I coughed.

“What’s wrong?” The Pope seemed to notice my unusual mood and asked immediately.

“…”

I pursed my lips.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

The man’s face suddenly softened. After thinking for a moment, he patted my shoulders.

“Why, does this topic upset you? Don’t want to see this flesh… Is it because of that dream? Or do you recall something unpleasant… Forget it, don’t think too much about it.”

He said, his index finger pointing at the lump on the ground.

Hum—

A tremor of divine miracle hummed beside my ear, and brilliant golden light instantly blossomed. The lump vanished in a dazzling golden glow before my eyes.

“There, I’ve shielded it with the inverse image. Although it’s still there… Out of sight, out of mind. Sorry, sorry, perhaps I shouldn’t have asked you to come here and talk about this.”

The man’s gaze also softened.

He leaned down to look at me, his gold robe reaching his knees, a dignified and elegant cape lightly hanging from the sides of the robe. The cross on his chest emitted a faint glow, his star-like eyes clear and bright, his face distinct and warm in the dim tent after the firelight faded.

Someone who never showed any proper form suddenly revealed such a look. As I looked at him, for a moment, I felt… This guy can be relied upon and trusted.

“Angel…”

There were things I’ve been thinking about but dared not ask until now. Finally, I could say it.

“Is there this disgusting thing inside my body too…”

Even though I knew asking might be useless.

But saying it would make me feel more settled.

If that thing really was inside me, I would entrust Angel to have someone cut open my chest to remove that disgusting tumor…

“I believe not.”

The Pope looked at me.

After a moment, he laughed.

“Really, I thought you remembered something… Foolish child, your worries are unnecessary. I told you, your body is now an ‘artifact’… Just to clarify, this isn’t an insult, you are a better medium than dragon bones. Your power comes from the divine artifact’s energy, the purest divine power, not something like this disgusting tumor can give you. Think about the power gap between you and them before.”

“But—”

I sniffled softly.

But I took that blood-colored pill…

“You’re nothing. You’re not human,” Angel rolled his eyes.

“You, you’re insulting me!”

“I’m not insulting you.”

“Angel, you—”

I was momentarily speechless, unable to find a reason to counter back.

Angel was right…

I came from the Abyss.

… But the reason I became the Abyss was because of that blood pill!

Angel seemed to understand what I was thinking and quickly said, “Considering the current situation, the Truth’s Gate is researching at least two directions: the power of the业火 and chaos.”

“That blood pill may not be related to this tumor. It might be another direction trying to let humans master the power of chaos, but on this path, the Truth’s Gate believes they have already failed… Those fools clearly dare not touch the chaotic power that can annihilate everything. They may have paid a price and switched to a new direction, with these ten third-stage heretics… Oh, now there are nine.”

“And your power of业火 comes from the divine artifact, the closest to divine power. You didn’t gain the power of业火 because of that damned experiment; your power of chaos is enough to make this disgusting lump vanish in an instant.”

He stretched out his hand and tapped my head.

“Got it?”