Neo sat down by the beach, the tide repeatedly washing over his boots and then receding, tirelessly.

"Hehe...he..."

First, he laughed, intermittently laughing for a long time.

The most ridiculous thing in this world is probably not knowing what you're laughing at.

When Neo looked up again at the dark moon in the sky, his smile gradually disappeared, replaced by a deep indifference in his eyes.

Karun wasn't here. If he were here, he would probably feel like the captain he first met had returned.

Neo spread open his left hand, holding a dagger in his right hand. He cut a wound in his palm and continued to sit, his injured hand casually resting on his knee, blood dripping continuously.

The blood didn't seep into the sand, but formed a small puddle on the beach.

Gradually, the blood coagulated into an old face, staring at Neo.

The expression on the old face was somewhat helpless. "He left, and you called me out?"

Neo didn't respond, but shifted his gaze to the sea.

The old face continued, "This bloodline ritual of summoning ancestors causes great damage to the bloodline hierarchy. You shouldn't be so careless and wasteful."

Neo still didn't speak.

"He left, so what? He never existed in the first place."

Upon hearing these words, Neo finally focused his gaze on the old face.

"You know, what I said is true. That night, didn't you tell me in your dream that you had found an excellent psychologist in a café? His explanations to you have always made sense."

"Neo, in order to prevent yourself from being assimilated by him, you went from one extreme to another."

"He is not me."

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

"He is you," the old face said firmly. "You possess my bloodline, and because of the Light Ceremony, your connection with me has progressed and strengthened. Although you are not a pure descendant of the Anawas family, you embody the spirit of my Anawas family in your bloodline. You are more suitable than my bloodline descendants to inherit my will."

"Although I need to thank him, because if it weren't for him, I might not be able to communicate with you to this extent."

"But the fact is, I am the independent consciousness within your bloodline. Although my true form has been sealed and isolated, my memories are also fragmented. I don't even know where my true form is now, or who sealed me... But the bloodthirsty demon in you is clearly present, so I am also present."

"He is not."

"Neo, if you feel lonely, you can give me the position he left behind. Perhaps I can replace him and make you feel more comfortable with his departure."

"You're dreaming."

The old face was bluntly rejected, but didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled and said, "You see, you can accept his position in your heart, but you're unwilling to make room for me. The reason is clear. You have been assimilated by him. You have simply been replaced by another you who believes in the light. It's like the two sides of a coin, whether it's the front or the back, they belong to the same coin."

"But I am not. You know very well that once I assimilate you, I, Anawas, will use the bloodline of my descendants to replace their bodies and lives, and be reborn anew."

"You and I are not the same coin. He is. You have always been clear about this, haven't you?"

Neo fell silent again.

The old face looked somewhat helpless. He had paid the price of descending his bloodline to summon himself, but he didn't speak. This behavior was really capricious.

"Or perhaps, you can fully open your memories to me. Maybe I can help you more. For example, I'm very interested in your subordinate named Karun. My intuition tells me that you have hidden many things about him from me."

"At least, in terms of treatment, let me be equal to him, okay?"

"You're not worthy."

"Ah..." The old face couldn't even get angry anymore. "You're really not easy. If it were someone else, with both me and him infused in their body, they would either go crazy or be assimilated. But you can still maintain your sense of self."

But I still have to say, he doesn't exist. He really doesn't exist.

What he left in your body is only a part of his memories. He was never a separate consciousness. You have always been competing with another you.

Do you think it was him who gave up revenge?

No,

It was you,

Neo,

You gave up revenge.

You awakened Dolons, you commanded Dolons to advance towards the town, you signaled Dolons to show its death and decay, but at the same time, it was you who made it stop and ultimately gave up revenge.

Phileas never existed from the beginning to the end. He doesn't exist!

He gave up revenge not because of the light, but because it was another choice made by another you. Can you make Dolons crush the town? Can you make Dolons self-destruct and completely pollute this Dark Moon Island?

No,

You can't.

Your identity, your position, won't allow you to do that.So, Felias chose to give up revenge. In fact, it has always been you, trying to reconcile your extremes. You raised the torch, but you didn't want to ignite the straw in front of you. So you created a beautiful reason for yourself and gave up revenge, hehe. This is just a game that you are playing alone."

A disdainful smile appeared on Neo's lips.

Seeing this, the old man continued, "You should believe in my perception. Although I am now like a piece of driftwood floating on the sea, I have experienced too many storms and waves.

I hope you can wake up, Neo. He doesn't exist anymore.

Now he has left, and you can return to your original self.

Perhaps, this was your plan, right?

Using extreme emotions to bring out the non-existent him, and then using the most appropriate reason to send the non-existent him away.

Because although he objectively doesn't exist, subjectively he has truly affected you.

Dolons is controlled by you, of course, as a divine beast of light, it may indeed have a good nature."

"What about the others above?"

"They are just illusions you created. While deceiving yourself, you are also deceiving others, Neo. All of this is your own performance, he doesn't exist."

"He exists."

"Unfortunately, our argument cannot have a conclusion or be proven. We can only wait for you to wake up. I believe you will be able to come out soon."

"No, it can be proven."

"How can it be proven?"

"Snake Island."

...

There were only a few low-level guards in the Palace of Longing, dressed in uniforms with a crescent moon emblem. Their usual job was to maintain street order. They were more like ordinary people, and the warriors who could slightly stand out had already gathered to form a legion to stop Dolons.

Dealing with them was easy. With a beam of light magic, they were directly stunned. Karun's figure appeared in front of the coffin, and the Sea God's Armor appeared on his body. With the power bestowed upon him, he slowly pushed open the coffin lid.

Inside was Bernard.

His body was well preserved, showing no signs of decay. His appearance was very different from the statues and portraits seen everywhere on Dark Moon Island, because those sculptures and paintings were mostly based on Bernard's middle-aged appearance. The hair of the Bernard in the coffin was already half white.

Although signs of age could be seen, he did not look old. He was a man who took good care of himself and was very delicate.

He was wearing a Dark Moon noble robe, embroidered with a full moon on his chest.

He wore a Dark Moon crown on his head, a string of pearls around his neck, held a staff in his left hand, and grasped a short sword in his right hand. A blue conch was tied to his waist.

Anything buried with Bernard in the coffin was undoubtedly valuable, but Karun chose to ignore them.

It was not that he didn't want to take them or didn't want them, but he knew very well that he could take these holy artifacts with him, but it was very likely that his location would be sensed afterwards.

At the moment, all the attention of Dark Moon Island's people was focused on Dolons. When Dolons left and the threat was gone, they would immediately discover that their ancestor's body was missing. They would then concentrate their efforts to investigate this matter, and they might even ask for help from the Order of the Divine.

Karun didn't have time to study and seal these burial artifacts. They could easily sense them with a little method, and taking them away would only bring him a lot of trouble.

More importantly, his main goal was Bernard himself, and he didn't plan to directly burn Bernard's body with fire. That would be too cheap for Bernard.

He needed to find a quiet place without disturbance and take his time.

Karun took off his own divine robe, then took off the luxurious robe on Bernard's body and wrapped it with his own Order of the Divine robe. Then he lifted the body onto his shoulders.

After hesitating for a moment, he felt that this posture was not very good. Although he was carrying a dead body, he didn't want others to see that he was carrying a dead body.

In the end, Karun grabbed Bernard's arms with both hands and lifted him up.

His figure turned into a black mist, and after leaving the Palace of Longing, he materialized again. He took a deep breath and continued to carry Bernard towards the Bernard Hotel.

On the way, he encountered some Order of the Divine officials and Dark Moon warriors retreating from the front. Many of them actively greeted Karun and asked if he needed help. Karun responded to each of his companions, saying that they were just injured and unconscious, and there was no problem.

Halfway through, Karun encountered a carriage and stopped it.

The carriage was filled with many things, and the coachman should have been evacuating, but he came back just in time.

It was much more convenient to ride in a carriage. When they arrived at the entrance of the hotel, the coachman stopped the carriage.

"Go in," Karun ordered.

"Well, sir, our carriage is not allowed to enter the hotel."

"I'm telling you to go in."

The coachman could only choose to continue urging the unicorn to pull the carriage forward. There were fewer guards at the entrance of the hotel than usual, only four or five guards in uniforms with a crescent moon emblem were on duty. When they saw the carriage from outside trying to enter, they stepped forward to stop it.Karun opened the carriage door and leaned out, shouting at them, "My companion is injured and unconscious, move aside!"

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

The carriage was allowed to pass, and under Karun's command, the coachman drove the carriage to the gate of the courtyard.

Karun once again carried Berna off the carriage. The coachman said hurriedly, "Sir, goodbye. No need for the fare. Thank you for protecting us on Darkmoon Island."

"It's not me who protected you."

"Yes, thank you, great Order of the Gods."

"Nor is it the Order of the Gods."

"Um... then who is it?"

"They probably don't care about your gratitude."

Karun sincerely admired the final restraint of the giant beast Dorongus.

But if the same thing happened to him, he would never be able to show such kindness. This, perhaps, was the difference in faith.

However, Phileas did show him what true light was, completely different from the remnants of light he had encountered before. They were the true followers of light.

Since light had chosen its own way to follow, it was now Karun's turn to maintain order in his own way.

"You can go now."

The coachman looked puzzled, but could only turn the unicorn around and drive towards the hotel gate. Inside the carriage, Karun left a hundred Order Coupons as payment.

The courtyard was quiet at this time. Although Dorongus had already turned around, the personnel had not yet returned. However, there were still some people in the courtyard, and even if he was there, he would not disturb the peace.

For example, Mr. Memphis, who was sitting by the small pond in the center of the courtyard at the moment, also known as his uncle Eisen.

He had been assigned by the captain to the Palace of Longing to help ignite the conflict. After the conflict occurred, he hid for a while, and then according to the captain's original arrangement, he returned to the hotel, thus missing the summoning of the Order Whip.

In fact, the efficiency of the Neo Squad was very low this time. The captain was not here, Karun was not here, and Memphis was not here. The three strongest members of the squad were all absent. But it didn't matter because Bishop Wofuren was more inclined to administrative work. He would not lead the team to set up formations or prepare for charges. After the Order Whip Squad was assembled, they were immediately assigned to various bishops to do their tasks. The Neo Squad's failure to gather all members would not attract any attention.

Mr. Eisen stood up and asked, "Who got injured?"

As a senior priest, he knew some simple healing spells.

Karun didn't answer, but directly carried Berna into his own room. After entering the room, he threw Berna's body directly onto the captain's bed.

Mr. Eisen followed him in, holding a magic scroll in his hand, ready to cast healing spells.

Karun didn't stop him, but after washing his hands, he poured himself a large glass of ice water and drank several sips.

Mr. Eisen opened Berna's body and saw his face, then he stopped.

After a long time, he turned his head to look at Karun, then looked up at the portrait of Berna hanging in almost every room, and then looked at the person lying on the bed.

Karun spoke, "It's him."

Mr. Eisen nodded, pushed Berna back inside, covered him with a blanket, and then sat down by the bed.

Karun said, "Dorongus has retreated. It should be going back to the sea soon."

"I saw it when I was sitting in the courtyard."

"I made an agreement with the person controlling Dorongus. I will help him avenge Berna, and he won't let Dorongus destroy the town. What do you think?"

"It's reasonable."

"So, I need your help next."

"Please tell me."

Helping Karun start a teleportation array was always simple when communicating with his uncle. He just needed to come up with a suitable reason and tell him what to do.

"I'm going to change into a set of divine robes. You prepare the carriage in the hotel. We will leave soon. There should be no one guarding that place now, and the teleportation array can be used directly."

"Understood."

Karun walked into the bathroom with his clothes, took off all his clothes, turned on the shower, and took a quick shower. It wasn't that he deliberately wanted to be clean now, but he wanted to wash himself after carrying Berna.

After a quick shower, Karun started to dry himself.

At this moment, Richard's excited voice came from the room.

"Oh, Karun, you're still sleeping. Do you know what kind of excitement you missed today?"

Karun put on his clothes and walked out of the bathroom, seeing Richard lying on the bed, hugging Berna affectionately.

Richard: "..."

Blinking, Richard immediately turned around, uncovered the blanket, and turned the person over, looking at the face. Immediately, Richard turned his head to look at Karun, and then looked at the portrait on the wall.

Indeed, they were father and son, and their actions were completely identical.

"Um, that, that's not..."

Richard was so shocked that he couldn't speak properly.

Mr. Eisen opened the door, looked at Karun, and said, "The carriage is ready."

Karun pointed at Richard and said, "Carry him on your back and come with us."

"Oh, okay."Karun needed a reason to confront his father, but for Richard, he didn't even need an excuse.

Richard hoisted Berna onto his back and climbed into the carriage.

Eisen was driving the carriage, while Karun and Richard sat inside.

Richard was still scrutinizing Berna's body, asking, "Is this really Berna's corpse?"

"Yes, I carried him out of the coffin."

"Why did you carry him out?"

"Adult business, kids shouldn't ask."

"Alright." Richard nodded, his mind a bit muddled.

The carriage arrived at Tafuman's villa. Richard, still carrying Berna's body, descended from the carriage. The villa was deserted, the guards had been reassigned, and the servants had fled and not yet returned.

Karun led them to the master bedroom on the third floor, pointing to the massive chandelier above, he said:

"The array switch is up there."

"Alright."

Mr. Eisen transformed into a cloud of black mist, reaching the ceiling. After securing his position, he began to adjust the chandelier, but quickly descended.

Karun was somewhat surprised, "That was quick?"

"Because everything is basically in the correct position, no need for further adjustments."

Did the people of Dark Moon Island simplify the array switch after studying it?

Regardless.

"Start the teleportation." Karun said.

Mr. Eisen activated the array, a beam of white light emerged from the ground, and the three people plus one corpse disappeared from the spot.

When Karun opened his eyes again, he was standing in front of the stone monument.

"Richard, put down the body."

"Oh, alright." Richard carefully placed Berna's body on the ground.

Seeing this, Karun said, "Pick it up again."

"Oh, alright." Richard hoisted Berna's body once more.

"Drop it roughly."

Richard: "......"

"Thud!"

Richard tossed Berna's body onto the ground, face down.

Karun's gaze fell on the pit of corpses in front of him. He planned to select some spectators, especially Miss Jennifer, who was once Puerh's good friend. Karun would also awaken her later to witness the ceremony.

But as Karun's gaze swept over the bodies, his face showed surprise and confusion. He asked Mr. Eisen standing beside him:

"Mr. Memphis, can you sense the spiritual power in their bodies?"

"It's probably because the bodies have been stored for too long, the spiritual power within them has dissipated."

"No, when I came here a few days ago, they did have spiritual power."

Karun was certain of this. It was a kind of professional habit of his, a habit shared by most priests of the Order of God, but Karun himself was more profound.

"Then... has someone purified them? But, I can't sense any residual purification aura. Purifying so many bodies in just a few days, it's impossible to be so thorough."

Karun suddenly said, "I understand now."

Then, Karun incredulously tapped his forehead lightly. It should have been the captain's mental breakdown, right?

But the reality in front of him was:

"They have truly embarked on a new voyage."