Chapter 677: Te Lun Suosete

A figure wearing a crown, a splendid robe, and holding a scepter, with no expression on the face and no tonal inflection, answered: "Te Lun Suosete."

Te Lun Suosete, the "Night Emperor" of the Fourth Era! It—not, it—didn't expect that one day it would actually see one of the Four Emperors, a true god of Sequence 0, even if it was only an illusion!

Gathering his scattered thoughts, Ke Lai En continued to ask: "Is this the resurrection hand you left behind? What went wrong here?"

Te Lun Suosete still spoke in a completely flat tone:

"Indeed, during the final war I sensed my own downfall and made preparations in advance, allowing some of my descendants to secretly take a 'Hand of Order' trait as a fallback for resurrection."

"I did not anticipate the chaos and madness at the battlefield's end; before or after my downfall, the contamination of the Disordered Country had already emerged silently, tempting my descendants, causing it to incorporate this trait and alter the original ritual."

"In desperation I killed everyone, destroyed the ritual, and sent my resurrection and the arrival of the Disordered Country back to the starting point."

"For a better resurrection I stitched together their lingering spirits, enhanced my own state, and opposed the Disordered Country's contamination, but I could never truly resurrect, and it could not bear a vessel for its arrival."

This is only a fallback, so what is the Night Emperor's most important resurrection method? That missing uniqueness? While pondering, Ke Lai En heard Lei Kedun add to Te Lun Suosete's reply: "Its words can't be fully trusted; after all it isn't true 'omniscience', my extracted information is inevitably influenced and twisted by its own will and the aura of the Disordered Country."

Ke Lai En nodded, curiously asked: "Is the Disordered Country the thing that corresponds to the 'Arbiter' and 'Lawyer' paths leading Above the Sequence?"

Lei Kedun nodded and replied: "Yes, but that's not all; the full Disordered Country corresponds to many more paths."

Ke Lai En nodded again, not pressing further; he had a premonition that even if he asked, Lei Kedun would not tell him now.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at Te Lun Suosete and continued:

"In the Fourth Era's Four Emperors War, what actually happened then? Which beings participated in that war?"

Te Lun Suosete's expression shifted slightly, as if the knowledge forming that figure was about to collapse; Lei Kedun lightly pressed his palm, stabilizing the figure again.

Only then did Te Lun Suosete speak: "It was chaotic, no one could stop; Aylista Tudu was killed, Salinger took its uniqueness, Solomon tried to drag me down together because it could still resurrect, but as a 'Judge' I could not."

"Power from the starry sky fermented in secret, and the 'source essences' sealed in the Western Continent also seeped power, trying to contaminate the warring gods and reclaim authority."

"In the end I heard the sound of the barrier shattering; the battle that no one could halt eventually reached the primordial leftover barrier, and after that I died."

As the final word fell, the Te Lun Suosete figure composed purely of knowledge instantly fragmented and dissolved before Lei Kedun and Ke Lai En.

Behind, the figure seated on the throne began to decay; its body was pale as if transparent, with a faint golden liquid flowing beneath the skin.

Its face resembled Te Lun Suosete's by about seventy percent, but looked older, appearing less like a descendant and more like an elder.

Lei Kedun extended his right hand forward, grasped at empty space, creating a series of colorless, misty glimmers as if formed from countless illusory things; the light fell on the throne, breaking down the decaying body into its most basic particulate structure.

Ke Lai En frowned slightly; many questions still eluded him, and he then looked at Lei Kedun and asked: "I have seen the dying struggle of the sea god Ka Wei Tu Wa, and an angel—even a corpse—should not be so fragile, right? Why did it show no oddity just now, allowing my approach and destruction?"

"Too much time has passed, and it also must obey the rules it created."

He paused, and Lei Kedun added: "You forgot, your paper‑angel here is no longer just a blessing; it now has a physical form."

"The power has been manifested." Ke Lai En quickly thought of the cause, then realized: "Te Lun Suosete, to resurrect itself, and the Disordered Country, to obtain a tangible vessel and bring down more power, reached a consensus in some aspect, altered the underlying rules here, and established a new order so that their wills could become material, freeing themselves from the constraints of dead bodies."

"And that also left this corpse with only a form, lacking all the oddities and specials, thus no longer dangerous."

"That's about it, though the situation here is a bit more complicated."

Lei Kedun nodded, then picked up the crown that had fallen on the throne; the gems set in the crown flickered with pure light, and within seemed countless faint golden statutes floating, bursting into golden radiance, appearing extremely heavy, as if merged with the world's rules.

Lei Kedun generated specks of starlight that floated around, rapidly condensing into a transparent amber, severing the crown's connection to its surroundings. Having done this, he turned his head toward Ke Lai En and smiled:

"There should still be many scattered trait‑formed wondrous items in this city—ancient relics and gold that can be exchanged for cash. Now there's no interference; you can go explore around."

"The 'Hand of Order' trait belongs to me and Luo Sair; it's heavily contaminated, you can't use it directly, and even if made into a wondrous item its negative effects would be terrifying."

"Understood." Ke Lai En replied with a light nod.

He has no need for the 'Hand of Order' trait. He leaves it to Luo Sair, hoping that once the latter regains strength he will have a powerful ally.

While pondering, he saw the secret idol Ludoville, whose full armor had been shattered, beginning to exude traits; faint emerald lights peeled from the flesh on the ground, drifting slowly around, gradually coalescing into a vague door shape.

Some subtle distortions appeared in the hall, and then Luo Sair's figure emerged directly into their view.

He casually scanned the surroundings, finally landing his gaze on the crown Lei Kedun held, smiling:

"Your actions are faster than I imagined; my guess was right after all. As long as something of the same tier or aura opposes the contamination here, exploring the 'Ghost Empire' won't be too hard."

Looking down at the idol still exuding traits, he changed the subject:

"Having lost its cover, this floating island is likely already exposed to the Storm Church and the Intis officials active in the Mist Sea."

Lei Kedun's gaze turned deep toward the sky beyond the hall; with the stars hidden, the wind grew fierce, clouds layered and converged, and silver‑white lightning snakes occasionally streaked across.

He could feel a gaze from above the clouds, perhaps from the star realm.

"The storm has arrived."

As the words fell, he expressionlessly produced a black‑iron square talisman, one of the rewards previously given by Charatu.

Turning the black‑iron talisman twice in his hand, he lowered his voice and uttered a string of ancient Hermes words: "I wish: let the 'Ghost Empire' enter the Furious Sea."

The talisman silently shattered in his hand, unleashing a torrent‑like invisible wave that swiftly covered the entire 'Ghost Empire', grafting that sea region with a part of the Furious Sea.

A thin mist rose over the sea surface, and the city‑like floating island vanished silently, leaving no trace, as if it had never existed.

A wailing wind suddenly grew fierce, bearing down a middle‑aged man of awe‑inspiring presence.

His hair was deep blue‑almost black, thick and short, standing upright; his earlobes were large, his eyes seemed to constantly hold lightning and storm, and his wide storm‑priest robe rustled in the wind.

But two seconds later, an elder clad in a white priest robe and wearing a soft clerical hat also descended nearby.

His legs had been replaced by mechanical locks, turned into a jet‑propelled flight device allowing free aerial movement; his right eye's globe had been swapped for a mechanical eyeball, a special wondrous item that can rotate freely and detect deeper surroundings.

The storm‑priest's middle‑aged man exhaled a rumbling breath through his nostrils, sounding like roaring thunder.

After venting his emotions, he looked at the "God of Steam and Machinery" church's archbishop Theodore Momont, who had arrived a step behind him, and in a low tone said:

"We are a step late; the 'Ghost Empire' has already been transferred."

"'Ghost Empire'? The one that just appeared here is the legendary 'Ghost Empire'? Since your Storm Church holds its information, why didn't you explore it, nor inform the other six great churches?"

Theodore Momont questioned, then stopped pursuing the issue; the "God of Steam and Machinery" church now allies with the "Lord of Storms" church, so some less‑important matters can be set aside.

His right eye's globe projected outward a short distance, continuously rotating to scan the surroundings; moments later the eye returned to normal, and in a calm tone he said: "There are traces of hidden, changing auras here; perhaps someone altered some nearby concepts, hiding and moving the 'Ghost Empire'."

(End of Chapter)