Chapter 355: Two Strands of Divinity (Dual‑Merged)

Seven days later, the White House bunker.

The damp air of the underground tomb solidified like a substance, and seven bone high‑back chairs formed a perfect circle. On the walls, which emitted a faint blue cold glow despite lacking torches, seven twisted, distorted shadows were cast.

Defense Minister Ke Erwen, who is also the finger bone of the new‑generation head of the largest civil‑official family in Amerika, tapped the marble round table, his skull's soul fire flickering. "It's the third day, and we still haven't found a suitable soul‑box storage site." His voice sounded like corroded gears grinding together. "The Presidential Office target is too obvious; it isn't safe."

House Speaker Ma Ge Li Te let out a light laugh from beneath her black silk gown, maintaining the graceful posture she had in life, though the eye sockets destroyed by a dragon spell were a sickly black. "Dear, you're too attached to traditional forms. Modern society's vaults are far safer than ancient tombs."

At the head seat at the end of the round table, Luo Ke Xi De lowered his gaze slightly, marking red dots on the locations of the five major bank headquarters. "Swiss United Bank's private vault, 120 meters underground, constant temperature and humidity, nuclear‑blast‑proof design." He caressed the diamond soul‑box in his suit pocket. "All the tunnels of the Alps belong to me; no one can go there."

When Luo Ke Xi De finished speaking, everyone fell silent, because they knew he was the first being granted power by that entity, and the one destined to lead them in establishing an earthly divine kingdom for the Master.

In fact, the six liches of the Night Owl Council besides Luo Ke Xi De were all hand‑picked by him and transformed by the Master.

As one of the hidden masters controlling Amerika, Luo Ke Xi De was intimately familiar with the workings of this political machine; among the countless elites, he chose six ambitious individuals with the greatest connections and wealth.

They are the establishment within the establishment, having been the operators supporting the nation's normal functioning since the early Cold War.

Luo Ke Xi De selected six disciples for himself and told them that the great red dragon foretold to descend was one of the Master's avatars; the all‑knowing, all‑powerful deity would appear as a dragon and grant them powers beyond mortal men.

As a price, they will offer the entire world to the exalted Master.

In fact, if Naimi Xisi didn't intend to waste much time here, he could have come himself. It's just that the sword of Yinhun City still hangs over his head, and he also wishes to avoid using overly violent means that would offend the Duke Council's companions.

So he chose to create seven liches.

Each lich is at least a 14th‑level Spellcaster, and these seven are no exception; each possesses Mage level 14.

Such strength, in Frelen, is essentially nothing; in adventure tales, a single righteous squad could easily wipe them out.

But on Earth, it's a different story.

The liches excel at necromancy and mind‑control spells, which ensures they can safely manipulate high‑ranking individuals from the shadows.

By controlling others' minds and using eternally transformed vampires as leverage to attract major capitalists, combined with modern technological advancement, as long as time permits, the Night Owl Council can, unnoticed by anyone, hold the 0.0001% of society that wields power in its grasp.

Suddenly all the liches turned their heads together, and the magical alarm at the tomb entrance was triggered. Energy giant crocodile Wei Ke Duo extended his pale bone claw, blue Arcane light shooting from his palm; at the same time, a virtual monitor appeared before him, showing the President's security adviser adjusting his tie in an elevator.

"Fifteen seconds." The voice box of the head of the world's largest media conglomerate has rotted, but ventriloquism keeps his words clear. He pressed a button beneath the table, and the Rune inscriptions on the tomb's dome extinguished one by one.

When the last strand of blue light vanished, the seven bodies turned to dust simultaneously. The holographic projection of Arcane power above the round table had disappeared, revealing a cold metallic sky. As the elevator doors opened, Wei Ke Duo rose in human form to greet them, his bone claw now looking just like an ordinary person's.

"Esteemed Mr. Wei Ke Duo, the President requires the final version of the oil field report." The security adviser's leather shoes left prints on the water‑soaked floor.

Wei Ke Duo smiled and handed over the folder; the tomb dust clinging in the nail grooves turned to cigar ash the moment it met air. "Tell the President, the newly discovered reserves are comparable to the entire X‑East region, but with our current technology we cannot safely extract from such deep underground." Two faint blue soul fires flickered deep within his pupils.

Wei Ke Duo is the only one among the seven liches granted Magic Knowledge of Divination by Naimi Xisi; as an energy‑based capitalist, he immediately used that Divination spell to scour all unknown oil sites across Amerika, discovering an ultra‑giant oil field hidden at extreme depth.

After the elevator doors closed again, seven strands of black smoke shot out of the ventilation shaft, re‑coalescing into human shapes. Wei Ke Duo adjusted the hologram, switching the view to a panoramic of the capital, where hundreds of red dots flickered among government buildings.

"Stage two is progressing smoothly." His mechanical voice, tinged with electronic static, continued, "42% of judges in the judicial system have been enthralled, the turnover rate for key positions in the Ministry of Finance is 37%, and soul‑binding agents have been added to the drinks at the senior military banquet."

"This damned Spell Slot is never enough." Wei Ke Duo complained irritably. "If we weren't limited to a few Suggestion Technique uses per day, we'd have seized the entire Ministry of Finance long ago."

Benjamin, the representative of Meilianchu Bank, sneered. "I've said it before: I'm not the sole authority on the fiscal system; don't forget, those squid talents truly control Meilianchu."

Luo Ke Xi De nonchalantly scratched the palm of his other bone hand with a bone finger; he had once been a squid person, and thanks to matriarchal clan advantages, almost everyone atop the power hierarchy possessed some squid lineage.

But times have changed; they are liches, no longer even human, so what does being a squid person matter?

The decision to transform Benjamin I stemmed from two reasons: the Night Owl Council's slots are limited and there are too many squid conglomerates to select from; secondly, Luo Ke Xi De despises squid, a race that worships a heretical deity embraced by the populace.

There is only one true Master; the offspring of thieves and betrayers, the heretical sect, are unfit to be his companions.

Ma Ge Li Te opened a new codex. "The Special Court passed Bill No. 774 today." Her gaunt fingers traced the clause, "Permits the use of new lie‑detection technology in major national‑security cases." Within the codex's page, brain tissue soaked in preservative glowed faintly.

On Ke Erwen's military uniform, the number of stars had risen to seven. He brought up a deployment map: "The Arctic Circle exercise is moved up to next week; three nuclear submarines will 'accidentally' lose contact. I've placed agents there masquerading as Soviets." On the map, three Skeleton icons slowly sank into the Arctic Ocean. "That will be enough for the council to approve the budget for the new sonar system."

The round table trembled; William's golden ocular implant emitted a beam, forming a stock‑market chart in the air. "Timing is perfect." As his jaw opened, a torn fragment of a Swiss bank promissory note was visible. "Defense stocks will rise 300% after the exercise is announced; our offshore companies have already built positions."

Over the next three hours, the seven liches continuously proposed various contingency plans, with a single purpose—to amass wealth and power.

They possess immortality and extraordinary power; as long as they are careful and lie in wait in the darkness,

the world will eventually be theirs.

"And it will belong to the Master," Luo Ke Xi De thought.

Late night.

In the Department of Justice building, Ma Ge Li Te walked the corridor alone. The guards stared blankly, their uniforms lined with sigils painted in corpse oil. In the top‑secret archive room, she untied her black silk gown, revealing a body stitched together from hundreds of tattooed legal statutes. As an ancient incantation was chanted, the tattooed characters writhed, re‑forming into a draft of a new constitutional amendment.

"Renounce the right to personal protection orders. Authorize administrative bodies in emergencies," she recited, tracing Runes along the judges' gavels with a bone pen, "Special investigative authority for nocturnal searches."

Under the influence of mind‑control spells, the federal‑level courts have become their one‑voice tribunal.

At the same time, Ke Erwen was at the underground firing range of the Ministry of Defense. Twenty special‑forces members knelt in a line, crystal conduits inserted into their temples. "You will become the vanguards of the new era." The general's voice suddenly split into multiple echoes, his eye sockets spitting blue fire. The other ends of the conduits were attached to brains soaked in formaldehyde—those were the "accidental" casualties from recent military drills.

He was attempting to channel souls into soldiers' bodies, enhancing their five senses as part of a super‑soldier program.

White House.

When the first ray of sunlight tried to pierce the bullet‑proof glass of the President's office but was completely blocked by the interior feather‑down curtains, the security adviser was reporting good news from the northern oil fields. No one noticed the unnaturally serrated edge of the President's shadow, nor the fresh blood settled at the bottom of his teacup. The President, who changes every eight years, is unfit to be a member of the Night Owl Council, yet Reagan, through his loyalty, earned Luo Ke Xi De's favor and became the first Jasmine bloodline on Earth.

"For the prosperity of the Federal Republic," the President smiled, stamping the state seal.

Within Meilianchu Central Bank, Benjamin stared at the torrent of numbers pulsing millions of times per second. Augmented by spells, his keen mind effortlessly parsed the data, weaving a financial web between Swiss accounts and defense corporations.

A nearby staff member's eyes glazed; in an instant, the screen's reflection showed not a human face but a Skeleton gnawing on electronic circuits.

Luo Ke Xi De stood in the shadows, watching the monster of power frantically spawn its offspring. He smiled; soon, this world would be devoured by it.

He harbored no regret, for he truly believed the Master is a real deity, and under the deity's control the Earth would become an exceedingly blissful Eden, a utopia.

And the great dragon he so firmly believes in—what is it doing now?

A few days earlier, after Naimi Xisi successfully captured the 【Reverse Eye】, he fled the Reverse World without pause.

That world had a profound link to the 【Reverse Eye】; the moment he took the 【Reverse Eye】 away, he heard an extremely terrifying roar coming from the other side of the Rift.

Countless vines surged wildly from the Rift, and one chrysanthemum monster after another emerged in the shadows, trying to cross the Rift into the present world. They writhed, for their master had left its realm.

Naimi Xisi intended to wipe these things out, but after the 【Reverse Eye】 returned to the real world, the Rift seemed to lose its supporting force and sealed completely three seconds later.

He used a Divination spell to sense it; the closure was impeccably clean, and the entire crystal barrier system reverted to its isolated state.

The difference is that, due to the Reverse World's incursions over recent years, the Earth's Magic Net has largely revived.

Although it does not reach Frelen's level, a Spellcaster only needs to rest for 24 hours to fully recover their mana.

In other words, compared with Frelen's eight‑hour daily meditation system that refreshes spells each day, Earth's Spellcasters usually need two to three days to regain their power.

Besides that, the potency of spells is also much weaker.

Although it is not as exaggerated as the Dark Earth where another duke resides, the spell power is still considerably suppressed, a fact that became evident after the Rift between Ying Ying Ming Jie and the mortal world was sealed.

Naimi Xisi attempted to cast a Fireball; the fireball that would normally cover a radius of 200 meters could now only cover about a 50‑meter radius, so it is easy to imagine how other Mages were weakened.

This is why Naimi Xisi had seven liches focus on mastering Confusion Control and Necromancy, because under normal circumstances those two spells suffer far less reduction than spells such as Plastic Energy Spellcraft.

After sealing the Rift, Naimi Xisi returned the Reverse Eye to the Stagnant Library.

And it was at that moment that Naimi Xisi witnessed a truly living deity.

When the Reverse Eye was absorbed by Vikna in the primordial darkness, Naimi Xisi saw an immense, planet‑sized majestic figure appear before him.

Naimi Xisi couldn't help but marvel that Vikna truly is a top‑tier ascended powerhouse; that terrifying flesh, even if it merely stumbled lightly, could probably deliver a planet‑level destructive blow.

"Mortal, you have done well." A cold voice drifted faintly in the darkness, laced with a contempt that looked down on everything. "I shall keep my pact with Ougma and grant you two strands of divinity."

Naimi Xisi suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with incredulous exhilaration.

He had thought the Holy Relic was his reward, but did not expect the Lord of Knowledge to have asked for two extra strands of divinity on his behalf!

Even though he was as cold‑hearted and indifferent as Juan Ce Long, he now felt gratitude toward that deity.

Whether to say it or not, this one truly poured his heart out for Juan Ce Long.

In the darkness, two wisps of faint green light drifted slowly toward Naimi Xisi; they floated and sank in the dark air like enchanted seaweed, bearing a deadly allure.

That represented arcane magic, cold necromancy, and treacherous concealment, all concentrated within the two strands of divinity before his eyes.

Naimi Xisi took a deep breath, suppressed the exhilaration in his heart, and said excitedly: "Thank you for your generosity, great Lord of Ten Thousand Hiding and Concealment, Overseer in Darkness, true master of Shadows."

It seemed that the final sentence pleased Vikna; from the void came a satisfied snicker and a suppressed anger.

"Return to your world, mortal. Saar is now in my hands."

(End of Chapter)