Life Game In Other World
Chapter 789: Bishop (Super-sized - , asking for monthly passes)

Chapter 789: Chapter 789: Bishop (Super-sized Chapter, asking for monthly passes)

In the seemingly endless darkness, the faintly glowing disc illuminated the path ahead.

The blood-colored paper butterflies fluttered their wings, flying into the depths of darkness, with two figures, one large and one small, quickly following behind.

In that silent darkness, the sharp sounds of gnawing and chewing occasionally resounded, like deathly incantations, echoing in the ears of the two companions.

The red-haired woman held the round disc tightly in her hands, carefully following the trajectory of the butterflies’ flight through the darkness at a brisk pace.

There was no platform or ground beneath her feet, just a void of nothingness.

After jumping down from the church’s exterior, she did not fall into the tranquil darkness outside; instead, it was as if she was being pulled by some peculiar force, floating upwards.

However, during this floating process, she never saw those floating churches again; all around was endless darkness, the accompanying blood-glowing butterflies, and a boy dancing beside her.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she felt herself slowly sinking, or rather it felt like she had completely flipped 180 degrees, from facing upwards to facing downwards, turning the sensation of floating into sinking.

The chaotic space disturbed her perception.

But soon, she and the boy beside her ’stepped’ onto a ’road’.

This road had no physical form; it was still the endless darkness, and they were stepping on this darkness, moving forward following the lead of the paper butterflies.

In the endless darkness, the light from a flashlight would be completely absorbed; only the light from transcendent items could briefly illuminate parts of the darkness, which is why she took out her disc as a simple ’lighting tool’.

But the young boy beside her stopped her from illuminating their surroundings, instructing her only to follow the paper butterfly with her light.

"It seems there are very dangerous creatures in this darkness,"

she muttered, looking down.

"They will not attack us,"

He Ao seemed to understand her worries and spoke softly, "Although we cannot see the road, we are indeed on the correct ’path’. The creatures of this space should not attack the living that walk on the road. Follow the butterfly and don’t look around."

At this moment, within his spiritual vision, the surroundings were not silent darkness but dense, twisted patterns. They scattered beneath their feet, above their heads, behind them, densely packed and continuously squirming.

Only the space where they stood was spared, forming a small, narrow void.

And this void was maintained by a certain kind of ’glow’ emitted by the blood-colored butterfly ahead, invisible to the naked eye.

This glow had no actual power but activated something that seemed to be an underlying rule, opening up this ’secret passage’.

This path was not created by the paper butterfly; rather, it had always existed in the darkness, being part of the ’rules’ of this dark space. As long as they were on this path, the ’creatures’ in the darkness would not attack them.

"Why did you say just now that this is a ’trap’ someone has set up?"

In the unnerving silence of the dark, accompanied by ghastly chewing sounds, the red-haired woman asked quietly, looking down.

"Excluding the hidden power of Lockway, do you think the strongest being of the church would actually be in the church?"

He Ao glanced at her and, instead of answering directly, asked slowly.

"No,"

the red-haired woman replied instinctively. She paused for a moment, as if reflecting, and then added, "I have information that the church’s only C-level power, the ’Bishop’, has left the church."

"So that’s why you dared to enter the church?"

He Ao asked nonchalantly as he followed the butterfly.

"Yes."

The red-haired woman nodded, seeming to realize something, and further explained, "That bishop is the church’s only C-level combatant on the surface."

He Ao turned to look at the red-haired woman, her dagger apparently being a Transcendent item close to C-level, but her personal strength was too weak.

If the church were indeed only guarded by C-level fighters, with the advantage of intelligence and the members of the Ancient Teachings drawing fire, she might have a chance to breach the church.

If the employer was paying enough, according to the nature of mercenaries, there was a high probability they would take on the task.

After all, mercenaries are used to risking their lives, and as long as the price is right, they’re willing to take their chances even if there’s only a slim chance of survival.

"However, the truth is,"

He Ao withdrew his gaze to look at the darkness ahead, and continued, "I fear that the bishop is now in the core area of the church."

Red-haired woman: "What?"

"At first, my conjecture was the same as yours,"

He Ao said calmly,

"When the Eternal Ancient Teachings attacked the cathedral, I saw their forces from outside. They didn’t have many strong members, mostly C-level and D-level, with only a barely B-level leading them.

"Although cultists generally boost their strength through sacrifice, if both sides are cults and both enhance their power, then it’s essentially no amplification at all.

"So I assessed at that time that besides the powerful shield, it’s very likely that there were no particularly strong members left inside the cathedral, or rather, the strong ones inside had probably been lured away by the Eternal Ancient Teachings."

"At least, that’s what the people from the Eternal Ancient Teachings believed, which is why they attacked.

"And after entering the ’maze-like’ rooms of the Inner Church, it seemed to confirm this ’perception’,

"If they held absolute advantage, the believers of the Eternal Secret Teachings in the cathedral wouldn’t need to resort to this kind of ’delaying’ tactic,"

He stopped here and paused, "until just now in the cathedral, when I saw Lockway."

"Lockway?"

The redhead blinked in confusion, and glanced at the blood-colored Paper Butterfly ahead, "Isn’t he here to capture Alice?"

"Yes, he is here for Alice,"

He Ao nodded lightly, then immediately asked, "Do you think Lockway is strong?"

"Strong..."

The expression on the redhead’s face froze. If he wasn’t considered strong, what was?

Then, subconsciously, she glanced at the young boy beside her.

Alright, he was stronger.

He Ao seemed to guess her thoughts and didn’t say anything, but continued to ask, "Following our reasoning just now, if the strongest person of this cathedral had left, then what should be the ’duty’ of someone as strong as Lockway who remains here?"

The question stumped the redhead, and after a brief contemplation, she said decisively, "The main person in charge?"

"Yes, he should be the main person left in charge of the cathedral, theoretically the strongest among those who remained, but instead of being in the real core area, he came out to chase the fleeing Alice,"

He Ao turned his head with a smile and asked, "At this moment, what should be the state of the core area?"

"Unattended? The people of the Eternal Ancient Teachings can march straight in?"

She suddenly came to her senses and then said somewhat bewilderedly, "But isn’t Lockway a spy for the Eternal Ancient Teachings? Wasn’t the escape of Alice a play he directed himself to clear the path for the Eternal Ancient Teachings?"

She had listened to the conversation between He Ao and Lockway.

As a spy, wasn’t Lockway supposed to clear the way for his ’real teammates’?

"Exactly because he is a spy from the Eternal Ancient Teachings, he can’t be so obvious in his sabotage,"

He Ao shook his head calmly,

"After all, it was not easy for him to achieve such a high position,

"Because he is a spy, he has to be even more diligent, fighting a ’fierce battle’ with the people from the Eternal Ancient Teachings and ending up severely injured would prove his loyalty to the Eternal Secret Teachings,

"Since the cathedral was breached under his watch, he would be held accountable no matter what. At that point, appearing grievously injured, displaying loyalty, and then exaggerating his feats to highlight the strength of the Ancient Teachings rather than his own weaknesses, would be the right approach.

"Seeing how he didn’t employ the sacrificial methods of the Eternal Secret Teachings from the outset in our fight, it’s evident he has not yet revealed his intentions."

"So Alice’s escape was actually an accident?"

The redhead pondered and said, "He had to look for Alice to maintain stability within the Inner Church?"

Through her brief contact with Alice, she also realized that Alice might hold a high level of authority within the cathedral.

"Alice is a threat, but not threat enough."

He Ao shook his head, asking softly with a smile, "Did you notice any of the maze rooms collapsing while we passed through them?"

"No."

The redhead shook her head.

Then, subconsciously, her gaze shifted to He Ao.

The aberrations in those rooms were overwhelmingly strong, and the only ’room’ she saw shattered had just been literally smashed by He Ao and Lockway.

She still couldn’t understand how they could be powerful enough to shatter this kind of ’room’ with its self-generated rules.

As for Lockway, those cultists who relied on cheats, she could let that pass, having heard hundreds, if not a thousand, stories about the cultists.

But the boy in front of her, looking about eleven or twelve and rather frail, and who hadn’t performed any sacrificial rituals, how could he possess such formidable power, even capable of turning the tables on Lockway?

She couldn’t comprehend it.

Could there really be some kind of power in this world that could reverse aging?

Seeing the look in the red-haired woman’s eyes, He Ao knew she was going off on a tangent again, but he didn’t bother with that and continued, "Do you remember the room with the man in the smiley face mask?"

"Mm."

The red-haired woman’s thoughts were pulled back, and she nodded lightly.

In fact, she was starting to grasp the situation now.

The man in the smiley face mask in that room was probably some kind of ’projection’ of Lockway in these bizarre rooms, with abilities similar to Lockway’s.

"Alice was supposed to have ’escaped’ from that room,"

He Ao said slowly amidst the red-haired woman’s slightly surprised expression, "Didn’t you notice? The smiley face man’s steak servings were always for two. All his actions seemed to suggest there was ’another person’ in the room.

"If Lockway constituted the core of that room, then all these bizarre occurrences would make sense. But the actual core of that room was ’Alice.’

"The core of the whole room disappeared, yet the rules within the room continued to operate, and the room’s anomalies still thought Alice was there.

"So, Alice’s disappearance, at least in the short term, wasn’t so critical for the operations of the Inner Church.

"After the battle, Lockway could have gone to look for Alice. After all, if the Inner Church was lost because he went to find Alice, all the blame would fall on him,

"So even if Alice’s disappearance was an ’accident’, he wouldn’t actively go look for her right away.

"Unless..."

He Ao paused, glanced ahead as the paper butterfly that Alice had transformed into slowed down, indicating they were almost at their destination, then he continued leisurely,

"Unless someone higher up had ’ordered’ Lockway to capture Alice, then the responsibility wouldn’t lie with him anymore. Even if the Eternal Ancient Teachings broke into the core area, he could still shift the blame."

"So, Lockway was actually ’sent away’ by the people of the Eternal Secret Teachings? To create an opportunity for the people of the Eternal Ancient Teachings to infiltrate the church?"

The red-haired woman started to catch on, her voice trembling slightly, "Is this a trap? A trap to lure the people of the Eternal Ancient Teachings in and ’catch them all in one net’?"

Then her eyebrows furrowed, and she said in confusion, "But wouldn’t Lockway’s ’superior’ raise suspicions in Lockway or among the people of the Eternal Ancient Teachings with such a sudden and arbitrary order?

"Or is it that the ’superior’ is actually a spy for the Eternal Ancient Teachings, and this isn’t a trap? Doesn’t that mean the Eternal Secret Teachings are heavily infiltrated?"

She was a bit puzzled.

"What if Alice’s ’loss of control’ was not an ’emergency’?"

He Ao looked at her and laughed, "If Alice had suddenly lost control and then a command like this was issued, Lockway would certainly suspect that something was wrong,

"But what if, long ago, this ’superior’ had been laying the groundwork for his concern over the anomalies in the Inner Church? If this ’superior’ was himself somewhat neurotic due to fervent belief, then the issuance of such an order under that state would become ’reasonable.’

"Even if Lockway and the followers of the Eternal Ancient Teachings harbored doubts, by the time Alice lost control, the situation would have reached its final step, and they would have to act.

"People tend to deceive themselves. At that moment, as long as there weren’t major issues, the followers of the Eternal Ancient Teachings would persuade themselves, especially when the apparent ’direction’ of the situation still appeared to be in their favor."

"So Alice’s loss of control wasn’t likely the doing of Lockway, who stood to gain the most, but rather the work of the Eternal Secret Teachings, who seemed to ’suffer’ the most, in order to gain greater ’benefits’ on a larger scale."

The voice of the red-haired woman gradually grew fainter, "The ’spy’ identity of Lockway was probably also discovered long ago."

She began to realize that this might be the ultimate truth behind the incident.

After all, if the followers of the Eternal Ancient Teachings who met at the Withered Tree Bar could be surrounded and attacked by Levins and his men without noticing, most likely the intelligence network of the Eternal Ancient Teachings was far inferior to that of the Eternal Secret Teachings. Lockway might be the highest-level spy of the Ancient Teachings within the Secret Teachings.

If the attack of the Eternal Ancient Teachings on the Eternal Secret Teachings’ bishop’s church wasn’t an ’unforeseen event’, but rather an extension of the invisible hand controlling the chaos that swept across Wint City tonight,

Allowing more time for the people of the Eternal Secret Teachings to prepare would probably have resulted in more of the Eternal Ancient Teachings’ upper echelons entering the bishop’s church tonight, making the plan even more perfect.

The deeper she thought, the more terrified she felt.

It seemed that, invisibly, she had been drawn into the deepest vortex of power between the two major forces.

And those were two calculating forces, each more terrifying than the other.

No...

Her gaze swept over the back of He Ao, who had already stopped in his tracks,

fearing it might be the three major powers.

Because of tonight’s unexpected incident, the Eternal Secret Teachings hadn’t fully prepared, and that strongest B-level "Bishop" might not be able to dominate over those from the Eternal Ancient Teachings.

By now, their battle should have ended, after all, those from the Eternal Ancient Teachings theoretically should have timed their entrance into the core area before Locke’s return.

When they encountered Locke, Locke was already starting the ritual, a ceremony that wouldn’t last long.

If the people from the Eternal Ancient Teachings were strong enough, both sides might have sustained not inconsiderable injuries.

She watched the silhouette of the young boy and suddenly realized that this boy might have come here at this specific time intentionally.

It seemed as if she could feel an all-encompassing Shadow stretching forth from the frail body before her, enveloping her body and all the surrounding darkness.

"What’s wrong? Cough..."

The young boy covered his mouth and coughed lightly, glancing at the fresh blood he had coughed into his palm, then looked back at the red-haired woman.

A blood-colored Paper Butterfly landed on his shoulder.

"It’s... it’s nothing..."

The red-haired woman scattered the thoughts in her mind.

"You can tell me if there’s a problem,"

He Ao nodded lightly, then turned to look into the darkness ahead, "We’ve arrived."

Thud... Thud-thud... Thud...

He Ao knocked on the darkness before him, although his hand was in the darkness, it produced a clear sound, and then he knocked a few more times in different spots, seemingly confirming the exact position of the ’door’ before him.

Then he stretched out his hand and suddenly pushed with force, opening the ’door of darkness’.

Dim light slowly spilled out from this endless darkness, casting a glow on the young boy, on the Paper Butterfly on his shoulder, and also on the cheeks of the red-haired woman watching the boy’s profile.

The butterfly on his shoulder moved forward, disappearing into the light, and He Ao also stepped forward, walking into this dim light.

Immediately, he felt a resistance, as if the ’Gravity’ acting on him had changed; his body shifted from ’vertical’ to ’sideways’, tilting back towards the darkness.

So he quickly reached out to steady himself on the door frame, and then pushed his body forward, completely ’stepping out’ of the darkness.

A hazy light entered his field of view.

Shortly after, he saw clearly the ’door’ he was passing through.

An opened ’Coffin’.

It was a sliding lid.

Last time, his Nutrient Pod had a lift-up lid.

He looked up, gazing ahead, at the center where the light converged, a blood-stained platform where a man with glasses, impaled by a golden spear, was lying on the ground, his hand clutching a white Sun Crown.

Opposite him stood a beautiful ’woman’ with a high ponytail, wearing a gold-embroidered white robe, seemingly mild and gentle, with a warm smile on her face.

He Ao’s gaze paused briefly, landing on the ’woman’s’ throat.

It was a ’Mister’.

"Hello,"

The white-robed man watched He Ao stepping out of the coffin, nodded slightly, and offered a gentle smile, "Mr. Yiluo."

Merely with that slight nod, the terrifying oppressive force nearly pushed him back into the Coffin.

This man was very strong.

"Hello."

He Ao, unmoved, leaped out of the Coffin and onto the platform in the middle. He went to the familiar Coffin that was slightly ajar, extended his hand, caressed its edges, and gently pushed the Coffin Lid open.

The powerful resistance of the Coffin Lid felt like a lightweight swinging door under his hands. He glanced at the figure inside the Coffin, covered the lid with his hand, turned his head towards the beautiful white-robed man, and smiling said,

"Sir, I’m taking my parents home."