From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

"It seems the climate is a bit colder, and the level of civilization is slightly better than Cyart\'s, but there is no qualitative difference," he thought.

He knew that Carnia, the strongest among the Eastern Four Kingdoms, was a country with severe hero worship.

Nobles and countless commoners alike, the majority of people venerated Carnia\'s founding monarch.

Even the observers within the various churches had given that founding king a fairly recognized nickname, "Divine Might Titan."

He silently calculated the time, wanting to know how long Lilian, whom he had sent over, could stay.

Though invisible to anyone, the black mist acted like an intangible tether, existing not just in reality but also in the Spirit Realm.

The black mist connected two locations in the material world through the Spirit Realm.

Although the distance was vast in the material world, the two points in the Spirit Realm were compressed, meaning the spiritual power he eventually consumed for the black mist\'s transport distance was always the same, no matter how far.

"As long as it\'s within the bounds of the Claud World, no matter where I send someone, the spiritual power consumed is exactly the same."

He found that after Lilian stayed for more than thirty minutes without faltering, the naturally maintained black mist began to show signs of dispersing and required a continual replenishment of spiritual power to maintain.

Therefore, Karl tried supplementing spiritual power, allowing Lilian to continue her stay in that nation called Carnia.

"Hmm, another hour has passed, and the consumption of spiritual power is still bearable," he surmised.

By maintaining it for an hour and calculating the consumption, Karl came to a rough conclusion.

"With the spiritual power I have now, if I only maintain the connection of the black mist for one person, I can completely sustain it for over ten days with some to spare."

He paused for a moment, continuing to ponder.

"However, if the number of people being transported increases, the consumption I need to maintain the connection of the black mist will, quite naturally, multiply by much more," he reasoned.

What would happen if he did not supplement the spiritual power?

Karl contemplated for a moment and decided to try.

The transfer of spiritual power was interrupted.

After a while, the connection, or perhaps the bridge, constructed by the black mist in the Spirit Realm, gradually vanished.

Consequently, in Carnia, a strong pulling force manifested beside Lilian.

She tried to hold onto the half-orc boy, but her body gradually turned into black mist. In the next moment, an arm vanished into thin air before his eyes, followed by a leg.

"I am leaving!" she exclaimed.

Lilian instantly understood she was about to return to Nasir, and before leaving completely, she still left behind five Gold Coins, three bullets, and a flintlock.

"Alger, we will meet again. Do whatever it takes to survive..."

After a thought, she still refrained from inviting the other to Cyart, not wanting to easily disclose information about her family.

The wolf-eared boy stared blankly as the sister who had suddenly appeared and then disappeared just as suddenly, looking somewhat lost.

A flame of belief ignited deep within him!

The wolf-eared boy silently knelt down, eyes closed, and began to pray.

"Oh great Lord of the Lost, thank you for saving me. I shall devote my life to repaying your grace, hoping that you can shelter more people."

He picked up the flintlock, three bullets, and the five Gold Coins, and left the village to embark on his own path.

"I\'ve pretty much figured out the new abilities gained after the Seal was broken," Karl considered.

In his mind, as if there was an invisible map, the entire Claud World lay wide open to view, and within the Ouden Continent, there were clearly many White Gold points.

Those White Gold points were the diverse believers from all over the continent who had prayed to him and genuinely harbored at least a bit of faith deep inside.

The more devout the believers, the brighter the light they were ultimately able to display; as for those who were not as devout, their lights were faintly dimmer.

In the East Coast Province, nearly a hundred points were highly concentrated, nearly merging into a constant flickering patch of light.

Undoubtedly, that light patch was attributed to the Fischer family and the followers of the Dawn Church.

The real cluster of light, in fact, stemmed from an island already occupied by the Fischer family.

The island, controlled by Lilian, saw its indigenous people forced to convert and pray to the Lord of the Lost. A portion, over several years of teaching, had begun to develop some faith.

Each White Gold point in itself was considered a "teleportation point" by Karl; he could build "bridges" in the Spirit Realm with that thick black mist, then transport a believer to another\'s side.

"Interesting, so I\'ve become what they call... a teleportation array?"

Karl delved into his thoughts and immediately realized the formidable aspect of this ability. As long as his followers were spread across the world, they could enable followers, including those from the Fischer family, to suddenly appear and disappear anywhere globally.

They could reach any place to do many things, then vanish without a trace, and no one would ever know why the "followers of the Lord of the Lost" suddenly appeared or where they were from.

"It\'s a pity that I only have a few hundred followers on the Ouden Continent and a few thousand on that island in the White Sea."

"It would be better if there were more."

He silently pondered.

"But, one must not be too hasty,"

If the Dawn Church\'s headquarters were discovered by the True Gods Church, the entire Fischer family would be exterminated in an instant, and decades of development would be undone overnight.

——

When Karl once again released the Seal, a tremendous change occurred in the Spirit Realm.

All who were exploring the Spirit Realm at that time couldn\'t help but lift their heads in utter horror, witnessing the black cross in the sky emitting intense bursts of light!

The next moment, an aura that seemed capable of obliterating everything made all things lose their color, sending shivers deep into the souls of everyone present!

"Could that thing possibly be the legendary Lord of the Lost...?"

"He has once again triggered a phenomenon, and we have once again experienced the terror in our souls."

"Up to this point, many have captured so-called followers of the Lord of the Lost, but alas, not a single one is truly needed by the churches, and to this day, no one has obtained the Divine Power of the Lord of Salvation."

An old man in a blue robe gazed at the black cross in the sky, feeling an illusion of soul destruction for a moment, and thus lowered his head, daring not to continue looking.

"Once again, huh."

He was the head librarian of the Sapphire Library, the foremost among the Six Great Libraries, who had come to the Spirit Realm decades ago, continuously seeking ways to break through to the next level.

Till now, although the librarian had figured out a fair number of methods, he hadn\'t found a path that was a hundred percent certain to make him more powerful.

In truth, he also understood that pursuing an absolutely secure method was pure fantasy.

"Perhaps, that approach might have the best chance of working."

One of the librarian\'s avatars, which he had placed in various parts of the Ouden Continent, made a very special discovery.

And that very special discovery was related to the ominous black cross in the sky, also known to the people of the church as the Lord of the Lost.

"Byrne, huh? Heh."

The librarian fell into deep contemplation, pondering whether to take a gamble, and the more he thought about it, the more he noticed an almost endless restlessness stirring deep within his heart.

——

In the capital of the Lorne Empire, located at the center of the continent, the aged voice of the Pope resonated within the grand cathedral of the Salvation Church.

"It has happened again. It\'s practically the Countdown Timer to world destruction."

"There are only six Seals left, which is to say, only six countdowns remain. Afterward, this world will be completely destroyed."

Another young male voice in the cathedral responded.

"Is there really no way to stop it?"

The Pope, clad in a white robe, spoke quietly, "We can have a chance by exterminating all the followers of the Lord of the Lost, at least according to the last divine oracle left by the gods."

An urgent female voice then asked:

"Your Holiness, what exactly must we do? We\'ve established the Night Watchers and the Denouncers to broaden our search range as much as possible, but so far, we have had no results."

The Pope slowly shook his head and said quietly:

"Don\'t worry, they will soon emerge. A heretical cult that has existed for at least several decades cannot hide forever."

He paused for a moment, then inquired about another matter from the two voices.

"There is another issue, the Last Blood Church, also known as the witch cult, how are they faring?"

The responder paused briefly before speaking, "Four of the five soul shards of the witches have been born, and the heretics supporting them have already begun their internal strife. Your Holiness, what should we do?"

After considering for a while, the Pope finally said:

"It\'s simple; we must try our best to find two of the witches and then keep them imprisoned forever. As long as the final victor never emerges, the Witch of Demise will not be resurrected."