Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Throne of Heaven, This World's Evil
'He briefly created a Demonic God that should not exist in this era. It was the source of all sins, and also the incarnation of the tyrannical monarchs of generations past.'
'Although I am loath to admit it, I must say that in terms of the art of Spiritual Evocation, he has reached the pinnacle of perfection. He is a pioneer from whom we should all learn!'
—First-Class Lecturer of the Department of Spiritual Evocation, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.
...
In the early days of 1917, during the final years of the dynasty, an unprecedented phantasmagoria appeared in the Tsarist empire. Tens of millions of people witnessed the descent of a 'demon', they saw an ancient, savage beast descend from the heavens and run rampant. It remains one of history's unexplained mysteries. Although some experts believe it was a phenomenon of mass hysteria caused by collective poisoning, or a mirage-like scene, there are also religious scholars who believe it was an evil spell cast by the man then known as the most ferocious and evil of all, Lu Kang Luvest.
'He caused all things to be covered in dust.'
'He sought to drag the world into hell.'
—From "World's Unsolved Mysteries"
...
It was truly like the descent of a demonic god—
A rugged shadow emerged above the Kremlin, its roaring howl scattering the wind and dust. It was a prehistoric giant elephant with gray-blue skin, and also the incarnation of the fear of generations of Tsars, crowned and robed. It rose from the palace grounds, towering behind Lu Kang in the direction of the court, as if in remote resonance with him...
The cold, deserted streets remained cold and deserted. But the accumulated snow vanished in the blink of an eye! A vast and mysterious pressure instantly bore down on the 'Demonic Bodhisattva', Kishinami Kiara, making her unable to stop laughing. She couldn't help but sigh in admiration and awe.
"Are you really a commoner magus? A 'priest' from a convent?" The Demonic Bodhisattva's figure floated slightly. The terrifying pressure was nothing to her. Her expression remained calm, though a hint of excitement had begun to creep in. This is... excellent fun! she thought.
She said, "You are now remotely controlling the temporarily existing Phantasm of the Tsar, indirectly unifying the mystery of this land. Looking at the whole world of magi, there are probably very, very few who can achieve such a feat, right? I was not wrong about you. You can indeed bring me pleasure. But unfortunately, this is of no use to me."
As Kishinami Kiara's voice fell, a humming vibration emerged once more. A mystic rhythm appeared—this was identical to the mystic change that had occurred when she had transformed into the Demonic Bodhisattva.
Lu Kang's gaze deepened. This woman... is she still hiding even greater power!? He thought of this. But it seemed it was already too late to react. The next second, the bewitching, scantily clad woman raised her head. Her slender fingers, like ripples on the surface of water, caused a black, flowing substance to appear from the void. It spread out from her as the center, gradually rising, gradually elongating, finally stretching to the sky. Then, in an instant, it flowed down like mud on a drawing board. The black color instantly submerged the sky, smearing everything in sight!
The sky was no more, the streets were no more, the earth was no more! Lu Kang, who had just broken free from one seal, was once again plunged into another world that had unfolded in an instant. And this time... it was not magecraft, nor was it a miracle!
"I have cultivated for a long, long time." In the world filled with blackness, Kishinami Kiara moved, half-floating in the air. The clothes on her body swirled, her graceful figure swaying as she walked.
She said, "I have gone through great hardships to finally cultivate the 'All-Seeing Eye'. I have used this eye to see all of the world. And finally, I set foot on the 'Throne of the Demonic Heaven' outside the world, the Sixth Heaven, the Realm of Desire, and saw the joys, sorrows, and angers of humanity—"
This was a chant. But not a Baptismal Chant. It was...
"An Innate Bounded Field!?" Lu Kang felt his connection with the outside world severed again, and with a heavy expression, he spoke the term. He thought to himself, what a 'surprise'. He never thought that this alternate-universe counterpart of an Evil of Humanity would possess an 'Innate Bounded Field', a near-horrifyingly large-scale spell that manifests one's inner world as a miniature world-egg. This was a power that should only be wielded by natural spirits. Only a very small number of humans could learn it. It required talent, and even more, a long time to polish one's inner world!
His heart was pounded by stormy waves. He also suddenly understood why she had not stopped the cracking of that miracle's seal earlier. It wasn't that she didn't want to, or couldn't, but simply for a seamless transition. The moment the Innate Bounded Field unfolded to cover reality, everything would be swallowed into it. In this process, the fewer obstacles, the less that needed to be swallowed, the faster it would unfold! And the outside world had just been cleared once by the miracle. With the miracle's cracking, the place where he stood had, in a conceptual sense, become a blank slate.
That was why her Innate Bounded Field had unfolded so quickly. So fast that in the instant he came back to his senses, he had already been swallowed into it!
"Innate Bounded Field: The Throne of Heaven."
"Welcome—to my world!"
Just as Lu Kang had his trump cards, Kishinami Kiara also had hers! It was a competition of who had more trump cards, whose methods were hidden deeper. The contest of mystery had always been like this. It was a battle between old schemers. The Burial Agency was no exception to this!
"Well then," she purred. "Let us enjoy ourselves together!"
In the flowing, black Innate Bounded Field, the Demonic Bodhisattva was radiant, her golden eyes shining. At this moment, Lu Kang met her gaze. He stared at the woman before him. His gaze swept over her charming face, past her slender neck, lingered on the exposed white skin of her full chest, then fell to her slender waist and the starting place below, which was barely covered by a thin triangle of cloth. The full curve of her hips extended into plump, full legs.
The woman, standing tall in the darkness, could arouse the hidden desires in one's heart just by standing there—an unparalleled craving, born of biological instinct! This was the 'Throne of Heaven'. It was also the Realm of Desire, the Sixth Heaven in Buddhism. Staying here, even a person with a will of iron would be burned by the flames of desire, their soul burned to ashes! But before that, one would also enjoy unparalleled pleasure—'pleasure', with the Demonic Bodhisattva.
"As the first person to enter this place after I mastered my Innate Bounded Field, you will ascend with me!" Kishinami Kiara reached out to the man who, in the darkness, seemed to have fallen into a daze from the rolling desires, completely unaware. Her slender fingers beckoned. The Demonic Bodhisattva would bestow nirvana—with 'great compassion', she would inflict the ultimate evil!
But soon, the alluring curve of her lips froze. Because her hand had missed. She had clearly touched him, but she had not grasped anything. Kishinami Kiara's hand passed through Lu Kang's shadow. What she had grasped was just a phantom!
The shadow before her... "An illusion?"
The most basic of magecraft, a mystic art looked down upon by most magi—a skill that even ordinary people could use under certain circumstances to confuse others. Kishinami Kiara suddenly realized—she suddenly realized that Lu Kang had never been pulled in here. She suddenly came to her senses. It turned out that when she had met his gaze, she had, without knowing it, fallen under his illusion!
When did that happen? she wondered. It was unclear. The woman's eyes narrowed slightly. The Innate Bounded Field, at the same time, slowly began to retract, revealing the covered scenery. Since that guy had never been swallowed into the Innate Bounded Field, she would naturally go outside to find him and then swallow him in. Although she didn't know when he had used the illusion, she was still confident. The holder of an Innate Bounded Field should have this kind of confidence!
The Demonic Bodhisattva, having broken free, reappeared in reality. What she saw was still the cold street, but that guy's figure was gone. Did Lu Kang Luvest take the opportunity to escape? Kishinami Kiara was not surprised. Faced with an Innate Bounded Field, he could only avoid its edge. But it was useless. She would find him.
"You can't escape—"
"Who said I ran?"
As one sentence fell, another suddenly sounded, exploding from right behind her! As if her hair were standing on end, every hair on Kiara's body stood up at once! Because of the voice, and even more because of the hand that fell on her shoulder at the same time as the voice!
Lu Kang, from behind Kishinami Kiara, clasped her shoulder and waist. The warmth of his palm instantly touched the Demonic Bodhisattva's fair and delicate skin. His palm sank slightly into the soft flesh of her waist, his open fingers gently resting on the deep curve below her waist. An ambiguous action and posture, yet filled with a chilling killing intent!
"You..." For the first time, a look of panic appeared on Kishinami Kiara's face. For the first time, the words that came from her red lips were filled with a violent fluctuation.
"Surprised?" Lu Kang grinned. "I was actually never able to avoid your Innate Bounded Field. The illusion I cast on you was the impression that 'I was not pulled into your Innate Bounded Field'. Arrogance is your greatest downfall, Demonic Bodhisattva—I was behind you the whole time, waiting for you to open it yourself!"
But Kishinami Kiara had not actually looked down on Lu Kang. What she had truly overlooked was merely the most basic 'illusion'. An illusion that even ordinary people could use is often difficult to be effective in a high-level mystic battle where everything is anticipated. But just because no one uses it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Even the most common illusion, if used properly, can achieve victory through surprise. Not to mention—what Lu Kang possessed was an illusion from the Magecraft of the Mind, one that could be activated instantly, without any warning, without any ritual!
"An instant illusion?" Kishinami Kiara also came back to her senses. Although the warmth from her shoulder and waist made her whole body feel strangely hot, a body that had never been touched by an outsider before was being held so close for the first time in her life. But as a member of the Burial Agency, she remained calm. Calmly, she recognized Lu Kang's ability. Calmly, she recognized the current situation.
At this moment, the not-yet-completely-closed Innate Bounded Field, 'The Throne of Heaven', had been invaded by an external mystery! Lu Kang was taking the opportunity to invade her Innate Bounded Field—using the opening to reconnect with the Phantasm he had summoned into reality!
"Although the fact that you have an Innate Bounded Field was beyond my expectations, the mystery that makes up your Innate Bounded Field was not," Lu Kang said thus. "The Evils of Humanity—am I right?"
He let go of her. The woman with long, flowing hair and a mostly-nude, beautiful figure took two steps forward, then turned back. Her charming face, flushed red, was even more alluring. She licked her red lips and said, "Yes, but so what? Love, hate, resentment, envy—the various desires and negative emotions of the human heart are the Evils of Humanity."
Kishinami Kiara still acted fearlessly. Although she had panicked for a moment, in the next, her red lips were still bewitching and alluring. She even unhurriedly introduced her power to Lu Kang. She could feel what he was doing at this moment. She knew he was trying to erode her Innate Bounded Field, to seize her power. And she let him, even wished for him to do so. She wished for him to directly face the erosion of the Evils of Humanity. In that case, he would fall into madness. He would die. The Evils of Humanity were not something that could be easily borne!
However, what she did not know was that this was also part of Lu Kang's plan. Although she's an alternate-universe counterpart, he thought, since they share the same origin, this woman named Kishinami Kiara's abilities are eighty or ninety percent similar to the 'Evils of Humanity'. Sure enough, the black mud that wove the Innate Bounded Field was the Evils of Humanity.
So at this moment, she was still smiling, smiling fearlessly. So at this moment, the half-hidden Innate Bounded Field was filled with blackness, but one could vaguely see the cold streets of Moscow in 1917 and the towering figure standing above the distant palace.
Lu Kang reached out his hand. He said in a low voice, "Are you ready?" This was not said to Kishinami Kiara, but to the primeval beast that was the manifestation of Nicholas II, several miles away. The towering beast cast its scarlet, sun-like eyes down.
Kishinami Kiara was stunned. She did not see him show any signs of madness after bearing the Evils of Humanity, because he had not placed this power directly on himself, but... at the moment he received Nicholas II's response, he had released it!
The vast black mud instantly scattered like splashing water droplets. But they did not disappear. Instead, they were driven by the mystery manifested by the generations of Tsars, merging into the air, flowing into the earth. Carried by the wind, moved by the clouds. With a single thought from Lu Kang Luvest... he drew in even more 'evil'!
He used the Evils of Humanity to attract more Evils of Humanity. All the evil thoughts and sins that permeated the soil of the Tsarist empire! The so-called evil is sin. It is also the negative emotions in the human heart.
At this instant, on the streets of Moscow, someone who saw the wind and snow cease stepped out. He looked up at the dark sky and felt that the darkness was exceptionally thick. But his heart felt as if a weight had been lifted, completely at ease.
In the farmlands of the Tsarist empire, an old farmer who had suffered under oppression suddenly grinned, as if all his past despair would be shed. He would have a bright tomorrow.
Merchants from the south and north stopped to breathe. The humble and timid poor suddenly gained the courage to resist. They all shed the 'evil' in their hearts—greed is evil, despair is evil, cowardice is also evil! Their evil was drawn to one place!
"I will bear the sins of the Tsarist empire of this era," Lu Kang said softly, standing on the street. He began to chant the ritual!
Kishinami Kiara finally knew his true purpose. Her first reaction was that he was insane. He actually wants to bear all the evil of the Tsarist empire of this era to usher in a new age? The Burial Agency was not short of lunatics. But she felt that the man before her was crazier than all of them! No—not just him. Nicholas II as well. Kishinami Kiara's thoughts were suddenly in a turmoil.
But Lu Kang didn't even glance at her. He just stared into the distance at the 'clouds' gathering in the sky—they were clouds, but also constantly emerging black mud, the materialized Evils of Humanity. From the very beginning, he had not considered the Church or Kishinami Kiara as his opponents. He was not here to fight. He was here to create a new era, to create mystery. So the Church was merely his tool. There was no need for hostility, nor for slaughter.
Lu Kang slowly walked away. This day, the sky over Moscow was as black as the abyss. This day, the sky over the Tsarist empire was stained with evil. This day, this moment, the beast that was the manifestation of Nicholas II roared at the sky. The ferocious shadow of the terrifying beast appeared in everyone's sight.
And a human figure also appeared. Lu Kang, chanting the mystic ritual, walked before It. They would bear all the evil of the era. Just as planned—in front of the great crowd, he would display the second mystery of this life!
...
The sky was like an abyss.
It was the sign of purgatory's descent.
It was also the deepest, darkest hour before the dawn!
—From a "Russian Folk Song"
....
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