Chapter 1164: Chapter 4: Land of Obsession (Part 4)
4. Tournament
The conflict between the Duchy of Saint Mark and the Free State was incessant, and the invasion of the Arlen Kingdom made them quickly unite. When the Westerners who coveted their fertile lands got involved, the Arlen Kingdom, the Duchy of Saint Mark, and the Del people of the Free State donned their ancestral bull helmets to counterattack the invaders. The Teman people from the Barren Lands across the strait surged onto the land, causing the Del and the Westerners to simultaneously halt their centuries-long war and drive the Teman back into the sea. Finally, when the bizarre infiltrated the world, the two continents ceased their conflicts against each other to deal with the new common enemy.
A few days after the Glorious Knights’ second expedition to the surface, Lu Li received a letter from Professor Hagrid inviting him to visit his home in the Inner City. Considering the good relationship with Professor Hagrid and the fact that the attic of the resting inn would soon become an aerial garden filled with plants, Lu Li packed his luggage and flower pots and boarded Professor Hagrid’s carriage, which was personally sent to pick him up, stopping in front of a beautiful house in the Inner City. Professor Hagrid introduced Lu Li to his wife, Mim, and his son, Xisone — an eight-year-old boy who needed to stoop to pass through doorways and who had some intellectual disabilities. Professor Hagrid, saddened, explained that his child had suffered a calamity when young, as he led Lu Li to place his luggage in the guest room on the second floor.
They talked about recent events before heading back downstairs to the dining room to enjoy a carefully prepared sumptuous lunch. Professor Hagrid opened his cherished red wine and filled the glasses for Lu Li, his wife, and son. “To Lu Li.” They raised their glasses and drank the swaying wine. Lu Li apparently didn’t notice the problem with the red wine because when a tidal wave of drowsiness overwhelmed him, both he and the table-flipping Professor Hagrid fell into a deep sleep — the last scene he saw was the indifferent expressions of Mim and Xisone. When Lu Li awoke from the slight cool bumps, he and Professor Hagrid were bound inside the swaying, inaudible, and unseen carriage being taken to the surface.
Lu Li found himself embroiled in a true conspiracy, a sacrificial ritual conducted by corrupt believers of the Church of Truth. They used darkness to combat the light represented by Lu Li; exchanged Lu Li’s kindness to the Hagrid family for hostility; orchestrated Lu Li’s escape from the camp prison they constructed; betrayed Lu Li’s trust in Professor Hagrid, who had long been a corrupted believer; converted the hope of escape into despair; and then, at the point of all corresponding balances, made Lu Li the sacrificial offering in the twisted ritual of the corrupt believers, completing the final balance of life and death.
Flames burned in the noontide dusk. Professor Hagrid used a short dagger to slice Lu Li’s nape, the blood flowing down his neck into the runestone column behind him. Lu Li couldn’t comprehend the betrayal of Professor Hagrid, just as he, as a non-believer, couldn’t understand the fervor of all believers. Professor Hagrid was not stingy with answers, revealing the truth, and at the last moment, stepping down from the altar, alongside the gathered believers reciting in unison: “We offer the perfect ritual bestowed to you—The Most Supreme Truth, Master of Balance—from the opposition of light and dark as the bones, the conflict of life and death as the flesh, the transcendence of hope and despair as the blood, the transformation of friendliness and hostility as the tendons, the contradiction of trust and betrayal as the skin, the capture and escape as the hair, may you accept the offering your devout followers have prepared for you!”
An indescribable, unnameable, incomprehensible, and elusive hazy consciousness descended upon the altar, a strange and fantastical golden scale resembling light wings manifesting behind Lu Li. “This is false balance…” The Exorcist’s weak murmurs faintly echoed in the interstices of the resonant prayers: “The claws of the Outer Gods reach into the world… the surface shrouded in darkness… the bizarre rampant across the land… humanity cowering in corners… native deities hunted… is strength and weakness also balance?” The self-saving Exorcist whispered a litany: “With the opposition of light and dark as bones… the conflict of life and death as flesh… the transcendence of hope and despair as blood… the transformation of friendliness and hostility as tendons… the contradiction of development and betrayal as skin… the capture and escape as hair… and the reversal of the sacrificial becoming the sacrificer… arrange this perfect ritual offering to you… The Most Supreme Truth… Master of Balance… please accept the offering your devout followers have prepared: the heretics who forsook the truth of balance…”
The twisted cultists who wanted to sacrifice Lu Li ultimately ended up being sacrificed to their god by Lu Li. Just a short while ago, the Glorious Knights who had arrived on the surface seemed to wait for this moment—how else to explain that shortly thereafter, Claire led them to find Lu Li at the Equilibrium Church’s camp? All the believers of the Equilibrium Church had returned to their master’s embrace, but the waves stirred up by the storm did not dissipate: Lu Li’s soul bore the imprint of the Master of Balance caused by the sacrifice. Luckily, the Master of Balance was not an Evil God or a malevolent deity that commands its followers, but an ancient divinity that defied good and evil, not twisted by the world, and originated from the world’s rules. Lu Li, bearing the imprint, would align with the world’s rules and truth sect, with no negative repercussions, as if this sacrifice was actually a meticulously prepared gift from the Equilibrium Church.
After inspections, Deputy Director Chris tossed a set of keys to the temporarily homeless Exorcist, being her house, though long unoccupied, and Lu Li could stay there until the March Tournament came—Lu Li cleared the attic, resided there, and resumed his peaceful daily routine of reading books. In the following days, ripples formed by the waves continued to arrive: for instance, the luggage and flower pots left in Professor Hagrid’s house were returned, and Giant Tree Academy had found a replacement for Professor Hagrid to teach low-grade Mysticology.
Claire learned that Lu Li was living at their place and occasionally started returning, taking Lu Li out from the piles of books for relaxation. After a few days of this, while Lu Li accompanied Claire in resolving a Malicious Spirit task, they encountered a curfew on King’s Boulevard—a March Tournament team, the Bloodline Family Alliance, was entering the city at this time. Lu Li and Claire stood by the street, watching, but what followed was not pleasant, as due to the Malicious Spirit they had dealt with, they had a minor clash with the Monsk family of the Bloodline Family, a conflict that might extend into the tournament.
As the March Tournament approached, other participating teams gradually arrived at Midnight City: Giant Tree Academy, Five Great Knight Orders, Noble Council, Fearsome Brutal God Clan, Conspiracy Web Deity Sect, Midnight Lady Church, Bloodline Family Alliance, Old Sewers Front, Spirit Town Union, and God Chosen Secret Group—forming a grand congregation of human civilization’s power. On the fourth day, Lu Li formally received an invitation from Giant Tree Academy:
[Honorable His Excellency Lulian,]
[We earnestly invite you to participate in the Top Ten Tournament in three days’ time, may glory and brilliance be yours.]
[—Giant Tree Academy Mentor Council]
On the morning three days later, Lu Li returned to Giant Tree Academy, and together with the students who also received invitations and were filled with nervous excitement, took the elevator to the Swamp to participate in the opening of the March Tournament.