13 Mink Street Novel Chapter 70: Grandpa’s Divinity!

Chapter 70: Grandpa’s Divinity!

Upon facing the man who had once been its master, the golden retriever shrank back. It could sll that the man in front of it did not have at all the sa scent as its forr owner, and that difference frightened the beast.

However, as soon as Mr. Hoffen’s hand settled onto its neck and began to stroke the dog, familiar feelings returned. The golden retriever slowly leaned its head against Hoffen, its expression easing into enjoynt and affection.

“Very good,” Mr. Hoffen said. Sealing the heretical god inside the golden retriever did not an the dog would be killed, because they were sealing the heretical god, not rely storing it within the animal temporarily. Any other option would risk the heretical god being able to erge at any mont, which would defeat the purpose.

This was a thod of soul custody.

To use a taphor, it was like strapping a small backpack onto the golden retriever, and the heretical god would be placed inside that backpack. When it needed to be used, it would be possible to simply call the golden retriever over, open that backpack, and take out what was needed. The key difference was that this backpack would be almost impossible to remove from the dog.

Of course, the golden retriever itself would carry certain risks, but what in the world was without risk?

Moreover, the dog itself would benefit. First, it would live longer than other dogs, perhaps far longer. Second, it would beco smarter.

Of course, with two souls living in one body day in and day out, mutual influence was inevitable. Either the golden retriever, as it grew smarter, would develop a degree of humanlike behavior, or the heretical god would gradually beco more like a dog.

“Alright, I understand. So when do we begin?”

“Now,” Tiz said.

“Now?” Mr. Hoffen froze. “Right now?”

“Yes. Right now.”

“I can complete the seal quickly. Wait, I have a question: can I still use basic Principle powers?”

Tiz nodded. “There is no problem. While you may already be dead, you still have spirituality within you. Also, when I awakened you, I injected so more.”

“Good.” Mr. Hoffen looked over at Alfred. “Co, help

hold Kevin.”

“Alright.” Alfred imdiately stepped forward and grabbed the golden retriever, lifting it up in front of Mr. Hoffen.

Mr. Hoffen spread his hands and began to chant. The next mont, two halos appeared over his palms, runes with hidden aning circulating within them.

Alfred showed no surprise at all, because this was the most basic Art of the Church of Principle, basic to the point of being almost nothing. It was so basic that it could be likened to picking up a pen.

Mr. Hoffen himself did not know many Arts. He had taken the academic path, and did not even know how to fight. Otherwise, he would never have slipped upon eting Karon for the first ti, and nearly killed himself with the fall.

However, the sa pen could produce drastically different things, depending on whether it was wielded by the hands of an ordinary person, the hands of a painter, or the hands of a mathematician or a writer.

Mr. Hoffen only needed this pen, and he could begin “drawing” the ritual array.

Before truly starting, Mr. Hoffen still lifted his head and glanced at Tiz. “Because that heretical god is extrely weak right now, I don’t need to consider the array’s strength, loss, or duration, and when an array doesn’t require any of those considerations, it becos simple.”

Of course, this simplicity was only simple in Mr. Hoffen’s eyes. Everyone understood that an array capable of sealing a heretical god could not possibly be ordinary.

“I only need fifteen minutes to complete it, so, Tiz, I’ll set it up first, and then...”

“No. Together.”

“Together?”

Tiz stood with his hands behind his back. From his feet, enormous black chains spread outward. In an instant, they ford a black barrier that covered the entire Oak Cetery.

Then he began to loosen his realm.

What followed was his aura surging upward at a speed that left one stunned. Before this aura, Alfred felt the impulse to kneel. He had already known that Tiz was powerful, but had never imagined that Tiz could be this powerful.

And yet, this was far from the end, because at this mont, beneath Tiz’s eyes, a layer of gold began to spread. At this mont, the old man possessed a grandeur that no mortal would dare look upon directly.

This was a crushing superiority that went beyond ordinary realms. It was the pressure of a higher level of life itself, as if Tiz was ant to stand and look down upon all beings.

Thud. Within the barrier, Alfred t that presence directly, and he dropped to his knees.

Mr. Hoffen also fell to his knees, because at that mont, a feeling arose within both n: to remain standing would be a sin.

Fortunately, they had rely gone from standing to kneeling, so the golden retriever was still held in Alfred’s arms, and he remained a suitable distance away from Mr. Hoffen.

In truth, even if Alfred had not been holding the dog, it would not have been able to move any longer. It had been frightened to the point that it was foaming at the mouth.

Tiz did not look at them. He slowly raised his head. A small opening split in the barrier above, and Tiz’s gaze pierced it.

The instant that his gaze, bearing a trace of divine will, passed beyond the barrier, three enormous pillars of light shot up at Roja City’s center.

“He can’t suppress his realm anymore?”

“That should be it. He can no longer control himself from stepping into that domain.”

“Wait, wait, wait. This is the price of waiting that you persuaded

to pay. We chose to wait, and he did not even give us a chance to negotiate.”

Rasma’s figure appeared on a rooftop, his gaze fixed in the direction of the cetery.

Even after making countless guesses, even after laying down countless preparations, and even after the consciousness projections of three Temple elders arriving here had practically provided the answer in advance, at this mont, Rasma still felt shaken to the core.

So it turned out that the rival he had asured himself against all this ti had indeed been secretly, quietly, becoming a god.

“Rasma, give the order for them to enter Roja City,” Sithe said.

But at that very mont, to the far north, south, east, and west of Roja City, at positions spaced evenly apart, four more pillars of light rose.

“Church of Abyss.

“Church of Reincarnation.

“Church of Night.

“Church of Principle,” Sithe called out nas one by one. All four were major orthodox churches, and though their absolute power could not compare to the Church of Order, that did not an they lacked the courage to try their luck.

That was because the current temptation was simply too great and could not be denied.

A Temple-elder level existence carrying a godhead fragnt and then defecting was practically impossible, and yet it was happening.

“We can’t wait for more people, Sithe, Niven. We must act first. Rember, we are not attacking Tiz, we are protecting him as he completes his breakthrough. Until the very last mont, we absolutely cannot start a war.”

The next mont, the three pillars of light rose up and shot towards the cetery. At nearly the sa ti, the four pillars that had risen in the cardinal directions also raced for the sa place at the fastest possible speed.

In the eyes of ordinary people, it was only an ordinary, rainy winter night, but in the eyes of those who lived on a different level, the night was so bright that their eyes ached.

***

On the third floor of the Imrs ho, in the study, the candle in front of Karon had almost burned to nothing, which ant that it would go out soon.

When that happened, he would be able to go to the washroom, take a shower, change into sleepwear, climb into a warm bed, and finally fall into sweet dreams.

He was genuinely getting sleepy. The two gazes had been watching him for so long that he had almost stopped feeling them.

If Tiz had not instructed Karon to stare at the fla, he would have wanted to greet whoever those two gazes belonged to and invite them to sit down and rest with him as well.

On the windowsill outside of the study, Pu’er’s head suddenly snapped up. She stared into the sky outside the window, disbelief in her voice. “Tiz can’t suppress his realm anymore? Shouldn’t there still be two more days?”

Pu’er’s head then whipped back around to stare at the study’s door behind. Her whiskers trembled lightly, but she saw nothing.

She had once confidently told Karon that despite not being able to fight, her eyes could see through all things. When the Beguiler had attacked in the hospital, Pu’er had slashed a single paw across its face, leaving it bleeding.

Yet at this mont, Pu’er saw nothing. She turned her head back and continued staring out the window. “Tiz, you absolutely cannot be hard.”

Outside of the study, just behind Pu’er, a man’s mouth curled to form a smile. The cat had apparently sensed sothing, but it was not truly able to see him.

If he had not revealed his anger towards Karon back then, that Inquisitor of the Church of Order would never have been able to sense his existence. In the end, it had been his own carelessness.

Still, it was not entirely his fault. Who could have imagined that after an epoch, the Church of Order would beco so terrifying, to the point that a local Inquisitor could condense a godhead fragnt? What had happened to the world?

Still, it was precisely because of this change that he could wait for a real opportunity. Right now, you can no longer spare attention for anything else, can you? Then I will take back what is mine.

His body passed straight through the study door and entered the study.

“Ah.” Still staring at the candle that was about to go out, Karon yawned and rubbed his eyes.

At that instant, the blue fla suddenly turned black.

Black was also a color, and when it could devour all other colors around it, it beca the brightest color, as it was the only one.

Karon’s heart lurched. He imdiately began scanning the room in tense alarm, but saw nothing.

“My bed was ward, but before I could even lay down in it, you laid down first. Do you know how cold the floor is?

“Now, I will take back my bed, my bedroom, my house, and I will take back my dignity, the dignity of Rhanedar!” As he roared in a language no one could hear, the man stepped into Karon’s body.

In that instant, Karon felt a cold so dreadful that it swept through his whole body. It felt as if his soul had been frozen in a heartbeat.

“You, get out!” Rhanedar roared. More than half of his body had already entered Karon.

At that exact mont, two figures appeared at Karon’s sides: a man and a woman.

Rhanedar laughed loudly. “Useless, useless, hahahaha! I may be unbelievably weak right now, I may be unbelievably wretched, but my state of existence is sothing you cannot see and or even sense! Of course I knew that a Inquisitor who has condensed divinity would leave a precaution for this thief, but does that matter?

“Huh?!” Almost imdiately, Rhanedar let out a cry of shock, because the man and the woman had each reached out and placed one hand on his shoulders. They had grabbed the shoulders of a Him that did not exist.

Most importantly, they had stopped him. They had managed to prevent Rhanedar from fully entering Karon’s body, ending his attempt to take back the body that he had painstakingly improved.

How could this be, how could this be? Not even that Inquisitor could do this. At most, he could burn

with soulfire. He could not actually touch .

So what are you two, and why can you touch

now?

Rhanedar tried to break free of their hands, but he could not. Then, suddenly, he understood. He cried out, “You are his— No, you are this body’s parents!”

His existence leaned toward nonexistence, which made him impossible to capture, but when he tried to enter Karon’s body, Rhanedar had naturally ford a connection with the body, and to a certain extent, his existence shifted because of that. In a sense, he had also beco these two people’s son.

A relationship beyond any pact had been established, because no matter when, a parent’s hands could always sense the presence of their own child.

Karon had seen Tiz light candles in his study, and had even been curious about it, wondering if Tiz might have been preparing so ritual or Art. The truth was that whenever Tiz lit a candle in his study, it ant that, at that particular mont, he was thinking about his son and daughter-in-law.

“Why? Why! Why!!!” Rhanedar roared with unwilling fury. “He isn’t your son either! Your son died long ago! He and I are the sa, outsiders invading this body. Why do you permit his existence, but block my entry? Why? Why is this?!”

The man and woman standing at Karon’s sides kept their hands extended, blocking Rhanedar, yet their eyes never left Karon. They looked at him with gentle gazes, an expression reserved for family.

They had seen the smile that would appear on Tiz’s face in this study after each conversation with Karon. They had heard the expectation and delight in the light footsteps of his younger brother and sister and their nieces and nephews when Karon rang the bell on the second floor, summoning everyone to hurry over to enjoy lunch.

By the windowsill outside of the study, he had taught Mina and helped her study and learn, guiding her while she was still young.

In the bedroom across from the study, he had handed Lent his own inco to use as pocket money, telling the boy to ask again if it was not enough.

He made Mary put away her habit of mocking people.

He made Mason say that he wanted to call him “uncle.”

Not long ago, he had sat in this sa study while the family explained that they had chosen to take out a loan to buy him a house in Veyn, their only wish being that, while he was in a foreign land, he would be able to live more comfortably and with greater confidence.

When the candle had been lit, they had examined him, because they knew that he was not their son, even if the blood in the body was their blood.

When the candle had burned halfway, their gaze began to soften.

Perhaps he was not their son, but he had been trying, all along, to be a mber of the Imrs family. He had been actively blending into the household, and he had done so successfully.

Their son was gone. That was a fact. Fate had taken their son’s life.

But they had gained another family mber.

His younger brother liked him, his sister-in-law liked him, his younger sister liked him, his nieces and nephew liked him, and even his father liked him.

And he also liked his father, and every other person in this ho.

This was the Imrs family, and in the Imrs ho, there was one rule: family above all.

How could we watch you harm my family and remain unmoved?

A deadlock ford.With Karon’s parents barring the way, Rhanedar could not fully enter Karon and complete the replacent, because he really was weak right now; weak, extraordinarily weak.

At that mont, Rhanedar made a decision. He still had ti, he could wait for the next opportunity. Since that Inquisitor would be dragged into the vortex tonight, this ho would fall apart afterward.

You two will no longer exist because of that. I can wait. I can wait for the next opportunity. While I might not have much ti in this drifting state, for now, I can afford to wait.

A heretical god’s decisiveness revealed itself. He no longer tried to enter Karon’s body, and instead, he began to voluntarily withdraw. Once he left Karon’s body and severed that connection, this man and woman would no longer be able to touch him.

His form was pulling free, but at that mont, a slit suddenly opened in Karon’s chest. Then, a hand reached out through that slit and seized Rhanedar.

“No! Nooo!!!”

***

“Tiz, I’ve completed the array,” Mr. Hoffen announced. He had already drawn dense runes across the golden retriever. “But there’s a problem; How do we pull it over here?

“Heavens! Look at all those lights flashing outside. It’s frightening. Can you still go out and make it ho?”

Outside the barrier, a total of seven projected consciousnesses were closing in on the cetery.

“No, there’s another very important problem.” Kneeling on the ground, Mr. Hoffen suddenly shrieked. “How are we supposed to catch it? That heretical god has no substance to it at all.”

Floating in the air, Tiz’s mouth curved into a faint smile. “Now we can catch him, because I am his grandpa.”

As he spoke, a fist-sized black hole opened in Tiz’s chest. He thrust his left hand straight into that black hole. “And also, I once opened a hole in Karon’s chest.”