After her stern criticism, Louise also timely softened her tone, trying to make Tiya see the error of her ways.
Unfortunately, she was unaware that the bond between them was no longer based on desire, but on guilt and a sense of indebtedness.
Tiya stood silently in her place.
After a short while, she finally spoke softly, "I understand."
At her words, Louise felt a surge of joy and pinched her small hand, "Now that you've figured it out, let's just leave the rest to these people, and we should head back to the Church first..."
To her surprise, Tiya decisively refused.
Louise was taken aback, "Why?"
"After all, a person can only live once," Tiya's voice was very soft, her gaze fixed on the boy whose breath was growing fainter, "At the very least, he shouldn't die unnoticed at the end of his life's final journey."
"If someone must put an end to his life, then I hope... that the person to witness the end... is me."
Hearing this, Louise fell into a long silence.
After an unknown amount of time, she sighed softly, "Count me in then, but that doesn't include handling the funeral process afterwards, okay?"
Tiya gave her a look, showing a trace of gratitude.
Meanwhile, the dispute and noise surrounding the limb connector were still not over.
Furthermore, due to the shattered temptation of the Holy Spirit Tree Branch, many Transcendents present were provoked into true anger by Casimo's action, rolling up their sleeves as if ready to fight.
"Save it, you're no match for me."
Casimo, the Military Department Extraordinary who succeeded in assassinating Lynn, glanced at the Transcendent.
This group was affiliated with the Fertility Church.
All along, they seemed to covet the Holy Spirit Tree, even privately considering it the "Tree of Fertility" described in their scriptures, but they never dared to claim such openly due to the authority of Saint Laurent VI.
"You seem confident?" the Transcendent from the Fertility Church said coldly, "What if you add these people behind me to the equation?"
"Even with those thirteen rubbish behind you, the outcome would be the same."
Transcendents from the Military Department often proved stronger than their counterparts from other factions.
Not because the number and quality of their Divine-given factors surpassed the others, but because, in terms of combat skills, Military Department Extraordinaries, who fought regularly with the Demon Clan on battlefields, were more adept at chaotic fighting and killing.
Hearing this, the Fertility Church's Transcendent frowned, "What are you blabbering about? I clearly have twenty-six people here, how could you possibly...."
However, before he could finish speaking, he turned to look behind and suddenly froze.
At the same time, some people in the crowd finally caught on and asked subconsciously, "Does anyone else feel like a lot of people are missing?"
Initially, the old factory was filled with teams of Transcendents from various factions.
But now, the number that met their eyes was less than half that of before.
There was supposed to be chaos at the scene keeping everyone busy.
Furthermore, the main forces hadn't yet arrived at the location, so how could those involved possibly forgo this opportunity to leave without a trace?
Besides leaving of their own volition, what other possibility could there be?
Could it be... an external factor?
For a moment, an ominous premonition crept up.
Everyone's expression instantly turned vigilant.
Then, a Transcendent with sharp hearing exclaimed in terror, "Did anyone hear some strange sounds?!"
Some frowned and held their breath, listening closely, "...It seems there is a rustling noise, could it be rats running in the sewers?"
"No, it's not that kind of sound!" Suddenly, the man covered his ears and collapsed to the ground in near breakdown, "It's... it's..."
Everyone's gaze simultaneously shifted to him.
His behavior was strange.
Moreover, ever since the limb connector had been executed on the spot, the surrounding situation had started to turn eerie.
As Transcendents, they often dealt with extraordinary events related to Sealed Objects and Polluters, so they were extremely cautious and didn't approach immediately.
But in the next second, everyone saw a scene that sent chills down their spines.
The Transcendent who claimed to hear strange sounds was clutching his ears tightly as he started convulsing unnaturally, and thin streams of blood seeped through his fingertips.
Eventually, the Transcendent could no longer withstand the sudden pain and doubled over as he vomited.
Chunks of substance mixed with stomach fluid fell to the ground.
Someone looked closely and then revealed an intense expression.
Those were... several human fingers.
But why would they suddenly appear in that guy's stomach?
As they were puzzled by this question, an unexpected change occurred.
The Transcendent who had been holding his ears suddenly froze.
In full view of everyone, two adult-thick arms emerged without warning from his ears.
Although called "emerging," it was more like using sheer force to push an object of the wrong size into a narrow channel, trying to change its shape with external pressure, and forcefully cramming it in.
And the outcome was inevitably gruesome.
With the sound of flesh and blood splattering, the Transcendent's head burst open from the arms that had been forced through his ear canals.