Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 668 No need to worship gods anymore, worship me instead.

The voices asking questions overlapped and intertwined, as if they were shouting in a vast, empty hall, even though he was clearly sitting at the table.

Jules didn't reply. Like a child, he looked around in amazement, wandering around and occasionally reaching out to touch things.

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect the famous Council of Keepers of Secrets to be so incompetent. As expected, the near-gods are more concerned about the Three Points Gate. In the present world, there is only an empty shell left."

As he spoke, he looked up at the seven hooded "Guardians of the Secret." The dim light in the room made it impossible to see what was under the hoods, but the cameras in Jules's eye sockets clearly showed that there were no human faces among them.

"Oh, I almost forgot, you don't even have physical bodies."

"What exactly do you want?" The leader of the [Guardians of Secrets] tilted his head. "You should know that it's not difficult for us to use our powers in this room."

"Indeed, indeed, the [Guardians of Secrets]... let alone me, even if the [Named Ones] came, they might not be able to do anything to you, but..."

He suddenly tilted his ear, as if listening to something.

"The ceremony is complete."

"What kind of ceremony?!"

The keeper of secrets suddenly stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

The other [Guardians of the Secret] also turned their heads sharply, and a hint of human shock appeared in their empty hoods.

"What ceremony? It's the ceremony of sublimation, of course. You should have felt the crack when the Gate of Three Points opened, right? As expected of my good niece, the ceremony was completed without any mistakes, and I also sublimated through this."

He smiled and casually picked up the cardinal's scepter beside him.

Michelle pushed open the door and froze on the spot.

He had expected to see those imposing, high-ranking figures, but instead he only saw one man.

Jules was giving himself a pampering treatment, his two mechanical arms skillfully applying holy oil to the bearings, while his other two hands casually wiped the cardinal's scepter with a white cloth.

Michelle's gaze shifted to the scepter in his hand, the white cloth stained with blood, and upon closer inspection, the white cloth also had wavy gold edges.

"It's strange, isn't it? The physical body in this world is clearly a projection of the entity in the Sea of ​​Ignorance, yet it still splatters blood when hit."

Without waiting for Michel's reply, Jules continued speaking on his own:
"To be honest, I find it a bit strange. The power of the [Keepers of Secrets] is clearly unable to affect reality, so why does the church still follow their arrangements? The Candlelight Church is a church in this world, an existence in another world. Neither the [Keepers of Secrets] nor gods should be worshipped. Power that cannot be used is not power."

Michelle stared at the corpse on the ground, speechless.

“I have a better suggestion. You can come and worship me. You see, I have power, which I can use in this world. Am I not much better than any god?”

Jules stood up with a smile, kicked the corpse at his feet aside, and held the scepter with both arms outstretched, as if to embrace everything before him.

He smiled and looked at the investigators.

"Now, who is for it and who is against it?"

In the dimly lit room, the man stood motionless with his head down.

His hands were suspended from the chain rings, and if you looked closely, you could see that the chain was covered with tiny, dense patterns.

The man had many wounds, many of which were deep enough to expose the bone, and white maggots were slowly gnawing at the flesh and blood on those wounds.

The wound was slowly healing, but every time a wisp of new flesh grew, it would be torn off and swallowed by the maggots, and fresh blood would drip down the skin and fall to the ground.

The bloodstains on the ground had turned black, and there were countless layers of blood covering the surface.

boom.

The door was suddenly opened, and the man struggled to lift his eyelids and look over.

Upon seeing the white robe trimmed with gold, the man lowered his head again.

The footsteps of the approaching man were unhurried, growing closer until they stopped in front of the iron bars on the cell. A clinking of keys and the sickening clang of rusted bearings echoed as the door to the man's cell was opened.

"Isaac, it's been a long time."

Isaac struggled to lift his head, his gaze sweeping past the clean, crisp robes of the Candlelight Order before settling on the hand opposite him.

That was a mechanical hand.

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly realized a possibility in his chaotic mind. A powerful force burst forth from his dying body, and he abruptly raised his head.

Opposite him, Jules crossed his arms and looked at him with a half-smile.

"Is this how you seek revenge? You joined the Moth of Fire to overthrow the Holy See, but after all that upheaval, you've ended up here yourself?"

"Jules!"

Isaac gritted his teeth and growled, about to say something, when he suddenly noticed the mechanical arm extending from Jules' back.

The mechanical arm held a cardinal's scepter.

"You're a cardinal now?"

“Cardinal? Ha.” Jules sneered, raising the mechanical arm holding the scepter and then slamming it down.

boom!
Isaac collapsed to the ground, took several deep breaths before mustering the strength to stand up with difficulty.

He stared in shock at the broken chain on his wrist.

"How did you do that? This is capable of isolating the Sea of ​​Ignorance."

"Who told you I drew upon the power of the Sea of ​​Ignorance?"

Isaac was taken aback.

“I no longer need to connect to the Sea of ​​Ignorance to gain power. I am power itself. Let alone these isolating chains, even if you were trapped in the Sea of ​​Ignorance, I could forcibly pull you back to reality.”

"What's the use of having power if you still can't take revenge?"

Jules sighed as he looked at Isaac's incredulous expression.

“Isaac, I told you on the day Dream City was destroyed that you had gone down the wrong path. You and I are the only two dual-path superhumans in the world, and we should develop this power.”

"But you've always been obsessed with relying on others—whether it's joining the Firemoth or going to that Castel thing."

"But the Moth that chases the flame can't save you. Castel is far away. The only thing you can trust is your own strength."

Jules looked at his hands, his eyes filled with longing and fascination.

"If you ask me, you're not as good as my niece in this respect. At least she knew that the Mechanical Temple was unreliable and even planned to ascend herself. It's a pity she's probably dead by now."

Isaac stared warily at Jules, took a step back, and the iron chain on his wrist jingled as it dragged on the ground.

"What do you want me to do? Help you attack the Candlelight Society? We can discuss it. As long as it allows me to take revenge, anything is negotiable."

Jules slowly raised his head, stared at Isaac, and the corners of his mouth gradually curved into a smile.

"Revenge? You have no revenge to exact. I have already killed all those who persecuted us in the past."

After saying this, without waiting for a response, he slammed the scepter down into the stone slab, then turned and left.

"You are now free. Take up that scepter and you will be the cardinal of the Candlelight Church."

(End of this chapter)