The raindrops hit the wooden cabin with a dull sound, seemingly telling the world that this was nature's power displaying its immense might.
Without sorrow or joy, filled with ancient power and terrifying majesty, the message was transmitted to the mind of the girl kneeling on the ground!
It wasn't a language or text that belonged to humans, devoid of any mortal emotions, an indescribable stream of information rearranged and recombined, forming a meaning that her barren mind could comprehend.
A deity!
Irene was astounded. She never expected the source of the voice to actually be a god from myth and legend!
There were many legends about the Sea God around the East Coast. The priests of the Tempest Church believed He was the manifestation of the Tempest Overlord, and many sailors and fishermen worshipped the Sea God.
She knew that the gods of myth and legend were mostly capricious, sometimes saving the world and at other times possibly destroying everything.
She must repay this deity well, partly out of a sense of gratitude and partly to prevent disaster from befalling this town!
"Great deity, thank you for saving us. I really... really have no way to repay you, but I will do my best. No matter what you ask, I will find a way to fulfill it,"
Irene responded cautiously, fearing to anger this mysterious deity.
Karl suddenly realized that transmitting thoughts also consumed a small amount of Spiritual Power, so it seemed necessary to cherish each exchange.
He decided not to use real language anymore, only to convey commands that contained the most basic meanings, saving as much of his already scarce Spiritual Power as possible.
Orders devoid of human emotions yet comprehensible suddenly emerged in the depths of the girl's heart.
She understood immediately!
"Great being, do you need the power contained within that amulet? Do you want me to get it before reaching that transparent bottle?"
Irene nodded repeatedly, got up, and ran outside the cabin, suppressing her nausea as she found a purple finger-shaped amulet on the charred corpse of a priest, with charred flesh sticking to it, looking extremely nauseating.
Karl had already sensed the Spiritual Power contained within it, stirring deep inside him like a delicious dessert.
Irene knelt before the transparent bottle, trembling hands presenting the purple finger-shaped amulet, offering it haltingly in fear.
"Great Lord of the Lost, I, I offer it to you."
The next moment, the Spiritual Power contained within the finger amulet flew toward the bottle and into Karl's soul.
He suddenly discovered that after awakening from darkness, his efficiency in devouring Spirituality had significantly increased.
Compared to the bottle, the Spirituality contained in the amulet was tiny, so Karl quickly devoured it completely.
Suppose Karl's original limit of Scant Spiritual Power was ten. After devouring the Spirituality in the bottle, it transformed into thirty, and completely consuming the amulet only increased his limit to just thirty-two.
The Spirituality he had nearly exhausted by casting a "curse" also recovered to nearly one-tenth.
"Huh?"
Irene marvelled as the purple finger visibly withered and finally turned into black ashes and disappeared.
Yet another wondrous phenomenon!
It seemed like it had been eaten by the great deity!
"Are you satisfied?" Irene asked with her head lowered, glancing at her brother's condition.
Suddenly, she noticed her brother's breathing was a bit off, gradually becoming rapid.
"Chris!"
Soon Irene realized that her brother had a fever!
However, in this stormy weather, it was challenging to find medicine. When young children developed fevers, the mortality rate was shocking!
Irene gazed at her brother, whose breathing had become rapid, struggling with deep-seated pain and tempted to brave the night rain and go to town.
But the heavy rain made the roads slippery and muddy, and even if she could reach the town overnight, she had no money to buy expensive fever-reducing medicine.
The town's doctors, accustomed to seeing patients without money every day, had become indifferent. Begging would hardly get her medicine, and if she encountered an accident halfway, her brother might not survive.
"How could this be?"
Before one crisis was over, another arose. Irene's heart was nearly breaking, and tears of despair flowed continuously from her eyes.
There was one more way.
She had to continue praying to this deity, hoping to save her brother.
She knelt on the ground with tears streaming down her face, once again praying to the mysterious being who had saved both herself and her brother.
"Please save us, great Lord of the Lost. I am willing to offer you anything!"
"Great deity, please save my brother. I can't lose him!"
[He shall be saved.]
Without sorrow or joy, an otherworldly voice suddenly entered her mind, and Irene looked up in astonishment.
A strong sense of fear surged from within her. The mysterious presence so easily fulfilled her successive wishes. Was it a great and benevolent deity or an utterly evil devil?
But regardless of whether it was a god or a devil, as long as it could save her brother, she would offer anything to it!
Irene continued to kneel despite the pain in her legs, with no room for hesitation, pleading with the mysterious voice.
"Please save my brother. As long as you don't harm my family, you can take anything from me!"
Life and soul, as long as they could bring life to her family, were worthy sacrifices. As long as her family lived healthy lives, it was already destiny's favor!
As a former business sales associate, Karl had long forgotten the embarrassment of communication. He was practically a social terror.
He knew best how to communicate, connect, and create trust with "clients" through a series of techniques and methods.
The "clients" would never truly trust anyone; they only believed in what they expected and desired, becoming obsessed, even unable to extricate themselves.
The two people before him needed not power or dignity, but merely the right to survive.
Thus, he and they could collaborate.
Karl's will, which did not belong to humans, echoed again, full of awe-inspiring majesty, making one want to worship.
Solemn will was transmitted, and then reconstructed into a comprehensible meaning. Irene paused slightly, then understood that from the beginning she had to accept the fate the mysterious existence would soon bestow.
Fate had already revealed an irresistible corner, whether the source of the voice was an evil devil or a great Divine being!
Karl could clearly sense that the green grass rune in his soul had the characteristic of "healing," and might cure the baby's illness.
But how to use this power was truly a problem.
Exerting influence on the outside world would consume a lot of his Spiritual Power, and it was better to keep the remaining spirituality as a reserved card.
Then, it seemed a different method could work.
He could fully feel the strong connection with the girl, allowing him to share the permission to activate the green grass rune.
The next moment, Karl again transmitted his will, instructing Irene to gaze at the transparent bottle not far away.
"What does that mean?"
The situation being what it was, Irene knew she had no choice but to trust the mysterious existence of the voice's source completely.
As she looked at the bottle on the wooden bed, she suddenly noticed that the old transparent bottle had a constantly flashing dazzling cross of black light in the middle.
The twisted and horrifying aura it emitted immobilized her!
When she stared at the black light, all the colors in the world seemed to disappear in an instant. Everything in the picture was reduced to the most basic black-and-white, the surrounding sounds vanished completely, and all Spirituality and Life seemed to have been stripped away to an irredeemable degree.
All things and matters had an end; everything would be utterly destroyed by it, a terrifying thought simultaneously formed in Irene's mind.
This was the power of the God!
How great!
Inescapably revered!
That was the extraordinary power of the Lord of the Lost!
Irene trembled unconsciously, and the light and shadow of the green grass rune subtly appeared in her pupils.
Karl sensed that "soul imprint" already existed in Irene's soul, enough to activate the magical power contained within the green grass rune.
The recent action was like sharing some kind of administrator permission, except given her pitifully small soul quality, enduring a single soul imprint was probably her limit.
Irene felt extremely confused and trembled slightly.
She discovered that deep inside, a warm power was seemingly hidden, gentle enough to heal any injury in the mundane world.
Undoubtedly, this was the power granted by the great Lord of the Lost!
The wind roared by with thunder, coming from outside the wooden house, sharply hitting her with rain like blades, tearing her clothes and chilling her into fierce trembling.
The light of the firewood extinguished, the girl soaked all over was confused in the dark.
She didn't know whether that power could really save her brother's life, instinctively praying to the Gods and the heavens.
"Gods and Fate of heaven, whatever happens, please do not take him!"
In the wind and rain, the girl roared, glaring at the sky, tears streaming down her face.
But would the True Gods, preached by the Church, really pity mankind?
If they were truly helpful, wouldn't her father and mother have already returned?
The Gods were useless!
A determined look flashed across her eyes, and she shouted instead:
"Great Lord of the Lost, please save him!"
Irene took a deep breath, turned to her brother's side, and slowly sat down, struggling to lift the baby's hot head.
"Come on, come on, just get better."
In the depths of uncertainty and expectation, the light and shadow of the green grass rune flickered in Irene's pupils, her hands gradually emitted a vibrant green light.
The feverish baby had already fallen into unconsciousness, the weight of Life was so small and fleeting. A gentle warm current suddenly began to flow into the baby's body.
At that moment, all of Irene's heart was focused on him, truly hoping that her brother's tiny Life would not vanish here. Great Lord of the Lost, please bestow a Miracle.
A Miracle occurred!
As the warm current flowed in, the baby's breathing became steady, the feverish heat of his body gradually subsided, and the painful expression on his face disappeared.
The baby still slept but no longer had a fever; the disease that could have brought death instantly retreated, a Miracle that occurred in an instant!
A very delighted expression appeared on Irene's face, it happened!
That power just now was the divine power granted by the Lord of the Lost!
How on earth should I repay Him!