Inside the Dawn Hall, there was a deathly silence.
Ian retracted the foot he had used to kick Charles flying, stepping lightly onto the ground with a crisp echo.
All the surrounding clamor, conspiracies, and laws seemed to have faded away. Marc had eyes for nothing else. He no longer cared about those scruples; he walked through the mess on the floor and tightly embraced the slightly trembling figure in his arms.
"Ran Bing."
"Marc..."
Amidst the clamor of the apocalypse and the shock of a descending god, their world was reduced to nothing but each other's body temperature and heartbeats.
Ian scoffed at this.
He bent down, grabbing one in each hand. Like dragging two torn gunny sacks, he hauled the unconscious Charles and the paralyzed Morgan behind him, striding outward.
The soles of his armored boots struck the marble floor, producing a rhythmic, heart-palpitating sound.
Along the way, all the guards and higher-ups hastily made way. Their faces were a mix of fear, confusion, and awe. No one dared to step forward and stop this newly ascended, temperamental god.
The former members of the Light and Shadow Church were the first to react.
The confusion on their faces, born from the collapse of their faith, seamlessly transitioned into a fanatical worship of greater power within just a few seconds.
"My Lord!" a church higher-up cried out as he crawled and stumbled to Ian's feet, kissing the ground he walked on while snot and tears streamed down his face.
"You are the true god! Charles is just a fraud who stole your glory. I've hated the sight of him for a long time!"
This seemed to act as a signal.
The rest of the believers woke up as if from a dream. They fell to their knees, kowtowing to this true god, and scrambled to recount their pious deeds in hopes of gaining their new master's favor.
"My Lord! It was me! I was the first to discover someone hoarding food!" a believer boasted, raising his head high with a sickly pride. "That Dustminer wanted to save a piece of bread for his child! I reported him immediately! I even personally supervised the entire process of his family being purified! My loyalty to my Lord is witnessed by heaven and earth!"
Another believer, unwilling to be outdone, shrieked with an even more shrill voice.
"Lord! My dear friend! My best friend! He merely raised a sliver of doubt about the oracle of the Lord of Light and Shadow, and I knew he had been bewitched by demons!"
He beat his chest, tearfully recounting his merits.
"I spent a month! A whole month! I recited your teachings in his ear day and night, tempting him, torturing him, until his mind finally broke and he walked into the Purification Pool himself! I used his fall to prove the unwavering firmness of my faith!"
"And me! My Lord..."
"It was me..."
Listening to these twisted and perverted merits, Ian felt nothing but immense disgust, as if a swarm of putrid flies were buzzing in his ears, polluting his hearing.
He gradually stopped in his tracks and turned his head impatiently.
The tearful pleas and boasting behind him slowly came to a halt.
Ian impatiently swept his gaze over the people groveling on the ground with expectant faces, his eyes finally landing on the guard captain trembling in fear to the side.
"Why are these things still allowed to speak? Dispose of this trash!"
"Don't let their noisy voices dirty my ears."
The guard captain froze.
Dispose of them? How?
He looked at the church members who were acting all high and mighty just a second ago, then looked at Ian's emotionless masked face. A shiver shot straight from his tailbone to the crown of his head.
"Yes, sir!"
Receiving the order, the guards felt as if they had been granted a general amnesty. Their long-suppressed resentment and disgust toward this group of people found an outlet at this very moment.
They immediately stepped forward, roughly dragging away the believers whose expressions instantly shifted from ecstasy to terrified despair.
"My Lord! Why!"
"I am so loyal! You can't do this to me!"
"Spare my life! Lord! I was wrong!"
Screams and pleas for mercy rose and fell. The Dawn Hall instantly transformed into another purgatory.
Right at this moment, a sharp female voice rang out from the hall's entrance.
"Stop! What are you doing!"
Dressed in a cyan-blue combat suit, the valiant Lightbearer arrived leading a squad of elite Law Enforcement Guards. Looking at the bloody and chaotic scene before her, she was somewhat dumbfounded.
"Everyone, stop right now! This is the Lighthouse! Not a slaughterhouse!" she ordered.
"These are the children of the Lord of Light and Shadow. Who gave you permission to lay a hand on them!"
Just as she was about to step forward and stop the guards' brutality, she felt a flash of golden light.
The next moment, the figure dragging the two dead dogs directly dropped the two men in his hands and appeared before her like a phantom.
The Lightbearer's pupils shrank. The muscles all over her body instantly tensed, power gathering in her waist and legs, ready to strike. But before she could react, a strong and powerful arm forcefully pulled her into an embrace with an irresistible posture.
'What kind of move is this? Why have I never heard of it!' the Lightbearer thought in shock.
She struggled with all her might. Her modified body, possessing immense strength, fought back fiercely, yet it was like a stream flowing into the sea, failing to stir up even the slightest ripple. The other party's arm was like an unshakeable mountain, firmly imprisoning her.
"Let go of Lady Lightbearer!" several Law Enforcement Guards shouted angrily, subconsciously raising their guns.
"Don't move!" a regular guard nearby warned, tremblingly pushing down his comrade's gun barrel. His face was deathly pale as he explained in a weak voice, "Lady Lightbearer... this... this is the Lord of Light and Shadow..."
The words Lord of Light and Shadow made the Lightbearer's body stiffen.
Her struggles noticeably weakened. Her muscles remained taut, and her eyes were filled with confusion and intense shock.
Ian lowered his head and whispered a sentence into her ear, using a voice only the two of them could hear.
The Lightbearer's body suddenly stiffened. A blush uncontrollably crept up her well-maintained cheeks, spreading all the way to the roots of her ears.
Her lips parted, and it took a long time before she found her voice, which carried a hint of a tremble.
"Lord God... I am already past my prime. Please do not use my filthy body to defile your holiness."
Ian chuckled lightly, the arm wrapped around her slender waist tightening even further.
"You don't understand."
"Some women are like fine aged wine. The refinement of time only makes them more exquisite."
Having said that, under the numbingly shocked gazes of the Lighthouse crowd, he stepped over Morgan and his son, wrapped his arm around the Lightbearer, and swaggered away.
Seeing this, Marc also wrapped his arm around Ran Bing and walked toward his own quarters.
Tonight, Ian came to a conclusion: the Lightbearer is very supple!