The Last King Of Darkness

No one paid attention to her. The other collectors acted as if they hadn't seen, focusing solely on their work,

until several blades were pointed at his neck and the questioning from the Fire Priest began.

"What happened?"

The collector spoke painfully, "I... I found another lump of condensed matter among the ashes."

"Where is it?"

"In my collection tool, it's stuck."

The Fire Priest warned, "Don't move unnecessarily."

He bent down and without releasing the rope, forcefully pulled the long-shaped collecting tool from his embrace.

The collector's arms were bleeding profusely under the restraint, but he held back the pain without making a sound. Anna, feeling some pity, held Rod's arm and pleaded, "Rod, let them loosen up a bit. He's just an ordinary person, he poses no threat to us."

Rod initially didn't want to speak; it was the rule of the Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground. Wisdom accumulated over thousands of years must have its reason, and it wasn't wise to break it recklessly without knowing the cause.

But he also knew that this condensed matter should be the object that seals the Star Soul, so after some thought, he said, "Loosen up a bit."

The weight of Rod's words was different; he was the Fire Son. Although his identity as the Hidden Fire was not public, it was known among the King's direct guards.

The Fire Priest bowed to Rod and commanded, "Loosen it a bit."

The collector murmured, "Ah, thank you, thank you, my hands hurt too much, sorry for the trouble..."

However, in the instant the rope loosened, the collector's right hand shot out like lightning. His previously powerless soul suddenly erupted with a Spiritual Power Wave as high as the Ninth Level, comparable to a Third Level combatant.

"Doomsday Believer!" the Fire Priest shouted.

The blade instantly pierced his neck, yet he managed to throw the object in his hand.

It was a heart, bloody and still beating.

And his chest already had a large hole dug out.

"Perish, you worms!"

He shouted.

"Light is always fleeting, darkness is the only eternal! How can the evil destructive fire understand the true essence of dark life?"

Swoosh!

The fire on the blade instantly engulfed him, yet his heart had already exploded, scattering black liquid.

"Black Water!" the Fire Priest shouted.

But in the next moment, an invisible force solidified the Black Water in mid-air.

Under the firelight, the pure black liquid pulsated, continually evaporating into Black Fog.

The King flicked his fingers, and a beam of fire shot from the Holy Fire, consuming the Black Fog along with the Black Water.

A moment later, the fire dissipated, and the Black Fog was gone without a trace.

Behind the King, the immense Holy Fire remained, but Rod, having become the Hidden Fire, keenly sensed the aura of the Holy Fire had slightly weakened.

"Did you see it?"

The King spoke softly.

"It's not that we are cruel. The Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground is the heart of Trolian. The Doomsday Believers are constantly plotting to destroy it. Extinguishing the fire is their ultimate goal, to be achieved at any cost; even if it can't be extinguished, simply causing pollution counts as success. In such a life-and-death struggle, compassion is useless."

Anna felt she had erred; she didn't understand why she felt such immense sympathy in that moment. She bowed her head deeply and said,

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, it was my mistake. Please punish me."

"No."

Rod took on the responsibility, "It was my mistake. Without my order, the Fire Priest wouldn't have loosened."

The King nodded, "Rod, this is your dereliction. You will be docked ten weeks of your weekly salary as punishment."

This wasn't considered a punishment, as Rod currently didn't need his weekly salary at all.

Rod understood the King's intention, the earlier response indicated that even though the Doomsday Believer hid the Black Water in his heart to avoid detection, it likely hadn't escaped the King's eyes.

This was a reminder of the King's responsibilities.

Rod had always believed the King to be merciful, but now it seemed the King wasn't merely merciful.

The traces of the turmoil were quickly cleaned up, and everything returned to normal, but Rod felt very uneasy in his heart.

Was it a coincidence that this Doomsday Believer seemed to know what he was looking for, deliberately using the words "condensed matter"?

If not for that, Rod would never have spoken, and he would have had no chance to succeed.

What exactly was going on?

Are there prophets among the Doomsday Believers?

When Asa wakes up, I must question him thoroughly.

Rod thought to himself.

Afterward, the King and Rod briefly discussed the issue of the Doomsday Believers.

The internal situation of Trolian was already far better than it had been years ago.

The internal betrayers had been mostly cleared out, especially those associated with the Chief Judge. The Doomsday Believers had also suffered severe blows due to the continuous onslaught from Judgment Chief Lucian. The Polluter Sect had been completely eradicated, and the Descender Sect was gravely wounded.

Rod nodded, understanding that after losing Amon, their downfall was only a matter of time.

The remaining challenges were the fundamentalist Destruction Sect and the always clandestine Survivor Sect.

The Destruction Sect, lunatics who sought to destroy everything, were clearly the ones who attacked the Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground. Extinguishing fires was their usual activity.

The Survivor Sect was much milder, with a creed that Black Fog is invincible. Rather than fighting to the death and sacrificing in vain, it advocated finding or constructing an otherworldly Sanctuary to permanently hide away in safety.