The souls of the unjustly slain blotted out the sky, their numbers as countless as grains of sand.
Like flocks of migrating birds, they wheeled above Silas's head—crying out as they dove, plunging into the shadow beneath him, a darkness as deep as the abyss and as vast as the sea.
"The Lord sits upon His great throne that reaches to the heavens, gazing down on all mankind with eyes of wisdom."
"Lord, do You see? The righteous have been cut down; the faithful have vanished from the earth."
Silas spoke in a low murmur.
The souls continued to fall, endlessly sinking into his shadow, where they were eroded and stained until corruption claimed them completely.
And yet, at the same time, Silas shouldered their pain—took on their sins and their hatred—granting them rest.
Through this, his ritual was complete, and the dead received a salvation born of corruption.
"In their pride, the wicked hunt the weak.
He lurks in secret like a lion in its den. He crouches low, waiting, and the helpless are struck down by his strength."
"The wicked say in their hearts, 'God has forgotten. He hides His face; He will never see.'"
"How long, O Lord? Will You forget these poor souls forever? How long will You hide Your face from them?"
The sheer number of remnant souls brought suffering beyond imagination.
Silas's mind hovered constantly on the edge of madness.
Ma'am M slipped her illusory hands into his mind, using her power to keep his consciousness intact.
The souls of his own congregation were not among the remnants.
Because of their spiritual bond, they had merged with Silas's body the moment they died.
"Lord, may You behold the injustice done to the afflicted, and hear the sighs of the poor.
May You cast Your nets upon the wicked, burning coals and brimstone, a scorching wind as their due portion."
"Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their hearts, incline Your ear to their prayers, and grant them salvation… tch."
The remnant souls, dense as storm clouds, all plunged into Silas's shadow. At that moment, he ended his instinctive prayer and closed his mouth in disgust.
His shadow gradually returned to its usual shape, but under a careful gaze, it still seemed unbearably heavy and dark, as though weighed down by something immense.
"…Will the Lord truly save them?" Ma'am M asked quietly.
"Of course not."
Silas's face was ghost-pale. His body wavered, yet he still managed a cold, derisive smile.
Forget evil gods, even the orthodox churches had chosen to turn a blind eye.
None were willing to probe further; they simply stood by and let these pitiful souls suffer their injustice.
After all, the royal family had already provided a "satisfactory explanation" and distributed enough benefits to keep everyone quiet.
By now, the case was more or less settled. To press further would be… inconvenient.
But Silas was precisely the kind of man who insisted on being inconvenient.
"If they won't care, then I will," Silas murmured.
"I will become their savior. I will open the gates of justice for them."
"Crack!"
An illusory shattering sound suddenly rang out in his mind. The moment those words landed, the "Shepherd" potion was completely digested.
"Congratulations."
Ma'am M said with a smile.
"You've digested the potion at just this moment. Now you can search for the main ingredients without any reservations."
But Silas's expression remained impassive.
He still remembered that day in Tingen City when he'd been forcibly fed the potion and driven to madness.
Back then, all he'd wanted was to quickly digest all those potions, but after enduring that long and painful journey to reach this moment, all his anticipation had worn away.
Worse still, although the potion's influence on his mind had completely disappeared, his mental state remained dangerous.
At most, he'd been pulled back slightly from the edge of madness.
So Silas didn't show much reaction, instead standing silently in place for a moment.
"Is this enough?"
Ma'am M asked gently.
Performing the ceremony in advance before consuming the "Black Knight" potion, completely digesting the "Shepherd" potion, doing just these two things, would that be enough to storm the palace and speak for the dead?
"Enough talk."
Silas glanced at her coldly, then closed his eyes, imagining his body covered by sea tides.
He needed to go to the sea to retrieve the Beyonder items he'd stored there, and also...
"Splash..."
Illusory seawater surged from the air in all directions, submerging him completely.
The world at sea remained the same scene as always. Silas quickly approached the white building.
First, he retrieved Beyonder items like "Agony" and the "Revolver of Luck," then lowered his head to look at Katie's soul in the pool.
The latter lay peacefully, soaked in the seawater he had "purified," the damage to her soul completely healed.
"Whoosh..."
Silas directly extended his hand, creating a whirlwind to extract Katie's soul.
"Spare me!"
Katie immediately awoke, screaming.
What she looked up to meet was Silas's pair of eyes like molten gold.
After checking the soul body's appearance, he also examined her internal spirit, finding no signs of distortion or alteration.
"Looks like the experiment was successful."
Ma'am M said from the side.
"Mm."
Silas took a deep breath, then suddenly exerted force with his right hand.
"Snap!"
He directly crushed Katie's soul into fragments.
The latter didn't even have time to react, not even letting out a wail before completely vanishing, leaving only a Sequence 7 "Interrogator" Beyonder characteristic in his hand.
Silas casually put away that material, then placed his hand on his chest.
He hesitated slightly.
"Perhaps you shouldn't take out Cecilia's soul just yet?"
Ma'am M saw the conflict in his heart. "After all, there's still some risk..."
"No. The enemy I'm about to face is the royal family, basically a near-certain death.
The souls of my flock being targeted and destroyed is very likely. It's more dangerous for her to continue staying inside my body."
Silas refused decisively.
At this point, he finally gritted his teeth, made his decision, and reached his hand into his own chest.
A moment later, in an extremely slow and cautious manner, he slowly pulled his hand out.
In the palm of Silas's hand floated a delicate and fragile soul.
The soul had deep black hair and slept with eyes slightly closed. Her features were somewhat blurred, but still conveyed stunning beauty.
His sister Cecilia's soul!
"Cecilia..."
Looking at his sister's soul, Silas became slightly dazed for a moment.
Apart from the illusions he'd deceived himself with, how long had it been since he'd seen this face?
Cecilia, are you well?
Why don't you speak like other souls do?
Open your eyes and look at me, say something to me...
His other hand almost unconsciously lifted, wanting to touch his sister's soul.
"Silas."
Ma'am M spoke up in reminder, making him stop his movement. "Hurry up and continue.
After coming out of your body, her soul is rapidly deteriorating!"
"...I know."
Silas said in a deep voice, carefully moving his arm to gradually immerse his sister's soul in the seawater.
He was pleased to see that after touching the seawater, his sister's soul showed a relaxed expression.