Chapter 109: Chapter 98: When the Map is Unfurled, the

Dagger is Revealed (Three More)_l

The Demon Lord Temple is the largest religious organization in this world.

Everpresent within the stars, the Disease Demon Lord bestows the boundless Disease Qi upon the world, which, in turn, sustains it through the cycle of life, gathering the Disease Qi for itself.

The Cultivators of the Demon Lord Temple gain blessings from venerating the Disease Demon Lord, thus continuously enhancing their own strength.

However, some time ago, the existence of the Disease Demon Lord suddenly disappeared; although they could still perform certain spells, the departure of the source filled them with fear.

Subsequently, a mysterious group of healers emerged in the world, causing unease among every temple keeper of the Demon Lord Temple.

As time went on, the healers’ actions became more and more presumptuous.

They repelled Disease Qi, they eradicated Disease Beasts—these were the very actions the temple keepers of the Demon Lord Temple detested most, and yet they were powerless to stop them.

The healers’ methods could precisely contravene the Demon Lord Temple, an alignment that covertly complemented the interests of the City Lords.

The fewer Disease Beasts there were, the safer the environment became.

The fewer the sick, the greater the tax revenue that could be collected, and the more they could strip away the control of the Demon Lord Temple.

Therefore, in the beginning, the City Lords didn’t dislike the arrival of the healers; on the contrary, they welcomed these benevolent individuals who asked for nothing in return and were solely focused on saving people, helping them to repel Disease Qi and lessen the influence of the Demon Lord Temple.

In response to this, the temple keepers of the Demon Lord Temple were powerless and could only silently bide their time.

However, not long ago, the healers finally went too far.

They began distributing porridge to the common folk, an overt act of gathering prestige that directly crossed the City Lords’ red line.

The campaign against the healers had already begun; some healers in certain areas had been eradicated, but the City Lord of the area where this particular temple keeper resided was less lucky, with thirteen out of one hundred Armored Soldiers captured and currently whereabouts unknown.

The opponents’ misfortune was an opportunity for the Demon Lord Temple.

With a slight chuckle, the temple keeper rose to her feet and descended the spiral staircase of the dark tower.

All the way down, the scenery from the outside world filtered in through the windows-the black sky, once filled with twisted Disease Qi and terrifying flying beasts, had been a sight of beauty, but ever since the arrival of the healers, the sky had gradually turned a disturbing shade of blue.

Disease is beauty, and the distortions it brings should also be seen as beautiful. Life is a natural ailment, and it ought to be accompanied by disease throughout, until death finally ends this painful bond.

At the base of the black tower, the temple keeper looked at the bronze mirror placed there.

The reflection showed her still beautiful self.

Although she was of a great age, over one hundred years old, her body showed hardly any signs of aging and still exuded the vibrancy of youth.

Aside from the fact that all her teeth had fallen out, leaving only pitch-black holes in her mouth, she exhibited no other abnormalities.

The temple keeper¹ s illness was not in the body but in the soul.

Illness within her soul caused her to be in a constant state of mental haze and to experience, within her hallucinations, the vastness and benevolence of the Disease Demon Lord, as she listened to his maddening teachings.

Having left the dark tower, she calmly greeted the respectful attendants around her and proceeded to the City Lord’s manor.

No announcement was needed; her perfect appearance was the best calling card, allowing her to pass by everyone and head straight to the City Lord s chamber.

There, the City Lord, who was over fifty years old, had already received word and was awaiting her arrival.

According to the teachings of the Demon Lord Temple, the City Lord is the body, the temple keeper is the soul, the soul commands the body, and the body protects the soul. The two are indispensable to each other.

As for the common people, they are meat on the plate, consumed to complete the cycle and achieve eternity.

They need to provide Disease Qi for the soul, and labor for the body-this is their eternal fate, unchangeable.

But the emergence of the healers completely disrupted the original balance. The supply of food was interrupted, the perfect equilibrium broken, and the world thereby threatened to slide into the Abyss.

They should not exist, they must be repelled.

Exchanging greetings with the City Lord, both parties’ movements were full of ritual significance, no exchange in the middle and a necessity to maintain coldness and restraint—the proper way for body and soul to interact.

Once seated, the temple keeper calmly said, “Fire has appeared, and these healers are that fire. Fire can burn Disease Qi, burn bodies, and destroy souls. Therefore, the fire must be extinguished.”

The City Lord looked at the temple keeper with a gaze full of vague emotions. He was over forty years her junior, having grown up under her watchful eye. As a child, he had thought the temple keeper was beautiful and even felt some ambiguous emotions.

But as he grew older, he learned more and more about the temple keeper, coming to realize that she was not human at all but a concentration of Disease Qi, just the mad will of the Disease Demon Lord.

She was madness itself, the personification of the plague.

In her eyes, human life was worth very little; everything in the world was but fodder for the Disease Demon Lord, and they were but the Disease Demon Lord’s cooks, preparing everything-including themselves with Disease Qi- before serving it to the Disease Demon Lord.

If it weren’t for the healers’ excessive actions, he really wouldn’t want to seek help from the people of the Demon Lord Temple.

They wielded control over Disease Qi, possessing extraordinary abilities, but each one was a madman, risking self-destruction with the slightest carelessness.

Now, however, half of his territory had lost contact, with healers stepping all over his domain, taking village after village into their fold, putting the City Lord’s rule in peril.

He had just over a hundred Armored Soldiers, most of whom were needed to guard against the neighboring City Lord.

There, where the healers had not yet appeared, the other lord eyed his lands greedily, ready to swallow him up at any moment.

In this time of external threats and internal turbulence, his only option was the Demon Lord Temple.