Even though Locke exerted himself to carefully control the intensity of the rainfall, this cloud layer could last at most one hour.
In other words, Locke had to locate Gasco and complete the assassination within that single hour.
Otherwise…
There was no time for hesitation.
Once the dense fog completely enveloped the grand cathedral, Locke fused his soul power into the mist itself, turning every wisp of fog into his eyes and ears.
As early as when Locke had still been a High-level Mage, he had already comprehended soul attacks through the profundity of laws he understood—Illusionary Fog.
Back then, he was already capable of integrating his soul power into the fog released by the Water Mist Spell.
Now, having reached the peak of the Saint Domain, merging his soul power into all the mist filling the cathedral posed no difficulty whatsoever.
Soul power could be said to be one of the most concealed forces in the Panlong Universe.
Before being fused with profound mysteries of the laws, unless the opponent also possessed significant attainments in the soul, it was impossible to detect soul power at all.
And most people never actively used their soul power.
Even among god-level experts, it was nearly impossible to find even one person in ten thousand who had real accomplishments in the soul.
Otherwise, soul-defense divine artifacts would not be so exceedingly rare.
At the very least, Locke did not believe the Pope of the Radiant Temple possessed the ability to perceive his soul power.
When Locke's soul power fully enveloped the grand cathedral of the Radiant Temple, what he saw through his soul vision made him draw a sharp breath.
The emotions contained within the souls of hundreds of thousands of civilians inside the cathedral were laid bare before him.
How should it be described?
It was unexpected—yet also inevitable.
Within Locke's soul vision, the farther people were from the central sanctuary, the simpler their emotions were, and the firmer their faith in the God of Light.
The closer they were to the core cathedral—those who lived better lives—the more complex their emotions became.
No, not merely complex—
Chaotic.
Especially those surrounding the central sanctuary. The emotions emanating from their souls made Locke feel nauseated.
If his eyes were not clearly seeing humans, he would have suspected that what his soul vision perceived were demons that belonged only to the Abyss.
"Sigh…"
Letting out a soft sigh, Locke allowed the fog within the cathedral to thicken further, dampening the hair of those people.
Then, he resumed his search for Gasco and the others.
It did not take Locke long to find them.
After all, there were not many Saint Domain presences within the cathedral—only four in total, including Gasco.
And the agitation and fear surging from Gasco's soul allowed Locke to lock onto him almost instantly.
"Enter the dream."
Without the slightest hesitation, Locke's soul power flowed through the mist-filled air and made contact with the souls of Gasco, Berkeley, and Dar.
Then, by manipulating their emotions, he dragged all three into a dream.
The emotion Locke imposed upon their dream—
Was fear.
…
Closing his eyes, Locke invaded the dreamscape through the emotions within their souls.
To his surprise, the moment his soul power entered their dream, it instantly merged with a certain existence within it.
In an instant, realization dawned upon him.
It seemed that deep within the souls of Gasco and the others, among the objects of their fear—
He himself was already one of them.
As expected, when Locke opened his eyes within the dream, he immediately saw the three of them trembling before him.
"Lord Locke, please—please spare us!"
"Lord Locke, I know I was wrong! Please give me one more chance!"
"Lord Locke, this was all Gasco's idea! I—I was forced into it!"
After sensing the situation, Locke realized that due to the trio's limited understanding of Saint Domain experts, the version of himself within their dream was actually slightly weaker than his real self.
Even so, such power was already absolute—invincible—to them.
"I can sense your repentance," Locke said calmly.
"But I did not come here to accept your apologies."
"I came to send you to the Netherworld."
"If you are fortunate enough, perhaps you may rise from among countless undead and reach the divine realm, living a second life."
"Now—rest in peace."
As he spoke, under the horrified gazes of the three men, Locke raised his hand and unleashed the very attack they feared most.
In an instant, endless icy currents descended from the sky, freezing everything within the dreamscape into glacial wasteland.
This move—
Was precisely the same one with which Locke had slain the High Priest and the Knight Commander of the Radiant Temple.
Clearly, in the depths of their hearts, Gasco and the others had always feared being killed by this attack.
Their fear transformed into Locke's power.
The boundless cold completely froze their souls.
Crack. Crack…
In the end, under the overwhelming frost, the souls of Gasco, Berkeley, and Dar shattered into fragments and dissipated.
Witnessing this, Locke gained several new insights into the path of the soul.
Killing Gasco and the others had been far easier than he had anticipated.
All of it stemmed from Locke's attainments in the soul.
Even he had not expected that simply infiltrating their dream and triggering the "fear" buried within their souls would allow him to kill them so effortlessly.
Rather than saying they were killed by Locke—
It would be more accurate to say they were killed by the fear deep within their own hearts.
Of course, had Locke not reached the level where he could provoke and control soul emotions, silently killing Gasco would have been nearly impossible.
After all, Gasco had achieved the Saint Domain through a sacrificial ritual.
After flawlessly completing the assassination, and confirming that the Radiant Pope remained completely unaware, Locke shifted his gaze toward the residents gathered at the center of the cathedral.
…
"Hahahaha! Well done, Locke."
"You have no idea what expression the Radiant Pope had when he discovered Gasco's death."
"And with so many nobles around the cathedral dying overnight, rumors have started spreading within the Radiant Temple's territory that a demon has infiltrated…"
"At this rate, the amount of faith power the Radiant Temple's Pope collects this year will be reduced by at least thirty percent."
Within Locke Territory, Celes' divine sense chattered endlessly beside Locke's ear, leaving him feeling rather helpless.
(End of Chapter)
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