Having gladly accepted the fact that this wicked world was heading towards destruction, Elsie once again asked the mysterious figure why they considered the world's destruction a gift from the gods to them. The mysterious figure smiled and replied, "Because the second gift is that the gods will grant both of you the opportunity to ascend as deities." Naturally, the sisters joyfully accepted the invitation from the mysterious figure and, after following him back to the realm of the spirits, eventually succeeded in ascending as two priests within the dark hierarchical system.
After years of hard work, Elsie and her sister finally passed the assessments and transferred to the data department of the External Expansion Division of the Sacred Career. There, they were mainly responsible for organizing and completing data related to the purification of worlds, tracking and recording the lower worlds eliminated by the realm of spirits until these worlds were recycled or naturally extinguished.
It was precisely because of Elsie and her sister's involvement in data organization that they inadvertently obtained the task of tracking the replacement of the world where they were born. Although Elsie and her sister despised the world of their birth, knowing that it had been reborn under the purification of the Purifiers, they couldn’t help but become curious about the state of their birth world after being implanted into the realm of spirits. Thus, during a work break, the sisters used their authority to access the system and review the relevant data of that world. It was during this review that they accidentally discovered a purification mission plan for that world.
Only then did Heinrich pause briefly in his narrative. Then, as if sighing at the irony of fate, he said, "Ah—! Normally, the purification mission plans of the Purifiers are highly confidential documents encrypted through special means. Except for those who execute the corresponding tasks and certain high-level managers, no one else has the authority to access such information. However, due to what seems to be a mistake in sealing the documents by the responsible priests, the file regarding the purification of that world was left unencrypted. As a result, Elsie and her sister accidentally read the contents of that purification mission plan. This incident led to the breaking of the seal imposed on Elsie and her sister's original sin by the realm of spirits, gradually transforming them into their current state."
"What did that plan actually contain?" Hao Yun curiously inquired.
Heinrich replied, "The contents of that plan were quite ordinary, mainly recording the progress of that purification mission. However, it was precisely due to those records that Elsie and her sister learned information that overturned their worldview— the reason their birth world gradually evolved into a pathologically extremist world of extreme unilateralism was because of the secret actions of the Purifiers!"
"It turns out that the pursuit of extreme unilateralism by Elsie and her sister's world was consuming its original energy and accelerating its optimal detachment from the dark chain plane. This is why the Purifiers responsible for purifying that world continued to surreptitiously instill such extreme ideologies among the inhabitants, continuously pushing the world towards extremism."
"You see, there is no true extremism in the world, only relative extremism. However, by constantly pushing it towards one side based on the balance center of the world, it effectively equals pushing the world to extremism, thereby entering a state of complete imbalance. In such a situation, the world will try to find ways to return to balance. When a world needs to return to balance on its own, it means it has to consume its energy at an accelerated rate. If the world continues to pull itself back from imbalance to balance, it will cause negative growth in the energy it creates. In the long run, this world will inevitably exhaust its energy due to insufficient income and eventually head towards destruction."
Heinrich paused briefly before concluding, "In short, after reading this document, Elsie and her sister finally understood that the Purifiers did not act because their world was already in a desperate state and needed purification before being implanted into the realm of spirits. On the contrary, the culprit who distorted their world and eventually led it to destruction was none other than the Purifiers themselves! Elsie and her sister also drew another conclusion from this— the mastermind behind the tragic fate of Elsie and her sister's family, the one responsible for the cruel fate suffered by their mother and aunt at the hands of their clansmen, was precisely this group of Purifiers from the realm of spirits."
Upon hearing this, Dream Jia exclaimed in surprise, "Oh? I thought Elsie and her sister had known the truth since they joined the realm of spirits!"
Heinrich shook his head and said, "Of course not. The realm of spirits would never foolishly reveal the truth to those priests promoted from the worlds that had been purified. After all, the realm of spirits aims to expand the ranks of priests in the dark hierarchical system and ensure their loyal service. Moreover, only after passing numerous tests and finally ascending to become Purifiers do they learn the specific operational methods of purification missions and the truth about their world heading towards destruction. However, by the time they become Purifiers, their mindset has already been thoroughly brainwashed by the realm of spirits, completely aligning their values with that of the realm. Therefore, even if the Purifiers learn the truth, they would not defect or be forced into a situation against the realm of spirits."
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Seeing that Dream Jia did not continue to ask questions, Heinrich continued, "It was this discovery that caused Elsie and her sister's faith in the realm of spirits to begin crumbling, allowing a certain power sealed deep within their hearts to show signs of revival. Since then, Elsie and her sister could no longer look at all the tasks carried out by the Purifiers with the same perspective. However, knowing the power of the realm of spirits and understanding the consequences of resisting it, Elsie and her sister, although harboring a deep dislike for the realm of spirits, wisely chose to remain silent. They suppressed the desire to break through the seal of that power in their hearts by working even harder."
"At the same time, Elsie and Elina began to redouble their efforts to improve themselves, and eventually, through their unremitting hard work, successfully passed various assessments in the Realm of Spirits, fulfilling their wish to be promoted to two purification envoys. Of course, the original purpose Elsie and Elina had in becoming purification envoys quietly underwent a change. Now, they only wish to leverage the special status of purification envoys to return to the Dark Chain plane, where they intend to work while seeking ways to escape from the Realm of Spirits—a realm that appears noble and just, yet hides extreme danger and treachery."
"Sigh! So, when they learned of Eve and Adam's plan, they immediately joined Eve's desertion team without hesitation. As the plan escalated repeatedly, the two sisters became increasingly radical, to the extent that they were willing to pay a high price to achieve their goals," Heinrich said, revealing a hint of restrained desire on his withered face.
"Let me guess, it's precisely because of Elsie and Elina's transformation that you ended up becoming what you are now?" Dream Jia cast a disdainful glance at the sordid-looking Heinrich, kicking him out of some dirty reverie with a sarcastically loaded question.
Heinrich clicked his dry cheeks and chuckled awkwardly with a stiff, hollow voice in response to Dream Jia's mockery. Then, he shifted the conversation to recount his own experiences.
Ever since Heinrich first saw Elsie and Elina, he felt a passionate desire for them, which caused him considerable mental pride in the days that followed. Although the Realm of Spirits did not impose restrictions on romantic relationships among priests, Heinrich knew he must not entertain any improper thoughts about Elsie and Elina. He was well aware of his own issues—if he were to break the restraint on matters of romance, he could easily slip back into corruption.
However, would Eve and others who had already discerned Heinrich's inner changes be willing to let him off so easily?
Due to various considerations, the Realm of Spirits stipulated that only two priests from each purification squad stationed in the Dark Chain plane could return to the Realm of Spirits at a time. Thus, during one mission back to the Realm of Spirits, Elsie replaced the purification envoy who was originally supposed to return with Heinrich, under Eve's careful arrangement, acting as his partner for that mission in a temporary capacity.
Because this sudden personnel change occurred at the very last moment before the mission began, and Elsie was also competent for the task, Heinrich reluctantly agreed to Eve's suggestion to temporarily replace his partner. As a result, Eve's meticulously planned temporary personnel change provided Elsie with an opportunity to be alone with Heinrich.
Although Heinrich and Elsie were only using a fusion body to return to the Realm of Spirits for their mission, sensory-wise, all their interactions felt no different from communicating in their true forms. This caused Heinrich to be thrown off guard by the fatal attraction emanating from Elsie during the mission, almost causing him to make mistakes several times. Faced with Heinrich's restraint, Elsie continued to quietly and diligently complete her work, significantly easing Heinrich's psychological pressure. Finally, he was able to engage in face-to-face communication with Elsie in a calm manner during the mission, gradually warming up to her and even becoming what seemed like a crucial and healthy opposite-sex friend.
Having formed a friendship with the object of his deep-seated affection, Heinrich found a different kind of joy during that mission. As the saying goes, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence. After that, Heinrich became more enthusiastic about personally returning to the Realm of Spirits for missions. Moreover, he would deliberately or inadvertently ensure that Elsie was assigned as his partner each time they went on missions.
Although Heinrich knew that the reason Elsie was always partnered with him on missions was because he was the overall commander of the squad, and she had to obey orders, besides this inevitable reason, Heinrich could faintly sense that Elsie actually looked forward to accompanying him alone on missions. In addition, every time Elsie went on missions with him, she would cooperate with Heinrich's actions very tacitly, making them appear like a couple with mutual understanding, which further intensified Heinrich's fondness for Elsie.
Gradually, Heinrich no longer consciously kept his distance from Elsie, but instead began to take the initiative to interact with her in a leadership posture, frequently engaging in work discussions with her, and even occasionally making deliberate or inadvertent physical contact. Elsie warmly accepted Heinrich's guidance every time and never avoided his seemingly unintentional physical contact. Naturally, Heinrich noticed all of Elsie's reactions and interpreted them as Elsie tacitly acknowledging her true feelings for him. As a result, Heinrich's defensive and hesitant mindset towards Elsie finally collapsed, and the flame long suppressed within Heinrich's heart surged out of the darkness, thoroughly igniting his entire being, leading him to develop a strong desire to embrace Elsie in his arms.
Seeing Elsie's growing emotional attachment to Heinrich mature, Eve knew it was time for fruition. Therefore, when it came time to arrange the list of personnel returning to the Realm of Spirits for the next mission, Eve once again proposed that Elsie and Heinrich be paired up. Naturally, Heinrich had no objections to this and even praised Eve for her well-considered arrangement. Elsie still had a somewhat hesitant appearance, half-pushing and half-pulling, indicating she would follow superior orders at any time. Seeing Elsie so obedient and compliant, Heinrich couldn't help but feel a strong sense of endearment towards her once again.