Possession

In the next second, a hideous dark purple crack suddenly tore open in the center of the sunset before the "female cultist's" eyes.

Violent purple light mixed with scorching golden radiance erupted, staining the earth a startling reddish-purple, like blood splattered everywhere.

From the crack in the sky, dark waterfalls poured down...

That was the apocalyptic scene Ren Yi had witnessed at the end of his Awakening Ceremony.

It was also the image all Anomaly cubs witnessed together when they awakened.

"Your Eminence!"

A sharp shout rang out from behind Ren Yi.

Ren Yi spun around to see a middle-aged man in black armor hurrying toward him, shielding the Pope.

The Pope's gaze swept over the shattered door on the floor, then over the dust-covered Ren Yi, and finally landed on the vacant-eyed female cultist in the room.

"Your Eminence, what happened here?"

This was bad.

Ren Yi's heart sank.

But the trouble wasn't for him; it was for this Anomaly "classmate" disguised as a female cultist.

He couldn't communicate with her directly now, and if they didn't coordinate well, they would expose themselves in an instant.

"Heh."

Just as Ren Yi was about to explain, a light chuckle came from behind him.

"The Son of God certainly lives up to his reputation."

Ren Yi whipped his head back, only to find that the female cultist's eyes had already regained their clarity.

What was going managed? He clearly hadn't withdrawn the illusion yet.

Did this "classmate" break his illusion? Or did Anomalies of the same rank have a certain level of resistance to each other's abilities?

No, within his perception, the illusion seed was still firmly rooted in her brow, and the illusionary realm was functioning normally.

Before Ren Yi could figure it out, the female cultist began to act on her own.

"A pity. No matter how powerful you are, you will perish under the Calamity brought by us Anomalies." The female cultist covered her mouth, flashing a villainous smile.

Ren Yi watched, completely bewildered.

She should have seen the awakening scene through the illusion and realized he was one of her own.

He had just been thinking about how to hint for her to play along in a "Son of God repels Anomaly" act.

But now, instead of cooperating with him as a fellow "undercover agent," she was taking matters into her own hands. Did she have another way to escape?

And those lines... what kind of cheesy drama had she been watching?

"Seize her!"

Before Ren Yi could finish his internal monologue, the man in black beside the Pope waved his hand sharply.

Boom—!

With a loud crash, the walls on both sides of the corridor shook violently. Countless amounts of earth and stone surged out like a tide, instantly encasing the female cultist and leaving only her head exposed.

This man was an Esper who could manipulate earth and stone.

Blood seeped from the corner of the female cultist's mouth, yet she only smiled coldly, continuing to immerse herself in her role.

"Son of God, Pope... goodbye. Or rather, farewell forever."

The moment the words left her mouth, her head slumped to the side, and all signs of life vanished.

The man in black stepped forward quickly, checked her breathing, and then shook his head.

Almost simultaneously, Ren Yi clearly felt the illusion seed he had planted in the cultist's brow abruptly dissipate.

Ren Yi's illusion seeds could only be applied once per target, but once they took effect, they were permanent.

Their failure now meant the "target" was completely dead.

Clearly, it was the female cultist herself who had died, not his reckless "classmate."

How did she do it?

Recalling their brief confrontation earlier, Ren Yi roughly pieced together the cause and effect.

This "classmate's" ability was likely something like "Possession."

The full Rule might be that as long as she maintained eye contact with a target for a certain amount of time, she could enter their mind and take control of their body.

There were likely additional Rules, such as the longer the eye contact, the higher the success rate of the possession.

Evidently, this classmate had also adopted a high-risk, high-reward plan.

She had likely taken the opportunity to possess the female cultist after the woman led Ren Yi back to the room, then returned under that identity to plot against him, the "Son of God."

What she hadn't expected was that the identity she coveted had already been snatched by Ren Yi; the current Son of God was already an "undercover agent."

When the possession failed and she was cornered by the Pope, she simply chose to provoke them to their faces.

Presumably, knowing she had messed up, she decided to help bolster Ren Yi's status while she was at it.

Then she abandoned the cultist's body, taking her soul or consciousness with her as she fled.

As for why the illusion failed... it was likely because she hadn't completely erased the cultist's consciousness when she possessed her.

So after his illusion took effect, she used some ability—or perhaps transferred control back to the cultist—thereby dumping the illusion onto the cultist's own mind.

Though our first meeting wasn't exactly pleasant, she seems like a very strong teammate...

"Son of God, this was an oversight on my part." Beside him, the Pope's expression was grim. "Please follow me. I will summon the Holy See's Knights to ensure your safety."

He turned to the man in black, his voice cold. "Gawain!"

"I am here!" The man in black immediately dropped to one knee, his armor clanking crisply. "By the God above, I will not fail my charge. I shall protect the Son of God with my life!"

The Pope then turned back to Ren Yi, his tone earnest. "Your Eminence, Gawain is the Knight Captain most skilled in defense within the Holy See. With him here, today's incident will never happen again."

Ren Yi watched the two of them perform their little play, his mind as clear as a bell.

This wasn't protection; it was a move to bring the person who had been secretly monitoring him into the light, turning him into an overt "guard."

This Gawain was undoubtedly the peeping tom from before.

"There is no need." Ren Yi looked up, his face filled with a perfectly measured amount of anger.

"I had just begun to grasp a thread of the power bestowed by the God when I was disturbed by this Anomaly. My mind is in turmoil now; I only wish to rest in peace."

"Forgive us, Your Eminence!" Gawain struck his head against the floor, his voice booming. "I promise that from this day forward, I will not let a single suspicious person come within half a step of you!"

Ren Yi gave a cold laugh, his gaze as sharp as a blade. "You had better."

Having vented his anger on the surface, Ren Yi took the offered exit and followed the Pope and Gawain to another, even more luxurious room.

This time, Gawain directly deployed the Order of Knights.

Knights armed with firearms surrounded the room in layers, ensuring not even a fly could get in.

Gawain himself stood guard outside the door, while issuing an order that anyone wishing to see the Son of God must be accompanied by two others, so they could monitor one another.

Ren Yi leaned against the headboard, looking at the heavily guarded knights outside the window, unable to help grumbling to himself.

This defense looks tight, but if an Anomaly with area-of-effect attacks like the Wutong Tree showed up, wouldn't you all just blow up?

Of course, he was just thinking. An Anomaly of the Wutong Tree's caliber couldn't possibly enter the Three Cities World.

Ren Yi sat on the bed, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes.

He appeared to be resting, but his consciousness had already sunk into the Anomaly Web forum.

That possession Anomaly now knew the secret that the "Holy City's Son of God is an Anomaly."

He had to check the forum immediately to see if she was talking nonsense.

Reasonably speaking, she should cooperate with him... right?

Opening the "Abolish Feudal Superstition Squad" thread, a new message caught Ren Yi's eye.

【WhatAreYouLookingAt: Hey fam, I just went to test that Son of God who cleared the Instance. Guess what happened?】

Everything went dark before Ren Yi's eyes.