Soon, Dyon found himself on the lone path to The Cathedral. It actually led to a massive wide set of stairs, more than a hundred meters across. As long as Dyon followed them to the top, he would be able to enter the church.
The Cathedral was much busier than Dyon had thought it would be. Many families had brought their young children to play around, some couples even came here on dates.
However, everything still dripped with the same unnatural aura. The families seemed to have plastered smiles on their faces, and the young and old couples alike didn’t even dare to hold hands.
The doors of the church itself were left wide open, leading first to a lobby, before showing another set of main doors that led to an alter and row after row of seats.
The ceilings were plastered with ancient glass artwork, while the floors alternated between pristine red carpets and expertly stone-smithed stone flooring.
The moment Dyon reached the top of the stairs, he was greeted by two nuns who wore much more natural smiles. They were dressed in all white, with their head-dresses even hiding their necks. But, Dyon’s eyes couldn’t help but brighten when he saw them. These nuns were actually such beauties!
He couldn’t see their hair color, but their eyes were bright blue and their faces were exquisite. Even their long robes couldn’t hide their figures. Maybe the best part was that they were actually twins, Dyon felt like he had truly stepped into heaven. It was rare that he saw women as beautiful as his wives, but when he did, the demon sage blood he tried to constantly temper would always roar back to life.
Well, that was the case when they didn’t try to kill him like Asyna and Lilith had. It could be said that Lilith was already as beautiful as his wives, while Asyna only had to mature a bit a more before reaching that level. Yet, Dyon didn’t feel like looking at either one of them like that. Being nearly killed had a way dampening the attractiveness of person…
The sister nuns didn’t seem to mind Dyon’s gaze, and instead smiled brightly.
“Young master, it’s rare that we have such esteemed guests come to humble cathedral.”
“Me and my younger sister welcome you.”
‘Kid, you’re really hopeless without your soul. Can’t you see that they’re bewitching you? Continue acting as though you’ve fallen for their tricks, or else they’ll assume you have a powerful soul.’
Even without the Dragon King’s input, Dyon’s Presence was too strong to be fooled by illusions for too long. But, he continued to act as though he was in a daze, taking advantage of the moment to rake the bodies of the twin sister nuns in front of him.
Dyon understood the tricks of The Cathedral rather quickly. Because of the ban on soul cultivation, and the capture or crippling of those with soul talent, something like a bewitching art was easy to use on the entire population.
Suddenly, the unnatural smiles and overly smiley personalities made perfect sense. Only the most noble families could escape such a fate.
As for the commoners who lived elsewhere on Planet Cathedral, they escaped as well. But, if they ever came to Cathedral City, and had the soul talent to ignore this bewitching, they would be exposed almost immediately. As long as someone acted out of expectations, there were only two explanations: the first was that they had a treasure capable of blocking illusions, while the second is that they were talented enough to break free of the illusion themselves!
Dyon understood many things at this moment.
Those with outstanding soul talent would cause abnormal signs at their birth. The Cathedral would monitor these signs and immediately take away the babies that caused them. On the other side of the equation, there were those with soul talent, but not talented enough to cause these abnormal signs at birth. These “stragglers”, such as the young girl who was taken away during the Soul Rending Peak assessments, would be taken away the moment they entered Cathedral City because they wouldn’t conform to the cultural norms forced by the church.
The only members of this latter group that could escape were children from noble families. Not only would those families have powerful enough means to hide the abnormal signs at the birth of their children, they would also be exempt from having to act the same way the commoners of Cathedral City did…
‘This is a million times worse than what Orwell thought it would be…’
The commoners on the outside of Cathedral City were constantly dreaming of one day entering the greatest city ever, in their eyes, all while they lived in terrible conditions. At the same time, the commoner of Cathedral City were trapped themselves, living as slaves and not even knowing it.
The worst part was that the 98th quadrant had the perfect cover. No one wanted to visit them because there was no benefit in doing so. The only people who did visit them were those who knew they secrets already. And, even if others did come to this City, if their Presence and Perception weren’t as powerful as Dyon, they wouldn’t have even realized that the citizens were acting oddly!
It was no wonder why Zabia didn’t want to tell him any of this. The Jafari family must have gotten sick and tired of acting as pillars for such a corrupt system and paid a heavy price for it, not even daring to tell the truth to the rest of the world lest the rest of their family be wiped out by the strong powers that backed Soul Market.
Despite how he was feeling, Dyon buried it deep, looking at the two beauties before him, but only seeing them as conniving snakes.
“I wonder if you sisters could give me a tour? It’s been too long since I’ve come to The Cathedral, I would like to pay my respects.”