Mystery: Those years when I was a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

901
Balam.

"...Please accept these pious sacrifices and may their souls go to you."

"In praise of death."

"In praise of death."

"In praise of death..."

The sacrificial ceremony was in progress. A human being was completely disassembled, the white skeleton was neatly placed aside, and the flesh and blood was buried in a deep pit.As the driven undead scattered the last handful of soil, the flesh and blood was buried deep in the ground, dyeing the surrounding gravel and soil dark, and the skeleton was lightly covered with a layer of soil with hands crossed and flat on the chest.Two corpses lay on both sides of the river, with their heads facing the west, buried like road signs. Some traces of bones were exposed from the soil and gravel, and the eye sockets filled with sand looked hollowly at the sky.

The high priest stretched out his hand and drew a long blood line vertically on the skull.

Heitel personally presided over the sacrificial ceremony, and the sacrifices that had been painted with gold and white paint looked at Him eagerly.

The royal road for the god's ship to move forward has extremely complicated sacrifice and excavation procedures. Digging fifty kilometers in 20 days is considered very fast.If it were just to dig out a large river, Heitel could dig it out in one day.

In order to ensure that the real river course can completely match the "River of Styx", church members will do a divination every kilometer they dig, pray for the response of the God of Death, correct minor errors, and will not continue activities until they receive the response instructions.During the period of stopping work, the Church of Death is not idle. They will carry out appropriate living sacrifices, bury devout believers at random distances on both sides of the river, and dedicate their flesh and blood to the land of Balam, and their bones will become The spirit body was given to the River Styx as a signpost for the river's progress, and became a tracker pulling the gods' ships.

Due to the particularity of this project, matters regarding sacrifices and prayers are basically handled by High Priest Heiter.

Nearly every prayer was answered within a few hours, and the feeling that God was watching over them was very reassuring.

Therefore, the engineering team has extremely high enthusiasm, and even civilians continue to actively join it.Whenever the sacrifices used as "signposts" are buried, others will sprinkle various petals and feathers on their bones to express their respect for the sacrifices.

Haiter looked at the dozens of sacrifice reserves behind him and nodded slightly:

"Get ready, kids."

“Then it’s your turn to go to God.”

When the living sacrifices heard this, they all showed expressions of surprise and anticipation, and nodded vigorously towards the high priest to show their piety and determination.

"Good boy, let us continue to open up the river." Heitel whispered, "There is no need to be uneasy, we will eventually meet again in the kingdom of the Lord."

On the hillside in the distance, Azik looked at this scene from a distance and always felt it was extremely strange.

Of course, "weird" comes from his more than 1000 years of life experience in the Northern Continent. As the "Death Archon", he doesn't think there is anything wrong with being accompanied by death and talking about death like drinking water, but - —Is the high priest really normal?He was previously influenced by the artificial god of death, but now he insists on believing that God's instructions are correct, and mobilizes almost the entire church to dig the so-called "River of Styx"...

...Is His spirit really normal?Azik couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Fanatics should be so devout and agree with everything God says, but...

Azik looked at the densely packed crowd on the low-lying construction site. The number far exceeded the number of people in the engineering team. Many civilians and even nobles in the imperial capital joined them. The matter with the highest voices in the country and the most common concern of the people actually happened. It's about digging a river.

What can this river bring?
Azik, who had racked his brains and failed to reduce Balam's mortality rate, found it unimaginable.Although he could also understand Balam's cultural worship of death, his inertial thinking formed over the past 1000 years still could not accept their attitude of willingly dying: "What can the Styx bring? The power of Seiran is so Horror, it can only bring death and silence... They are actually so proactive."

The sun gradually rises high into the sky, reaching the hottest time of the day.

At this time, the power of the undead creatures will become weak, and the Beyonders in the "Corpse Collector" path will also feel tired and sleepy, so it is time for lunch break. The sun will set after six o'clock in the evening, and the construction will start again.

Sure enough, the Extraordinaries began to disperse the crowd.

Taking this opportunity, Azik quickly approached High Priest Heiter who left from the side.

The Archon walked straight towards the High Priest, and the surrounding Extraordinaries immediately knelt down when they saw this.They knelt down in reverent awe towards the two representatives of Death, with their foreheads and palms pressed tightly to the ground.

Heitel was not surprised when he saw him coming.They were equal, so He did not salute:

"What's the matter, His Highness Azik?"

"...High Priest, what will happen if Styx enters reality?" Azik glanced at the crowd of people kneeling around him and more and more people kneeling in the distance. In order to leave as soon as possible, he had to get straight to the point. ask.

"Of course it is the return of the gods." Heitel said hoarsely, "He will return from the depths of the Styx in a big ship, and countless souls will lift his ship. At that time, His Highness Azik, we only need to kneel down. Just stay on earth and bask in the power of God.”

"The young children took the initiative to sleep at the bottom of the river, just to stand up at that time, guide the direction for Him, and pull the rope of the ship."

"...I know that." Azik didn't want to discuss the matter of the sacrifice, and felt that the other party seemed to be deliberately avoiding the discussion.He glanced at the surrounding civilians and extraordinary people, and sent his voice directly to the other party's ears, "You also understand what I mean, high priest, if the Styx really enters reality through this river, what will happen? You can probably imagine what the consequences will be, right?"

"Although you have taken many measures on the river, sacrificing living souls as road signs, and setting up seals on the river to limit the width of the river, but... we all know what the 'River of Styx' is. Priest, do you really think you have the power to limit it?”

That is the source of matter...that is the "River of Eternal Darkness"!
If it really enters the real world, where does the angel have the ability to control its direction? It should be it that controls the angel!
Finally asking the question he had been holding in his heart for a long time, Azik felt that the big stone weighing on his heart and making him breathless finally disappeared.Azik stared at the other person's face, trying to find the slightest change in expression, but he failed.

Before questioning the other party face to face, Azik imagined many possible reactions of the high priest.The high priest has always been in a high position, and may be dissatisfied and angry because of his questioning, or may express disdain, or may realize what he has done as if he has just woken up from a dream, but at this moment the two consuls looked at each other, Az Ke saw that Heitel's expression did not change at all, but showed a little doubt.

"Is that what you want to say?"

The high priest seems to be really confused, as if Azik is questioning something that is a matter of course: "This is the will of the gods, we just need to obey. I have answered your question. As a child of the Lord, you Do you also want to participate in our actions?"

Azik was in disbelief: "Don't you understand what I'm talking about?"

"That's Seiran! If you put Seiran into the real world, you can't control it at all. The imperial capital and all the towns along the river, no, the entire Bailang may be swallowed up. High Priest, do you want to Putting all the people in the country at risk?"

Heitel looked at Azik, the doubts on his face gradually disappeared, he frowned, and then answered seriously:

"So that's what you're worried about."

"Maybe. Do you have any solutions?" "Of course, stop immediately." Azik said, "No matter what, you cannot destroy your own country with your own hands."

He could tell that the other party didn't seem too happy, but he still continued to listen patiently for the sake of being the biological son of the God of Death.

"I'm afraid God won't allow this. Even if I want to do this, I can't stop." Heitel was as calm as ever. He glanced around and suddenly whispered, "There is one more thing, Azik Your Highness, I’m afraid you don’t know yet.”

"what?"

"Some changes have indeed taken place in the River Styx. As you said, it may bring bad changes to Balam." Heitel stood motionless, but the surrounding scene quietly became distorted. , has changed.Azik looked around cautiously, but did not stop the other party's behavior. When the scene was fixed again, they had appeared in the spiritual world, outside Calderon.

Heitel stood outside Calderon and said to Azik with a solemn expression:

“Not long ago, I could still hear the voice of the Lord after praying, and occasionally during meditation I felt as if I was trapped in a place without any light, surrounded by the sound of water, as if I was in deep water. .”

"I suspect that was a revelation from the Lord to me, suggesting that He himself might have encountered some kind of difficulty."

Azik couldn't help but become serious: "...So you think opening a river channel is the way to get Him out of trouble?"

"Yes and no."

Haiter gave it a try and suddenly asked an irrelevant question: "Your Highness, what are your expectations for Bailang's future?"

"Maintain the country normally..." Azik answered the question straightforwardly, but at the end he felt something was wrong, "Why do you ask this?"

"I'm surprised by your thoughts. As a child of the Lord, you are always resistant to death and eternal sleep..." Heitel's voice was slow and hoarse, but low as if singing, "...you are against our Don’t you understand the current situation of the country? Your Highness, stop looking at our land with the thinking of the Northern Continent. We are the people of the God of Death. When the end comes, we should be ecstatic."

"Besides this, do you have any other way to save this country?"

How not?How can all citizens be required to accept death just because of their faith?This is basically... Azik was about to reply, but he was horrified to find that he seemed to be extremely sleepy. Although his spirit was still awake to a certain extent, his body had completely relaxed without even realizing it. It was difficult to open my mouth and speak, and I couldn't muster any strength.

At this moment, the surrounding environment suddenly shattered like glass - they were not standing on the periphery of Calderon, but already in the center of Calderon!
Dreamland!

When did the high priest have the ability to dream...

Azik's thoughts were confused for a moment, and his brain began to stop functioning, making it difficult to process the complex events happening in front of him.

In his impression, the high priest has always been an Extraordinary person of the "God of Death" path. In the more than a year since he resuscitated from the coffin, he has not had the opportunity to come into contact with the extraordinary characteristics of the "Darkness" path. Why can he actually do this? Use the extraordinary power of "Dreamland"?Although I am not a normal Sequence 2, my status has not declined, and I actually did not react at all to the dream...

Heitel grabbed Azik's wrist and pulled him forward.

In Azik's field of vision, which seemed to be covered with a dark filter, the other party's body was actually unusually tall. His dark robe was like extended wings, and his face was blurred, as if covered with a hazy black gauze.

Azik heard the sound of water and saw the hazy gray-white color rising from the depths and gradually falling back.

There seemed to be a figure that could not be seen clearly standing in the middle of the river, or standing on the opposite side of the river, with an ethereal body.Azik couldn't see clearly what the other party looked like. Sometimes he thought she was a goddess with snake tail and wings, sometimes she seemed to be a woman wearing a long skirt holding her own head, and sometimes she looked like a terrifying wolf-like beast with eight legs. A huge figure stood in the middle of the water, but when he tried his best to look, the other figure disappeared again, as if it was a weird hallucination.

The high priest pulled Azik and walked deeper step by step.

Walking among the tall stone pillars, Heitel's old voice reached Azik's ears intermittently:

"...What you want is the country in the Northern Continent."

"But you have forgotten that the god we believe in is the God of Death... What we pursue is equal death... Not everyone is as eager for the next life and the present life as you think... After so long, I thought you Already know it.”

"Come on, His Highness Azik."

Heitel turned his face towards Him, and feathers seemed to begin to grow on his blurred face. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his cheekbones stood high. His whole face looked like a person who had just been dug out of a coffin. skull.

This terrifying face was only five centimeters away from the tip of Azik's nose.

"You are the most noble sacrifice, you are the child of God."

"God gave you life, and now it's time to return it."

“On the day when the course of the river is completely completed, I will burn myself in my tomb, to offer myself up to the Lord, to be a ship under His feet;”

"And you will be sunk into the river before then, to go to your Father God and steer the ship for Him."

TBC
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"why……"

Azik could no longer feel fear. He tried his best to squeeze out the words from his throat: "Why?"

"Why?" On Haiter's skeletal face, the withered yellow teeth opened and closed a few times, showing an incredible complex emotion of hating iron for not being able to become steel. "So I say, the Northern Continent has made you a It’s really weird, His Highness Azik.”

He let go of his hand, Azik's body fell down, and the cold water seemed to begin to rise, covering his ears, and gently caressed his cheek.

"What on earth are you asking?"

“Why resist death, why deny the Lord’s mercy?”

"Is there anything more beautiful than eternal peace in this world?"