On the first day after Clauvis's departure, Asa easily entered the pagan order of the gods of nature. After spending a day in it and inquiring about it for a day, he already knew a little bit about the order.

It's a very strange heretical order. The most strange thing is that it is loosely structured, and most of the followers are villagers from nearby villages, or almost all the villagers of the nearby villages, and many people in Airy City have become believers. Among them, the more prestigious people, such as the village chief, became spontaneous little leaders.

The term 'infidel' was a bit of a stretch for them. In ordinary times, believers plough the land, plough the land, do what they should do, and do what they should do, at least in terms of lifestyle, are no different from normal people. As long as the magistrates don't interfere with their actions, they don't go against the authorities. In contrast to other mysterious and strange pagan religions, they are not at all wary of anyone who comes to participate, but are very warm and generous, warmly welcoming and inviting others to join the religion.

The only thing that can show that they are 'pagan' is that they go to the sacred forest every noon to meditate and meditate under the care of the god of nature. The method of meditation is so simple and easy to learn that even an illiterate farmer can sit cross-legged and feel refreshed after meditation.

This easy-to-learn meditation is taught to believers by the Prophet, the head of the God of Nature.

The Prophet is the one who initiated the Order of the God of Nature. No one knew him and didn't know where he came from. The last time the army came to drive out the followers of the god of nature, the Prophet claimed to have sensed the prophecy of the god of nature, and that a miracle would come to him. As a result, these guardian statues really appeared out of nowhere, making everyone who offended the gods of nature disappear. Since then, under the influence of such living and powerful miracles, the god of nature has grown rapidly and rapidly.

At noon today, another group of new believers will be brought to the sacred forest to feel the power of the god of nature. Asa is also mixed in. But he wasn't going to feel the gods, he was going to see the prophet and see the strange statues.

Now you have to solve the problem here as fast as you can, and then you can leave to chase Rodhart. For forty or fifty thousand believers, the little troops brought with them were really insignificant. And these believers are nothing more than ordinary people. So the most effective way now is to find out the leaders of this order and find out how they are doing it.

The Protestants were led to the place of worship by a man in his fifties who had been a teacher at a school in the city of Airy. It was these more learned people among the gods of nature who spontaneously spread the faith to the faithful. He walked all the way and expounded the teachings to the new comrades without stopping.

"How great is it that great nature is born to nourish us without expecting anything in return. And the gods that have been invented to serve the rulers and nobles and make us obedient and obedient are ugly and powerless compared to this great mother of all things. "So 'naturally' is our credo. We don't restrict people from doing anything like those man-made religions, and you won't feel anything awkward in them. ”

"I don't need to say more, look at the forest of the great god of nature with your own eyes, and feel it with your own hearts and souls. Such a shocking power is by no means comparable to the clay puppets in those churches. As long as you meditate sincerely every day in front of the forest of the god of nature, you can feel connected with this great nature, and finally reach the state of unity between heaven and man, and transcend this worldly trouble. ”

The new cultists nodded their heads in admiration. As long as you have time to sit and sit, you can be one with nature, which is indeed an easy and cheap deal.

Asa had a strange feeling that this order could grow so amazingly in such a short period of time, in addition to using the Whispering Forest, the biggest feature was because it was too ..... how to speak, Asa didn't know many words to explain this feeling to himself, it could only be said that it was too .....cheap and good.

No matter what kind of religion it is, it is all about the promise and the shock that it shows to attract believers. The Church uses Heaven and Hell to coerce and seduc, and the magic of light magicians and priests to show its power. And now the power shown by this god of nature is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, not only the feeling that can really shock people's souls, but also the sudden appearance of the guardian statue. This is a force far more powerful than the prayers of the church, and it cannot but be convincing.

Just sitting down and dozing off in a daze can be blessed by the gods, and you can get the realm of unity between heaven and man, which is too convenient, beautiful, and affordable compared to the church's promise to maintain sincere prayers and pious faith in order to go to heaven after death.

The kind of meditation that every believer is to learn at the beginning of his joining is already taught at the time of his infusion. That was to change the basic meditation technique of a magician, and it became very simple. Removing all magical factors will only make the meditative person feel calm and refreshed. And if you meditate in front of the Whispering Forest, you will naturally feel the shock from the depths of your soul more clearly.

Asa also thought it strange that he was luring so many people to come with such cheap and good slogans, just to meditate there every day?

But now there is no time to delve into these things, as long as I come today to find out those so-called ghost tricks of guarding the statue, and meet the so-called prophet. Catch what should be caught, kill what should be killed, and then beat him if he should be killed. The rest is much easier.

Led by the old pedant, the Protestants came to the sacred forest. It was the meadow where Asa and Widnina first met.

The meadow, once full of killings and zombies, was now filled with a peaceful and solemn atmosphere, densely packed with thousands of devout believers, sitting on the grass facing the forest in front of them, closing their eyes and meditating, even the Cathedral of the Academy of Magic did not have such grandeur when it was in worship. These are but a drop in the ocean of thirty or forty thousand believers, and it is said that there are several other places on the outskirts of this forest

Asa was sandwiched among the Protestants and saw the long-lost Forest of Whispers.

Gazing at the mysterious forest that once made people tremble, Asa clearly felt that the power that once shocked people's souls, made people fear and fear and even dare not look up, had almost disappeared, and only a little momentum remained, like the breath of a dying giant continued to echo among the ancient trees, maintaining the dignity of this ancient holy place. And now the believers all over the earth have added some comical flavor to this remnant of majesty.

The new believers were seeing the Whispering Forest for the first time, and were immediately completely conquered by the remnants of divine might. The previous half-belief was immediately a big step towards piety. Everyone exclaimed in unison, and some even knelt down directly. The old pedant, with a pious expression of pride in his face, led them towards the edge of the forest.

Asa walked with the new believers around him, but his attention was all on the dozens of stone statues standing on the grass. These are the things that legend has it that inexplicably appeared here overnight, and was worshipped as a guardian statue by the followers of the god of nature.

These strange statues all looked the same, all five or six meters high, with human-like bodies with claws on their limbs, and a mouse-like face with a grin that reached to the lower jaw, two sheep-like horns on their heads, and a pair of bat-like wings on their backs. The statues are all in a half-kneeling position, with a distance of tens of meters from each other, forming an arc towards the Whispering Moriichi. It seems that it is really just like the legend of these cultists, guarding this sacred forest. According to the believers, these stone statues appeared silently on the outskirts of the forest overnight, forming a circle to protect the forest, something that would never have been possible by manpower, and it was not a miracle.

But Asa was now certain that these strange statues had absolutely nothing to do with the Whispering Forest. He had never seen anything like this in the elves' habitat, and the strange shape was clearly contrary to the elves' old-fashioned but natural style. Besides, the deadwood guards were enough to protect them, and there was no need for these strange and ugly stone statues.

Asa stepped forward and touched one of the stone statues. The texture is indeed stone, and the lifelike shape is by no means something that ordinary craftsmen can make in three or two. Asa stared carefully at the somewhat strange face of the stone statue, and suddenly a faint sense of foreboding came to his heart.

"Don't touch it with your dirty hands, it's a fetish of the god of nature. An old woman devotee rushed up and slapped his hand.

"Are you sure?" said Asa again, as if to ask the old woman, as if muttering to herself. His expression was full of horror and horror.

The old woman, believing that the daring fellow had sensed the majesty of the gods, went away satisfied, sat down and continued to meditate.

Asa was now shocked. Because when he put his hand on these statues just now, he felt a slight fluctuation of magic.

The mere fluctuation of magic would never have surprised him so much, because he had also expected that these inexplicable things should be magic. The reason he was shocked was that these magic fluctuations felt familiar, so familiar that he could smell them, the smell of corpses.

It was also on this meadow that when she met her senior sister Vidnina, the zombies she summoned had such similar fluctuations. Later, when I went to the magic academy to extract monsters, I also smelled like this on those skeletons and zombies. And not long ago, when Sandru raised his hand to transform the people of the Holy Knights into living corpses, there was also this fluctuation on those living corpses.

Asa stared blankly at the dozens of statues on the grass, according to the old cultists, this was only a part, there were hundreds of them around the Whispering Forest. Looking at the devout believers in this meadow, Asa suddenly felt creepy in broad daylight.

"Gather yourselves, devotees of the gods of nature, I have something to say. A very loud and generous voice suddenly sounded. Even in this wide meadow, everyone could hear it clearly, and the cultists who had been sitting there gathered there when they heard the sound.

"Yes, the Prophet. The disciples were as excited as if they had heard the sound of the fairy. "The Prophet must have something important to announce. ”

With great difficulty, Asa finally made his way through the crowd and came close enough to see the Prophet.

This man of great respect did seem to deserve such courtesy, and Asa would have thought that he was a transcendent hermit if he had seen it elsewhere. His snow-white clothes were spotless, and his silver-white hair and long beard were mixed with his holiness and bearing. His countenance is more majestic in its uprightness, and every wrinkle seems to be synonymous with virtue and knowledge of the mysteries of the universe. He sat beneath a stone statue closest to the Whispering Forest, and different from the others, with wings spread out on his back, protecting the Prophet at his feet in a posture of embrace. Even if it was only because of such a leader with such an extraordinary temperament, it was only natural that this order could attract so many people.

The congregations, who had already been densely packed, gathered again, one after another, silently paying attention to the slightest movement of the Prophet.

"Comrades who worship the gods of nature, I have good news for you. The Prophet's voice was loud, and he turned his back to the Whispering Forest, and the remnants of the forest's breathtaking power seemed to mix with his voice, infecting it with an indescribable mystery. He raised his hand to the statues and said, "From what I know from my meditation communication with the god of nature, tomorrow at noon, the god of nature will descend on everyone who prays and meditates beside the statue of the guardian. That miracle will unite us and bring us to the highest state of our lives. ”

A loud sigh that was suppressed and still revealed excitement gathered from the mouths of the believers and swept across the meadow.

The prophet's words sounded again, and immediately everyone fell silent, lest they miss the tiniest note that came out of his mouth. But his voice was loud enough to make sure everyone could hear it clearly. "Because tomorrow's prayer and meditation is the most important, everyone should rest well and recuperate their spirits tonight. And I will have a final communion with God here. ”

Asa suddenly remembered something he had heard of, and asked one of the believers next to him, "I heard that the Prophet has never left here since these statues appeared, right?"

The believer nodded affirmatively, "Yes." The Prophet spends all his time communicating with the gods of nature. Day and night, rain or shine, he would meditate here. Never leave. You don't even know that, new here?"

"Doesn't he have to eat, and bathe?" said Asa, looking hard at the perfect religious leader. He suddenly determined one thing, this man, or human if he could say it, was by no means a necromancer

"That's the Prophet, the saint who already has a spiritual connection with the God of Nature, please don't use such defiled words that defile the world. "The believers were very dissatisfied with this new comrade. "You know what? You're so lucky. You can meet this kind of good thing just after joining. ”

Asa sighed and agreed. "I also think I'm lucky. ”

It's night.

It's not so much that the Whispering Forest of the night is dead, it's better to say that it's dead at all.

According to the Prophet's instructions, the thousands of believers who had been sitting here during the day had all returned home to recuperate for the miracle that would come tomorrow at noon. Now there is no sound of any living creatures here, a glimmer of crescent moon and starlight falls lifelessly on the ancient trees and stone statues, the ancient trees still exude residual majesty, intimidating the beasts, birds and insects not to approach here, not even the wind, only the stone statues continue to kneel towards the forest with a hideous face, silently confronting the divine power of the ancient trees.

There was a figure under the stone statue closest to the forest, and he also sat there without a sound in the silence and strange atmosphere around him, with long silver hair and beard, and a snow-white robe that was still so holy and dazzling in the small moonlight and starlight. The Prophet was so immortal even in such a terrifyingly silent environment, and in order to communicate with the god of nature, he stayed here every night to meditate alone, which was an act that required purification, so he had commanded that no one should disturb him at night.

Two footsteps broke the deathly silence in the darkness in the distance, and the two figures slowly separated from the darkness and slowly approached the place.

The Prophet did not react to the two sudden figures, and sat there with such holiness and solemnity.

The two figures approached and came directly to the Prophet, who remained unresponsive, not even moving, still immersed in his own meditation. But two of the visitors showed no respect for this pious concentration, and one of them even stretched out his hand and pressed it on the Prophet's gray-haired head.

The Prophet sat silently as if forgiving, without even a beating of his eyelids. The impudent man did not seem to appreciate it, and pressed it on the Prophet's head, turning his wrist from side to side, and then grabbed the long silver hair, and lifted it straight up.

The Prophet still didn't move, his face was still as calm and dignified, but his silver hair had been lifted like a lid along with his skull.

The otherwise quiet and lifeless environment seemed to be much more active at once, and when the top of the Prophet's head was revealed, a large group of insects, ranging from maggots to earthworms and even winged insects, this group of small things seemed to have long been tired of the solemn and solemn abode, and suddenly exposed to the air and appeared to be extremely excited, squirming and churning with all their might, and making some strange chirps. The man who lifted the top of the Prophet's head beckoned to the active little bugs with his other hand, and uttered a few incantations, and the bugs fell silent again, burrowing into the depths of the Prophet's skull again. The man nodded, and said with satisfaction, "This insect puppet will probably only be used until tomorrow." But it should be no problem, just hold on until noon and gather all the believers. “

His companion next to him said in an old voice: "This insect puppet is indeed worth its money, and it is easy to deceive so many people."

"He was originally a pastor in a small town out of town, and he was very prestigious. But behind the scenes, there are often ** little girls who are less than ten years old, and I occasionally find out that he is exposed, but the whole city does not believe it, but thinks that I am the real prisoner. That's when I found out that the sanctimony turned out to be so useful. It just so happened that I was going home some time ago to deal with some things, so I took him and made this bug puppet alive to call on the cultists. You see, this is really good-looking. Now there are 40,000 or 50,000 people available to us. During this time, they were asked to sit and meditate, and tonight they were told to go back to sleep and recuperate, and tomorrow they must be very energetic, and they must meet our requirements. “

Both of them had strange voices, sounding as if something was choking in their throats all the time, making it difficult to hear.

"It's only four or five thousand at most, and these gargoyles can't eat that much. His companion's voice was old and desolate, as if talking about a table of tasteless meals. "The reason you make up is really valid for these idiots, what the unity of heaven and man, the highest state that life pursues. I can't imagine that you can trick forty or fifty thousand people into joining your group, which was only thought of on the fly. “

"Strictly speaking, I didn't lie to them," the man said with a smile. "It is indeed for them to reach the highest state of life, to die. Isn't death the highest state of life, and all who live is for this ultimate goal, isn't it? Most of the poor creatures in the world always think about pursuing some ethereal and mysterious goal to escape the reality of dissatisfaction, and isn't it also very merciful and poetic for me to let them end their lives in a wonderful fantasy?" the man looked up at the starry sky and sighed. "Tomorrow is going to be a good day. With your one hundred and eight gargoyles, and the help of so many zealous people. After noon, the ancient forest of miracles and all the spirits in it will be reduced to ashes. This feat, which no one has succeeded in tens of thousands of years, is about to be accomplished in our hands, and even I am a little excited for a long time. “

"The leaves of the World Tree belong to us, and the sun well will see if it can be used, and if it can't be used, we will find a way to destroy it. Even with such a grand plan, his companion's voice remained bleak and passionless. "Hmph, in fact, didn't that woman Vidnika have a chance last time? I don't know how she did it, she just took away a leaf of the World Tree with all her hard work, and in the end she inexplicably wasted it. Women are really extravagant. “

"Please be considerate. Waywardness is the privilege of girls, and it is also their cuteness. Wouldn't it be nice if we could do it ourselves this time? The man put the Prophet's head back in place, making the disgusting puppet look so dignified and worthy of all admiration. "It's good to do everything yourself. ”

"I heard that Old Man Ronis has sent someone here to quell the infidel riots, so don't let them stir up peace tomorrow. Do you know who he sent?"

"I don't know, I've been busy with other things some time ago and didn't care about that. But now that the prophet has spoken of it, the zealous and pious people will surely come as promised. No one can stop it. ”

"Hehehehe...," the old voice let out a strange laugh as if motivated by the impending success. "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we've teamed up like this. It's still a lot of power, but if it's just one person, I'm afraid that even Nopolinot guy doesn't have enough capital to make so many gargoyles. Thanks to your proposal, we've come up with such a way to deal with the enchantment of the Sunwell. ”

"This isn't my original idea, we have to thank ......," the man's voice stopped abruptly, and he scrutinized the strange and sophisticated prop of the insect golem.

"What's wrong?" his companion asked.

The man was silent for a moment and whispered, "It's nothing, it's just a mouse." Then he turned around and waved his hand sharply.

Like a black lightning bolt in the darkness, a vague shadow suddenly shot out from the shadows of the trees not far away, and his figure was still illuminated by the light in mid-air. The place where he was standing just now had become a sea of fire, and a tall ancient tree had instantly become a ball of flames, as long as this person's movements were half a beat slower, the whole person would be swallowed up by this magical flame and decomposed into ashes.

This is a wall of fire technique that is almost perfect, and it takes no more than half a blink of an eye from the release of mana to the complete burning of a dazzling flame, and the burning fire is so fierce that it illuminates the entire forest and meadow that was originally dark and silent, and also illuminates the figures of these two people.

Judging by the figure, this should be an old man and a middle-aged man. Both were dressed in ordinary gray robes, with a silver skull mask on their faces.

No one's eyes can tolerate such a strong contrast of light, and both the attacker and the attacked's eyes are filled with dazzling light at this moment. Everyone didn't even have time to see each other's appearances clearly. The man in the air and the two people on the ground both reached out and covered their eyes.

The slightly older man on the ground, struggling to cover his eyes, struggled to wave his hand at the stone statue where the Prophet was located, and let out a low cry from his mouth.

Originally, it was just a statue of stone, but with this magical shout and gesture, it immediately came to life, and it suddenly moved on its own, and the muscles carved from the stone really burst out with great vitality. It flicked to its feet, spreading its massive wings and lunging towards the man who was still in mid-air. The statue's large, sharp claws the size of a human body were opened, and a wide mouth revealed the dense teeth inside.

The man in mid-air was still covering his eyes, but when the giant claws of the stone statue were about to hold him, he rolled over in the air, and the giant claws of the stone statue passed past him. He put his feet on the stone statue's hands, and one flew out into the depths of the forest.

The attacker on the ground who had sent out the wall of fire was the first to regain his sight, and when he looked up, he immediately saw the target in the air flying diagonally towards the Whispering Forest, and he raised his hand, and a silver-white ball of light rolled and sped away with the electric sparks that rippled around him.

Just as the ball of light was about to hit the target, the man in mid-air seemed to finally notice it, a huge fireball came out of his hand, collided with the ball lightning, and made a loud noise, scattering the sky full of sparks and electric light, and the entire forest was completely illuminated by this brilliant impact, and the stone statue in the air let out a strange scream like a thousand pigs screaming together, and was shaken back by this violent explosion. In the dazzling light, the man in mid-air flew straight into the depths of the Whispering Forest with the help of the waves of air.

The old man next to him waved his hand, and the gargoyle fluttered its wings and pounced in the direction where the man had fallen. But as soon as he flew some distance forward, the huge wings immediately froze, and the original agile and swift movements stiffened, and after a few more hard flutters like a chicken falling into water, the movements stopped completely, and seemed to turn back into a pile of lifeless stones, and there was a muffled sound from falling straight into the depths of the forest.

"No, the barrier of the Sunwell is still working, and the magic drive of the gargoyle doesn't work in the forest. The old man commanding the statue shook his head. "What to do? It looks like it's not an elf, it's a human. Without my command, the gargoyles will only be able to move until they are pre-set, what if he comes to wreak havoc before?"

The man groaned for a moment, and said lightly, "Let him go." There are more than a hundred gargoyles, what can he do alone, and as soon as the morning dawns our enthusiastic congregations will hear about it, and they will protect these sacred statues. He beckoned to his companion. "Alright, let's go. Things have come to this stage. We just have to wait quietly for the good weather tomorrow. “

The two figures faded away, completely disappearing into the darkness. There was a deathly silence again. Only the air was filled with the foul smell of burnt trees just now.