901

Byron.

“…… Please accept these devotional offerings, and may their souls go to your side. ”

"Praise the dead."

"Praise the dead."

"Praise ...... Death"

The ritual was underway, and a human being was dismantled in its entirety, the white skeleton neatly laid aside, and the flesh buried in the pit. As the spirits of the driven undead scattered the last handfuls of earth, the flesh was buried deep in the ground, darkening the surrounding gravel and stones, and the skeleton was lightly covered with a layer of earth in a position where the hands were crossed and laid flat on the chest. The two skeletons lay on either side of the river, their heads facing west, buried like road signs, some traces of bones peeking out of the dirt and gravel, and their sand-filled eye sockets staring hollowly at the sky.

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

Haitel himself presided over the ritual, and the sacrifices, who had been painted in gold and white paint, looked at him with eager eyes.

The royal road for the god's ship was extremely tedious in terms of sacrifice and excavation, and it was very fast to dig 50 kilometers in 20 days. If it was just to dig up a large river, then Haitel alone could dig it up in a day.

In order to ensure that the actual river channel can be fully compatible with the "River Styx", the church members have to do a divination every kilometer they dig, pray for the response of the god of death, correct the slightest error, and do not continue until they are instructed to respond. And during the time when they were not working, the Church of the Grim Reaper was not idle, they would make proper living sacrifices, and at different distances they would bury devout believers on both sides of the river, and dedicate their flesh and blood to the land of Byron, and the bones would become signposts for the river, and the spirits would be given to the River Styx to become the slender men who pulled the vessels of the gods.

Due to the special nature of this project, the high priest Hetel was basically responsible for the sacrifices and prayers.

Almost every prayer is answered within a few hours, and the feeling that God is watching them is very reassuring.

Therefore, the engineering team has a very high enthusiasm, and even civilians continue to take the initiative to join it. Whenever a "signpost" offering is buried, others will sprinkle colorful petals and feathers on their bones as a sign of respect for the offering.

Haitel looked at the dozens of sacrificial 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 to the high priest, showing their piety and determination.

"Good boy, let's continue to open up the river." Haitel whispered, "There is no need to be disturbed, we will meet again in the kingdom of the Lord." ”

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

Of course, "weird" is what he said in his more than 1,000 years of life experience in the Northern Continent, and as a "Definitor of Death", he doesn't feel that there is anything wrong with this kind of thing that accompanies death and talks about death like drinking water, but - is the High Priest really normal? He had been influenced by the man-made Grim Reaper, and now he insisted that God's instructions were correct, mobilizing almost the entire church to dig up the so-called "River Styx......

…… Was He Really Mentally Normal? Azik couldn't help but be suspicious.

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

Azk looked at the dense crowd on the low-lying construction site, which was far more than the number of the engineering team, many commoners and even nobles in the imperial capital joined it, and the highest voice of the whole country, the most important thing for the people was to dig a river.

What does the river bring?

Azik, who had racked his brains and failed to reduce Byron's mortality, found it unimaginable. Although he could understand Byron's cult of the culture of death, the habitual thinking he had developed over the past thousand years could not accept their attitude of gladly dying: "What can Styx bring?" The power of essentia is so terrifying that it can bring only death and silence...... They are so proactive. ”

The sun gradually rises high into the sky, and it is the hottest time of the day.

At this time, the power of the necromantic creatures will become weakened, and the extraordinary people of the "corpse collector" path will also feel tired and sleepy, so it is time for the lunch break, and the sun will set after 6 p.m. before the construction begins again.

Sure enough, the Extraordinaires began to disperse the crowd.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Azik quickly approached the High Priest Hatel, who had left from the side of his face.

The consul walked straight towards the high priest, and the extraordinary beings around him immediately fell to their knees. They knelt in reverence and awe towards the two spokesmen of the Grim Reaper, their foreheads and palms pressed tightly against the ground.

Hetel was not very surprised to see him coming. They were equal, so He didn't bow either:

"Is there anything going on, Azik?"

“…… High Priest, what would happen if the River Styx came into reality? Azik glanced at the crowd of people kneeling on the ground around him, and the growing number of kneeling people in the distance, and had to ask straight to the point in order to leave as soon as possible.

"The return of the gods, of course." "He will return from the depths of the River Styx in a great ship, and countless souls will carry up His ship, Your Highness Azik, and then we will only have to fall to our knees and bask in the majesty of God." ”

"The young children took the initiative to sleep at the bottom of the river, just to get up and show Him the way, and pull the ropes of the great boat."

“…… I know that. Azik didn't want to discuss the sacrifice, and felt that the other party seemed to be deliberately avoiding it. He glanced at the civilians and extraordinary beings around him, and sent his voice directly to the other party's ear, "You know what I mean, High Priest, if the River Styx really enters reality through this river, you should be able to imagine what kind of consequences it will cause, right?" ”

"Although you have done a lot of measures on the river, and you have sacrificed the spirits of the living as signposts, and you have set up seals along the river to limit the width of the river, but ...... We all know what the hell 'Styx' is, High Priest, do you really feel that you have the power to limit it? ”

That's essentia...... That's 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 that it controls the angel!

Finally asked this question that had been holding back in his mind for a long time, and Azik felt that the big stone that had been pressing on his heart and making him breathless all day finally disappeared. Azik stared at the other man's face, trying to find the slightest change in expression, but he failed.

Before confronting the other person in person, Azik expected many possible reactions from the high priest. The high priest has always been in a high position, and he may be dissatisfied and angry because of his questioning, or he may express disdain, or he may wake up like a dream to realize what he has done, but at this moment, the two archons looked at each other, and Azik saw that Haitel's expression did not change in the slightest, but showed a little doubt.

"Is that what you're talking about?"

The high priest seemed genuinely confused, as if Azik was questioning a matter of course: "This is the will of the gods, we just have to obey." I have answered your question, as a child of the Lord, are you also going to be part of our actions? ”

Azik was incredulous: "Don't you understand what I'm talking about? ”

"That's essentia! You put essentia in the real world, and you can't control it at all. The imperial capital and all the towns along the river, nay, the whole of Byron may be swallowed up, high priest, do you want to put all the people of the whole country in danger? ”

Hetel looked at Azik, the doubt on his face gradually disappearing, he frowned, and then replied earnestly:

"So you're worried about that."

"Perhaps, do you have any solutions?"

"Stop, of course." "In any case, you can't destroy your own country with your own hands. ”

He could see that the other party didn't seem to be too happy, but he still continued to listen patiently for the sake of being the son of the god of death.

"I'm afraid God won't allow this, and even if I want to, I can't stop." Hetel was as calm as ever, he glanced left and right, and suddenly whispered, "There is one more thing, Your Highness Azik, I am afraid you do not know yet. ”

"What?"

"Styx does have undergone some changes, as you said, and may bring bad changes to Byron." Hetel stood still, but the scene around her quietly became distorted and changed. Azik looked around warily, but did not stop the other man's actions, and when the scene settled again, they had appeared in the spirit realm, on the outskirts of Calderón.

Standing on the periphery of Calderón, Hetel said to Azik with a solemn expression:

"Not so long ago, I could hear the Lord's voice after prayer, and occasionally I felt as if I was trapped in a place without a glimmer of light, surrounded by the sound of water, as if I was in deep water."

"I suspect it was a revelation from the Lord to me, suggesting that He may have been in some kind of predicament."

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

"Yes and no."

Hetel was sold, and suddenly asked an irrelevant word: "Your Highness, what do you expect from Byron in the future?" ”

"Maintain the country normally......" Azik answered the question bluntly, and at the end he felt that something was wrong, "why do you ask this?" ”

"I'm amazed at what you think. You, as a child of the Lord, are always resistant to death and eternal sleep......" Haitel's voice was slow and hoarse, but low as if singing," ...... Don't you have an idea of the current state of our country? Your Highness, stop looking at our land with the thinking of the Northern Continent, we are the people of death, and we should be ecstatic when the end comes. ”

"Is there any other way you can save this country?"

How not? How can faith require all citizens to accept death? That's what it is...... Azik was just about to reply, but to his horror, he found that he seemed to be extremely sleepy, although his spirit still remained somewhat clear, but his body had unconsciously relaxed completely, and it was difficult to even open his mouth to speak, and he could not use any strength.

At this moment, the surrounding environment suddenly shattered like glass—where they were standing on the periphery of Calderón, but in the middle of Calderón!

Dreamland!

When did the High Priest have the ability to dream......

Azik's mind was in a state of confusion, and his brain, which had begun to stop, had difficulty processing the complex events that were happening in front of him.

In his impression, the High Priest had always been an extraordinary person of the "Death" path, and in the more than a year since he was resurrected from the coffin, he had not had the opportunity to contact the extraordinary properties of the "Dark" path, so why was he able to use the extraordinary power of the "Dream Realm"? Although he is not a normal Sequence 2, his personality has not fallen, and he has not reacted to the dream......

Hetel grabbed Azik's wrist and pulled him forward.

In Azk's field of vision, which seemed to be covered with a dark filter, the other party's body was unusually tall, and the pitch-black robe was like wings extending out, and his face was blurred, as if he was draped in a hazy black veil.

Azik heard the sound of water and saw a hazy grayish white rising from the depths and gradually receding.

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

The High Priest took Azik by the way, step by step, towards the depths.

Walking through the tall stone pillars, Hetel's old voice intermittently reached Azk's ears:

“…… You want a country on the Northern Continent. ”

"But you have forgotten that the god we believe in is death...... What we are looking for is an equal death...... Not all of us are as eager for life in the future and now as you think...... After all this time, I thought you already knew. ”

"Come, Azik."

Hetel turned his face towards Him, his blurred face seemed to begin to grow feathers, his eye sockets sunken deeply, his cheekbones towering high, and his face looked like a skeleton that had just been dug out of a coffin.

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

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

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

"On the day when the course of the river is fully completed, I will burn myself in my mausoleum and sacrifice myself to the Lord as a boat under His feet;"

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

TBC

——————

"Why ......"

Azik could no longer feel the fear, and with all his might, he squeezed the words out of his throat: "Why? ”

"Why?" On Hetel's skeletal face, the withered yellow teeth opened and closed a few times, showing an incredible, complex emotion of hating iron and steel, "That's why I said, the Northern Continent has made you really weird, Your Highness Azik." ”

He let go of his hand, and Azik's body fell, and the icy water seemed to begin to rise, reaching his ears and gently caressing his cheek.

"What the hell are you asking?"

"Why resist death, why deny the mercy of the Lord?"

"Is there anything better in this world than eternal peace?"