Flame has a special meaning in this world.

Along the way, Lan En felt that [Flame] was not only meaningful, but simply a key factor in the survival and stability of the world.

And [Fire Passing Ceremony], [Salary King]. These were the words he had heard from the lumberjack who had not yet become a wandering spirit when he first arrived in the world.

Originally, according to the habitual thinking he cultivated in the normal world, he always thought that the [Salary King] was just a role such as the host of the [Fire Passing Ceremony].

But now it sounds like the foundation of this world's stability, [Flame]. Do you want to burn the strong people who are qualified as [firewood]?!

It is also because this behavior has stably survived the [Flame] that the strong man who transmits the fire is called the [Salary King].

Lan En frowned, remembering the maggots who had volunteered to be nailed to the wall in order to cleanse the goddess of their worship.

The brutal style of this world is in the same vein.

"Eldridge"

Suddenly, Lan En said the name, a name that could not be separated from the secluded church along the way.

"Can you talk about this guy? I'm a foreigner, and I'm a little curious after listening to you all the way. ”

"Then it's the first time I've known that you don't even know the name of the Salary King, the [Secluded Sage], and your origin is really far enough."

Siris and Lane walked elsewhere until there was no one else around, and they both leaned against the wall to speak.

Siris's cold voice echoed a little under the architectural structure of the church, and it seemed more ethereal.

"The [Sage of the Shadows] was originally a magician, but was later promoted to the position of Priesthood Archbishop by King Osloes, and sent to Iruhil in the Cold Valley, representing the partnership between the White Cult and the Darkmoon Cult."

"But when he returned, he fell into the habit of cannibalism."

Hearing this, Lan En's eyes narrowed slightly for a moment.

This should have been a heinous sin, not to mention that he was still a priesthood archbishop at that time, and the sin was added to the first degree. However, the knights and priests who came to suppress him found that Eldridge's soul was growing in the process of cannibalism. ”

So, instead of executing Eldridge at once, King Oclois kept him in a secluded church. This is a funeral chapel for the undead, and the undead are just feeding Eldridge. Because the great soul is the fuel of the flame. ”

Later, when Eldridge had eaten himself into a puddle of black silt, the flames were dying. Lothric's men dragged him to the fire ceremony and burned him. ”

"Of course, in order to keep the noble name of the [Salary King] from being tarnished, the Lothric official hid the process and only crowned Eldridge as the [Netherworld Sage]. Although there have always been rumors about this matter. ”

Using the waste of cannibalistic criminals as fuel to stabilize the world is actually a good thing in Lann's opinion.

But in this world, the nobility of the [Salary King] is incomparable. Therefore, people like Siris are very sarcastic and disapproving that a criminal can become a [salary king].

The topic ends very simply, and people here don't like nonsense.

So after the talks, Siris was ready to leave. He only reminded Lan En when he turned around at the end.

"There are still a lot of holy texts and books in the dark church, if you need them."

"But beware, Lann"

The cold eyes under the silver headdress were staring at Lan En's cat's eyes.

"There is some knowledge that should not be known."

"I know what to order, thanks for the reminder, Siris. May the moon bless you too. ”

——

In the days that followed, it seemed as if two archbishops and one archbishop had never been in a-for-tat confrontation, and the secluded church continued as usual.

It's just that the sky outside the church is getting darker and darker even during the day.

The dim sight that Lan En had seen when he first arrived had now become a luxury.

And as the light dimmed, more and more people appeared outside the church, kneeling and praying.

Looking down from the upper floors of the church, a large number of people in withered and ragged clothes almost fell to their knees.

And among these people, there are some hidden undead who suddenly go crazy, or simply some normal people who suddenly appear in the dark ring on their bodies and become undead.

The bleaker the world, the more people hope that faith will save them, even if the Church of the Gloom has no good reputation after the Sage.

However, even in the secluded church, there are many people who have the undead curse.

Those tower-like church knights now even serve as executioners.

On many occasions Lenn had seen Climt go to Archbishop Macdonald, or another diminutive Archbishop Louis, and ask something urgently.

Can you vaguely hear, 'Is there any news from Lothric?' 'Why hasn't the fire ceremony been carried out yet?'

The answer of the other two archbishops remained the same.

'The prince is considering', 'He doesn't really want to spread the fire', 'The priest is trying to persuade him', 'But the prince is prepared even if he doesn't spread the fire, and Lothric has captured a strong warrior in the battle, so he can burn first'.

Highlight a 'procrastination', and a 'don't worry'.

But after saying it over and over again, the situation outside is not good at all.

After knowing that passing the fire was being burned by the [flame], Lan En understood the prince's reluctance to pass the fire.

But if what the other two archbishops said was true, then why hadn't even that mighty warrior captive been burned?

What's the benefit of letting the world fall apart?

In the last days, it is still an end time when you can almost see the head with the naked eye.

The urgency of putting the guillotine on his neck was undeniable, but Lan En remained calm.

Instead of looking at the increasingly chaotic and frenzied situation outside the church, he was immersed in the stacks of books in the secluded church.

Since the situation is already chaotic, then he can't be chaotic.

If the mind is not messed up, there is a chance for the Jedi to survive.

He began to understand the world on the verge of collapse from the collection of books in the church.

The priesthood has strange supernatural powers, so of course there should be a corresponding worldview.

The worldview is the perspective from which the world is explained, science has a scientific worldview, and magic has a magical worldview. And the "miracles" of the priesthood, whose essence is 'storytelling', should have a credible worldview.

Although there are also magicians who are not to deal with the priesthood, Lane is not a partial listener, he only wants to get a basic understanding of the world from the collection of books in the secluded church.

Archbishop MacDonald and Archbishop Louis did not completely ban them, but Ranne's behavior of learning from the secluded church book collection was greatly appreciated and supported by both of them.

And I specially recommended some books.

This made Lan more sure that Siris was right: some knowledge can harm people.

Finally, with the help of Mentos, Lane completed the record of most of the books in the secluded church at a jaw-dropping pace.

The biological brain connects these fragmented knowledge to form a system.

"It's very different, indeed."

The witcher snapped and closed the hardcover book in his hand and sighed softly.

Outside of the secluded church, there are almost no normal people. Even the grave keepers who were working outside the church and holding two quick knives in their hands have mostly become immortal at this time.

The frenzied howls could pierce the thick stone walls of the church, lingering in the ears incessantly.

And Lan En finally understood the basis of the existence of this world.

In the description of the priesthood, this world was originally only composed of tall and topless trees, and immortal ancient dragons survived.

It is a chaotic and ambiguous world, with no concept of time, because there is no 'vanishing' or 'death' at all.

Then the [flame] appeared, separating cold and heat, light and darkness, life and death, and the concept of the soul was born in the first fire, giving rise to intelligent life.

King Gwen of the Protoss led his people to break the immortal scales of the ancient dragon, the witches of Izaris burned the tree with flames, and the first deceased spread the miasma of death to erode the flesh of the ancient dragon that had lost its scales. That's how the world is now.

The purpose of [Flame] is to maintain the current 'ruled' world, and not to let it return to its original form.

The "miracles" of the priesthood are to tell the stories of the gods and turn them into spells.

Of course, they also want to preserve the world created by the gods and protect this stable world.

Magicians, on the other hand, are fundamentally different from each other in that they rely on their own wisdom to conduct research.

They don't care much about the First Fire, after all, since they want to pursue a higher level of power and realm, isn't there something in this world that is even more 'primordial' and 'ancient' than the First Fire?

Therefore, their ultimate goal is to get closer, and even become immortal ancient dragons and trees.

The priesthood of other worlds does not deal with magicians, and it can be said that it is a matter of favorability and physiognomy.

But in this world, the course is fundamentally different.

With these basic worldviews in mind, Lan En was finally able to analyze what had happened recently.

Thanks to Mentos's thinking aid, otherwise such fragmented knowledge would have to work hard to connect into a system.

And with these basic worldviews, he finally figured out what was going on with the knowledge in the dark church texts that clearly made him feel wrong.

He had always been like Archbishop Klimt, thinking that the other party was just playing official, planning to take advantage of the chaos at a time when the world was on the verge of collapse.

But now, Lan looked at the books that had been recommended by the two archbishops.

"Holy.!"

He blinked and couldn't help but burst into a foul mouth.

They have no intention of continuing to live in this era of Flame's stability!

At the same time, outside the dark church, the sky had darkened.

But it's not the same as the sun sets.

It's not dark this time because the sun goes down.

In the distance, the sun looked like it was going through a solar eclipse, most of it was covered in darkness, and only a ring of fire burned and glowed.

And at the lowest point of that circle of fire, as if the sun was bleeding, a fiery red light was flowing downward.

It's like the blood shed by the maggots who were nailed to the wall at the time!

This is by no means a normal sunset, and everyone is aware of it.

[First Fire] has decayed to this point!

Immediately afterward, a huge bell rang out of nowhere, ringing in every corner of the world.

Archbishop MacDonald and Archbishop Louis seem to have anticipated this scene for a long time.

With most of the clergy, they stood respectfully in one of the halls in the deepest part of the church.

There was a huge coffin in the hall, which was making a slight noise.

(End of chapter)