Retracting his gaze from the implicit confrontation, Mephistopheles continued on the road. He still looked at everyone with a smile on his face, as if nothing had happened.

But obviously, for the two who looked at each other just now, the existence of the other party is unexpected, and it is also an existence that cannot be ignored.

"Strange. A demigod, it doesn't seem to be quite like it. An ordinary demigod doesn't make me feel dangerous, and without divine powers, he's probably a lot stronger than me. ”

"And what is he here to do, before I came to the world, I only heard of the existence of wizards, that is the power that the goddess of the magic net held before becoming a god, I didn't expect that there is a different way to let mortals grasp the power?"

Secretly thinking in her heart, Mephistopheles was not too worried, but a little surprised and a little curious.

Humans had been living together before, and this great devil from the Nine Prisons naturally didn't dare to do anything under Prometheus' nose. But what he didn't expect was that he came to this town, which had been newly built for less than two years, and actually met an unusual character.

The other party has divine power in his body, which is why Mephistopheles thought he was a demigod at first. But after a little perceiving, he rejected the conjecture.

That divine power came from the rain of light decades ago, when many beasts on the earth existed in their bodies, and I think that the human body also came from this - but what really made Mephistopheles feel jealous was the other party's peak flesh and strong physique.

He had no doubt that all the means he could use in this world would probably have little effect on the other party. And that person only needed one pair of hands, and he could easily tear apart those giant beasts with divine blood in the wilderness.

But fortunately, it seems that the man didn't want to fight him in Giant Wood Town. In that case, today's plan will naturally proceed as usual.

The priests were still living so peacefully that they were lucky enough to think that their deception of the gods would not be discovered, and that if they were discovered, they would not be held accountable by the gods. In that case, let him take matters into his own hands and fill their graves with a shovel of soil.

Hopefully, under the threat of reality, they will make the right choices.

"Mephistopheles, one last word of advice for you. If you retract your words now and pray in the temple with all your might, then you will still be forgiven. ”

Thinking about it, Mephistopheles' arrival has also been noticed by more and more people. Some of them came to see the excitement, and some looked disgusted, but they all spontaneously made way for him to make way to the high platform.

As one of the protagonists of the day, no one wants to stop him from coming.

But perhaps out of kindness, or perhaps to make the trial seem more in line with the rules, Mephistopheles arrived at the high platform, where a priest in charge of sacrificing to the goddess of the stove gave him a final warning.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency, but I insist that I am not guilty. And I'm sure that soon everyone will agree with my idea. ”

The voice was not loud, but gentle and firm, and Mephistopheles' reply once again caused a commotion in the crowd. There was a lot of discussion, but it didn't affect the person in front of the high platform in the slightest. He just stepped forward and looked at the priest standing in front of him.

"I wonder if I can go up? In fact, I'm looking forward to speaking later. ”

Since you insist on your opinion, then come up, I hope you don't regret it."

He frowned, but under the gaze of thousands of spectators, the priest turned sideways and moved out of the way of the steps to the high platform.

"Thank you."

With a polite smile, Mephistopheles stepped onto the high platform.

He stood in the middle of the place, and before him were priests of different temples and men of recognized wisdom; Behind him and not far from his sides, there was a dense crowd of people.

The adjudicator of this trial declared that in order to obtain a fair result, everyone present, whether on or off the stage, whether they were residents of Jumu Town or not, had the right to speak if they wanted to, no matter which side they were on.

But everyone knows that no one will be on the side of this unbeliever, it just brings a sense of participation to the onlookers.

So when Mephistopheles stood in the center of the high platform, the host on the high platform stood up with the arrival of the play 'Harlequin'.

A mocking smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked at the guy he once knew. The reason why he was able to stand here and preside over this event was because he was the first to report Mephistopheles for spreading the idea of untrustworthiness.

And the reason why he did this was that there were some personal grievances in it, although this kind of grievance was completely unilaterally thought by him.

"It seems that you hold your own nose, Mephistopheles, and I have to say that I am really ashamed of your existence, and that there is such an unbeliever as you among the human race, and you are not even ashamed."

"People are ashamed of mistakes, but I don't feel like I'm wrong, and as for you, I don't know. Besides—you're supposed to be just the presiding officer of this trial, right? ”

In a calm tone, Mephistopheles didn't look like she was waiting for a verdict at all, but like a wise man who proclaimed his ideas.

On the other hand, those who stand before him are naturally the sinners who prevent the spread of the truth.

"You-"

Unexpectedly, the other party dared to refute, and the host was about to say something, but he noticed the priest of the Temple of the Law who was sitting in the center and casting a gaze at him.

As Inquisitors, although they don't approve of Mephistopheles' distrust, at least they have to behave like they're fair and impartial.

Taking a deep breath, the host had no choice but to hold back his emotions and no longer pay attention to Mephistopheles, but looked at the crowd of onlookers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think you all know why we're here today."

"He, Mephistopheles, the inhabitant of Giant Wood, is a human being created by God just like us. He openly confessed his unbelief and believed that human beings should not believe in gods, which was undoubtedly an evil that could not be tolerated. ”

"As a godly bronze human, we will give him the right to justly refute in front of the temple, instead of blindly judging him, now, please be quiet!"

After saying the last sentence, when the scene fell silent, the host took a step back and looked at a middle-aged man sitting on the left.

It was Dervers, the priest in charge of worshipping the God King in Giant Wood Town, and it was said that he was also a good friend of High Priest Orson. Receiving the host's gaze, he nodded in response, then stood up and looked at Mephistopheles, who was standing in the middle of the high platform.

As the highest-ranking person in the place, he should have been the first to speak.

"Mephistopheles, as a priest of the god-king, I can't understand why you are unfaithful, for the gods are so great; As a human being created by God, I also can't understand why you are unfaithful, because they are so merciful. Now, in front of so many human beings, can you explain your point to us and tell us why you are untrustworthy? ”

Perhaps to make the trial a little more interesting, Devers did not attack with words as soon as he came up.

The crowd of onlookers also recognized his words, and although they all learned about the thoughts of this unbeliever in various ways, they did not hear what he told in person.

"Of course, in fact, I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

Under the gaze of everyone, Mephistopheles said with a smile, but the humans present, no one could understand what he meant.

"The main reason why I stand here today, opposing faith but not sacrificial, is because, in my opinion, spirit and matter are not confused, just as sacrifice and faith are not confused."

"The gods possess powers far beyond mortals, and they can bring benefits to mankind, so it is understandable that humans should pay homage to them with sacrifices, but the beliefs are different."

"Faith means the recognition of all the thoughts of a being, or the existence of one's own hopes, and the gods are obviously far from qualified to be believed in this respect."

Looking around, Mephistopheles finally reiterated:

"The god-king is higher than the gods, and the gods obey him and worship him, but they do not believe in him, because the relationship between the god-king and the gods is interdependent. Without ordinary gods, the throne of the god-king has no value; The status of the priest is higher than that of ordinary people, and people respect you and obey your commands, but they do not believe in you, because the relationship between priests and ordinary people is also interdependent, and without ordinary human beings, there is no need for priests to exist. ”

"When I deny faith, I am not denying the power and existence of the gods, but denying their higher position."

"I approve of sacrifice, but not faith, because it seems to me that God and man do not have one side unilaterally demanding from the other, but that they need each other. In this case, there is naturally no soil for the existence of faith. ”

(End of chapter)