God.
Were there any Gods in the Abyss Continent?
Of course there were. One of the three big shots of the continent's civilization that offered a sky-high bounty, "Black-Robed Count Aston", was a servant of God.
The God of the Abyss World, the Demon God Garen.
The God of Light who set up his own miracles on the Rosslorien Continent and had countless believers was once dismissed by Nairíos as an ordinary mortal. Many believed that there were some stories that outsiders did not know about. However, in the Abyss World, it seemed that these believers were the same as those on the other continent. They would not appear everywhere. Instead, there was a very dense population in a certain area.
Of course, there was also that crazy belief.
The carriage moved along the edge of Dick Mountain. The fork here turned into a winding and rugged path. From here, they would arrive at the city with many believers in the Central Continent.
As for the reason for coming here, many keenly sensed a faint fluctuation coming from the front after crossing the Tenth Level in the mountain area.
It was not a dragon's skeleton but similar to Krillin's Blade. In other words, it was the fluctuation of a Sacred Weapon.
Only those who had entered the Tenth Level and wielded a Sacred Weapon would be able to sense the aura of another Sacred Weapon. Many suddenly understood why Gracier could travel in the Abyss Continent for so many years. There was no need to explain the reason. One of the most important lessons was that … after possessing the ability to sense the Sacred Weapons, it seemed that battles and conflicts would follow.
The carriage moved quietly on the road. It seemed like a very easy target to be robbed on this rural road. However, many did not care about these things during the long journey.
After traveling for ten days, they were robbed by bandits three times. In the end, this group of people was chopped into pieces by the three Trolls without hesitation. There was no sign of the start of the battle. Many who sat quietly in the carriage did not even lift their eyelids.
This unintentional action made the maids, who were getting stronger and stronger, finally understand what kind of person their master was. Gradually, this indifferent temperament even affected everyone in the carriage, including the real demon butler.
When entering the southern province of Styx, many got off the carriage and wandered slowly on the dark streets like the most ordinary traveler. There was no sense of urgency.
It was as if he was here for a vacation.
Seeing their lord like this, the maids wanted to follow them, but they were afraid of causing trouble for him. They could only take turns to look out of the window, not knowing what this lord was planning.
If he left the tall carriage behind him and Gruul, who pretended to be the coachman, he would not attract anyone's attention. Of course, now that he was walking next to the carriage, people would only think that he was a noble's servant.
There was no gorgeous clothing, no noble temperament, only a simple and inconspicuous faint aura and a return to simplicity — a mortal, but far beyond the reach of mortals.
The area of the Styk Province was very large, and the number of towns was also much more than the other regions. The weather conditions here seemed to be slightly better. Although the temperature had been cold for a long time during the night, there was less of the whistling northern wind. The brightly lit towns looked neat and tidy, and many of the tall buildings were filled with a solemn atmosphere. Needless to say, this was the 'church' that the Demon God Garen's believers had built for him.
Garou didn't know what this thing should be called. In short, he walked along the street with great interest. He even stopped to buy some interesting trinkets or some dark fruits that could be considered delicious. After Garou distributed them to the maids, Garou brought the group of people to stay in a hotel.
It seemed that he did not need any guide here at all, as if he knew everything like the back of his hand.
This gave Garen a strange feeling. After checking into the hotel, his instinctive desire to go out and search for some basic information was stopped by many.
"No need to go, I'm enough for everything."
Many said as he placed the chess pieces on the table and began to play quietly, as if he was suddenly fascinated by this entertainment activity.
"Black Robe Count Aston."
Many looked at the black "bishop" on the chessboard and seemed to recognize its original form.
"The word 'heresy', should we reconcile?"
His fingers gently put down the chess pieces on the chessboard. His speed of playing chess seemed to be getting faster and faster. It did not look like he was playing seriously with himself at all, but who knew what he was thinking when he was playing?
※ ※ ※
The Styx province was very large. If there was a suitable comparison, it would be one-third the size of the Empire of Saint Reims.
The phenomenon of monarchical dictatorship in the Abyss was very serious, and the subjects were absolutely obedient to the monarch. For many, this seemed to be a very interesting research object — in the Empire of Saint Reims, although the monarchy existed, the royal power was not centralized — the so-called centralization of the monarchical power, although Charnak had been working hard since he was alive, it had not been achieved until now. However, it was obvious that the power of the nobles was too weak. Under the absolute suppression of power, any resistance from the nobles would only lead to a silent death.
The so-called nobles seemed to be just a historical relic, and the real power in their hands was too little.
Walking here, there was a heavy religious atmosphere, and this atmosphere was full of paganism — unlike the churches of the Empire of Saint Reims or Odittore's Hidden Sword, the believers of the Abyss did not seem to like bright and open buildings, and the places where they gathered were mostly on the dark side of the backlight — that was to say, when the sun appeared, the sunlight could not directly shine on these buildings built for the believers.
Dark, obscure, but there was a kind of oppressive atmosphere.
Many raised their heads, and their eyes that had been lowered gently looked up. The buildings that were more than ten meters tall had pointed roofs, and the statues on them were of the mythical figures of the Abyss race, including many fallen angels with black wings on their backs.
Fallen angels … Many looked at their palms and recalled Bishop Becky in the territory. Who was the shadow on her body?
Many didn't ask for the name of the town, and as an ordinary passerby, Many casually walked through the streets and alleys. The people here seemed to have a decent standard of living, similar to that of Sibor.
Many came out alone and looked at the small town silently. After that, he stopped in front of a public square.
A group of people were gathered around a stage, listening to a speech. Many walked forward with interest, and heard what the excited fellow on the stage was saying —
"They are heretics!
The Demon God Garen taught us that the only way to deal with heretics is to destroy their physical bodies, and let their souls receive salvation from the Demon God! "
A typical fanatic was stirring up the emotions of the people. Many looked around with his hands behind his back, and realized that these people seemed to have been infected. When he was about to finish his speech, this fellow suddenly pointed to a place not far away, and said, "Kill them, and become the servants of God. Let us redeem this group of incorrigible heretics!"
Heretics, this was not a friendly word, especially to religious people.
Especially for those with a religious nature, this word meant blood and sword.
When Wail followed the exhausted warriors to the Velun Kingdom's battlefield, they were probably shouting the word 'heretics', right?
Many looked at the person who seemed to be recruiting soldiers in the distance, and walked over.
"Line up!"
There were a lot of people, and it could be seen that this group of people had been successfully incited. Their bodies might not be strong, and their hearts might not be strong, but when this kind of spiritual belief made them oppress their rationality to do such a thing, they were fearless.
They were even looking forward to it.
Many didn't have the desire to be a small soldier of the Abyss Race. He just walked around this group, and looked at the military camp in the distance.
It was obvious that there was a large-scale recruitment here, but their target didn't seem to be the Roslorian Continent as he had imagined. Speaking of which, ever since he came to the Abyss Continent, Many didn't see any signs of them mobilizing a large-scale army. Could it be that all of this was a trap?
Fighting against Wail and the knights were the Abyss Race's unique 'Hellhounds'. Many had seen too many of these creatures, but there were no signs of them being bred on a large scale. In this town, they were often like stray dogs, looking for food everywhere. Occasionally, they would be kicked by someone, and they would flee into the distance pathetically.
"Demon, this doesn't seem to be a place where you should be."
A person who seemed to belong to the military extended his hand and stopped Many. This was because he was walking towards the military camp at the other end of the alley.
He raised his head to look at this guy who was a head taller than most of them. He was wearing a well-ironed military uniform, and the shoulder and chest area were protected by armor. However, it was obvious that this was his usual attire and not the armor for the battlefield.
"Got it."
Many raised his eyes, looked at the person in front of him, and nodded cooperatively before turning around and leaving.
They were like strangers.