[That is not the dead person who sleeps here forever]
[In the "eternity" beyond human intelligence, even death itself will die]①
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What is magic?
No one really knows this question.
Not to mention it, even other things that we have become accustomed to, cannot be said to be fully understood.
Blacksmiths know that after carburizing the iron ingots, the iron will be transformed into steel with better properties; in the classical era thousands of years ago, humans had mastered the mixing of two soft metals, tin and copper, to make stronger steel. Bronze weapons and armor; water extinguished fire; and burning wood and straw released heat to cook food and warm the body.
Human beings are accustomed to these and have regarded them as "common sense", and all aspects of life are inseparable from them.
But this.
It is just an understanding limited to the "application" level.
Like a cook who knows how to use spices, salt and sugar in a certain proportion to create a great flavor.
But I don’t know why sugar is sweet and why salt is salty.
What is the nature of all things?
Why do they react like this when put together?
No one knows about this issue.
Human magicians believe that magic has the concept of "equivalent exchange", that is, "paying magic power to achieve a certain miracle"; and those so-called cultists - evil magicians who have gone crazy, they say they are crazy, but in fact they are just This concept extends upwards, and what is “given” becomes something that is difficult to accept within the scope of human common sense.
Such as human sacrifice, or sacrificing one's soul.
But they still have not broken away from the "application" level. They are still far away from touching the essence. Even with the dark magic that the cultists are proud of, there are still many things that they cannot do.
So what is the essence of magic——
the answer is.
The "reason" for the existence of all things.
"He is the One who understands everything."
“Everything in the world is in his hands.”
"Because of your shallow rationality and huge ignorance, you cannot tell the truth of what you see. Therefore, you are afraid and trembling. You kneel down, ignorant human beings, because this is far beyond human understanding. of great existence.”
"You slander it out of fear, call it 'devil's law', call it a 'witch', and you will bring about the destruction of order."
"Yes."
"The essence is the integration of the consciousness of heaven and earth, the embodiment of the 'principle' of all things in nature."
"Kneel down now, you ignorant man."
"This is not a false god that is illusory and untouchable."
"But actually walking in this world."
"The true God I am waiting for."
Life and death were crossed.
Birth, aging, sickness and death, which humans take for granted, are ultimately a reflection of their own powerlessness.
And those originally painful and tangled emotions and the huge psychological pressure of trying everything to recover completely disappeared in this moment.
This is a state that is difficult to explain.
It seems that the horizon has been raised to a higher level. When I was in it, I just felt like it was weighing on my head and I couldn't breathe. Between the aristocracy's own desire for power and the hatred of each other among the major east coast ethnic groups, I couldn't find a way to the ideal future.
He even ended up dying himself.
But none of that seems to matter now.
They cannot stir up any inner turmoil, because she is already a higher being than these creatures.
Just like a human being looking down at two ants fighting in an anthill, she will no longer care about the love and hatred of those ants, nor will she think about the happy and fulfilling future they should have.
He just stood aloof and ignored all living beings.
This is a change that is difficult to describe in words.
Because he is almost omniscient and omnipotent, he is no longer interested in anything.
Everything becomes as simple as breathing, because the essence of all things and the "reason" for the existence of all things have been analyzed.
Almost nothing is impossible. "Then give it a try and try what you have been trying to do before."
she says:
"Let there be light."
Then the brilliance bloomed in an instant and enveloped the entire southern part of the Padrosi Empire.
The world stood still.
The movements of the Southern Laman mob, which lifted the straw coverings with smiles on their faces and reached out to the young Padrosi girl hiding among them, stopped short.
Another Laman mob stabbed an old Padrosi citizen through the body with a sword, and the blood sprinkling in the air stopped.
The middle-aged male citizens of Padrosi who roared in resistance and the Laman mob who spat on the ground and were about to release the bloody hounds in their hands all stopped what they were doing.
The flapping bird suddenly stopped in mid-air.
The windswept leaves stood still at odd angles.
This is a phenomenon beyond the reach of human imagination.
"Ho ho ho ho -" On the edge of the radiance, an untouched Raman mob gasped rapidly, his eyes widened, his throat protruding, and his face covered with cold sweat.
He clenched the blood-stained machete in his hand. The young Padrosi boy he had just chopped to death was still lying at his feet, but he could no longer feel the superiority and confidence that he had just controlled his life and death.
Then he saw it.
Dressed in black, a woman with black hair and red eyes walked barefoot out of the still world.
What a weird scene this was. She was the only living creature in the entire dead world, yet it felt as if she was.
That beautiful woman is death incarnate.
"Damn devil!" He clenched his yellow teeth and shouted, waving the knife covered in rust and blood.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" But the second half of the roar, which was filled with fear, turned into a scream. A dark creature with human appearance but claws rushed up and tore him apart.
The machete broke into two pieces when it hit the cuticle on the surface.
The moment blood spurted out of his mouth, his cloudy eyes lost their luster.
"Okay." She said, and the strange, unearthly creature retreated obediently, its movements gentle and without making the slightest sound.
"Haha——" The black-haired woman came over and stretched out her hand to touch the forehead of the dead Raman mob.
Immediately afterwards.
"He" got up.
"Let's go." She said, then glanced back at the still crowd behind her with her red eyes.
"Head north."
Like.
Every word is like an instruction from God.
Everyone started to move. Regardless of age or gender, their movements were extremely standardized, as neat as a machine.
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In 1343, on the east coast, all life was devastated and the earth was filled with blood.
With highlanders in the east and Lamanite mobs in the south, the nobles of the Padrosi Empire failed to form a united front. Instead, because the emperor died and there was no heir of suitable age, the supreme power was vacant, and a civil war began.
Since the "Aurora's Nightmare" incident unfolded, the entire empire has been in turmoil, falling from the most prosperous and peaceful era to an era where even survival is very difficult.
The lords fought against each other, causing many young and middle-aged laborers to die, leaving the fields uncultivated.
When supplies become scarce, the world becomes dangerous. The hungry people finally chose to plunder others for a living. At this time, even the most simple believers gave in to their inner morality to the instinct of survival.
"It's so ironic that moral decline can be so easy from prosperity to destruction." The down-and-out Lamanite literati left such words, but when they talked about this, they seemed to have forgotten that they once used pen as sword for hope. The fact that Emperor Gesumund's war fueled the situation.
And without exception, every Lamanite man who lost his privileged life would sum up the cause of all this turmoil to Suomir.
Summed up in Heimernin's body.
The reason for the destruction of that peaceful time was because of him. This abominable traitor raised the flag of rebellion and ultimately led to all these results.
They wrote hard and wrote countless words that cursed him and discredited him.
Although this did not improve the current world, these scholars deeply believed that they were "recording the truth that should be remembered."
Morality has declined, and the world has declined. This period when the entire east coast was in turmoil was the most suitable time for the religious personnel of the Yetina Sect to expand their power. People were praying to the gods and praying for the church to appear, but while the Pope was hesitating to leave the peaceful Suomir, some people took the opportunity.
A religious organization calling itself "Irimimor" began to spread rapidly from south to north in May 1343.
By the time around the Ghost Festival of the same year, it had already had considerable influence among the people.
Irimimor claims to be one of the branches of the White Church, and the name translates to "my ideal homeland." Therefore, people began to call it the "Ideal Sect" together with the Yetina Sect. It is growing crazily like the White Church more than a thousand years ago, and many people who went there with doubts and the idea of finding out the truth also claimed to have been "baptized by God" after returning.
In the eyes of family and friends, they began to look very strange.
No food, no drink, no sleep required.
"Courtesy" has become the basis. They seem to abandon all desires and give away all their property and family property to others.
And when family members object to such things, they are often forcibly taken to the Ideal Sect's missionary point by their changed family members. Then when they return, they become the same kind of people who have no desires or desires, will not be angry, and will always carry with them A kindhearted person with a smile.
As if "the meaning of existence is to make the world a better place", many people who cannot accept all this have their entire families falling apart. People who still think they are normal people desperately escape from all this, but without knowing it, In the eyes of many people, the Ideal Sect is an extremely great and wonderful sect.
The good reputation spread quickly.
"Here you can find peace. There will be no disputes here. People have given up greed and worldly desires. Here you can gain eternal life."
Compared with the white church's traditional pie-like propaganda method of "there will be liberation in the afterlife", the Ideal Religion approach has immediate results.
Just join them and you will feel nothing again, you can escape from all the pain.
There is no need to eat, drink, or sleep. There is only endless peace in the heart.
If this was not enough, some people even claimed to have seen their deceased relatives among the Ideal Sect believers. People who should have died in the war were still alive and well in this Ideal Sect church.
The person who said this would naturally later become a member of this new sect.
After its influence took deep root among the people, it began to spread to the aristocracy, and then many religious personnel from the original Yetina Sect also began to convert.
This finally made the Pope in Suomir feel threatened.
"What kind of strange hypocritical sect is this, acting in the name of my white church!" The Pope first issued several circulars to condemn it.
Then in September 1343, Pope Urunonen VII, who had never left Suomir since his break with Higsumund I, personally left south to communicate with the northern archbishop of the empire who had converted. ,
Many devout Yetina religious people breathed a sigh of relief and began to cheer. The theory of "peace in this world" promoted by this weird organization, the Ideal Sect, is unacceptable to believers who believe in the theory of "suffering in this world, receiving rewards in the next life, and ascending to the Kingdom of God to achieve peace." They believe that this goes against the original intention of God in creating human beings. And their weird way of converting people into religion in an instant also makes them feel threatened and fearful.
So when the Pope came to abolish this abominable and weird fake religious organization, the Padrosi believers in chaos seemed to have found a backbone.
But everything developed beyond everyone's expectations.
"Are you serious, Your Highness!" Archbishop Lyon of the Aurora region, who was born in Padrosi, spoke to Urunonen VII almost as if he was a descendant, but the old and fat pope just looked at him with a smile.
"Yes, Your Highness Leon, I also hope that you can appreciate the beauty of the Ideal Sect."
He said this - the place where they are located is the central square of Palmidioun, the northern part of the empire and the second largest city in the entire empire after the imperial capital.
At this moment, the entire square was crowded with people, and the Pope and the people from the Yetina Sect were about to walk from the tents in the background to the podium.
"I cannot agree, Your Highness the Pope, I cannot agree. In the name of Archbishop Suomir, I ask you to think deeply!" Lyon said, and other bishops who did not go with the Pope also nodded in agreement.
"Your Highness Lyon, there is no need to argue with this matter. The Ideal Sect is a far more outstanding sect than our Yetina Sect. It can be said that the best is better than the best."
"In the near future, you too will understand all this," the pope said, before taking to the podium.
There was a burst of warm cheers among the crowd, and more than 20,000 believers gathered in the huge square. All kinds of people gathered below to wait to hear the lecture, whether they were nobles, businessmen, mercenaries, soldiers, civilians, or beggar.
Jubilant people even leaned out of the nearby historic multi-story apartments to wave white church flags.
It's really easy to change people's emotions. It was clear that the citizens of Padrosi, who had previously arrogantly believed that "the emperor of the greatest country on earth should also be the pope of the church", now that the empire is in internal and external troubles and the emperor has died and the throne is vacant, they have begun to change the order. Hope goes to the Pope.
However, they were clearly disappointed.
Lyon and the other bishops stayed at the exit of the tent and watched Urunonen VII waving to the believers outside. The bishops had complicated expressions, and many even started praying.
"My dear people of God."
"Not long ago, I learned about the existence of the Ideal Sect."
"And I originally thought this was just a hypocritical sect selling Ecstasy for other purposes, using the name of my White Church to do some unsightly things."
"I thought this was just a hateful organization that deceived its believers and took advantage of moral decline and people's hearts to no longer profit from false hopes."
"I was wrong."
"I have gained peace in my heart, everyone." The Pope said from above, and some people below began to realize that something was wrong, and some people began to whisper among themselves. Many people looked at each other in confusion and fear.
"What's going on? He doesn't want to--"
"This is an extremely peaceful sect. Its existence has nothing to do with any interests. All you need to do is join it, and in that moment you will also gain peace of mind like me."
"All troubles will disappear, and we will have eternal life."
"Because." The Pope lowered his head and began to look for something in his clothes. The crowd below began to stir, and many people planned to leave and not want to hear any more. Because the crowd was mixed, no one noticed the fact that some people in cloaks began to advance instead of retreating——
"Because -" the Pope emphasized again. Lyon and other bishops next to him noticed that his movements were very clumsy - this is also a major characteristic of the Idealists. Their movements were as numb and slow as walking zombies.
"Because God said, let there be light——" "Ahhhhhh——!" The moment he finally took out something from the leather bag under the overly long papal robe, a burst of screams broke out from the audience. Voice.
But that.
Not because of his actions.
Only at the moment when he finished speaking.
A brown wool cloak was lifted and thrown down.
"Chang——!!!" Someone under there threw away a big sword.
"Ha--" He took a breath and then strode up to the podium.
"Huh-" and before anyone could react, he-
Swinging down the sword.
"Bah!" The arm holding something was cut off by the roots. Then he turned around and spun the sword in his hand with a cassock chop from the left collarbone to hit the pope.
"Poof!" Blood spattered all over the podium. The moment the cloak fell to the ground, everyone could clearly see the figure of the man holding the big sword.
"Oh my God, it's Aurora's nightmare!!"
The people who were about to disperse screamed and turned and ran away. Some nobles wanted to lead troops to charge forward, but were stopped by a group of people also wearing cloaks.
"Thunder and lightning!" "Bang!!!" One of the people in the cloak shouted, and then purple-blue lightning hit the square, leaving a small crater the size of a footprint.
"Damn it, magician, retreat!" The nobles also ran away knowingly, and soon only the trampled old, weak, sick and disabled were left in the huge square, still struggling to stay away from this bloody place.
Everyone in the nearby houses closed their doors and windows, holding their heads and choosing to turn a blind eye. Now that the empire is plunged into civil war, there is no security here.
Atrocities are everywhere and no one can stop them.
Even if someone wants to take action, they can only tremble when faced with the bloodthirsty Marshal Suomir in the imperial propaganda.
That shining two-handed sword had devoured countless lives.
The only people who remained calm and stayed in place were Lyon and a group of bishops from the Lakeside Church.
"Master Yuan, Marshal, why..." Archbishop Lyon, who forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart, came closer and spoke with a pale face. The others followed him timidly. The moment his gray-blue eyes looked over, he wanted to retreat and escape.
After running away silently for such a long time without even bringing his sword, the first thing he did when he returned was.
It was to kill the pope who was theoretically in the same camp.
But this may not be that simple.
"Look at our beloved Pope, have you ever seen a human being who is still alive in this form?" Hemelning reminded them in a cold and hoarse voice, and everyone followed his words and realized that The Pope, who had half of his body cut open by a big sword, was still alive.
Except for the arm that fell to the ground and was holding something, all the severed body organs healed in an instant. Except for the blood that spattered when he was first slashed, the huge incision from his collarbone to his navel did not spill any blood at all.
"Vomiting——" A bishop couldn't bear it and ran to the side and vomited.
A pope whose lungs had been cut off could not make a sound. He turned back and blinked his mouth and looked at Haymelin, like a puppet without its controller. The cut flesh on both sides of the Pope's body stretched out countless small tentacles in an attempt to glue itself back together, but they were unable to do so due to some force of the big sword in Hymelning's hand.
"The only God is God." Archbishop Lyon made a praying gesture, his face pale: "What is going on!"
"Tap, tap, tap -" One of the thirteen cloaked people in the audience stepped up and stabbed the Pope's hand that was cut off by Haymelin with a mithril spear.
"Zi——!!!" The thing held in it shattered instantly, and the hand that was cut off by the brilliance of mithril began to rot into some kind of foul-smelling black liquid. They quickly eroded the podium and soon disappeared completely.
"Plop-" The two bishops sat on the ground out of fear.
"Qiang——" Haimelning drew out his sword, and then accurately chopped off the Pope's head, and then pierced his forehead with a backhand sword.
"Zi————!" A certain kind of radiance emitted, and then the squirming tentacles retracted into the body, the wounds began to bleed, and the eyes of the old Pope's head began to lose their luster.
"Oh my god, my god, my god, my god, my god, my god, my god, my god, my god." A bishop, who seemed to have lost his mind, knelt down and prayed beside him. The expressions of the others were not much better.
"Is it the devil?" Archbishop Lyon, the only calm man, said this. His face was pale but he still insisted on not falling down. Instead, he desperately searched for the knowledge in his mind, but in the end he could only blame this for the answer.
"You can say that, but it may be more dangerous than those. That existence has the ability to change everything, and there are countless people who have been converted like His Holiness the Pope." Haymelning shook off the blood on Klemmer, and then Retracted behind his back.
"We call him the Immortal." The tallest one among the thirteen people, about two and a half meters tall, said in a bass that was as thick as the roar of artillery fire, and then stepped forward and lifted up his cloak.
"Oh my god, the orc -" The large part of the face exposed in the light is no different from that of a human, but there are two ears on the top of the head.
"Oh, how ironic." A pale-faced Leon leaned on the podium: "What the church cannot do, bring peace and tranquility and even eternal life, is it the devil who has achieved it."
"The Pope looked like this after he returned from meeting with them - ah!" Archbishop Lyon seemed to suddenly remember something: "There were several other people who went together, and they were also -" "We It's been taken care of." The orc twisted his neck, then turned around and walked to the side.
"...It seems that we clergy are really out of touch with this era." Lyon lowered his head and shook his head mockingly: "If gods really exist, they should also appear at this time. Alright."
He spoke. It was inappropriate for him to say such words that seemed to question the existence of gods even though he was an archbishop. However, in the face of this strange situation, no other bishop would attack him on this ground.
"The only people we can rely on are ourselves." Haimirning said this in a calm tone.
"What exactly is this? I think it may not be understandable with my wisdom, so please tell me one thing, Lord Haimirning."
"they."
"It's an enemy, right?" Leon looked at Haimirning, who hesitated for a while and nodded.
"Then eradicate them."
"The world may not understand our actions, and we will bear a lot of stigma after this. Even within the church, there will be people who don't understand."
"But rather than have this twisted peace and harmony that seems to take away the soul and become a puppet, and the weird eternal life that is begged from the devil, I would rather."
"Face the bleak reality with your own will."
"I can enjoy eternal life after I die and go to the Kingdom of God."
"Let's have a massacre, Aurora's nightmare." Leon stretched out his hand, and Haymelin took it.
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Note: A quote from my idol HP Lovecraft.
