"...Child, you have to escape, escape far enough away, and don't let your uncle find you. Of course, he is a rational person, so he will give you time to 'escape', as long as within this time If you can escape far enough away, so far away that you can never find your way back, then he will let you go, because then he will not have to bear the crime of parricide."
"Remember, once deep into the fog, you will never have a chance to return, but this is your only hope to survive. Don't worry about me. As I said, your uncle is a sane man and I will survive. Well, your uncle will respect me, even if it means losing his freedom, and you, my son... no, my daughter, you will leave your hometown forever."
"Go, take advantage of this period to gather as many subjects as you can find who are still loyal to your father and willing to follow you, as well as those landless untouchables who have lost their land and cannot pay next year's tithe. Then take all the things you can take with you from the deputy library... Remember, don't touch the main library, it is already your uncle's property, but it doesn't matter from the deputy library, in the end..."
"Pray, pray to all the great beings that you can confirm are not malicious, pray for them to have even the slightest mercy, and finally find a place of light. It doesn't need to be big, as long as it is the size of a small village. This is your life. The greatest luck..."
Grace, no, Grace woke up from the nightmare, but she didn't make any big noise.
Sound, movement, or any change is fatal in the eternal fog.
Even a three-year-old child knows this, so when she led her subjects into the fog, everyone knew that they had to close their mouths, relax their movements, and not make any yelling, otherwise their companions around them would Cut their necks immediately.
Grace comes from Blue City.
One of the largest city-states in the Vanter Continent, it has three cities, sixty-two illuminated villages, and rules a large city-state with a population of nearly one million.
When Grace was still Grace, she was the first prince and first heir of this large city-state.
But in the final analysis, he was actually her. Although he was protected by magic, it was not real after all. She didn't know what went wrong. On the seventh day of her father's death, which was supposed to be the day when she became the city lord, she Received a brief message from her uncle...and her father's only brother.
He knew he was her.
This is the most fatal point.
If Grace is Grace, then he is the undisputed heir, but if he becomes her, becomes Grace, then all the minor lords will jump up against her, and the priests will think that she has blasphemed, and the mages will Although he would stand on the sidelines, he would never swear allegiance to her.
Even if she still has the team her father left for her, except for the most die-hard ones among them, the most likely thing is for the others to kneel down in front of her uncle and beg her uncle to be merciful and forgive them for their blindness... Who knows?
All in all, Grace only took away more than 6,000 people, more than 6,000 of whom were landless farmers like slaves. Those who could not survive in the first place would not live in more than half a year at most, or they would enter the mist on their own. Or become a slave...a real slave, the kind who cannot control his life or death, nor are his descendants, and who will be ground into meat to make feed or slave food after death.
As for the remaining three hundred people, they are all the subjects and their relatives who are the most die-hard loyal to her father. Because they are the most die-hard loyal, her uncle will not let them go, and these people are also She understood this, so she resolutely followed her... Even if she died in the fog, it was better to go and try her uncle's torture.
And she, Grace, the former Grace, was not only a warrior with a level two rating, but also a priest with a level two perception. This was a very rare talent, but it was a pity because she had been a She was raised as the heir of the city-state, so she had never become a priest of any god. This would not be allowed unless the nobles of the city-state longed for the city-state to become a city-state of gods, but then these nobles would lose their authority, so she came to Now he is still a warrior with only priest qualifications.
In addition to her own qualifications and second-level warrior strength, there is also a first-level magician and an apprentice-level puppet master among the more than 300 subjects. This is the total of her current shabby strength.
Grace thought about this with a smile on her face. Now her strength may not even be as good as that of a city lord... No, it is definitely not as good as that. But fortunately, there is a magician among her followers, even if it is only a first-level magician. , this is also the most proud thing.
In the morning, Grace, who had gotten rid of the nightmare of death, had a hasty breakfast and immediately went to the tent of the first-level magician Anke.
Although he is only a first-level magician, magicians are different from all other professions. Any magician who has left the apprentice level is worthy of respect. According to the unspoken rules of the city-state, a first-level magician is equivalent to the third level of other professions. She is treated well, and Magician Anke is an elder who is over 280 years old. He has extensive knowledge and is a close friend of her father. Although he is not the magic leader of the city-state (a second-level magician), he is also a prominent figure in the city-state. Famous sage.
Grace has a very urgent and important issue for which she needs to consult this elder.
"...a god?"
Anke was making tea. Hearing this, his hand movements paused slightly, but he continued to make tea.
During this process, Grace didn't make any move, just waited quietly.
Anke poured a small cup of tea for Grace, which already flattered Grace.
This is tea, a magical drink that helps magicians recover and meditate. Each gram is equal to the same weight of gold.
Anke took a sip of tea and then said slowly: "Yes, the prince really has to consider worshiping a god. Only gods can see through the fog, and only gods can guide us in the unlit land. Similarly, only gods can deal with the terror in the fog, but does the prince really understand what gods are?"
Although Grace did not worship any gods or follow their ways because she was the heir, she did receive a complete priestly education.
Of course, she also knew that the reason why Anke said this was obviously because the priest and the gods still had any inconveniences to write down and included in the priest's education, so she said humbly and respectfully: "Teacher, please speak."
Anke touched his white beard and said: "The gods are a phenomenon. This is a record written in the priest's books, but it has not been finished... The gods are a phenomenon with abstract intelligence. This is the essence of the gods. , and the most important thing is actually the two words abstract and intellectual. Prince, abstract means that it is unfathomable. All gods have chaos factors, and the word intellectual means that he has cognition."
"When you really use your priestly sense to touch the essence of a god, when you feel Him, He also feels you, and at the same time, that abstract chaotic essence is passed on to you, so There are all kinds of rituals and sacrifices, especially human sacrifices and blood sacrifices, which are not actually to please the gods, but to reduce the chaos burdened by the priests, because this chaos will make you crazy and change from human to inhuman."
Grace suddenly realized that she had received a complete education as a priest, but the content of this information was almost blasphemous, so it was naturally impossible to record it in writing. Only when she truly became a priest, the chief priest or an older priest would Word of mouth spread about her.
Anke said in a very serious voice: "So you must confirm which god you respect. This is not only related to your own life and death, but also the life and death of our team. At the same time, gods are regional. , only exists in certain areas. Once it exceeds its area of influence, even if you sacrifice millions of gods, you will not be able to touch its essence."
Grace was silent for a long time after hearing this, then nodded and said: "Teacher, I plan to follow the god of the Wilderness Viper, what do you think?"
Anke thought for a while and said: "That's not bad. This is not a powerful god, so it does not require many sacrifices. Five hundred people every ten years are enough. We have too few manpower now, which is good, and the wilderness Viper's divine domain has a wilderness nature, and it can indeed help us search for the Land of Light, but... it is too close to the city-state. I remember that there are fourth-level priests in the city-state, right?"
Grace immediately understood what Anke meant.
The Wilderness Viper is also a righteous god, and the city-state has its priests and temples.
And her uncle is very rational and careful, so he will naturally let the priests of various gods use their spiritual senses to confirm whether she is far away. If she respects the Wilderness Viper as her main god, then the priests who are higher than her will She will also know her location. Even if she does find the place of light, her uncle will definitely send an army to destroy her and everything about her.
This puts Grace in a dilemma.
The righteous god is the safest god, and at the same time, the number of sacrifices is small.
Of course, those evil gods could also guide her in the direction and future, but the number of people they required was too many, and she couldn't afford it. At the same time, according to Anke's words, she didn't dare to respect them.
At this time, Anke suddenly said: "I think we have already gone deep into the fog, and there is no way out, so why not go deeper?"
Grace's heart moved and she asked, "Teacher, please elaborate."
Anke smiled bitterly and said, "I wonder if the prince likes to read past records? I mean the ones hidden by the city lord."
Grace shook her head blankly.
The records hidden in the palace often involve palace secrets, or some specious and mysterious stories. She liked to read them when she was a child, but since she started training and studying at the age of ten, she no longer has the time or energy to read those useless things. .
Anke said: "With your father's tolerance, I have read many secrets, and one of the records that interests me the most is the legend of the glorious world that appeared about ten thousand years ago."
Grace was shocked, she already roughly understood what Anke meant.
This legend is not only recorded in the city lord's hidden treasure, but also passed down orally among the people.
It is said that one day ten thousand years ago, a big sun appeared in the sky.
This big sun emits extremely bright light, dispersing the eternal fog, allowing everyone to see this land.
The great sun did not last long, but the mist that dispelled did not gradually dissipate until seven days later, and that period of time was called the Day of Shining Light on the Underworld.
"...This is not just a rumor. In fact, there are records not only in the city lord's hideout, but also in the magic guilds, the Sage Guild, the Puppet Masters Guild, the Warriors Guild...well, there really isn't one in the Warriors Guild, anyway. , this is what really happened thousands of years ago, at that time..."
"... Thousands of years ago, there was light shining on the underworld. Unfortunately, the sages continued to investigate and still found nothing. There were also priests who offered sacrifices with inspiration but no feedback, so we can only think that this was a short-lived burst of divinity... "
"...But unlike the guild records, the City Lord's Hideout contains detailed records of where the Glorious Underworld took place. Why don't we try it?"
Grace was a little surprised and said: "But teacher, didn't you say that there are priests who have made sacrifices with inspiration? They can't do it. That proves that the great god who emits this light has either died, or it is just an explosion of divinity, not a god. .”
"You're different from them."
Anke immediately said: "They are all priests who have already worshiped the main god. In fact, except for the heirs of various city-states or territories, once anyone else discovers that they have the talent of a priest, they will immediately choose the main god to worship, because This is the biggest class leap, but the heir is different. In order to prevent the heir from going crazy, it is impossible for the heir to worship any gods, and there is no need to worship them. Because of this, there has never been anything like this in ten thousand years. In your situation, you have the spiritual sense of a priest, but you have never worshiped any gods."
"That is the light that can dispel the fog! If you really worship such a main god... My child, have you ever thought about taking back everything that belongs to you?"
Grace was shocked and looked at Anke in disbelief.
Anke also looked at her without hesitation, but there was deep hatred in Anke's eyes, although the hatred was not directed at her.
"Think about your mother, think about your sister. Their lives are indeed not in danger, and they do need to have enough food and clothing, but at what cost? Being tortured by your uncle every day and every night..."
Grace stood up. She gritted her teeth and there was blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. She said decisively: "Teacher, please guide me to the direction of the glorious land!"
"Let's go to that glorious place thousands of years ago!!"
