Shadow Apostle.

Chapter 23 Choice
"Dang, Dang~~~"

The bells of the Tower of Justice sounded from the distant city center.

Under the afterglow of dusk, the door of the Burnt family's mansion was closed, and there was silence within the high walls.

From time to time, carriages with various emblems on them stopped outside the gate, but they were blocked one by one by the two guards at the gate, so they had to leave reluctantly.

There are also several dusty carriages standing guard outside the gate. The doors and windows of the carriages are closed, but there are several large brackets covered with thick cloth on the top of the carriages, and several thick and long lenses protrude from the thick cloth. Aiming in the direction of the mansion's gate.

"Click click."

Several suspicious people wearing khaki windbreakers and peaked caps turned the winch on the side of the car. A series of gear rotations and collisions immediately sounded in the car. Then the cross-shaped metal brackets under the roof gradually unfolded, pulling the roof and the equipment above together. He raised it into the air, followed by crackling flashes of light.

The rapid sound of horse hooves came along the avenue, and several public security policemen in blue uniforms with double-breasted copper buttons came on horseback. They whizzed past while waving glue sticks, but they could only yell at a group of people and order them to retreat. Farther away.

However, no matter how the natural enemies of the police and reporters battled wits and courage, the door of the Berndt mansion was always closed, and the only response to the camera was the empty garden, silence, and tranquility.

Horst closed the ancient book in his hand, rubbed his sore neck, and stretched in the sunlight that filtered through the window.

Bathed in the fiery sunset, leaning on the soft sofa, taking a sip of fragrant and rich black tea from a smooth and warm cup, the life of the rich is so monotonous.

As soon as the door rang, the study door was gently pushed open. Miss Berndt changed into a long white dress and walked in gracefully.

"Good day, Mr. Horst." The tiredness and haggardness on her face were still there, but her smile had become much more relaxed. Miss Berndt smiled and curtsied, but this time she did not hold a folding fan in her hand.

"Have the family affairs been settled?"

"Well, my aunt and cousins ​​are all fine too. Although they won't be able to get out of bed for at least half a month, their lives are saved."

"Don't you need to worry about those people outside?"

"Just leave the rest of the trivial matters to the other housekeeper, Grandpa Louis. He is best at dealing with the police and reporters who come after hearing the news, as well as the visitors. We can finally have a good rest. How about, check What has happened?"

Horst shook his head. He spent four hours searching in the library at Burnt's house. However, as for the Lord of Shadows, Abigail, the information he learned was estimated to be the same as spending money to go to the City Library in the city hall. Library search is not much different.

"It's just that a god was jointly attacked, the godhood collapsed, the kingdom fell into an illusion, the church fell apart, and the faith was quickly divided. There are no detailed records of the gods who were hostile to him. It is estimated that they are all in the hundreds. It must have been lost during the year.”

"If you are really interested, I can go to the church to check. There are more secrets about gods in the church's records, but..."

"Ok?"

"I won't talk about the determination and danger of becoming an awakened person. After a day of observation, your fate has long been entangled with mystery, and sooner or later you will take this road. But I must remind you, do you really want to Follow the will of the Lord of Shadows and become the awakened one of her lineage? Her followers have long since disappeared, and even the Burnt family has long forgotten her existence. Instead of the support of your fellow believers, there are countless others around you. There are overt or covert enemies, just like the one underground just now. No one else can give you the answers to all the problems you encounter in the future, and you can only face them alone."

Horst nodded. "The other three that I have left at home are the Lord of Storms, the Lord of Balance, and the Lord of Mist. Although the awakening methods of these three gods are also incomplete, after so many years, how many other awakening guidance items are there at all levels? There may be some information, but the information from the Lord of Shadows is completely clueless and cannot help you at all. Even so, do you still want to make this choice? Why?"

"Since that Level 4 guy wants to destroy the relics left by the Lord of Shadows, then of course I have to make good use of them. Otherwise, how can I be worthy of his gift." Horst picked up the cloth bag on the table and took out the scroll in his hand. Playing with it, "Furthermore, he turned himself into a shadow before and was so hostile to the Lord of Shadows. I always feel that by awakening on the path of the Lord of Shadows, there may be a way to restrain him."

"That's not the case, Mr. Horst. Choosing the path of awakening cannot be so utilitarian. This is exactly what I want to tell you before you start." Jessica sat down on the sofa opposite Horst and said seriously, " The so-called soul awakening is to choose the two characteristics you believe in most from the characteristics of the gods you believe in, and then follow the guidance to distort your soul. So the most critical issue is your affirmation of the characteristics you choose. Even if you If you don’t believe in this god, your awakening may still be successful, but if you don’t believe enough in his characteristics, your awakening will definitely fail.”

Horst frowned and listened to Jessica's explanation without saying a word.

"So it's not that you can take whichever path you think is useful, but that you must absolutely believe in the path you choose to have the possibility of successfully awakening. Otherwise, even if you barely complete the awakening, you will not be able to exert any characteristics. The effect is because your will is divided between belief and disbelief. This is not a matter of telling a few lies to cover up the past, because the most difficult thing to deceive in the world is yourself. If you cannot choose the characteristics you truly believe in, The best result is that you will never be able to exert your awakened power throughout your life, and it will be even more impossible to advance."

"Is this just the best outcome?" Horst exhaled, "What's the worse outcome?"

"The soul is the most sensitive thing in the human body. If the most fundamental understanding deep in your soul is contrary to the path you should practice, then within a few years you will fall into schizophrenia and spend time in a lunatic asylum. Live the rest of their lives. Every year, more than half of those awakened people who fall into complete madness do so because of the conflict between their own will and their awakened characteristics, and step by step they fall into the abyss of madness, and are eventually swallowed up by the fantasy world."

"Where's the other half?"

Jessica glanced at him and sighed faintly: "The soul cannot resist the threat from the fantasy world, and completely loses its mind under the mysterious erosion, turning into a crazy and evil twisted body, integrating with the fantasy world like those aliens from the fantasy world. As one body, we will sink forever."

"Oh, Mr. Horst, you have to know that the Awakened are such a ridiculous group of people. In order to protect this world, we do everything we can to squeeze the mysterious power from our souls to fight against the mystery. However, the more we do this, the more we The closer you get to the mystery, you will eventually go crazy under the erosion of the mystery. This is the fate of the awakened, haha, the only benefit is that you can choose the crazy way. So, what is your decision now? Or stick to your choice? Choose this path of shadow?"

"The timing of it is so coincidental that I can't help but suspect that this may be some kind of sign given to me by the mystery, indicating that this is the most suitable path for me." Horst sighed and explained seriously. Said, "So I opened the scroll, and then... saw the first sentence."

Host opened the scroll, and the gilded text has not faded after 700 years.

"I hate light, it's too hot."

"I hate darkness, darkness is too cold."

"I am under the light and walking on the edge of darkness."

"Besides the light and darkness, I leave a shadow."

Horst tapped the scroll: "I fell in love with her the first time I saw this sentence."

"I understand, you are right, Mr. Horst." Jessica smiled and nodded, "'I like', this reason is enough in the mysterious world. So, please come with me. , I will take you to the studio where I usually prepare medicine and meditate. It is relatively quiet and is just right for your first awakening attempt."

　Phew, okay, the most difficult paragraphs of theoretical introduction are finally over. I have tried my best to break it down, but it still takes up more than a chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)