The red moon returns

Chapter 21 The Church of Dark Night
  The protest at Crown Square ended tragically.

According to the on-site investigation, fires and explosions occurred almost simultaneously in three different directions, but no actual traces of burning were found, which only caused huge panic at the incident. Nearly ten thousand people fled in panic from around the square, triggering a massive stampede that resulted in more than 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The city center was littered with corpses, and the protest ultimately came to nothing.

The consequences were quite serious. The police from the Department of Order immediately stationed at the scene, the special forces of the four major churches also took action, and various organizations, overt or covert, quietly started to move.

Hundreds of blue uniforms blocked the entire square, and every policeman's face was tense, brewing a fierce storm. Everyone who was still in the square, whether they were merchants or passers-by, whether they were injured or intact, whether they were dead or alive, were all controlled on the spot, and the dead ones were taken to the Hall of the Dead for burial, and the alive ones were sent directly to the Hall of Order to wait for them. There will be lengthy inquiries and reviews, and countless troubles afterwards,
  But these have nothing to do with Lynch. Those ferocious policemen were putting on ugly smiles. They were led by a man in black formal clothes who was said to be the chief. They respectfully sent him out of the blockade and escorted him all the way into the Night Cathedral. Leave with peace of mind.

Of course, to be precise, he was escorting the old man he met by chance, and Lynch was 'and his entourage'.

The old man lied. He was not actually the bishop of the Church of the Night.

He is the head of the Rhine Diocese of the Church of the Night, Archbishop Trinleth.

The way from home to the church was blocked by protests, and he ran into Lynch who was also preparing to go to the Church of the Night, and took him back to the Church of the Night.

A scepter with colorful black, which is the emblem of the goddess of the night, hangs high at the entrance of the church.

This is the Holy Dark Night Cathedral.

The black dome is dotted with dots of gold, symbolizing the boundless night.

Under the dome, a statue of a god holds a scepter high and looks down at all living beings. Its face is blurred, which means that mortals will never understand the meaning of the gods.

Knowing that Lynch was not a cultist of the night, Trinleth did not take him to meet the goddess. He took him directly into the reception room, took the letter of introduction handed over by Lynch and read it.

At this time, the old man had put on a black priest's robe and a ribbon decorated with five gold stars. He instantly transformed from an ordinary and leisurely old man into an elder full of religious atmosphere.

Lynch looked at him with a little curiosity. After all, he had never thought that in this extraordinary world, the person in high position in charge of a parish would be an ordinary person.

Not only the voice in his head, but even Trinleth himself confirmed that he was just an ordinary old man who only knew some trivial physical skills.

"It's not surprising, kid. Many churches have bishops like me. What the church values ​​is devotion to the goddess and who can serve the goddess and the church better, and fighting is just one way of effectiveness. Just like what happened outside Of course, the Nightwalker agency will be responsible for the subsequent direct handling of the matter, but how to deal with it depends on your devotion to the goddess."

No, I think it depends on experience and skill, and has nothing to do with piety.

But it makes sense. Those who wield force are not necessarily at the top of power. It depends on how to check and balance.

Therefore, Lynch nodded and said gratefully: "Thankfully, I have you with me, otherwise I would have been pestered by these policemen for several days without having to do anything."

"Oh, the Lord cares for every child with good intentions." The old man looked up from the letter of introduction and winked mischievously, "Especially the children who secretly helped others to block the crowds along the way, are even more worthy of the Lord's care. Not to mention this. The child even helped me pick up a strange item."

"That strange object...what happened in the square? Such a big incident suddenly broke out."

"We don't know yet, but the impact will definitely be serious. It is likely to be related to the protests and the Best Tunnel incident. The tunnel issue involves multiple forces. My child, don't ask any more questions. As a man who is about to step into a mysterious world For all creatures, curiosity is the mortal enemy. Remember one sentence, curiosity is the highway to the underworld, and there will never be a traffic jam. As for the review, don’t worry, your review has ended with me, and it will not affect your affairs. "

While explaining, Trinleth closed the letter of introduction and handed it back to Lynch. In fact, this thing is not written for him at all. It is several levels behind, but of course it would be better if he is willing to read it.

"Praise the Silent Night, I know your situation. We are both guardians of regional stability. Under the guidance of the goddess, we are willing to walk side by side with the watchers. I think all churches that serve the gods should have the same attitude. .”

This must mean he agreed, Lin Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After getting the letter of introduction, he was actually always worried, but he just didn't like to show it. In movies and TV shows, the church is a group of idiots with rigid ideas and stubborn personalities. Lynch is afraid that they will not recognize the letter of introduction.

So until now, the stone in my heart has finally settled.

"Children, don't think that we are too pedantic. We are already in the age of steam and technology. Even in the most traditional church, there will be many secular people like me."

Indeed, Lynch felt that this old man was no different from a secular old man except that he was occasionally not direct enough when speaking.

"Times have changed. In order to maintain the stability of the region and the firmness of folk beliefs, we do strictly guard the taboo knowledge and the secrets of the gods. We will not be like those irresponsible secret societies that give away taboo knowledge and mysteries in order to attract members. The power can be leaked out at will. But after all, we do not live in the world of gods, we are also mortals in this world, and we must know how to be flexible, which is different from the rigid dogma you imagine."

Lin Qi smiled awkwardly and nodded: "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. In fact, we still welcome talented and moral young people like you to join the team against the mysterious. People always have great fear of the world of soul-shifters. Even talented people will mostly choose to stay away. , It is not easy to replenish high-quality fresh blood. There are not many warriors who are willing to spend their lives following the guidance of the gods and confronting the mysterious."

"Because of the threat of madness and loss of control?" Lynch recalled Natalie's previous words. "Yes, this is the biggest reason. Mental and physical abnormalities are what people are most afraid of. Their concerns are actually justified. After all, this is a one-way ticket. Once you start, you can never stop."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because soul alienation is a very special technique. Now we use it to fight against the mysteries and evil gods in the dreamland, but this technique did not exist in the beginning."

The old man looked at the time on the clock and explained slowly,

"At the end of the mythical age of the First Age, the gods fell, and all living beings lost the protection of the gods, leaving them defenseless against the evil gods and mysteries of the dreamland."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what exactly are evil gods? I only know that there are cultists who believe in them." Lynch couldn't help but ask the biggest question in his heart.

The old man's face was a little ugly, and he obviously didn't like this topic, but he still explained: "Just like the gods in the world, evil gods are high-ranking beings from the dreamland, but they don't have the perfect godhead and complete power like the true gods, so Their power is far inferior to that of true gods. But after the death of the gods, they took advantage of the emptiness of the mortal world to usurp the authority of a small number of gods, posing a huge threat to the modern world."

"very dangerous?"

"Of course it is dangerous. Even if they are just 'weak' evil gods, they are still high-ranking beings. They are the incarnation of mystery. With their true names and images, they can make people fall into eternal madness. Their existence is not something that the fragile world can bear. , once the body is guided to the present world, it will cause great damage. In more serious cases, it will cause a large area to be distorted, leading to the extinction of all living things. Even more serious... haha, in short, it is extremely dangerous, so the cultists who serve them will Be one of our worst enemies.”

“During the Second and Third Epochs when the gods fell, living beings were powerless to resist for tens of thousands of years. Until the dawn of the Fourth Epoch, the twelve true gods returned from their slumber one after another, and they guided mankind on the path of soul-shifters. , human beings finally have the ability to fight against mystery. Although they still lose more and win less, at least they have hope."

"Returning one after another?" Lin Qi's heart moved, and he seemed to realize something, "Are these twelve gods the only ones returning? What about other gods, will they also return one after another?"

"The other gods are all fallen gods. They are still sleeping in the dreamland. At least they have not returned yet. As for the future..." The old man looked at Lin Qi and said seriously, "Child, mortals should not try to understand the will and state of the gods. , it is not terrible not to understand, what is terrible is to really understand. God is a higher-level existence. When you have the idea of ​​'trying to understand', there is only one step away from madness and loss of control. Once you really Unfortunately, I understand that forbidden knowledge can completely destroy your mind in an instant, whether you are a soul shifter or not."

The corner of Lin Qi's mouth trembled, thinking about the feeling when he heard the voice in his head for the first time, and wanted to understand the way the "voice" existed, and his guess about the identity of his traveling companion became more certain.

However, it was impossible to disclose these thoughts to the old man. Lin Qi asked calmly on the surface: "Okay, I probably understand what the evil god is, but the alienation can't stop..."

"According to the theory of evolution proposed by a folk scholar a few years ago, after tens of thousands of years of confrontation with the mysterious, the souls of ordinary people have developed a weak resistance, so now most ordinary people are immune to the intrusion of the mysterious, perhaps until they reach their old age. You cannot come into contact with mystery, unless there is an accidental mysterious contact, which destroys this resistance. But the soul-shifter has alienated his soul, and the resistance automatically disappears. From now on, he will be in deep contact with mystery all the time, and the erosion of mystery depends entirely on it. The longer the powerful confrontation of the soul, the easier it is for the soul to be assimilated by mysterious distortion. Therefore, in order to ensure safety, the soul-shifter must move forward as soon as possible and perform the next alienation to make the soul stronger, but this faces a big problem. "

The old man drew several concentric circles on the coffee table:
  "Each alienation will make the entanglement between the soul and the mystery deeper, and the erosion will be more serious. It can only continue to rush to the next alienation. This forms a very dangerous cycle, a cycle that cannot be stopped."

Four big words popped up in Lin Qi's mind immediately: drink poison to quench thirst.

"So, you should know the dangers and responsibilities, kid." The old man finally smiled, "Even so, do you still want to become a soul changer?"

"I would like to ask, old gentleman, why are you still an ordinary person?"

"Not everyone has the talent of alienated soul. I am destined to be just an ordinary person in this life, but it is said that you have this talent."

"Yes, I do, and I don't have a choice."

Lin Qi closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded seriously and said, "Then what should I do?"

"First of all, you need to determine the god that fits your heart. Because it is your own soul that is alienated. If the soul does not fit with your heart after the alienation, there is no need to erode it mysteriously. You will have a mental breakdown in a few days. , you can understand this."

Lin Qi nodded. It was similar to a rejection reaction, which all time travelers understand.

"The way to confirm is very simple. Which true god do you believe in?"

"Huh?" Lynch was stunned, "Do you have to have faith?"

The old man was also a little confused: "You have to follow the footsteps of the gods and imitate the powers of the gods. Of course, you must be approved by the gods. These are not conditions. They can only be said to be the basic requirements for the alienated souls of the true gods."

"But I have no faith." The veins on Lin Qi's forehead throbbed and he said in a solemn voice, "I don't believe in any god."

"That's troublesome." The two looked at each other for a moment, and the old man said distressedly, "How can there be people in the world who have no faith at all?"

But is there a soul in this world?

Lynch knew that he had encountered the most unsolvable crisis since time travel.

(End of this chapter)