When you do not stand high enough, believing in freedom was nothing but a lie to oneself.
Negary had never truly believed that he had so-called absolute freedom, there were no guarantees that there wasn’t anyone who stood at a higher position manipulating him.
For that reason, Negary had continued to improve himself again and again. Regardless of whether or not there was an entity manipulating him, his only goal had only ever been to constantly break through his own limits.
Gaining a higher stance, surpassing, or even turning around to dominate those who had ever wished to control his future.
…
As Chromie slowly stood up, the Decanter of God’s Offering in his hand stopped giving off intense heat, the incandescent red glow it gave off earlier had also turned into a golden glow. The corner of his smile then curved into a smile.
If you aren’t able to obtain freedom while you’re alive, I hope that you’ll be able to take control over your own life during the next life.
Uttering his blessing, Chromie granted Kunier death, then took the Decanter of God’s Offering and joined up with Green to get rid of the other assailants and traitors.
The irony was that the church members whose faith was still firm were protected by it, so the life structure of the 100-headed beast didn’t attract them too much, if at all, and managed to survive; while the members whose faith had broken were mostly killed by their ‘allies’.
And so, it was quite simple for them to clean up the aftermath this time around. After a short while, the God’s Offering group had reorganized themselves, although barely half of their original members remained; the majority had betrayed them, while a smaller number was killed in combat.
They neatly arranged the bodies of the dead Pope and the others together. A priest who fortunately remained began to recite the blessing of passing while the knights stood with their swords on the side, chanting the teachings of the church.
Flames of intense heat swiftly erupted and burned the corpses away into ash, which exuded heat to warm everyone here.
“May they all ascend into the sky within the flames and enter the kingdom of the Lord” of course, this was complete nonsense.
If anyone used their soul’s sight or spirit sight right now, they would easily witness the souls entering the Decanter of God’s Offering. After all, the Decanter was now right next to them and not on top of a mountain, no longer giving off the illusion of the departed souls entering the kingdom of God.
The atmosphere of the group was extremely awkward. They were naturally willing to offer their souls to God if demanded, but being deceived into doing it was a completely different matter. If their faith weren’t firm, another wave of traitors might have appeared.
Chromie and Green exchanged glances, then began to discuss the upcoming journey. The fact that two spies had suddenly risen to become the leader of this gathering was completely outside of their expectations. The other members of the Church’s upper brass had either betrayed them or fallen in battle, and it wasn’t even something they planned, so both of them appeared a bit inexplicably embarrassed.
Regardless, the journey must continue, so after they marked out the way forward, the God’s Offering group carried the Decanter of God’s Offering with them and set off again.
The following journey wasn’t long, but it wasn’t too short either. While treading the barren wilderness, the group no longer carried their previous spirit and vigor, which made them appear more like worshippers of Concealed Demise rather than members of Eternal Heat’s church.
Nothing particularly important occurred during the rest of the journey, at most, they ran into a few monsters who were touched by Evil Gods. The most dangerous situation they ran into was an Evil God who used to be an elf. That mindless Evil God swung its withered branch-like tentacles to attack them, but Chromie then volunteered to lead the Evil God away for the group to continue forward.
Just like that, Green naturally became the highest authority within this God’s Offering group. As he glanced at Chromie leaving the group, Green shook his head.
Most likely, it was the will of the Moon Tree who led that Evil God to them, which gave Chromie an excuse to leave the group and make his own preparations for God’s Offering Day.
Finally, the group entered the Unrepenting Abyss.
A thick mass of black fog filled the entire area, a large number of faithless remnant souls were gathering towards this place, only to become entwined by the black fog. Very quickly, they would undergo massive changes, the madness and grudges contained within the fog would drive these souls insane. Not only were they highly hostile, they were also unable to leave the range of the fog, forced to continue descending lower and lower.
A bright glow radiated from Green’s body to isolate him from the surrounding black fog. Before entering the Unrepenting Abyss, the remaining priests of the group had performed a divine technique on everyone. Green could feel a source of power coming from within the Unrepenting Abyss protecting himself from being disturbed by the fog.
〖 The black fog is created by the unique environment of the Unrepenting Abyss, but the Unrepenting Abyss was originally created by the Seven Gods cursing the Heroic Spirit Burial Grounds, so while we have the blessing of Eternal Heat on our bodies, we’d gain protection from the curse while inside the Unrepenting Abyss 〗
Green thought about this as he drew his sword to kill a dead soul who was madly charging at them.
These ones had already completely lost their minds, the black fog of the Unrepenting Abyss had continuously deprived them of their rationality, making it so that they would have to leave this environment for a chance to regain their senses.
This was the case with Negary’s Shade Attendants, who were originally dead souls within the Unrepenting Abyss. After gaining their rationality, they willingly served Negary so that they no longer had to return here.
〖 Continue forward 〗these dead souls weren’t particularly weak, but after Green’s group had been bestowed the blessing of Eternal Heat, the dead souls became even less than weak. As the dead souls carried the curse of black fog on their bodies, any of the group’s attacks could instantly kill them.
It was impossible to see into the distance within the Unrepenting Abyss, but one would find themselves approaching the center of the Unrepenting Abyss as long as they continued moving forward.
“What’s that?” suddenly, one of the members in the group turned to a certain direction within the Unrepenting Abyss. The black fog in that direction was continuously moving as if something was being created there.
“Darcy, is that you?” the member’s expression suggested delirium. He swung the sword in his hand to cut open the black fog, then rushed towards that direction with reckless abandon while the glow of the blessing gradually faded from his body.
In the end, the Unrepenting Abyss was still a joint creation of the Seven Gods. Eternal Heat’s blessing alone wasn’t enough to counteract the dangers of the Unrepenting Abyss. Because of what they went through earlier, this person’s mentality had formed a crack that allowed the black fog to take advantage of and charm him, showing him someone who was no longer alive and luring him away.
〖 Keep your minds firm if you don’t want to lose your way here for eternity 〗Green reminded everyone, then continued to go forward. No one tried to save the straggler, because even he had given up on himself.
〖 Hm? 〗after going past a certain limit, the black fog had disappeared completely. Green looked far to see the members of the Half Life Church as well as other Churches already waiting for them with torches in hand and a mocking smile.
Green looked at the center to see a gigantic withered tree. Even in this withered state, it was still possible to see just how magnificent it would have been in the past.
A pale white figure was pinned onto the branch by seven spears with its head hanging low. As Green entered the perimeter, the figure slightly looked up and opened its eyes to look at Green, or rather, at Negary who stood behind him.
