Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

901
Balam.

"...Please accept these pious offerings, and may their souls go to your side."

"In praise of death."

"In praise of death."

"In praise of death..."

The sacrificial ceremony was in progress. A human was completely disassembled. The white skeleton was neatly placed aside, and the flesh and blood were buried in a deep pit. As the driven undead scattered the last handful of soil, the flesh and blood were buried deep underground, dyeing the surrounding gravel and rocks dark, and the skeleton was lightly covered with a layer of soil with hands crossed and placed flat on the chest. Two corpses lay on both sides of the river, with their heads facing west, buried like road signs, with some traces of bones showing through the soil and gravel, and the eye sockets filled with sand staring at the sky empty.

The high priest stretched out his hand and drew a long bloody line vertically on the skull.

Haiter personally presided over the sacrificial ceremony, and the sacrifices, which had been painted with gold and white paint, looked at him eagerly.

The royal road for the god's ship to move forward had extremely complicated sacrificial and excavation procedures. Digging 50 kilometers in 20 days was considered very fast. If it was just to dig a large river, then Haitel could dig it out in one day.

In order to ensure that the river in reality can completely match the "River of Styx", church members have to do divination every kilometer they dig, pray for the response of the God of Death, and correct minor errors. They will not continue their activities until they receive the response. During the period of suspension of work, the Church of the God of Death is not idle. They will conduct appropriate living sacrifices, burying devout believers on both sides of the river at an indefinite distance, dedicating their flesh and blood to the land of Balam, and their bones will become signposts for the river to move forward, while their spirits will be given to the River of Styx to become trackers pulling the boats of the gods.

Due to the special nature of this project, matters concerning sacrifices and prayers were basically handled by the high priest Haiter.

Almost every prayer was answered within a few hours, and the feeling that God was watching over them was very reassuring.

Therefore, the engineering team was extremely enthusiastic, and even civilians continued to join in. Whenever the sacrifices that served as "road signs" were buried, others would sprinkle colorful petals and feathers on their bones to express their respect for the sacrifices.

Haitel looked at the dozens of sacrificial reserve soldiers behind him and nodded slightly:

"Get ready, kids."

"Now it's your turn to go to God."

Upon hearing this, the living sacrifices showed expressions of surprise and anticipation, and nodded vigorously towards the high priest to show their piety and determination.

"Good boy, let's continue to open up the river." Haitel whispered, "Don't worry, we will meet again in the Lord's kingdom."

On the hillside in the distance, Azik looked at this scene and felt it was extremely strange.

Of course, "weird" is what he said based on his experience of living in the Northern Continent for more than a thousand years. As the "Archon of Death", he did not think there was anything wrong with being with death and talking about death like drinking water. But - is the high priest really normal? He was previously influenced by the man-made god of death, but now he insists on believing that God's instructions are correct, and mobilized almost all members of the church to dig the so-called "River of Styx"...

...Is His mind really normal? Azik couldn't help but doubt it.

Fanatics should be so devout that they agree with everything God says, but...

Azik looked at the densely packed crowd on the low-lying construction site. The number of people there far exceeded the number of people on the engineering team. Many civilians and even nobles in the imperial capital had joined in. The most popular and unanimous issue in the entire country was actually to dig a river.

What can this river bring?
Azik, who had racked his brains but failed to reduce Balam's death rate, found it unimaginable. Although he could understand Balam's cultural worship of death, the inertial thinking formed over the past thousand years still made it impossible for him to accept their willingness to die: "What can the Styx bring? The power of the source is so terrifying, it can only bring death and silence... They are so proactive."

The sun gradually rose higher in the sky, and it was the hottest time of the day.

At this time, the power of the undead creatures will become weak, and the extraordinary people on the "Corpse Collector" path will also feel tired and sleepy, so it is time for a lunch break. Construction will not start again until the sun sets after 6 o'clock in the evening.

Sure enough, the Beyonders began to disperse the crowd.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Azik quickly approached High Priest Haitel who was leaving from the side.

The Archon walked straight towards the High Priest, and the Beyonders around him immediately knelt down. They knelt in reverence and awe towards the two representatives of the God of Death, with their foreheads and palms pressed tightly against the ground.

Haitel was not surprised to see him coming. They were equals, so he did not salute:

"What's the matter, Your Highness Azik?"

"...High Priest, what would happen if the Styx entered reality?" Azik glanced at the people kneeling on the ground around him, as well as the increasing number of people kneeling in the distance. In order to leave as quickly as possible, he had to ask straight to the point.

"Of course it is the return of the gods." Haitel said hoarsely, "He will return from the depths of the Styx on a large ship, with countless souls carrying His ship. Your Highness Azik, at that time, we only need to kneel on the ground and bathe in the majesty of God."

"Young children took the initiative to sleep at the bottom of the river, only to stand up at that time, give Him guidance, and pull the ropes of the big ship."

"...I know that." Azik didn't want to discuss the sacrifice, and felt that the other party seemed to be deliberately avoiding the topic. He glanced at the civilians and Beyonders around him, and sent his voice directly to the other party's ears, "You also understand what I mean, High Priest, if the Styx really enters reality through this river, what kind of consequences will it cause, you should be able to imagine it, right?"

"Although you have taken many measures on the river, including sacrificing the spirits of living people as road signs and setting up seals on the riverside to limit the width of the river, but... we all know what the 'River Styx' is. High Priest, do you really think you have the ability to limit it?"

That's the source...that's the "River of Eternal Darkness"!
If it really entered the real world, how could the angels control its direction? It should be it that controls the angels!
Finally asking the question that had been in his heart for a long time, Azik felt that the heavy stone that had been weighing on his heart and making him breathless all day had finally disappeared. Azik stared at the other person's face, trying to find the slightest change in his expression, but he failed.

Before questioning him face to face, Azik anticipated many possible reactions from the high priest. The high priest had always been in a high position, and he might be angry and dissatisfied with his questioning, or he might express disdain, or he might suddenly realize what he had done, but at this moment, the two archons looked at each other, and Azik saw that Haiter's expression did not change at all, but instead showed a little doubt.

"Is that what you are talking about?"

The high priest seemed genuinely confused, as if Azik was questioning something that was self-evidently right. "This is the will of the gods, and we just need to obey. I have answered your question. As a child of the Lord, do you also want to participate in our actions?"

Azik couldn't believe it: "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

"That's Essence! If you put Essence into the real world, you won't be able to control it at all. The imperial capital and all the towns along the river, no, the entire Balam may be swallowed up. High Priest, do you want to put all the people of the country in danger?"

Haitel looked at Azik, the doubt on his face gradually disappeared, he frowned, and then answered seriously:

"So that's what you're worried about."

"Maybe. Do you have any solution?" "Of course, stop it immediately." Azik said, "No matter what, you can't destroy your own country with your own hands."

He could see that the other party didn't seem very happy, but he still listened patiently because he was the son of the god of death.

"I'm afraid God won't allow this. Even if I want to do this, I can't stop." Haitel was as calm as ever. He glanced around and suddenly whispered, "There's one more thing, Your Highness Azik, you probably don't know yet."

"what?"

"The Styx has indeed changed a bit. Just as you said, it may bring bad changes to Balam." Haitel stood still, but the scene around him quietly became distorted and changed. Azik looked around vigilantly, but did not stop the other party's behavior. When the scene was fixed again, they had already appeared in the spirit world, outside Calderon.

Haitel stood outside Calderon and said to Azik with a serious expression:

“Not long ago, I could hear the voice of the Lord after praying, and sometimes during meditation I felt as if I was trapped in a place without any light, surrounded by the sound of water, as if I was in deep water.”

"I suspected that it was a revelation from the Lord to me, suggesting that He Himself might be in some kind of trouble."

Azik also became serious: "...So you think opening a river channel is the way to help Him escape?"

"Yes and no."

Haitel kept the question a secret and suddenly asked an irrelevant question: "Your Highness, what are your expectations for Balam's future?"

"To keep the country going normally..." Azik answered the question directly, but then felt something was wrong at the end, "Why are you asking this?"

"I am surprised by your thoughts. As a child of the Lord, you are always resistant to death and eternal sleep..." Haitel's voice was slow and hoarse, but low as if singing, "...Don't you understand the current situation of our country? Your Highness, don't look at our land with the thinking of the Northern Continent. We are the people of the God of Death. When the end comes, we should be ecstatic."

"Besides this, do you have any other way to save this country?"

How could there not be? How could one require all citizens to accept death just because of their faith? This is simply... Azik was about to reply, but he was horrified to find that he seemed to become extremely sleepy. Although his mind was still somewhat awake, his body had unconsciously completely relaxed. He even had difficulty opening his mouth to speak, and he had no strength at all.

At this moment, the surrounding environment suddenly shattered like glass - they were no longer standing on the outskirts of Calderon, but were already in the center of Calderon!
Dreamland!

When did the high priest gain the ability to dream...

Azik's thoughts were confused for a moment, and his brain, which had begun to stop functioning, had difficulty processing the complex events happening before his eyes.

In his impression, the high priest had always been a Beyonder of the "Death God" path. In the more than a year since he revived from the coffin, he had no chance to come into contact with the Beyonder characteristics of the "Darkness" path. Why could he actually use the Beyonder power of "Dreams"? Although he was not a normal Sequence 2, his status had not fallen, and he actually did not react to the dream at all...

Haitel grabbed Azik's wrist and pulled him forward.

In Azik's vision, which seemed to be covered by a dark filter, the other party's body was unexpectedly abnormally tall, his jet-black robe looked like extended wings, and his face was blurry, as if covered with a hazy black veil.

Azik heard the sound of water and saw the hazy gray-white color rising from the depths and gradually falling back.

There seemed to be a figure that could not be seen clearly standing in the middle of the river, or standing on the other side of the river, with a vague figure. Azik could not see the other person's appearance clearly no matter what. Sometimes he thought it was a goddess with a snake tail and wings, sometimes it seemed to have turned into a woman wearing a long skirt and holding her head, and sometimes it appeared to be the image of a terrifying wolf-like beast with eight legs, standing in the middle of the water. But when he tried his best to see, the other person's figure disappeared again, as if it was a grotesque illusion.

The high priest pulled Azik and walked towards the depths step by step.

Walking among the tall stone pillars, Haitel's old voice came into Azik's ears intermittently:

"...What you want is the country of the Northern Continent."

"But you forgot that the god we believe in is the god of death... We seek equal death... Not everyone desires the afterlife and the present life as much as you think... After so long, I thought you already knew it."

"Come on, Your Highness Azik."

Haitel turned his face towards Him, and feathers seemed to begin to grow on his blurry face. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, his cheekbones were high, and his whole face looked like a skeleton that had just been dug out of a coffin.

This terrifying face was only five centimeters away from the tip of Azik's nose.

"You are the most noble sacrifice, you are a child of God."

"God has given you life, and now it is time to give it back."

"On the day when the river course is fully completed, I will burn myself in my tomb and sacrifice myself to the Lord, and be a boat under His feet;"

"And you, before that, will be sunk into the river, to your Father God, to steer the ship for Him."

TBC
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"Why……"

Azik could no longer feel fear. He tried his best to squeeze out these words from his throat: "Why?"

"Why?" Haitel's withered teeth opened and closed several times on his skeletal face, revealing a complex emotion of disbelief and regret. "So I say, the Northern Continent has made you really strange, Your Highness Azik."

He loosened his grip, and Azik's body fell down. The cold water seemed to begin to rise, covering his ears and gently caressing his cheeks.

"What exactly are you asking?"

“Why resist death, why deny the love of God?”

"Is there anything better in this world than eternal peace?"