Mystery: She came from the Chaos Sea

Chapter 162 The Pope of Night
Hermione saw the way Amanesis was looking at her, and now she understood what he was thinking. She asked, "You want him to become the Pope of Night? I thought you were interested in training Selina."

"For a long time in the foreseeable future, I will only be the 'Goddess of Night.'" Amanesis watched Marian expertly hunt the monsters of the abyss and resist the devil's temptations with faith, and nodded.
"Now within the human church, the Beyonders of the Dark and Twilight Paths have gradually branched out into four distinct organizations: Nighthawks, Red Gloves, Ascetics, and Dusk Warriors."

"This divided situation is detrimental to my current situation, which is based on 'Darkness' and holds the authority of 'Twilight'. Therefore, I also intend to cultivate a 'Pope of Night'."

Amanesis's idea was inspired by Hermione's description of the Western Continent's system of receiving talismans. Although he had yet to access the Sephiroth, the River of Eternal Darkness, since Sephiroth was also affected by the imprint of human spirit, possessing a solid belief system might help him accommodate it.

Amanesis continued, "Selina has the potential to become a high-ranking deacon in charge of the Red Gloves in the future. However, without further growth and breakthroughs, given her current state, she's unfit to become the 'Pope of the Night', controlling the overall situation."

"And Marianne, she has experience as a bishop and is also a deacon fighting on the front lines. Moreover, even after falling into such a desperate situation as the abyss, she has been able to persevere until now. This is really beyond the limits of imagination." There was obvious admiration for Marianne in Amanisis' voice.

"Since you're so optimistic about Marianne, what are you waiting for?" Hermione said, looking at Marianne battling the devil. "That devil is absolutely no match for Marianne. This kind of training won't mean much to Marianne."

"Yes." Amanisis nodded slightly, but his admiring eyes never left Marianne.

"But you can also see that Marianne's current focus is entirely on exorcising this demon. She lacks the firm belief to survive..."

"Of course, being able to persist in the abyss until now is already invaluable. But I want to see what choice He will make after He successfully destroys this demon."

Seeing the faint self-destructive feeling lingering in Marianne's heart, Hermione nodded thoughtfully and said, "Is that so? Then let's wait a little longer."

This decision to "wait a little longer" seemed a bit cruel and ruthless to Marianne, who was in the abyss and had experienced many hardships.

But when she thought about the fact that this concerned the "Pope of the Night" who controlled the foundation of Amanesis's faith, Hermione became even more cautious than Amanesis.

And with her around, even if Marianne shows signs of decadence and self-destruction after defeating the devil, this "dreamer" can pull her back to her normal state of mind in time.

The two of them kept an eye on Marian while continuing to search for traces of those High-Sequence Abyss Beyonders.

At this time, Marian did not know that the goddess he chanted from time to time had also come to the abyss and was watching him.

Day after day, Marianne listened quietly to the devil's words full of temptation and blasphemy, but no anger rose in her heart.

This is not because his devotion to the goddess has diminished. On the contrary, it is precisely because he has absolute confidence in himself and firmly believes that he can completely destroy this devil that he can face the devil's provocation so calmly.

But in this abyss where even the sense of direction has been eroded, it is extremely difficult to capture a hidden devil that can sense danger.

To this end, Marian further released the influence and transformation of the abyss environment on His physical body, and His appearance became more hideous and terrifying, but He also gained the ability to vaguely identify directions in the abyss.

Marianne had been wandering aimlessly before, so this disordered life without a sense of direction had little impact on her. But now she wanted to find the devil hiding nearby, so she had to regain her sense of direction first.

Marianne's choice made the devil excited, because in the devil's view, when a person accepts the influence of evil thoughts and desires on the body to the greatest extent, it will inevitably have a huge impact on his spiritual level.

The devil was equally confident that he could lure this human saint into becoming a fallen being driven by him before he could catch him. Although the human saint, having regained his hazy sense of direction, could catch him at any time.

Because His true self was now following behind Marianne like a shadow—

Even the Sequence Four "Devil" did not have the ability to directly possess the "Night Watchman". If He wanted to inject the seductive words into the depths of Marianne's heart, He could only shorten the distance between the two physically.

Once Marianne had fully regained her sense of direction, she could look back and see His whereabouts.

But the devil was certain that the moment Marianne completely regained her sense of direction would also be the moment of her complete fall.

In the abyss, only the extraordinary people of the Abyss Path and the monsters driven by them can be immune to the evil thoughts in the air and sense the clear direction.

However, the devil seriously underestimated Marianne's mental toughness.

He didn't expect that the speed at which evil thoughts and desires would infect Marian's mind was much slower than He expected.

What he had never expected was that as the sense of crisis he sensed from Marianne became stronger and stronger, a feeling of fear would involuntarily surge up in the depths of his heart.

The extraordinary people on the "Sleepless Man" path are the most sensitive to fear, because the "Goddess of Night" at the top of their path is also the "Queen of Fear".

Fear is one of the powers of darkness.

When Marian's eyes, which were once as green as the forest, turned yellow and pale, when He used these transformed eyes to follow the breath of fear and caught the devil's figure behind Him with a vague sense of direction, He accurately grasped the opportunity.

"Goddess." Marian murmured softly, and her dry hands like eagle claws strangled the devil's throat behind him.

Hermione and Amanesis watched all this. The demon, having lost its concealment, was unable to put up an effective struggle in the hands of Marianne, who had immense combat experience.

They watched as Marianne, who had destroyed the demon, looked at His distorted figure standing upside down in a pool of demonic blood.

At this moment, they all saw that at this moment, a strong sense of emptiness suddenly surged deep in Marianne's heart.

Then, the fear of herself and the future, as well as the tendency to self-destruction, filled Marianne's entire heart in an instant like a surging tide.

But in the end, Marian did not choose to end her life.

Because in this extremely terrifying posture, the majestic and solemn figure of the "Queen of Fear" that he saw in his youth suddenly emerged in his mind.

At that time, the real world was like an abyss, and all of humanity was drowning in it, with no safe place to live. But the ancient sages of mankind at that time never had the slightest thought of giving up survival.

With hope in their hearts, they kept groping in the darkness, trying their best to find that ray of light.

Marian did not believe that He could accomplish the great feat of ending the darkness as the twin gods of mankind, but He was willing to be a wandering exorcist in the abyss while He was still alive.

"Goddess, please grant me the strength and courage to continue exorcising evil spirits." Marian prayed simply as always.

At this moment, Marian suddenly saw the soul of the devil she had killed slowly floating towards a figure wearing a black robe with silver threads.

The figure stretched out his palm, and the devil's soul seemed to be attracted by an invisible force and instantly merged into the other's palm, as if it was swallowed up.

Seeing the other person's appearance clearly, Marian was stunned and murmured to herself, "Dark Angel."

Beside the Dark Angel stood a woman who looked identical to him, but dressed in a white monk's robe trimmed with gold. "Angel of Illusion..."

Finally, Marian's gaze fell on the being in the dark dress.

At this moment, all his emotions transformed into calm piety. His ugly face was serene, and his voice seemed to come from the bottom of his heart: "Goddess."

……

Zhou Mu woke up slowly and looked around. She found herself in a grove of green bamboos. The bamboo hut was no longer visible, and she could clearly feel that her physical fitness and strength had increased significantly.

Zhou Mu subconsciously clenched her fists. Her slender arms seemed weak, but they contained a strength that she could hardly imagine.

She tried to use the sect's martial arts, and the lethality of each move was several times greater than before.

She also felt her perception become sharper.

"He is strong and healthy, with sharp eyes and ears." Zhou Mu murmured.

Although she knew that she would undergo great changes after receiving the Taoist ordination certificate, she was still shocked when this earth-shaking change suddenly happened to her.

Not only that, some weapons and techniques that she had never come into contact with were like a revelation, deeply engraved in her heart.

Those complicated moves and techniques seemed like an innate instinct; she could perform them with just a thought.

"This kind of change is hard to achieve even after ten years of hard practice..." Zhou Mu sighed in her heart.

But at the same time, Zhou Mu could also feel the murderous intent and evil thoughts boiling in her heart. A strong bloodthirsty impulse surged in her heart, making her always want to hurt others.

Hermione's voice echoed in Zhou Mu's heart: "After receiving the talisman, two paths lie before you: one is to restrain desire, the other is to indulge it. These are the two sides of the original 'Master of the Dark House'."

"Senior Yuanchu." Hearing the familiar voice, Zhou Mu felt a little more at ease. She calmed her mind and asked, "Restraint and indulgence, these two completely opposite paths, can actually converge in the same person?"

Seeing Zhou Mu's slightly revealed ambition, Hermione said, "Don't think about this kind of problem yet. Getting stuck in a dead end too early will only make you lost and crazy."

“Walking down the path you choose in your heart is something you’ll be doing for a long time to come.”

Zhou Mu collected her thoughts. Without Hermione's explanation, she had realized during the ordination process that her path was more suitable for "restraining desires." Now, with Hermione's reminder, she stopped letting her thoughts run wild and tried to calm herself down.

When she took the initiative to restrain herself, those restless emotions were restrained in her heart one by one, just like a monkey returning to its cage.

Zhou Mu calmed down and continued to look around the environment she was in. The bamboo hut disappeared, and Sect Master Shan and Napolidisli were nowhere to be seen.

However, Zhou Mu found a long sword in a bamboo sheath nearby. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary bamboo stick.

She slowly drew out her sword. The blade was dull and without any edge, looking inconspicuous.

But in Hermione's eyes, the sword contained a "Prisoner" Beyonder characteristic. Although it was only a Sequence Nine characteristic, it was still a rare treasure on the Western Continent. This was undoubtedly the Dark House's master's preferential treatment of Zhou Mi.

"The bamboo hut is alive and can move on its own. After you received the ordination, it sent you to the edge of the bamboo forest." Hermione said to Zhou Mu, "The Shan Sect Master and Napoleon will also emerge from the bamboo forest shortly."

Although the sources of power of the potion system and the ordination system are different, the essence of the power is similar.

Taking advantage of this free time, Hermione taught "meditation" and "clairvoyance" to Zhou Xi, who became the recipient of the sacred ordination.

Zhou Mu was very talented and quickly mastered "meditation". Her eyes, which had become deeper, gradually returned to their original appearance.

While learning to activate her "spiritual vision," Zhou Mu saw wisps of black mist emanating from the bamboo forest. Curious, she asked, "Senior Yuanchu, what are these black mists?"

Hermione explained, "Those are the evil thoughts and desires of others, and they are also one of the external factors that subtly influence the mental state of you, the disciples of the Dark House. Until you are strong enough, do not touch them."

Zhou Mu nodded, secretly alert in her heart. At this moment, she saw two people with bright colors walking out of the bamboo forest.

That's Master Shan and Napoli Disili.

“The colors you see are the person’s aura.”

Hermione then explained to Zhou Wei in detail the meaning of the different colors of the aura, as well as the concepts of the spiritual body, astral body, mental body, and etheric body.

There must be similar knowledge in the ordination system of the Western Continent, but being able to compare the different versions of the explanations of the two systems will undoubtedly help Zhou Mu grow better.

"Zhou Mu." Sect Master Shan came before Zhou Mu, a warm smile on his face, and asked kindly, "How do you feel about receiving the talisman for the first time?"

Zhou Mu smiled and said, "Sister Shan, it feels great, like I suddenly have the power to kill a bear."

Sect Master Shan said, "The mysteries of receiving the talisman are more than just this. You will gradually understand it later."

She looked at the bamboo staff in Zhou Mu's hand, a look of greed flashing across her eyes before changing into one of envy. She said, "It's actually a magical weapon! Sister Zhou Mu is truly worthy of being the Holy Lord's personal disciple. Sister Ruoyao also just found a dagger in the bamboo forest."

Zhou Mu looked at Napolidisli, and saw that he was indeed holding a dagger in his hand. However, unlike her dull bamboo sword, the dagger in his hand was shining with a flamboyant edge.

Hermione saw the Beyonder characteristics of a Sequence Nine "criminal."

This is no coincidence.

Was it the initiative of the owner of Anlu?

Hermione thought that the owner of the Dark House was also deliberately promoting the growth of her and Napoleon Disili.

This was to gradually align their spiritual consciousness with the appearance of the Dark House Master...

(End of this chapter)