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

Chapter 201 Black Monastery

466
After entering the safe road on the right, Agaritu walked forward a few hundred meters and saw an open door.

This gate is made entirely of bronze, without spiritual brilliance, and is an ordinary object. It is heavy, ancient, and engraved with abstract running demon wolves (but because of too many legs, they look like spiders), giants wielding huge stone clubs and weapons, humans only the size of giants' palms, a sun larger than the giants, and lightning and clouds floating in the sky.

The sun is at the top, occupying a large space. The radiating straight lines represent the light, and the gaps are filled with many patterns that are characteristic of past eras.

The door opened from the middle, dividing the sun into two symmetrical halves. The part engraved with humans was separated from the part with giants and demon wolves. The ingenious design contained a hint of the history of the time.

This bronze door is well preserved. If it were in the outside world, it would be an important cultural relic that would shock the archaeological world. Its status could be compared with the "Simuwu Ding" in the old civilization. It is a research on the culture of the ancient era from scratch. And judging from the performance of the carving, the sun occupies the supreme position, and the eternal scorching sun may become the biggest winner.

Of course, the more likely possibility is that the major churches jointly blocked this item as soon as it came on the market, or it was destroyed on the spot because it did not have the characteristics of a sealed object.

The clone, who inherited the original body's preference for "lost things" and the instinct for discovery, also developed a keen interest in the sculpture. He raised the lamp in his hand a little higher, and studied the sculpture carefully with a sense of ritual, recording them all in his memory.

There is an inconspicuous mechanism on the ground behind the door. Just step on it and the door will slowly close.

After carefully examining all the carvings on the door, Agaritu was about to enter when he suddenly noticed that the light in his hand illuminated a hidden mural. He was not sure whether this mural had just appeared, because his attention was all on the door itself.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he turned around, raised the lamp in his hand, and approached the mural.

This mural is connected to the mural outside, but they should not be from the same person. The one in front is obviously more refined and freehand, while the one outside is more like symbols or even text expressions.

He saw the mural clearly.

Above the mural was a sea of ​​burning flames, which split in the middle, leaving a path.

On the road, there is a long team, whose members either bow their heads reverently or kneel on the ground, their goal is the depths of the sea.

Their leader was a tall, thin man with long silver hair, soft features, closed eyes, and layers of feathered wings behind him.

Agaritu's expression remained unchanged. A name came to his lips but was not spoken.

Then he said, "Do you understand?"

There was silence in the dark and narrow passage. After several seconds, a foot appeared silently at the edge of the light, then two legs, and finally a person walked into the area covered by the light, slightly bending over.

"I understand, dear captain."

Anderson spat out a mouthful of blood and said with a bright smile, "This is the pilgrimage route of a certain god in the legend of the ancient era. The right side is for people to walk on, and the left side is for sacrifices. The sacrificial sheep walk in front, so you who got off the boat last are the pilgrims."

He was wearing a bloodstained white shirt and a torn black vest. There was a lot of blood on his face and body. There was a wound in his abdomen, but it was not serious.

This answer was passable. At least he was not illiterate... Agaritu turned to him: "Are they all dead?"

Anderson moved into the light, then sat down on the ground, tore off a long strip of cloth from his clothes, and bandaged the cut on his arm that he had been covering with his hand. He bit the strip of cloth in his mouth and said vaguely:
"Yes, Captain."

"We were attacked by an extraordinary object and an extraordinary creature. Our Dawn Knight failed to stop the seal that was stronger than him, and our wizard failed to correctly identify the extraordinary creature that could transform into someone else. And your subordinates, Captain, had no intention of fighting together. Excuse me, they were stupid and arrogant. They watched us get killed and retreated without thinking about who would cooperate with them after we died. So in the end, they all died."

Agaritu was a little surprised, but not shocked.

A seal used to kill livestock does not require a very high sequence. If it is higher than the Sequence 6 of "Warrior", it is most likely Sequence 5. The "Human Skin Shadow" that he saw on the road and had been harassing the team was just a material corresponding to the Sequence 6 of "Fortune Teller". The team composed of adventurers and sailors has two Sequence 5s, Anderson and Gilchies, and two or more Sequence 6s, and they are all experienced Beyonders. Their overall strength is much higher than that of the opponent. Almost one punch from each person can beat the seal and Beyonder creatures to the point where they are unrecognizable.

However, because they were trapped in darkness and unable to immediately grasp the situation, they were all killed by the enemy with overwhelming superiority in a very short period of time, almost defenselessly.

It’s just a pity that their extraordinary characteristics will probably be taken away by the Aurora Society’s pilgrims as part of the sacrifice.

He already knew who had been here before.

The mural signs along the way, the carvings from the ancient sun god era, the cross emblems, and modern products indicate that the people who came here are most likely the Aurora Society pilgrims who went on a routine pilgrimage to the East Continent last October, but suddenly lost contact for some unknown reason!

"Be happy, Gilchias is dead, and no one wants to kill you now," Agaritu said. "How did he die?"

Anderson laughed very honestly.

"When I heard the Dawn Knight yell at us to run, I knew it was over and I turned and ran immediately."

"He ran away, too."

"He ran with several other people, and the seal chased behind. When he got within five meters, he would trip someone."

"In the end, he also tried to trip me, but I was faster than him!" Anderson smiled and made a fist-pumping gesture. "He fell, and I ran out as fast as I could. Then I ran out of the sacrificial passage, saw the murals, and came here."

After saying this long paragraph, Anderson let out a long sigh and looked weak and listless.

He said sincerely, "Dear Captain, perhaps there will be a place where I can be of use as a pathfinder, but I am almost starving to death."

Agaritu smiled and said, "You can still live for more than five hours, and your body may be useful."

After saying this, he turned his head and looked at the "Angel of Destiny" on the mural behind him, and said meaningfully:

"You walked into the path of sacrifice but escaped safely. Perhaps this is also the choice of fate. You can pray in your heart, praying that fate will choose you again."

Behind him, Anderson, who already knew that he would not get any charity, looked even uglier. He knew very clearly that both his physical and mental condition had slipped into an extremely dangerous state. He felt dizzy, but he still forced a smile and said, "Fate? Sorry, Captain, I don't really believe in it. If I believed that fate really existed, I would be serving dishes in a restaurant in my hometown now."

"Did anyone predict that you would be a waiter in a restaurant?"

The devil spoke to him casually and walked towards the open door. Anderson did not dare to hesitate. He forced himself to stand up and followed behind, staggering step by step.

"My old teacher." This time, Anderson's seemingly disguised hearty smile was a little more real because of the memory. He said regretfully, "The old man firmly believed that someone like me would not have a future. He was afraid that I would starve to death, so he suggested that I study art. But I didn't like to draw according to the requirements of those old-fashioned examiners, so I ended up skipping school."

"It's apostasy," Agaritu said. "It sounds like you are from the Church of the God of Knowledge."

——The word "class teacher" is a special word that can be called Lundgren's.

Because it has the meaning of both "professor who manages the class" and "priest", a more accurate translation should be "bishop responsible for small classes". Only the clergy of the knowledge church have both the duties of priest and teacher.

Therefore, as soon as this title appeared, the bishops of Lenburg applied for it. They believed that this word was specially designed for them by Emperor Roselle. But for some reason, Emperor Roselle, who created this term, insisted on using this less formal "class teacher" as the official translation.

Anderson tactfully pressed the mechanism, and the heavy bronze door slowly closed behind them.

“I have a flexible approach to prayer.”

He didn't say much about his faith, because he didn't have any serious faith at all: "You are right, but my apostasy was just truancy in the eyes of the old man. He was even happy that there was no Anderson Hood in the class who dragged down the average score every week. He opened the door for me and gave me a map on the night I skipped school. He said that going out to be a traveler to study the local customs and people is also a good career direction. So he assigned me a hundred travel essays and told me the routes to go abroad, for fear that I would be caught illegally and embarrassed by him."

Anderson suddenly couldn't continue. He felt like he was explaining his life, and it seemed that the next step was to find a place to lie down, say his last words, and then die with a smile on his face.

But the devil captain turned around and said: "Hurry up, it's time to get on the road."

The dim corridor, the demon holding a lantern, the murals along the way praising the ancient gods... Anderson laughed dryly and quickened his pace, feeling that he was really going to die.

He suppressed his embarrassment and subtle mood, laughed it off, and continued to liven up the atmosphere:
"On my way abroad, I met an old man who was telling fortunes on a bridge. He was talking nonsense and charging a very high price."

"I saw that he hadn't eaten for a few days, so I went to calculate it and asked him which country I should go to. He said I should go to a restaurant to wait tables." "In the first few years after I was released, I didn't agree with this statement, but after being at sea for a long time, I occasionally thought that maybe waiting tables would be a good idea. But I didn't really want to be a waiter. I escaped to live a new and exciting life."

After walking a few steps in silence, he laughed briskly:
"This adventure in the God-Forsaken Land is also very exciting, dear Captain."

Agaritu did not answer. The only sound in the corridor was the sound of soles of shoes stepping on the ground, which continued to echo in the empty environment.

Soon, a flickering light source appeared at the end, which should be lightning from the outside world.

The murals show believers kneeling or marching, frozen silently in different postures. In the direction of the exit, the leader walking in front, holding a wooden staff, raises his hands high to welcome the light after the darkness.

——If there were no thunder and lightning and darkness, there should be the sun's light after the long and depressing corridor, which would be a baptism.

Walking out of the passage, the outside world came into view.

Two gloomy towers and a series of black buildings were connected to each other by covered bridges, forming a wide graystone square.

The square was full of holes, with huge arrows sticking out and several fires burning, as if it had been attacked before.

From afar, there were lights on in several windows of the building. It turned out that there were actually people living in such a place!

The rain here was much lighter, no longer as overwhelming as before as if it was going to drown everything. The square was very spacious, but the two people's pace was not slow, and they soon arrived in front of the black building in the middle.

This building has many spires, and behind it are residential houses. The style is similar to the Gothic architecture of the old era, with a cross on the top, which looks like a church or a monastery.

Agaritu approached the monastery and knocked on the door. After a long silence, when he was about to knock again, there was a slight sound of footsteps behind the black door, and then the door tilted slightly, revealing a gap as wide as a palm.

Behind the gap was a hand holding a candlestick, with a red candle burning slowly.

Behind the hand appeared a tall man with a weather-beaten face. There were deep wrinkles on his forehead, eyes and mouth, but his hair was shiny black without a single silver strand.

His linen robe was simple and quaint, his expression was serene and calm, and his rare pure black eyes showed curiosity about the guests and the kind smile unique to clergymen.

Agaritu quickly retrieved the corresponding face from his memory—absolutely correct, this was the “Black Saint” that the Aurora Society had lost contact with, Leo Master!
However, the face in the memory and the current Leo Master have very different temperaments. The "Black Saint" has a deep and gloomy look, and like other secret praying people, he likes to hide himself in the shadows. His expression and movements also carry the iconic fanaticism and neurosis of the true Creator's believers.

He had reached the middle and later stages of the pilgrimage, or even the end, but there had been no news at all.

There must be something wrong with him.

"Welcome. Those who can come here are all lambs guided by the Lord."

Leo Master said with a smile: "But I'm sorry, I can't let you in. The Lord's test is in this monastery. You can join us, practice asceticism together, witness miracles, and redeem yourself."

"In the monastery?"

"Yes, this is an inevitable test." The ascetic replied, "When we come here, the corresponding demons will appear. Those who are not pious enough will die, and only believers with firm faith can be redeemed and gain a new life."

I don't understand at all, the demon thought.

However, the meaning behind this sentence is probably the reason why the pilgrim team lost contact, and it seems that they have suffered considerable losses.

He thought for a while, hesitating whether he should reveal that he knew the other party's identity. In the end, he chose to ask directly:
"who are you?"

Leo Master was not surprised by this question and answered it calmly.

"I am a monk named Leo Master from a religious order."

Anderson had a strange look on his face. He could see that this ascetic was rather reserved, but the black inverted cross on the top of the monastery made the words "Aurora Society" clearly written on the ascetic's face.

"The easternmost part of the Sonia Sea is where my Lord sleeps. His holy mountain is hidden somewhere here. I led a pilgrim team here, was tested by the Lord, and stayed here to do penance."

Agaritu did not respond to these words. Although he was somewhat curious about what the "devil" he was talking about was, Leomaster did not seem to intend to tell this stranger the details of the test, so he asked again directly:

"By passing through the monastery, we can enter the sanctuary?"

Leo Master shook his head slowly: "The Lord bears the sins of the world and hangs upside down at the end of the world. His sanctuary rejects everyone and will only be opened when the final judgment is approaching."

Does this mean we can't get through? Agaritu asked again, "Where is the edge of the island ahead?"

Leo Master said through the crack in the door:
"Go around here and head east, across the dark abyss, but the long bridge to the sanctuary has been cut off."

After getting the information he wanted, Agaritu immediately turned around with the lamp in his hand, preparing to bypass the black monastery from the left.

Anderson cautiously came forward upon seeing this, and forced a smile as he looked at the gentle and kind monk behind the door:
"Excuse me, as you can see I am injured, could you please give me some food or water? Although dying at the end of the pilgrimage is God's forgiveness, I feel that I can make more contributions to the Lord while I am alive."

Anderson's respectful title for the True Creator made the two demigods present turn their heads. Leo Master's eyes moved slightly, and his smile became more kind:

“We hallow His name.”

“His Kingdom come.”

Anderson naturally pointed four times on his body, made the sign of the cross, and answered skillfully: "Praise be to the Lord who created everything, the fallen self of all living beings, may His will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

“When did you receive the Lord’s guidance?”

Anderson replied solemnly: "When I was hungry and penniless wandering the streets of Intis."

He did not say the rest of the words. A devout believer like Leo Master would naturally glorify it as being helped by his compatriots and thus developing his faith. The situation at the time was that Anderson was working part-time as a delivery man and delivered himself to a member of the Iron Cross who was ordering food.

As a low-sequence hunter, he was drafted into the army. The employee benefits and salary of the Iron Cross did attract him for a while, but the fanaticism and neurosis unique to the believers of the True Creator soon made him run away without any faith or belief.

He worked for less than a quarter in total, and when he left, he left behind a large number of untouched documents and reports.

Leo Master felt compassion for the world and nodded, "Please wait a moment."

The door closed, and reopened a few minutes later. Leo Master brought a water bag that was still warm, and two soft and delicious-looking bread. Just seeing the bread, Anderson immediately felt his saliva secreted rapidly, and his hunger could no longer be suppressed.

“This is the sacrament of the Lord, His flesh and blood, and by sharing Him we become fellow men.”

After Leo Master finished speaking, Anderson couldn't wait to take a bite of the cake.

The bread was also heated, and at this moment its taste surpassed all the delicacies he had ever eaten. But before he had time to taste the bread, a voice suddenly came from his mind:
"Praise the Lord! Praise the great Lord!"

Anderson let out a deafening cough.

TBC
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I've been too busy these days, and I was so distracted by studying for my driver's license that I had no time to pay attention to the pain caused by the big drop in subscriptions.

Regarding the real construction of the Upper Source Castle mentioned at the end of the previous chapter... It is not in my plan, and even if it really happens, it will be a long, long time later.

(End of this chapter)