Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 300 A Quiet Night in Bahrain

The wooden door opened with a creaky sound, and an old man with sparse hair poked his head out from behind the crack in the door.

"It's so late..." The old man looked impatient, "Who is it?"

The old man was none other than the “ghost craftsman” Balin.

He asked casually, then squinted at the guest who had just knocked on the door.

They were two men in dark cloaks.

The large hoods covered their faces, making it difficult for Balin to see their features.

But for Balin, his "Bahrain Blacksmith Shop" actually often entertains such guests - they are often members of various hidden organizations. Because they have no official pass, they find Balin and conduct various gray transactions in his "Blacksmith Shop".

The two mysterious cloaked men in front of him looked exactly like the many people who had approached him to conduct shady transactions before...

However, Bahrain smelled an unusual scent from them.

Suddenly, a low, cold voice came from under the cloak on the left.

"Are you the 'ghostsmith' Balin?"

"'Ghostsmith' Barin Hertel?"

"..."

Balin was stunned, and his slightly narrowed cloudy eyes gradually became deep.

Most of the customers who come here to conduct gray transactions only know his name "Bahrain" but do not know his full name.

And few people know about his extraordinary profession as "Ghost Craftsman" in the fourth level of destiny of [Ku Tu].

That was Bahrain’s secret, but this secret was exposed by the mysterious cloak whose appearance could not be seen clearly!
"...Who are you?" Balin asked meaningfully, then moved aside to make way for them.

"Come in and talk, guests."

……

The broken wooden door closed gently without making any sound.

The room was dimly lit. Balin walked to the cupboard at the back and took down a half-burned candle.

Taking out a tinder, he lit the lamp, and sat down in front of a nearly falling apart wooden-backed chair in the flickering, warm light of the flame.

Then, the wrinkles on his face tightened subconsciously, and he asked with twitching facial muscles:
"Be frank, both of you. What exactly are you doing here?"

"Since you know my name and occupation, you must know more."

"Speak openly. Are you here to conduct underground transactions, or do you have any troubles that need to be solved by the 'Mercenary Group'?"

"..."

The two apostles, Undertaker and Service, did not answer him quickly.

Sevis didn't make any other moves, just stood there quietly. The undertaker lifted his cloak, revealing his snake-like eyes that shone with a deep light.

A tense atmosphere suddenly filled the entire room.

At some point, the Undertaker finally spoke:
"I'm not here to trade, Balin."

"My mission is to bring you back. You are of some use to the Lord."

"..."

As the undertaker finished speaking, Balin jumped up from his chair, holding a short curved knife in his hand.

The dagger chopped down heavily on the undertaker's neck, and the air suddenly burst into bursts of sharp and sharp sounds of breaking through the air, and dark shadows flashed frequently in the air!

--clang!!
The crisp, ear-splitting sound of metal clashing rang out in an instant, and another hunting blade with mithril patterns appeared in the hands of the undertaker!
The dagger and the hunting blade collided heavily, splashing out several strings of tiny sparks, illuminating Balin's increasingly hideous face.

"Humph... Damn it, are you dogs sent by Harris? Just to hunt down an old man like me who has been hiding for ten years?"

"And you... you are also a [Ku Tu]! It has been ten years since I quit the 'Steelburner'! Ten years!"

"Want to take me back? Humph... I will never go with you. I will never let myself be thrown into that boiling furnace!"

Bang! The undertaker suddenly felt that the terrifying spiritual energy of the old man in front of him surged again.

Although he is a 'blacksmith', as a transcendent with the destiny of [Ku Tu], he also has an extremely strong body. The powerful force he erupted actually forced the undertaker to retreat a little.

The undertaker didn't quite understand what Bahrain was saying, but the situation before him clearly showed that the negotiations had broken down.

"...Uh." The Fire Priest, Sevis, who had been watching the battle from the side, spoke in a magnetic voice:

"Ghostsmith Barin Huttel, we do not represent the Steelburner."

As Service said this, he took a step forward and stretched out his skinny arms covered by white cuffs.

Bang! There was a sound of a golden flame exploding suddenly, and in Sevis's hand, a holy fire filled with annihilation spirituality had condensed.

“… [Glorious]?”

Balin caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye, and his pupils couldn't help but shrink a little again.

The followers of [Ku Tu] and [Guang Hui] were actually acting at the same time? This was beyond Balin's understanding.

As far as he knew, there were only two branches of followers of "Glory" in the Nolan Empire - "Holy Court" and "Pure Order".

But no matter which branch they are from, there is absolutely no possibility of acting together with the extraordinary people of [Ku Tu]...

"There should be no such meaningless fighting between us, Barin."

Opposite Bahrain, the assassin with a gloomy aura said coldly:

"We don't know what the 'Steelburner' is, but the 'Lord' can protect you."

"We are 'Holy Abyss' - remember this name."

With that, the undertaker’s figure disappeared from Balin’s sight, and then reappeared three positions away like a ghost.

"You can put down the knife now, Barin Hertel."

After the undertaker retreated, the Fire Priest Sevis said in a magnetic voice: "My companions may have frightened you, but please believe that we have no ill intentions."

"My name is Sevis, and he is the Undertaker. We are both servants of the Holy Abyss. We are here to invite you to join the Holy Abyss and pursue the noble and great cause with us."

"..."

The tense muscles on Bahrain's face gradually relaxed, but he did not put down the knife in his hand.

He just tilted his head slightly and asked in a puzzled and distant tone:
"Holy Abyss? What is that? I have never heard of it."

"..."

“——That is the God we serve.”

“——That is the final destination of the soul.”

"——That is the paradise where everyone has the same fate."

Sevis extinguished the flame in his palm, placed his hands in front of his chest to form a triangle, and looked pious:

"It is that kind of place that we invite you to join."

"..."

"...Humph, I don't like to hear people make promises like this."

Balin snorted, but at the same time put down the dagger in his hand.

He sat back in the wooden chair he had sat in before, picked up a pipe from the table, took a puff, and said:

"However, since you are not the 'Steelburner' and not sent by Harris, let's go, leave here."

"I can pretend that I have never seen you. Nothing has happened here." "..."

After learning that the other party was not sent by the "Steelburner", Balin felt much more relieved, and his hostility towards the uninvited guest in front of him was greatly reduced.

And the reason why he finally put down the blade was not just that - during the brief fight before, he had already understood that the two opponents were both "quadruple destiny", and if a real fight came, his chances of winning would be slim since he was not a combat officer.

However, Bahrain scoffed at their proposal to invite him to join the "Holy Abyss".

That priest——the priest belonging to the "Holy Abyss"? What he said was simply a standard charlatan. Even the "Holy Court" would not say that. Only the fanatics of the "Pure Church" would fool people like this...

As he was thinking about this, he saw the undertaker walking towards him silently, slowly raising his left hand.

"'Ghostsmith' Balin...you don't have to think too much."

The undertaker's cold voice came closer and closer. He said:
"According to the Lord's instructions, I didn't want to do this."

"But our mission is only to bring you back, Barin Huttel. Since you don't agree... then, you should go meet the 'Lord' yourself."

As he spoke, dark light patterns mixed with purple light appeared on the back of his hand.

——It was actually the mark of a sword blade and a dragon claw!
Balin hadn't realized what was happening yet.

A ring of deep red array patterns appeared at his feet, and then his eyes went dark...

The surrounding scene had completely disappeared, the blacksmith shop, the undertaker, and everything about Sevis were gone, and Balin felt a distinct sense of weightlessness.

His consciousness also repeatedly hovered between trance and clarity.

……

Until the scene before my eyes became bright again.

The first thing Bahrain saw was a rather magnificent ancient palace.

The figures of 'The Undertaker' and Sevis have returned to Bahrain's sight.

"Welcome to the Holy Abyss, Master Ghostsmith Balin."

Another man in a suit and leather shoes appeared in front of Balin. With a sly smile on his face, he took off his hat and bowed deeply to Balin.

"I am the apostle of Nothingness, 'Dream Thief' Pior. Of course, in this place - in this Forgotten Royal Court, all of us are the most pious servants of the 'Lord'."

[Nothingness]... "Holy Abyss" also has an apostle of [Nothingness]?

Balin looked at the man in front of him, and suddenly remembered what the "Fire Priest" Sevis had said before.

"——That is the paradise where everyone has the same fate."

...【Glory】, 【Bitterness】 and 【Nothingness】 have all appeared before him. Is this the so-called... "Holy Abyss" having the same fate?

"..."

Balin thought to himself, but just looked coldly at the man in front of him without saying anything.

He was "teleported" here by the undertaker through unknown means, and he didn't know how to leave here. In this case, let's see what the other party is going to do.

Pior said "welcome" to him, then raised his arm and pointed to the largest and most magnificent ancient palace in the distance for Bahrain.

"The Lord has been waiting for you, the guest of the Holy Abyss. Go and meet him. I look forward to working with you one day."

After saying that, Pior stretched out his hand, and right in front of Bahrain, entangled spiritual threads appeared, extending towards the huge palace.

They turned into butterflies, fluttering gracefully in front of Balin, guiding the direction Balin should go.

The Undertaker and the Fire Priest Sevis had also come behind Balin, half escorting and half monitoring him.

After thinking about it, Balin sighed and shook his head slightly.

Then he took a step forward, following the butterfly conjured up by Pior, and headed towards the palace.

……

When Balin arrived in front of the hall, the "butterfly" guiding him landed on the stone pillar in front of the hall, and turned into tiny points of light and dissipated.

The Undertaker and Sevis stopped moving forward. The vague figure on the golden throne in the hall uttered a young, calm, yet irresistible voice:
"Undertaker, and Sevis, you did a great job."

"Go find the Faceless One. She will give you the reward you deserve on my behalf."

"..."

"Thank you for your generosity, my lord." The Undertaker and Sevis knelt on one knee toward the figure in the hall, expressed their gratitude devoutly, then stood up and walked to the other side of the royal court.

Looking back at the backs of the Undertaker and Sevis, Balin inexplicably felt a deep sense of oppression.

He then heard a new voice coming from the hall:
"Come in, Barin Hertel, the 'Ghostsmith'."

"We are old friends, Balin. Come in, I want to talk to you."

The voice was not loud, but it made Balin inexplicably feel a strong sense of majesty.

At the same time, Balin felt that the spirit in his body seemed to be instinctively afraid of something. His feet involuntarily took one step into the hall, then two steps...

Bahrain finally entered the hall and finally saw the image of the "Lord" on the golden throne.

It was a figure wearing a robe with gold and black patterns, and a black puppet mask on his face.

He was fiddling with a short musket in his hand. When Balin finally arrived at the center of the hall, he raised his head and said to him with a smile:

"Do you remember, Balin? Half a year ago, I always bought muskets like this one from your blacksmith shop."

"They are exquisitely crafted and equally powerful. Even without the enchantment of 'Inscription Method', they are enough to kill transcendents with the second or even third destiny."

"..."

Looking at the 'Lord of the Holy Abyss' on the throne, and then at the musket in his hand, Balin's pupils began to tremble slightly.

He remembered that there was indeed a period of time half a year ago when people came to him to buy a large number of these short muskets every once in a while...

The man always wore a white or beige cloak and wrapped his face with a scarf, leaving only his eyes exposed. Balin thought he was a regular customer, but he didn't know who he really was.

"So it's you..." Balin narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, it's me." There was still a smile in Luo Xiu's voice. He slowly stood up from the golden throne and walked towards the bottom of the hall.

"I have always known that there is an outstanding craftsman in Dawn Town. Balin Huttel, the Holy Abyss needs talents like you."

"So, let's make a deal."

The sound of footsteps echoed on the pillars and beams of the hall.

"Deal?" Bahrain asked, his hand secretly reaching behind his waist.

Luo Xiu had seen Balin's actions.

But he did not warn or stop her, he just smiled, raised his arm and extended a slender finger upwards.

Gray light suddenly lingered on his fingertips, and gray mist filled the air. The "False Guardian" Amber appeared on the right.

Then, he stretched out his second finger, and "Ashe Wolf King", "Shadow Raven" and "Netherworld Pegasus" were quickly summoned and surrounded Balin.

The spiritual aura filled with oppression had already frightened Bahrain firmly in place, making him unable to move at all.

"Don't try to do anything unnecessary, Balin."

Luo Xiu's voice was still calm and peaceful. Facing Balin's suspicious gaze, he said:
"Join the Holy Abyss and work for me, Balin."

"I don't want to use any special means on you. So, until now, this has been part of the 'deal'."

……

(End of this chapter)