Forbidden Nightmare

Chapter 73: Mountain of Ashes
Towering mountains stand on the edge of the magnificent holy city. No, it should be said that the holy city is built on the mountain of ashes.

The Mountain of Ashes is a deep black color, like a huge demon's horn emerging from the ground. The mountain is towering into the clouds and the mountain road spirals upward.

At the foot of the mountain there are several sturdy and tall fortresses, where fully armed punitive soldiers are stationed.

After two days of hard travel, Li Nanke and Renault finally arrived at the Mountain of Ashes.

The two men, dressed in hooded cloaks and disguised themselves, followed the many pilgrims along the winding mountain path.

The pilgrims who come to the Mountain of Ashes are extremely fanatical and devout believers.

Some believers walked barefoot on the rough rocks, making the sign of the number eight on their chests every three steps, then knelt down and kowtowed their heads heavily, unaware of the blood on their foreheads, only concerned with kissing the soil of the holy mountain.

Some carried heavy diamond-shaped crosses, with their hands tied behind their backs, and walked forward with their limbs twisted to carry the weight; others held short whips and whipped themselves as they walked, their clothes stained with blood but they showed pious smiles.

People like Li Nanke and Renault who just focus on their work are extremely rare and conspicuous.

Along the mountain roads, there are not only checkpoints of the Punishment Army, but also statues of the Holy Father of Thorns.

Suddenly, a shrill scream came from not far away.

Li Nanke looked in the direction of the voice and saw a figure tied to a thick wooden stake.

The believer's limbs were twisted into an inhuman shape, and his body was entangled by countless sharp thorns. These thorns penetrated deeply into his flesh, and blood flowed along his body, forming bright red marks.

The believer had his eyes tightly closed, and every breath was accompanied by a painful groan. Sweat and blood mixed together and slid down his cheeks.

He was imitating the Thorn Father.

The surrounding pilgrims stopped and gathered around.

Their eyes were full of approval and appreciation, some prayed silently, and some took out a knife and cut a wound on their arm to show their respect and worship for the Holy Father of Thorns.

The Punishment Army stood quietly by without intervening, as if they had always tacitly accepted the existence of this ritual.

"What a pervert!"

Li Nanke cursed inwardly and left quickly.

Halfway up the mountain is a large flat-roofed church building called the Sanctuary of Confession, which is used for devout believers to repent and pray. Ordinary believers can only stop here.

A large number of punitive troops guarded the mountain road behind, and only the clergy of the Holy Synod were allowed to go to the Cathedral of All Saints on the top of the mountain.

The punitive soldiers here are the elite among the elite. They wear heavy armor and hold spears and shields to block the believers who are sometimes blinded by fanatical beliefs.

"The soldiers here are only the surface strength of the Holy Order. The real core of power is actually located in the cathedral on the top of the mountain. The top clergy of the Holy Order, including the high-ranking officials of the Punishment Army, are all in the cathedral." Renault beside him whispered.

Li Nanke raised his eyebrows: "There are so many masters in the cathedral, so how did you get to Anya in the first place?"

"Because I was originally a high-ranking member of the Punishment Army, and there are only a few people in the Punishment Army who can be my opponent."

Renault's words were not exaggeration, he did have such powerful strength.

"Is the commander of the 67th God's Grace the most powerful in the Punishment Army? Can you defeat him?"

Renault was silent for a while, then said unhappily: "Yes, if I could win, I would be the commander of the Punishment Army instead of the chief instructor."

The ranking of the grace of pain has nothing to do with personal strength. It is purely arranged according to the order of the grace's descent. Many people who are favored by the grace of pain are ordinary believers.

As the two were talking, they were approaching the checkpoint and several Punishment Army soldiers gave them warning looks.

Li Nanke said to Renault beside him: "Are you ready?"

"of course."

Renault stood straight and strode towards the Punishment Army.

"Stop!" Sharp spears blocked the way, and two soldiers immediately stepped out to block Renault. Renault lifted his hood, pulled off his cloak, and shouted, "Look carefully at who I am, and let your commander come over!"

The two young soldiers obviously didn't know Renault. They looked at each other and suddenly hesitated.

There was an older soldier with sharp eyes in the team, who asked with a look of doubt on his face: "Instructor Renault?"

Although many young soldiers had never seen Renault himself, they had heard of his "heroic" deeds.

Facing a former big shot of the Punishment Army, even if this big shot had long been expelled from the Holy Council, a few low-level soldiers could not easily neglect him.

The young soldiers looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Renault nodded to the older soldier and said in a serious tone: "Inform your commander that I am going up the mountain. If he cannot make the decision, send someone of the archbishop level over."

Upon hearing this, the older soldier turned around and went to report.

After waiting for a long time, a group of people came.

The visitors were all clergymen in robes. The old man in the lead wore a crown of thorns on his head, which was the unique attire of the Archbishop of the Holy Congregation of Penitents.

The archbishop's eyes were cold, and they stayed on Renault for a few seconds. Then he sneered and said, "Renault, you have been expelled from the Holy Society for many years. What qualifications do you have to say that you want to go to the Holy Mountain now?"

Renault did not back down and said, "Archbishop Colonna, I came here today not only to go up the mountain, but also to rejoin the Holy Order."

The archbishop was stunned, as if he had heard some ridiculous joke, and sneered, "The crime you committed back then was enough for the Holy Council to execute you. The Holy King's pardon of your death penalty is already the highest forgiveness. Now you actually want to step into the gate of the Holy Council again?"

Li Nanke held the big box in both hands, strode forward and said, "Archbishop, since Lord Renault has requested to return to the Holy Society, it means that he came with sincerity."

"and who are you?"

"I am Lord Renault's attendant." Li Nanke continued, "Archbishop, my identity is not important. What is important is the sincerity that Lord Renault brings."

As he spoke, Li Nanke handed out the big box.

Now that they were in the Mountain of Ashes, the Archbishop was fearless and opened the box directly.

There was a bloody head in the box. The archbishop's eyes froze for a moment. He looked carefully at the distorted expression on the head after the transformation, as well as the burn scars and hot oil on the cheeks, and soon thought of a person.

Just looking at the degree of decay of the skull, its owner had clearly died only a few days ago, while that person had already been dead for more than ten years.

"This is……"

Li Nanke coughed twice and said, "Archbishop, you guessed right. This is Felicia."

"The Holy King canonized Felicia as Our Lady of Scorching Grace and built a monastery for her. This is a great gift."

"However, not only was Felicia ungrateful, she also harbored heretical thoughts of betraying the Holy Order. She hated the Holy Order and believed that the disfigurement of her face was caused by the Holy Order, and that her lonely death in the monastery was also due to the Holy Order."

"Before she died, Felicia prayed silently, hoping to live again. Her wish was answered by God's grace, and she miraculously came back to life."

"But after her resurrection, she chose to hide in the monastery's mausoleum. She would rather hide in the dark underground than serve the Holy Society again."

"In the years since Lord Renault was expelled from the Holy Society, he has been filled with regret for his past. Although the Holy King has forgiven his sins, he has never been able to forgive himself and always wants to make up for his past mistakes."

"Lord Renault and I accidentally discovered the shocking secret of Our Lady Jiao Rong, and Lord Renault wanted to report it to the Holy Society immediately, but was attacked by the Holy Lady."

"Faced with this evil heretic, Lord Renault fought a long and fierce battle with him, and finally managed to cut off the heretic's head with great difficulty."

"This head is Lord Renault's atonement for his past mistakes, proof of his sincerity in returning to the Holy Council, a reflection of his loyalty to the Holy King, and his devotion to his faith."

The archbishop looked at the head in the box, then turned to look at Renault and fell silent for a moment.

(End of this chapter)