Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 293, Section 292: Faith in the "Stars"

Since every time we encounter something like this, it forcibly clears 20 points of our mental energy.

Then a question arises.

"How do we restore our mental strength?" Klein was the first to raise his concerns.

The task assigned to Klein and Fors for the Level 3 Ritual Magic Registration Qualification Examination was that each of them had to record information at five locations.

If you see something indescribable at each location to complete the record, the total is 100 points of spirit value.

This is equal to their maximum mental strength, meaning that if there is no way to restore their mental strength during this period, they will have to be sent out while lying down when they see the fourth indescribable thing.

So this is a task they cannot complete.

But since this location is being used as an examination venue, it must mean that there is a solution to this problem.

"According to the typical settings of online games, mental energy should be able to recover slowly and naturally over time."

"And in this examination room, the tendency to be crazy is quantified into a mental value. So as long as we have the extraordinary ability to calm our mental state and balance the tendency to lose control, we can recover quickly in a short time."

The former was something that Pedigris and the others didn't mention. After all, the rule of forcibly clearing mental values ​​should be rare, and the natural recovery of mental values ​​should be common sense.

The latter can be achieved by appeasing the "audience".

"It should be able to recover naturally, but for extraordinary individuals, once the tendency to go out of control appears, it is easy for it to continue to develop in a 'bad' direction."

Fors frowned and sighed, "This is a very common problem. For us, once there is a tendency to get out of control, it will only get worse. If we quantify this tendency, I suspect that even if we can recover naturally at this value, once our mental value drops below 40, or even just below 60, it will be very difficult for us to recover naturally."

Because at that point, mental strength will only decline on its own, constantly sliding towards the edge of loss of control and madness, and it will be impossible to recover on its own.

"Indeed it is."

Anderson nodded thoughtfully, then smiled at Fors and Klein, "So, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

“I heard from the crematorium workers that there is a church in this town, and maybe the church can help.”

As we all know, churches are generally considered to be orthodox and legitimate. Since there is such a church in this town, it means that this church must have some function to fulfill.

Anderson raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, still chuckling, "Hmm, that makes a lot of sense. Let's go see what their beliefs are and what kind of help they can offer us."

Soon, the group arrived in the town center by carriage, at the edge of a lake called "Severn Lake," where they found a church that didn't look very big.

There are no obvious signs at the entrance of the church. Judging from its style and architectural style, this church is neither like the church of the Goddess of Night, the Lord of Storms and the Craftsmen common in the Kingdom of Loen, nor like the church of the Eternal Sun of Intis, the God of War of Fussac, the Earth Mother of Feneport, or the church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom in the Remnburg region.

"It doesn't seem like the church of those evil gods, such as the Primordial Witch, the True Creator, or the Hidden Sage."

That kind of church of evil gods, just looking at it would probably cause it to explode.

After looking around the church, Anderson came to a conclusion with certainty.

"A church that belongs neither to the righteous gods nor to the evil gods?"

Fors was somewhat surprised that the residents of this church, or rather, the residents of this Black Vortex Town, were neither followers of any righteous god nor any evil god.

The entire town has only one church, and the deity worshipped in this church does not belong to any righteous god, nor to any evil god.

"What do they believe in?"

"Why don't we go in and take a look, then we'll know?"

Anderson, carrying a camera half the size of his head, walked over first, then reached out his hand (the one not holding the camera) and opened the church door, which had been tightly closed.

Outside, a torrential downpour was falling, but inside, it was eerily quiet.

Klein, Fors, and Anderson stood at the church entrance, looking inside, showing no intention of exploring rashly.

There were no candles in the church. Instead, many stones that glowed in the darkness hung from the ceiling, adorning the church like a peaceful and tranquil night sky.

It's a bit like a church for goddesses, Klein thought.

In fact, as a general believer of the Goddess of Night, even though he had joined the Night Watchers, the official extraordinary organization of the Church of Night, Klein had not yet attended any of the Church of Night's mass prayers at the church in Tingen City.

"It does indeed resemble the church layout of the Church of the Night." Fors, who worships the God of Craftsmen, has some knowledge of the church layout of one of the three major religions in the Kingdom of Rune.

Anderson waved his hand, indicating that there should be no danger inside, and the group put away their umbrellas and entered the church.

As he entered the church and looked up at the glowing stones that symbolized "stars" hanging from the ceiling, Klein noticed something unusual.

"No, it's not."

As a night watchman, Klein couldn't say he was very familiar with the layout of his own church. But as a night watchman, he could easily discover, upon closer inspection, that the church's layout was fundamentally different from that of a traditional Night Church.

Klein glanced at the stone decorations above, which served as "stars," and said thoughtfully to Fors and Anderson, "There are too many 'suns' and 'moons' here."

"Sun and moon?"

Fors followed Klein's gaze and carefully examined the starry sky above her for a moment, but she couldn't make out anything.

Anderson quickly grasped what Klein meant: "You mean there are too many stones that symbolize the Crimson Moon?"

"Yes."

Klein nodded firmly.

The goddess of the night is the lord of crimson, so it's perfectly normal to hang a crimson moon in her church. But in the "starry sky" above, there are dozens or even hundreds of stones that serve as the crimson moon.

The glowing red stones, without distinction of size or distance, represent, in a mystical sense, their equality and lack of inherent difference. This also signifies that there are countless "Crimson Moons" here, and an equal number of "Suns" shining upon them.

This is not the treatment that the Crimson Queen should receive.

"If it's not the Goddess of the Night, then who is it?"

Fors instinctively asked a question in return.

"Do you want to understand the twinkling of the stars, the laws of nature, and the mysteries of the universe?"

Just then, a somewhat aged voice suddenly came from the side of the church.

Klein, Fors glanced over instinctively, Anderson narrowed his eyes, and calmly put down the camera in his hand, putting his hand behind his back.

Then they saw where the sound came from, and in the deep darkness, a candle had been lit at some point.

The candle flame flickered, and the flickering flames gradually illuminated a somewhat withered face covered with age spots.

The face looked to be in his seventies or eighties, with age spots like bean curd skin winding upwards from the collar of his black clergy robe, all the way to his gray, dry hair. He was an old man who looked frail and old.

"you are?"

Klein hadn't expected there to be another person here. He had been watching from the corner for who knows how long, and it wasn't until he spoke up that Klein and the others noticed his presence.

He instinctively took a step back and asked.

"I am one of the representatives of 'Stars' in Black Vortex Town, hehe." The old man seemed to have no hostility towards the three outsiders who had broken into the church. He drooped his eyelids, the candlelight blurring in his eyes, and his aged voice, as if fingernails were scratching tree bark, rang out once again.

The elderly man, who looked like a church clergyman, asked Klein and the others again, "Are you also believers in 'The Stars'?"

This time, before Klein and Fors could speak, Anderson and the others took over the old man's topic even faster.

He spoke with a broad smile in the candlelight:
"Not yet, but I'm quite interested in the twinkling of the stars, the natural laws, and the mysteries of the universe... Hmm, if possible, after listening to your prayer and Mass, could I switch from believing in the goddess of the night to believing in the stars?"

Didn't you say before that you believed in the god of knowledge and wisdom, and the lord of storms?
Are you trying to play the role of a traitor who serves three masters?
Klein was completely shocked. Well, of course, as a general believer, he didn't actually have much faith in the goddess, but it was highly unlikely that he would be as good as Anderson, able to speak to people in a way that suited them.

Within the Night Watch team, if someone were to be exposed for believing in another deity, they'd probably spend the rest of their lives being bombarded with Captain Dunn's incessant nagging about "believing in a goddess"...

However, Klein felt that he was a larger version of an evil god, so his conversion was a minor matter...

but……

"Stars? What kind of faith is this? A newly born evil god?"

Klein frowned and pondered carefully, but he was quite certain that neither Old Neil, Pedigru, nor Tang had provided him with any information or materials on mysticism, nor did they mention the existence of such a deity.

"Is the final boss that spontaneously appears in the examination hall, or is it like Nicolas Flamel, an angel from some other path or realm? Is this a church that worships that angel?"

"Of course, of course." The wrinkles on the old man's face smoothed out, protruding like bean curd skin. He smiled, but the smile looked somewhat ferocious and terrifying in the dim candlelight.

Then, when the "stars" were mentioned, the seemingly elderly man seemed to be infused with a new soul, becoming vibrant again, as if he had been given life:
"The Lord I believe in, the being this town believes in, is the ruler of the stars, the symbol of heaviness and density, the controller of fundamental forces, and the law of the boundless cosmos..."

"He exists beyond the world, the greatest being. From His first birth to His last end... He protects Black Vortex Town, ensuring that every resident who believes in Him will eventually become a star we can see..."

"We believe in Him, we believe in Him faithfully. He makes the tides rise and fall, makes the sun and moon rise and set normally. He manipulates gravity and regulates the weather. He brings us bountiful harvests and also destroys us. He..."

As Klein mentally complained, his spiritual intuition suddenly gave him a warning.

This was a crazy warning, one that exceeded Klein's tolerance limits. It was like an unarmed ordinary person suddenly encountering a pack of hungry tigers in the wild.

Klein's pupils dilated suddenly. He reached out, instinctively wanting to interrupt the person in front of him who was constantly reciting and chanting prayers.

"His name is, Superstar—"

"No! Stop him—!"

Before Klein could finish speaking, the old man's voice abruptly stopped.

The old man's eyes bulged out, widening in shock. His excited expression suddenly froze on his face, but then a layer of haze and gray clouded over them, making him look even more terrifying than before.

Then, Ryan watched as the old man's head slowly fell, crashing heavily to the ground. Blood gushed out wildly from the severed neck, staining the ground, walls, tables, chairs, and benches.

Anderson had appeared behind the old man without anyone noticing. He held a knife and dodged the warm, foul-smelling blood that kept splattering from the dismembered body.

This Sequence 5 hunter, without hesitation, swallowed back the words that had not yet been spoken into the mouth of the believer in the evil god.

He spoke ancient Hermetic.

Anderson crouched down and used the old man's clothes to wipe the knife in his hand, explaining to the stunned Klein and Fors, "It will be troublesome if he tells us."

Everyone in this town speaks Ancient Hermes. The dangers of Ancient Hermes are self-evident; Klein and Fors are well aware of them.

“I think I know whose church this is.”

Anderson wiped the blood off the knife, a smile returning to his face, and spoke to Klein and Fors.

Klein glanced at the old man who had been killed with a single blow, before turning his gaze to Anderson, who was holding the knife.

"who?"

"In recent years, there has been a secret organization in the Southern Continent called the Singularity Cult. They believe that everything in the world originated from a point with infinite mass and infinitesimal volume."

Anderson paused at this point before continuing, "What they believe in seems to be the so-called 'ruler of the stars'..."

(End of this chapter)