My Abyss Survival Diary

Chapter 117 The Game Changer Descends from the Sky (Part 2)

The two nuns with holy hammers escorting Andrei held his shoulders on either side and pushed him through the long iron corridor at the bottom of the Devil's Lips outpost.

The metal boots pounded on the steel plate, each step accompanied by a dull thud.

The gas lamps on both sides of the corridor were dimly lit, their yellowish light only enough to illuminate a few steps ahead. Andrei did not struggle; he lowered his head and watched his shadow stretch and shrink on the ground.

The iron railings of the elevator were already unfolding in front of him, and a cold wind howled towards him, carrying the damp and decaying smell unique to the abyss.

"Halt!" The command came from the side of the corridor.

A person dressed in a black robe emerged from the shadows.

The hood was pulled low, revealing only the lower half of his face. He had a pointed chin, pale skin, and thin lips that were almost bloodless. His hands, gloved only in black leather, emerged from his robe sleeves, with a silver badge between two fingers.

The badge is engraved with a pattern of a scalpel and a meat saw crossed, with a ring of extremely fine gear patterns etched around the edge.

The emblem of the Inquisition.

The two nuns simultaneously released Andrei's shoulders, took a half step back, and bowed their heads.

"You can leave now," the man in black said calmly, gesturing for them to depart.

"His escort warrant was signed by the old God's father himself—"

"I said, you should leave here."

The nuns didn't speak again. They exchanged a glance, then turned and left, the sound of metal boots fading into the distance until it disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The man in the black robe watched them walk away, then turned to Andrei and removed his hood.

A very young face, with short, dark brown hair neatly combed back, deep-set eyes, and extremely pale gray-blue pupils, looking at people as if observing a specimen through a layer of icing.

"Father Andrei, I have something to ask you to do."

Andrei stared at him for two seconds. "You're an Imperial Inquisitor? Why are you making me do this?"

"You don't need to know my name, you don't need to know my position, you only need to know one thing." The judge reached inside his robe and pulled out a fist-sized velvet pouch, the opening of which was tied tightly with silver thread, and placed it in Andrei's palm.

Through the velvet cloth, you could feel that inside was a hard, angular object, colder than the air, like a piece of ice just taken out of a cellar.

"Please go to the second floor. That's an area beyond the Empire's control. You'll encounter even more heretics there."

Cave raiders, or even—something that shouldn't exist in the abyss.

Andrei looked down at the velvet bag in his hand. "I don't understand what you mean."

The judge's gaze gradually turned cold: "This matter concerns the entire empire. The empire may soon face a great upheaval, and the source of this upheaval lies hidden in the second layer of the abyss. Once you go down there, you will naturally understand what I am talking about."

He put his hood back on and turned to walk deeper into the corridor.

"This is a resonance stone. When you encounter a great crisis, don't hesitate, destroy it directly, and we will naturally receive the message."

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Andrei stood before the massive iron gate, stuffing the velvet bag into the inside pocket of his monk's robe, and tightening the silver thread around his chest.

Then he stepped through the iron gate, and behind him, the hinges began to turn, and the iron gate slowly descended with a screeching metallic scraping sound.

Andrei wandered aimlessly through the woods on the first level for nearly two hours.

After being expelled, he didn't know where to go.

The Ironwing Confession Chamber is closed, and he can't go back to his old outpost. The entrance to the second level of the Abyss is in the direction of the Great Hollow, but he hasn't figured out whether he should go or not.

The black-robed man's words were like a fishbone stuck in his throat: the empire was about to undergo a cataclysmic change, and the source of that change lay in the second layer.

But what does all this have to do with him? He is no longer the priest of the empire. He is no one's priest.

He wasn't even sure if he could be considered a good person.

He sat down on the trunk of a fallen giant tree, his metal right arm resting on his knee, the steam from the vents flickering in the forest.

An arrow suddenly struck his foot.

The arrow shaft was embedded three inches into the mud, still buzzing and vibrating. Andrei stared at the arrow, but did not move.

"Your reaction time has slowed down." A hoarse, rough voice came from above. "You used to be able to turn your head before the arrow left the bow, but now you don't even dodge."

Mr. Bell flipped and jumped down from the canopy of a large tree.

A bear-head hat covered his head, and a furry bear skin was draped over his shoulders.

A new wound appeared on his face, running from his left eyebrow to his ear, covered with a dark red scab, which looked like the mark left by some kind of sharp claws.

Andrei looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"The beasts have all been devoured by the hungry angels, and I have nothing to do, so I'm wandering around in the woods." Mr. Bell leaned his bow against a tree trunk and sat down next to Andrei.

Andrei was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

He recounted how he didn't use the fuel from his prosthetic leg during his fight with Simon, and what the old priest had said to him in the interrogation room. He spoke slowly and incoherently, pausing frequently to think before continuing, but Mr. Bell did not rush him.

"Why didn't you go all out and burn Simon to a crisp?" Mr. Bell asked.

"Because he is innocent." Andrei shook his head. "Although I have always denied it, he did nothing wrong. He just did what he was supposed to do, and then he was branded a sinner."

"This kind of person shouldn't be thrown into the abyss. I can't stop the court's verdict, but at least I can prevent him from suffering another wound. That's my justice!"

"Justice." Mr. Bell repeated the word, chewing it for a long time, as if he were chewing a particularly hard piece of jerky.

Andrei turned to look at him.

Mr. Bell didn't look at him; he stared at the glowing spores floating in the distance in the woods, his brown eyes reflecting the faint, flickering light.

Many years ago, I was a soldier in the Pale Knights Legion. During a breakout attempt, I stepped into a trap...

Monsters from the Twilight Empire swarmed in from all sides. My comrades stood in front of me one by one, and then fell one by one—

He lowered his hands and looked at his palms, which were covered with calluses and scars, with thick fingers and deformed joints.

"Ever since then, I've been searching for something, searching for a way to die," he said firmly. "I want to die under the claws of monsters. As long as I live, I will fight them to the death!"

He turned to look at Andrei, whose cloudy brown eyes, which had burned for a very long time and were almost burned out but were still shining, were now exceptionally clear.

"Your faith cannot remain just words; you must always put in some effort for what you believe in."

He placed his calloused hand on Andrei's shoulder.

"Your teacher dedicated his life to the empire, that was his choice, while you have justice in your heart—no matter how stupid or impractical that is, it is still your choice."

"You're not your teacher. If you have a sense of justice, then go and uphold it. If you think Simon is innocent, then help him. If you think the Empire is wrong, then correct it. Don't just sit here daydreaming! Daydreaming won't bring you closer to your sense of justice; it will only bring you closer to my age."

When Andrei lowered his head, the confusion in his eyes vanished and was replaced by a resolute gleam.

"I want to go to the second floor!"

Mr. Bell stood up, put the bow back on the tree trunk, bent down and pulled the arrow that was stuck at Andrei's feet from the ground, and put it back in the quiver.

"I'll go with you. Anyway, there are no monsters to kill here. Let's try our luck on the second floor. Maybe we'll encounter a big one and die an honorable death."

Andrei nodded.

"Now we need something that can fly."