Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 212 Face Change

Kingdom of Rune, Winter County.

Just like its name suggests, Wintershire is covered in ice and snow for most of the year.

At the northernmost point of Wintershire lies the Amanda Mountains.

The Ammanda Mountains stretch from the Sea of ​​the Sea in the west to the Sea of ​​Sunya in the east, almost spanning the entire continent.

Therefore, this mountain range serves as both the boundary between the Fusak Empire and the Kingdom of Rune and a natural barrier. In the event of war with the Fusak Empire, the Amanda Mountains and Winter County would immediately become the focus of contention between the two nations.

On the other hand, the headquarters of the Church of the Night, the Church of Tranquility, is located in the Amanda Mountains. This is not because the Amanda Mountains mean "tranquility" in Hermes, but because the Kingdom of Darkness is located there, the divine realm of the Goddess of Night!

When the gods no longer walk on earth, their kingdoms become the headquarters of their respective churches.

Snowflakes fell like feathers, covering the earth in a white coat, creating a silver-white world.

On the main peak of the Ammanda Range, a long trail of footprints stretches from the foot of the mountain all the way to the summit.

At the end of the footprints, there was a solitary figure still moving towards the mountaintop, leaving a footprint several centimeters deep in the snow with each step.

His attire was not ornate; his molten and twisted armor and tattered cloak gave him a somewhat wretched appearance, yet they all spoke of his former glory. Behind the equally molten and twisted helmet was a strangely shaped crown, a symbol of his identity!

He made his way up the mountain step by step.

At the edge of the horizon, a black Gothic church with a pointed spire stands tall amidst the snow-covered mountains. In front of it is a precipice, and all around is a vast expanse of white, utterly silent.

The church occupies a very large area and is quite magnificent.

Pilgrims who come to the pilgrimage experience a profound sense of awe and tranquility.

A figure clad in tattered armor climbed step by step to the mountaintop, braving the swirling snow and wind, until he reached the church.

The tranquil church under the night sky is exceptionally beautiful, perfectly complementing the red moon hanging high in the sky, coldly illuminating the earth.

But He had no interest in appreciating the beautiful scenery. He merely glanced at the cemetery next to the church, where a stone coffin lay, its lid long since lifted, revealing its empty interior. He shifted his gaze from the bonfire in the cemetery, which still burned quietly even amidst the swirling snow, and calmly looked towards the church ahead.

At the entrance of the tranquil church, a figure had appeared in His sight without Him noticing.

She was a woman with ordinary features, dark eyes, wearing a simple long robe, a bark belt, and long, black hair. She was barefoot and unshoes.

Ariana, Abbot of the Night Monastery, leader of the ascetics, secret servant, earthly angel.

Good evening, Your Excellency.

Ariana looked up at the tall figure before her and greeted him softly.

He remained silent, simply gazing calmly at the woman before him, before slowly speaking after a moment:

"Take me to the world of painting."

"good,"

Ariana nodded slightly and said, "Your Excellency, please follow me."

It is common knowledge that the realm of the Goddess of Night lies deep within the Church of Tranquility, separated from the real world only by an illusory gate. But few know that within the Night Abbey of the Church of Tranquility, another world is hidden.

Ariana is the custodian and guardian of that world.

Only with her permission can one freely enter and leave that world.

The goddess had already given a divine decree that no matter when Your Excellency arrived, you were qualified to enter the world of that painting.

If Your Excellency makes a request, he can even take this painted world away without any hindrance.

Whether it's Ariana or His Holiness the Pope who rules the Church.

He did not speak, but silently followed Ariana through the tranquil church and into the Dark Abbey.

For ordinary believers, this church is sacred, magnificent, yet unfamiliar, its interior structure unlike any church they have ever known before.

But for Him, this church was incredibly familiar, almost a one-to-one replica of a church He once knew.

After ascending a series of stone steps and bypassing the massive stone monument, we arrived at the church entrance.

The tightly closed door was decorated with intricate patterns, and in the center of each of the two door panels stood a guardian nun holding a long spear.

On either side of the gate, there is a sculpture covered in snow, standing with a long spear in its hand.

Rumble!

Ariana stood in front of the church door, gently waved, and with a huge roar, the door slowly opened.

The corridor, illuminated by candlelight, came into view, with numerous stone statues lining both sides.

They were identical in appearance, all kneeling on the ground, clad in armor and wearing hoods. The knights on either side held long lances in their right hands, pointing diagonally forward, as if they were lining up to welcome their master.

Beside each statue stands a headless candlestick, the same height as the statue. It is the faint light emanating from these candlesticks that illuminates this church, which should have been shrouded in darkness.

At the end of the not-so-long corridor was a spacious prayer room.

The prayer hall is supported by three large pillars on each side, each engraved with exquisite patterns. Behind each pillar is a large, beautifully decorated window.

The crimson moonlight shone through the windows, illuminating the hall and easily overshadowing the glow of the candles symmetrically placed on the prayer hall floor, making the candles seem somewhat superfluous.

At the end of the prayer hall, there is an arched doorway on each side.

Ariana did not stop, and walked through the arched portal on the left.

But they soon stopped, because their followers had not kept up.

She turned around, neither puzzled nor asking any questions, but calmly gazing at the tall figure clad in molten, twisted armor.

He stood still, silently looking up at the wall in front of him.

There are no giant judges here, no painters, no church guns.

There's nothing here.

After a long silence, He finally took a step and followed in Ariana's footsteps.

Behind the arched doorway is a gently curving, winding staircase leading upwards.

The staircase is not long; it only has one section.

At the platform at the end of the stairs, a narrow corridor extends to the right.

There are two statues on each side of the corridor, identical to those at the entrance to the church, all depicting knights holding lances.

He stopped again, not following Ariana, who had already crossed the corridor and entered the arched doorway at the end of it.

Because on the platform at the end of the stairs, there was a extinguished campfire waiting to be lit.

But this did not stop Him, and He soon caught up again.

Passing through the arched doorway, you enter a towering octagonal room.

In the center of the room was a disc that was also octagonal.

When you step on the circular stone slab in the center of the disc, the disc starts moving upwards with a friction sound, leading straight to the top floor.

This is an elevator.

When He reached the top with the help of the elevator, a towering staircase appeared before Him once again.

The handrails on both sides of the staircase are also exquisitely carved, but what first catches his eye is the magnificent architectural complex covering the opposite mountain peak.

The enormous palaces, majestic spires, towering walls… everything was breathtaking and visually stunning. Yet, lacking the illumination of the crimson moon, everything here seemed frozen in the twilight, eternally unchanging!

Even though it wasn't the first time He had seen it, He still paused for a few seconds, quietly appreciating this miraculous sight for quite some time.

He immediately shifted his gaze to the steps leading forward, and then to the round spire at the end of the steps.

The spire's doors remained closed, but when the two arrived...

The door, however, seemed to sense something and, amidst a heavy creaking sound, slowly opened inward on its own.

Next, a huge bed, as big as a sofa, came into view. On the bed sat a beautiful young woman in a white dress!

She held a giant egg with a slightly damaged shell in her arms, her hands folded over the still intact shell, her beautiful face resting on the back of her hands, as if she had fallen into an ancient slumber.

Everything seemed incredibly beautiful, except that the girl was slightly larger than the average person.

But this seems normal relative to the size of an oil painting.

His body trembled slightly, and he subconsciously reached out his hand, as if wanting to touch the girl in front of him.

But soon, His raised hand fell naturally, and He fell silent.

Because what appeared before Him was not a real girl, but a huge oil painting.

Everything He saw was a scene from a painting.

For reasons unknown, and for reasons unknown, He suddenly asked softly:

Is she still alive?

"Yes."

A hint of nostalgia flickered in Ariana's usually calm eyes as she softly said:

"I have seen Princess Ferrenor in the world of paintings; she was an angelic lady."

"I see."

He sighed softly, "It's good that you're alive."

She was destined to perish in the torrent of time, turning into a withered corpse—that was her predetermined fate. For even the ancient lives of gods are destined to be unable to withstand the erosion of time.

But some people were willing to give their all and do everything they could to rewrite her fate, bringing her a completely new ending.

She is still alive, living in the world of painting.

His eyes were incredibly complex, containing both relief and guilt.

Of his former children, probably only his three youngest daughters survived.

However, two of them were forbidden offspring possessing the bloodlines of half-dragons and half-gods, making them unknown to others and even impossible to openly proclaim. To be frank, He felt little guilt or affection towards these two daughters.

But only Filianor, who clearly possessed the purest divine bloodline, was abandoned by herself in that sunless city of Ringed Imprint...

To the gods, He was an excellent king, the best of all, but He was not a good father. He was far from being a good father to any of His children.

As for races other than gods, He might not even qualify as a king...

His emotions surged forth at this moment, like a volcano that had been suppressed for tens or hundreds of thousands of years suddenly erupting.

But all of this was quickly suppressed by another will. A struggle flashed in His eyes, but it was all just a futile resistance. Because even though He was one of the greatest Lords of Cinder in history, He was still not the master of this body.

His expression calmed down again, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever, utterly undisturbed.

He needs the incarnations of the Lords of Cinder, but he doesn't need their emotions.

Ariana stood to the side, calmly watching everything, as if she were merely an observer.

She neither asked any questions nor offered any help, nor even told the other party how to enter the world of painting.

Of course, Ariana cannot refuse if He makes a request.

But He did not do so, because for Him, the method of entering the world of painting was not a secret.

He slowly walked forward, reached out and touched the oil painting, and touched the egg in the arms of the girl in the painting.

Click! Click!

The eggshell shattered rapidly the moment it was touched, eventually collapsing like a building, breaking into pieces on the girl's long dress and revealing the deep darkness inside the white eggshell, which was the complete opposite of its white appearance!

A dazzling light suddenly burst forth from the deep darkness, filling the entire spire almost instantly and completely enveloping His figure. Before this, Ariana had already retreated outside the tower at some unknown time.

She returned to the room only after the light faded.

The interior layout remains unchanged, with a huge oil painting depicting an incomparably beautiful young woman.

In her arms was a giant egg that was somewhat broken but mostly intact.

Ariana calmly closed the door, restoring peace to everything.

She retraced her steps, went down the stairs, and took the elevator back to the lower level.

Through the corridor guarded by knight statues, she saw a campfire at the end of the stairs.

The campfire remained extinguished and had not been lit.

He seems to be nothing more than an empty shell with only outward appearance.

Ariana tapped her chest four times clockwise and whispered:

"May the goddess bless you, my beloved."

She immediately went down the stairs and left the church.

"Your Highness Ariana."

A nun, who had been waiting at the church entrance, approached Ariana the moment she emerged and respectfully said:

"His Holiness the Pope awaits you at the Temple."

Ariana paused for a moment, then said softly:

Tell Irina Irina I'm coming right away.

The nun bowed respectfully and withdrew.

-

Republic of Intis, Trier.

Inside a luxury hotel near Roselle Place, a girl with dazzling blonde hair stood in front of a large, luxurious floor-to-ceiling window, her clear, emerald-green eyes gazing at the brightly lit Roselle Church in the distance, her lips slightly pursed.

She still remembered Ember's instructions and believed that the Steam Church would not do anything to him.

However, a month is too long, and it's hard to guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen.

Moreover, if someone doesn't attend a tarot meeting for a month, it's hard not to arouse suspicion from other members.

She lowered her head and stared at the two rings on her hand.

(End of this chapter)