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

Chapter 393 Shadowy Figures

The Mother Goddess is the Progenitor... The Progenitor is the Mother Goddess... So I've never changed my faith... No wonder I still habitually go to the Harvest Church even without the priest giving me any psychological suggestions... It's because my intuition tells me that the Mother Goddess is the Progenitor! So, the Progenitor has favored me and made me the savior of the vampires... One thought after another flashed through Emlyn's mind, finding a reasonable explanation for all the things that made him feel guilty before.

He began to believe that he was the most devout vampire, and at the same time, a series of scenes came to mind:

Those of his own kind who had previously mocked his belief in the "Earth Mother Goddess" will now line up before him to receive his baptism.

Thinking about it this way, Emlyn felt extremely pleased and couldn't help but slightly raise his chin.

"Everyone."

"The Sun," Derrick raised his hand and said:

"A couple of days ago, I went to St. Samuel's Church and met with Archbishop St. Anthony."

"Hmm?" The Hanged Man and the others' expressions shifted slightly, and they all looked at the Sun, wanting to know what would happen next.

The Hermit, Cattleya, asked directly:

"What did you talk about?"

Since the 'Sun' brought it up, it means that this matter does not need to be kept secret.

Derrick considered for a moment before explaining:

"Here's the thing, the Church of the Night wants to cooperate with the Church of the Fools. The Church of the Fools can take over the churches left behind by the Church of the Steam, and officially gain recognition. But at the same time, they will also have to shoulder certain responsibilities, such as changing the beliefs of the original Steam believers and forming a certain number of extraordinary squads to help maintain order..."

The Hanged Man's eyes flickered slightly, as if he had realized something.

Not long ago, the Fool's Church and the Storm Church reached a cooperation agreement. Both sides tacitly agreed on the Fool's Church's missionary work, which means that the Fool's Church has the same rights as the Church of True God. However, because the Storm Church has not yet obtained the consent of the Church of Night, it is not convenient for the Church of Night to publicly recognize the Fool's Church.

Now that even the Church of the Night has acknowledged it, the Church of the Fools can be considered to have officially gained official recognition and truly stepped onto the stage of history!

The Hermit, Cattleya, thought for a moment and slowly spoke:

"That's a good thing. Do you still have any concerns?"

"The Sun," Derrick hurriedly shook his head:

"No, it's not because of any concerns."

With Mr. Lover personally helping to make the connection, and the Church of the Night showing sufficient sincerity, and they indeed need an opportunity to formally preach in the Kingdom of Rune, how could he possibly have any concerns?

Derrick hesitated for a long time before speaking:

"I'm just a little worried that I won't do a good job; I don't have any experience in this area."

After a pause, Derrick continued:

"Therefore, I hope to get your help in this regard."

Alger, the "Hanged Man," frowned slightly. The "Sun" still seemed a little insecure.

No, it's not that I lack confidence; it's more accurate to say I'm somewhat anxious about gains and losses.

The little "sun" of the past, though still immature, was not as timid and hesitant as it is now.

Ultimately, it all comes down to a change in identity. The former "Sun" was just the "Sun," but the current "Sun" is also the Archbishop of the Fool's Church, shouldering the heavy responsibility of preaching for Mr. Fool!

Prior to this, 'Sun' had never held a similar position in Silver City; even becoming an elder was a recent development. To be burdened with such a heavy responsibility so soon after leaving the Forsaken Land meant he had to constantly worry about making mistakes.

Ultimately, it's all due to too much pressure.

Objectively speaking, at least from Alger's own perspective, Derrick's performance was actually outstanding. At least during his missionary work in the Rothschild Islands, Derrick never made any fatal mistakes.

While contributions were made by elders of Silver City such as Lovia, the final decisions were made by Derrick.

Of course, Derrick's timidity may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Because Derrick was constantly worried about making mistakes and disappointing Mr. Fool, he was more proactive in listening to others' advice to avoid making errors. Therefore, the Hanged Man didn't intend to correct Derrick all at once, as that wouldn't be a good thing.

What's more, Mr. Fool is still here.

The Hanged Man pondered for two seconds, then slowly spoke:

"You don't need to worry too much. The Fool's Church is now on the right track, and you no longer need to handle many things personally. As for major decisions concerning the direction of the church's development, you can seek our help then."

The Hanged Man's words offered some comfort to Derrick the Sun, but he still seemed hesitant to speak.

Seeing this, Klein couldn't help but sigh:

"Isn't Little Sun a bit too insecure?"

It's also his fault for putting too much pressure on the little "sun" all at once.

But there was nothing he could do about it, since he really had no one else to rely on!

Although the inhabitants of Silver City claim to be his followers, almost all of them are passive believers. This includes Chief Colin Iliad, whose only reason for believing in "The Fool" and claiming to be ready to fight is to lead Silver City out of the land forsaken by the gods.

This is not to say that Colin Iliad's faith was not devout enough, because judging from Klein's own observation, the most devout believers were undoubtedly the residents of Moon City.

The reason Moon City devoutly believes in the Fool is because the Fool guided and led them away from the magical land. The reason the former's faith is even stronger is that most Moon City residents suffer from physical mutations, which the Fool's angels helped them resolve.

However, this does not mean that the residents of Silver City are not devout enough, because the Fool also has the grace of salvation for Silver City, so their devotion to the Fool is second only to that of the residents of Moon City.

If we were to rank the level of devotion among the followers of "The Fool," it would be:

Moon City > Silver City > Abraham Family > Rosidet Islands Indigenous > Others.

But Klein couldn't entrust the missionary work of the Fool's Church to the priests of Moon City, nor could he entrust it to the other elders of the Silver City Council of Six. Ultimately, these people didn't understand the 'Fools' enough. Even if Klein wanted them to go on missionary work, how would they explain the 'Fools' to others?

Are we supposed to go around saying to everyone, "Sir, could I have a moment of your time? I'd like to talk to you about our Heavenly Father and Savior, you fool?"

That's definitely not going to work. People will just think you're crazy or some random cult that came out of nowhere.

Because if you want to develop the church, you must first have your own complete set of scriptures.

To create a text for "The Fool," one must have a deep understanding of "The Fool." Only members of the Tarot Society could fulfill this requirement, which is why "The Fool's Words" could only be written by the Magician, the Sun, the Hanged Man, and the Hermit.

Of the four "authors" of *The Fool's Sayings*,

The Magician leans more towards being an atheist; she reveres and fears the gods, but lacks faith.

The Hanged Man outwardly worships the Lord of Storms, but it's impossible for him to serve in the Fool's Church before completely betraying the Church of Storms.

Like the magician, the hermit reveres the fool, but does not believe in him.

Of these four, only Little "Sun" can be considered a true believer in "Fool".

As the only believer in the Fool among the compilers of "The Fool's Words", the position of archbishop naturally belongs to Little Sun!

Fortunately, the "Sacred Words of the Fool" has already spread among the residents of Moon City and Silver City. Once these believers have a deep enough understanding of the "Sacred Words of the Fool," they can actually share some of the pressure and responsibility for the "Sun."

For now, all we can do is suffer for the little "sun" and bear the infamy of being called "the Hanged Man".

"The Fool," Klein thought to himself.

The sun hung its head, looking somewhat worried.

He didn't actually intend to shirk responsibility, because deep down he felt it was his duty to preach to "The Fool." He was simply afraid of making mistakes, afraid of messing things up, and letting Mr. Fool down; this guilt was enough to overwhelm him.

Even if none of these things happened, the pressure he was under was only increasing.

After discussing this matter, the members of the Tarot Club fell into a brief silence, unsure of what to say.

A few seconds later, Leonard, the "Star," broke the silence and spoke:

There's something you might not know yet.

"The Church of the Night recently distributed a new version of the Book of Revelation of the Night to its members, which made some changes to the part about creation."

The magician's eyes flickered slightly as he asked:

"The First Flame Created the World?"

"Yes."

Leonard, also known as "Star," had read the Fool's Church's "The Fool's Sayings," and nodded solemnly:

"Regarding the creation myth, the content of the 'Revelation of the Night' is almost identical to that of the 'Words of the Fool'! Archbishop St. Anthony has also given instructions that the bishops of all cities and churches must teach the believers the new version of the 'Revelation of the Night' as soon as possible. Because the war has caused a severe shortage of manpower in the Church of the Night, even we night watchmen have to participate."

"The Magician" Fors clicked his tongue in amazement, his feelings somewhat complicated.

When she wrote *The Fool's Sayings*, she "referenced" the sacred texts of the orthodox church, such as *The Revelation of the Night*. And now the Church of the Night is turning around and "referring" to her *The Fool's Sayings*... Well, to be fair, there's some truth to what Emperor Roselle said: "All writing is plagiarism."

Upon hearing Leonard's words, Emlyn's expression shifted slightly, and he replied:

"The same goes for vampires. Not long ago, Duke Olmer personally approached me, hoping that I would compile a holy book for vampires to praise their progenitor, based on the 'Sacred Words of the Fool.' And recently, this holy book has begun to circulate among vampires."

After a pause, Emlyn continued:

"If nothing unexpected happens, the scriptures of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess will likely undergo similar modifications."

The Hanged Man frowned slightly and said slowly:

"I submitted the new version of the Book of Storms to Storm's Abyss, but I haven't received a reply yet. They are probably still hesitant about whether to fully implement this version of the Book of Storms."

"Justice," "The Hermit," and the others exchanged glances, having essentially figured out the problem.

Whether or not to adopt the new version of the Holy Scripture containing the "First Fire Creation Theory" is undoubtedly a reflection of whether the Church of the True God has taken sides. Currently, the Church of Night and the Church of Mother Earth have clearly sided with the Church of the Fool, while the Church of Storm is still observing and hesitating.

This is most likely because the gods have not yet reached an agreement. It could be that the benefits offered are insufficient, or the Lord of Storms may have other concerns.

But in any case, the one who led this change was undoubtedly Mr. Fool.

Of course, it's more likely to be Mr. "lover".

Alger, the "Hanged Man," glanced subtly at the "Lover" beside him. He was now almost certain that the "Lover" was also a god.

On the one hand, it's because the list of "servants" published by Mr. Fool includes even "The World" Gehrman Sparrow, but Mr. Lover is nowhere to be seen—this actually gives the answer: Mr. Fool never thought that "Lovers" was just a servant, but an existence of equal status to himself!

The creation myth of the First Flame was originally proposed by the Lovers. Furthermore, the authority over the First Flame rests with the Lovers, not the Fool.

Every deity needs believers because they need sufficient anchors to resist divinity; even angels need anchors to stabilize themselves. Mr. Fool is no exception, which is why there are followers like "The World," and why there is the Church of Fool.

But "lovers" are an exception.

Alger had never heard of any church or secret organization related to the "First Flame," nor had he ever heard of anyone believing in such an existence. This meant that the "Lovers" who held the power of the "First Flame" did not need faith to oppose divinity!

This is not speculation, but a conclusion drawn by the Hanged Man based on his own feelings—in order to obtain a higher level of potion recipe, he had long ago accepted the Lover's blessing, and the embers of his life were burning within him.

Therefore, he could clearly realize that the embers were gradually eroding the mental imprint brought by the extraordinary characteristics, making him less affected by the extraordinary characteristics!

This special power undoubtedly violates the basic principles of the Twenty-Two Paths. The Hanged Man even suspects that, with the help of the Ember, Extraordinary Ones could directly switch to non-adjacent Paths without worrying about the risk of losing control.

Now, all the major orthodox churches, including "The Fool," are unanimously promoting the "First Fire Creation Theory." Is it because they have all experienced the benefits brought by the "First Fire"?

Since the "Ember" can help him erase the spiritual imprint in his extraordinary characteristics, then the "Primordial Flame" can naturally help a god erase or even devour his divinity! Without the shackles of divinity, a god's strength will undoubtedly be even greater.

Perhaps it is under these circumstances that the current transformation has come about!

The Hanged Man trembled slightly, a mixture of excitement and fear in his eyes, as if he had vaguely touched upon the truth of the world!

(End of this chapter)