Darc? The other party's image surfaced in Derrick's mind.
He was of medium height, slightly plump, and was known for his strength. He was an optimistic and cheerful youth with a bright smile. He was his classmate in general education and a teammate in the patrol team.
But after returning from the exploration of the Fallen Creator's half-destroyed temple, he had become solemn and only smiled at everyone.
Whenever he recalled Darc Regence's changes, Derrick shuddered and felt a chill run down his spine.
Why did he suddenly come looking for me? Shouldn't he be going home after being released from quarantine? In the blink of an eye, many questions arose in Derrick's mind.
Suddenly, he thought of a possibility.
Elder Lovia knows that I suspect that something has happened to them, so she sent Darc to deal with me?
Derrick was first alarmed and filled with fear. Then, he felt that it probably wasn't a bad thing.
Mr. The Hanging Man said, "If there's no suitable audience that can testify for you, you might as well use the Beyonder monitoring you." And now, the person monitoring me is in that corner. If Darc were to suddenly attack me, it would definitely expose the fact that there's something wrong with them!
This way, even if I don't use Mr. World's item, things can still proceed smoothly!
Phew. Derrick turned his head to look out the window.
At this moment, the frequency of lightning had dropped to its lowest. Every one or two minutes, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the sky. The entire World and the entire City of Silver were in deep darkness most of the time.
If he was alone at home, Derrick wouldn't have found a candle to light. He preferred to lie quietly in bed and think about all sorts of things.
Of course, he knew that this was actually rather dangerous. If there wasn't any light to disperse the darkness, monsters might suddenly appear even inside the City of Silver. However, Derrick was a Light Suppliant, and he had a certain amount of light attributes, so he wasn't too afraid of such things happening.
Knock! Knock! Darc knocked on the door three more times, as if urging his master.
He wasn't like this in the past. He was very polite … Derrick suddenly felt a strong sense of sorrow.
He took out a candle from the wooden box and placed it in the middle of the table. Then, he rubbed his fingers and created a golden flame.
The flame lit the candle, filling the room with a dim but warm glow, accompanied by a pungent fragrance.
The candles of the City of Silver were mainly made from the oil extracted from the bodies of monsters. Due to the different sources, they had different flavors.
Taking a deep breath, Derrick walked to the door with extreme caution and opened it.
"Why are you so slow?" Dark asked with a smile.
"Looking for candles," Derrick replied.
He didn't dare to leave his back to the other party, so he walked side by side with his classmate and teammate. They walked back to the table and sat down.
"These are freshly dried Doom fruits. Do you want some?" Darc took out a small cloth bag from his waist and asked with a smile.
The Doom fruit was one of the extremely rare snacks in the City of Silver. It came from a plant called the Doom Blood Vine. This creature didn't need light and grew by absorbing the nutrients from rotting corpses. It had a certain tendency to attack and was considered a relatively common weak monster.
Every 'Doom's Blood Vine' would bear many thumb-sized black fruits that could be eaten directly. They were crispy and fragrant, but they were unable to fill a human's stomach or provide the necessary supplements. They could only be used as a daily pastime. The merit points obtained from a single patrol could be exchanged for several large bags.
"No, it's fine." Derrick shook his head cautiously.
"Alright." Darke poured out a pile of black fruits from the small cloth bag. He picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth, crunching noises.
Derrick thought for a moment and took the initiative to ask.
"Did you encounter any monsters in the underground part of the temple?"
Darc stopped chewing and replied with a smile, "There were quite a few, but they weren't very powerful.
They were easily wiped out by us. That place has been destroyed for a long time, so the powerful monsters should've long left. "
He paused for a second and curled the corners of his mouth.
"We found some strange plants at the bottom of the temple. They look like the mushrooms recorded in general education classes. They look especially bright and make one hungry at a glance.
"After confirming that they can be eaten directly, they can increase one's spirituality and strengthen one's physique. If it's paired with roasted monsters, it will emit an unimaginable fragrance."
As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized mushroom-shaped object from another small cloth bag. Its handle was as white as jade, and its cap was bright red and crystalline. It was dotted with dark golden spots.
Derrick couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva when he saw the plant, as though he had been starving for days.
Under the dim candlelight, the beautiful mushroom-shaped object constantly swirled with an alluring luster. It was especially appetizing, making it hard for one to control their appetite.
"Here's one for you." Dark smiled warmly.
"Okay, okay …" Derrick almost took action on the spot. He picked up the mushroom-shaped plant and stuffed it into his mouth, but in the end, he endured it and forced himself to open his mouth. "I'll give it a try tomorrow."
Dark didn't say anything else as he pushed the "mushroom" in front of Derrick and continued to chew on the Doom fruit.
Derrick spent a great deal of effort to move his gaze away from the "mushroom."
He asked with great difficulty, "Did you discover anything during this exploration?"
"Yes!" Darc stopped eating his snacks and held a black Doom fruit in his hand. He replied very seriously, "We found many murals, connected murals. Do you remember the statue in the temple?"
"Yes." Derrick glanced at Mushroom and nodded. "A huge cross with a naked man hanging upside down nailed to it. Its surface was deliberately smeared with a lot of blood."
Darc twirled the Doom fruit in his hand.
"The newly discovered murals tell us that the builders of the temple believed that the statue represented the Lord who created everything, the omniscient and omnipotent God. They believed that the Lord did not abandon this land, but helped us bear most of the sins when the Cataclysm came. Therefore, he changed from standing upright to hanging upside down, from walking freely to being nailed to the cross, and shed blood for us.
"God's grace is as boundless as the sea. We are not abandoned people. Instead, we are doted on. Without the Lord bearing the sins and bleeding for us, the City of Silver would have long been destroyed. Humans would have long ceased to exist!"
However, in the outside world, in the Loen Kingdom where Mr. Hanged Man and Miss Justice are, there's no curse at all. There's no extreme darkness, and there aren't all sorts of monsters in the depths of the darkness … We aren't blessed … Derrick silently retorted.
"If that's true, we just need to change some of the symbols and corresponding honorific names during the ritual, and we will be able to obtain the Lord's response again …" Darc endlessly described the murals at the bottom of the temple and voiced his guess. As for Derrick, he found it increasingly difficult to resist the temptation of the mushroom.
No, I can't eat it! If I eat it, I might end up like Darc and the others, completely corrupted by the Fallen Creator and become a fanatical believer … Even if there's someone monitoring me, they won't discover any problems … Derrick felt a sense of horror as he felt that he had to do something to escape his current situation.
Chase Darc away and return the mushroom to him? But that would be equivalent to giving up the opportunity … Opportunity … Derrick subconsciously cast his gaze towards the dim yellow candle flame that was quietly burning.
"I'll get you a glass of water." He quickly went through the plan he had discussed with Mr. The Hanging Man and stood up calmly.
As Darc nodded, he threw the thumb-sized black Doom fruit into his mouth, causing a crisp smacking sound to echo.
As Derrick poured the water, he deliberately slowed down his movements, lowered his head, and chanted Mr. Fool's honorific name.
At the end, he said, "Your loyal servant prays for your attention;
"I pray that you accept his offerings;
"I pray that you open the door to the kingdom."
Whoosh!
A gust of wind suddenly blew in the room, and the powers of nature produced obvious fluctuations under the influence of the incantation.
At the same time, Darc, who had just picked up a black Doom fruit, suddenly raised his head and looked at Derrick, who was facing him.
"What happened?"
Derrick didn't answer. He pressed down on the Axe of Hurricane with one hand and reached into his pocket with the other, removing the wall of spirituality on the outer layer of the metal box. The faint ravings and the feeling of evil and depravity began to vaguely and weakly emanate outwards.
Derrick cast his gaze at Darc with abnormal wariness, only to see his classmate and teammate's expression suddenly turn gloomy. Traces of redness appeared in his blue eyes!
The Doom fruit in his hand had strangely lost its blackness and was dyed with a slightly pale color.
It wasn't a Doom fruit. It was a finger, a bloody finger, a human finger!
The pile of Doom Fruits on the table was actually a bunch of human fingers!
The bright "mushroom" had also changed in appearance. It was no longer as beautiful, and it no longer had a luster that aroused one's appetite. It was a layer of blood-stained scalp with short black hair!
Darc stared at Derrick and opened his mouth. His voice was cold and ethereal.
"What are you doing …"
...
15 Minsk Street, Baekeland.
Klein, who had already crawled into bed and was in the warm World, heard a prayer that seemed to come from Little Sun. He struggled to get out of bed and created a wall of spirituality. Then, he took four steps counterclockwise and went above the gray fog.
Sitting in the seat belonging to The Fool, he wasn't in a hurry to examine Little Sun's request. Instead, he got the Dark Emperor card, the paper figurines, and other items to be neatly placed on the long bronze table in front of him.
According to The Hanging Man's idea, the scene where Sun stimulated the members of the exploration team to mutate would be in the sacrificial ritual. This way, when the matter was over, it would be quite simple to make the item borrowed by The World disappear from the scene. With no evidence, all the problems could then be pushed to Amon!
As for Mr. Fool Klein, he had "nonchalantly" agreed to Little Sun's request to "simplify" the ritual and only do the key steps.
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