As soon as Audrey heard the question about "The Fool", she quietly raised her ears and entered the "audience" mode, waiting for "The Sun" to give an answer.
She had always been very curious about where Silver City was and what its special features were, but she was too shy to ask, after all, it involved the other person's privacy.
At this moment, Mr. "The Fool" personally asked, making her feel like she had finally had the chance to buy the next volume after reading the excellent detective novel in the first volume!
And "The Sun's" answer did not disappoint her. They did not believe in the mainstream seven orthodox deities, nor the Death God on the South Continent, nor the secret existence and evil gods that "The Hangman" had told her about, such as the Primordial Witch, the Hidden Sage, the Dark Side of the Universe, the Bound God, and the True Creator of the World.
Silver City was indeed very special! They actually directly believed in the "Creator" itself! This might belong to the primitive worship described by "The Hangman" Mr. Alge? Well, the description of omniscience and omnipotence is a bit strange... Audrey subconsciously turned her head to look at "The Hangman" and found that he was indeed nodding slightly.
While Klein was not at all surprised, he deliberately smiled and asked in a teasing way:
"Even if He abandoned you?"
Abandoned? The Creator abandoned Silver City? "The Hangman" Alge was startled and immediately thought of a proper term:
"The Land of God's Abandonment!"
In the internal materials of the Storm Lord Church, in the secret areas accessible to the bishop-level "Captain" like Alge, "The Land of God's Abandonment" always had only a name, no specific description, but clearly pointed to the end of the Sunia Sea. As far as he knew, even the cardinals at the core of the Church did not know what "The Land of God's Abandonment" represented, only the leaders of the Church, the "Deputy of the Storm Lord", knew some information, and seemed to be secretly organizing a hidden operation to search for "The Land of God's Abandonment".
Alge had once made a bold guess, equating the "Holy Sanctuary" proclaimed by the Aurora Society with "The Land of God's Abandonment", but unfortunately, "The Fool" did not give him a reply, leaving him unable to confirm.
Now, he was shocked and astonished to discover that the member of the Tarot Society with the code name "The Sun" might have originated from "The Land of God's Abandonment"!
"Mr. The Fool" had always known where "The Land of God's Abandonment" was and could bring in members from there? This was a hidden place that the Storm Lord Church wanted to find but never could!
"Alge the Hangman" looked at "The Fool" sitting at the top of the ancient long table with a sense of trepidation. He could see that the other person was leaning against the back of the chair, enveloped in thick fog, seemingly saying nothing.
Audrey, on the other hand, had no feelings about this matter. The only time she heard about "The Land of God's Abandonment" was from "The Hangman's" question, but she did not take it seriously and could not associate anything from "Mr. The Fool's" previous words.
There was a legend of the Creator abandoning Silver City... Eh, "The Hangman" Mr. Alge's emotions fluctuated greatly... What was he surprised and afraid of? Audrey nodded in confusion, remembering the details of this moment.
"Yes, we all believe that we will eventually regain the Lord's favor, perhaps on the day the sun rises again." Derrick Berg replied in a somewhat uncertain tone, "We were once ruled by the Giant King's Court and believed in Giant King Olmir. Later, we were redeemed by the Lord, and we will no longer betray the Lord."
Ruled by the Giant King's Court... Indeed, it was ancient... But it seemed to not correspond... With the guess "Alge the Hangman" suddenly thought of the description of the second era in the secret chapter of "The Storm Book".
The Second Age was also known as the "Dark Age of Mankind". During that time, the dominant creatures in the sky, the ocean, and the earth were dragons, giants, elves, monsters, demons, immortal birds, demonic wolves, and undead beings. However, eventually, the Lord of Storms, the Eternal Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom led humanity to defeat these extraordinary creatures one by one, ushering in the "Radiant Era" at the beginning of the Third Age. Only then came the so-called Great Cataclysm.
King Olmir the Giant... Klein silently repeated this name.
In many myths and legends, he was a being comparable to a deity, and even to this day, some places still retain his worship. For example, the most famous and expensive wine in the Idiths Republic is named "Olmir" - it is said that this giant king loved blood-colored wine.
Considering the complete sequence held by the "War God" Church, which belonged to the Giant King's court, could it be said that Olmir was an ancient war god? Klein made a guess.
He deliberately nodded and didn't delve into this matter further. Instead, he spoke slowly and calmly:
"Are you still 'offering sacrifices' to that omniscient and all-powerful god?"
"Yes, still. But since the day we were abandoned, we haven't received any response." "Sun" Deric's tone contained an unhidden pain.
Klein leaned back even more comfortably, closing his eyes half-heartedly and said:
"Describe the process of your sacrifices in detail."
The "Mystic" Mr. Fool wanted to figure out the truth behind the abandonment of Silver City? Or perhaps he wanted to determine if the Creator still "exists"? "Hangman" Algier suddenly felt a "current" passing through his body, causing him to tremble.
Not only was he afraid, but he was also excited because he believed he was in contact with the secrets between deities!
This made him feel that his own level had been elevated!
I was striving to pursue authority and power, not for the sake of obtaining this feeling? Algier leaned back slightly, raised his chin, and thought intoxicatedly.
"The 'Hangman' Mr. Spirit is not in a normal state of mind... 'Justice' Audrey looked at the other side compassionately.
She finally understood, "The communication between the 'Mystic' Mr. Fool and 'Sun' might contain some astonishing secrets, to the extent that even 'Hangman' has a lapse of composure.
When Zilinger's commission is completed, I will pay the reward and exchange what I have learned today from 'Hangman' Mr. Spirit..." I don't know if he is willing... Audrey thought with some anticipation and some concern.
"Sun" Deric didn't feel anything amiss. He answered honestly:
"We built magnificent altars, engraved with the symbols of the Lord. Whenever the 'Black Face Grass' harvests abundantly, we hold a sacrifice ceremony."
"We capture monsters from the depths of darkness as sacrifices. After reciting the Lord's name and the corresponding prayer sentences, performing the dance to please Him, we kill those several monsters, allowing their spirituality or tainted blood to stain the entire altar. If we fail to catch the monsters, we use the 'Sinner' at the bottom of the prison in Silver City as a substitute."
"Then we turn the first bunch of 'Black Face Grass' we harvest into food and offer it to the Lord."
"Finally, in our collective singing, the ceremony ends."
Since I was planning to attempt to 'offer sacrifices' to myself, I didn't choose the time or the altar. The altar was simple... The most important part was to use the spirituality of those monsters or the blood containing extraordinary power to open the channel and complete the sacrifice. Of course, the premise was to receive a response? How luxurious... Klein analyzed every step of the Silver City sacrifice ceremony with his mastery of mysticism. Finally, he said:
"What are the corresponding prayer sentences? What language did you recite them in?"
Deric also hoped to receive a hint from the "Mystic" Mr. Fool to break the curse. He recalled carefully and said: "We use the Giant Language, which is also our common language."
"The corresponding prayer incantation is:"
"Your devoted followers pray for your attention;"
"Pray that you accept their offerings;"
"Pray that you open the gates of the kingdom." ...
Klein listened in silence, deliberately allowing the grey mist around him to slowly swirl and then nodded thoughtfully, saying nothing.
As for what he had discovered, of course, he wouldn't tell...
"Hangman" Alger thought it was normal. How could the secrets of the gods be directly revealed to mortals? "Sun" Derrick was determined to grow quickly and strive to obtain the things that "The Fool" Mr. was interested in, exchanging them for guidance from him.
After another round of communication, Klein ended today's gathering, watching the figures of "Justice", "Hangman" and "Sun" disappear from sight.
He looked down and saw the boundless grey mist and the deep red stars seeming to never change.
However, after ascending to the 8th level, he found that he could connect to more stars, that is, to bring in more members.
At least two... Klein gave a barely visible nod.
He wasn't in a hurry to increase the number of members. He planned to do it like before, waiting and observing first. If "Justice" and "Hangman" had recommendations, he would conduct the assessment first.
"I have seen several times before that when 'Sun' prays, there is a pure crystal ball in front of him, but after I pulled him above the grey mist, that crystal ball never appeared again... Could it be that the prerequisite for pulling in people through the deep red stars is that the other party has a special item around them? Or, does each deep red star correspond to an item in the real world, and once the connection is made, it returns to the grey mist?"
"I wonder if Miss Justice and Mr. Hangman are the same... Assuming this guess is true, then, if there are people without such special items, if they recite 'The Fool who is not of this era, the mysterious master above the grey mist, the king of yellow and black who governs good luck', and I hear the prayer, could I also pull them into here?"
"We can try it in the future..."
Klein didn't linger for long. He wrapped himself in spirituality, simulating the feeling of a rapid descent, leaving the majestic palace, the ancient long table and twenty-two high-backed chairs standing quietly and unchangingly above the grey mist.
He had mastered the power of the "Clown" potion, eliminating the corresponding negative effects, so now he was going to try the ritual of summoning himself!
I wonder what will come out... Klein passed through the crazy raving, thinking with both anticipation and some fear.