Mage Manual-Chapter 207 - 181: Eternal Damnation and the Final Observer
Chapter 207 -181: Eternal Damnation and the Final Observer
“Oh great Eternal Damnation, Selena Bright! The good follows you, the evil admires you! The light yearns for you, the darkness also hopes for you! You are a being that transcends all, the color that God painted over everything!”
When Ash climbed out of the body bag, he saw countless black-robed believers kneeling on the ground, their faces pressed against the floor, zealously singing hymns. These familiar praises almost triggered Ash’s post-trauma stress disorder.
Could it be that these hymns are actually a standardized version used worldwide?!
“I’m really starting to suspect that we’re in this mess because of you, Ash…” came the mournful voice of Harvey next to him, followed quickly by a muffled groan as a black-robed believer stepped on Harvey’s left arm, flattening it — not that the believer was particularly forceful, but because Harvey was missing a bone in that arm.
In the previous night’s sniping encounter with Gersas, everyone was in a dire situation: Ash had to stop, Lanna and Ronald covered each other, and Igula lost a large chunk of flesh that hadn’t healed yet. Harvey had it the easiest; he threw a bone into the air, and the gun bullet, aimed at him, somehow shifted to the bone, seemingly causing no harm to the Necromancer.
However, during the long car ride that lasted for hours, Ash had already noticed Harvey’s left hand was almost completely unusable, he couldn’t even lift it. Now it was clear that Harvey was probably the most injured among them — Igula could regenerate his flesh, but Harvey couldn’t regrow a bone just using his healing abilities.
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There was probably a Miracle in the Necromancy Faction for bone restoration, but as soon as Harvey had passed through the gateway, he was put in a dog collar and didn’t have time to regrow a new bone for his arm, like discovering there was no toilet paper after using the restroom and just using fingers, only to find out the water had been cut off upon emerging.
The black-robed stranger’s chain once again entwined around the three of them like tentacles, lifting them up, and at that point, Ash was finally able to observe their surroundings — such a familiar underground hall!
It was immensely tall, around ten meters, and the underground hall, the size of two football fields, appeared bright yet ancient under the glow of densely suspended lights. The walls were extremely smooth, covered in bizarre, colorful murals depicting lines of people queuing up for slaughter, six pairs of men and women entwined in a strange collective posture mating, hundreds of people slitting their throats to fill pools with fresh blood, and various race creatures in stages of decay.
Logically, such vibrant colors combined with starkly perverse content should disturb or shock anyone, yet after glancing once, Ash didn’t feel disgust, nor did he like it; he merely appreciated it as a normal piece of art.
“Don’t look, it’s poisonous,” Igula whispered softly nearby. Ash quickly came back to his senses — by the time he could accept this bizarre aesthetic and even regard it as normal art, he had been subtly corrupted.
Only Igula could detect his own oddness, as he truly possessed a set of professional aesthetics, unlike Harvey and Ash, who lacked artistic appreciation and could even admire the shapes of their own excrement after defecation.
The chains on Ash and his companions jolted them forward, as the black-robed figure signaled them to proceed. Ahead of Ash was a narrow stone path over the water; this underground hall surprisingly had a pond, and on either side of the stone path were four statues: a heroic general, an elegant middle-aged scholar, a benevolent old man, and a pure young girl.
They obediently walked over the stone path, and the believers who had been singing hymns just now suddenly stopped, kneeling quietly on the ground, leaving only the sound of their footsteps echoing in the underground hall.
As they approached the towering Silver Throne, the chain behind them suddenly jerked, forcing them also to kneel down.
“Are you the people from the Exotic Realm?”
A sweet and naive voice came from the Silver Throne behind them. They looked up as the Silver Throne smoothly turned around, and the shock was visible on the faces of Ash and his companions.
On the Silver Throne sat a petite little girl who seemed to be under ten years old, with silver-white hair tinged with a strand of burgundy, giving her hair a more layered look. She wore a charming black and white gothic dress, looking just like a delicate doll.
However, she had no hands or feet.
She seemed like a doll that had its clothes put on but hadn’t had its limbs attached yet, placed on the Silver Throne as decoration.
The Silver Throne featured two extending mechanical arms, the right holding a steaming beverage, the left holding a thin comic book, as she appeared to enjoy her afternoon tea while reading comics.
“Yes, Eternal Damnation,” said the black-robed follower, kneeling. “It has been confirmed with the ‘Gospel Book’ that they are indeed people from the Exotic Realm.”
“You’ve done well,” said the little girl. “Then bring the other sacrifices as well; the ritual begins immediately, The Gods of Four Pillars can hardly wait!”
“Yes!”
A frenzy of fervor swiftly swept across the entire underground hall, even causing the suspended lights to burn more fiercely, and the three chained prisoners, unable to break free, could only watch helplessly as the executioners sharpened their knives!
“Ash!”
“Ash…”
Harvey and Igula both sent strong signals, and Ash, with a pained expression, knew they definitely saw him as a lifeline.
After all, in their eyes, you are the cult leader of the Gods of Four Pillars, and this is the sect of the Gods of Four Pillars. Can there really be two different groups of the Gods of Four Pillars?
It’s like a temple swept by a flood or Blood Saint’s tomb being excavated; family not recognizing family! You better get up there and recognize your lineage, gloriously return to the local branch of the Sect of the Gods of Four Pillars as a scholar of Blood Return, and then hurry to rescue us. If worse comes to worst, we’ll also believe in the Gods of Four Pillars and join you in some heinous deeds, but first, let’s focus on surviving.
But Ash knew his own circumstances; Heath might really be some cult leader, but he certainly was not!
The Gods of Four Pillars might recognize him, but he didn’t recognize the Gods of Four Pillars!
Ash only knew about the Gods of Four Pillars from the news; Crime Hunting Hall knew more about the Gods of Four Pillars than he did. Ash never acted as a cult leader for even a day; he couldn’t even be considered a fake or inferior cult leader, at most just a cloud cult leader.
Ash indeed wanted to get closer to the local cult leader, but he didn’t understand the doctrines of the Sect of the Gods of Four Pillars and had no idea where to start. Could he convince the other party that he was a fellow cult member with just his words alone? Not everyone is as foolish as Freyja!
Moreover, although Ash barely remembered the scenes from when he first crossed over, he was very sure that the Blood Moon branch, whether in terms of the number of believers, size of the base, or the imposing manner of the leader, was far less impressive than this branch.
Even if both branches belonged to the Sect of the Gods of Four Pillars, it was uncertain if Eternal Damnation would be willing to embrace a poor relative from the countryside. Perhaps they would instead think, ‘You’re a branch leader? Then we need to deal with you seriously,’ and then deploy eighteen types of torture instruments in rotation to serve Ash, letting the Gods of Four Pillars know they definitely did not mistreat the leader of a brother unit, sending Ash off properly.
But to simply sit back and wait for death would undoubtedly be very foolish, so Ash mustered his courage, lifted his head, and said, “Um, hello.”
“Hello.” Eternal Damnation was very polite, looking down at Ash, “Can I help you with something?”
Ash decided to reveal his cult reputation and title: “I am the Final Observer, Ash Heath.”
“I am Eternal Damnation, Selena Bright.” She looked at Igula and Harvey, “Would you like to introduce yourselves as well?”
“No, what I mean is, I too am a believer of the Sect of the Gods of Four Pillars.” Ash said cautiously, “I am the leader of the Kingdom of Blood Moon branch of the Sect of Gods of the Four Pillars; the Kingdom of Blood Moon is our realm of origin.”
“Oh, is that so?” She seemed a bit surprised, looking at Ash: “But you seem like a good person.”
Ash’s face turned red with irritation – in everyone else’s eyes he was an utterly wicked cult leader, and despite hundreds of explanations, no one believed he was a good person; yet, in the presence of the cult leader, when he said he was a fellow cult member, the other party actually thought he was a good person.
Damn, this world should leave some room for survival, shouldn’t it? When it was bad to be a cult leader, he was recognized as a cult leader, when it was bad to be a good person, he was recognized as a good person, not even his company’s boss had such double standards!
Ash tried to speak in an even tone: “No, I truly am a branch leader of the Sect of the Gods of Four Pillars, I’m very wicked. I’ve been accused by the authorities of involvement in multiple cases of kidnapping, murder, robbery, and other violent crimes, and sentenced to the maximum penalty. I barely managed to escape from prison, but there’s no place for me in Blood Moon anymore, which is why I left Blood Moon and came here.”
Eternal Damnation tilted her head slightly, her brows forming a cute arc: “Then prove it to me.”
“Prove?”
A mechanical arm pulled a dagger from beneath her skirt and threw it on the ground in front of Ash. The chains on Ash suddenly vanished, though he still wore a collar, but he could now move freely.
“I don’t know what they are to you, but if you are favored by the Gods of Four Pillars, then in your eyes, they should also qualify to be offered to the Gods of Four Pillars as sacrifices.” Eternal Damnation calmly said: “Torture them as much as you can, devastate them, instill them with despair, afflict them with pain, but do not kill them.”
“This should be as simple for you as dressing and eating, Final Observer, right?”
