Only God

The city square was instantly submerged in the sounds of chanting and prayer, and there were very few who remained unmoved by such an atmosphere.

Among them was Eden.

As a priest, Eden was naturally more rational than the average person. Coupled with the divergence in faith, Eden was even less likely to be swept up in this frenzy of heresy.

The Great Miracle...

Eden seemed to have read about it in some scripture.

Having only recently been exposed to the Pagan Scriptures, his impression of it wasn't too profound, only remembering that the Great Miracle seemed to be related to the destruction of a city. The scriptures said that the destruction of that city wasn't a matter of how many righteous or sinners were within, but that the actions of those believers demonstrated the will of the King of Kings.

"Praise the King of Kings, praise the King of Kings!"

"The holy revelation, the sacred manifestation of the King of Kings!"

Before Eden could ponder further, another wave of fervent shouts interrupted his train of thought.

............

The heathen Holy Servant called upon all devout individuals to embark on a pilgrimage, and following him, the city's heretic clergy also stirred up this fervent mood.

In every street and alley, the words of the Holy Servant spread, and the clergy preached the same content. After Holy Servant Oranto left, the city's population had decreased by one-sixth, with countless people following in the steps of the Holy Servant, marching toward the Prophet Abyss. Even more were packing their bags, ready to set off on the pilgrimage in the upcoming month.

Eden was making the same preparations.

However, he was not going there for a pilgrimage.

But rather to change the future.

Through the relations of the booksellers, Eden found a group traveling to the Prophet Abyss for pilgrimage. This group was distinct from the others, as its master was the local Lord, and the guards were all well-equipped and well-trained, capable of dealing with most dangers along the way.

"God, I hope I don't go back to the past just when I arrive at the Prophet Abyss," Eden prayed in his heart before departing.

However, although he prayed, he wasn't overly worried; he always had this premonition that he would not return to the past until he discovered something.

And this stay in the future turned out to be longer than Eden had initially thought.

In his original estimations, Eden didn't think his stay would last more than a month, but as of today, nearly half a month had already passed, and exceeding a month seemed to be just a matter of time.

Although he hadn't yet unraveled the secret of the Stone Pendant, this was also good; gaining more information and uncovering more secrets in the future would better suit his role as the Envoy in the eyes of the Fahela Sect's Believers and carrying out all his plans.

.........…

Although the heathens possessed immense passion for their faith, this pilgrimage was, after all, a journey away from home. So, when the various groups had not yet completed even a tenth of the journey, a third of them had already turned back.

Eden was not surprised by this. He had seen such situations many times within the True Religion, where many True Believers often started their pilgrimage full of confidence, only to be crushed by reality before they had gone very far.

In this respect, the heathen were no different from the True Believers.

"People are all connected, regardless of race and belief, for the same God has granted them reason."

Eden mused to himself.

Had other heathen heard this soliloquy, they surely would have been suspicious.

After all, even though the heathen also revered the Lord, this respect was limited to the Scriptures; their Law demanded their complete devotion to the King of Kings.

For that reason, especially among the heathen of lesser theological understanding, there was a profound silence about the God before.

The Holy Servant's sermons of the Prophet Abyss were neither too far nor too close to the city from which Eden had set out; he roughly estimated that the journey might be a bit shorter than the trip from the Dwarf Country Kaelonde to the Logos Ancient Kingdom.

As the pilgrimage group was well-equipped and well-supplied, and mostly traveled by land, they encountered no hindrances along the way and reached a town near the Prophet Abyss in less than a month.

This group was among the earliest arriving pilgrimage groups, yet the town was already overcrowded.

The inns were full, and the local Scripture Institutes overflowed with heathen Nobles and Lords from afar. People like Eden could only dwell in the temporary camps built around the town.

The area was shrouded in dense fog with abundant forests perfect for constructing camps—and stretching mountain ranges with sheer cliffs abounding. Looking down from above, all was pitch black, but which one, exactly, was the Prophet Abyss?

On this matter, the heathen had various claims: some said the Prophet Abyss was fifteen miles to the east, others argued based on Scriptures that it was near the Puluo Mountain to the south, and still others said it was over a hundred miles away.

Through these discussions, Eden discovered that the heathen had only a vague idea of the location of the Prophet Abyss. Holy Servants thus traveled to and fro in the heretical world, yet no one could pinpoint the precise spot.

People excitedly traveled from all nations just to kiss the soil of the Holy Land, to kneel and pray, to fulfill a devout wish. However, upon arrival, they realized no one knew which place was indeed the Holy Land. If one were to kiss the wrong soil, pray at the wrong site, wouldn't all efforts be in vain, like a wasted toil fetching water with a bamboo basket?

However, such setbacks did not quench the heathen's enthusiasm. They had come from far and wide, their devotion surpassing that of the average person. In no time, they regrouped and soon formed various parties, exploring and exchanging information about the exact location.

And so, Eden too took action.

"I can't just wait passively like this... and besides, I could be sent back at any moment."

He thought to himself.

He had been in the future for far longer than a month, not knowing when he'd be sent back. The one certainty was that his time in the future was dwindling; he had to take this opportunity to act swiftly, to take the initiative.

Through his innate talent as a Priest, after a short study, Eden's understanding of the Pagan Scripture far exceeded that of the average Believer, even beyond that of ordinary heathen clergy. Coupled with his exceptional eloquence, he managed to persuade several groups to join the search for the Abyss, sharing in valuable information.

Days later, Eden compiled all the information he had gathered, combed through it, and with deductions based on the "Abyss Chronicles" Scriptures, the most likely place was in the Longma Mountain Range, some fifty or more miles to the northwest of the town.

Acting upon his conclusion, Eden, using his eloquence and knowledge, persuaded a group to venture with him to the Longma Mountain Range.

The leader of this group was a heathen Main Priest named Molemos, who was reputed to have been recognized and received by the Holy Servant of Oranto in his early years due to his scholarship. He commanded immense prestige, emulated and heeded by tens of thousands of heathen in his homeland. To them, his every word and deed were nearly divine.

The rest of the group were no ordinary folk either; they were either his disciples or renown Warriors from various kingdoms, almost unconditionally obeying Molemos's commands.

Eden had made contact with Molemos through the latter's guards, and fortunately, the Main Priest's conjectures coincided with Eden's. In this way, Eden smoothly joined the group and, once prepared, set forth towards the Longma Mountain Range.