Only God

It was already completely dark. Logically, they should have stopped to rest and waited until the next morning to move ahead, but they all continued onward as if something enticed and bewitched them.

Was it truly enticement and bewitchment?

Eden entered into a state of spiritual cultivation, chanting in Ancient Language, trying to perform the purification of evil spirits; however, he found that there were no evil spirits for him to purify.

This made Eden's scalp tingle even more.

"Did you hear the voice too?"

A heathen suddenly came over and asked.

Eden paused for a moment, then quickly said,

"I heard it too."

"Oh, what a holy voice, what a beautiful melody, we all heard it,"

said the heathen, enraptured.

But Eden shuddered.

Everyone heard it... the "voice," except for him!

In the darkness, the forest around them grew scarcer, and the group slowly walked deeper, the heathens quickened their pace, and their rapid breathing filled the group. Eden involuntarily sped up as well.

The number and varieties of trees grew fewer. At first, Eden could still recognize them, but deeper in, the bark of the trees took on a worm-like appearance, resembling maggots on the ground that could come to life at any moment.

The heathens weren't speaking. It seemed like they were following the holy "voice," intently moving forward.

In an area with sparse trees, a road suddenly and starkly appeared.

The road was surrounded by overgrown weeds, and its surface was muddy yet oddly straight, as if someone had dragged a body over it. It was extremely bizarre.

All signs indicated that this was not a place untouched by men.

But Eden became even more alarmed.

After following the heathens for an unknown length of time, when his legs were sore from fatigue, he smelled a foul odor.

"Is this... the smell of a corpse?!"

Eden blurted out.

As a priest, Eden was no stranger to corpses; on the contrary, he often conducted funerals and had encountered many bodies, so he was familiar with the smell.

In the darkness, the main priest turned around,

"What did you say?

There's no foul smell here."

Eden hesitated, then replied,

"Sorry, I must have smelled wrong."

The main priest showed a kind smile,

"What a beautiful fragrance, like roses."

Eden's hand trembled slightly, but he quickly controlled it.

As they moved forward in the pitch dark, he couldn't smell any roses. All he could smell was a vague, foul odor, which was indeed the smell of a corpse, and a freshly dead one at that.

What was wrong with everyone?

Eden questioned inwardly.

The voice they heard, he could not hear; the fragrance they smelled, he could not smell.

Eden's nerves remained tense; he did not leave the group due to his slight panic but instead continued to move forward with them.

Yet, after walking for three or four hours, no other strange occurrences happened.

Everything was very peaceful, very normal, which made Eden wonder if he was overly sensitive.

"Look, what have we found!"

Suddenly, like seeing something, Molemos, the main priest, shouted in excitement.

Eden looked up and saw a bunch of broken walls and remnants, resembling a collapsed building overgrown with weeds and vines, reminding him of the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Logos.

Molemos eagerly led everyone forward, and that respected main priest, after scrutinizing the scene before him, yelled,

"Praise the King of Kings, He truly led us here!"

Eden immediately pricked up his ears.

"The Prophet, when the Prophet walked towards the Abyss, he also passed through ruins! We are close, we are really close!"

Molemos, the main priest, exclaimed excitedly. Under the cover of the night, the heathens uniformly praised the Divine.

Looking at the collapsed ruins, judging by the stone walls and pillars, this place appeared to be a temple.

He touched the stone wall, which still bore ancient murals.

Among the murals, there were crows, scythes, and layers of piled skulls.

"Is this... is this the Temple of the Death God?"

Eden tried to deduce.

Even in his own era, temples dedicated to the Death God were rare.

Yet, here appeared one of His temples.

He lifted his head and found that the fog around him had thickened significantly, and he couldn't tell if it was his illusion, but the fog seemed to exude a faint pale color.

The heathens, immersed in the fervor of their faith, didn't notice to which divine entity this temple belonged.

But they were all convinced that they were getting closer and closer to the Prophet Abyss.

Led by the Main Priest Molemos, they continued to move deeper.

The fog seemed as if it would never dissipate.

Suddenly, from within the group, a cry of alarm sounded.

"Blai is gone!"

One heathen shouted.

Eden quickly turned around and began counting the number of people in the group, only to realize that someone had disappeared at some point.

He opened his mouth, about to say something.

"Forget about him, he got lost by himself, let's keep moving forward."

Before Eden could speak, the Main Priest Molemos said in an indisputable tone.

The heathens murmured among themselves, but after a short while, they all obeyed the Main Priest's words.

It was as though the "voices" had persuaded them.

Involuntarily, Eden looked deeper, wondering what was there.

The path ahead grew steeper and more challenging, and Eden occasionally looked behind him, horrified to notice that it seemed like fewer people were walking, and in the pale fog, there appeared to be writhing hands drawing people deeper into the mist.

Yet, the people were indifferent to this.

Since hearing the "voices," the Main Priest Molemos had been intently staring ahead with fanatical eyes.

Shortly after, as if he had discovered something, he shouted:

"We're here, we're here! We've arrived!"

Eden looked ahead, hurriedly took a few steps forward, and realized they had reached the vicinity of a cliff. Far off, the dark abyss appeared to open its gaping maw, swallowing one lost soul after another.

The heathens quickly gathered at the edge of the cliff where, near the precipice, there were paths seemingly both natural and man-made in the stone, as if leading people deeper.

The Main Priest Molemos pointed toward the cliffside:

"There are openings there, there must be something inside, it is the will of the King of Kings."

Eden followed the direction pointed by the Main Priest, and indeed, there were one opening after another, the mountain seemingly harboring a secret world, like a massive palace.

Next to the cliff, a fierce wind arose.

Kissing the ground below them, the heathens then heeded the instructions of Molemos the Main Priest and slowly walked along the stony pathways towards the depths of the abyss.

This group of pilgrims took step after step deeper into the abyss.

"Is this... really the so-called Prophet Abyss?"

Eden murmured,

"Why haven't I seen mention in the scriptures of so many openings in the Abyss."

The Main Priest Molemos looked at him with a stern and reproachful gaze,

"Do not doubt this sacred voice!"

Eden was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself:

"What exactly is this voice..."

He raised his head, looking into the endless abyss, and slowly followed the other heathens deeper.

As the fog roared, the heathens progressed with torches in hand, their faint light resembling fireflies, seemingly on the verge of being utterly devoured by the abyss.

Following the stone path, they arrived at a slightly larger cave that could accommodate four or five people at once, and Eden was among the first to walk in. They passed through a long passage into the vestibule. These caves reminded Eden of the era before Heaven's descent, where persecuted True Believers lived hidden in mountain forests.

The smell of decay grew stronger.

Yet the heathens showed a somewhat intoxicated expression.

Eden's hands trembled slightly.

The pillars in the vestibule were slightly cracked and covered in dust, as if untouched for many years, surrounded by murals that were blurred and unclear from the ravages of time. They continued walking towards deeper places.