Only God

As they passed through the entrance hall and into a more spacious chamber, it resembled the hall of a temple, imposing and solemn, yet tainted with a touch of the grotesque.

Eden raised his head, beholding the mural above.

Enduring the stench of decay, he tried lifting the torch higher to examine the painting above.

At the first glimpse of the mural, Eden felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.

The mural was vast and tall, with a majestic mountain standing in its center, resembling the Holy Mountain of the True Religion, the place where God had set His foot.

On its summit, there stood a tall figure with his back to the light, casting a gigantic shadow, sprouting twelve wings. The mural was so blurred, as if deliberately obfuscating the angel's face from view.

Eden gazed at the mural.

The composition of this mural was so divine, resembling an ordinary religious painting, but amidst it stood an angel with its back to the light on the mountaintop, the sky was dark and gloomy as if twilight was upon them, unclear, exuding an eerie sense of wrongness.

Upon entering the hall, the other heathens seemed struck by something, they all knelt on the ground, led by Main Priest Molemos, shedding tears and chanting words of praise.

"This... where is this?"

Eden asked subconsciously.

Main Priest Molemos glanced at him and retorted,

"You... didn't you hear the Holy voice?

This is the Land of Revelation."

Eden paused, without a reply.

After a moment, he caught a glimpse of lucidity in the Main Priest's frenzied eyes.

"You... you really heard a Holy voice?"

Eden realized something and pressed urgently.

The Main Priest struggled for a second,

"What?"

"Wake up!"

Eden urged in haste.

However, Eden's words ultimately had no effect.

Main Priest Molemos, once again with maniacal eyes, looked towards the inner part of the hall and its tightly closed doors. Discarding Eden, he walked over, caressing the door as if touching a long-lost lover, his fingers instantly coated in dust.

Before Eden had a chance to intervene, Main Priest Molemos had already pushed the doors open. His breathing was rapid as he plunged into the depths of the hall.

Eden looked towards the depths with a sinking feeling.

What exactly was inside?

A twinge of fear mingled with curiosity arose in his heart.

Eden lifted his foot and followed.

The putrid smell of decay grew more intense. Behind Eden, the corridor filled with the heathens.

This smell, it was not like the decay of a recently dead corpse, but more so the aged stench of a sealed tomb; this place was both a temple and a tomb.

In this eerie silence, Main Priest Molemos led the way, following the guidance of the "Holy voice," with Eden closely behind. They traversed the long staircase, the Main Priest quickening his pace, with Eden hastening to keep up. They left the other believers far behind.

As they moved through the passage and into the deeper parts of the mountain, the corridor began to tidy up, with increasingly more murals on both sides. Cast a sidelong glance, Eden saw various figures, male and female, young and old. Their eyes seemed protruding, as if measuring the intruders.

Eden's nerves tensed even more.

As they delved deeper, the characters on the murals grew in number and intensity. They varied in form and race, with Elves, Dwarfs, humans, and Fawon... The one congruity was their protruding eyes, and Eden was struck by the illusion—they did not seem painted on with pigment, but as though their very skins had been peeled and stamped onto the surface!

Main Priest Molemos remained oblivious, his gaze fixated on the depths, his torch trembling with excitement in his hand, its flame flickering unsteadily.

Finally, after an indeterminate amount of time, they seemed to reach the end of the passageway. Eden saw a towering stone gate, adorned with twisted branches as if trees had grown inside, with dark red on either side akin to traces of blood. It resembled less of a door and more like some kind of seal.

Without hesitation, Main Priest Molemos pushed the door open.

Creak.

With the door's opening, an eerie, decayed wind gushed forth.

Inside was a vast space with an altar erected in the center. Behind the altar loomed what appeared to be a colossal and solemn mural.

In the moment the torchlight entered, Main Priest Molemos froze.

Eden, following closely behind, stepped inside and felt a shiver course through him.

Beneath the torchlight, he saw the mural.

The mural was bleak, its edges pale, with endless darkness surrounding it. The ground within the painting cracked open, revealing countless abysses, and the sky wept with a pallid rain.

A twelve-winged being stood firm, back turned against all luminescence—at Its feet, three figures knelt, offering up three kinds of objects. They possessed six wings each, akin to holy angels, yet the items in their hands were horrifically sinister.

From left to right, they presented a crown corrupted by pallor, a filthy severed head, and a blood-smeared, disemboweled infant with intestines and heart exposed.

The blood flowed across the land, myriad devils emerged, destruction descended in this moment, and the power of fear directly struck at the hearts of men.

Eden shivered with cold.

And at that moment, it seemed they had disturbed something.

Within the mural, the pained and contorted characters, those countless pairs of eyes, all turned as one to glare at them!

............…

Just as Eden discerned the painting in its entirety, Main Priest Molemos fell to the ground.

He worshipped like a divine being, exclaiming with fervor,

"The vision of Heaven, this is the vision of Heaven!

Oh! The splendid Heaven, the paradise of the righteous!"

Molemos, the Main Priest's voice, echoed through the hall, making the surrounding scene seem even more haunting.

Eden felt goosebumps all over.

They heard voices they couldn't hear themselves, smelled the scent of flowers they couldn't detect.

And this mural before them,

could it be... in the eyes of the Main Priest, it has become a scene from Heaven?

And if so, that figure with twelve wings on its back, could it possibly be... the King of Kings in his eyes?!

Eden was momentarily stunned; the King of Kings worshipped by the Giant King Sect, who transcended good and evil, who banished the Gods, brought about filthy destruction!

The King of Kings appeared with the image of twelve wings on its back, could it be... He was originally not a Divine being but an Angel? An Angel revered by God?!

He took over God's throne, forged his own faith, and created the Giant King Sect of today.

But why... why is this mural filled with ghastly sudden rain? Filled with destruction?

Why would God's Angel bring destruction?

In the mural, the ghastly sudden rain, forbidden by the Holy Scripture, kept falling, yet that figure with twelve wings stood unyieldingly still.

A storm of questions raged within Eden's heart.

The earth was plagued, the world was crumbling, and the King of Kings allowed all of this to happen.

If He truly was the heir of God, could this really be God's will?

Eden could not believe all of this.

Not salvation, but destruction...

In the mural, those three Angels offered twisted gifts to the Divine being.

A ghastly crown, a filthy skull, and a blood-drenched infant; what did these all signify?!

Eden's face went pale in an instant.

He boldly speculated that the things depicted in the mural were indications that the figure with twelve wings would receive these three things, and once he obtained these three things, these three powers, He would transform from an Angel and achieve His own divinity.

"King of Kings, the great King of Kings,

you grant peace to the righteous and eternal punishment to the sinners.

Let the old world perish, and from nothingness, you shall create a new world."

Beside him, Molemos, the Main Priest, was still kneeling, uttering devout prayers.

His prayer startled Eden, making him immediately realize something was amiss, and he entered a state of Spiritual Cultivation.

In a daze, within the Spiritual Cultivation State, he saw an altar with offerings, where a horn lay, slightly trembling.

Had he not entered the Spiritual Cultivation State and observed it with spiritual vision, he would have definitely not noticed this anomaly.

The fanatical prayers under the mural's scene seemed to be extremely ghastly, and Eden hurriedly stepped forward, reaching out to touch the horn, and he took it up.

Crack!

Suddenly, Eden felt as if he had heard someone freeze in their voice.

In his spiritual vision, the scene trembled.

This kind of trembling was silent, invisible; only perceptible during the Spiritual Cultivation State.

After the trembling, Eden turned around and saw Molemos, the Main Priest frozen in place, showing a look of horror similar to his own from before.

In an instant, the Main Priest's face turned pale; he clutched his head,

"What, what... what in the world is happening?

Why has this mural... changed, and... the voices, where have the voices gone?!"

Molemos, the Main Priest, was suddenly confounded, unable to suppress his panic, he looked towards Eden for help.

Everything... hinged on this horn.

Eden looked at the horn in his hand.

It was dark red all over, exuding an indescribably eerie feeling, somewhat resembling the horns on a Devil's head.

To take it off the altar was like ripping away a veil of lies.

But... why am I not affected by it?

Eden was perplexed.

Before Eden had a chance to figure it out,

Molemos, the Main Priest, unable to withstand the shock abruptly pointed at the mural, bellowing like a madman:

"Blasphemy! Blasphemy!

This blasphemous vision! King of Kings, curse them! No, this place isn't the Prophet's Abyss! This isn't the Holy Land, but rather a Blasphemous Land of a Cult!"

Boom!

Like startled, the entire Temple on the Mountain acted as if a door had been pushed open, breaking some seal, as if some ancient being was awakening.

Eden wanted to rush out the door to escape, but saw the corridor filled with flustered Cultists hurrying over.

Boom!

The sound grew more and more intense, and Eden felt as if the mountain was starting to shake.

Outside it seemed like a fierce storm was raging, the earth appeared to be torn asunder, the landscape really shook, and the intense trembling made Eden repeatedly fall.

The trembling grew more and more violent without a sign of subsiding, and Eden clearly saw the walls tearing open, the mural starting to shatter inch by inch as if it died upon exposure to light, and a deathly voice came through the cracks.

Voices for help, prayers, screams, cries spread in an instant, and the characters in the mural twisted into eerie smiles.

Eden stood up, shouting loudly, wanting to tell everyone to flee, but in a moment, the ground beneath him cracked open with a vast fissure, swallowing him instantly.