17
"You've lost." Mr. A said sadly.
As if echoing his words, the right arm of a person sitting on the other side of the round table exploded, and the scattered flesh and blood slid down, squirming on the ground, making the bloody aura that permeated the place even thicker.
"Ah, shit." The shepherd snorted unhappily. He accepted his loss and tore off the broken part of his shoulder, causing his entire right arm to fall to the ground with a clatter. Now he only had his left hand left, "A, why are you so lucky all of a sudden?" "
"All good fortune and misfortune are a gift from the Lord, Praise be to the Lord."
Mr. A snorted triumphantly, took away the bloodstained bill in front of him, and tightly covered the evil card deck in his hand to avoid the sight of another companion who had lost. His one and only head that has been rolled on the ground. This guy was trying to peek.
"It's not fair." The head that "separated" from the body, dragged one of its vocal organs jumped on the table in protest twice, and accidentally lost its balance and rolled off the edge of the table. Then a bloody tentacle quickly drilled out from the crack in his neck, firmly glued to the edge of the table, and the falling head swayed slightly, and returned to the table with the help of force.
"Not only do I have to lose a human part once to you, but I also have to give you the money I have saved so hard. This is so unfair!"
"I can also accept the price without money." Mr. A smiled coldly, and his gaudy face under the red hood was a little distorted, "As long as you are willing to help me do those voluntary labors, how about losing for two hours at a time?" "
"Voluntary labor? Is it difficult?" The shepherd, who had lost an arm and a leg, was stunned for a moment, "I haven't participated in any of them once yet, but I come from a slum and am familiar with workhouses and charities."
"It's not a question of whether it's difficult or not!" Mr. A roared in a low voice, his expression distorted indescribably, "Those children, little children, the tallest is no bigger than my waist, and their arms are as soft as cotton, what if I can't control my strength and tear them apart?!" his hand moves along to match with his description.
"And their eyes, all bright and shiny, all kinds of colors, dark blue, light brown, black, what if I can't help but pick out their eyes as gems?! They don't understand anything, they just laugh around me, learn to recite the name of the Lord with me, and the sound is like birds singing, what if I can't control it and tear out their throats and make a musical instrument?! It's so hard, it's the greatest test the Lord has ever given me! " He huffed.
"You don't understand anything! It was hell!"
He said a lot in one breath, and the other two shepherds opened their mouths wide when they listened, and they stopped playing the cards, and their eyes glared out of their sockets and fell on the table with a snap. Mr. A was still mumbling, and the two of them looked at each other, and the sluggishness on their faces was the same as their own desire to speak.
"A." the shepherd's head stopped rolling, laid himself on the table, and said in a skeptical tone, "You actually like those children, don't you?" "
Mr. A's eyebrows raised: "What are you talking nonsense-"
"Since it's hell, then don't go there." Another shepherd took the opportunity to put the fallen eyeball in Mr. A's direction and tried to look at the cards, but was grabbed by Mr. A, "It hurts, it hurts! It hurts! It's going to explode! Ah!! "
"That was the Lord's test for me!" He said, "I'm not going to give up easily!" "
"... I can't imagine that Mr. A has such a big opinion on voluntary labor, so let someone else do it for him next time he changes shifts? "
"No need!" Mr. A shouted without thinking, and the two shepherds invariably showed expressions of "sure enough" and "this A is duplicitous". Then all three of them were silent for a moment, and then looked towards the door of the lounge. I saw the Saint Kisma standing there expressionlessly, still pushing the door. The Lord's ally, the Angel of the Abyss, stood beside him, a playful smile on his face, and he was the one who had just asked him. Seeing the three of them looking over, the angel paced slowly to the table, approaching silently like a dark shadow.
"You actually like those kids, don't you?" There was a faint smile in Edward's voice, "Those lovely little lambs, the beloved children bathed in the divine gaze of my ally. "
"..." Under the gaze of this Angel on earth, Mr. A didn't dare to make another attempt, he avoided the other party's gaze, bit his lip, and muttered for a long time, "... yes, because they are the Lambs of the Lord. "
Edward chuckled and nodded, "I see, this month's charity school volunteer work is still arranged for you to go, and you are more experienced." With that, she turned her head to look at Kisma, who had been looking at her toes without saying a word: "Is that okay?" "
"... OK." Kisma's face finally squeezed out a reluctant smile, and then quickly retracted, "What are you doing here, today's mass is over, are you here playing cards for fun? Leave and go to reflect and pray, there are still task to be done "
The three shepherds hurriedly stood up, but their flesh magic was suppressed by the man in front of them of the same pathway, so they had to scramble to distinguish from the ground which piece of flesh was their own and which bone was which part in a panic, and then put themselves together like 3 three-dimensional puzzles that were not suitable for children.
18
"They are an embarrassment, Your Excellency Vaughan." Kisma walked over and lowered his head slightly and asked, "Is your ceremony also scheduled for this year?" "
Edward nodded: "Yes, it's business as usual. "
"The sacrifices are ready; you can check them out at any time." Kisma took a deep breath, sweat oozing from her head, "But regarding the blood sacrifice dedicated to you, we have not caught enough this year. "
"Well, it's like that again this year." The Abyss Angel didn't show any displeasure, "I can understand that the church and the military don't always let you arrest people, even those on death row. What are you going to do? "
"... We've decided to step up our efforts to hunt down the offerings you're happy with, and if we can't collect them all, we'll take them from the East District." Kisma handled it with ease.
"But those sacrifices are often only murderers and arsonist, petty thieves, and the quality is not up to your standards, and can only be compensated by the quantity, and the fact that you don't accept pure souls."
"Too much life force will make me sick to my stomach, and a pure white soul can make me sick as well." Edward sighed regretfully, "I can't afford to bear it, give those to my dear ally. I still prefer sinful souls and human beings who have fallen to the point of having no moral bottom line." "
"Follow your wishes." Saint Kisma felt relieved and then scolded the three shepherds who were still piecing together their flesh and blood all over the ground, telling them to quickly clean up this place and leave quickly.
"Do you have someone in mind to preside over this sacrifice?"
"Who will be presiding? ..." Edward Vaughn said in a calm tone with a thoughtful expression, "I have found an excuse to stay in Intis, and I don't plan to manage the sacrifices that the Aurora Order gave me this year, I just want to be in charge of the rituals within the Order. Last time it was arranged by the Saint of Darkness, so let's do it as usual. "
"The Saint of Darkness is responsible for leading the pilgrimage in the second half of this year, and he is still on his journey for more than half a month now. He probably won't be able to come back in time." Kisma reported truthfully, "The person in charge should be the Saint of Secrets or me, and I will report in time."
After negotiating the matter, Kisma politely retired. The three shepherds had already packed themselves up and left quietly, the small lounge was silent and dim, and even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly. The small, high square window cast a beam of white sunlight, and the same hazy and dim sky was faintly visible, and an unknown birdsong could be heard in the distance.
Edward stood silently for a few seconds, then dragged a chair and sat down, placing his suitcase on the table, and silently reciting the name of the True Creator.
"The Lord that Created Everything,
The Lord who Reigns Behind the Curtain of Shadows,
The Degenerate Nature of all Living Things"
Then a certain aura came quietly, and dark red blood spread from the dark corners, like a deformed hand, bypassing around the chair where Edward was sitting, and then devoured the walls, tables and chairs as it went, turning the not-so-spacious lounge into something alive constructed of wriggling flesh. The ground cracked open with large bloody mouths, and one after another spat out seductive and depraved ravings.
Flesh slid across the wall, and a blood-red vertical eye opened open.
"Good evening, ally, it's nice to see you thinking normally."
Edward broke away from the state of prayer and sat there in a comfortable position, he looked at the huge eye that occupied the entire wall, as if he was not facing an indescribable terrifying existence, but sitting leisurely in the night plaza to rest: "I expected myself to be promoted to Sequence One this year, have you found that Sequence One characteristic that has been left behind?"
"He" directed "His" blood-red eyes to Edward, and the opposite wall turned into a bloody mouth.
"Primordial Moon."
"The moon? Believers of the primordial moon? Those remnants of defeated beyonders actually have the ability to collect a copy of Sequence One of Abyss." Edward pondered for a moment, "I still need you to help me cover up at that time, so as not to have any emergencies." "
The blood-red vertical eyes blinked, and the mouth opened: "Ritual? "
"That's right, nine massacres and blood sacrifices to an angel, I completed five and also devoured the Angel of the Church of the Eternal Sun, I thank my dear friend Roselle for his great contribution to my digestion progress. It's a pity that he has now blocked out my prayers and can't hear my praise." he said
"Although I haven't had a chance to digest my potion since then, I've been in a stable state for more than a hundred years, and I'm more than seventy percent sure of my success."
"Okay." The True Creator responded.
"I have a hunch that my promotion will not go unnoticed." Edward added, "After my promotion, I plan to go back to Intis and see what my maverick believer is up to. When the time comes, the schools and hospitals here in Loen will be entrusted to your subordinates by your command. "
"Okay."
"Remember to arrange more people to help, the shepherds are all free volunteers and doctors." Edward thought for a while, and couldn't help but remind, "When the time comes, prepare the oracle first, don't start preaching as soon as you arrive in the place, attracting believers from the 'Good' Gods is a small matter, and destruction of your facilities and buildings is a big deal." Edward pretended to breath.
"Don't worry about it! If you think otherwise, I will sacrifice the account book to you. "
The True Creator was silent for a moment, flesh and shadow receding in an instant, and "he" quickly left the small common room.
[Original Tianxu Aurora's notes (Translated): * This is a transitional chapter of harmony and beautiful daily life within the Aurora Order.
*The ritual of the Demon Pathway Two Ascending One was fabricated by me based on the original.
*Ding, Character Update - Edward's definition of "friend" is someone who helps each other, kills each other, trusts each other, is suspicious of each other, moves forward together, and finally uses death to please him.]