Chatting beside this furnace doesn’t seem quite right.
The Huijiang Church leader, with Annan and his group in tow, ascended back to the top floor.
As he walked, he spoke softly to explain: "The ’Tricino’ you defeated earlier vanished like a bubble not because he died in so peculiar place... but because, after you dismantled his existence, he returned to ."
"So, even disregarding the issue of the Grey Elent being perturbed... I could’ve co over after a while upon receiving all of his mories."
The Huijiang Church leader answered, "That’s how I could recognize his students, know how he interacted with them, and learn the nas of the teachers within Grey Tower..."
With that, he led Annan to the top floor.
The mont they exited the lift, they saw the section of the ground that had been blown away.
Accompanied by the Huijiang Church leader tapping lightly on the wall,
Fine grey lines spread out from where he tapped, resembling countless tiny hexagonal beehive fragnts, quickly covering the entire blasted hollow on the ground.
Then, in an instant, these grey areas were filled with color—or rather, it was like a stuttering Machine loading a ga, where the textures suddenly "refreshed" into existence.
It wasn’t just a simple "creation of the ground" that filled the space.
It was as if the ground had never been destroyed, restored to the exact sa state as before.
The Huijiang Church leader calmly crossed the newly recreated ground and walked towards the spot where Niusel had been bound.
He tidied up a bit and found a book.
The Huijiang Church leader sighed in relief: "Good, it’s undamaged."
Then, he handed the book to Annan: "I think, you might need this."
Annan took the book and asked softly, "This is...?"
"Knowledge about the transplantation of holy relics."
The Huijiang Church leader said, as he carefully picked up the pages scattered on the ground, sorted them, and inserted them back on the nearby shelf.
At the sa ti, he explained, "To want to use Bookbind Shackles to lock a saint in place for so long, ordinary knowledge is utterly insufficient.
"All the books here were handwritten by Tricino himself. Strictly speaking, they are the portion of knowledge he split from and wrote into books..."
The Huijiang Church leader said, glancing at Niusel with a smile: "Perhaps your misfortune could turn into a blessing.
"By this ans, you directly obtain these mysterious and difficult-to-learn secrets. Although the process may have been painful, once you have fully assimilated this forcibly implanted mystical knowledge, you might beco as powerful a Ritualist as your little girlfriend."
Hearing this, Naifertali’s cheeks turned slightly red, and she looked away... but she didn’t deny it at all.
"However," the Huijiang Church leader continued with a more serious expression, "although Tricino and I are two separate beings, I still want to apologize for the harm he caused you."
"Speaking of which," Annan said, sowhat puzzled, "I do wonder. Why did you... want to separate hatred?"
He had more to say but left the words unspoken, believing the Huijiang Church leader would understand.
That is...
Why was the hatred within the Huijiang Church leader so intense and extre?
Based on Annan’s understanding of the Huijiang Church leader, this seemingly lancholic and gentle youth was genuinely a benevolent god. Although his Angel Envoy was often summoned to assassinate so individuals... the Huijiang Church leader and his followers have always been dedicated to helping those who have fallen into despair for various reasons.
Quite a number of those saved by the Huijiang Church’s followers were criminals and fools. They were either being pushed to their limits, preparing to lash out at innocents in desperation or contemplating suicide due to guilt; or they fell for scams out of greed or other reasons and lost everything they had.
For these people, the Huijiang Church might not be so benevolent—because they would use Divine Arts to directly siphon off their mories of despair.
Their salvation of the despairing makes no distinction between good and evil, but after the rescue, they choose different ways of dealing with them based on the individual’s characteristics.
To grant the righteous a new life, to hand over the wicked to legal trial, and to make the foolish take responsibility for their actions. The philosophy of the Huijiang Church is, "One should not act rashly because of despair".
Or rather, "Despair is not a reason for them to deprive themselves, or others, of life".
This philosophy is indeed respectable, but not everyone likes it. Indeed, many people think that the followers of the Huijiang preventing others from committing suicide is sowhat ddleso... but they don’t actually stop everyone from committing suicide.
They only prevent "impulsive suicide" or "impulsive murder".
In order not to let a mont’s "date cake mory" generate more "date cake mories," thereby breaking the cycle of despair...
If a person clearly considers all possibilities and takes care of their affairs after death, and persuades the followers who co in a rational state of mind, then the followers will not continue to prevent him from stepping into death with his own intellect.
These priests work as tirelessly as suicide hotline operators.
Not only are they often misunderstood and have to bear others’ unreasonable and even aggressive words, but listening in itself is a ntal assault—whilst the priests listen, their own souls are gradually tainted by the negative energy of the ones they console.
After all, they are mortals, just that they are sowhat stronger than the average person and purify themselves faster.
A god with such gentle followers... why then is there such intense hatred?
"Part of the reason is the blood war. And then it was the Wizard war."
The Grey Artisan spoke in a gentle voice, "The two consecutive wars filled the world with despair. War, death, famine, betrayal, massacre, screams, fear...
"Such strong despair is a curse in itself. How could my children, who are all mortals, bear such a curse?
"So, I stepped beyond them, used my power to create a grand barrier, and absorbed all the despair and hatred of the whole world into myself. I have been doing this since the end of the blood war... until ten years after the Wizard war ended.
"This is also why, after two consecutive world-scale wars, people were able to rebuild so quickly..."
Speaking of this, the Grey Artisan smiled wryly, "But I still overestimated myself. Bearing the world’s grudges, hatred, and despair for over a hundred years, I gradually began to lose control.
"But what ultimately made lose control... was at the end of the Wizard war, more than a hundred years ago."
The Grey Artisan spoke softly, "At that ti, there was a young man... He was talented. After surviving the ordeal of the Wizard war, he realized the evil of war and the great malice hidden in people’s hearts. He wanted to earn the Heart of Justice, to beco the new Justice Saint... and use it as a stepping stone to beco the God of Justice.
"But he failed.
"Watching him fall from the sky, burning with flas... At that mont, I thought of Sisyphus. And I thought of the Charioteer."
The Grey Artisan spoke softly, "She was regarded as a mother to . When I was young, it was the Charioteer who raised .
"I cannot forget the sight of her departing never to return, of Sisyphus falling from the sky. Perhaps I will never forget it... and perhaps I shouldn’t forget.
"It was at that mont that I felt a strong sense of weariness towards the world. I developed an intense hatred for ’fate’ itself—to prevent my own fall, to continue to bear the malice of the world, I had to perform self-mutilation, isolate the portion of hatred I couldn’t bear at the ti and exile it.
"Because if he died, he would return to . So even though he created havoc, everyone just turned a blind eye... but I was moved by compassion.
"I thought, after all, this is a life that has broken free from and gained its own free will. That’s probably what a mother... or a father would think. Looking at him, I thought of myself at that ti—I watched him grow day by day, from a boy to a youth, from a youth to a man, growing stronger every day, until he buried himself in the crevices of ti.
"At that mont, I was acutely aware—he wanted to kill . Yet even so, I couldn’t bear to end his life with my own hands."
The Grey Artisan sighed with a bit of lancholy, "I suppose I’m just that kind of person who is inadequate at getting things done and too sentintal.
"But fortunately... you have finally returned. And so, I have the courage to confront that despair accumulated over a hundred years ago."
The Grey Artisan looked at Annan, his voice filled with tranquility, "After all, the Charioteer has co back.
"Everything will get better."
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