Demon Royal Family

The stairs are deep and the atmosphere is oppressive and gloomy. You can only hear your own breathing.

If you don't know how long the road ahead is, even if you don't look back at the beginning, as time goes by, you can't help but feel guilty and your will will waver.

Counting to the 2100th step, Ivo finally stepped onto the ground. What appeared in front of him was a dark space with no light source. About twenty meters away, there was a faint light flickering, and the outline was complicated runes.

Ivo took out the torch, soaked it in lamp oil, and lit it with a puff, illuminating the underground space.

The underground space is square in shape, with a dark pointed stone tablet in the center, engraved with light blue runes, and shimmering faintly. On the left and right sides of the stone tablet, there are two small trapezoidal altars that only reach the waist of ordinary people.

Ivo turned around and confirmed that there were only these three things. He came under the stone tablet and stretched out his hand to touch it. It felt cold to the touch. He didn't know what material the dark stone tablet was made of. It was as smooth as jade.

Lao De said in surprise: "This stone tablet looks very much like the legendary Soul Gathering Tablet."

"Soul Gathering Monument?"

"A rare alchemical creation, its function is to create a special space dedicated to storing the undead, just like a space ring. You know that the basic principles of alchemy are 'equivalent exchange' and 'killing materials and giving new life.' Souls are pure and precious alchemical materials, and consuming a large number of ghosts can produce 'soul stones', which have a very pure effect and have a high probability of improving the quality of any enchanted equipment and alchemical creations."

Ivo did know that the "soul stone" belonged to the category of necromancy. Nafi had mentioned it, saying that it was forbidden to make it because it violated morality.

There is a soul-gathering monument underneath this castle that stands in the place of return. Who is the builder? What's the purpose? And why do you instinctively avoid the ghosts walking dully in the wilderness? Shouldn't they be attracted to them?

"When the Soul Gathering Monument is saturated, it will automatically expel the approaching undead." Lao De gave an explanation.

In other words, this Soul Gathering Monument is already full of ghosts. Opening the Soul Gathering Monument requires a special method, which only the builder knows, just like the [Mysterious Lock of Paracels].

He turned his eyes to the two altars and was suddenly startled. There was a groove on each platform of the altar. One was long and the other was round. The outlines were very familiar.

Ivo had a flash of inspiration and took out the ecclesiastical crown and white scepter. The shape was exactly the same as the outline of the altar groove, and its meaning was self-evident.

"Yes, this is it!"

Ivo's eyes flashed, and he slowly put the white scepter and the ecclesiastical crown into the groove, making it fit tightly.

"Buzz--" The altar trembled, and two rays of golden light suddenly shot out, hitting the roof. The entire underground space seemed to suddenly come alive. Golden patterns like small snakes emerged with the altar as the center, and quickly covered the ground and walls. , the roof is like some kind of magic circle.

Ivo had retreated to the stairs, and golden light erupted in the underground space, and he couldn't help but squint his eyes.

The light slowly faded, and Ivo opened his eyes. A figure with golden light appeared out of thin air. The figure was a semi-illusory spirit body, and his face was a ball of bright light, with no face at all.

The surging sacred aura surged forward, like a wave, and suddenly stopped when it was about to spread to Ivo, withdrawing the luminous spirit body like a tide. Ivo narrowed his eyes and became vigilant.

The luminous spirit turned its head. Although it had no eyes, Ivo could feel him looking at the two tokens on the altar. The luminous spirit spoke with an ethereal voice, "Who are you?"

Ivo spread his hands and said, "I also want to ask this question."

The luminous spirit's fingers moved slightly, and the two tokens flew back to Ivo's hand. He said slowly: "Unless there is a desperate situation, the church will not send anyone to find me."

"So... you are a saint?"

"Yes." The luminous spirit said: "Saint, Holy Spirit, or founder of the church, whatever you want to call it."

Ivo was shocked. The spirit in front of him turned out to be the founder of the church? !

The Holy See was established in the ancient calendar and was favored by the gods. It spread doctrines on God’s behalf, spread fraternity, and unified faith. Before that, every continent regarded the gods that other people believed in as heretics. Only after the Holy See’s enlightenment could they Suddenly I realized that all the gods were in the same group, and then I learned about the differences in the pantheon. Later, even if I had my own beliefs, I would not belittle other gods. All beliefs recognized by the Holy See were "legitimate."

What the Pope and Patriarch told Ivo was another version. The original intention of the establishment of the Holy See was to prevent the gods from using war to snatch faith, and the resulting aftermath to destroy the main world. On the surface, they became the lackeys of the gods and developed with gentle means. Faith is actually a disguised form of curbing the expansion of faith. The person who came up with this method was the spirit body in front of him... to be precise, it was him during his lifetime.

"Child, since you came to me, the world must have undergone drastic changes." The saint said solemnly: "Tell me."

Ivo was full of questions. After hesitating for a moment, he told his guesses about the Pope, the Patriarch, the main world barrier, and Dusk. Since it was the Pope and the Patriarch who asked him to find the saints, no one else could believe him. Of course, Ivo didn't tell everything and kept the Mimic's information.

The saint mused, "You are the person chosen by the Pope and the Patriarch. During my absence, so many things happened."

Ivo couldn't help but ask: "The Patriarch and the Pope asked me to find you, saying that you can guide me in the direction..."

The saint said slowly: "The last generation of popes and patriarchs who inherited the true mission have died. You are the last inheritor. I will answer your questions and give you a new mission."

Ivo calmed down, full of questions, and chose an entry point, "Why do you appear here."

"I observe the changes in the world. The gods are my enemies. I have special power that can maintain my immortality. Only the two supreme tokens of the church that I passed down at the beginning can summon my existence." The saint said, "Return The land is second only in importance to the main world,"

"The destination after death is the ultimate question." The saint patted the soul-gathering monument, "Life is divided into two parts, the body and the soul. The soul is a very pure alchemical material, and has the same energy as the body, and energy Where did it come from?”

Ivo raised his eyebrows, "From... the world?"

The saint nodded, "Yes, energy comes from the world itself. The body rots and decomposes after death, and the energy feeds back to the world, but the soul comes to the place of return. So where does the soul's energy go?"

"I don't know..." Ivo hesitated.

"Haha, the gods of the death world are not among the four major gods. Of course there is a reason. Their birth was earlier than the gods of the heaven. The land of return was born according to the rules of the world, and the duty of the gods of the death world is to annihilate the souls. It turns into pure energy and feeds back to the original world of each life, maintaining the total energy of each world unchanged."

A thunder flashed through Ivo's mind and he blurted out, "Conservation of energy?!"

"Well, that's what it means. You may know a theory called 'world decline' theory. The number of top combat forces in the world is always in decline, and fewer and fewer people reach the legendary level, because the total energy of the world is limited, and There are more and more lives, so the energy distributed is getting thinner and thinner..."

Ivo nodded. He had heard this theory from the hill giant.

"The responsibility of the Returning Land is to maintain the conservation of the world's total energy...at least that was the case."

Ivo had an ominous premonition, "What about now?"

The saint slowly said: "Suppose there are two bonfires burning steadily, and if the fuel of one bonfire is given to the other, the other bonfire will become more and more prosperous, while the original one will gradually extinguish. The soul...is the fuel, and the different worlds are the bonfire.”

"The gods are not fools. They have discovered the constraints of the Holy See." The saint whispered: "They have already made a counterattack."

Ivo's breathing almost stopped when he heard the saint speak slowly.

"The God of Death is the title of the ruler of the Death Realm. It does not belong to Thanatos. Thanatos is just a seizer. His predecessor was named..."

"Hades."