Pastor's Tantra

After Erline made a sound, the dark and lightless space immediately took shape and became colored.

That was a scene that Aiwass was extremely familiar with——

This is the intersection of Lloyd's Borough and White Queen's Borough, a place called Legal Square. It was the place he passed by on his way to the Pelican Bar.

I saw the setting sun slightly slanting in the sky, and the clouds were thick. The dim yellow light shone on the gloomy streets, giving off a damp omen of an impending storm.

But Aiwass soon realized something was wrong.

This is considered a downtown area, but there is no one on the street. There was a deathly silence.

This is not an illusion.

Because at this moment, time is still standing still.

The nine of them sat in the middle of the road, surrounded by a glowing hourglass.

Aiwass observed that only the old man and Sherlock did not react at all. Others, including myself, were more or less surprised.

In emergencies, everyone adopts a cautious attitude. The moment everyone chose silence, the atmosphere became silent.

"Apostles...are they the legendary angels?"

Only a second or two passed before Cheese broke the silence first.

She murmured in a low voice, her voice full of childlike expectation and longing: "Is it Sister Angel who will help us advance?"

"--Unfortunately."

Sherlock calmly interrupted the girl's beautiful imagination, and calmly gave an explanation: "The essence of the apostles is actually the phantom demon. It's just that they are willing to obey the Nine Pillars God and are responsible for assisting the Nine Pillar Gods in responding to various rituals."

"...They are just servants who help Lord Nine Pillar God with some small things."

Coco on the side made a gentle voice and explained softly: "Don't be afraid... They are only responsible for leading us to perform the ceremony, and are not responsible for the specific judgment or decision on the content of the ceremony.

"The real name of the advanced ceremony is the 'Nine-Pillar God Sacrifice', which is a ceremony to call the Nine-Pillar God to come. Theoretically, all the Nine-Pillar God should be summoned. But there are too many low-level transcendent beings like us, and the Nine-Pillar God God never has time to see us...so he sends apostles.

"The nine pillar gods must send at least one apostle. Because we are still too weak now and can only attract one apostle... Only when the apostle arrives can the ceremony be established."

"Don't worry too much about the apostles."

Sherlock suddenly spoke: "Lady Eleni is an apostle of the path of balance, and she is very particular about fairness. But not every time you advance, you will meet the apostle of the hourglass - if you encounter the path of love, the path of wisdom, the path of authority, If an apostle from the Path or Beyond the Path presides over the ceremony, it is very likely that he will maliciously favor or deceive the participants of the ceremony.

"But in fact, the biggest influence is the preferences and tendencies of the compiler of this ceremony...that is, Lord Pillar God."

The hourglass is another name for sand timepiece, and it is the pillar god of the balanced path. It is also the mark printed on the Avalon copper coins.

Each country has different restricted roads. Generally speaking, it is mainly related to the opposing paths of mainstream ideological trends, and secondly, it involves political reasons.

For example, the Kingdom of Star Antimony mainly promotes the Path of Transcendence, the Path of Twilight and the Path of Balance, while the mainstream thoughts of the Kingdom of Iris are the Path of Beauty and the Path of Love. They and Avalon are adjacent to each other, and neither is on good terms with the other.

Considering issues such as cultural invasion and spy infiltration, these three countries are on opposite paths to each other.

——But even so, under the premise that the Star Antimony Kingdom was founded on alchemy, Avalon and Iris still did not stop the path of balance.

On the one hand, technology and alchemy cannot be given up. On the other hand, the path of balance is based on fairness, neutrality, and no borders. This kind of "fairness" that is implemented throughout is from the top down.

"Generally speaking," Sherlock glanced at the old man who had always remained silent, and paused before speaking again, "the host also has his own likes and dislikes - after all, if he does not have a clear will, personality and memory, he cannot be called a host. A true phantom.

"Because of this, the host will choose extraordinary people who are slightly inclined to help the path they belong to, or cause trouble for the path they hate."

The glowing hourglass heard the words and finally made a sound:

[Don’t worry too much, everyone]

[After all, this is theoretically a ritual that the Nine Pillar Gods pay common attention to, so it won’t be too much.]

[We are not the markers or test takers, but just the invigilators. We are just here to witness the ceremony and make sure no one is cheating. There is no use in trying to please. Even verbal attacks don’t matter - of course, although I don’t care, this enthusiastic ‘detective’ is right. I also don’t recommend that you attack apostles of other paths]

Eleni's voice was gentle, and she didn't even steal Sherlock's words or make any rebuttal. Apparently the type with a good temper.

[Then everyone, according to tradition - I will explain it to you in the first promotion ceremony]

[This time there are three advanced people with multiple paths, but please note: in the advancement ceremony, only the abilities of the advanced paths and extraordinary items made by yourself that correspond to the paths are allowed to be used]

[——Everything you encounter in the dream world is related to but different from the real history of the material world]

[Perhaps a ritual calling for a higher being, an assassination of a big shot, or a local war may change the world. Or maybe the world has been changed a long time ago, but no one can remember the original history]

[And in the advancement ceremony, you will see the ‘another possibility of history’ deduced by the Nine Pillars God]

[The dreams you use each time you advance will only be used once, and the contents are all fictional and different from the development in reality]

[Therefore, you must also solve puzzles, search for items, defeat enemies, or survive to prove your abilities under the watchful eyes of the Nine Pillars God.]

[This ceremony is limited to four hours, and the ratio to reality is one to one]

[You will play a certain role in the venue and complete your own tasks. Each time you complete a corresponding goal, you will receive corresponding points]

[Because this ceremony is a full moon ceremony, cooperation is allowed and cooperation points are calculated: the collaborator will receive additional points of 10%-50% of the points gained by the person being helped based on the strength and benefits]

[But you cannot cooperate with the opposing path you selected in this ceremony, otherwise you will lose 50%-100% of the points gained by the person being helped]

[Note: If you help the other party without discovering the identity of the opposing path, points will still be deducted; but if you do not recognize and directly tell the correct identity of the cooperative path, your helping behavior will not give you extra points. After the ceremony is completed, the three people with the lowest points will be eliminated]

[In this ceremony, all intellectual beings except the participants of the ceremony do not have complete intelligence and souls. They are all made of 'amber'. Therefore, killing, treatment, sacrifice and other actions will not trigger the oath, Taboo, agreement, curse]

[The difficulty of this ritual is "safe". Any injuries or deaths during the ritual will not affect the health of the body in the material world, and failure to advance will not cause weakness or harm to the soul]

[Additional statement: The dreamland of this ceremony was constructed by ‘Amber’, and the ‘Lord of Scales and Feathers’ is responsible for the arrangement of tasks and roles, as well as the details of bonus points and deductions. It has nothing to do with the witness of the ceremony, that is, me]

After saying this without any pause, Elini finally paused after issuing the disclaimer.

[Is there anyone else who doesn’t understand? Next time you advance, the new host won’t say so much to you]

No one made any sound, just like the atmosphere in the classroom where the teacher asks "Is there anyone else who didn't understand?" Silence fell.

Eleni was not surprised by this either.

She kindly added:

[This ceremony is very simple and the process is not long, so don’t be nervous and you don’t have to look for teammates. If you still don’t understand anything, you can ask your guide after you wake up]

[Remember, everything you see in this ceremony is fictitious. Don’t take what you see here as real history——]

When she said this, the sand in the hourglass just leaked out.

When the hourglass slowly reversed, the apostle Eleni said the last words:

[In 1884, a shocking serial murder occurred in the capital of the Kingdom of Avalon...]

When the hourglass turned over completely, Aiwass suddenly felt intense dizziness.

The world frozen in front of him remained motionless, but the nine people sitting on the chairs disappeared like waves.