Pastor's Tantra

"...your only friend."

Aleister repeated Pomponazzi's words.

She held up the red wine glass, her slender and long fingers gently sliding on the wall of the glass.

She wanted to laugh: "So, you killed your friend's descendants, took away his queen and children... and his country?"

Although Aleister had never met Queen Louise or the current Valentine VIII outside the promotion ceremony, she knew the Son of the Moon... or in other words, the personality of the extraordinary people in the entire Path of Love. Aleister could directly guess what they had experienced.

If the promotion ceremony in this world could have a big data statistics, Aleister could be sure... in the rejection path of the full moon ceremony, the total BAN rate of the Path of Love must be in the top three.

The first should be the previous adaptation path, after all, it is notorious for collapse and retreat.

——What kind of adaptor is it if you are not afraid of death!

And once you put your own survival as the top priority, it is naturally not a good thing for your teammates.

Now that the Lord of Scales and Feathers has obtained the Warrior profession, and with the support of the Pillar God's power, he has transformed a large number of extraordinary people who originally belonged to other paths but whose philosophies were originally in the disputed areas where different paths overlap into Adaptors, the philosophy of the Adaptation Path has changed from "surviving in vain" to actively "fighting for living space", and the reputation of the Adaptation Path should also improve to a considerable extent.

In terms of the degree of unpopularity among other paths, the current Path of Love should at least have the strength to maintain the second place and fight for the first place!

"That's because they took the wrong path."

Peng Bonaqi's face was unshakable: "It was not me who first abandoned Xingti and deviated from Bashir's path, but them. No one has more power than me to say this, because I have been watching over this path since its opening.

"Among the many countries split from the Helaser Empire, only the ruler of Xingti was born a commoner. Not only the king and officials... except for me and the principal who gave up power after the founding of the country, even the second red and black prime minister we elected was also born a commoner.

"The more capable, the more work. Strength is supreme. Anyone can get a stage to show their talents in Xingtan, as long as they really have such ability. Talented people get a stage to hone their talents, and those who have trained their abilities will take over everything.

"'Even the most ferocious and dull beasts have the possibility of being sublimated into gods'. This is the essence of Xingtan alchemy, and it is Bashir's will throughout his life. Until he ascended to the dream world, he still believed in this concept-and believed that this was the most correct path, the path that could make the country the most prosperous..."

"...Because of the Helasar Empire."

Aleister supported his chin with his left hand and said softly: "After all, the empire was destroyed for this reason. "

At the end of the imperial period, most capable people did not get a position that could accommodate them.

It was not even an era of competition and internal competition, but there was no competition at all - bloodline had already determined everything. No matter how hard they tried, the fifth-level extraordinary people of common origin could not compare to the third-level extraordinary people of noble origin... because the former were just individuals, while the latter controlled relationships and power.

When the common people split into many organizations and competed and fought within the organizations, the common interests of the nobles made them united. Any attempt to seize the power of the nobles would trigger a fierce counterattack from all the nobles... It can be said that the one who truly ruled the empire was no longer Hercules, but the nobles of the Heracle Empire.

In this case, talents were no longer talents... but became real threats.

Because without these talents, the empire would still be the empire. Strong enough to be indestructible, unshakable, and inviolable.

But with these people, unstable voices would appear inside the empire.

"-So the empire was destroyed. "

Pomponazi answered calmly, revealing a bit of wisdom in his words: "The thoughts of the short-lived are limited by what they see. Bashir was born in the last generation of the empire, so he naturally believes that the root of all social contradictions comes from the rulers' lack of attention and rejection of talents. Because of this, he attaches great importance to the selection of talents and is wary of the solidification of power.

"But back then... after his death, Xingti almost immediately fell into the brink of collapse.

"Because every force in the country is very powerful. Bashir even took the initiative to cultivate their ambitions and desire for power, which made Valentinian II unable to suppress them at the beginning of his succession. Every faction made preparations to ascend to the throne and connected everywhere for this idea. At that time, Black Eagle and Narcissus were still alive, and some factions even chose to communicate with them in order to gain power to overwhelm other factions.

"The internal strife in Xingti was even more intense than it is now. A decree could be repealed within two days of being issued, because the person who issued the decree had been dismissed and replaced by a more powerful person.

"The supernaturals above fought fiercely and even fought each other. The people below had no idea which law they were following or whether the regulations had expired. Everyone lived in a daze. No one could tell clearly what they were going to do in the future, and what they couldn't do now."

"It was not until then that we realized... It turns out that in addition to being strong, a country also needs to pay attention to stability. The reason why the first generation of Xingti was stable was because Bashir subdued everyone. Once he left, chaos came unexpectedly."

"——This is actually because although the system proposed by Valentine I was a good idea, it was actually not perfect yet."

Aleister nodded and added: "His personal ability is too strong, so he does not want the system to constrain him. But the successors may not have such power, so they will not be able to draw enough from the system. power to protect yourself.”

Aiwass had learned this history before in Avalon - but as a negative example of what would happen if a multi-pathed transcendent held a high position, to warn the Avalonians.

Although Avalon's authoritarian approach has caused a lot of chaos and suppressed the development of the country, these bad things have never happened. Even in the days of Prince Lloyd or the Hanged King, there had never been such chaos.

"So at that time, the principal and I took action together... to suppress them again, give recognition to Valentine II, and grant him the dignity of being a king. This is why the nobles still maintain the black and red phase. Reasons for respect and awe.”

Peng Bonaqi sighed with a complicated expression: "Since then, Xing Antimony's rule has gradually stabilized."

The expression on his face looked like a sigh, a look like loss, or a look like sarcasm.

"What now?"

"Bayard" said leisurely: "Do you regret it? Do you think you made a mistake when you handed over the power to Valentine?"

"You don't know me very well, Lady Bayard."

Peng Bonacci shook his head: "I don't have the adaptability for authoritarianism... The power in the material world has no temptation for me. If I really want to get the star antimony, there are plenty of opportunities. In addition to me, the 'Principal' is the same ——For us, there is not much difference between ruling a country as a king and tending a flock of cattle and sheep as a shepherd.

"It's more of a job than a pleasure. When you transcend the mundane too much, you will only feel bored when you look at those mortals... What they argue, fight, and try their best to get, Everything that has been pursued throughout one's life and passed down from generation to generation is nothing but vanity. In the face of the great time, everything that was once brilliant will wither like a flower.

"I have only lived for a few hundred years, so the elves who live longer must have a more indifferent view of this kind of thing. This may also be the reason why the Theocracy can maintain its neutrality.

"——Isn't that what you are like?"

"I...have something I want to pursue."

Aleister was silent for a while, then answered softly.

At that moment, she also had some distracting thoughts in her mind:

Today, Aiwass and Aleister are able to move forward with such determination and enthusiasm, largely because the world is facing many crises.

The arrival of the Fallen Heavenly Division, the proliferation of the Ring of Endings, and the conspiracy of the Fallen Heavenly Division. And the secret that will lead to the "end of the world" in the future.

Even if the sky falls, there are still tall people who can hold it up... But what if they are the tallest people?

They had no choice but to top it. For this extremely difficult goal, even if you burn everything, you may not be able to reach it, so how can there be room for slackness and random thoughts?

But……

The war that ends all wars ends when the final enemy is defeated.

What will Aiwas do then?

Return to the ruined daily life again? Does he really have a day-to-day life? Or should we give up excess emotions, let go of excess self, and become a Tiansi or a Pillar God?

Aleister, who was also on the path of love, seemed to understand Pomponazzi for a moment:

If Aiwass ascended to godhood, but she was left behind and cut apart... maybe she would be much crazier than Peng Bonazi.

"So, you handed power to Valentine II and took power away from Valentine VII... is it because you don't want to play anymore?"

"I don't want to wait any longer."

Peng Bonacci said calmly, his tone was extremely sincere and heartfelt: "Today's Valentine is not as good as the previous one, and the path of the knights of gold and stone has not yet come to an end; today's aristocrats are still the aristocrats of the founding of the country, and the extraordinary folk There are so many people that they can't find jobs anymore, and those who are truly talented are being squeezed out.

"The establishment of Star Antimony back then relied on civilians, but now the civilians of Star Antimony have once again encountered the same dilemma as the empire. History is still reincarnating, and the development of the world is like a ring without a head or tail. Even if I try hard Working hard can tear it down and start over again, reset everything... But just tinkering with it, what's the point?

"Even if Star Antimony can be slowly reformed to solve these problems, after the final modification is completed, it will not be Star Antimony at all. It is not the Star Antimony that Bashir and I fought for back then, so why should I To protect it?"

"...You don't want to join forces with other Children of the Moon to rebuild the Herasl Empire," Aleister suddenly understood Pomponazzi's true purpose, "You just want to destroy Star Antimony!"

"Indeed, I just want to destroy Star Antimony - but so what?

"I want to kill it while it is still alive, instead of slaughtering a corpse; I want to destroy it while it is not ugly enough for me to look directly at, at least so that people in the future can still have hope. . Let them regret Star Antimony and reminisce about Star Antimony's past glory, instead of like after the empire was destroyed, as if everyone can step on it and analyze why it was destroyed.

"Without my sponsorship, help and protection, Star Antimony would not have been born at all. Since the Star Antimony of the past was born because of me, then let the Star Antimony of today die because of me."

The voice of the blond and red-eyed young man was slow and clear: "Although the principal has a lot of experience, he has not contributed anything to the establishment of the country. And I am at least the founder of half of the Star Antimony Kingdom... I think I have the power to end it.

"Star Antimony belongs to me and Valentine. But now Valentine is no longer Valentine, but I am still me.

"So, it was originally mine.

"This is not about taking... but returning. "