Chapter 10: Demons and the Abyss |
Leaving the Cathedral, it was already noon. The Sun hung in the sky like a massive disk, radiating a terrifyingly high temperature.
Evidently, the Floating Whale was currently basking in the Sun.
''Today will probably get dark a little later...'' A long-held routine flashed through his mind, and Nemus quickly formed an idea of where he should head next.
''The current trouble points are Opper and the Watchman.''
''Opper has secretly committed acts that violate the Taboos of the Church, while the Watchman is highly likely scheming something in the shadows, to the point of using a summoned Demon as a cover.''
''The intern Priest and Holy Knight will arrive in three days, and those two will almost certainly come to inspect me.''
''I need to find a way to resolve some of these issues within three days to better set up my upcoming Plans.''
Nemus rationally analyzed the current situation. What he needed most right now was the Power of Faith.
Only with enough Power of Faith could he continuously analyze the Divinity Count and climb higher.
Opper, comparatively speaking, had the advantage of numbers. Out of the hundred or so households in the village, the majority relied on him for their livelihood and needed his resources.
At the same time, his financial backing allowed him to control quite a few Transcendents.
The simplest evidence of this was the merchant caravan.
Given the dangerous environment outside the village, that caravan inevitably possessed multiple Transcendents.
''Therefore, I still need to first set my sights on whatever the Watchman is doing and obtain enough power from him.''
Nemus then walked toward the outskirts of the village, deciding to force a breakthrough through the Watchman.
The Watchman usually lived on the fringes of the village. Around here, there would typically also be one or two Probationary Village Guardians.
They were people stripped of their identities, constantly hovering on the edge of danger.
Getting such people to talk was both simple and difficult.
The simple part was that these people had nothing left; they themselves had become mere tools.
The difficult part, similarly, was that they had absolutely nothing to lose.
In a sense, a Watchman was a ghost bound by a Covenant. They had no life of their own, so they generally had no personal needs.
To make a person with no needs speak, one had to grasp their pain points.
When Nemus arrived at the village''s edge, he heard a continuous string of howls echoing from a short distance away.
The bushes rustled, and a somewhat unkempt young man emerged from the thicket. His gloved hand dangled a creature covered entirely in black fur.
The moment he stepped out, the youth finally spotted Nemus. He instinctively retreated, his free hand resting on his waist, while the hand holding the creature hid it behind his back.
However, the young man quickly recognized Nemus. Lowering his guard, he bowed his head and called out, "Lord Nels."
Having offered his greeting, the youth prepared to leave.
"What is your name?" Nemus''s voice halted his movements.
"A Watchman has no name..."
"Did you know that even a Demon possesses a True Name?" Nemus did not wait for the young man to spout more meaningless words, immediately revealing knowledge regarding Demons.
"The predecessor of a Demon might be a wandering soul from the Material Plane."
"Their existence is corrupted by the Abyss, leading to their capture. Later, when the Abyss transforms them into Demons, it endows them with a True Name."
"Therefore, for a wandering soul, becoming a Demon is actually a kind of rebirth!"
"Do you desire a name, young man?" Nemus''s voice seemed to carry a certain magic, stirring the youth''s desires. A Watchman was not truly without wants and desires; they were merely forced into such a state.
This was especially true for the young man before him.
The instant Nemus saw him, he had marked him as a target for manipulation.
His youth indicated a high probability that he had not been judged as useless due to his own faults, and it also meant he likely hadn''t resigned himself to his fate.
Reaching for a weapon at the first sign of trouble showed a strong combat awareness—a clear sign that absolute defiance still lurked in his heart.
Moreover, earlier, he had been torturing his catch. Nemus had seen that wave of negative resentment clearly!
The black-furred creature in his hand was known as a Nest Beast.
A Nest Beast was a creature that threatened the safety of the villagers.
Covered entirely in black fur, they excelled at ambush. They would crouch in dark corners, seizing the opportunity to pounce on a person, at which point the black hairs on their bodies would pierce into the victim''s flesh.
Once these black hairs pierced a human body, they would begin to lay dormant, eventually leading to the Nest-ification of the human.
So, in essence, those black hairs were biological embryos, which was the origin of the Nest Beast''s name.
A Watchman''s most vital task was to guard against creatures like Nest Beasts that posed a massive threat to Mankind.
They needed to use their sensitive noses to search for the musky scent of these little monsters around the village perimeter, eradicating them ahead of time.
Normally, however, a Watchman would simply kill them with a single arrow and bury them on the spot.
But this youth had not done so.
Nemus looked at the Nest Beast''s body. The creature wasn''t dead yet. Whether intentional or not, the youth''s arrow had struck the beast''s leg, and its body was now covered in neat wounds carved out by a small knife.
Amidst the black fur, one could faintly see traces of coarse salt powder.
"A Watchman..." The young man trembled, still preparing to recite the Watchman''s code.
As a Probationary Village Guardian, he was equally bound by the Covenant. There were certain clauses that, if violated, would subject him to agonizing torture.
For instance, being dissatisfied with the identity of a Watchman and harboring rebellious thoughts.
The moment such sentiments were clearly expressed, the Covenant would be breached.
Yet at this moment, the youth raised his head. He looked straight at Nemus, and though his mouth recited the code, his eyes seemed to burn with a certain kind of power.
In the next second, Nemus raised his sword and thrust it straight forward, instantly piercing the youth''s body.
This sudden attack left the youth with absolutely no time to react.
The Knight''s Sword effortlessly impaled him, leaving a gaping hole right through his torso.
Around Nemus, thick Ropes surged forth, resembling segmented, pitch-black tentacles.
One of the Ropes writhed, seemingly Sensing something. It then slithered along the Knight''s Sword and wormed its way into the youth''s body, plugging the hole left by the blade.
In that instant, the young man could clearly feel the Watchman Covenant inside him being bound by another force.
He had slightly broken free from his cage.
"Purr, which means ''to look up'' in Demonic Language. This will be your name from now on." The sky full of Ropes retracted and gradually faded away as Nemus''s voice rang out.
"From now on, I am your Abyss!"
The youth trembled all over. He stared fixedly at Nemus, even as his knees gave way and he fell into a heavy kneel.
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