Chapter 1118: Nightmare

Trier, Honest Market District.

Leon, looking like a scholar, stood at the front of the living room, preaching to the members of the cult with a solemn and grave expression.

He had moved out of the Golden Rooster Hotel because the cult was growing larger and larger.

Although the official forces in the Honest Market District didn't seem to care much about his private spreading of the faith in strange gods, Leon felt that caution was paramount and he couldn't make a big scene.

If he were discovered by some devout and fanatical believers of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" or "God of Steam and Machinery" in the market district, and they went to the church to report and protest every day, the two major churches would have to manage it even if they didn't want to!

Moreover, as the number of believers belonging to him increased, Leon indeed needed a temporary residence to serve as an underground church.

Leon, having finished his sermon, raised his hands, making a pushing-out motion, his voice suddenly becoming high-pitched:

"Praise be to you, kin of the King of Yellow and Black, priest of the apocalypse and war, the multifaceted one who conquers all, the true God of Disease!"

"Praise be to you, the ancient one who transcends the era, the one who remains forever young, the messenger of disease and plague, the lady who spreads pain and despair, the protector of human adventurous spirit, the companion of the great Disease God!"

The believers gathered in the living room followed suit, completing the final praise of the ritual.

Leon, listening to the echo of their voices, was suddenly a bit dazed.

He actually didn't quite understand why the honorifics of the two gods were changed again and again, especially the great "Plague God," whose honorific had been changed several times, and was almost nothing like the description in the initial stage. Furthermore, he had taken back the title of "Disease God," while the "God of Disease" had become his companion, the Wang Hou.

Leon had once asked His Holiness the Pope about this matter, and the Pope's reply was—this symbolizes the improvement of the "Plague God's" status and authority.

When the praise ended, Leon signaled the priest assisting him to distribute the holy communion.

The holy communion consisted of a drink and a portion of food:

Absinthe, red wine, or cooled boiled water, choose one; mashed potatoes or meat pie, choose one.

Seeing the believers enjoying the holy communion with satisfaction and from the bottom of their hearts, Leon sincerely felt that his efforts of nearly a year had not been in vain and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

In the afternoon, he left the apartment and turned to the Saint Roberts Church on Market Avenue.

This was not because he secretly still believed in the "Eternal Blazing Sun," but because he felt that the Disease Cult was developing rapidly, many things would become more and more standardized, and he and other bishops had to think about some details in advance, always ready to offer suggestions to His Holiness the Pope, and improve every aspect of daily worship, large-scale mass, and the church scriptures.

In this matter, the Orthodox Church was a very good reference object.

Market Avenue was as bustling as usual. Outsiders from the steam train station poured into Trier like a river into the sea. Some chose to take carriages, some carried suitcases and walked on their legs, some were not careful enough and had their wallets stolen, shouting and chasing in a hurry, while patrolling police provided help without much enthusiasm.

Leon entered Saint Roberts Church and saw a very unfamiliar bishop standing in front of the altar.

He walked over and asked suspiciously:

"Is Bishop Christopher not here today?"

That unfamiliar young bishop laughed with a complex expression:

"Bishop Christopher has been transferred elsewhere, and I will take over his work."

"You can call me Ivelin."

Another new bishop... Leon couldn't help but frown.

In his hometown, except for those priests and bishops whose status rose rapidly, others would stay in one place for several years, some even managing a village church for ten, twenty, or thirty years, while Saint Roberts Church had changed five bishops in the past year.

Now this one was the sixth!

It wasn't like this in the first half of last year...

The bishop who was here when I first arrived in Trier stayed for more than half a year...

Leon instantly associated this with many changes in the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church over the past year:

The "Eternal Blazing Sun," whose honorific had never been changed, actually issued an oracle like their own "Plague God," significantly modifying the original honorific. Even the status of the Sun Holy Emblem had changed because of this, no longer placed on the altar, but lowered to one of the sacred symbols!

Leon cast his gaze toward the altar and saw a giant cross standing there.

He exchanged pleasantries with Bishop Ivelin, sat in the first row of chairs, and pretended to start praying.

Not long after, as a "Wizard," he suddenly had a slight spiritual premonition, opened his eyes abruptly, and turned his head to look to the side.

He saw Lugano, who had become his direct superior again.

This Archbishop of the Trier Diocese of the Disease Cult, a Sequence 5 "Druid," actually appeared in the Saint Roberts Church of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church!

Lugano, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, after discovering that Leon was also there, did not show a look of panic or fear. He took off the half-top silk hat on his head, sat next to his subordinate, looked at the giant cross on the altar, and asked in a low voice:

"What are you doing in the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Church?"

"Archbishop, I want to learn how to preach better," Leon explained humbly.

He didn't ask about Lugano's purpose in coming to Saint Roberts Church.

Lugano laughed to himself:

"Me too."

Speaking of this, he sighed and added:

"At the same time, I'm here to feel the sunlight."

"Feel the sunlight?" Leon asked, puzzled.

Lugano looked at the giant cross on the altar and said:

"I always feel that the sunlight outside is not blazing enough, not warm enough, and it's difficult to dispel the cold and fear in my heart. Only the sunlight here can shine into my soul and let me forget those anxieties."

"Anxiety?" Leon also felt anxiety.

What he was anxious about was that the Archbishop's words were a bit blasphemous and not devout enough:

What cold and fear could not be solved or eliminated by the great "Disease God" and the great "Disease God Wang Hou"? Why not pray to them, why not seek help from His Holiness the Pope, and why must he come to the Saint Roberts Church of the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church to feel the sunlight?

Would I be silenced for hearing the Archbishop's blasphemous words? While Leon was worried, Lugano withdrew his gaze, observed Bishop Ivelin who had walked to the long tables on the side of the church, and said in a suppressed voice:

"I've been having nightmares for a long time. Haven't you?"

"No," Leon was very certain.

"Then do you often feel anxious?" Lugano asked further.

Leon first shook his head, then answered uncertainly:

"I am a 'Wizard,' my spirituality is very strong. When I encounter problems, I will have premonitions of anxiety, but the subsequent troubles were avoided and solved because of this, and the corresponding anxiety disappeared."

Lugano sighed again:

"I've been having nightmares for a long, long time, and I'm woken up by them every time."

"Haven't you asked His Holiness the Pope about the root cause of the problem?" Leon asked tentatively.

Lugano laughed and said:

"I have asked, and I have also prayed to the great 'Disease God' and the great 'Disease God Wang Hou.' The answer I got was:"

"'Don't pay attention to it, but don't get close to it either.'"

I understand "don't pay attention to it," but what does "don't get close to it" mean? Will going deep into the nightmare lead to sinking oneself and being dragged into the abyss? Leon instinctively analyzed these two sentences.

Suddenly, he remembered another thing:

An occult circle he joined recently had problems, and it seemed to be brought by a Beyonder of the "Farmer" path.

And in another occult circle he was associated with, the host and many members warned everyone to be careful of Beyonders of the "Farmer" and "Apothecary" paths.

The Archbishop is a Sequence 5 "Druid" of the "Farmer" path... Is his frequent nightmare related to the abnormalities of these two paths? Leon didn't dare to speak his inner thoughts out loud.

Lugano continued:

"His Holiness the Pope also told me that when the state is at its worst, I can sit in the 'Eternal Blazing Sun' church for a while."

"I see..." Leon expressed understanding.

But deep down, he still intended to report this matter to His Holiness the Pope with the help of that mirror. After all, he couldn't just take the Archbishop's word for it, right?

Lugano sat in Saint Roberts Church until evening before leaving, busy dealing with the various affairs of the Trier Diocese of the Disease Cult.

After midnight, he finally returned to the apartment he rented, drank a glass of milk, stretched his body, and completed his bedtime prayer.

After washing up, Lugano lay on the bed and extinguished the gas wall lamp.

He looked at the ceiling immersed in darkness and the crimson moonlight seeping through the curtains, looked at the twisted patterns formed by the intersection of light and shadow, and was unwilling to close his eyes for a long time.

He was afraid of sleeping, afraid of dreaming.

He had tried changing his schedule, working at night and resting during the day, but that nightmare would still come.

I don't know how long it had been, but Lugano finally fell asleep.

In his daze, he suddenly shuddered, and his whole person seemed to have woken up.

He saw the familiar gray-white mist, saw the stone slabs seeping with water color.

Here it comes again... Lugano was not surprised by this at all.

That nightmare arrived as scheduled.

He stumbled to the edge of the gray-white mist, but didn't dare to walk out, only able to stay here, looking into the distance, looking into the depths of the dream.

He vaguely saw a familiar street.

That was where he lived now.

But in the dream, the houses on the street had all completely collapsed, not a single one was spared, and the distance was a similar scene, with no end in sight.

Under the illumination of the crimson moonlight, this ruin was messy, dilapidated, cold, and dead, showing a certain eerie beauty that had been abandoned for a long time but was full of special spirituality.

Green plants had climbed onto all the destroyed buildings, some dense, as if covering the dead houses with shrouds, some bearing heavy fruits, fresh and dripping.

Lugano looked at such a scene, feeling fear from the bottom of his heart, his whole body cold, as if he had seen the future of Trier, seen the ending of himself and others.

This was the nightmare he had every night:

A dead Trier where all humans were buried and all buildings had collapsed.

A Trier that would forever have only crimson moonlight.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1119 =====