People panicked.
They did not understand why punishment was befalling them, why their piety brought disaster upon them, and why angels different from those described in the books had descended upon them.
According to the angel, he was supposed to be a humble giant in gray armor, but the one who suddenly came here was a man in blue armor.
Whispers spread from somewhere, some people called them false angels, while others were more blunt and called them fallen angels.
Cyrene had not heard this, or she might have used it, for now she stood on her balcony spitting at the soldier in shiny blue armour, the edges of which were inlaid with pearls, and hurling curses at them for destroying a city loyal to the Emperor.
"Tell me the truth! We are loyal to the Empire and the God-Emperor! Why would He punish us?"
The soldier who was maintaining order ignored her, as if her shouting was like air. He just repeatedly warned people not to resist and to pack their luggage.
In addition, he specifically warned people not to try to leave their homes at night.
Cyrene was tired of scolding, and she sat on the balcony, panting, staring at a purple-red setting sun - it was about to get dark.
Night is falling.
Cyrene suddenly had an idea. She wanted to know why. She wanted to know the truth. She wanted to know why the gods had abandoned them - or worse... betrayed them...
She would rather die from seeing the truth than cower in her home like a frightened lamb, praying that the butcher would not pick her.
So Cyrene quietly left the balcony, wrapped herself up in her clothes, took her dagger and a copy of the sacred text she had copied, then she opened the door and left in the confusion and darkness between dawn and dusk.
In order to avoid the eyes and ears of the soldiers, she deliberately chose remote and hidden paths. Several times, those people walked through the light at the street corners, while she hid in the city's sewers.
But when she left home, she didn't know where to go. Cyrene first followed the path to the square, where many soldiers were stationed. She could only glance at the smashed sculptures from a distance. The head of a god-emperor was lying on the ground, looking at her quietly, as if crying.
Night gradually fell.
Cyrene leaned against the alley in confusion. Nothing happened in the darkness—at least she didn't observe anything. The actions of the blue-armored soldiers were no different from those in the daytime. They still carried heavy guns and patrolled the streets again and again. They even had time to check the residents of the Perfect City.
Maybe she should go—
Cyrene's legs suddenly went limp and she collapsed to the ground. A sense of emptiness and powerlessness suddenly enveloped her like a veil.
A drowning-like nausea churned in her stomach. She covered her mouth tightly and curled up in the darkness of the sewer.
After a short while, perhaps less than a minute, the feeling quickly faded away, disappearing without a trace, leaving nothing but a slight feeling of weakness.
That is…what?!
Cyrene stuck her head out in panic and nervousness. She held her dagger tightly and prayed silently for the protection of the God-Emperor.
But there was nothing in the darkness, nothing but empty streets, not a single abnormality that could indicate a profanity—
Cyrene suddenly realized that the blue-armored soldiers who had been patrolling the streets were gone, and their monotonous and boring expulsion sounds and footsteps disappeared!
She felt her heart pounding, and Cyrene thought she had definitely touched something, she had definitely discovered something - that feeling, it was definitely not an illusion, and she had lived in the Perfect City for eighteen years, and this city had never given her this feeling.
Cyrene took a deep breath. The feeling just now made her feel physically terrified, but she still hoped to find out the truth - the fact that her hometown was about to be destroyed made her fearless.
She walked out of the alley where she was hiding, reciting the Holy Scriptures softly. The street was empty. A homeless man was huddled against the wall with his head in his hands. Cyrene walked forward with a dagger in his hand, trying to ask what had just happened on the street.
The answer she got was that there was nothing on the street just now, and nothing passed by here, but the homeless man also felt the same strong sense of powerlessness that Cyrene felt.
The tramp grabbed Cyrene's hand tightly and shook his head violently.
"Don't go. That's a monster, a demon... The demon wants to destroy the true believers of the God-Emperor. It deceived us."
Cyrene swallowed her saliva, and she pulled her hand away resolutely, silently chanting the Divine Emperor in her heart. Now she was standing here, not knowing where to find the existence that had just brought them fear, and as if in response to her confusion—
The gentle black tide surged up again. The homeless man next to Cyrene let out a strange cry, while Cyrene leaned against the wall. She used her five senses desperately to perceive. This time the feeling of weakness was obviously not as strong as before. It was... it was over there!
Cyrene felt it! She stumbled towards the wall, and sure enough, the feeling of nothingness became stronger, and she felt her stomach surge. Cyrene took a deep breath and began to pray to the God-Emperor.
… God still loves His believers, and when Cyrene prayed, she was surprised to find that some of her strength returned, although it was still very weak.
The next moment she discovered this, the black tide disappeared instantly, and it receded along the slate brick wall. Without a second thought, Cyrene began to run, calling out to the God-Emperor in her heart while following the nauseating feelings.
Not only her, Cyrene also saw through the window that the people in the house were lying on the ground in all directions, terrified by the sudden feeling of collapse.
Compared to those who stayed at home waiting for judgment, Cyrene, who was running, felt a sense of pride. Only she dared to face the devil, and the God-Emperor gave her strength - this knowledge made her more pious, and it also allowed her to run as hard as she could when the next curse came.
Finally, relying on her own senses, Cyrene came to a remote sculpture gallery. She had an impression of this place. There, traces of the world conquered by the gray-armored angels were displayed to praise the angels' achievements. People rarely come to this place.
Some dark figures appeared in her sight. Cyrene crawled on the ground, and she carefully prepared—
"stand up."
Suddenly a giant in golden armor appeared, holding a halberd, and now the silver spear was pointed at her.
Xilani's heart skipped a beat, and she stood up tremblingly. The dagger in her hand was knocked to the ground by the warrior with a halberd like a toy. She wanted to refute something, but the pressure from this golden warrior was far greater than that of the blue-armored warrior before. She tried her best, but could only look at him angrily.
Is she going to die? Die on the road to finding the truth
But the warrior did not kill her. Instead, he paused and whispered into his helmet, as if waiting for someone—
The next moment, the ghostly green eyes opened in the pitch-black darkness. They floated in the air, shedding cruel and indifferent tears.
Something was approaching her in the darkness.
Cyrene felt like she couldn't breathe, she began to suffocate.
The scarlet light came on, and staring at her, Cyrene suddenly realized that before her stood a giant—a real one, far taller than those soldiers.
The giant waved his hand, signaling the warrior to put down the halberd. The warrior glared at her, then put down the weapon reluctantly.
"You've been following us, why?"
Cyrene gritted her teeth and said,
"I want to ask why you want to destroy this place? Why punish the devout believers? We are loyal to the God-Emperor and the Empire, and have never had any other thoughts—"
"unless… "
Cyrene's breathing began to quicken. Thinking of the feeling just now, she knew that she had touched the truth.
"You're a demon, right? And they're fallen angels?"
The next moment, there was a loud bang, and Cyrene trembled violently. She saw that the giant had tightly grasped the warrior's halberd that was stabbing at her, and the halberd even began to twist slightly under the force.
"Calm down, Charon. She is loyal to the Emperor after all - a very devout one at that. A very bright light of faith."
A relaxing voice sounded,
"My Lord, I think it is necessary for you to establish your dignity."
"She is just ignorant. You want to know the truth? Ma'am, maybe you can come with me to see the truth."
Hades blinked and Charon backed off, loosening his grip on the halberd.
In Hades's dark vision, there has always been a tiny thing following them. He was initially wondering what it was, but as time went on, he discovered that a golden flame began to burn on this soul, burning more and more vigorously.
He might know who she is... Ms. Shouzhu, the only human who gave up evacuation in the original novel and faced the burning of Perfect City.
She later became the Word Bearers' memorial to "commemorate" this failure, and possessed the ability to calm down Word Bearers who were suffering because of their faith.
Hades clapped his hands, indicating to the lady who was being blessed whether she wanted to go into the building with him to take a look. In the special perspective, there were no explosives or other devices buried around the sculpture hall.
And the people in that building
They were already dead, not a drop of blood was shed.
No more, 5k words today
(End of this chapter)