"Cordu Village..."
Fors said to himself, recalling the relevant information about this small village in his mind.
This is a small village located in a remote area of Leiston, the southern province of Intis. It is not far from Feynapotter and Lenburg. There are no detailed population statistics because many adult men here have to engage in the difficult occupation of "Shepherd" and it is difficult to return home all year round. The population in official statistics is often missing.
Unlike the Sequence 5 of "Hanged Man" Pathway, the Shepherd of Cordu Village accept the employment of the sheep owner and drive Dozens or hundreds of sheep run back and forth between the plains and alpine pastures in southern Intis. Grazing flocks of sheep make cheese and work outside year after year, returning home only at specific times.
And now, it is the time for the sheep to migrate back and the Shepherds return to their hometown, but when Fors looks around, there is not a single sheep in the pasture, let alone those Shepherd who are herding sheep.
The intelligence was wrong. In fact, the sheep had already set off for the pastures on the plains at this time? Or maybe the sheep were at the other end of the village... She was a little confused, but she didn't take it too seriously. Instead, just like when she was roaming in the depths of the starry sky and coming to a new planet to come into contact with a strange civilization, she used the recorded invisibility ability to cover her body, and then walked along the trampled dirt road to the village at the foot of the hillside.
Fors did not directly "Teleportation" enter the unfamiliar village. This was a good habit she developed after several reckless actions. But even so, she also discovered many anomalies as she continued to get closer to Cordu Village.
It was almost evening, but not a single light was turned on in the village. The yellowed glass windows were dim, and there was no smoke or steam coming out of the chimneys of different heights and shapes; there were several small roads near this side of the village, and Fors There was not a single pedestrian in the vaguely visible village square, and the church representing "Eternal Blazing Sun" was completely silent; the stench of livestock manure and the pungent smell of smoke that could not be dispersed around other remote villages were nowhere to be found...
The village seemed abandoned.
Amon's prank? He parasitized everyone in this village, even all the sheep, and hid in the dark, planning to give me a "surprise"?
Fors thought of the names "Blasphemer", "God of Mischief" and other names that existed in the past. The power of Angel obtained after being promoted not long ago did not give her any sense of security at all.
Spirituality was alert in his heart, and Fors stood outside the village and observed for a moment, his eyes flashed, and an illusory book in front of him flipped rapidly, releasing a certain ability he had recorded.
Not far in front of her, a figure with the same appearance as hers appeared, but his eyes were a little dull.
Mirror Substitution, who inherited her will, did not hide his figure, but walked swaggering along the dirt road to the village. Fors himself was observing from the side, ready to attack or Teleportation leave immediately based on the reaction of the avatar.
Within a few seconds, the "Fors" suddenly seemed to hit the surface of the water, and the spreading water ripples of Distortion rippled around him. The whole person got into it and disappeared.
Immediately, Fors lost contact with his Mirror Substitution.
Although I am not the real "Demoness" and have limited control over the avatar, I can feel that it is still "alive", but in another space... Is some kind of power wrapping the real Cordu Village, isolating it from reality, leaving only a false "image"? In the worst case, Cordu Village may have been moved entirely to Spirit World or other remote locations, but this is not a big problem to me...
Fors, who has become increasingly experienced in committing suicide, quickly determined that the danger inside the invisible barrier was not great, but to be on the safe side, she first recited the Honorific Name of "Goddess of Calamity" to let this God looked at himself, and then withdrew his invisibility, imitating the appearance of "Fors", and swaggered towards the place where the other party disappeared just now, as if he was Mirror Substitution who was summoned again after repeating his old tricks.
As soon as she passed the place where the water rippled before, Fors, the quiet and peaceful but uninhabited Cordu Village, shattered like a bubble, and another scene came into her eyes instantly.
The most eye-catching thing is a mountain peak made of reddish-brown soil. It is not high, only about thirty meters, but it looks extremely majestic against the surrounding low buildings.
Above the mountain peak, the blue sky with some pure white patches was replaced by ominous blood red. The originally dim stars emitted almost Sun light, drawing constellations in the blood-red sky.
Around the mountain peaks, houses that had completely collapsed or been burned to nothing but their remains were arranged irregularly in a ring.
Between the houses, the originally compacted dirt road seemed to have been upturned by continuous earthquakes, and was full of cracks. Some dark red traces spread in the cracks, like dried blood.
Outside the building complex, the dry riverbed points into the distance. The mud at the bottom of the riverbed has been completely dry, like wrinkled skin, with pitted gravel on both sides without any weeds.
This is... Fors subconsciously wanted Teleportation to leave this place, use her own positioning of space to go to the church of any righteous god, and then think about what to do next, but her inner reason stopped her.
You are already Angel, Fors, one of the strongest existences among Tarot Club and Church of the Fool except for Two Gods. "Empress" Miss is still watching... She calmed down quickly and scanned the weird and terrifying ruins.
After entering the "abnormality", Fors no longer stingy with her power. Her figure moved quickly Blink, as if she had disappeared into Spirit World, and more illusory figures of her appeared in different locations in the ruins.
With the help of the high-speed "Teleportation", she quickly discovered the similarities and differences between this place and the fake "Cordu Village" just now.
The river has dried up and changed its course, but its source and direction are the same as before; the location of the buildings has also changed. The peak that looks like it is made of flesh and earth is located in the square in the center of the village, and it also includes the only church "Eternal Blazing Sun". Some outlines of the other villagers' houses can still be seen, but they are deliberately arranged in a ring. It seems to be part of some kind of ritual; the corpses of some mutated monsters can be found in the ruins, but there are no living people; the constellations in the sky are the same as those seen in other places, but after entering the starry sky, I already know that there are no other planets in this galaxy except our planet, and they have all been destroyed and occupied by "Great Old One"...
With this information, even the official Beyonder without much experience can make an accurate judgment:
This was the original Cordu Village, but it was destroyed after a huge Sacrificial Ritual. Most or even all the villagers became victims, and the spillover power of the ceremony caused changes in the village, turning it into ruins surrounding the center of the sacrifice.
The center point is undoubtedly the towering mountain peak.
This is not just a judgment based on the state of the ruins of the village. When Fors's Blink figure approaches the mountain peak surrounded by Distortion thorns formed by destroyed buildings, one can also feel a sense of The familiar yet unfamiliar power does not come from the authority of a certain God inside the barrier, but from the Distortion, evil, and terrifying aura of "Outer Deity" that seems to be a collection of all evil things.
If Fors hadn't traveled in the starry sky for a while and come into contact with many civilizations that believe in those "Great Existence", I'm afraid I wouldn't have thought of this at all.
There is no doubt that this is some kind of large-scale ceremony to summon Outer Deity's gift of power. When there is a problem with the faith of "Eternal Blazing Sun" and the believers of Mr. Fool and Miss Empress have not been able to penetrate into the remote villages of Intis, it is not surprising that this kind of thing happened... But where are these evil god believers? What gift did they receive by sacrificing an entire village and hundreds of innocent people?
Thoughts kept flashing through his mind, Fors prepared the final protection, his body turned into a self-symbol with only an outline, and the inside was filled with different abstract symbols, and then Teleportation reached the top of the mountain in the center of the village.
Here we can barely see the outline of the square when Fors looked at Cordu Village from a distance. It was surrounded by dry human skeletons that looked like they were left many years ago. Dark red flesh and blood were scattered everywhere as if they were wiped on the ground with a mop... Among these remains, a half-man-high stone altar was in a state of melting and re-solidification. The surface was formed into smooth glass, and the top was charred black.
Above the altar, a figure wearing a black robe and a hood turned his back to Fors, looking towards the direction of the dry river bed, motionless.
He exuded a strange aura that Fors had felt strange yet familiar before, as if it came from a certain Great Existence.
Fors's symbolic body that could not be harmed by conventional means immediately became blurred, and he had to launch nine different attacks from nine directions at the same time to directly eliminate this being who was obviously a believer of the evil god.
As for questioning, you can talk to his Spirit Body.
Suddenly, the hooded man turned around, and under the brim was the face of a young man with short black hair, a wide forehead, and a thin face.
Amon... Fors, who had seen Mr. "Sun" describe the appearance of "Blasphemer" on Tarot Club, reacted immediately, and the tension in his heart dissipated.
Compared to Outer Deity's believers or benefactors, the former Dual Pathways True God and today's "fate Trojan Horse" have become more handsome in her eyes.
Of course, for the sake of caution, Fors has not really let down his guard. Whether it is the twenty-two Pathway on this planet or the more strange Pathway in the starry sky, there are many who have the ability to change their appearance and interfere with other people's cognition.
Especially when the person in front of me has the appearance of Amon, but he has power that does not belong to this planet...
"Are you Amon?"
she asked tentatively.
"You seem to have a stutter, Ms. 'Magician'." The black-haired young man sneered, exposing Fors's trap. "I didn't expect you to be the first one to come. I thought you were the violent woman who would hit me on the head with a flag."
He knows me, and he also knows Miss Empress... Fors was startled, and realized that the man in front of him might really be "Error" Amon.
As for the "violent woman", she just pretended not to hear it, and she didn't dare to take it seriously.
"Haha, I planned to inherit Tarot Club for some time and give each of you members a pair of monocles. Unfortunately, your 'Fool' did not agree and took my glasses away..." Amon saw that Fors had a strange expression and continued, "Otherwise, the process of becoming Angel will be quite easy for you."
What He said was not to directly parasitize us and turn all Tarot Club members into his own clones. Fortunately, Mr. Fool won... Fors couldn't help but come to mind. She, Xio, Audrey and others were all sitting on both sides of the long table wearing monocles, looking at the scene of "Fool" Amon with consistent expressions, and couldn't help but ask:
"What's going on here?"
Amon put down his hood and fumbled with his right hand in the black robe for a while as if subconsciously. After a moment, he smiled awkwardly, squeezed his right eye and said:
"Isn't this an obvious thing? Cordu Village mingled with the followers of the evil god. They hit it off with the corrupted 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Priest, deceived all the villagers, and held a grand Sacrifice Ritual."
"The flesh and blood of most of the villagers formed a container that carried Outer Deity's power, and a few turned into monsters. The overflowing power changed the structure of the village and formed a barrier around it to isolate it from prying eyes. Then, the Outer Deity took advantage of the moment a hole appeared in the barrier to send one of his Angels into the planet."
Sure enough, it is Sacrificial Ritual for Outer Deity. Such a huge ceremony must take a long time to prepare. If "Eternal Blazing Sun" hadn't fallen, Priest here would have betrayed his faith and evil. It is impossible for believers to do this silently... and this not only requires Outer Deity to cooperate with their believers inside and outside, but also requires problems with the barrier itself... Fors analyzed, suddenly realized a possibility, and asked instead:
"Is the breach in the barrier caused by my return?"
The "Original Creator" barrier that wraps the entire planet and the corresponding Spirit World and Astral World is a protective measure for the outside but not for the inside. Outer Deity wants to send its own power into It is extremely difficult. In recorded history, Angel-level beings have only entered the barrier a few times, and they were all discovered by the Gods inside and dealt with it. However, it is relatively simple for the creatures inside to leave.
After becoming "Wanderer", Fors has been able to leave this planet with his own power "Teleportation". All he needs is God's protection and privacy to prevent himself from being Outer Deity discovered that some methods of physically leaving the planet's surface, such as "Duke of Entropy"'s method of strengthening its own jumping ability, such as "Knowledge Emperor"'s method of incarnating information flow, can break away from the barrier and enter the starry sky.
It is easier for these Travel ers who have been marked by the barrier to return to the inside of the barrier than for outsiders who invade directly. Although some additional means are required, after becoming "Planeswalker", Fors has been able to open a gap in the Spirit World barrier and return to their hometown.
Of course, this requires internal help, such as the cooperation of a certain God who blocked the barrier. Perhaps because of this, a loophole appeared in the barrier the moment Fors returned, allowing Outer Deity to take advantage of it.
Sure enough, Amon nodded slightly and replied:
"Your move to leave the planet and roam the starry sky has long been expected by the Outer Deitys. Don't forget that there is more than one Great Existence among them who has the symbol of 'destiny'. Although you will not reveal your precise location under the protection of Fool, it is not difficult to make some arrangements with the help of your destiny tributary that 'will inevitably return to the barrier'."
So my return led to the destruction of Cordu Village? Fors was startled, and subconsciously looked at the ruin-like scene around the towering mountain peaks.
Fortunately, after wandering in the starry sky and witnessing the rise and fall of countless civilizations, she did not feel sorry for herself because of this. She quickly looked back at Amon and guessed:
"Did you ruin their ceremony?"
Amon raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said with a smile:
"Of course not. The ceremony was a success. I am already Angel of 'Circle of Inevitability'."
PS: Today is a little short, and the update is late. I really don't have any ideas...