They passed several forks along the way before stopping in front of a pitch-black door carved with mysterious patterns.
Duke Renka pushed the door open and stepped inside, then turned to motion for Eros to follow.
The door slowly closed, and Eros looked around the room curiously.
The room was large but sparsely furnished, containing only a table and a few chairs. The largest object was a bookshelf standing in a corner against the wall.
Just as he tried to see what books were on the shelves, he discovered that their titles had suddenly turned into grotesquely twisted tentacles.
They began writhing incessantly, accompanied by chilling whispers that echoed in his ears.
Eros swallowed, barely managing to hold back a cry of alarm. Just then, a soft cough came from beside him.
In an instant, the whispers in his ears vanished.
He looked at the bookshelf again. Books of various colors stood neatly on its shelves, as though those grotesquely twisted tentacles had been nothing but an illusion.
Eros was certain he had neither seen nor heard wrong. But what was going on now?
He looked up at his father, hoping for an explanation.
Duke Renka cleared his throat. "You didn't see or hear wrong. This is what I'm about to tell you about-the forbidden knowledge hidden beneath civilization..."
As his father explained, Eros gradually gained a general understanding of the Mystic Side of this world.
Sure enough, gods truly existed in this world, and there was more than one.
The nine great churches had held sway over the Croatia Continent for several eras, and the god worshipped by each one truly existed. They proclaimed themselves orthodox gods, sitting high upon their thrones in Heaven and looking down upon the nations of the mortal world.
Besides them, the gods of quite a few smaller churches also truly existed, though their standing was inferior to that of the nine orthodox gods.
Sometimes, members of the nine great churches even called them false gods, and their followers were purged as heretics. Their circumstances were utterly miserable.
But the longer Eros listened, the more something seemed off. His father appeared to hold those orthodox gods in utter contempt-he could even be described as hostile toward them.
That puzzled him. Wasn't their family devoted to the God of Death and Reincarnation?
Not only did they donate an enormous amount of wealth to the church every year, they also held sacrificial ceremonies on certain holidays to praise the god. Could all of that have been just for show?
He chose his words carefully before speaking. "Dad, you don't seem to have much respect for those gods."
He couldn't help being curious. After all, in a world where imperial authority was divinely granted, anyone caught disrespecting those orthodox gods would be arrested and thoroughly taught a lesson, let alone someone hostile toward them.
At Eros's question, Duke Renka's tone turned mocking. "Nothing but a bunch of traitors, yet they have the nerve to call themselves orthodox gods."
Was there a juicy story here?
Eros immediately seized on the key point. "Traitors? Why do you call them traitors? Who did they betray?"
"Our ancestor, the Goddess of the Night, was once their companion. Two of them were even her students."
"But they betrayed our ancestor, murdering her through filthy schemes and dividing her essence among themselves. That was how they became the most powerful gods in this world."
"But our ancestor was a Great One, after all. She wouldn't be so easily killed for good. Before her death, she left a prophecy saying that she would one day return."
"When those traitors learned of this prophecy, they grew afraid. So they slandered our ancestor as an evil god and slaughtered her followers and descendants without restraint, seeking to erase faith in her and prevent her return forever."
At this point, Duke Renka's angry tone grew heavy, while Eros stood stunned.
Duke Renka composed himself and continued:
"For tens of thousands of years, we've hidden wherever we could. What was once the most exalted and noble bloodline in this world is now branded the Night Remnants, hunted and reviled like rats in the street."
Eros felt sweat forming on his forehead. So he had started out with all nine of this world's strongest powers as enemies.
Tens of thousands of years of slaughter-this was an irreconcilable blood feud. What kind of hell-mode difficulty was this? He was starting to panic. Was it too late to reincarnate again?
Of course, that last thought was only a joke he told himself to find a little humor in his misery.
Seemingly noticing his son secretly wiping away cold sweat, Duke Renka reassured him:
"Don't worry. We're very safe now. Three hundred years ago, one of our ancestors made a decision to split the family in two. One part willingly sacrificed themselves to secure the other part a chance to join a certain church."
"The plan has been very successful so far. Even the nine great churches probably never imagined we'd join a church and become one of its subordinate families."
What a brilliant reversal. That ancestor clearly understood that the most dangerous place could be the safest.
The church probably never imagined that an enemy with such a deep blood feud would be hiding right under its nose.
Not only did they donate enormous quantities of resources every year, they also held ceremonies whenever the holidays came around. They were practically model believers.
Still, he was curious. Didn't the church have other ways to find people?
After all, this was a world of the Mystic Side, where gods truly existed. Surely there were some strange abilities for tracking people down?
He voiced his question, and Duke Renka soon gave him an explanation:
"Our ancestor wielded authority over secrecy. Once someone of our bloodline undergoes baptism, they are certain to awaken an ability called Servant of Secrets."
"Combined with the divine artifact our ancestor left behind, it makes it very difficult for the churches to discover our identities unless we expose ourselves. That's also how we've managed to stay hidden for tens of thousands of years."
"Bloodline baptism?" Eros once again picked out the key point.
"Yes. Only after undergoing baptism can you truly enter the Mystic Side. That's why I brought you here today."
"This is a world our ancestor created, enveloped in her authority. Even if we speak the honorific names of those traitors here, they won't notice, much less a mere baptism." Duke Renka's expression was calm, his tone tinged with pride.
"Will that be all I need after the baptism?"
Duke Renka shook his head and walked out of the room, gesturing for him to follow as they talked:
"After baptism, you'll only become a Sequence 9-Mystery Seeker. If you want to advance to Sequence 8-Listener, or Sequence 7-Light Chaser, you'll need to accommodate more spirits yourself."
"How many sequences are there altogether?"
"Ten in total. But even the imperial family of the Chris Empire only possesses advancement methods from Sequence 9 to Sequence 4. As for the other nobles, their ceiling is Sequence 5."
"Apart from the churches with actual gods, we're the only ones who possess a complete advancement pathway."
Wonderful. Wasn't this like a rat everyone wanted dead carrying a gold brick in its paws? His future felt even more worrying now.
Before you continue