As a result of the rebellion at the Second Layer, the governor didn't want to stop for the night and ordered everyone to go directly to the Third Layer. The way there was very dark. No, it wasn't just dark, it was a darkness that was enclosed in a deathly silence. When Du Ze finally saw the light in the Third Layer's sky, he unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief and most of the shadows in his heart dissipated. The Third Layer was not bright, but at least it wasn't as dark as the Second Layer.
It was evening when the coach arrived at the Third Layer's Palace. Because of what had happened earlier today, the governor's party were not in the mood to chat so they all rested after they were greeted by the Archon. Before he went to bed, Du Ze thought about Xiu's words at the end of the fallen's rebellion. Though Du Ze hadn't guessed a method, the Moe Lord appeared to have found a way to pass customs. Xiu did not explain and Du Ze did not ask. The silly, cute reader has always been confident of his protagonist's IQ. Since the Moe Lord said that they will be able to leave soon, they will definitely be able to pass the angel race's trial in a few days.
The next day, the governor sat in the seat of honor at the hall, silent. Everyone could feel his aggression and rage. The kneeling Archon of the Third Layer was mute. He not only failed to take out a "gift" but was also unable to turn over the required amount of light elements.
"You two-" Unexpectedly, the governor did not fire the Archon, but suddenly instructed Xiu and Eric: "Today, go and gather light elements to make up for the amount that is needed to fill the quota." When Xiu and Eric looked at him, the governor grunted and said: "This is your job."
"No!"
"Good."
The two different answers echoed in the hall. Eric was surprised and puzzled by Xiu's consent.
Xiu turned a blind eye to the anger in Eric's eyes and asked the governor in a tone that was almost a command: "Give me full permission to take as much light elements as needed."
"Yes," the governor agreed very quickly then seemed to think that he had been too hasty. He corrected himself by adding: "All the light elements you levy must be turned in."
Xiu smiled and his eyes were as scarlet as blood: "Certainly."
After getting permission, Xiu wanted to leave immediately with Du Ze but was stopped by Eric. The son of god had an unusually cold expression on his face as he blocked Xiu's path and quietly asked: "What do you want to do?"
Xiu sneered and his shadow began to twist and expand slowly until it became a giant. The silver dragon placed Du Ze on his back and opened his great wings above Eric. The son of the lord who was covered by Xiu's shadow looked very small and even pitiful.
"I do whatever I want to do, don't you already know that?"
"!" Eric used his arm to block the strong wind on his face. When he put down his arm, the silver dragon had flown off— he didn't know where— with the black-haired youth
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The civilians of a village were driven out. They gathered outside their village, terrified and fearful, and watched as the soldiers circled their homes with powder. Three mages recited the spell and the light elements filled the chest with a speed visible to the naked eye while an ink-like darkness poured into the village, turning the area into a place where no living creature can survive.
Du Ze gazed silently at all that was happening. This was the fifth village that they had fully levied. The amount that the governor had requested had already been gathered, but Xiu did not return to the palace. Instead, he led the Archon's men forward to yet another place. Seeing more and more light elements in their chests, Du Ze was puzzled. Even if they gathered more than the requested amount, all of these light elements had to be turned in, not giving Xiu the benefits of acquiring more seniority.
What exactly does Lord Moe want?
The mages stopped chanting and the soldier lifted the chest full of light. They began their march to the next location. The civilians were left to stare dully at the darkness covering their homes. They had just lost everything; now that they had nothing left. Their future was lost. The people wandered around in a daze for a while, then many of them started following the soldiers. These people were soon joined by others who had also lost their homes. The ranks of the common people following the soldiers swelled and their repressed emotions silently started growing out of control.
When people are oppressed to this extreme, the only thing left is to rise up in rebellion.
Du Ze soon saw the symbol of the broken wing representing the fallen. When the seventh village was destroyed, the civilians who had lost their homes were no longer able to endure and raised their left hands. The broken wing was carved into their hands and they picked up a hoe or a wooden branch to attack the soldiers that surrounded Xiu. Du Ze stood beside Xiu. He looked sideways and saw the pleased expression in red eyes of the silver dragon who seem to be happily enjoying the fruits of his efforts.1
Xiu began to chant a spell in the dragon language. A huge gray magic array appeared in the dark sky above everyone's heads. The fallen saw what was happening and desperately tried to break through the soldiers' and mages' defensive line to get to Xiu. The spell circle slowly rotated and lit up from the center outward. Gray light fell down onto the fallen; wherever it hit, the people it touched instantly vanished.
It was as though gray rain was falling from the sky as countless gray lights fell from the magic circle, illuminating the rebels' angry, frightened faces. Each ray of light immediately takes away one of the fallen. In the face of absolute power, the fallen were helpless and the rebels lost faster than the living dead in the Second layer. Soon, a few hundred of the fallen ran away, trying to escape from the gray light. Their eyes were filled with tears. They had been oppressed for so long that they were ready for death but they couldn't even scratch the people from the upper Layer.
"Stop!!!"
A roar resounded through the battlefield. Xiu raised his eyes and saw that Eric had finally caught up to them. Eric jumped off his exhausted horse that had been made to run until it was almost dead. Eric's chest was heaving, either because of physical exertion or because of anger. The soldiers made way for him so that the two Inspectors could meet face to face.
Eric took a deep breath, temporarily tamping down the fury in his heart. "Give me a reason why you are doing this."
The magic circle was still spinning slowly in the air. In the gray light, Xiu's expression was hard to read. He ignored Eric and did not answer his question. As the last of the fallen were swallowed up by the gray light, Eric's eyes became filled with unbearable rage. His voice was low as he roared: "Why did you kill them?'
"Did you forget that you are also a tower climber?" Compared with Eric's emotional outburst, Xiu's voice contained a near-brutal calmness. The silver-haired dragon with the red eyes casually mentioned the invisible force. "The rules written by the Tower of God ... you don't get it."
The script that the Tower of God prepared for the tower climbers is simple. Each trial is shaped by the characteristics and talents of each race. The demons must be cruel, the undead must be evil, the humans must be selfish, the dragons must be greedy, the elves must be indifferent, the beastkin must be violent, the gnomes must be fanatical, and the angels... they paid for their racial gift with their humility and therefore must be arrogant.
A hint of perplexity flashed through Eric's eyes but his indignation was too great and soon replaced the confusion.
"So you disregard the lives of others just to ascend the Tower of God?"
"As the lord governor said, if they die, what does it have to do with me?" Xiu sneered.
The two people's confrontation almost put Du Ze in a trance. He imagined that he was watching a scene from "Mixed Blood." The protagonist has injured people and done great harm to the world while the rival has been saving people. They stood together, one in the dark side and the other on the side of light— two contrasting sides that clearly delineate good and evil.
Eric gave Xiu a meaningful glance and seemed to think that he had made a serious mistake in trying to reason with a heretic. The son of god change the direction of his gaze and his dark green eyes reflected Du Ze's figure.
"God's Messenger, do you also believe this ...?"
Once Du Ze was involved, it was as though Xiu's nilin (sensitive/weak spot) had been touched. Xiu stopped smiling and his expression became aggressive.
Eric wasn't afraid of the danger in Xiu's eyes. He stared at Du Ze and, as if to force Du Ze to make a choice, said: "Do you think he is right?"
Du Ze involuntarily looked at Xiu and found that Xiu was also looking at him.
The dragon did not explain anything, he just asked: "Do you believe me?"
Two people; two choices. Those with a normal thought process will certainly judge that Eric's position is just, and Du Ze has never approved of the inhumane cruelty of the protagonist in "Mixed Blood." But currently Du Ze's eyes were on Xiu and Eric. He did not have to consider it at all and he can make the correct choice right away.
"I believe you." In order to say the words in the correct tone, Du Ze spoke slowly, which made his voice especially serious and solemn as if he was swearing an eternal oath. He looked at Eric and repeated his answer to the son of god: "I believe in Xiu."
Eric is still the same "Eric" in "Mixed Blood" but the Xiu at his side is no longer the "Xiu" in "Mixed Blood." That's enough.
Eric's eyes filled with disappointment and puzzlement.
Xiu sighed. He grabbed Du Ze, suddenly jerking Du Ze's body towards him as though he liked this person so much that he wanted to stuff the black-haired youth into his flesh and blood. "Let's go."
Du Ze hurriedly held on to the doujinshi that had nearly slipped out of his hands, missing his chance to reject this opportunity. Xiu held Du Ze in his arms very tightly and a silly, cute person with an impassive face held the doujinshi, not knowing where to look. His line of sight fell behind them and he discovered that Eric did not withdraw but was silently following them.
When they arrived in the new village, even though all of the residents went down on their knees to beg for mercy, they were all evicted from the village by the soldiers and watched as their homes were engulfed by darkness. At this point, Du Ze actually had some idea of what Xiu wanted to do: He was forcing all the people to fall, forcing everyone to rebel against the angels — he wanted to destroy the angels, including the governor. If the governor dies, then the one with the next highest seniority, Xiu, will probably be his chosen replacement.
The end was near and the process was bloody. The cries of the people echoed in the darkness. Du Ze glanced at Eric. The blond son of god was standing at the edge of the town. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails had dug into his palms, making them bleed. However, when the people knelt, when the soldiers drove them out, and when the mages cast the spell, he remained silent. Eric seemed to know that he wouldn't be able to stop them so he stayed mute.
But Eric was not one to give up so quickly.
A light suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. The civilians kneeling on the ground raised their heads in dismay. A feather of light fell onto the village covered in darkness. It was not dazzlingly bright but shone with a soft light as it drove away the darkness and melted. Xiu suddenly jerked his head to look back, his scarlet eyes staring at Eric. As the feather dissolved into the air, the light returned to the town and all the civilians were pleasantly surprised. They knelt down again, this time in gratitude.
"Thank you, thank you!" The villagers looked up at the son of god reverently and his face flushed. "You are the incarnation of the god of light!"
The corners of Eric's mouth finally loosened slightly, revealing a bright smile. "This is what I should do."
Du Ze felt as though his heart had been twisted by pliers. The pain made his chest ache. In front of him, Eric was bathed in light and the blond man looked exceptionally bright and beautiful – he looked like that person in the past. Even knowing that Eric would hinder Xiu's plans, Du Ze did not want to repudiate the current Eric, because that would be to repudiate the Xiu of the past who would even hurt himself to help others.
However, the one who repudiated and Eric and thereby repudiated the past Xiu, was none other than Xiu himself.
"Do you think you can save them? Will they really be thankful to you?" Xiu gazed at the Eric and the smile on the silver-haired dragon's face was colder than his expression when he wasn't smiling. "I always thought you were naïve but I didn't think you were stupid enough to do that."
Xiu's words were like a freezing wind pouring into Du Ze's clothes and penetrating him with its coldness. Every word he spoke was mocking his past as well as Eric.
—— Xiu, Why are you so good to everyone?
—— I just did what I had to do.
—— Do you think they'll really appreciate you if you save them?
Xiu said it to Eric and to his past self who was too stupid.
Eric and Xiu look at each other. Eric stood in the light and the shadow around Xiu was especially dark.
'You are miserable." Eric said: "In your eyes, everyone is ugly. You don't trust other people, you only care about yourself. You are pathetic."
The emotions inside of him were about to explode. Du Ze wanted to tell Eric that the man he was accusing had once naively believed in goodness, but even the people he rescued betrayed him. He was abandoned and betrayed by all his friends and allies. Whenever he still chose to believe in people, he would just be betrayed again and again, repeatedly hurt until he was on the verge of death — it was only then that his faith in others was destroyed.
The words that Du Ze was about to speak was interrupted by Xiu's laughter. The sound was very refreshing and the expression on his face was full of a wanton arrogance.
"Eric." This was the first time that he called Eric by his name. "You'll soon know who the pathetic man really is."
"There's one more thing you're wrong about." Xiu did not argue about Eric's estimation of himself but only corrected one point. "There is a person who makes me believe in myself even if I don't care about it."
Xiu hugged Du Ze and kissed his black hair, his eyes showing a deep affection. "I just want this one, that's all."
Eric involuntarily looked away, feeling that it was the behavior of someone trying to escape defeat.
The Archon's men looked at two Inspectors and, seeing that they had finished speaking, one of the mages went to Xiu to ask for instruction.
"My lord, should we go back or move on?"
Since the spell for collecting light elements couldn't be used in the same area after such a short time, Xiu glanced at the town that Eric had saved and ordered the soldiers to move to the next place. Eric continued to follow them and after each completed levy, he used his own feather of light to drive away the darkness. Du Ze felt that Xiu's mood was getting worse and worse. Eric could not prevent Xiu's actions but neither could Xiu prevent Eric from acting against him. Eric's actions not only annoyed Xiu, they also hindered his plan. As a result of Eric saving the civilians, the people who hated heaven's representatives became grateful to them, especially Eric.
"Clang-"
The soldiers in front of him were suddenly fighting and the whole group were forced to come to a halt. Du Ze smelled the iron tang of blood. He saw two soldiers carrying a mage come running over to them. The mage's throat was pierced by an arrow; apparently he was shot and died.
"My lord, we can't advance." The surviving mage's face was pale. "In front of us is a gang of criminals' hideout!"
Xiu's mood was not good. He looked at the town that was built on a mountainside. It had towers, a fortified wall, and a team of fighters protecting it.
"Don't bother to expel the residents, just levy the light elements immediately."
"But ..." The mage didn't know why he was finding it difficult to speak but after a long pause he finally thought of a reason to protest: "But they will resist ..."
A huge gray magic circle was unfolding in the sky. Xiu stared at the mage: "Is there a problem?"
Being stared at by those crimson eyes made the mage almost run to execute Xiu's command. The soldiers stayed out of the archers' range and sprinkled the powder at the edges of the town. The sentry at the checkpoint was still frozen in shock because of the sudden appearance of a massive magic circle in the sky. When he saw the soldiers on the other side beginning to surround their town with powder, he immediately sounded the alarm. Du Ze saw the gate open and a group of bandits run towards the soldiers, but they had only run a few paces when they were struck by the gray light and instantly disappeared, leaving nothing behind.
It seemed that the other bandits, seeing that the first group died so fast, didn't know what to do at first. Another group of criminals ran out from the gate and were likewise quickly eliminated by the gray light. Next, whoever ran out from the gate, whether it was an ordinary unarmed person or a fighter, all of them were swallowed up by the gray magic circle in the sky. Pretty soon, no one dared to leave the town anymore and the gate was tightly shut after several people sacrificed their lives.
After the powder had been sprinkled in a circle, the mage began to chant the spell. Because of the death of the other mage, the remaining mage found it a bit difficult to cast the spell. As soon as the light was collected, darkness poured down into the town like water. A few screams of horror came from the town as the darkness streamed into the houses, but no one opened the gates again. The bandits seemed to prefer to die at home rather than die outside in the wilderness. The sounds and movements from the town started to grow more intense. Du Ze could imagine what was happening in town: as the darkness flooded in, the people in town tried to flee but the spaces that were still safe became smaller and smaller and more and more crowded. They could only watch as the darkness surrounding them came closer and closer.
Xiu suddenly spoke: "Oh? Why do you not save them this time?" Eric seemed surprised that Xiu would suddenly talk to him and was temporarily speechless. Xiu pointed to the town from which they heard people screaming. He seemed to seriously suggest: "Why don't you go and save them just like you did before?"
Because of Xiu's words, all eyes went to Eric. Du Ze looked at Eric's feathers. Including the previous town, they had passed three towns so Eric now has three and a half feathers. If Eric is willing, he can still take out a feather to disperse the darkness in the town to save that group of bandits.
Seeing that Eric had no intention of acting, Xiu was not surprised and laughed. "You won't save them because they are just a bunch of bandits."
Clearly it was a statement, not a question, but it made Eric feel unhappy so he replied: "They choose to be sinners and should be punished accordingly."
"You must have grown up in the Temple of Light." Xiu grinned. "Those people must have taught you this: the world has only absolute 'good' and 'bad'. Civilians are 'good' and the Temple is 'good' so they should be protected; bandits are 'bad' and heresy is 'bad', so they are all evil and should be punished."
Eric wanted to refute this but he didn't know what to say. Although Xiu's words were too extreme, he couldn't deny that his words were true. Eric, who was chosen to be the son of god, grew up in the Temple of Light. He was inspired by the scriptures of the Temple, his mentor is the pope, and he has always thought that bandits who prey on people should be punished. What's wrong with that?
"You, come closer." Xiu suddenly called a soldier. He pointed at the now quiet town and asked: "How long have those people been entrenched here?"
"To reply to my lord, they started occupying the city after the last governor left. The Archon sent soldiers to expel them but they were unable to do so."
"Why? They are not very strong."
"The civilians defended them." The soldier paused and then said: "And because of the rebellion."
Eric looked at the soldier in amazement. He seemed unable to understand the situation. Xiu's face was calm as the soldier continued to explain.
"Those ruthless bandits often attack us, either preventing us from collecting light elements or stealing back the light that we collected. A lot of people joined them and even the Archon's son is with them, so he didn't have the heart to exterminate them or report the bandits to the lord governor."
"Preying on others, breaking into people's houses to rob them ..." When Xiu spoke his voice wasn't slow, but every word seemed to stab Eric in the heart. "You're right, they're a bunch of criminals who should be punished."
Eric stared blankly at nothing for a long time. His faith that had been solid as a rock suddenly developed a crack. Although the crack wasn't very big, it spread out like a cobweb. He saw his shadow in Xiu's eyes; it was painted with scarlet blood from head to toe.
"You are no different from those heavenly angels." That person said: "How arrogant you are to judge whether people are good or evil."
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