The Church Of Pain


    The divinity was quickly exhausted and the light faded away. Bruno seemed to age ten years in the span of minutes, his muscles visibly thinning out, “This book of mine, it could only be read once.”


    Richard immediately sat down to meditate, not moving for a long time. Two more troops came in to try and drag him to the Church of Pain, but Nyra and Waterflower didn’t let a single once pass. Used in the right way, pain could forge an unshakeable soul. However, the methods employed here made these souls so fragile that Nyra could y with them at will.


    It took nearly three-fourths of an hour for Richard to snap out of meditation, bowing towards Bruno in gratitude, “Thank you, Mister Bruno. Thesews may be iplete, but they are Neian’sws nevertheless.”


    “You can understand them?” Bruno’s eyes went wide.


    “Perhaps. I can certainly recognise them... Alright, we’ll be off to the Church of Pain. Thank you for the hospitality!” Richard bowed once more and left the small cabin, but before that he took the time to take the y pen and scribble some numbers into the nks on the brick.


    Bruno stood dumbfounded as he saw the forme he had been working on for decades be solved in the blink of an eye. This was only a door to proper understanding of thew he was working on, but it still illuminated the path forward. Such ambitions were only folly for ordinary people, but he believed he had just enough ability to perhaps seed one day.


    Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time. The old man looked out the window towards the figures disappearing into the distance, murmuring to himself, “It looks like there’s more to your ambition than I thought...”


    ......


    The Church of Pain was an enormous building, just the iron doors more than thirty metres tall. They looked like regr iron bs from afar, but as one approached they could make out the vivid agonised faces that were engraved all over. From nearby, it almost felt like thousands of people were crying in pain.


    “A wall of screams,” Nyramented as a faint white mist radiated from her body, “A favoured decoration in the hells. I’m growing more and more curious about the identity of the person hidden within.”


    One of Richard’s brows shot up, “You sound like you have experience with them.”


    Nyra’s eyes started whirling into a chaotic grey as she shed a horrific smile, “I happen to be particrly good at dealing with those who use pain as a weapon.”


    “You know, I’m growing more and more curious about your origins. You’re definitely not an ordinary heavenly guardian.” Richard had been reading up on heavenly guardians in his free time.


    “Of course not. If you really want to know, I can tell you in detail.”


    “Hmm? Didn’t you say before that you’re barred from speaking about the ce you came from?”


    Nyra smiled mysteriously, “Yes, but all rules have loopholes. I definitely am able to describe that ce, and even help you fully understand it. It should be of great assistance, perhaps even with uncovering anotherw.”


    “Anotherw...” Richard smiled helplessly. He already had six entirew systems waiting to be analysed, an endeavour that would take him more than five millennia despite his blessings. This was well beyond what could reasonably be expected of his life, so anotherw system was almostpletely useless to him. He himself was currently focused on what he had learnt from the Tree of Life, as that was the simplest of the lot and would benefit him in the short term.


    “That’s just one of the benefits,” Nyra added, “The next time you hold a ceremony, I can help you with getting a good guardian simr to me and Io. I still have a sister in that ce who is waiting to see the light of day.”


    Richard casually noticed the telltale signs of Io panicking a little, but continued to ask with interests, “And what’s the point of a guardian that won’t listen to orders?”


    “Heavenly guardians are absolutely loyal to the masters that summon them, you can ask the Eternal Dragon himself during the ceremony. After all, the Dragon’s reputation hinges on it.”


    Nyra’s words were tempting, but Richard still felt that something wasn’t quite right. Still, he continued the discussion, “And what do you want?”


    “Divine grace. I need three top-tier sacrifices to reach the legendary realm. At level 19 I can help you contact my sister, at level 20 I will tell you everything about my experiences in that ce.”


    “And legendary?”


    “That’s an offering I want to find myself.”


    “Good, I’ll consider it,” Richard nced at Flowsand, but she just shrugged and left the decision to him.


    However, Io had been left shocked and angry in this time. He tugged at Nyra’s robes in annoyance, “Where’s your dignity?!”


    “Dignity?” Nyra looked at him innocently, “What’s that?”


    At that moment, the blurry face appeared in the sky once more. This time, it looked angry and its booming voice visibly shook the earth, “Youe before the doors of my temple but still refuse to enter. Neian will punish your soul for this slight!”


    Richard smiled faintly, ignoring the sky to look towards one of the faces on the doors, “What’s with the theatrics? Just shut up and open the door or I’ll leave.”


    The face immediately shuddered, revealing a surprised expression beforeughing loudly, “You managed to find me amongst so many! Wonderful,e in!”


    The doors of pain slowly opened up, what would have been screeches reced by a baby’s cries. Richard stayed in ce and stared at the dark corridor that had been opened up, his eyes starting to glow as he revealed all of the illusions within. The glow from his eyes then illuminated the dark passage, burning apart the neshades lying in wait.


    “Really? A neshade?” heughed as he swaggered into the hall.


    neshades were strange creature, partly demonic existences that came from semines. They were extremely powerful, capable of devouring strong souls, but they could not live outside of the darkness. Once they were illuminated, they would immediately be destroyed. Although such creatures were a threat in many secondary nes, they were a basic enemy in Nond that had already been analysed thoroughly. Some mages even intentionally summoned arge group to try and track them back to their home nes.


    Disturbing whispers resonated throughout the church for a few moments before everything fell silent. Flowsand followed Richard in, while Io brought up the rear. The astral chrysalis was already descending from its position next to the Valley of Darkness, the fifty shadowspear knights within ready to jump intobat.


    However, Richard’s brows quickly furrowed as he calcted just how much the chrysalis had dropped. It had descended multiple kilometres now, and from his own calctions it would have ended up deep within the earth. However, it was still stuck in the thick fog cover above the Valley of Darkness.


    He suddenly stopped, growing serious for the first time, “We might be in trouble.”


    However, Flowsand just pointed behind them, “We can’t go back.”


    Richard turned around, only to find that the door they had entered from was long gone, and there seemed to be no end to the corridor. He looked back ahead, shaking his head as he started to walk once more, “Well... Fuck. We might not be able to count on the support.”


    Io’s body lit uppletely, turning him into a bright torch, but even so the group could barely see around them. The light didn’t even go so far as the passage walls. “This is simr to a divine kingdom... Not as powerful, sure, but still...”


    Richard thought about it for a moment, “Let’s continue forward, the ce can’t be endless. Whoever this is, it will take a great amount of energy to just keep us trapped for a long time.”