Chapter 877
Horus People and Taichu People
“Two… Fifth Tier?”
The Vagrant immediately held his breath.
His mind froze for a moment, and an intense sense of crisis erupted from within him the instant he realized this.
“Why are the Energy Levels of this team getting higher and higher!”
He had never heard of any archaeological ruins that could attract Fifth Tier Extraordinary beings…
The Vagrant was filled with regret at this moment.
There was no way he could run now; he had already taken the down payment… or rather, all the down payment for today had been spent, and even the change had been handed over. At this point, he couldn’t even get a refund and run away.
“…Forget it, who cares! Die, die, who doesn’t die in the end! ”
Dying early or late is still dying. At least I’ve had my fun, and I don’t have any extra money left. I won’t regret it even if I die!
The Vagrant took a deep breath with resolve, forcibly calming his mind.
Once he calmed down, he immediately realized something else—
Why wasn’t this white-haired woman breathing?
His perception was so keen that he could hear breathing sounds from within buildings over a hundred meters away. It was impossible that he couldn’t sense it… rather, the other party truly wasn’t breathing.
Upon closer inspection, she didn’t even have a heartbeat!
No wonder she looked like an automaton, devoid of any life… Could she be an Undead? A Fifth Tier Undead?
This was also a drawback of the “Survival Expert” profession. He could only judge the threat level of the other party to himself. For example, “stronger than me,” “weaker than me,” or “about the same,” but he couldn’t accurately know their Energy Level and Path, nor whether they were a living person or a Phantom Demon.
Fortunately, because he was Fourth Tier, “stronger than him” meant a comprehensive strength of Fifth Tier; “about the same as him” could only be Fourth Tier, and those weaker than him were not worth paying attention to.
“…Yes, Lord Bishop.”
While quickly calculating the other party’s strength in his mind, the Vagrant actually bowed extremely humbly to Eivass. “I am ‘Vagrant,’ a Fourth Tier Survival Expert.”
—Although he truly wasn’t afraid of death, who would want to die if they could live well?
Not to mention, he was an [Adapter].
Flattering a Fifth Tier healer was not shameful. After all, if something happened to him, he would still need them to heal him.
Thinking of this, the Vagrant couldn’t help but get excited.
He had received healing before… But the highest level of healing he had ever received was from a Second Tier Priest.
—He had never experienced how powerful Fifth Tier healing divine arts would be!
Let alone him… None of the mercenaries the Vagrant knew had ever received healing of even Fourth Tier.
Could it be like in the legends, that as long as there was still a breath left, one could be saved directly…
“You all seem to have pseudonyms?” Eivass said with interest. “Is it to prevent curses?”
“…Yes.”
The Vagrant nodded and obediently replied, “Of course, if you want to know my real name, you can too…”
After all, a great figure of Fifth Tier wouldn’t need such things as a real name to deal with him.
Fourth Tier and Fifth Tier looked like only one tier apart, but the gap between them was like a chasm.
In Avalon next door, the Arbitration Hall alone housed over a hundred Fourth Tier individuals who didn’t do any work. Over a hundred years have passed, and the people inside have changed multiple times… But among these arbitrators, only Grand Arbitrator Meg has advanced to Fifth Tier.
Grand Judge came from the Law Masters, Grand Guardian from the Sky Knights, and Grand Judicator from the Inheritors. This alone proves that even if one controls all Fourth Tier Extraordinary beings in a country, it might not be possible to cultivate a Fifth Tier from them. With the full might of a human nation, it’s impossible to forcefully create a Fifth Tier.
“Then there’s no need.” Eivass just smiled. “Then I’ll also pick a pseudonym. Otherwise, everyone calls each other by pseudonyms, and for me, you use my name… It sounds a bit strange.
“—Everyone can call me [Pope].”
This incredibly bold pseudonym made the Vagrant’s heart skip another beat.
As expected of a Fifth Tier Extraordinary, such ambition was almost too much to contemplate…
—But a Fifth Tier Devotee should be around the rank of Cardinal. As a candidate for Pope, this is not unreasonable…
Currently, the Church’s acting Pope is human and cannot remain Pope for long, and his reign will likely end soon. At that time, it will be time to elect a new Pope.
Perhaps at that time, Mr. [Pope] will become the true “Pope”!
Although generally, it should be the Saintess who succeeds… But since there is already a precedent for a human succeeding the Pope, it’s not impossible for it to be changed later!
As for Mr. [Pope]’s overly young face, the Vagrant didn’t pay it any mind at all. Priests who master Fire Worship Magic already approach eternal youth. Let alone looking like they are in their teens or twenties, he wouldn’t be surprised even if they looked under thirteen or fourteen.
At this moment, Cardinal Galatea also spoke, her voice as clear and cold as ice. “You can call me [Doll].”
“Then everyone call me… hmm, call me [Sin],” the great mage with his nostrils pointed skyward also said.
The Vagrant glanced at him.
He clearly remembered that when this old mage, whose name had at least ten syllables, first joined the team, he had pointed fingers at them. He didn’t really process the exact words, but the gist was that they were all idiots.
—Ridiculous, would truly intelligent people call others idiots every day?
In the Vagrant’s opinion, the Path of Wisdom is a path fools chase!
How many truly intelligent people are so infatuated with pursuing higher wisdom? Wisdom is probably just a tool for them to achieve their goals!
And before the Fifth Tier clergy member, this great mage appeared so respectful and polite, even having the thought of giving himself a pseudonym.
“…Hmm,” Professor Bard hesitated, “do I need to?”
“No need,Teacher.” Eivass said with a smile. “Why don’t you let them call you Professor? After all, you are indeed a professor.”
—To have a Fifth Tier clergy member call him “Teacher”?
Hearing Eivass’s words, everyone’s hearts leaped.
Then, Little Cat stared at Professor Bard and suddenly said, “Have I met you before?”
“Oh… yes.” Professor Bard nodded and said cheerfully, “We met five years ago. You were still Third Tier then, working as an ‘Assassin’.”
Seeing a former teammate who had explored ruins with him and emerged alive seemed to bring Professor Bard good luck.
“Allow me to introduce you further…” The great mage, who had just given himself the pseudonym “Sin,” said respectfully, “This is ‘Encyclopedia,’ a Dream Traveling Monk, and a Horus person.”
The white-robed man with brown-yellow skin and dark, thick eyebrows nodded. He stood up, clasped his hands together, and touched his shoulders, then bowed slightly. “May Atun bless you.”
Eivass looked at “Encyclopedia” with interest, appraising him.
When Encyclopedia flinched slightly, Eivass nodded slightly. “May Xi Tian Si bless you.”
The name “Atun” is what the Horus people call Xi Tian Si, and it is said to be Xi Tian Si’s True Name.
Horus people are slightly different from humans elsewhere. They do not directly worship the Nine Pillar Gods, but first worship the “Three Suns.” The third Sun is Xi Tian Si, also known as Atun. Because Xi Tian Si, as the Heavenly Envoy on the Path of Devotion, poses a threat to Candlemaster, the Horus people are not welcomed by Elves and the Church. Some Elves even compare the Horus people to Dwarves—after all, the reason Dwarves are truly hostile to Elves is their worship of Flame Heavenly Envoy.
Although Candlemaster himself doesn’t care much about such things… If He did, He would have directly dispatched His Eternal Vanguard to crush them. Before Father Serpent initiated the “Final Transcendence,” the Path of Devotion was originally the path with the most Heavenly Envoys—this was because Candlemaster was happy to share Path Power with others.
“Quite rare, a Horus person.” The Vagrant muttered.
The Horus Empire is an older empire than the Hrasal Empire.
From the very beginning of humanity, the Horus people had established their own nation, contemporary with Taichu and Ancient Anxi. It was only when the Hrasal Empire reached its peak and, together with the Anxi people, defeated the Horus people and each took one-third of their territory, that the endless expansion of the Horus Empire was halted.
Ultimately, the Horus Empire raised endless desert storms, completely isolating its borders from the outside world for five hundred years, thus preserving its remaining territory. It is said that the original Iris Kingdom territory was once part of the Horus Empire. Since the duke who carved off this piece of land was named Duke Iris, he was thus enfeoffed as Grand Duke Iris.
There is a saying among the Iris people… it is said that the curse of the Child of the Moon originated from the Horus Empire.
Because the Horus people, upon their defeat, cast a curse that their enemies’ nations would be torn apart, their monarchs usurped, their lands withered, their wealth drained, their morals corrupted, and their blood flow like rivers.
Whether this curse was truly established is unknown, but the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi did lose its king. The Hrasal Empire was indeed torn apart and suffered moral decay. The fertile land taken by the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi from the Horus Empire turned into desert. Today, due to fear of the Horus curse, both the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi and the Iris Kingdom dare not encroach upon the Horus “Empire,” whose territory is not even larger than their own.
Because of this, Horus people are rarely seen in the outside world.
However, even rarer are these… or rather, this pair.
The Vagrant thought this as he looked at the remaining two.
One was a devout ascetic, clad in worn burlap, with a solemn expression and bright eyes. The muscles on his body were so strong that they strained the burlap.
…And a man with an unfamiliar Eastern appearance, dressed in a gray robe. He had black long hair and a goat-like long beard. He exuded a strange, cold aura, and simply being near him made one feel noticeably cooler. He appeared to be around forty or fifty years old, his eyes closed, and he merely nodded at Eivass.
“This is a Temple Guardian Monk, his name is ‘Mu.’ It’s a single-syllable name… because he took an oath of silence and cannot speak, so we all call him that.” The great mage introduced. “And the other is a Grand Shaman from the Taichu Empire.”
“This Shaman is named Zhu Tang. He usually keeps his eyes closed. He is with Mr. Mu and came from across the desert from the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi. Due to their characteristics, the Anxi people call them ‘Neither Sees, Nor Speaks’.”
(End of this chapter)
