Game of the World Tree

Eternal Era January 1, 1073, the first day of the new year.

The Mania Heights where the eternal holy city of Mania is located in the northern part of the Seggs Continent also ushered in the first snow in winter.

The sky was gray, and snowflakes like goose feathers fell, cloudy and cold.

However, today's Mania City is extraordinarily noisy.

The most central of the city, the Holy Square.

This huge square, which covers an area of ​​more than 2 million square meters and is located at the intersection of the Eternal Sanctuary, the Imperial Palace and the Greycastle Parliament Building, has long been covered by crowds.

The indifferent judgement knights and the big-waisted city guards maintained the order on the scene, brutally isolating the curious civilians from the center of the square, and in the center of the square, a huge high platform had been erected.

The high platform is divided into three areas, with seats and gorgeous canopies built, and even a magic circle to adjust the temperature.

This is where the clergy of the church and the rulers of the empire are.

Among the three areas, the most central is the Holy See of the Eternal Pope, which symbolizes theocracy above the king.

On the right is the royal family, sitting the empire's successor, 14-year-old Princess Teresa, as well as other royal relatives, including some former royals who once elected the emperor of the empire.

Bishop Winster, the regent, was also impressively included.

The fief bishop was also a member of the current royal family Tres before becoming a monk.

On the left, the Elector and Noble Speaker, the Duke of Corrence, as well as other great nobles and archbishops who participated in the operation of the empire's center.

These people are the most powerful people in the entire Holy Mannia Empire, and at the same time, they are also the most powerful people in the entire continent.

The current Pope of the Eternal Church, Benedict II, is a kindly old man.

His beard and hair are all white, his waist is hunched, and his gorgeous and solemn holy robe makes him look both sacred and majestic.

He was very old, and his hunched figure under his large robe gave the illusion that he could fall with the wind at any moment.

However, no one dared to underestimate this weak-looking Pope.

Although he is nearly 300 years old and has already approached the limit of the legendary human lifespan, as a true god, a strong man who can summon divine power and perform divine descent, even a demigod will respect him somewhat. .

At the same time, Benedict II is also the longest-serving pope in the history of the Eternal Church. Today, it is his 83rd year in charge of the Holy See.

Beneath the high platform, the citizens looked curiously at the dignitaries above.

Although these archbishops and great nobles who rule the church and the empire have long been well-known, it is the first time for most ordinary people to see them with their own eyes.

In particular, the Pope, who only appears during huge celebrations, and Princess Teresa, who was officially established as the heir of the empire in a daze not long ago.

This girl with pink makeup and jade is just fourteen years old. She is blond and blue-eyed. Like other noble girls, she is noble and beautiful. She can already faintly see that she will definitely be a beauty when she grows up.

She sat there quietly, her big shining eyes looked around excitedly, innocent and clear, and seemed to be quite curious about this kind of big scene.

However, when her gaze touched the solemn gaze of Bishop Winster, the Chancellor of the Regent, and the gentle smile of Duke Corrence, the speaker, she quickly sat up, giving a kind of obedient and cowardly attitude. Feel.

But even so, she still couldn't help but quietly swept her gaze to the surroundings, especially in front of the high platform, the vertical torture rack with thorns and barbs that stood up.

Her unstained, black and white eyes are full of novelty, like a piece of white paper that has never been rendered dirty.

Beside the torture rack, stood several trial knights in black robes, each with a powerful aura, far exceeding that of ordinary gold professionals, making people dare not look directly at them.

On the periphery of the torture rack, the heavily armed soldiers have already strictly guarded the handle, all of them are the elite of the elite, completely isolating the onlookers from the outside.

When Demacia mixed into the crowd and came to the square, this was what she saw.

"Boss Delmar, don't you really need to make a scene in the square for a while to rescue John the Blessed?"

Beside him, another hooded player asked in a low voice.

As early as a few days ago, the Eternal Church released the news of the trial of Old John, and for players who have been paying attention to the trends in the mainland, the news also spread all over the server for the first time.

The Eternal Church dares to judge its own favored people?

This naturally aroused the collective sense of honor and anger among the players.

Although the distance was far away, a considerable number of high-level players gathered and contacted the underground forces of the Church of Life in Mannia to discuss the feasibility of rescue.

The strongest, Demacia, who had broken into Doloria Castle Prison and recorded Old John's preaching story, naturally became the leader everyone introduced.

However, after listening to his companion's words, Demacia shook her head slightly and sighed softly:

"Rescue what? How to rescue? With so many gold professionals and legends, maybe there are demigod angels watching the show hidden behind them, just rely on us crooked melons?"

"But don't you still have a god of death punishment, Mr. Dema?"

"But there is only one divine punishment..."

"Then what do we do?"

"Cold salad! Watch it carefully, just do as I said before!"

"Isn't it? Wouldn't that just sit and watch John get burned?"

The player who talked to Demacia frowned slightly, and seemed rather unhappy.

Demacia was silent for a moment and sighed softly:

"That's what he meant..."

The player is silent.

He knew who Demacia was referring to as "he".

"Even if...even if the price is death?"

He couldn't help but say.

"Yeah, even death...there is always something higher than life."

Demacia sighed.

Hearing this sentence, the player who spoke to him opened his mouth and looked at this well-known big guy in disbelief.

Seemingly noticing the strange gaze of her companion, Demacia turned around with a black line on her face:

"No, what's your expression like?"

"Uh... It's nothing, I just didn't expect you to say such a thing, Mr. Dema... I always thought, I always thought you were quite, um... quite unrestrained."

The player scratched his head.

Demacia:  …

"What the hell is unrestrained?"

"Uh... maverick, dare to take risks? Or... there are always some high-end operations?"

Demacia:  …

You can just say that I love to die.

He groaned inwardly.

Demacia is very aware of his character, and he also understands that what his companions said is right. He is indeed a person who escapes, loves adventure, and loves to die.

Although the game has been played for so long, he still regards it as a game more than those players who have long treated "Elf Kingdom" as another life.

But even if he is like this, he will be touched...

Recalling what Old John said and did in prison, Demacia's eyes gradually became solemn.

He has never admired any NPC in "Even Country".

But now, maybe there is.

Although, even now, from his true heart, he still feels that Old John's choice of devotion is a huge loss to the Church of Life...

Sighing softly, Demacia looked at the surrounding square again.

His eyes swept over the gorgeously dressed and extravagant archbishops and nobles on the high platform, and then swept over the fierce and well-armed guards below the stage, and finally stopped at a large number of people gathered in the square, with dishes on their faces and plain clothes. There are even more patches and even tattered civilians...

The same square, but on and off the stage, is like two worlds.

However, even the commoners who gathered in the square had a good life in Mania City.

As the kingdom of the entire empire, one of the most prosperous cities in the human kingdom, their living conditions are definitely the upper class in the human society of the entire continent.

Those peasants who live in the countryside, those who live in the slums, are not even qualified to stand here and watch.

At this moment, Demacia really felt the tearing sense of the human society in the world of Seggs...

"The existence of extraordinary power has accelerated the solidification of society, and the rapid increase of magic power has not only failed to destroy this solidification, but has instead strengthened contradictions and added more contradictions, making an already unstable society even more unstable. stabilized."

"Human society is dead, and this world... needs a new force to breathe life and vitality!"

Involuntarily, Demacia remembered the two words Old John said in prison.

If the player said these words, he would not be surprised, but it was really shocking and respectful to replace it with an NPC and someone who had only accepted the teachings of life for less than a year.

Demacia was thinking wildly until the piercing bell came from the high platform, and the indifferent black bishop walked to the platform and announced that he would bring up heretics who blasphemed the gods and disrupted the order of the empire.

Gradually, there was a commotion in the crowd in the distance, and Sward, the legendary swordsman who belonged to the empire, personally led the team, led a team of fully armed guards, and escorted a straight figure up.

That figure was none other than Old John.

Seeing the appearance of old John, Demacia's expression changed slightly.

without him.

At this moment, Old John had been stripped of all his clothes, and was naked and bound by the shackles of the forbidden demon, only retaining the last trace of dignity that covered his body.

And the bloody whip marks that haven't faded are telling what kind of torture this God-Blessed One suffered before being escorted over.

Prisoners with the same imprisoned power couldn't hurt him, but with the knights and priests of the Inquisition, it would be different.

But even so, Old John still held his head high and his eyes were clear and bright.

Like a green pine that will never fall.

The crowd of onlookers gradually became agitated.

I don't know who took the lead. Suddenly, a stone hit Old John's face.

Someone laughed.

Then, the second block, the third block...

Not only stones, some household garbage, some common filth in the city, gradually like raindrops, were thrown out by the people on both sides, and kept smashing at the escorted protagonist.

Indistinctly, you can still hear the swearing of the people:

"Bah! Heretic cultists who disrupt the order!"

"Blagues! Die!"

"Smash him! Smash him!"

"Burn him!"

"Hahahahaha..."

The players were stunned for a while looking at the onlookers who were numb and eager to throw filth in front of them.

Demacia was also stunned for a moment, then fell silent.

His eyes swept over Old John in a complicated way, and he saw that the other party's face remained unchanged.

However, there seemed to be a hint of gloom in the depths of the gaze of the favored one.

But that sadness quickly flashed by and turned into a strong light and belief...

Demacia was taken aback.

His eyes stayed on the civilians again, looking at their happy and excited eyes, his mood was complicated.

At this moment, he finally truly understood why Old John made such a choice.

For the vast majority of civilians in the human kingdom, they have been enslaved for too long, their bones are completely numb, and they have long forgotten to resist.

The nobles control extraordinary power, the church controls public opinion, and controls everything about them.

For them, watching a pagan trial is as "attractive" as watching people butchering pigs during the Chinese New Year in Blue Star.

It is precisely because they have neither the courage to resist nor the belief to resist, so they can only vent their emotions, vent their dissatisfaction with reality, and seek some kind of psychological comfort by throwing stones at the pagans.

This is a dark age, an age full of ignorance and ignorance, an age of insensitivity...

Even though a spark was ignited under the leadership of players and life evangelists, the spark was still a spark after all.

Without an opportunity, it is still impossible to shake this silent wasteland.

Fortunately, not all civilians are so numb. In the depths of the crowd, there are still many eyes looking at Old John, full of complexity, worry and grief.

However, their figures have been submerged in the boiling crowd.

"It's so cold, why don't you dress him?"

On the high platform, Princess Teresa frowned, glanced at Old John below the platform, and looked at Bishop Winster, the Chancellor of the Regent, uncomfortably.

Bishop Winster smiled softly:

"Your highness, beautiful princess, your kindness is admirable, but... this is the punishment of the gods to the infidels. He is a blasphemer and an evil person who destroys the stability of the empire."

"Infidels... Destabilize the Empire..."

Princess Teresa nodded in understanding, and looked at Old John with a hint of disgust in her eyes.

The surrounding great nobles whispered and looked down at Old John who was escorted to the front of the stage and tied to the rack. Those playful and disdainful eyes were like looking at a monkey.

The bell rang again, and the bishop of the inquisition in black robes came to the front of the stage.

He held up a piece of golden parchment with a solemn expression, and the grand voice spread to every corner of the square under the effect of amplification magic:

"According to the decree of the Pope, I declare"

"The trial against the preacher of life, the blasphemer, the pagan John, begins now!"