Not long after leaving the rcenary market, Aurora realized she was being followed. However, she did not show any panic, nor did she return to the stone house. Instead, she took a winding path and led those following her to a more remote area.
Those following her naturally noticed Aurora's actions, and they began to hesitate. After all, there were plenty of ruthless people on this continent capable of taking on ten or even a hundred opponents alone, not to ntion the Sarkaz, who were naturally skilled in combat and mostly possessed Originium Arts.
If the target had so strange or unusual Originium Arts, they could easily end up falling victim to her through a mont of carelessness.
Just as these people hesitated and stopped following her, they suddenly discovered that Aurora, who had been nearby, had vanished without a trace.
"Damn it, we've been played!" the leader, a Sarkaz rcenary carrying a greatsword, said with a gloomy expression. In his eyes, this was clearly a diversionary tactic used by the target to make them hesitate, create distance, and then slip away.
"Forget it, Boss. That kid doesn't look particularly wealthy, and I doubt she bought anything valuable from the intelligence broker." Whether to comfort their leader or make an excuse for the failed operation, one of his subordinates said this.
"(Sarkaz profanity)!" the sword-wielding Sarkaz said impatiently. He turned around, ready to take his four or five subordinates back to the rcenary market, but after walking only a few steps, he found the way back blocked by soone, the very person they had been following.
"...This is bad." Whether due to years of experience or pure instinct, the sword-wielding Sarkaz felt an indescribable sense of danger.
He thought for a mont, then imdiately stepped forward, stood in front of his subordinates, and said to Aurora, "We were ignorant today. We admit defeat. Can the sword in my hand and a few dog tags buy our lives?"
Aurora stood there with a smile, looking at the people before her. Upon seeing that she was still smiling, the sword-wielding Sarkaz knew they had encountered a lunatic. Buying their lives was out of the question. A fight to the death was inevitable.
"Damn it! All together now!" As Aurora watched them charge at her like madn, she kept smiling. If it were the old her facing people who surpassed her in physical ability and weaponry, she certainly would have had no way to resist. But she was no longer the person she used to be. She was now Aurora, reborn through the grace of God.
"You must all live very difficult lives, right? Even if you gain sothing today, you don't know whether you'll be able to make it through tomorrow. No aning in life, no pursuit in existence, not knowing your future goals, not knowing what you live for. Such a numb and empty life is truly pitiful."
"Believe in God! God will grant you release. God will grant you redemption. The blessings bestowed by God will bring life to barren lands, grant eternal life to the dead, allow us to obtain everything we seek, and ensure that what is lost will one day return!"
The greatsword in the Sarkaz's hand fell to the ground before he could even swing it. He knelt on the ground, his pupils flashing with golden, diamond-shaped cross patterns. He clasped his hands together, looking with devout eyes at Aurora, who was smiling as she watched them.
"Oh God, please forgive our sins!"
"We Sarkaz are born with sin. We carry original sin from birth. We cannot obtain redemption, we cannot obtain protection, we suffer bullying and contempt, and we have no peace. But sins will eventually be forgiven. God grants us rcy. He descended into this world, not minding our lowliness, not minding our sin and filth, still bestowing blessings upon us, still granting us nectar."
"We believe in God not because God needs our service, but because we need God's protection, a harbor for our souls, a destination after life ends, and forgiveness for our sins."
Aurora wore a devout smile as she proclaid God's greatness to the new believers before her. The golden, diamond-shaped crosses in the eyes of those kneeling on the ground grew brighter and brighter until they reached a certain intensity and then vanished.
One of the people kneeling on the ground pulled a dagger from his chest pocket. He said that he had been born with original sin. He had killed his mother because she died in childbirth. His father abandoned him because of this, and he killed his father when he was young. Having committed many sins throughout his life, he had sunk into a living hell with no release, but now, having received God's revelation, he would begin atoning for his past cris today.
After speaking, he used the dagger in his hand to cut flesh from his body, slice by slice. His face showed no pain or resistance to the agony his body suffered. Instead, it was filled with joy and devotion.
The others watched him with joyful expressions, each smiling as they observed him cutting off his own flesh, one by one congratulating him for repenting of his sins and atoning for his cris.
The man used the dagger to scrape away his flesh bit by bit, even shaving the remaining scraps of at from his bones with the dagger, until only a skeleton remained. The flesh and internal organs on the ground seed to form a lotus throne. Now reduced to a skeleton, he sat cross-legged in the center of that lotus throne with his hands clasped together.
Just then, Aurora felt warmth on the back of her hand, and then the tender green leaf emitted specks of light, which fell onto the skeleton.
The lotus throne made of flesh and internal organs closed and wrapped around him like a real lotus. Accompanied by a strange, faint fragrance, the flesh actually transford into a giant lotus. When the petals blood, the Sarkaz was sitting cross-legged on top, his flesh having regrown out of nowhere. However, he had no hair on his head, and his clothes had changed into a moon-white robe.
There was a lotus-like mark in the Sarkaz's eyes. "This is the grace bestowed by God! He personally atoned for the sins he once committed. He made up for his past karma, and God granted him eternal life. God made him immortal!"
The crowd looked fanatically at the moon-white figure sitting on the lotus throne, their eyes filled with unparalleled devotion and fervor. The Sarkaz looked at everyone with loving and compassionate eyes and said,
"I know my sins. Although I endured the pain of stripping flesh and scraping bone, it is still difficult to repay the harm I caused in the past. The past cannot be reclaid. The mistakes I made are difficult to change or redy. But God gave new life and still forgave my sins. I shall take pride in this, walk upon this land, and redeem the world."
Caelus had just finished constructing a mory-based shielding field that would not affect others when he realized that his own Path of Abundance seed to have been touched. It was as if soone had used a causal connection related to him to obtain a blessing from his Path of Abundance.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)
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