Chapter 182: Religion Of Eternity ( Bonus Chapter )
More than two hours had passed since the second floor began, and nothing significant had happened. The pilgrims simply kept walking.
This made Daniel wonder whether they were really going to walk all the way to the church without any breaks. That thought pushed him to ask the pilgrim next to him again.
Fortunately, as nightfall approached, they stopped and planned to rest until morning. Tents would be set up, and they would sleep inside them for the night.
Of course, they had brought food and other necessities with them.
During this time, Daniel checked his inventory and his connection to his Fallen. He wanted to make sure he still had access to all of them, and thankfully, there were no issues.
’There should be other players mixed in with the pilgrims too. But since we’re all wearing the same white robes, there’s no easy way to tell them apart,’ he thought, scanning the area around him.
He even used his spiritual senses to try and detect any presence that stood out, but with thousands of pilgrims, his range could only cover a few hundred people.
’At this point, I’ll just have to wait until someone reveals themselves.’ The other players accompanying him on this floor likely had the same objective as him: protect the pilgrims. Though, he did consider the possibility that some might have missions to slaughter the pilgrims instead.
But unless someone made a move, there was no way to know for sure. Either way, he didn’t lower his guard.
The sky gradually darkened until night finally came. The pilgrims began setting up various tents. Each tent could hold about ten to fifteen people.
More importantly, the tents weren’t assigned to specific individuals. Anyone who hadn’t brought a tent could sleep in someone else’s.
Daniel was one of those who hadn’t brought a tent. But the pilgrim he’d been talking to since the start of the second floor noticed this and approached him.
"My friend, looks like you didn’t bring a tent. How about spending the night in mine?"
"Is that okay?" Daniel raised an eyebrow, surprised.
He’d expected the pilgrims to only let their close friends sleep in their tents, but apparently, he was wrong.
"Of course it’s okay. We are all servants of the great god Horvand. Helping one another is part of our faith."
Daniel nodded and thanked him. If he could get a free place to sleep, he wasn’t going to complain.
He followed the man—Malrik—to his tent. Several others were already there, preparing a fire to cook dinner.
"You only eat once a day?" Daniel glanced at his new companion and asked.
They had naturally introduced themselves to each other during the time they spent together, and Daniel had gotten somewhat familiar with him.
"Yes, Mr. Daniel. It’s one of the rituals in our faith."
"I see." The reason Daniel had asked was because he hadn’t seen any of the pilgrims eat anything all day.
He himself, due to his power level, didn’t need to eat often. He could survive for weeks or even months without food.
But most of these pilgrims were ordinary people without any powers.
Daniel and Malrik sat around the fire along with the others who were sharing the same tent. Some sang songs while others chatted and laughed.
"Be honest—was what you said this morning true? You were running from bandits?" Malrik finally asked the question that had been on his mind.
"Yeah... as dumb as it sounds, it’s true." Daniel didn’t have much choice but to stick to the lie.
Malrik shook his head. No matter how dumb it seemed, if Daniel didn’t want to share more, he couldn’t force him.
"Anyway, can you tell me more about the Everlasting Way? Why do so many pilgrims travel this route to the church?" Daniel asked out of curiosity—and to change the subject.
Even though he was in the second floor of the Tower and his goal was to clear it, he didn’t mind learning a bit more about the Church of Eternity while he was at it, right?
"Well, this is one of our sacred rituals. Every ten years, the great Prophet gives a public sermon. Followers of the faith from all over the world travel to the church using the Everlasting Way to attend it. After the sermon, the Prophet answers as many questions as he can."
"Of course, that’s not all. Those who manage to complete the Final Ablution in the presence of the Prophet can receive the Great Prophet’s blessing."
"That’s why this event is incredibly important to all followers of our faith—especially because no one knows how often the Everlasting Way is opened. It’s been over seventy years since the last time it was held. No one wants to miss this chance. And what you’re seeing now isn’t even the full crowd—millions more will be joining us soon."
Malrik smiled as he spoke. It was clear he was excited and proud to talk about his religion.
"Can you tell me more about your Prophet and the faith itself?"
"Of course. I love answering questions like that. Our belief is centered on the great god of Eternity, Horvand. The founder and current Prophet of our faith is Zirham. He is the oldest Prophet and the only one who is still alive. One of our core beliefs is the rejection of death."
"We believe death is the greatest insult to living beings. We were not born to die. We were born to live. We were born to chase our goals, to grow, and to evolve." Malrik explained with pride.
"That’s... an interesting philosophy." Daniel nodded, intrigued.
From multiple angles, this ideology was quite fascinating. In fact, he figured it wasn’t just him—most humans would probably find it appealing. After all, immortality had always been humanity’s greatest dream.
Now he could understand why, among the thousands of pilgrims, the majority were human. Eternal life had always been humanity’s obsession.
"Following the great god Horvand and walking the path of Eternity has helped us live longer lives. It might sound strange, but many followers of the Church of Eternity, even though they’re just mortals, have lived for centuries."
"For real? That’s even possible?"