Chapter 677: Religion
Deep in the night of Metropolis, a group of people gathered in a room devoid of any light. Despite that, the inhabitants of this dark recess of the land didn’t seem to find that much trouble navigating through the pathway.
They all wore a long black robe that scraped past the ground as they walked. The only color on their attire was the red velvet lining peeking through the long tipped collars lunging out of their necks.
Both the men and women in this group were extremely pale, as if they hadn’t seen the light of day since a thousand years ago. And if one were to shine a light on their bodies, one would see that their skins would sparkle like they doused themselves in an oily glitter.
But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of their appearance was their two protruding fangs on their upper teeth, barely hidden by their red lips.
These were none other than the Vampires that visited Metropolis.
And of course, unlike normal humans, Vampires like them would only be active during the deep night, when the sun’s uncomfortable rays were out of their views.
Not only that, but they sustained themselves only through drinking blood—nothing more, nothing less.
"How has everyone been enjoying the Royal Continent so far?" one of the Vampires asked.
In his hands was a glass of deep red blood with a distinct smell of a sheep’s musk still lingering around.
"They are well-meaning people," answered one of the Vampires. "Just from this parade alone, I can see that they treat us with care and respect just like any other species."
They all had a positive reaction from the people of Metropolis. The hospitality they received in this place was incredibly nice to see. But of course, they knew that it wasn’t just purely out of the goodness of their own hearts. They knew that humans were aiming to earn as much Sand Dollars as they could get, which they didn’t mind at all.
But despite such a positive experience in Metropolis, almost all of the Vampires were just about ready to embark onto the next territory in the Royal Continent.
That was because they knew that they weren’t going to find what they were looking for here in Metropolis.
"My only complaint is that this town has a complete lack of churches," one of the female Vampires commented. "They have no culture of worship."
"It can’t be helped. Metropolis is a capitalistic society, one that doesn’t place much interest in the ways of faith and belief."
The Vampires found it a shame that they couldn’t learn anything from Metropolis. But that didn’t matter. They had plenty of territories to go through in the entirety of the Royal Continent.
"We shall stay in this place for a couple more days, maybe a week at most," said one of the leading Vampires.
And just as they were about to conclude their meeting, they suddenly saw a bat fly through the window and into their room.
This bat flapped its wings and took its place near the center of the gathering before its entire body got enveloped in a shadow and finally transformed its body back into a Vampire.
"I have good news, ladies and gentlemen," said the newcomer Vampire.
"Start with the good news."
"Good news: it seemed that Metropolis wasn’t as fully secular as we thought. There is a current trend among its citizens to start worshipping a new deity and join a newly minted religion."
Upon his news, all Vampires perked up with excitement. They thought they’d never find an active religion in Metropolis .
"What’s the bad news?" the other Vampires asked.
"The bad news is that I have already investigated this religion called the Iron Maiden.
It seems that they worship a metal woman who has created miraculous vehicles that defied the physical laws of the world. I got the impression that the deity they worship is someone that is recent.
It’s not what we are trying to find."
The Vampires’ excitement died down soon after his words. The religion that they were trying to find was something that worshipped a Deity that was deeply ingrained into the history of the world that they now knew today.
But the Iron Maiden religion looked like it had just recently been founded, so it couldn’t have been the one they were looking for.
They would want to visit the Iron Maiden religion at least once, but it wasn’t worth it to spend even longer than that. It would be better to just continue their travels until they found what they needed to find somewhere along the known corners of the Royal Continent.
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Meanwhile, back in the Nation of Reborn, Michael knocked into one of the guest bedrooms in his house.
"It’s me, Michael," he announced.
"Ah, yes. Please come in," said Guillermo.
After seeing the rollercoaster for himself, Guillermo found himself incredibly intrigued with the culture and innovations that Michael had done in this place. It made him stay for a few days just to take it all in.
Michael then opened the door and walked inside.
Just then, he realized that there were strange symbols written in a circular pattern around the floor. Around it were candles that were already half-melted, accompanied by the smell of incense.
This looked like a ritual of some sort.
Then, he realized that Vampires were incredibly religious in this world. Guillermo must have been in the middle of his prayer when he knocked.
"Sorry. Was I interrupting you?"
Guillermo shook his head. "You were not. Our divine has no need for time nor space, so I could simply re-affirm my beliefs at my own leisure."
After hearing this, Michael was curious. What kind of religion did the Vampires believe?
"You said back then that Vampires are incredibly religious. Why is that? Who or what are you worshipping?" he asked directly.
He would have thought that they were exactly the opposite. In his previous world’s pop culture, Vampires were considered harmful monsters that ravaged the innocent and were repulsed by the divine. There were multiple depictions of Vampires that would burst into flames the moment they entered a church.
"A Beastfolk’s Dao Heart is their source of power. That is undeniable to the mermen, to the draconians, and even to us.
That is why it was vitally important for anyone to strengthen their Dao Hearts.
There were a lot of methods available. For the Draconians, they do so by fierce and dangerous combat. But for us Vampires, we derive our strength from belief. The more we believe a deity, the more we believe that it is real, then the power that we gain from our Dao Hearts will be incredibly tremendous."
Then, Guillermo pointed at the mirror in front of the faucet. "Do you see that?"
Michael looked in the mirror and saw only his reflection, and not of Guillermo’s. It looked like he was alone in the room.
"Legends has it that if we Vampires are able to find and worship the Deity responsible for the creation of our very species as a whole, then we would be able to regain the very soul that we lost through death. We could get our reflections back.
That is our quest. But it’s not just for Vampires, but for everyone as a whole. After all, the Deity that we would worship is someone who also created the Aubilities that you humans use!"