123: I still don’t eat enough
Leviathan is one of the three beasts of the apocalypse, and will die as the supper of the saint. In addition to being invulnerable to swords and guns, its skin can also make all animal creatures bow down before it and be killed.
At that time, the phantom Albion formed by the magic power of Novia in the first century mainly ate the heart of Leviathan, and took a few bites of other body parts at random... Of course, the one he ate the most was Qizhi.
After he left, there should have been many remnants of the flesh and blood of the three beasts of apocalypse at Armageddon, the place of the final battle, so it is not surprising that a magician or some fantasy species at that time might have obtained the skin of Leviathan there by chance.
I can only say that I ate too little at that time.
"I was wrong, I was wrong. I can serve you, please don't kill me. I am Cain's child. Sir, I can do anything you want me to do for you. I know I was wrong..."
The giant, feeling his life slipping away at a rapid speed, was filled with fear. He had no time to think about why his invulnerable body was shattered by humans. He could only beg for mercy.
Indeed, in front of the hide of Leviathan, the runes of the great god Odin and the scorching magma of Typhon could only trap it but could not harm it. Moreover, Grendel's body still contained the "wrath" of the fire giants in the spiritual veins of the descendants of the Norse giants. Logically speaking, it was the monster occupying the top of Northern Europe.
It’s just a pity that the Leviathan itself was killed by Avia, let alone just a layer of skin?
The instinct of death entangled the hide of the dead Leviathan, rendering its effect of making all animal creatures bow down before the hide and be slaughtered ineffective.
Grendel, who has lost this ability, is no match for Avia, whose physical strength is only slightly inferior to Attila, even though he is the descendant of Cain.
Failure is a given.
"What's the point of having two humans besides you? Without you, they would be killed by this guy. With you, one person is enough."
Avia shrank her shoulders when she heard Typhon's words in her mind.
"That's true, but there are no guarantees that there won't be any wolves, tigers, bears, or anything like that around here."
"You will be fine. There is no way these beasts you mentioned could hurt you."
The invisible red-haired girl pouted her lips, then opened them wide.
'Are you confused, Typhon?'
The silver-haired young man stood beside the giant who fell to the ground, and talked to Taizulong in his heart.
"What? Why should I be confused? I just killed a weak creature. What's the fun of that?"
"That's right. I think you must be very happy now. The armor you transformed into after killing the Kraken last time was very shiny, and -"
"Human, you are so noisy, can you please stop being so long-winded? Who would care about such a thing? "
"That's not right, Typhon, you are the one who talks the most, you can talk all day long. It's okay at the beginning, but after a while you will start talking about some boring topics without realizing it..."
Feeling the temperature of the armor on his body suddenly rise, Avia smiled softly.
But this smile was noticed by the giant Grendel. The giant's desire to live made him continue to plead with the human in front of him:
"My Lord, I was really wrong. I will never dare to do it again. Let me sign a master-servant contract with you. Please don't kill me—"
"Do you really know you were wrong?"
Like the god of death without footsteps, the silver-haired young man walked towards the giant who was shaking his head and glanced around at the foul-smelling environment.
On the ruins that were as hard as rocks, there were piled countless human or animal corpses, which had long since turned into skeletons, and maggots were constantly wriggling. Although there were traces of blood flowing from under the corpses, they had completely turned black and dried up.
The cold ground and the corpses lying side by side were the humans eaten by the giants.
"Yes, yes, sir, I really mean it—"
It was a breathtaking punch, and it even felt like it had cut through the sunlight. At that moment, the cold space seemed to be broken, and a gust of wind erupted around. After the giant's huge body was completely swallowed by the magma in a few seconds, it returned to the original air flow.
"In fact, I also believe that some people will really know that they have made mistakes and correct them. If this is the case, it is not bad...but."
Avia turns and leaves.
"You just know you're going to die, Grendel."
Amid the drifting cold wind, faint sunlight shone on the cold earth, reflecting a silvery-white light from the remains of the ruins.
At this point, the two fantasy species, Kraken, the North Sea monster that plagued Scandinavia, and Grendel, the descendant of Cain, have both died.
At this moment, in a cave deep in the mountains of Geat on the Scandinavian island, there was silence, broken only by the occasional sound of dripping water. The ground was covered with slippery moss, which was soft to step on, and every step had to be taken carefully, for fear of slipping.
The older people said that this was the lair of a giant dragon that had been dormant for hundreds of years, and would bring disaster to mankind once it revived.
The mountain range centered on this is terrifyingly high, with jagged cliffs stretching out into endless towering mountains. The sharp edges that cut through the blue sky are capped with snow all year round. The columnar cliffs are like a collection of thin pillars. Except for people who can only use magic, only a few wild beasts dare to roam on them.
However, the fire dragon that once dominated the countless treasures was now dead, its chest had been torn open by sharp claws, and its heart no longer beat.
In front of the corpse, there was a huge werewolf wearing a cloak and a hood, standing there, his whole body stained with rich dragon blood.
"...Huh, we finally killed this fire dragon. Now we don't have to worry about it endangering the people here."
At this time, the werewolf smiled, ignored the treasure in the cave and walked out. Perhaps he felt something and looked towards the other side of the starry sky.
"It turns out that the reason why I am here is not just because of this. Great God, the one who released Rune is the warrior you recognize."
The undead spirit that descended upon the world with the wolf's flesh as its possession—
One of the heroes of the Volsung Saga, a man said to possess strength comparable to that of the great hero Sigurd, a fierce warrior who annihilated the Sigurd clan, and the hero Sinfitli, the brother of the dragon-slayer Sigurd who died before he was born.
124: The earth is yours, the sky is mine
That night, the fog in the capital of Kittland on the Scandinavian island was extremely thick.
The slightly missing full moon only cast a ray of silver light that seeped into the clouds.
At this moment in the night, there was no sign of human traffic on the road, and a frozen silence encroached on the darkness.
However, the calm black-haired man couldn't help but stop.
Looking at the simple entrance of the palace, this was the first time that King Beowulf invited this missionary from the Eastern Roman Empire to come here.
However, the man also knew the reason. After all, the message also mentioned the name of the person he had met once, the one who was with the dead apostle known as Princess that day - Avia.
Out of some interest, the man then inquired about the name and found out that this name was the same as a person who was with the Hun who went to Milan, Western Rome as a hostage, and also the person who slayed the dragon with the dragon slaying hero Siegfried in the Rhine River... He was not sure whether they were the same person before.
But now it is certain that it is one person, because Beowulf has announced that the Kraken and the water demon Grendel are both dead, thanks to this non-Hungarian Avia.
Augustine did not care about being a Hun, because he was born into a Berber family in North Africa. Berber was not the name given by this ethnic group to themselves, but a name given by outsiders, which came from the Latin word for barbarians.
As the next successor trained by the Cardinal of Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire, Augustine was not baptized and became a church member at birth. He learned oratory and rhetoric during his growth stage and initially believed in Manichaeism.
But as Augustine grew older, when he had theological debates with Manichean priests, he found that these priests had only eloquence but no knowledge and were unable to answer questions.
The most important reason why Augustine abandoned Manichaeism and chose the church was that something happened to him when he was traveling to Alexandria, a place where philosophy flourished.
One day, the black-haired boy was walking in the center of the city. He heard that hundreds of years ago, the founder of the church gave a speech here. Perhaps because of this, the philosophical discussions here became so vigorous.
But in that instant, in this land so vast that it almost overwhelmed everything, Augustine heard a voice.
The voice seemed to be a cry from the heart, and also like the holy words engraved on this land many years ago.
"So, how long should we wait? Why not end the dirty past right now?"
"Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lewdness and debauchery, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on your Son Jesus Christ."
After these short words came out of nowhere, the young man fell into thought, and around him, everything in Alexandria remained the same, as if he was the only one who heard it.
Subconsciously, he took out the most common New Testament in the city, and read the line of words on the cover that had long been corroded by time and could only be barely recognized, and read along with the voice -
"Beauty and goodness are inseparable, because both are based on form; therefore, people usually praise good things as beautiful -"
“Grace does not destroy nature, it only complements it.”
From then on, Augustine turned to the church and was baptized in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, which had not yet been divided, the following year.
But the good times did not last long. One year after he was baptized, the vast Roman Empire was divided due to the increasingly fierce struggle between religious power and imperial power.
Unlike most church members who chose to stay in or return to Western Rome, Augustine chose to leave Rome and go to Constantinople.
When Rome was divided, of the 128 cardinals of the church, only three chose to remain in the Eastern Roman Empire: Ambrose, who insisted on the separation of church and state, Chrysostom, who viewed all beings as equal, and Jerome, who studied the Bible and annotated scriptures.
Now, more than 20 years have passed, and only Jerome is left to support it. After all, although it has split, the Eastern Roman Church still recognizes the Roman Patriarchate, so it has not directly and openly appointed cardinals in the Eastern Roman Empire. At most, they can act as bishops.
"Are you finally here, Wu Augustine?"
A clear voice was heard at the entrance of the palace.
In the black-haired man's sight, the young man looked at him with his deep blue eyes and slowly greeted him.
"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Avia."
Augustine bowed politely, because he was the invitee and he had to show certain etiquette towards the inviter.
"Please come with me."
Avia nodded again, and Augustine followed him, not entering the palace as originally planned, but to a high mountain outside the city.
After a while, the two people quietly looked down from the top of the mountain at the entire city and its surroundings. The silent night was shining with light that came from nowhere.
"Augustine." Avia started, "How many people believe in the church in the places you have been to?"
"Um......."
Augustine didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"In Europe, most of the two Roman states, East and West, are like this."
"Well, almost all of them."
For some reason, Augustine felt that Avia's words were sharp, and he could sense his unique style from his words and actions, as well as some kind of unswerving goal.
"The church is still too powerful."
Avia couldn't help but sigh as the church he founded was now corrupted by the "savior".
Not only is he hostile to all the major magic organizations on many levels, his stance is to destroy all mysteries other than his own.
In order to destroy the church, it is necessary to kill Mabel Qihuang, who can seriously injure Kishua and masters the holy book. According to what the Magic Marshal said at the time, even the Endless Ether Magic Cannon and the Red Moon's Moonfall were copied by him completely. The magic power of faith accumulated over hundreds of years is comparable to endless.
Therefore, even with the Luna Cannon, it would be blocked, and Typhon's machine might not be able to pass through, but they could also find a way to solve it directly, after all, they were the ones who caused it.
"You, Augustine, even Novia would admire you with all her heart, but I feel sorry for the unfortunate fate of Rome and the Church."
The black-haired man listened silently to the speech of the silver-haired young man. Although it was undoubtedly heresy from the perspective of the believers, he inexplicably felt that it was natural for this person to say such things and he should not refute them.
"The glory of the Church and the culture of Rome will not return to the City of God because of you, but will continue to remain in the City of Earth."
Avia said, pointing at herself with a smile.
"And I am going to destroy the church."
125: The topic that should have been created by you
A mere pagan actually dared to claim to destroy the Holy Church. Even a non-religious magician would laugh subconsciously when hearing this.
That is a huge organization that has been glorious for hundreds of years. It is a sacred belief that will continue to exist even if Rome is destroyed. It has been like this since its establishment. No matter whether it is the Dead Apostles who are the mortal enemies of mankind or the Fantasy Species abandoned by the planet, they are not to be feared.
This prosperity will continue forever, and no one will be confused about things that are taken for granted.
However, Augustine just listened quietly. He did not take Avia's words as a joke and listened to him carefully until he finished speaking.
Then he asked Avia:
"What is the City of God? And what is the City of Earth?"
At present, the Roman Empire, whether Western Rome or Eastern Rome, has not suffered from the invasion of "barbarians". To be precise, these people are simply unable to fight against the glorious Rome, and can only operate in the marginal areas that do not belong to Rome. Naturally, the current city of Rome is still solid and has never been breached.
"The glorious city of God, either traveling through time, among the ungodly, living by faith, or sitting firmly on the eternal throne of the future, is not any visible political organization, but an invisible organization formed by people with the good covenant in their hearts."
"And the City of Earth refers to the various organizations that people have seen in this life. The benefits and disadvantages are always shared by good and bad people. As long as you live in this world, you will die eventually. Therefore, death itself is not the key to the problem. The key is the fate after death, which will be determined by what you do when you are alive."
"Whether we love each other, fight each other, or kill each other in this life, we will eventually be reunited in the city of heaven and be judged. Good people will be rewarded, and evil people will eventually be punished, just like Capyrus in The Republic, who did evil things in his youth, and Thrasymachus, the tyrant who pursued the interests of the strong and won everything, who bullied and bullied others, will eventually be punished at the Last Judgment."
"Good is rewarded with good, evil is rewarded with evil. The best life is good, and getting the best life does not depend on anyone. Whether you are in Rome, Milan, or Britain, as long as you accomplish the good that God wants, your soul will be redeemed, and the prodigal son can return."
"The declaration of initiation into the Cathedral Church should also be based on the covenant of 'goodness'."
When Augustine came back to his senses from his surprise, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
As a believer who was familiar with various philosophies, he naturally understood a lot from Avia's two sentences in an instant. To non-believers, Avia's words seemed to be just preaching, but in fact, this discussion was not only a theological viewpoint, but could also be connected with political philosophy.
In traditional political philosophy before this, the core concern of politics was real life, and religion was basically subordinate to politics.
This kind of political life encourages people to pursue career success and honor, but the distinction between the two cities eliminates the substantive meaning of traditional political life. According to his point of view, the honor of the motherland, the gains and losses of political power, and the victory or defeat of war are no longer important.
