Chapter 189: The One Behind Everything

Daniel sighed a little as he returned to the pilgrims and saw the scene in front of him.

The crowd that once numbered in the thousands had drastically decreased. Even though only a short time had passed, the players had managed to kill a large number of the pilgrims.

He was sure that in the final evaluation, the deaths of so many pilgrims would definitely lower his score. All he could do was hope he’d make up for it in the later phases.

He was about to step forward and help, but suddenly a hand rested on his shoulder.

"There’s no need. You already saved us from both the demons and those who attacked us," Aurest said with a gentle smile on his face.

"I didn’t do anything. Maybe if I hadn’t attacked the demons, things wouldn’t have turned out this way," Daniel replied, though he was clearly just saying that to sound humble.

While he did feel sorry for them, he didn’t feel any guilt or remorse. In the end, these people had nothing to do with him—this was just a mission he had to complete.

"You don’t need to blame yourself. Honestly, I’m sure the majority of us wouldn’t have been able to pay ten thousand or even one thousand gold coins," Aurest said as he shook his head.

"Still, I didn’t expect such a powerful young man to be among us. On behalf of all the pilgrims, thank you for your help," he added with a smile.

"You’re welcome. It was the least I could do," Daniel replied with a nod.

After that, the two of them went to help. They gathered the bodies of the dead together in one place, formed a circle around them, and sat down.

Just like on the first night, Aurest sat next to the corpses and recited the mourning prayer for them.

Light appeared from between the sky and earth and surrounded the dead. It wasn’t long before they turned to ashes and vanished.

Then, they set out again. Because of all that had happened, a lot of time had been lost. If they delayed any further, they’d fall a whole day behind schedule.

The rest of the journey went smoothly, with no issues. Once they left the demon-claimed land, the color of the sky and the heavy pressure in the air returned to normal.

"We’re finally out of that hell, haha!"

"The air was so heavy there I felt like I couldn’t breathe."

"How do those damn demons even live in a place like that?"

Daniel also felt a sense of peace and relief as he breathed in the fresh air. It was like returning home.

He glanced at Malrik. He had been quiet most of the way, which was understandable—some of the pilgrims who were killed were his close friends, ones who used to sleep in his tent at night.

Daniel thought about comforting him but figured that in times like this, it was best to give someone space.

Gradually, day turned to night, and it got dark. After making sure the area was safe to camp, Aurest ordered them to set up the tents there.

Fires were lit, just like the previous nights, and preparations for roasted meat began. But there was a noticeable difference tonight.

There were no songs or dances. The pilgrims just sat around and talked to each other.

The mood was heavy and depressing—which was understandable. After all, they had lost many of their friends today.

But that wasn’t the only thing. Something else had changed—something subtle and hard to notice.

’Their faith in their religion is starting to fade... they’re beginning to question the core philosophy of their belief.’ But of course, it didn’t escape Daniel’s eyes.

He picked up on it through the conversations and discussions they were having.

’Could this be what led to the fall of the Eternity faith? That its followers slowly lost faith and concluded the entire philosophy was nonsense?’ he thought.

Still, his instincts told him it wasn’t that simple. It’d be kind of dumb if that were all.

Even so, he didn’t throw away the theory. He was convinced that even if it wasn’t the main cause, it was definitely one of the reasons the Eternity faith collapsed.

But to reason it out properly, he needed more knowledge and insight.

He then walked over to Malrik and the rest of their small group—the ones who had been with him since the first night.

Unfortunately, their numbers had decreased a lot. Other than Daniel, Malrik, and the cook, only four others remained, and all of them looked pretty down.

"You feeling okay?" Daniel turned to his friend and asked.

"I’m alright, just need some rest," Malrik replied lazily.

"I understand," Daniel nodded and didn’t press further.

"You know, I feel like Eternity is kind of a joke. Honestly, I feel like life itself is a joke," Malrik suddenly said.

"You think the philosophy of your religion is nonsense?" Daniel glanced at him. Even his friend, who until yesterday was a devout believer, was now starting to question everything.

"Yes and no. If I’m going to live forever but everyone else dies... what joy is there in that? If I’m the only one left, it’s all just ridiculous."

"And at the same time, I think living too long is also stupid. At some point, we need rest. We need to not think, not worry—just rest. Eternal rest," Malrik finished.

"I get what you mean," Daniel nodded again and looked at the drink in his hand.

Yeah... living alone for eternity really would be exhausting and idiotic. He had no doubt that most people would eventually go insane.

Even ruling forever would get boring at some point.

He raised the drink and took a few sips. But as the liquid went down his throat, he suddenly felt a burning sensation.

’Seriously? Again?’ he sighed. It seemed he had been poisoned.

Though he could easily neutralize it—actually, the poison wouldn’t even affect him unless he let it—it was such a weak poison it didn’t matter.

"That’s why I want to destroy this false belief... but why do you keep getting in my way?" Malrik said coldly as he looked at him.

"So it was you?" Daniel mumbled before his eyes slowly shut and he lost consciousness.