Chapter 531: Crowslaughter

"I'd rather call it... giving up," the crow-masked man said. "Not every follower of the Four Pillars Cult is a bad person. Most were once believers in other sects. In fact, the earliest Four Pillars Cult seems to have originated from a sect that lost its Grand Law.

"Back then, everyone chose to follow the Grand Law and resist the night. But the Four Pillars offered them another choice: to indulge in the present. After losing the Grand Law, not everyone could hold fast to their ideals and continue walking through the darkness. Faced with the easier path from the Four Pillars, the people chose it, and that's how the cult spread like wildfire. Besides..."

The crow-masked man sighed. "It's been over two hundred years since the Gray Fox Age, and not a single Grand Law has ascended to godhood. Ideals have become hopelessly out of reach. That fertile ground allowed the Four Pillars Cult to rise. So..."

He paused before declaring firmly, "The Four Pillars Cult must be uprooted completely. Otherwise, the Myriad Continent will never welcome the next Age of Gods."

"What does the Gray Fox Age have to do with the Fire Cat Age?" Ashe asked, leaning against the wall with half-closed eyes.

"The Fire Cat was the Second Age of Gods. The Gray Fox was the Fourth." The crow-masked man pointed at the planks beneath Ashe. "These scraps were probably excavated from the Gray Fox ruins."

Iger asked, "So an Age of Gods is an era where everyone follows the Grand Law and dedicates their entire lives to fulfilling its ideal?"

"That's right. A beautiful age existing only in legend," The crow-masked man sighed wistfully before continuing. "To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine what a country without a Grand Law would even look like. Are all of you Candle Lords? Without the Grand Law to guide you, can you still devote yourselves unwaveringly to your ideals?"

"Yes," Harvey replied.

"Of course," said Iger.

A brief silence followed as all three turned to look at Ashe.

Ashe twitched the corner of his mouth. Only then did he realize that, in this room, he was actually the person most closely resembling a follower of the Four Pillars Cult.

What's wrong with having no grand ideal? What's wrong with enjoying an ordinary life? Sleeping until I wake up naturally, eating Lala Fat every meal, and diving into the Virtual World after finishing a game. Is that not a perfectly good way to live? Damn it! I really am a Four Pillars cultist!

"Wait." Iger suddenly frowned. "By your logic, does that mean any idealist can pass through the night?"

"Yes," the crow-masked man answered. "But only those with convictions that are absolutely pure and unwavering. While crossing the night, they will not be corrupted by Twisting Green. After dying, they often become new Grand Laws themselves. That is why people like them are called Candle Lords, the future Grand Laws destined to burn."

"I think... I might qualify," the crow-masked man admitted. "But I don't dare gamble on it."

He looked at the three of them. "Would you?"

The other two quickly shook their heads. Then they turned toward Harvey, quietly lost in thought. Under the weight of their stares, he slowly shook his head as well.

"Has Twisting Green always existed?" Iger asked, rubbing his temples to stay awake. "It sounds like the aftermath of an ancient catastrophe."

"It's existed since at least the White Dove Age, over a thousand years ago," the crow-masked man replied. "Eras turn, environments decay, and races fade away. Only the Grand Laws and Twisting Green never change."

Ashe suddenly thought of the Swordswoman and asked, "If your world is this hostile, how do you deal with Abyssal disasters?"

The crow-masked man frowned. "What's an Abyss?"

Harvey interrupted, "Something's wrong."

Ashe and Iger were barely keeping their eyes open, yet they instantly realized what he meant.

Their strength had completely drained away. An overwhelming wave of exhaustion crashed over them, leaving them so weary that they had not noticed their mana rapidly dissipating.

Both immediately shot suspicious looks at the crow-masked man, the only person still capable of moving normally.

The crow-masked man didn't waste a single word. He stomped the ground, threw a crushing punch, followed by a back kick and an uppercut. Four explosive strikes later, the warehouse had been blasted into pieces.

Outside, no cultists waited to drag them back.

The camp was eerily silent, broken only by the crackling of distant bonfires.

The crow-masked man turned toward the edge of the camp, his usually calm voice carrying a rare trace of urgency. "The night is closing in."

The darkness swallowed the light from the streetlamps whole. The warehouse had originally stood about fifty meters from the edge of the night. Now, only twenty meters remained.

If they had been a little slower, they would have vanished soundlessly into the night.

The crow-masked man quickly picked up Iger and Ashe.

When he turned around, he saw Alice carrying Harvey. Among the three Sacred Realm sorcerers, Harvey was the only one retaining combat strength despite the mysterious attack.

Harvey smiled at Ashe and Iger. "See the advantages of the Necromancy Class now?"

Ashe and Iger twitched at the corners of their mouths. Damn it! He actually managed to show off!

With the night closing in, they had no choice but to retreat toward the center of the camp.

Along the way, they found countless dried corpses lying inside the buildings and scattered across the ground, making the entire place resemble an ancient graveyard.

Yet as they drew closer to the center, Ashe and the others noticed tiny grains of silver drifting from their bodies, spiraling toward the bonfire in the plaza like light caught in a whirlpool.

With every grain lost, they could feel both body and soul weakening.

"Get... farther..." Iger muttered weakly. "If we get... any closer... we'll end up... like those things... you just crushed..."

"The night is behind us," the crow-masked man said. "Are you certain you're a Candle Lord?"

"Better... than standing here... and watching... myself... get drained dry."

"If corruption reflects what I've done in the Virtual World..." Ashe exhaled softly. "Then I'll probably turn into a Fish-Slaying Dragon."

Alice spoke in Harvey's voice, "Moving inward will not matter. The Four Pillars Cult's protection seems to have failed. The night will eventually swallow the entire camp."

The crow-masked man nodded. "That's right. I doubt there are many survivors left in the camp. The power of a Grand Law connects closely to the number of its followers. The Four Pillar Deities are not Grand Laws, but the principle is probably the same. The people realizing an ideal are the believers, not the Grand Laws. On the surface, it may seem like the Four Pillar Deities are protecting this camp, but in truth, the faith of their followers is what provides that protection."

With that, the crow-masked man gently set Ashe and Iger down before turning to Alice. "Watch over them. Do not let the night consume them. I will go pass judgment."

Alice nodded.

He slung Harvey onto his back, then grabbed the collars of the two Sacred Realm sorcerers as effortlessly as if carrying kittens.

"Pass judgment?" Ashe asked, forcing himself to lift his head despite the crushing drowsiness.

"This camp is a den of the Four Pillars Cult. If someone is destroying it in the name of justice, I can understand that. But if I explain that innocent people were caught up in this by accident, I believe they will stop this indiscriminate slaughter. In that case, they are a Good Crow. However, if they refuse to stop after learning your lives are at stake..." The crow-masked man spoke calmly. "I will judge them an Evil Crow."

"For an Evil Crow..." His voice turned cold. "Only one sentence awaits: death.

"Oh, one more thing." He looked at the three sorcerers with unusual seriousness. "If I fail and all of you die, I hope you will record me in your Sorcerer's Handbook. Perhaps someone in the future will read of my deeds and choose to follow my path.

"I am Tahmas Crowslaughter, Judgment Warrior of the Crowslaughter Sect. Our sect's ideal is straightforward: exterminate every Evil Crow, trample criminals beneath our feet, find joy in punishing evil, create a society where everyone delights in crushing wickedness, and eradicate fraud, assassination, antisocial crimes, and every other form of evil."

Fraudster, Iger. Caimon's greatest assassin, Harvey. Cult leader, Ashe. Damn it! He basically just read out our entire resume!

"..."

A faintly distorted laugh echoed from behind the mask. "You must think our ideals are wonderful, right?"

He tilted his head, his tone chillingly casual. "If they are all going to die anyway, they might as well become stepping stones for good people."