Because of the rebellion in the Second Heaven, the Governor was unwilling to stay any longer and ordered to go directly to the Third Heaven. The road they came was all dark, and when they left, in addition to darkness, there was also dead silence. When he saw the faint light in the sky of the Third Heaven, Du Ze subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, and the gloom in his heart dissipated a lot. Although the Third Heaven was not bright, at least it was not as hopelessly dark as the Second Heaven.
It was already night when the carriage team arrived at the capital of the third heaven. Because of what happened today, no one was in the mood to talk. After being welcomed into the palace by the local executive officer, they all went to rest. Before going to bed, Du Ze was still thinking about what Xiu said at the end of the rebellion. Although he couldn't guess it, the cute master seemed to have found a way to pass the level. Xiu didn't explain, and Du Ze didn't ask much. The stupid cute readers have always been very confident in the IQ of their protagonists. The cute master said that they could get out soon, so they would definitely be able to get out of the Tianzu copy within five days.
The next day, the Governor sat on the throne without saying a word, and everyone could sense his surging anger. The Third Heaven's Consul knelt below in silence, not only did he fail to produce the "gift" to the higher-ups, he also failed to pay the amount of light he was supposed to pay.
"You two—" Unexpectedly, the Governor did not fire at the Consul, but suddenly instructed Xiu and Eric: "Go collect the missing light today." When Xiu and Eric looked over, he snorted: "This is your job."
"not good."
Two completely different answers echoed in the main hall. Eric looked at Xiu, who agreed immediately, in surprise and confusion. Xiu ignored Eric's angry eyes and asked the governor in an overbearing tone that was almost an order: "Give me the permission to collect the full amount."
"Yes." The Governor responded very quickly. He seemed to realize that he was too impatient. He coughed lightly and added: "You must pay all the light elements you collected."
Xiu grinned, his eyes were bloodshot. "Of course."
After getting the permission, Xiu was about to leave with Du Ze, but was stopped by Eric. The Son of God had an extremely cold expression at this time. He stood in front of Xiu and asked, "What do you want to do?"
Xiu sneered, and the shadow began to twist and slowly expand until it became a huge creature. The silver dragon lifted Du Ze onto its back, spread its huge wings and looked down at Eric below. In his shadow, the Son of God was so small that he even looked a little pitiful.
"Don't you know exactly what I want to do?"
"!" Eric used his arms to block the strong wind. When he put his hands down, the silver dragon had already flown away with the black-haired young man.
The civilians of a village were driven out, and they gathered outside, watching in fear and shock as the soldiers used powder to encircle their homes. Three wizards chanted spells, and light filled the box at a speed visible to the naked eye. At the same time, a ball of darkness poured into the village like ink, turning that area into a dead place where no living creature could survive.
Du Ze watched all this silently. This was the fifth village they had completely collected. The amount required by the Governor had already been met, but Xiu did not return. Instead, he led the officers' men to continue moving forward. Seeing that they had more and more light elements in their hands, Du Ze felt puzzled: even if they collected more, all of these light elements had to be paid, and there was no benefit in improving their qualifications.
What on earth does the Lord want to do?
The mage stopped chanting, and the soldier lifted the treasure chest filled with light and began to head to the next place. The civilians who were left behind stared blankly at their homes shrouded in darkness. They had nothing and seemed to have lost the focus and future of their lives. After wandering around in a daze for a while, many followed the mage and the soldier. These people were not the first group. They soon gathered with those who had also lost their homes. The team gradually grew larger, and the repressed emotions gradually got out of control in silence.
When oppressed to the extreme, the only thing left is resistance.
Du Ze soon saw the broken wings representing the Fallen again. When the seventh village was destroyed, the civilians who lost their homes could no longer endure and raised their left hands. They were carved with broken wings and became Fallen. Some picked up hoes or branches and surrounded Xiu Tuan, who led the mages and soldiers. Du Ze stood next to Xiu. He turned slightly and saw the silver-haired and red-eyed young man next to him grinning, as if he had finally obtained the fruit of corruption after cultivating for a long time.
Xiu began to chant dragon language magic, and a huge gray magic circle appeared in the dark sky, covering everyone's head. The Fallen saw that the situation was not good, and tried to break through the defense line of soldiers and mages to attack Xiu. The magic circle slowly rotated, and lights lit up from the inside to the outside. The first Fallen who rushed into the defense line had no time to be happy, and a gray light hit him, and the whole person was annihilated instantly.
It seemed as if gray rain was falling from the sky. Countless gray lights fell from the large magic circle, illuminating the angry and frightened faces of the fallen. Each ray of light could take away a fallen. In the face of absolute power, these fallen who were once civilians had no chance to resist. They were defeated even faster than the living dead in the second heaven. Soon, only a few of the hundreds of fallen were left, fleeing and hiding from the gray lights. Tears welled up in their eyes. They had been oppressed for so long that everyone had made up their minds to fall and die, but they could not shake the upper level in the slightest.
"stop!!!"
A roar resounded across the battlefield, and Xiu raised his eyes to look at Eric who had finally caught up. Eric jumped off his horse, which was running out of breath, and his chest was heaving violently, whether from anger or exercise. The soldiers spontaneously made way for the two inspectors, so Xiu and Eric came face to face.
Eric took a deep breath and temporarily suppressed the anger in his chest. "Give me a reason why you did this."
The magic circle was still spinning slowly in the air. Xiu's expression was hard to read in the gray light. He did not answer, or rather ignored Eric. As the last fallen screamed and was swallowed by the gray light, Eric's eyes were filled with uncontrollable anger. His voice rose from low to high, almost roaring: "Why did you kill them!?"
"Have you forgotten that you are still climbing the tower?"
Compared to Eric's excitement, Xiu's voice was almost cruelly calm. The silver-haired, red-eyed dragon casually pointed to an unknown place in the void, his smile unusually dull under the gray light. "The rules written in the divine tower... don't you understand yet?"
The script prepared by the tower for climbers is very simple, and each level is constructed according to the characteristics and talents of each race. The demons must be cruel, the undead must be evil, the humans must be selfish, the dragons must be greedy, the elves must be indifferent, the beasts must be violent, the dwarves must be fanatical, and as for the last celestial race, they pay with humility and therefore have arrogance.
A hint of confusion flashed across Eric's eyes, but it was soon replaced by greater anger.
"So you are so disregarding of other people's lives? Just to climb the tower?!"
"It's just like what the Governor said." Xiu sneered, "What does their life or death have to do with us?"
The tit-for-tat between the two made Du Ze feel as if he was watching "Mixed Blood": the protagonist who has been harming the country and the people, and the old enemy who has been redeeming others. They stand on the other side of darkness and light respectively, vividly interpreting sin and justice.
Eric looked at Xiu deeply. He seemed to think that he had made a serious mistake - he actually went to reason with the heretics. The Son of God shifted his gaze, and Du Ze's figure was reflected in his green eyes.
"My Lord, do you think so too?"
Once Du Ze was involved, Xiu's smile disappeared as if he had been hurt, and his expression became aggressive. Eric was not afraid of Xiu's dangerous gaze, and stared at Du Ze firmly, as if he wanted the black-haired young man to make a decision: "Do you think he is right?"
Du Ze couldn't help but look at Xiu and found that Xiu was looking at him as well. The man didn't explain anything, just said one sentence: "Do you believe me?"
Two people, two choices. Anyone with a normal mind can tell that Eric's position is just. Moreover, Du Ze never agrees with Xiu's inhumane and cruel behavior in "Mixed Blood". Du Ze's eyes flickered between Xiu and Eric. In fact, he didn't need to think about it at all, and he could make the most correct choice.
"I believe you." In order to pronounce the words clearly, Du Ze always spoke slowly, which made him look particularly serious and solemn, as if he was reciting a lifelong oath. He looked at the stunned Eric and repeated it again as an answer to the Son of God: "I believe in Xiu."
——The Eric in front of me is still the "Eric" in "Mixed Blood", but the Xiu beside him is no longer the "Xiu" in "Mixed Blood". This is enough.
Eric's eyes were filled with disappointment and confusion. Xiu suppressed a sigh and suddenly picked up Du Ze, hugging him with such force that it seemed as if he wanted to stuff this person he loved so much into his flesh and blood.
"Let's go."
Du Ze hurriedly grabbed the doujinshi that was about to slip off, and missed the best opportunity to refuse. Being firmly held in the arms of Xiu, a certain silly and cute boy held the doujinshi with a stiff face, not knowing where to look. His wandering eyes swung to the back, and Du Ze found that Eric, who was left behind, did not stop where he was, but followed him silently.
在新抵達的小鎮中，即使所有鎮民跪在地上苦苦哀求，他們還是被士兵從小鎮中驅逐出來，眼睜睜地看着他們的家園被黑暗吞沒。到了這種地步，杜澤其實有些明白修想做的事了：那個人在逼所有人堕落、逼所有人站在天族對面——他想毀了包含總督在內的天族。只要資歷最高的總督一死，修就是下任總督的不二人選。
結局已經可以預定，過程确是腥風血雨。鎮民的鳴泣在黑暗中回蕩，杜澤不由得瞥向艾利克，金發碧眼的聖子站在小鎮邊緣，他的拳頭已經握出血，然而在鎮民下跪哀求的時候、在士兵将鎮民趕出的時候、在法師吟唱咒文的時候，艾利克似乎知道自己無法阻止這一切，所以一直保持了沉默。
但艾利克會那麽簡單地放棄嗎——
陰翳的天地之間突然矗起了一道光，跪在地上的鎮民驚愕地擡起了頭。一根光羽輕飄飄地落入了被黑暗掩蓋的小鎮中，它并不耀眼，帶着一種明亮而柔和的先芒，不容置疑地劃開黑暗，與之消融。修猛地回頭，猩紅的血瞳緊緊盯着做出這一切的艾利克。随着羽毛的化開，光明又重新回到了小鎮中，所有鎮民驚喜交加，他們再次俯首下跪，這一次卻是為了感激。
“謝、謝謝您！”鎮民們崇敬地仰視着聖子，臉上浮現出激動的紅暈。“您真是光明神的化身！”
艾利克一直抿緊的嘴角終于稍稍松開，露出明朗的笑容。“這是我應該做的。”
杜澤只覺得心髒像是被鉗子紋擰了一下，痛得發麻，他眼前的艾利克沐浴着光明，一頭金發被光渲染得格外燦爛與明媚——就像是曾經的那個人一樣。即使知道艾利克這樣做會阻礙修的計劃，但杜澤完全不想否認現在的艾利克，那簡直宛如在否定過去那個會為了他人讓自己受傷的修一樣。
但是，現在在否認艾利克，同時也在否認過去的修的人，卻是修自己。
“你以為這樣做，就能救他們了？他們就會真正感激你了？”
修凝視着光明中的艾利克，臉上的笑容比不笑時還要冷上幾分。
“我一直以為你只是天真，沒想到你竟然愚蠢到這種地步。”
修的話像是冷風灌入杜澤的衣服裏，又帶着他的體溫穿透出去。那個人的每句話，與其說是在諷刺艾利克，更像是在嘲笑過去的自己。
——修，你為什麽對所有人都這麽好？
——我只是做了應該做的事。
——你以為救了他們，他們就會真正感激你了？
修對艾利克、對過去的自己說，太愚蠢了。
艾利克與修對視，他站在光明下，就顯得修周圍的陰影尤其黑暗。
“你很可憐。”艾利克說：“在你眼裏，所有人都是醜惡的。你不相信其他人，只在意自己，這樣的你很可憐。”
充斥胸口的情緒沸騰得将要爆開，杜澤想要告訴艾利克，他所指責的那個人曾經是多麽單純地相信美好，即使被救過的人背叛，被身邊的人出賣，那個人依然選擇了相信，所以才會傷得更深；這種傷害不斷累加，直到瀕死的那一刻，那個人再沒有選擇相信他人的餘地了。
杜澤的話還沒說出口就被修的大笑打斷，那人的笑聲十分暢快，眼眉之間洋溢着恣意和狂妄。
“艾利克。”修第一次當面叫出了艾利克的名字。“你很快就會知道，真正可憐的人是誰了。”
“還有一點你錯了。”修沒有為自己辯駁，僅僅只強調了一點：“有個即使讓我不在意自己也會去相信的人。”
修将杜澤滿滿地抱在懷中，他吻着杜澤的黑發，眼底一片深沉的眷戀。
“這樣的人我只要這一個，僅此而已。”
艾利克不由自主地別開了眼，在移開視線的那一刻卻感到了這是一種近乎認輸的逃避行為。執政官的手下看兩名巡檢官似乎說完了話，其中一名法師前來向修請教下一步的指示。
“大人，我們是回去，還是繼續前進？”
由于采集光明元素的法術無法短時間內在同一塊區域裏連續使用，修瞥了一眼被艾利克救贖的小鎮，然後下令向下一個地方前進。艾利克果不其然地繼續跟着他們，并在每一次的完全征收後使用自己的光羽來中和黑暗。杜澤明顯感到修的情緒越來越壞，因為同陣營的緣故，艾利克無法阻止修，相對的，修也無法阻止艾利克的行動。艾利克這樣做不僅讓修感到十分礙眼，同時也阻礙了修的計劃。由于艾利克的救贖行為，途經的民衆不但不仇視天族，反而對天族——特別是艾利克——充滿了感激之情。
“嗖——”
走在前方的士兵突然一陣騷動，整支隊伍停下來。杜澤聞到了血的鐵鏽味，他看見兩名士兵擡着法師走了過來，一支箭矢穿透了法師的喉嚨，那名法師顯然已經氣絕身亡。
“大人，不能繼續前進了。”幸存的兩位法師相互扶持，慘白着臉說：“前面駐紮了一窩悍匪！”
修此時心情正不好，他望着遠方依山而建的城鎮，那裏不僅有哨卡，城牆上還有來回巡邏的小隊，一看就絕非善類。
“不用驅逐了，直接完全征收。”
“可是……”法師不知為何有些難以啓齒，“可是”了半天後，像是終于想到一條理由迅速開口：“可是他們會反抗……”
巨大的灰色魔法陣在天空展開，修盯着法師：“還有問題嗎。”
被那雙血眸所注視，法師幾乎是屁滾尿流地跑去執行修的命令，士兵避開弓箭手的攻擊範圍，在邊緣處灑下粉末。哨卡中的哨兵還在為天空突然出現的巨大魔法陣而震驚，當他看到對面的士兵開始用粉末将他們的城鎮圍起，立即拉響了警笛。杜澤在這邊看到城門呼啦一下打開，從裏面沖出一群拿着武器的土匪，然而他們還沒跑幾步，就被魔法陣的灰光擊中，什麽也沒留下。
似乎過快的消亡讓對面沒反應過來發生了什麽事，又有一批悍匪從城門沖出，然後再次被灰光消滅。接下來，無論普通人還是武者，只要跑出城鎮就會被天空的魔法陣鎖定，降下灰光湮滅。很快的，再沒有人敢離開城鎮，連大門也在幾次犧牲後緊緊關上了。
粉末布置完畢後，法師們開始吟唱咒文，由于死了一名法師，剩下的兩名法師舉行法術有些吃力。随着光明被收集完畢，黑暗像是倒水一樣緩緩傾進城鎮。城鎮裏傳來幾處驚懼的尖叫，大約是黑暗流進了房屋裏。然而沒有人再打開城門跑出來，那些土匪似乎寧可選擇死在家裏也不願曝屍荒野。城鎮中的動靜越來越大，杜澤甚至可以想象裏面慌亂的一切：随着黑暗的注入，那些人在城鎮裏可以逃竄的空間越來越小、越來越擠，只能眼睜睜地看着黑暗将他們包圍，直至淹滅。
就在此時，修突然開了口：“怎麽，你不救他們？”
艾利克似乎完全沒想到修會突然和他說話，一時反應不過來。修指了指傳來慘叫的城鎮，似是很認真地建議道：“不救他們嗎？就像是你之前做的那樣。”
因為修的話語，所有人的目光都集中到了艾利克身上。杜澤看着艾利克的光羽，包括之前的那個小鎮，他們在路上一共經過了三個聚居地，因此艾利克現在的羽毛數量是三片半。如果艾利克願意的話，他可以拿出一根光羽驅散對面城鎮的黑暗，拯救那群土匪。
見艾利克沒有動，修毫不意外地笑了起來。
“你不救他們，是因為那是一群悍匪。”
明明應該是反問的句式，修卻說得像是在陳述結論。修的态度讓艾利克感到不快，但他并沒有否認修的話語。“他們選擇成為了罪人，本應當受到相應的懲罰。”
“你一定是從小在光明神殿長大。”修咧嘴而笑。“那些人一定這樣教導你：這個世界只有絕對的‘好’與‘壞’。平民是‘好’的，神殿是‘好’的，所以他們全都善良并且應該得到保護；匪類是‘壞’的，異端是‘壞’的，所以他們全部邪惡并且應該接受懲罰。”
艾利克想要反駁，卻在張嘴的那一刻不知道該說什麽。雖然修形容的有些偏激，但他卻找不着任何可以否定的地方。從小被選為聖子的艾利克确實一直生活在光明神殿中，他的啓迪之物是光明聖典，導師是德高望重的教皇，在神殿中長大的他認為欺民擾政、打家劫舍的悍匪應該被制裁，難道有什麽不對嗎。
“你過來。”修突然叫來了一名士兵，指着漸漸沉寂的城鎮進行詢問：“這些人在這裏盤踞多久了？”
"My Lord, they occupied the city after the last governor left. The Consul sent troops several times, but was unable to remove them."
"Why? They are not strong."
"The surrounding civilians will protect them." The soldier paused, then said, "And because of rebellion."
Eric looked at the soldier in surprise, as if he couldn't understand what he was saying. Xiu remained calm and let the soldier continue.
"Those bandits often hostile us, obstructing us from collecting light from the surrounding areas, and even robbing the light that has been collected and distributing it to the surrounding villages. Many people have joined them, including the son of the governor, so that lord couldn't bear to take heavy measures, nor did he dare to report it to the lords."
"Bullying the people, disrupting government, robbing homes..." Xiu's voice was neither loud nor slow, but every word struck Eric's heart. "You're right, they are indeed a group of violent criminals who should be punished."
Eric's eyes widened. His long-held belief was like a hard rock that suddenly cracked. Although the crack was not big, it spread to his entire body like a spider web. He saw his own shadow in Xiu's eyes, painted blood-red from head to toe.
"You are no different from that celestial being." The man said, "How arrogant you are to make such absolute distinctions between others."
The author has something to say: Protagonist: Do you believe me?
Reader (answered immediately): I don’t believe it.
Author: Why?
Reader: Who would believe him if he told me to be on top tonight?
Protagonist (smiling): I'll make you believe it.
Reader: (?Д?≡?д?)! ?