Transcendent Dawn

“Distraught?”

Su Lu recalled what Bukadi had said – the paths of the Occupational persons of the Seven Major Orthodox Churches had their flaws, be they big or small.

Unfortunately, it was too late by the time he realized this.

“Yes… there are many questions.”

Rod put down his beer and grilled meat: “We are pitiful creatures being watched by the Abyss… After my professional rank was promoted, I often heard the whispers from the Abyss… Sometimes, it strikes my head brutally like an axe, and sometimes it is like a sharp, piercing awl hammered into my brain… It’s so painful that it makes me want to crack open my own head…”

“My master told me that this was the influence of the Demon, that I shouldn’t pay attention but forget about it deliberately, and that I should have faith in the Goddess to battle it…”

“But… when I prayed to the Goddess of Light, I seemed to hear numerous interferences by my side… I seemed to hear countless believers screaming, roaring… It was as if a multitude of lunatics were yelling for help, cursing near my ears… It was full of absurdity, arrogance, and chaos…”

Rod seriously narrated a secret he never exposed even to his own master.

“I seem to have read in a religious text… that if false believers, and non-believers pray, they will reap evil results… You, are you unwilling to believe in the Goddess of Light?”

Su Lu understood, this older brother’s faith was not devout.

Or rather, he had no intention of surrendering his faith to the Goddess of Light!

If it was in a World Without Demons, or during the Twilight of the Gods, this wouldn’t be an issue, but now it’s a big problem!

Due to the special nature of the [Demon Hunter] profession, one is easily influenced by demons and needs to combat this at all times.

Furthermore, towards the later stages, when one cannot battle it off personally, it becomes essential to introduce some ‘External Force’, and the most suitable is none other than the Goddess of Light!

But of course, consequently, the soul that was initially contracted by the demon, falls into the hands of the Goddess, thereby risking fracturing.

“Hehe… The hardest one to deceive is oneself after all. You saw through me, if I must choose a faith, I only trust myself!”

Rod laughed.

Su Lu fell silent: “In that case… why did you choose to be a [Demon Hunter] in the first place?”

“Back then, I had no other choices.”

Rod fell silent for a while, then casually explained: “And… at that time I thought my will was strong enough, that I didn’t need to worry about falling before reaching the Fifth Level… But afterwards, I found out… in front of the Abyssal Whispers, an individual’s will is insignificant like an ant. There were many times when I was just a step away from becoming ‘fallen’… For someone like me, a [Demon Hunting Expert], it would be very convenient to fall – I would immediately transform into a Three-Level [Horned Demon]! If that day really comes… kill me!”

His gaze at Su Lu was serious.

“This is too cruel… I probably can’t do it!” Su Lu shook his head, then tentatively asked: “Would it be a bit better if you upgraded to a [Demon Hunting Master]?”

“No! As I rise in rank, it will only get worse… I suspect that if I keep going in this manner, the day I get promoted to Fifth Level… I mean, if I ever did, I will certainly fall immediately, there won’t be a second possibility!”

Rod shook his head.

Su Lu went silent.

The solution is actually simple, have sincere faith in one of the Righteous Gods and seek their protection.

But Rod did not appear to want to do that.

And honestly, in his heart, Su Lu did not want to offer his faith to any entity, even if the entity was the ‘Creator’!

To resist falling purely based on one’s own will, it’s truly dangerous.

“So… Even if I have enough merits to qualify for promotion to [Demon Hunting Master], I may not dare to promote…”

Rod sighed.

“Why… are you so resistant to the faith in The Divine?”

Su Lu was slightly confused, objectively speaking, the Seven Major Orthodox Churchs were pretty reliable, many people in the Federation went to pray at the Goddess Church every week, and the religious atmosphere was very strong, and he hadn’t seen anyone having a problem.

He was a transmigrator, but why was Rod so resistant?

“I… found some remnants left by my ancestors.”

Rod stirred the bonfire a little: “It recorded some secrets of the [Demon Hunter] profession… After reaching the [Demon Hunting Master] stage, the risk of falling becomes very high. Eventually, those who persevered either joined the church, fell completely, or ended their lives before that…”

“The contents of the remnants I saw were about those who joined the church, some of them used God’s grace and their own will to overcome the temptation of the Abyss, cleansed their souls, and successfully upgraded to Fifth-Level [Sacred Warriors]… But, in that stage, they were gradually changed, replaced… By the time they completely succeeded in upgrading, it was as if they had become a completely different person.”

“Do you understand? Everything that composes a person is what makes them human… But after becoming a [Sacred Warrior], many of my ancestors became indifferent, even those who were very family-oriented became completely indifferent to their family’s life or death, they only knew how to serve the Goddess of Light wholeheartedly as if they had become Her fanatics.”

“If it’s just one person changing, it can be considered a special case, but if everyone is like this, there must be a trap in the [Sacred Warrior] profession?”

Su Lu broke off a branch.

In the Federation, the faith in the Goddess of Light Church was deeply rooted, not to mention commoners, even Occupational Persons did not dare to utter any blasphemous words, nor did they dare to harbor such thoughts!

But he was not from this world after all, he directly questioned the source and suspected the Divine!

‘Indeed… Although some of Bukadi’s words are half true and half false, some of them are true… The Gods do not want to see anyone sharing their glory, and will deliberately suppress any potential threat!’

This applies to both external and internal matters.

The career paths of the faithful, the [Assistant Priest] profession for example, need not be mentioned, because those who follow this path, their soul, heart, and body are all dedicated to the Divine and they couldn’t possibly resist.

Besides, they need the Divine’s permission to promote to a higher rank.

They were completely controlled.

Aside from that, the careers mastered by the church like the [Fighter], [Demon Hunter], and others all have their drawbacks to some extent.

Especially the [Demon Hunter]!

“No… saying it’s a trap… isn’t accurate either… after all, the soul of a [Demon Hunter] is marked by the gaze of the Abyss… To resist this power or to put it another way, to completely resolve it, it is necessary to introduce a power of the same level… Allow the power of the Goddess of Light to fully enter the soul, drive out evil, and consequently change some of one’s essence.”

Su Lu pondered: “This reminds me of a principle mentioned in a certain scripture… Once one is watched over by a great being, one can never be free, even if one prays to another being of the same level and gets a response, the result is a substitution, rather than a complete resolution!”

This means that once one is ‘marked’ by a divine being such as a demon, a goddess, or others, it is akin to jumping into a pit of fire. At most you can choose to jump into another pit of fire, but you will never be able to escape!

This is the rule of this world!