Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 487 - 457 is not a Blessed Monk

Chapter 487: 457 is not a Blessed Monk

Can a Blessed Monk devour souls like a Sin Demon? This is the first time I’ve heard of it.

The characters I’ve encountered who engage in soul refining seem quite numerous. Before, they were freaks, but now it’s Blessed Monks and Sin Demons... However, considering that Sin Demons are essentially the archetype of freaks, one should say that the power of soul refining in freaks is a mere imitation, while the Sin Demons are the original version.

Since Mazao is also a Blessed Monk, she must possess the power of soul refining as well, yet I’ve never heard her mention it, let alone witnessed her display it.

Moreover, when she first crossed over, her soul was heavily injured, precisely when she most urgently needed to devour souls for self-repair. Why didn’t she exhibit such abilities then? Although her character is kind-hearted, she does have a side that disregards modern laws, and in an emergency, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find some deserving people to kill...

No, maybe back then she didn’t know where to find such people conveniently... Come to think of it, since she’s traveled to the modern world, she hasn’t killed anyone. Could it be that she has a moral aversion to devouring human souls, equating it with cannibalism, and thus doesn’t want to do it? This doesn’t quite align with the values a Doomsday Era survivor should have.

If that’s truly the case, should I try to reason with her? Of course, if she absolutely refuses, I won’t force her... Or is the real reason she believes that relying solely on soul devouring is insufficient to repair the soul damage caused by the Disaster Demon’s fire? As I pondered, I voiced my question.

Mazao quickly shook her head, explaining, "I don’t have a moral aversion here, nor do I think soul devouring can’t heal the wounds... It’s simply because I don’t have the ability to devour other people’s souls."

"Why? Since all Blessed Monks have this ability, shouldn’t you be able to do it too?" I was puzzled.

"No, I can’t." She said, "For some unknown reason, as a Blessed Monk, I seem to have a defect..."

As she said this, she seemed hesitant, as if she doubted her own judgment, and I recalled something she had mentioned before.

Mazao once told me that the sky in the Doomsday Era was always night, with no stars or moon visible. According to rumors, only Blessed Monks and those on the verge of becoming Sin Demons are exceptions; they can see the moon hanging in the doomsday sky.

Mazao had hinted at the shared traits of Blessed Monks and Sin Demons long ago. At the same time, she had also hinted at her own differences from the two—the fact that although she was a Blessed Monk, she had never seen the Doomsday Moon, not even once.

So, is it possible... that Mazao is not actually a Blessed Monk as she thought?

When I brought this up, she reluctantly nodded, saying, "...It’s possible.

"In the Doomsday Era, those who used strange powers were all Blessed Monks, so I always thought of myself as a Blessed Monk... Until arriving in this era and encountering the concept of demon hunters and similar ideas, I realized that the strange powers humans wield aren’t limited to just blessing power."

The first time I met Mazao, she seemed completely unaware of the concept of "demon hunters," even thinking that people with strange powers in this era might be collectively known as "supernatural power users."

"Actually, I’m quite curious about one thing..." I said, "The Blessed Monks of the Doomsday Era, the name contains ’blessing,’ does that mean it’s ’power granted’?

"Can I understand that the powers possessed by Blessed Monks are bestowed by some existence?"

Mazao confidently said, "Yes. It’s said that when Blessed Monks awaken, they hear a certain vague voice from the void, which is referred to as the ’gospel.’"

"I’ve never heard the ’gospel’ myself, so I can’t describe exactly what it sounds like... But according to other Blessed Monks I’ve encountered, this voice seems to be guiding them to do something, yet it’s too vague to understand its true intent. Only the human gods of the Evangelical Institute can decipher the content of the ’gospel.’

"Additionally, there are some fallen Blessed Monks who believe that the ’gospel’ is guiding them to slaughter en masse—because whether for self-healing or for becoming stronger, Blessed Monks can rely on devouring souls to achieve their goals at once.

"The process of soul devouring is said to be accompanied by a strong pleasure, producing wonderful hallucinations. Blessed Monks can easily be ensnared by the joy and become deeply addicted, falling, and relentlessly seeking survivors on the doomsday lands to kill.

"For some reason, this soul devouring ability only targets humans as prey, and because humans in the Doomsday Era are all somewhat infected with frenzy, devouring too many human souls at once would also consume the frenzy into one’s own soul. I know of many Blessed Monks who have thus transformed themselves into crazed, soul-greedy Sin Demons."

Contrary to the sacredness of their name, Blessed Monks seem to be a group teetering on the edge of the Demon Path.

Who or what truly blessed them?

"Maybe the former me would know more, but now even I’ve forgotten those things." Mazao said regretfully.

"Is the memory lost to frenzy something that cannot be restored no matter what?" I asked, "Can spells in the Spirit and Soul Domain restore it?"

"It’s impossible." Mazao shook her head, "Many Doomsday survivors have tried to recover their past memories, and similar avenues have been explored; after crossing into this era, I also tried using the Fake Water Moon and other methods to restore my memories, but it was all in vain.

"If I must say, during my time wandering in the Doomsday Era, I heard of an item, something called ’Three-Life Stone Powder’? Its effect is to allow people who have lost their memories due to frenzy infection to regain a small portion of their desired memories... However, the price is that upon using it, one’s life is inevitably shortened, and they die shortly thereafter, making it a complete poison."

"I’m not sure if it truly exists. Although I was very curious about what kind of memories I lost, I was never curious enough to pay with my life."

The name "Three-Life Stone Powder" evokes thoughts of the notorious slow poison "Five Stone Powder," as "Three Lives Stone" refers to a mythical item, with the three lives representing the past life, present life, and future life.

The Doomsday Era is the end of the world, and even if the Three Lives Stone truly exists there, it wouldn’t be able to see everyone’s future lives, at most only showing past and present lives. In folklore, it’s said this stone is placed by the Wangchuan River beneath the Naihe Bridge, where souls queue for reincarnation, allowed one last look at the mortal world from the Wangxiang Platform before drinking Meng Po Soup and being reincarnated.

This topic seemed to lead Mazao into further contemplation, as she sighed, "Lost memories... I wonder how Little Bowl is doing now..."

Her reminder made me realize the significant predicament Little Bowl was currently facing.

The frenzy of the Doomsday Era causes lone survivors to forget their own names, and once they forget even their own names, they rapidly approach Sin demonization. All this time, while I’d been worrying about Little Bowl potentially encountering numerous strange and dangerous beings or perhaps even more dangerous human survivors in the Doomsday Era, I inadvertently overlooked the most lethal threat to her, which is "loneliness."

This oversight of mine was a blind spot in my thinking. In my mind, once Little Bowl’s name was restored, it became "a problem already solved"; unlike Mazao who survived the Doomsday Era firsthand, this matter didn’t solidify as a profound piece of common knowledge in my mind. Despite our brief exchanges, Little Bowl never directly demonstrated the danger of Sin demonization in front of me, making it more like a mere piece of knowledge on paper.

Upon careful reflection, even when the Void Realm was still active, Little Bowl wasn’t entirely safe in this regard. Due to the abnormal flow of time in the Doomsday Era, if Little Bowl enters an area with accelerated time flow, she could irrevocably approach Sin demonization between two Virtual Realm Conferences. In the last Virtual Realm Conference, Little Bowl mentioned that while only over three weeks had passed here since the last time, at her side, at least three months had elapsed in her experience.

Little Bowl must have been aware of this issue herself, and she may have faced life-threatening challenges during this time yet never brought it up in front of me. Likely because she knew it was a problem I couldn’t solve, mentioning it would only cause me needless worry.

It’s unbelievable that I was so unaware in this matter that I was accommodated by a little girl like Little Bowl.

Currently, Little Bowl probably can only seek cooperation with other survivors to escape the state of being alone, but Doomsday Era survivors can’t be morally relied upon. Even if Little Bowl possesses the Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena power, unexpected incidents cannot be entirely ruled out.

I initially thought reestablishing contact with Little Bowl through Weichi would be a fruitless exchange, but now I realize that just having a "reestablished contact" is the most useful outcome, making it necessary to urge Weichi further.

"Don’t worry, everything will be fine." I said as reassuringly as possible, "Remember what I once said to you? We and Little Bowl are surely connected by a strong bond of fate, and there are still many mysteries surrounding her that we don’t know.

"Therefore, until all mysteries are revealed, her story won’t end hastily. This isn’t mere comfort; it’s a guarantee given by the Broom Star Physique you once deemed a curse.

"I believe in you, so you should believe in yourself too."

Little Bowl herself also seems to have a remarkable fortune to survive in hopeless situations. Her past experience of entering the Void Realm before everything was irreparably lost and coincidentally receiving my help might be a manifestation of such fortunate timing.

Mazao extended her soft and slender arms, embracing me.

"Yes, I believe you, Zhuang Cheng." She said dependently, "I still don’t know how to believe in myself, but as long as it’s something you say, I won’t doubt a word of it."

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