Novel Full Proofreader: Arya
Let’s rewind time for a day.
The eve of Varona’s coronation.
Gu Qing Shan had just returned from the ocean to the mountaintop mansion.
Su Xue Er was still at the forked road of fate.
Twilight.
At the border of the Holy Empire and Fuxi.
A desolate small town.
The town’s church was a bit old, but fortunately, there was an old priest there to keep it working.
For so many years, regardless of the weather, the church’s gates have never closed.
But today, the gates were shut tight.
When the curious townsfolk asked, they understood the reason why.
The chandelier that’s existed for over 100 years, creaking at the slightest of breeze had finally reached the end of its life. It fell down from the ceiling.
The fallen chandelier destroyed two rows of seats and almost hit the old priest as well.
And so the church was temporarily unusable.
Whether it’s to fix the seats, or because he was shocked and needed rest, the old priest declared the church to be closed for now.
The gates closed, separating the world outside from the one inside.
Inside the silent church.
The old priest’s voice rang out.
He spoke with a hoarse, weak voice: “Your highness Anna, you are the most talented heir in the history of the Medici clan, the only head to fully grasp the ancient arts passed down from the founder”
“This old man believes you to already be the strongest of all the heads in history, there is no need for you to risk it”
Across from him, the beautiful girl with crimson red hair answered: “There’s no need to persuade me anymore, I have to try this once”
Anna.
Anna was here.
She carried a large backpack, standing in the church with the wear of the journey still on herself.
The old priest tried to beg: “Our clan has birthed so many heirs, all of which have their own wisdom, but none could manage to awaken the Death god”
“Some had even gone so far as to suicide in front of the Sleeping Coffer, hoping to only manifest the Death god”
“But regardless of what they tried, the Sleeping Coffer never responded at all”
“Up until now, only the founder had ever opened it”
“Your Highness Anna, this Coffer is a cursed item, this old man insists that you should return”
“Stop spouting nonsense. I am the head, and the head have to come here to experience this once, this is the rule!” Anna took a strong stance.
The old priest sighed: “Our clan already have nobody left, for the sake of the continuation of our lineage, the most important duty is for you to ensure your own safety”
Anna nodded: “You are right, I don’t think that I’m any better than the ancestors, I just really want to finish this bestowal ceremony quickly”
The old priest was a bit confused.
Anna told him: “I still don’t think I’m any stronger than any of the ancestors in history, and I treasure my life a lot. As the head, I’m only here to make sure I won’t have any regrets later on”
“…so that’s it”
The old priest looked into her eyes, seeing that there indeed was no hope of achieving anything, he finally calmed down.
He’s most afraid of Anna not thinking clearly and tries to pay some sort of heavy price in order to open the lineage coffer.
The current Medici clan already can’t afford to lose anymore.
“But then why do I recognize a bit of haste in you, Your Highness?” the old priest carefully asked.
Anna answered: “Nonsense, I’m in a rush to finish this and go back!”
She clenched her fist tightly: “I’ve already fully comprehended the ancient scriptures, I’m no longer the me of the past, I want to kill the Pope!”
“Your Highness Anna, I fully trust in your abilities”
The old priest smiled, seemingly overjoyed.
“Then, one last thing, Your Highness” he said.
“Ask”
“In your backpack, are they tools for awakening the Death god?”
“Hmph, something that a girl carries on herself would of course be for her own use, why would it be for the Death god”
“Ha ha ha, very well, please come in”
The old priest came to a certain place in the church and lit up a torch.
While picking it up, he also pressed a hidden contraption in the dark.
A light tremor.
The church’s floor sunk down to reveal an ancient hidden walkway.
Pfew!
The wind screeches intensely as it escaped the walkway, filling the hall of the church.
The old priest turned around and stood at one side of the walkway.
“Your Highness Anna, please be careful”
He then handed the torch to Anna.
“Fine, fine, I got it. Just stand watch here, I’ll just take a look, if I really can’t do it then I won’t. I’m not going to force it” Anna answered.
She took the torch, braced the wind and walked down the walkway, not turning back.
The old priest stared at Anna’s back, commenting: “Her Highness is finally grown up”
Anna went down the walkway.
After just a few minutes, the walkway had become steep that it was almost straight down.
The steps extended deep into the darkness, showing up one by one as Anna stepped forward.
The air around her became moist and cold.
Only the torch in her hand shone with light, illuminating the area around herself.
After an hour, the steps Anna walked were still heading downwards.
She stopped for a bit, impatient.
“How long is this going to take? I don’t have that much time to waste here”
Saying so, Anna tightened the straps on her backpack.
She jumped straight down into the darkness.
Behind her, a flaming pair of wings spread and flapped, illuminating the darkness.
The heat held her airborne as Anna slowly flew downwards.
The wind blew past her flowing hair, screaming by her eyes.
With the light from the wings, Anna managed to clearly see the rocky steps, stones and bats on the way.
Evading these obstacles, she didn’t slow down at all.
Flying like this was several dozens times faster than walking like before.
About 5 minutes later.
Anna arrived at the bottom of the abyss.
It was completely dark and silent here.
The torch was about to go out.
Anna held it up to illuminate the scenery around her.
A large black door appeared at the end of the path.
The door was so large that Anna had to look up to see the metal etchings on top of the door.
[Here sleeps the Death god, only those who died may seek his audience]
Reading this, Anna fell blank for a while.
In history there were quite a few incredibly strong heroic figures that searched for clues, bit by bit to finally arrive at the Medici clan’s secret.
They went by themselves to his place.
But no matter who they were, as soon as they made it to this door, they would immediately die.
Every single one of those powerful figures fell into eternal slumber.
Only people of the Medici clan can make it into the Sanctuary safely.
Even so, no Medici clan member has ever managed to awaken the sleeping Death god.
After expending all the wits of their most brilliant minds, her clansmen finally put their minds on this sentence at the gate.
In front of the altar, they had suicided, attempting to awaken their sleeping god.
But to no avail.
And Anna won’t be doing that
She held the Life Exchanging Contract, cleared her throat and solemnly declared to the black door.
“I, holder of the Contract, current head of the Medici clan, Anna Medici seeks entry into the Sanctuary!”
As if sensing something, the Life Exchanging Contract become cold.
Rumble!
The jet black door opened.
As soon as Anna came in, the door quickly closed.
Total darkness.
A suffocating silence filled the room.
This is the Sanctuary of the sleeping Death god.
Anna held out one finger.
Flame!
A small fire started on the tip of her finger, illuminating her brilliant face.
Anna lightly made a firing motion.
The fire rose up into the air and expanded to become a searing flame.
The light of the flame shone on the entire Sanctuary.
Anna looked around.
Although she’s already known from reading the records of her clan, Anna couldn’t help but be taken by awe.
10-story high humanoid stone statues, 12 of them in total.
The 12 statues held long, dark sickles in their hands, representing the authority to dispel malice, kill evil and protect the people.
The statues wore masks of a thin, long dog face, representing the devouring of the unclean human form and purification of their souls.
Black Crow and the Dog deity are servants of the Death god, respectively the spreader of sleep and death.
These statues depict the deity Death Hound.
The 12 statues stood surrounding a tower in the middle of the Sanctuary.
It was a lone tower, a bit like a lighthouse, but there were no stairs to lead up to the top.
A typical structure of the Holy Church of Death.
In every church, only the place where the god descend can be built like this.
They are called the Platform of God’s Descent.
Believers aren’t allowed to climb onto these platforms, as they are the place where god stands and mortals cannot reach.
Her clan’s records made this very clear.
The Sleeping Coffer of the Death god is on that Platform of God’s Descent.
If someone manages to awaken the Death god, then God will descend upon that platform, open the Sleeping Coffer and reward them with great treasures.
Anna walked to the tower.
She looked down.
There were deep slash marks, burn marks, and ancient blood marks all over this place.
In some corners there were even dried skeletons.
These are all attempts of the Medici clan’s heirs throughout the ages, seeking to awakening their God.
Anna then looked up.
The Platform of God’s Descent was built completely from stone without any stairs to lead upwards.
This represents the distance between God and mortals.
Over the last few hundred thousand years, this tower had silently stood here without delivering any miracle.
Anna stepped in front of the tower and clasped her hands to pray.
The ceremony began.
Anna inhaled deeply and chanted the bestowal incantation.
“Judge of justice and evil”
“Guide of the souls”
“Keeper of dead secrets”
“God of sleep and death”
“I, descendant of the Medici clan, stands here to request your audience”