Quadruple split

at the same time

The realm of innocence

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…

The huge 'platform' is swaying in a grotesque nothingness, but it is not accurate to say that it is nothingness. Although the thick darkness is indeed infinitely close to the concept of 'nothing', there are actually countless colorful and beautiful things. Patterns, stars, vegetation, creatures, geometric figures and even countless unimaginable outlines are constantly flashing, but without any texture, not even a projection, as if it is just some kind of simple and meaningless curtain, empty and false.

The next moment, it might be only a second, or it might be ten thousand years later, nine light spots of different colors suddenly appeared on the 'curtain', and then quickly became alive, and paused briefly. Then it roared down to the platform below accompanied by bursts of sound that broke through the air.

As a result, there were nine more giant pillars on the large platform full of patterns. They were more than a hundred meters long, with different colors, and were filled with a sense of existence that was incompatible with the surrounding environment. Six of them were nailed on Bursts of light erupted from the platform in an instant, making the endless 'nothingness' around it look even paler and hollower.

"Although I have been here many times, I always feel that no matter how many times I repeat it, it is difficult to get used to it..."

I don't know how long it took, but a severely distorted overdubbed sound with an indistinguishable gender suddenly sounded.

Before he finished speaking, a seat suddenly appeared on the top of one of the huge pillars that were dark green in color and engraved with a large number of twisted reliefs. On it lay a vague figure whose face could not be seen clearly and who was completely hidden under a large cloak. He chuckled slightly and slowly sat upright: "Believe me, dear Fourth Pillar, it won't be long before you stop making such a fuss."

His voice is not as distorted as the former, but a very soft and deep male voice, which is easily reminiscent of a middle-aged scholar with a cane and an elegant demeanor.

"This is a veritable place of miracles, and I don't think time can erase my awe, the eighth pillar."

The sound called the fourth pillar sounded again, and a huge crystal ball appeared out of thin air on the top of one of the giant pillars with a smooth blue surface, with hazy mist flowing on it. From a distance, it looked like a ball with wrong proportions. The mage's eye.

"No, no, no, actually what I mean is that when the number of new members gradually increases, as seniors, we have to be a little more reserved." The eighth column shook his head with a smile, and said quietly: "Even if we have to sigh, 'Master 'You can't lose face with your incredible craftsmanship, right?"

The crystal ball representing the fourth pillar swayed slightly and hummed noncommittally.

At this moment, a conscientious voice suddenly came from the dark purple giant pillar that was the slowest to light up: "This...where is this? I...where am I?"

"This is the world after death. We are the judges and the great will. You are the humble soul on trial. Now everyone is preparing to discuss whether you should continue to be a human being in the next life or simply be a human being based on what you did before. Nikachu is better.”

The eighth column spoke a long sentence quickly, with a very cheerful tone: "So, respectfully state your name, and the attitude you show will also be used as a reference for the decision."

The voice coming from the giant purple pillar seemed to take a breath of cold air. After a while, he asked in a very depressed tone: "Am I... dead?"

"No, you're not dead, I lied to you."

The eighth pillar suddenly laughed, and then opened his arms grandly: "Welcome, dear third pillar, I am sincerely happy for the new partner to join. I hope you don't mind the little joke just now~"

"Third pillar?"

The voice was obviously stunned for a moment, and asked in confusion: "What is the third pillar?"

"You are the third pillar."

A new voice came in, coming from one of the giant pillars that shone with a soft yellow light. It was carved with lifelike flowers, plants, rivers and mountains, exuding a comfortable vitality.

"I...I don't understand..."

The voice called the third pillar obviously didn't understand the situation yet, so he just replied in a daze.

"You'll understand soon enough."

The steady voice seemed to be smiling. The next moment, a statue with an unclear face suddenly appeared on the top of the huge dim yellow pillar carved with flowers, grass, rivers and mountains. He continued calmly: "I am the second pillar. I just tried to trick you into telling you. The real name is the eighth pillar, and the other one is the fourth pillar. We are all 'apostles' of the great Lord, and you will become one of us in the future."

"The second pillar... the great master... lied to me to reveal my true name... to become one of you... What exactly is this... Well, could it be because I drank too much last night... so now..."

The 'third pillar' seemed to be even more confused. He actually started muttering something after the second pillar finished speaking. Listening to the content, it seemed that he was suspecting that he was having a weird dream, and he began to try to pass it. Some messy ways to 'wake up' yourself.

"Haha, it seems that our new partners have some kind of... well, a serious misunderstanding."

The fourth column, whose voice is severely distorted, seems to be laughing.

"I think the eighth pillar should be responsible for this. It's because of your previous words that made him even more confused."

Erzhu sighed, seeming a little dissatisfied.

"It's just a joke."

The Eighth Pillar, who was sitting on the large chair, shook his head and said helplessly: "I never expected that the new companion would be so... uh, so uncool. In fact, I thought he would at least be a person who has seen the world. , obviously I was wrong."

"I can not understand……"

Second Pillar's tone became stern, and he said in a deep voice: "Why would you do such a thing after the previous incident?"

"If what you call 'the incident' is the fact that I intentionally guided the Fourth Pillar to reveal their true name, causing everyone to have their memories erased by the Master, and causing me to be punished by sinking into nothingness for five seconds... …”

The Eighth Pillar spread his hands and said calmly: "I can only explain that it was out of interest at first. But this time, I am sure to stop the Third Pillar before he can answer honestly. But to be honest, I I really didn’t expect that the third pillar, which represents ‘disorder’, would be so... refreshing.”

"Are you questioning the 'Master''s choice?"

A flame appeared on the angry red pillar that had been lit at the beginning but never spoke, and a thunderous voice rang out in the void: "Watch your words, the eighth pillar."

Faced with the angry red giant pillar's words, which were little more than threats, the eighth pillar did not show much emotion. He just stared at the blazing flames and smiled: "You are joking, I just said that I didn't expect it. As for questioning the 'Lord', I don't think any of us humble people who have seen the vast power have the courage."

"snort……"

The flame did not say anything more to the eighth pillar. It just transformed into a face with unclear features from the flames. It turned to the dark purple pillar and said in a deep voice: "You can call me the seventh pillar." column."

Third Pillar, who tried to 'wake up' to no avail, obviously realized that this was not a dream or hallucination, and could only reply in a low voice without understanding the situation: "Hello."

The flame at the top of the seventh pillar jumped slightly, as if it was nodding.

The platform became quiet again, whether it was the fourth pillar that incarnated like a giant mage's eye, the eighth pillar that appeared in a vague human form, or the second pillar that took the form of a weathered statue holding a giant sword, or the The seventh pillar that spoke last no longer made any sound. Only the streaks of light on the corresponding giant pillars showed that they had not left.

As for the unclear third pillar, although I don't know what was going on in his mind, he just managed to calm down or became more and more panicked. Anyway, he calmly stopped talking.

After a moment, the snow-white giant pillar located at the twelve o'clock direction trembled slightly, and a woman with a blurred face in a white dress appeared quietly at the top of the giant pillar.

"It seems that you have finished sharing your feelings..."

She first looked around, her eyes that seemed to be hidden behind the thick fog swept over the eighth, seventh, fourth, and second pillars, and finally settled on the third pillar, and said slowly: "Welcome, new companions , you can call me First Pillar."

"Hello... No. 1 column..."

The latter said something very anxiously, and his tone sounded very nervous.

In addition to being completely confused about the reason for this situation, the woman who claimed to be the first pillar also made him a little uncomfortable. Unlike the other four pillars with whom he had a brief conversation before, the temperament exuded by the former almost made him feel suffocated, although he It seemed like he didn't need to breathe at the moment, but he still felt this way.

"Calm down, Third Pillar. Although you may not get the answer immediately, your doubts will not last long."

The vague face of the first pillar seemed to reveal a smile, and said softly: "You will appear here because it is the choice of the great master. He concluded that you have a certain qualification like everyone else present, so he will You were brought here and given the identity of the third pillar, but this number does not have much meaning. Under the Lord, all nine pillars are equal. Including me, maybe each of us has a different background. But at least in the 'assembly', each of us is equal, there is no need to be formal, and there is no need to be humble."

The Eighth Pillar covered his mouth and smiled: "Of course, that's what I said, but the First Pillar's status is actually a little higher than those of us."

"I will only convey the Lord's will when necessary. Other than that, I am no different from you."

The first pillar glanced at the eighth pillar and said calmly: "I think you should understand this."

"Well, yes, that's what happened."

Different from the carelessness when he was scolded by the second and seventh pillars, after the seemingly careless glance of the first pillar, the eighth pillar was much more honest, but this in turn proved that he just had the first pillar 's status is actually higher', but if this is his intention, it can really prove the theory that nine pillars are equal.

Maybe it was just random, but the connotation between these three words was enough to show the depth of the Eighth Pillar.

It’s just that the first column obviously didn’t care about this detail. After casually clicking on it, he looked back at the third column with an unwavering tone: “As the most senior member of the ‘assembly’, I have the obligation to tell you some basic rules. First of all, including me and the three pillars who have not yet appeared, each of us has decisively different positions, and different positions can either make us cooperate with each other or make us hostile to each other. In fact, the latter situation It often requires more, so in addition to practicing the will of the master, the first priority for each of us is to protect ourselves."

"protect yourself?"

The panicked Third Pillar was particularly concerned about this topic. He was inexplicably pulled into this place and has been on edge ever since. Now he really just wants to 'protect himself'.

"That's right."

The first pillar nodded slightly and said without audible emotion: "So the first thing I want to remind you is to try not to reveal your identity, like the eighth pillar tested you before. Although after I finished speaking, It was considered 'violation of the rules' before, but there will be no restrictions after that, so I suggest you always be vigilant, otherwise, anything like being killed, controlled, coerced, etc. may happen, as I said before , when the positions are different, the possibility of hostility to each other is often greater."

The other pillars didn't speak. Even the eighth pillar, who was always talkative, just laughed twice. The third pillar seemed to be shocked. He was silent for a full five minutes before saying bitterly: "Excuse me. Do I have the right to withdraw from the assembly?”

In fact, you don’t need to ask to know that in this case, the answer is naturally no.

but……

"have."

The first column gave an answer calmly.

"real?!"

If he could make an expression, Third Pillar believed that his current face would definitely be ecstatic.

“But as the Chosen One, there is a price to pay for withdrawing from the ‘Assembly’.”

The first column added in an understatement, and said directly before the other party asked: "The price of life."

"..."

The third pillar was silent.

However, at this moment, a magnificent flash of light suddenly appeared in the void. At this moment, whether it was the first, second or eighth pillar with form, or the fourth and seventh pillar without form, , all of them had violent mental fluctuations.

The next moment, the flash of light had disappeared, but Gujing Wubo's voice on the first pillar showed surprise for the first time: "The will of the Lord..."

"What?"

Third Pillar asked subconsciously.

"Congratulations, third pillar."

The Eighth Pillar suddenly clapped his hands gently. Apparently he also 'perceived' that will, and said with a smile: "The great master expressed his willingness to give you a chance to escape."

"Opportunity... opportunity?!"

"That's right."

First Pillar nodded slightly, and his voice returned to calmness and indifference: "In other words, if you choose to quit now, you don't have to pay any price except for the memory here. This is the gift that the Lord has just decided to give you."

"I……"

"Choose, become the third pillar of the 'assembly', or forget all this, return to your current life, and tell your answer..."

"I……"

…

Game time AM07:01

Eastern part of the Innocence Continent, Viridian Town [Caterpillar Tavern], a room on the second floor

Beo Lucanus sat up from the bed suddenly. He opened his eyes blankly, and while recalling the strange dream just now, he looked at his left wrist anxiously...

There was an exquisite bracelet made of some kind of dark purple metal, with a lifelike harp carved on it, shining with a blur of light in the morning light.

Prologue: End