Only God

Sects often preferred to preach in cities where there were many believers of the True Religion. In that case, preaching tended to go smoothly and often yielded twice the results with half the effort.

Veldor and others traveled to Klade City for that very reason, having been told by several believers they met on the road that Klade City was a good place to preach. Consequently, the entire sect made its way there.

It was clear that Klade City did indeed have slightly more believers of the True Religion than the average dwarf city, but not much more, and far less than what the believers they met on the road had claimed.

Yet, the members of the sect were not discouraged. They had long been accustomed to living a humble and content life. Under the guidance of the Priest, the sect temporarily settled in Klade City.

Life in the sect was often dull and monotonous; they gathered during the day to pray and then sent out experienced Monks to help with the believers' troubles, conduct funerals, teach prayers, write and read letters, and occasionally run errands. Despite doing so much, the Monks received meager compensation—mostly bread, fish, fabric, a few copper coins, or simply a blessing. Sometimes, the price the Monks paid was unimaginable. Veldor had heard that on a few occasions, the sect would raise ransom money for some believers who had been imprisoned, and these believers had only converted to the True Religion after imprisonment, to avoid the torment of jail. They barely knew a few scriptures and didn't understand the doctrines at all; some didn't even know where they were supposed to go after death.

The sect often complained about this behavior, but even if these people reneged on their recognition or abandoned the religion as soon as they were ransomed, the Priest of the sect would forgive their sins and had no regrets.

Sometimes, among the dull life in the sect, some strange things would happen.

It was most unfortunate that Veldor happened to encounter such an incident.

It started when a couple of the True Believers came to the sect, begging them to send a Priest to exorcise ghosts.

"Exorcise ghosts… is there a haunted spirit causing trouble in your area?"

Veldor asked in surprise.

He was also somewhat nervous.

Having lived so long in the sect, they had never dealt with anything about exorcising ghosts; at most, they provided solace to the spirits at funerals.

"We are just guessing. In our area, recently, more than a dozen people have mysteriously disappeared. Everyone says that they either fled from catastrophe or it's unknown where they died. May God protect us, the disappearance of so many people really makes us anxious."

The man narrated so.

Veldor let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this; it didn't sound like a real haunting, but rather, a series of disappearances over a period, with no one actually witnessing any spirit causing mischief.

"It might just be a coincidence… However, we will come over in a couple of days to check."

Veldor promised and blessed the couple.

After seeing off the couple, Veldor reported the matter to the Priest of the sect. This experienced Priest had conducted exorcism rituals four times; three of those were baseless misunderstandings, and only one was a genuine exorcism.

After hearing Veldor's account, the Priest of the sect concluded that it was very likely just a farce. He told Veldor not to be afraid, to go ahead confidently, and that he would pray for him within the sect.

"There's not much danger involved. Even if there really are spirits, they are probably just reluctant souls."

The Priest of the sect said so.

After hearing this from the Priest of the sect, Veldor was completely reassured. He enlisted his friend Gomu and planned to investigate the matter in a couple of days.

The above was the cause of Veldor mistakenly entering the town of the afterlife.

The haunted area spoken of by the couple was actually a place where the impersonator and master of deception, Wally, was tricking mortals into the town of the afterlife.

It was filled with errors and misunderstandings.

Perhaps if something unexpected, like a sudden stomachache, had occurred, Veldor would not have entered the town of the afterlife.

But most unfortunately, no such incident occurred.

When Veldor and Gomu stepped into the haunted area, anomalies began.

Wally, unaware of their true identities as believers, simply deployed his usual deceptive divine power, leading them into the town of the afterlife.

He offered a meticulously prepared illusion. When Veldor and Gomu entered the area, they suddenly encountered robbers who not only robbed them of all their money but also killed them.

Veldor died from a stab in his abdomen, and Gomu was decapitated.

The illusion created by the divine power of deception was so realistic that neither of them noticed anything odd.

When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing before a boy.

"Hello, welcome to the Netherworld."

Wally politely bowed.

"I am Wally, a loyal servant of the Death God Nakbet, and your guide here."

Veldor and Gomu stood stunned. Then they glanced at each other, exchanged looks, and Veldor couldn't help but shout:

"The Netherworld, is there some mistake?"

Wally spread his hands.

"I know, you don't believe you're dead, but you are indeed dead. This is the Netherworld. If you don't believe me, look at yourselves, look around."

Wally thought they were just like those people who couldn't believe they were already dead— he had seen many such individuals. After they stayed in the town of the afterlife for a while, they would soon believe that they were truly dead.