"The souls of Styxia?"
Eleusis blinked in astonishment, rubbing the bridge of his nose, subconsciously thinking he had misheard.
Styxia was the closest place to the River Styx. The deceased would instinctively gather there. Even with the River Styx blocked and unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation, they would only linger there, never leaving.
Styxia had met its end precisely for this reason. But what was he hearing now?
The deceased had actually left Styxia and were heading with a clear destination toward this land in the far north?
"Noto, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Even having heard it with his own ears, Eleusis still found it hard to believe.
The priest called Noto, seeing Eleusis's disbelief, grew anxious.
"High Priest, what I'm saying is true! Those souls are estimated to arrive here within a day or two!"
Seeing the serious expression on his face, Eleusis fell silent.
He had founded Aidonia so that he and others could find an end to the agony of being unable to truly die, to avoid lingering indefinitely like the deceased of Styxia.
He never imagined that just as things were starting to look up because of Castorice, the souls themselves would come knocking on their door first.
Was it because of Castorice?
After all, for the deceased who could not enter the cycle of reincarnation, a desire for true death was only natural.
"High Priest, what should we do now? Should we send people to protect the Saintess while she grants salvation to these souls?"
Seeing the High Priest's silence, Noto's first thought was of the Saintess they had brought back, Castorice. Only she had the power to grant those souls complete rest.
The moment High Priest Eleusis heard Noto's words, he shook his head and rejected the proposal.
"No. Castorice is still young and her mind is not yet mature. If we force her to do this, it will only destroy her. Although the curse on her body is a salvation to the deceased, to herself, it is a curse that gnaws at her very soul!"
"But..." Noto was reluctant to give up. He feared the souls would harm the people of Aidonia, but he also pitied those lingering spirits who could not find peace.
If Castorice could solve the problem, it would be for the best.
"No buts." Eleusis sternly refused Noto's suggestion, then changed the subject. "Is there any news from Okhema? Has Imperator sent anyone over?"
"Yes." Noto nodded. "His Majesty Imperator had already arranged for people and a Dromas caravan to head this way to help us relocate, but the fastest they can arrive is in three days. The timing is completely off; it's too far!"
Three days...
Eleusis sighed. That was too late.
The souls only needed to press forward, but the support troops from Okhema had many other factors to consider. Even if they relayed the message to them now and had them advance at full speed, it would still be too late.
"We have no choice. Go now and relay this message to everyone. Have them immediately start packing their more valuable belongings, abandon all miscellaneous items, and prepare to leave this place at once!"
Hearing this, Noto sighed, nodded, and turned to leave.
Eleusis also began to hastily pack his more precious books and documents.
---o---
In a deep forest a hundred kilometers from Aidonia, all sorts of birds and beasts were fleeing in a panic. Behind them, a significant number of plants began to wither progressively. The cause of all this was the tide of souls.
They had long lost their consciousness, relying only on instinct to snatch the life force of their surroundings to alleviate their own suffering. Even if the stolen life force only offered a moment of peace, they would do it without hesitation.
And beside this tide of souls, Lygus observed them with his arms crossed behind his back.
"To think it could make these souls abandon Styxia, the closest place to the River Styx, and advance single-mindedly towards Aidonia. Is the pull of this realm called the [Nether] really so great?"
Lygus was genuinely curious about this suddenly-appeared Nether. Not long ago, he had tried various methods to stop the Nether's data from overwriting the Underworld's, but every single attempt had failed due to insufficient permissions.
The only way to stop it without needing permissions was to shut down the Emperor's Scepter, but doing so would obstruct, or even completely ruin, his plans.
This was something he absolutely did not want to see.
However, the appearance of the [Nether] was not entirely a bad thing. Since it was overwriting the Underworld, and not the other way around, it proved that its degree of superiority was far beyond the Underworld's.
If used properly, it might even be able to accelerate the process of breaking the Irontomb.
"Heh heh, Fu Zhu, you probably never imagined that the actions you took to obstruct me might end up helping me instead, did you?"
Lygus thought of the surprised expression Fu Zhu would have after learning of this matter and couldn't help but let out a light chuckle in his mind. It was a pity that as an Intellitron, he lacked this function.
Lygus put those thoughts aside and once again turned his gaze to the tide of souls. He brought his hands from behind his back and gently clapped them together. In an instant, the already tumultuous wave of souls became tinged with a bloody hue.
Their speed of advance and the efficiency of their life-draining abilities increased several times over!
"Well then, I'll have to trouble you to help me run my experiment a little faster."
Lygus once again placed his hands behind his back and followed behind the tide of souls, approaching Aidonia along with them.
---o---
At that moment in Aidonia, the once-peaceful town was in chaos. Many people were hastily packing their things, planning to evacuate with the main group. But when everyone was in a hurry, the situation became somewhat unmanageable, and the efficiency of the evacuation plummeted.
The priests who had come to maintain order and assist felt helpless seeing this scene, and could only do their best to help the residents evacuate.
However, at that very moment, the person responsible for monitoring the soul tide's movements suddenly rushed back, shouting anxiously to the priests, "This is bad!"
"Those souls have arrived early! They're less than a dozen kilometers away from us now!"
"What?! How could they be so fast?! At this distance, we don't have enough time to get clear of their path!"
Hearing this, the priests panicked. They never thought that after only a dozen hours, the souls would already be upon them!
There was simply not enough time left for them to get away!
"What do we do now? We don't have time to evacuate!"
"Don't panic! Let's go! To the church! We'll find the Saintess! She can definitely protect us!"
Someone in the crowd shouted this, and immediately, everyone's eyes lit up. They turned and rushed towards the church, completely forgetting that Castorice was currently just a little girl, no older than their own children.
Some might have remembered this fact, but to them, Castorice was the last straw to clutch at.