Bishop Mayne walked down the circular staircase, one step at a time, heading deeper into the ground.
This was a naturally formed sinkhole, the depth of which was at least four Towers of Heaven, with a diameter of more than twenty feet, which was more than enough to fit a lord's castle. The inside of the well was not dark at first. There were skylights on the high dome, and the light penetrated through the windows into the ground, leaving zigzagging spots of light on the ice-cast stone wall.
As he continued to descend, the spots of light gradually darkened, and soon blended with the stone wall. But the center of the pit reflected a faint blue light, and the deeper he went, the more obvious it became. Even without a torch, he would not fall into a situation where he could not see his own fingers.
The staircase under his feet was like a small snake circling the pit, tightly attached to the rock wall.
The staircase was cut out of granite, rectangular, three fingers thick, enough for two people to walk side by side. One end was embedded in the rock wall, and the other end was suspended in the air. In order to prevent accidental falls, there were wooden railings at the suspended end, and the railings were connected by ropes.
He did not count how many stairs there were, but he knew that the laying of each slate was extremely difficult. The Church's masons hung down by ropes, and in the hard rock, they cut a groove deep enough, and then put the slate into it. Every movement had to be careful, because the rope slipped or snapped, and more than three hundred people fell into the pit.
If the Hermes Cathedral built above was the symbol of the unyielding spirit of the Church, then the Hermes Mechanism hidden deep in the bottom of the well was the real core of the Church.
The stone wall beside the staircase was inlaid with God's Stones of Retaliation, and every hundred steps there was a Judgement Army standing guard. There was also a team of God's Punishment Army on standby to meet the intruders. And between the dome and the mezzanine of the floor of the cathedral, there were many sandbags and gravel buried. If the Holy City's defense line failed, and everyone had to evacuate, the Pope would activate the trap, and let the gravel and gravel completely bury the place.
Although it was not the first time that Mayne went to the Hermes Mechanism, the feeling of walking in the air still made him dizzy. Especially when he looked down, he always had the illusion that he was falling.
When his feet landed on solid ground, he heaved a sigh of relief.
At the bottom of the sinkhole was a huge disc-shaped white grindstone. Its surface was as smooth as a mirror. Standing on it, one could even see their own reflection.Through the ingenious design of the craftsmen, the light coming in from the dome skylight would be refracted many times in the pit wall and converge on the grindstone at the bottom of the pit. Even though there were no torches, the bottom of the sinkhole was not completely dark.
Only when one was at the bottom of the pit would one realize that the sunlight was not colorless. When the grindstone was illuminated, it reflected a faint blue light. Looking up, the entire sinkhole was illuminated by this blue light, showing a cold luster. If one looked carefully, they would notice that there were countless dust particles flying in the brighter areas, just like the tiny creatures recorded in ancient books.
Using the naturally formed holes in the mountain walls at the bottom of the cave, the Church connected them and further expanded them to build the Hermes Mechanism. It was also thanks to these holes that allowed the air to circulate freely in this place. It was completely different from the rotten and oppressive feeling of being deep underground.
As soon as Mayne entered the door of the mechanism, the defense suddenly became a lot tighter. The Army of Judges here were divided into groups of five, guarding each checkpoint – they were the most loyal warriors of the Church. Once they accepted this responsibility, all of them would spend the rest of their lives in the mechanism, never to return to the surface.
In fact, only he and the Pope could enter and exit the mechanism, even the two Archbishops Heather and Tayfun couldn't set foot in this place.
But Mayne also didn't know how many forks there were in the end. In addition to the main road in the south, there were many branching passages on both sides. Following them all the way, one would often find more branches. Some of them were used by the Church, while others were simply sealed. He had heard that, when they were building the mechanism, several craftsmen mistakenly entered those unmarked forks. As a result, they lost their way inside, never to find their way back.
The straight main road went all the way to the depths of the mountain. Every thirty feet (about 100 meters) or so, there was a checkpoint. Mayne knew that the tasks of the traps in each checkpoint were different.The outermost section was the living area, where the warriors who guarded the bottom of the cave lived. The second section was the archives, used to store documents, fragmented books, and ancient books. The third section was the prison area, where some prisoners who couldn't see the light of day were kept … and the innocent.
After crossing three checkpoints, Mayne stopped in his tracks. If he continued to walk forward, he would reach the secret area of the mechanism, where all the research and inventions of the Church came from. Without the permission of the Pope, he wouldn't be able to go there. In the three years since he became the Archbishop, he had only gone there once.
Mayne turned to the left and turned into a fork.
The fork was very short, so it didn't take him long to reach the end. Seeing the Bishop appear, the Army of Judges guarding the door immediately clenched their fists and punched their chests, "Your Excellency!"
Mayne nodded, "Open the door."
Inside the door was a corridor, the walls were hung with burning turpentine torches, like countless flickering lights in the darkness, continuously extending along the end of the corridor. On both sides of the corridor, there were a number plate hanging in the middle of each door.
The Army of Judges raised their torches and led the way. Mayne paid attention to the changes of the numbers on the number plate as he walked. When he saw the mottled number plate with the number 35, he stopped, took out a key, inserted it into the keyhole, and gently twisted it. The sound of the lock being unlocked was particularly harsh in this quiet cave, and there was a faint echo from the end of the corridor. As if it was a signal, there were many cries coming from behind the door, some from men, some from women.Listening carefully, most of them were pleading, "Let me out!", "Save me!", "Please, kill me!" and so on.
Mayne was unmoved. After ordering the warriors to guard the door, he walked into the room and closed the wooden door, isolating the chaotic and noisy voices outside.
Through the iron railing, the Bishop saw an old man sitting on the bed — perhaps he wasn't old, but his hair was white and his forehead was full of wrinkles. He hadn't shaved for a long time, and his beard almost hung down to his neck. Because he hadn't seen the sun for a long time, his skin was frighteningly pale, and his hands and feet were as thin as bamboo.