Edge of the Apocalypse

The cathedral had recently been renovated and had been donated by the city's great merchant, Gerdo, and Mr. Gerdo was overjoyed that it had been renamed after him. After the church was renovated, another batch of supplies was donated and a cart of supplies was delivered to the slums in the name of the church. Now that the church had been renovated by a third of its original size, an additional building for nun priests had been erected in that area, and Miro and Vera each had their own three-storey apartment. However, the two of them did not often live here, and the Church did have someone to clean their rooms every day. During this period of time, after the Imperial Capital's war ended, the priest and Vera returned to Ark Harbor and settled in. Miro was very satisfied with his new residence. He lived in a shabby house next to the church in the shabby little town on earth. Now that he had his own house, the priest was satisfied.

During his stay at Ark Harbor, the priest could be seen smiling everyday. He even had a dog and lived a relaxed and full life. Every night, the priest would fall asleep early. This habit of not moving by lightning seemed to be broken tonight.

Seeing the priest walk into the church, the few nuns who had just finished praying could see the heavy feeling on the priest's body, which made his smile no longer and his expression solemn. The nuns almost thought that they had mistaken them for the wrong person. Such a deep and serious expression could appear on anyone, but it was somewhat out of place on Father Miro.

One of the older nuns stepped forward and whispered, "Father, can I help you?"

Miro smiled. "Thank you, son. I don't need help. I won't stand on ceremony if I need help. It's getting late. You should go back and rest."

"Then you?"

"I want to talk to the Father in heaven. Perhaps he can give me some guidance." Miro raised his head to look at the statue behind the sermon platform and made a cross.

The nuns looked at each other before nodding and silently leaving. When they were about to close the door for the priest, Milo shook his head and said, "Don't close the door. There should be a guest coming later."

The nuns wondered who else would come to church at this time. Strange as it was, no one said anything and left with the door half closed.

Milo looked at God and said, "If you really exist, tell me, can this war come to an end in this era?"

Of course, the statue of God did not respond, so the church was very quiet. Miro's expression was somewhat haggard. He found a chair and sat down, sighing softly. Then, with a change of expression, he said in a deep voice, "It's very late. If you're here to pray, please come back tomorrow."

"But I have a mystery in my heart. I want to pray to the gods now, hoping to get some revelation." A woman's voice came from the gate.

Miro turned around and saw two figures standing outside the door. Although both of them covered their bodies with cloaks, it was not difficult to tell from their figures that they were both women. One tall, one petite. It was the petite one who spoke, and they were still wearing hats, even in the middle of the night. The brim of his hat came to the tip of his nose to block most of his face, and he couldn't see his face clearly. The petite woman had already entered the church and went straight to the sermon platform.

The priest said, "At least you should take off your hat to show your respect for the gods."

"If there really is a god, what does it matter if he can't take off his hat? In any case, he can always see clearly, can't he?"

Miro no longer insisted and shrugged his shoulders.

The woman knelt down and clasped her hands in prayer. Moments later, Miro stood up and asked, "How is it? Did you get any enlightenment?"

"No."

"That's probably because you're not devout enough. Come back tomorrow."

"But I can't wait, Father, I want to confess."

"Come back tomorrow," said Miro. "There's no priest listening to your confession now."

"Aren't you?"

Milo dug his ears and said indifferently, "I'm not sure I can give you useful advice."

"There's no harm in listening."

Miro stood up and said, "Follow me."

It was quiet in the confession room late at night. Miro lit the lights, walked into one of the confession booths and sat down. The woman walked to the confession pavilion, where Miro said, "Let's begin."

The woman knelt down and said, "Father, I am guilty."

"Everyone is guilty. If you truly repent, the benevolent Heavenly Father will forgive you, child." Milo said expressionlessly, "Tell me what crime you have committed."

"I killed my closest relative." The woman said softly.

Milo raised his eyebrows and said, "This crime is a bit serious. Can you tell me why you did it?"

"

"I don't want to, Father. But if I don't kill him, I'll be killed by him. This is our destiny, an inextricable knot."

"Child, you must believe that there is no inextricable knot in this world, only people who are unwilling to work hard to untie the entanglement."

The woman sighed softly, "If you understood my situation, you wouldn't say that, Father. I killed one of my closest relatives, and now, another is chasing me. I don't know what to do, I just know that I don't want to die."

"I want to live, Father. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Miro narrowed his eyes and said, "Maybe you can go out and hide for a while."

"You can hide for a while, but you can't hide for a lifetime." The woman said, "And the power of fate is wonderful. I always feel that wherever we hide, the two of us will meet in the end, and then we will never end up dead."

"Either I die or he dies."

"You know, kid. When you think about it, it's destined to be a hard nut to crack. Why don't you think about it from a different angle, for example, you can sit down and talk to him. No matter what, there's always a solution."

The woman said helplessly, "But I've schemed against him once before. I don't think he'll forgive me or sit down with me."

"Then you have to take the initiative to ask him for forgiveness, let him see your sincerity and impress him, child."

"Can you really do it, Father?"

In the confession pavilion, Milo said, "Yes, as long as you have good intentions, everything can be changed."

"Alright then, I'll give it a try." The woman outside the confession stand up and say, "Thank you for everything, Father."

She left, but Miro was not in a hurry to get out of the confession pavilion. His expression was heavy, and he did not have the kind of relief he would have after he had finished teaching the believers. Suddenly, he laughed self-deprecatingly, then pushed open the door and walked out. After walking out of the church door, the two women left. Miro turned along the stone path to her residence. As she walked, a few barks came from the dogs. Miro stopped. She looked up and saw Vera leading his dog under the street lamp. Seeing Miro, the two-year-old dog broke free from Vera and ran over happily. Miro squatted down and hugged it. The puppy rubbed against the priest's face.

"I went to find you, but I found you weren't there. I brought Peter out. Are you alright, priest?" Vera asked softly.

Miro rubbed his chin and said, "Did I write all my worries on my face? Otherwise, why does everyone ask me if I'm fine? Do you need any help?"

"You don't look very energetic."

"Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that I'm old, and I have some sentimental emotions from time to time."

Wei La didn't believe his nonsense, but even if the priest didn't say it, she knew not to ask. After changing the subject, she said, "I saw that the lights in the church were still on."

"Yes, two women came just now. One was very troubled and came to confess to me."

"Someone came to confess at this late hour."

As the two chatted, they arrived in front of the priest's building. Miro asked, "What are you looking for me for?"

"I originally wanted to talk to you about the Northern Capital Diocese, but it's getting late now. Let's find some time tomorrow to study it."

Miro said absent-mindedly, "Well, I'm tired, too. Goodbye?"

"Good night, Father."

Milo led the dog to the door. Vera thought for a moment and seemed to have made a decision. A seal gradually appeared on the back of her hand. Suddenly Miro stopped. The priest turned around and smiled bitterly, "I'm really fine, Vera. So, please don't use your power on me."

"I'm sorry." Vera left guiltily like a child who had done something wrong. After walking a few steps, she suddenly remembered, how did Miro discover it?

The night grew darker and darker.

On the dock of the Ark Harbor, a night watchman walked around the dock with lights on. The lights shone on the ships anchored at the dock. As the waves rose and fell, the ships cast an uncertain shadow on the dock. The night watchman yawned and walked back to the duty room with a tight collar. After drinking a mouthful of strong liquor to warm himself up, he got into the warm quilt. A moment later, even breathing sounds could be heard.

If he had stayed any longer, he would have noticed that the pitch-black sea in the distance was brighter at some unknown time. It was very weak, but it was very unusual for light to appear on the surface of the sea in the middle of the night. Tonight, the wind and waves were calm, and the sound of the waves beating on the shore gave off a sense of peace. However, a few dozen nautical miles away from Ark Harbor, a fog quietly surged up. At this time, it was basically impossible for the sea to fog, but the fog was getting thicker and thicker, causing the entire surface of the sea to become blurry. On the originally calm surface of the sea, a buoy floating on the surface of the sea suddenly shook. A moment later, a black shadow passed by the buoy. The sea water surged, causing the buoy to rise and fall.

The boat passed by the buoy. It was wrapped in iron and had sharp steel spikes sticking out from both sides. It looked like a terrifying sea beast. A dragon was painted on the hull of the ship. This dragon was very different from the dragon pattern commonly seen in the Bailey Empire. The dragon was very slender, stepping on the clouds with four claws and giving birth to antlers. If it was a merchant who frequently traveled between the two sides of the ocean, they would know that this was an Eastern Dragon. Only a human empire on the east side of the ocean would use such a dragon as a totem and symbol.

The armored ship that depicted the Eastern Dragon rumbled forward, but the sound of the surging water was isolated in the thick fog. There was not a single strange sound outside the fog. Just like that, the thick fog rolled towards Ark Harbor.