Ominous news was like a raven of vengeance that was responsible for spreading calamities. It would always come so quickly and suddenly.
In just two short days, news of Estrada's death had already spread to all major countries' intelligence agencies. At the same time, the Holy Church also announced that they had judged Estrada to be a heretic.
The entire world was shocked, and then … the entire world mourned.
It wasn't difficult for a person to do a good deed once, but it would be difficult to do good deeds for an entire lifetime. Holy Knight jobs were so popular in every country, while Holy Light priests and bishops received far worse treatment. That was because this job class required one to do good deeds for an entire lifetime. In fact, Holy Knight jobs didn't even have to be paid for. It could be said that Holy Knight jobs allowed one to travel all over the world without being suspected, and Estrada was doubtlessly the representative of the Holy Knight job class.
Estrada's time of fame was no longer reliable. However, he had always been viewed as the representative of the Holy Light in this world. He had always been the leader in countless calamities. When other species invaded, he would gather the allied armies of every country. When there was a plague, he would take the lead in providing aid. His nickname of "Miracle Hand" described how he was always able to create miracles in desperate situations.
Perhaps the rulers of the major countries had a lot of opinions about the tyrannical Holy Church, but not a single person would be disrespectful to this old Knight. After all, perhaps he had saved your great-grandfather, or perhaps your ancestors owed him a favor. Thanks to the countless myths and legends about him, this strongest Holy Knight had an incredibly high reputation among the common people.
What was even rarer was that Estrada himself had absolutely no interest in power or status. Nor did he care about politics at all. Everyone who was familiar with him knew — no, everyone knew — that he was a friendly, harmonious, and unambitious good person.
Yet, this old Knight, who was known as the representative of the Holy Light in this world, was actually judged to be a heretic. Everyone could tell that something was wrong with this abnormal situation. At the very least, there was a problem somewhere.
"Estrada was personally killed by the God of Holy Light's incarnation?"
Rumors and official announcements simultaneously confirmed this nightmare. All the regional bishops and traveling Holy Knight furiously sent letters to the Holy Church's headquarters to inquire about the situation. However, they all received confirmation.
"Estrada is a heretic? Will he betray the Holy Light? "
The Holy Church's headquarters and Pope Casimir Karwenz were in a terrible predicament right now. However, they couldn't come up with a lie to deny the God of Holy Light's suspicions. After all, the God of Holy Light's prophecy was right there, and nobody dared to go against the God of Holy Light's will.
Thus, the incident naturally fermented.
"Why was Estrada killed by the God of Holy Light? What did he do? "
From a certain standpoint, it could be said that it made sense that the Holy Church had always been on guard against Estrada. The undying existence of a powerful individual would cause a qualitative change in the Holy Church's reputation to accumulate. Estrada was an individual who was far too dazzling. Even if he wasn't interested in power, just his existence alone would cause trouble for the organization.
"He blasphemed the Holy Light and was killed by the incarnation of a True God." The simpler the answer, the more thoughtful it was. The information contained in this answer was worth pondering.
And it just so happened that Estrada had countless disciples. It was impossible to count how many disciples he had. The Holy Knight who joined the Holy Church because they admired him wouldn't be satisfied with such a simple answer. Countless Holy Knight, priests, and teaching staff all hurried over to the Holy Church's headquarters.
And it just so happened that the Southern Church, which had just suffered a terrible blow, suddenly jumped out and started spreading their teachings of pure Holy Light. They accused the so-called God of Holy Light of being nothing more than a fake God who stole the teachings of Holy Light. The true Holy Light didn't need to worship this God, and Estrada was killed by the God of Holy Light precisely because he didn't realize the truth. The Southern Church's pope even used the name of Holy Light to guarantee that what he said was the truth — yep, what he believed to be the truth.
If this had been any other situation, the Holy Church would have been able to retort. But it just so happened that the Holy Church's original allied armies witnessed everything that had happened. The several hundred thousand Holy Light soldiers immediately disbanded. Some joined the Southern Church or the Bardi Empire, some joined their friends and family, some returned to their homeland, and some even joined the Holy Church.
A deranged True God intended to slaughter mortals. Estrada's choice and resolution, as well as the fact that he had regained the Holy Light after being deprived of it, became the perfect evidence for the Southern Church.
Of course, the Holy Church would think of ways to eliminate the Holy Light's influence. However, the fact that Holy Light job class members couldn't lie in the name of Holy Light made it difficult for the Holy Church to deny the truth. For a time, the situation kept getting worse and worse. Every day, there would be people leaving the Holy Church. Some even lost their Holy Light because their faith was shaken. However, there were very few who managed to regain their Holy Light, which made the "teachings of pure Holy Light" seem like the truth.
And it just so happened that the fairies, who had always been neutral, stabbed the Holy Church in the back.
The fairies were one of the few species that didn't fear the God of Holy Light at all. First, they used an objective report to report what had happened. They even listed countless witnesses and testimonies to prove the most important point — that Estrada had been deprived of the right to use Holy Light by the angels and the God of Holy Light, but he had used his own abilities to reawaken the Holy Light. Of course, they also included the fact that the God of Holy Light had attempted to silence him.
The most unbelievable part was that the fairies even discussed the mysteries of Order and the True Gods. They even pointed out the connection between Divine Concepts, divine power, Holy Light, and other positive powers. Although the fairies didn't say a single word about how the God of Holy Light wasn't the only wielder of Holy Light, this was definitely a conclusion based on their knowledge. And so, the Southern Church's "teachings of pure Holy Light" received the support and technical support of a third party.
As for why the fairies were willing to risk everything to offend the God of Holy Light?
"It seems that Estrada has gone insane. He intends to use a massacre to curry favor with the Source of Order. Not only that, he's also the strongest Main God in the Order Faction. If he continues to wield the throne, no matter who wins the Holy War, the mortal plane will probably end up in an even worse state than the last Holy War. We'll all starve to death!"
The fairies were direct victims of the last Holy War as well as observers of multiple Holy Wars. They understood that it didn't matter who won, but the Chaos Faction's maniacs were incredibly difficult to reason with. They lived by the law of the jungle. If they won, it would be only natural for them to "eliminate" the weak. That was why the fairies were originally inclined towards the Order Faction. But it was obvious that if the God of Holy Light still had the right to speak in the Holy War, the fairies would be the losers no matter who won or lost.
The situation was becoming more and more chaotic. When the pope worriedly prayed to the True Gods, he received an ambiguous and hazy divine message.
"We walk the path of Order. The day of glory is upon us."
At the same time, low-level angels kept arriving in seven mega churches, including the Holy Church's headquarters. In three instances, True Gods' incarnations even arrived.
But this time, the church's Holy Church members didn't greet the angels with gazes of admiration. Instead, they looked at them with hostility, suspicion, and coldness. The growing suspicion brought about even more disputes and troubles. However, these cold angels and True Gods' incarnations only cared about what they were doing and didn't care about the mortals' intentions.
"… As expected, the God of Holy Light still hasn't given up on him. He intends to use force. He intends to personally send souls into the Cycle of Reincarnation. "
"Isn't he worried about losing faith? Right now, the Holy Knights are refusing to listen to the Holy Church's orders. The Holy Church has lost at least a third of its combat strength. "
"In his script, sending a tremendous number of souls into the Cycle of Reincarnation will allow him to obtain the Source of Order's recognition. Sacrificing mortals in exchange for his own power level is such a good deal. Even if those mortals are destined to die, why worry about losing faith? It would be better for them to die earlier and enter his Divine Kingdom to become his nourishment. As long as he remains in his position and still obtains the Source of Order's favor, he will forever be the strongest Order Main God, an undefeatable existence. "
I knew exactly what the God of Holy Light wanted. I also knew that in the current situation, the God of Holy Light was an undefeatable existence. If he forcefully started his "soul harvesting" plan, it would be impossible for us to stop him.
After all, the God of Holy Light had accumulated more than half of the power of faith in the mortal plane over the past two thousand years. This made the God of Holy Light far stronger than any ordinary Main God should be. In fact, I didn't even believe that any Chaos Faction Demon Lords would be stronger than the God of Holy Light.
Judging from how slow and mechanical he was as he always was, I felt that he was likely the stupidest Main God. And if he completely merged with the Source of Order, he would probably do everything in his power to send even more lives into the Cycle of Reincarnation. In that case, the fairies' judgment was absolutely correct. The God of Holy Light would be an even more dangerous enemy than the Chaos Faction.
"Is this game even playable? Forget about other people having idiotic teammates or idiotic leaders, our leader wants us all to die, and nobody can change his leader. How are we supposed to play!? Go die? "
As the Holy War progressed, the God of Holy Light would likely become stronger and stronger. His direct influence in the mortal plane would also become greater and greater. Apart from the Source of Order's favor and the Concept of Holy Light being amplified by the Holy War, more importantly, as the Elemental Tide increased, the incarnations of powerful existences in the mortal plane would become stronger and stronger. Without the dimensional laws restraining them, the strongest existences would naturally be able to use their greatest power.
And so, a deadlock was placed in front of me from the very start.
If I didn't stop the God of Holy Light's soul sacrifice, a large number of lives would die, and the Goddess of Order would revive. Game over.
If I gathered all my power and stopped the God of Holy Light's soul sacrifice, then I would be crushed to death like a bug. Then, he would complete his soul sacrifice in the middle of the Holy War, and the Goddess of Order would revive. Game over as well.
Just like that damned lousy game, it seemed that all choices were dead ends. That was why we decided not to choose.
"It's impossible to stop the God of Holy Light head-on. But there's a saying that's true: if the heavens close a door for you, they'll definitely open a window for you."
"Then, did you find that window?"
"Not yet. This lousy world isn't a game. There's no balance at all. There were no windows to begin with, so … I intend to smash the wall."
That's right, going along with the God of Holy Light and the Source of Order's plans would only be a waste of energy. Only by jumping out of their logic and rules and attacking would we have a chance at victory. That was why we spent so much effort to prepare the "grand plan" of "smashing the wall." Even Estrada was sacrificed for this.
"… All of our sacrifices won't be in vain. As long as we have the final piece of the puzzle, we'll be able to activate the 'grand plan.'"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
