"… Please move aside, we need to investigate a case."
"Investigate a case? Who gave you such authority? This is the Sala Dukedom's Anton Town, the territory of the God of Justice and Commandment. We don't welcome outsiders like you! "
At the first glimmer of dawn, I was woken up by a commotion at the entrance.
Looking out the window, it was a dispute between adventurers. A group of people was blocking the entrance to prevent another group from coming out. It was a common case of people blocking the entrance.
The ones who were blocking the way were quite familiar. They were the three newcomers from the cult investigation team. Considering that they weren't weak, those who could cause trouble for them naturally wouldn't be weaklings.
They were obviously a group of clergymen, and they were members of the church who were doing quite well.
Their white priest robes were embroidered with purple and gold lines. It was obvious that their rank wasn't low. Although the holy emblem of a cross and a silver holy sword was tacky, the faint holy power flowing on it was proof that they were priests of a true God.
Behind them, there were more than ten Holy Knight and warriors in silver armor and swords. It seemed that the Bishop of Napous had brought a Knight of the Temple to get back at them.
The God of Justice and Commandment, Napus, was a Lesser Divine Power. His priesthood was not the justice that he proclaimed. After all, the concept of justice was too empty and vast. Even a Main God would not be able to handle it. His true priesthood was only the derivative concepts of commandment, such as "discipline," "self-discipline," "separation of classes," "military rules," and so on. Many soldiers and lords were his believers.
"Is it another conflict of faith?"
Over the years, such things had happened many times. The believers of the various Gods of Order usually wouldn't fight with each other on the surface, but there were plenty of open and secret fights in private. As for getting along well with the "various Gods of Hades who fought for faith and influence," that was already an impossible task.
The Sala Dukedom was a small country. It wasn't even as rich as a county of a large country. It didn't have any powerful characters. Anton Town was a remote town. Adding the three surrounding towns, the population didn't exceed a hundred thousand. Napous was a weak God, so the number of priests and combat power were limited. The combination of all these factors meant that the church would only preach in densely populated areas. The small towns at the border of the Sala Dukedom didn't have much influence from the Napous Church.
Looking at the boots and cloaks of the Priest and the Knight, who were covered in dust, it seemed that they had received a notice and were temporarily transferred from the Bishop's District in the capital.
Faith is the source of a true God's power. Believers are the true God's earthly walkers, and the parish is the true God's earthly palace. We can completely understand a true God's concern for his small territory. But obviously, this will not hinder our decision.
Back in the day, the God of Law and the God of Holy Light had signed an alliance treaty in the Northlands that allowed the two major factions to maintain the most basic level of peace and trust. At the very least, before the Chaos Abyss's invasion and the Holy War ended, before both sides' common enemies were vanquished, this fragile alliance would always exist.
Hadn't they already fallen out with each other? They had already made a move in the Hades, so why did their alliance still exist? It was precisely because they had fallen out with each other that the originally meaningless alliance became important.
In reality, most of the diplomatic alliances between countries were like this. If both sides had the need to maintain peace on the surface and had common interests, then even an outdated agreement that was originally just a piece of scrap paper could find some relationship. A mere verbal alliance could become an iron-clad, iron-clad agreement.
And if both sides felt that there was no need for the alliance to exist, then even if they were allies recognized by the world, they would immediately fall out with each other in the next moment and fight to the death.
And at this time, since Napous saw him as having been offended, he naturally sent out his loyal servants. But it wasn't to help his believers who were in danger, but to chase away the uninvited guests.
And at the entrance of the Rhino Tavern, the Bishop of Napous repeatedly emphasized that the other party had crossed the line. They couldn't interfere with the matters here, as this was their territory. And faced with such questioning, Tiana and the others had long since gotten used to it.
"We allow the rules of the Law and the Scales of Justice to guide us. We come for the fairness and justice in our hearts. We come for the ordinary people who ask us for help. You? For your great true God? Then why didn't I see any of you when the blood sacrifice first happened? "
The dark elves' mouths had always been very poisonous. Even if the Law of Knight restricted lies and deliberately hurtful words, this statement of the pure truth was even more hurtful.
"The God of Justice? Didn't you see what your God did for you? "
Seeing the other party's guilty conscience, Mary the mercenary pressed on. Mercenaries who didn't know how to bicker would probably die from anger sooner or later. Her questioning was also very difficult to answer. Only the rookie in the team, Saul, had a face full of panic.
"You … you … evil blasphemers, how can you be fit to be the servants of God, you dark-skinned …"
This was what the bishop kept muttering. In his mind, the evil dark elves should have been burned to death, and the God of Law, who was in cahoots with them, was also an evil God. No, it should be said that in the eyes of the fanatics, as long as they didn't worship their God, it was already a capital crime.
In the eyes of the three members of the Law Faction, these newcomers were basically unreasonable, and the priests of the fanatics were the lackeys of the Order True God.
From the old bishop's point of view, the other party's contempt for the Gods was an intolerable bully and a heinous crime. If it wasn't for the Gods' strict orders to avoid conflict, they would have already started fighting.
If it was anyone else, they would probably think that this was the inevitable prelude to a God's War, a clash of beliefs. But for me, I saw a fundamental difference, a difference in the nature of belief and theology.
The Four Pillars of Light included the Pillar of Law and the Pillar of Holy Light. They would also take on the role of a divine power server. The Southern Sect and the Church of Law were both born because of me. The fundamental difference between them and the traditional Gods' churches was that they didn't leave a place for the Gods in their teachings. They believed in and recognized the Holy Light and the Law themselves, not a specific God.
Perhaps there didn't seem to be any difference, but there was a huge fundamental difference. This was related to the relationship between mortals and Gods, as well as the future of the entire world.
The priests of the various Gods' churches would respect each other, because they were the most loyal servants of the Gods, the representatives of the Gods' will, and the shepherds of the Gods' flocks. The identity of a shepherd was the root of their pride, and they had long since subconsciously drawn a line between themselves and mortals.
However, the teachings of the two new major churches told the world that the world belonged to mortals, and that spreading belief was to guide people to do good and make the world a better place, not to serve the Gods. The Gods who stood high above were only officials with some special privileges, existences that could be replaced or even erased.
If this wasn't blasphemy against the Gods, then what was? Not to mention, the Anti- Knight, who was viewed by all the Gods as their natural enemy, actually joined forces with the two major churches, which made the Order Gods even more displeased.
From a certain standpoint, the Church of Law and the Southern Sect used the name of religion, but they were actually digging up the graves of the Gods.
For some reason, I suddenly thought of the term "generation gap" as I watched from the sidelines … If I looked at it from a different angle, the era caused the old and new generations to have different values and views on life, which was far too similar to the different understandings of "belief and religion" that I was seeing now.
The rise of a new power would naturally result in conflict with the old power. Not to mention, the Law job classes, the Four Elemental Swordcasters, and other new generation job classes were rapidly spreading throughout the world. It was inevitable that there would be friction in terms of values, life pursuits, beliefs, and many other aspects. This scene was probably playing out in every corner of the world.
But due to the existence of common interests and common enemies, under the pressure of the higher-ups, the grassroots had to maintain self-control. At the very least, they couldn't bear the sin of actively intensifying the conflict.
And so, an extremely helpless scene appeared before me. The local bishop brought the Knights of the Holy Temple from thousands of miles away to block their opponents, but they could only …
"You're a bastard, your entire family is a bad guy."
"You're the one whose entire family is a bastard. My father is amazing."
"Bastard, do you dare to come out?"
"Bastard, do you dare to come in?"
"I'm coming in, if you want to hit me."
"Hah, if you have the guts, then make the first move."
Since they couldn't fight, they could only use words.
Clergy members didn't know how to scold people. Tossing away those impulsive religious words and allusions and turning it into plain language, what was left was probably the content of a primary school student quarrel.
And since it was already confirmed that they couldn't fight from the very start, they didn't even have the ability to fight like primary school students. Since they couldn't gang up on him, some people thought of another method.
"I, Holy Knight White Behemoth, challenge you! With my lifetime of glory as a Knight, let's have a fair duel! "
The middle-aged Knight who was leading the group stepped forward. Judging from his epaulets and his aura, he should be a Legend-rank Knight.
It seemed that he saw that the strongest of the other party was a Gold-rank, so he intended to use his personal strength to suppress the other party.
However, the others looked at him with worry in their eyes. Obviously, the situation wasn't optimistic.
Due to the surge of the Elemental Tide after the Dawn Era, it became much easier to advance than before. Gold-rank masters became very common, and even Legend-rank masters became more and more common.
In the past, the most difficult part of becoming a Legend-rank master was probably the step of condensing a Soul Imprint. That was a summary of the past, as well as a clear path for the future. It wasn't that easy to recognize oneself, and in the current environment, it was possible to advance successfully without a Soul Imprint. However, their strength couldn't be compared to a true Legend-rank master of the previous era.
This kind of fake Legend-rank master wasn't even fundamentally different from a Gold-rank master.
However, there was always a way. As they consolidated their realm, they could also condense a Soul Imprint. However, they were also destined to be unable to recognize themselves. This kind of Soul Imprint couldn't be compared to a true Legend-rank master. It was usually a common item that slightly increased a certain ability, but the quantitative change couldn't achieve a qualitative change. Such Legend-rank masters were also called pseudo-Legend-rank masters.
Now, the Knight Captain White, who had taken the initiative to issue a challenge, was a pseudo-Legend-rank master who had just advanced not long ago. Perhaps he would be able to condense a common Soul Imprint after some time, but the current him wasn't fundamentally different from a Gold-rank master. It was no wonder that his companions were somewhat worried.
"If you lose, please withdraw from this mission and give us the latest clues you've obtained. We'll take care of the matters of the Dukedom."
When a dispute arose between the Knight, who viewed honor as their life, using a duel to resolve the dispute was a very common choice, and this was also the best method that White could think of at the moment.
"We refuse. We have to carry out the mission. None of us …"
Saul had only spoken halfway when he was directly pulled back by a slender hand. Diyana took a step forward, and with a flick of her wrist, the silver heavy sword brought forth a series of sword flowers.
"A Knight is never afraid of a duel. Please."
Looking at me from upstairs, I shook my head helplessly. How could this girl even learn something like this? Silly girl. Why would a Dark Elf learn the spirit of a Knight?
"But as a challenger, and a challenger who bullies the weak, you actually think that you still have honor to speak of? Fine, as the price for accepting the challenge, if you lose, you'll have to leave behind the sword in your hand. "
Fine, I take back what I just said. Diyana was much more cunning than Diana. The heavy sword in her hand was only a standard weapon, and its evaluation was excellent at best. The two-handed sword in the hands of the Knight opposite her was glowing. It was obviously an extremely outstanding magical weapon, at least of excellent quality. It might even be of epic quality. It was definitely worth the gamble.
And the most cunning thing about her was that she only said what would happen if the opponent lost. She didn't say that she would have to pay with her life if she lost. Even if she really lost, there was still room for negotiation.
But the old-fashioned Holy Knight looked like this. "Bullying the weak" was beyond the limits of his shamelessness. Diyana's not-so-harsh words had already made his face flush red. If this duel didn't concern the reputation of the Church and was of great importance, he would have had the urge to turn around and run.
Now that he heard his opponent propose such a seemingly unfair wager, not only did he hurriedly nod in agreement, he even showed a grateful expression towards the female elf. He thought that she was taking care of his Knight's honor.
His panic-stricken teammates clearly saw something, but seeing that their captain had already agreed, they couldn't say anything else. They could only cheer for their captain.
On the other side, the trio lived up to their reputation of being from Sulfur Mountain City. They were much simpler and more practical. Mary directly threw her small bag filled with all kinds of small tools to Diyana. Those were the personal tools of a Four Elemental Swordcaster who relied on external items.
And Saul handed Diyana a pouch of ammunition that he kept close to his body. The various wooden handles of the grenades that were exposed from the pouch would make one's scalp go numb. Goblins didn't care what their main job was. If they decided that they had a part-time job, they would either be a merchant or a goblin engineer.
And those bastards in the bar had already entered into the mode of watching a show. They couldn't stop pointing and gossiping.
But at this moment, I suddenly thought of something. I hurriedly got up and hurriedly went downstairs.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute! Don't fight yet. Show mercy! "
Then, when I suddenly rushed into the middle of the two opposing sides, everyone looked at me in astonishment. But they really did stop, as if waiting for me to say something.
"What clues did you find?"
Seeing the guide suddenly run down, the quick-witted Mary seemed to have guessed something. Her words immediately caused an uproar.
But I did my best to calm my breathing. After a while, I raised my head and swept my gaze across every nervous face with a solemn expression. Using my thickest and most high-pitched voice, I said:
"The Gold-ranked female elf is 1 to 1.5. The Legend-ranked Holy Knight is 2 to 1. A draw is 1 to 3. There's no upper limit. You have to be quick.
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