The search in Louen had begun.
The destruction carried out by the MIB operation team in the outer city had finally pushed the chaos and division of the city to its peak. The priests of the cathedral, faced with the gradually losing control of the order, adopted their usual effective response plan.
The disciplinary friars and the Knight Regiment no longer held back. They began to break into every house, interrogate every citizen, take away everything suspected of being related to heresy, and take away all those whose faith was shaken. Starting from the Iron Cross Street in the north of the city to the White Pine Street in the south of the city, the black-robed clergy and the armor-clad Knight swept through the outer city like a wave of fear.
When the tide rolled in, the unarmed civilians panicked and feared. For a moment, the curses of the knights, the sounds of whips, and the cries of people filled every street. After the tide rolled over, there was only dead silence and the whispered cries in the corners. On the surface, it seemed that the tide had flattened everything. However, if anyone with a bit of intelligence walked around Louen City at this moment, they would discover a disturbing fact:
In the streets and alleys, among the trembling people of Louen, among the most devout believers of the God of Holy Light in the entire southern territory, no one could hear a single prayer.
Unfortunately, at this moment, the Cathedral of Holy Light could no longer hear or see the real situation in the outer city. The people in charge of the cathedral had only one goal in mind at this moment: to carry out the heresy trial as soon as possible to end the out-of-control chaos.
At the same time, outside Louen, on the streets of the central area of the southern territory, a large holographic image was projected over the public magic network terminal set up in the square. Witch Gypsy, who had gradually become a "famous figure," was sitting in the image. Another dynamic image appeared behind her: it was the chaotic streets of Louen.
"Louen is in great chaos. The priests of the cathedral are arresting innocent citizens all over the city. All those who disobey the cathedral's orders are labeled as heretics. The priests and the Knight are beating the unarmed civilians.
"Our lord is still trying to communicate with the priests of Louen, but the open letter sent into the city was confiscated and burned in public by the cathedral.
"The Church of Holy Light in the city seems to have completely rejected our will for peace. The troops led by General Philip and General Byron voluntarily withdrew to a place several kilometers away from the city wall when they could destroy the cathedral at any time. The soldiers waited in the wilderness outside the city for 86 days, but the cathedral only resisted and antagonized them. We can't help but ask, what do the priests in the cathedral want? We have already done our best not to send a single soldier. Why are you starting to harm your own innocent people? "
With Gypsy's bitter words, images flashed in the holographic projection. The images showed a large number of flyers and booklets that were publicly burned, cruel burning at the stake, and the church soldiers searching the houses and terrorizing the people. The last image was the scene of an angry, ferocious church soldier trampling a civilian under his feet. The soldier's roar came from the image. "How dare you hide Cecil's people. Who gave you the courage to disobey the bishop's order?!"
All the images were obviously shot in a very tense and secretive situation. Many of the images were accompanied by serious noise and color spots. The citizens gathered in the square looked at the cruel scene in horror and horror. They listened to the voice of the witch. "This is the information sent by the messengers trapped in Louen. I hope these brave messengers can survive this disaster."
"Now, we have invited the chief editor of Cecil Weekly, the honorable scholar, Mr. Godwin Orlando, and several citizen representatives from Cecil and Kant. We will discuss the cause of the chaos in Louen on the spot. We will also discuss a question that many people have been paying attention to recently: should we continue to wait for the priests in the Louen Cathedral to give a rational response? Should we continue to expect the current Church of the Holy Light? If we can't wait for a rational and peaceful answer, do we have to establish a new order of the Holy Light with our own hands to prevent people from continuing to tarnish the Holy Light?"
The people gathered in the square looked at the holographic projection excitedly, watching the current situation of Louen that had begun to play in the background behind Gypsy. The people gathered here were no stranger to the Church of the Holy Light's "punishment of heresy." Everyone had more or less dealt with the priests of the church in their daily lives. They had also seen priests or church soldiers whipping civilians who had made mistakes. However, the information that was displayed in front of them at this moment was not the same as what they had experienced in the past. With so many atrocities gathered together, it stirred the nerves of everyone present.
As for the matter mentioned by the witch, the question of whether to establish a new order of the Holy Light, which a large number of people were paying attention to, almost no one doubted it.
Although most people did not think about this at all, since the witch said so, it should be the case.
Although they did not pay attention to this matter, maybe others were.
People in this city did not pay attention to this matter, maybe other cities were paying attention to it.
There were already citizen representatives who had come to the "program" to discuss this issue with the most famous scholar in the Southern Territory. It seemed that this issue had really become a hot topic and something that everyone was discussing.
"What are you waiting for? Those priests have gone crazy! "
No one knew who was the first to shout in the square, but soon people began to respond.
"The priests of Louen will not open the door obediently. They are all dogs of the North Church!" "The civilians of Louen are also Cecil's people. We can't let them suffer!" "Those priests are insulting the Holy Light! Let our 'White Knight' take over Louen! "
Before the security team came to control the situation and reminded everyone to quiet down and watch the program, similar calls rang out in almost every city and town covered by magic network terminals.
However, the shouts outside Louen could not reach the cathedral. Inside the "city of the Church", the preparations for the heresy trial had come to an end.
The panicked people were once again driven to the square and gathered together under the pressure of theurgy and swords. In this world where extraordinary force existed, the tolerance of the civilians at the bottom was pathetically strong at this moment. Even in this situation, they did not show any signs of resistance against the Knight or the priests. They gathered around the square like a silent flock of sheep, looking respectful and fearful.
However, Amber, who was in the crowd, could feel that there was an uneasy atmosphere in the silent flock of sheep. The atmosphere was invisible, but it was soaked with the coldness and depression of a coming storm.
It was an unusual silence. Under normal circumstances, when the civilians gathered together quietly, no matter how respectful and reverent they were, they would be unable to control the commotion and buzz of discussion. But at this moment …
It was too quiet, too quiet. It was so quiet that it was like death.
The wooden platform in the center of the square had been set up. The ashes from the last fire execution had been cleaned up, but the square still seemed to be lingering with a lingering smell of burning. Since the establishment of Louen, how many people had been burned to death here? How many people had been burned here because they disobeyed the Church, because they talked about the bishop, and because they secretly hid scriptures?
The pungent smell of the burned people as their bodies gradually scorched seemed to have seeped into the crevices of the stone bricks. Today, the smell seemed to be seeping out little by little …
The side door of the church area opened, and the first to walk out was a group of fully armed church soldiers. Behind the soldiers were a group of barefooted priests in gray linen robes without crowns on their heads.
It was the mark of "punishment".
These priests who were being punished were the clergymen who had secretly hidden pamphlets or talked about the bishop in private. They walked behind the church soldiers, and on both sides, there were disciplinary monks in black robes maintaining the line. They walked to the inner edge of the square with their heads down and stopped at the position closest to the civilians.
Some of the civilians quickly looked at the priests who seemed to be being punished, and the latter also looked at the civilians in the square curiously.
They all had curious and surprised expressions on their faces.
Then, the door of the church area opened, and the bishop of the Louen Cathedral, Fran Belang, appeared in the square with his group of priests.
Their bodies were surging with brilliant holy light, and their white robes were still neat and clean. Their steps were steady, and they were full of energy. Even at this moment when the ration of food was reduced again and again, and the civilians in the outer city were half starving, their faces were still rosy, and their skin was full and healthy.
Surrounded by the group of priests, Fran Belang came to the high platform, and then frowned slightly.
The atmosphere here made him very uncomfortable.
The deathly silent square … was filled with numb and foolish lowlifes. However, those who would usually only lower their heads and shiver were now looking at him with a strange gaze.
Their eyes were not respectful, but they were not offensive either. Fran Belang could not tell what they were, but he felt that they were the eyes of a group of dead people, but it also felt like they were looking at a dead person.
Maybe it was because of hunger...
Fran Belang suppressed the displeasure in his heart and forgave the offensive look in their eyes with great tolerance. He knew that today's heresy trial was a very important ceremony, and before it was over, he had to be patient.
The sound of armor rubbing against each other came from the side of the square. Another group of church soldiers escorted a dozen people in ragged clothes to the wooden platform and tied them to the prepared pillars.
Fran Belang calmed himself down and then faced the square. He stirred up the holy light so that his voice could be heard everywhere. "Children of the God of Holy Light, I know that you have suffered these days, and in fact, I am also very sad about it...
"... It is the devil who seduced and corrupted your friends and family, planting doubts and divisive thoughts in your minds..."
The square was silent. No one cheered, no one objected, and there was not even the slightest commotion.
Fran Belang had never encountered such a cold and silent reaction before. He was a little embarrassed for a moment, and then he was a little annoyed.
However, he had already started his preaching, so he had to continue.
Thus, he forcibly suppressed the displeasure in his heart and stirred up the holy light even more. He let the magnificent holy light around him create a great momentum, and this momentum finally caused some commotion in the square. This allowed him to continue his preaching. "... Today, I will expose the devil's tricks here, and expose the shadow in the hearts of the people!
"Those who have been bewitched by the devil will undoubtedly be exposed and purified. As for those who have not been bewitched, they will naturally be judged fairly and set free. I promise everyone that this trial will be fair and effective!
"I swear to the God of Holy Light that the glory and justice of the Lord will be upheld!"
Fran Belang raised the scepter in his hand high up. In the past, he would wait for a moment after shouting such a rousing slogan, waiting for the people around him to cheer like a tsunami. However, he realized that such cheers were hard to come by, so he decisively skipped the unnecessary details of the ceremony and directly activated all the magic in his body. He communicated with the voice of the God of Holy Light in his heart and released a large area of effect divine spell.
Along with the faint sound of a holy voice, a hazy white halo spread out with Fran Belang as the center.
Seeing such a supernatural power, the civilians in the square finally became a little restless. On the wooden platform in front of the crowd, the people who were tied to the pillars widened their eyes. They looked at the halo with fear and nervousness as it swept past them with an unstoppable momentum.
Wherever the halo swept past, a faint curtain of light appeared on the people who were tied up. Then, the curtain of light shook violently, twisting into countless shadowy cracks. The hazy cracks floated around and above their heads, looking very eye-catching.
Fran Belang looked at this scene with satisfaction. Just as he had expected, those who were in fear and self-doubt would not be able to pass the trial of heresy.
The halo continued to spread out of the platform and gradually showed signs of dissipating.
The crowd at the edge of the square saw the halo approaching and became nervous. Some people quietly took half a step back, but they did not dare to be too obvious. They were afraid that they would be discovered by the priests on the platform. Some people were standing too close to the center and fell into the range of the halo.
Fran Belang was surprised to see that a few bright and constant lights lit up in the halo of the Great Word of God that was about to dissipate.
There are actually such devout people among the civilians?
He only wanted to use the aftermath of the divine spell to frighten the civilians, but he did not expect to see a response from the Holy Light.
The temporary bishop looked at the direction where the lights appeared in surprise. But in the next second, he did not have time to pay attention to what the devout believers looked like.
He found that the Great Word of God, which should have dissipated after spreading to the limit, seemed to have been strengthened out of thin air. The halo, which was very dim in front of the crowd, suddenly became unusually bright!
The divine spell, which was supposed to be limited to the area around the Judgment Platform, seemed to have resonated with some sacred instrument. It was recharged with energy and then began to spread to the entire square at an extremely fast speed.
Fran Belang looked at all this in astonishment. He suddenly realized that he was doomed.
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
