Savin Terry knew that there was no turning back.
And it was true that he couldn't find a better path than this one.
He had seen every leaflet sent by Cecil's people into the city and heard the news circulating in the outer city. He knew that Cecil's people were preaching a kind of belief in the holy light that was almost unorthodox and blurred the boundary between man and god. Frankly speaking, he was also very resistant to these things. As a devout believer of the God of Holy Light for half his life, he could not accept Cecil's saying that the holy light came from the heart.
But he also could not accept the Church of Holy Light's practice of using faith as a means to make money and the holy light as a means of violence.
He accepted Amber's invitation and then learned in detail what he needed to do.
"We can find a way to interfere with the guards in the chapel area and turn off the defense of the divine circle, but the road to the cathedral is not under our control," the middle-aged low-ranking priest said. "The Disciplinary Friars and the Knight of the Vatican are guarding all the gates. They only take orders from the cathedral."
"How powerful are the Disciplinary Friars and the Knight of the Vatican? Do you think they will risk their lives to protect the cathedral? "
"… The Disciplinary Friars are better at faith trials and disciplinary spells. They are not strong in frontal combat. As for the Knight of the Vatican … they were originally the strongest defensive force in the Louen Cathedral. But last time, Bishop Lemont took away all the high-ranking Knights, and many of the remaining middle-ranking and low-ranking Knights died when they assisted the noble army in the battle. Now, they are probably less than 20% of their combat strength," Savin Terry said. "But … they are still fatal to ordinary people."
"Don't worry about that. There will be other forces coming in to help. Just tell me the route map and the situation of the garrison in the church area."
"Okay."
After handing over the most important information, Savin Terry suddenly felt relaxed as though he had completed an important mission. He let out a long sigh of relief. Amber looked at the fatigue that had accumulated between the middle-aged cleric's brows and suddenly asked casually, "If I'm not wrong, the Holy Light of many clerics in the Cathedral District should have weakened to varying degrees, right?"
Sylvain Terry was surprised. "How did you know?!"
"At the scene of the heresy trial, the effect of the theurgy is not a lie." Amber shook her head slightly. "Although I guess there is a big problem with the theurgy used to identify heresy, perhaps it can make most ordinary people show signs of wavering faith. But for you, who are supposed to be pious in theory … its effect should not be so obvious. At that time, I carefully observed each and every one of your expressions. Your wavering, surprise, and panic were all genuine. "
Sylvan Terry fell silent. The two low-level priests beside him also lowered their heads with complicated expressions. After a few seconds of silence, one of the low-level priests finally spoke. "… You have a very good observation skill."
"At least one-third of the clergymen have experienced some degree of power degradation," Savin Terry continued. "The most serious ones have even experienced a level regression. In fact, to be honest, it is not uncommon for the clergy to decline due to their own temporary confusion, but I am afraid that this is the first time since the establishment of the Louen Cathedral … "
Hu Po continued to ask, "When was the earliest occurrence of a large number of people experiencing a decrease in strength?"
"Since the order to collect ransom and suppress the heretical believers came from the Holy Spirit Plain, my power of the Holy Light has been stagnant. Many people in the cathedral area are in the same situation as me. We can't accept this kind of thing that is contrary to the doctrine of the Holy Light. "
Amber blinked and said in a low voice thoughtfully, "It seems that this is the case …"
As Gwen had speculated, what happened to Wright was not an exception.
Although the radical actions of the Church of Holy Light in recent days had amassed a huge amount of wealth and rapidly improved the strength of the church, on the other hand, it had also led to strong doubts in the low-level clergymen of the church. The separation of the doctrine of the Holy Light Codex and the actual behavior of the church had created more and more low-level clergymen like Wright, whose faith was wavering. As time went by, this situation would only get worse.
Did the Church of Holy Light really not realize the collapse of the low-level clergymen? Or … even if they were aware of it, they still had a reason to do so. Even at the risk of splitting the church and causing some clergymen to abandon their faith, they still had to use this method to quench their thirst by drinking poison to quench their thirst?
Amber thought hard and found that she really could not figure it out. So, she simply shook her head and put this question to the back of her mind. Anyway, she was only here to collect information and sabotage. The real analysis of these troublesome things was what the old man in the rear was good at. When the time came, she would just tell him the situation and let him worry about it.
Savin Terry did not hear what Amber was talking to herself. He asked curiously, "What did you just say?"
"Nothing." Amber waved her hand. "This matter is settled. We'll talk about it when the dust settles."
Savin Terry nodded slightly. But before he got up and left, he suddenly thought of something. "There's something I think I should remind you. Although I don't know what kind of extraordinary power you have prepared, you must be careful of Fran Belant. I think he's not normal."
"Fran Belant?" Amber raised her eyebrows. "According to the intelligence, he should be just a middle-order peak-level priest. If not for the annihilation of all the high-order masters of the South Church, he would not have been able to become the bishop."
"He is indeed a middle-order priest, but now he has mastered the core magic circle of the cathedral. I'm afraid his strength is not that easy to judge," Fran Belant said with a serious face. "And since the heresy trial four days ago, he has shut himself in the cathedral and has not shown up even once. Even the leader of the Disciplinary Friars did not get a chance to see him. This is very unusual. I prayed to the Lord. The feedback of the holy light is full of disturbing illusions and whistling sounds. I can feel that a powerful force is gathering in the cathedral. It's very similar to the holy light, but there's something else mixed in. Anyway, we have to be careful. "
"… Oh my god, I'm afraid it's not a last-minute breakthrough …"
Fran Terry did not hear it clearly. "What?"
"Don't worry," Amber quickly waved her hand. "I'll report the situation to the superiors. Don't worry, this operation is very stable."
No matter what Fran Belant did in the cathedral, Cecil had sufficient strength to suppress him. At worst, Cecil would just have his troops wreak havoc in the outer city while Byron and Philip would bombard the inner city. In the face of such a powerful piece of art, even a protagonist who had a sudden breakthrough would be useless. Even the "formation" would be blown to smithereens …
Amber didn't realize at all that his way of thinking had been heavily influenced by Gawain without him realizing it.
"Then I'm going back." After the discussion, Savin Terry stood up and bowed to Amber. "You may be discovered if you leave the cathedral for too long."
Amber nodded. But just as the three clergymen were about to walk to the door, she suddenly stopped them from behind. "About your declining power of the holy light … Cecil has a solution."
In order to ensure that the "spies" in the cathedral were more reliable, she decided to reveal some "bait" in advance.
Savin Terry immediately stopped. He had a look of disbelief on his face. "Are you serious?"
The decline of power caused by the wavering of faith had always been an unsolvable phenomenon for the clergymen. Basically, it could only be cured by the passage of time or by self-breakthrough. But most people would not be cured in their lifetime. At most, they could only maintain a stagnant state of divine power. But those Cecil people … had a solution?
"It was not very clear in the leaflets, but Wright did find a new way of the holy light, and this way … everyone has a chance to try."
Savin Terry's eyes became excited. Nothing was more tempting than the chance to get close to the holy light again. "What are the conditions?"
Amber thought for a moment and looked at the slightly thin bodies of the three clergymen in front of her. "Can you carry a 40-pound hammer?"
The three clergymen looked at each other in confusion. "… Huh?"
"In any case, let's train our body first," Amber said thoughtfully as he stroked his smooth chin. "Then, let's train our resistance to beatings. Run eight kilometers with weights every day and carry some bricks. After a few months, I should be able to become a qualified battlefield priest …"
After the three confused clergymen left, the temporary stronghold quieted down for a while.
A member of the Military Intelligence Bureau had a look of admiration on his face. Of course, he did not admire Amber for tricking the three clergymen into training, but for what his boss had said to Savin Terry. "Boss, your ability to bluff people hasn't deteriorated."
Amber waved her hand carelessly. "When have I deteriorated? I don't need it in Cecil City. "
As the "Queen of the Tavern", Amber was once quite famous among the illegal mercenaries and adventurers in the Southern Territory. She was the "Big Sister" who led a large group of rogues to dominate the market. How could she not be eloquent? How could she not have the ability to talk the dead back to life?
Living in the most barbaric and backward border of the Kingdom of Ansu and dealing with all kinds of people all day long, this half-elf thief was very good at reading people's expressions and manipulating people's minds. If she did not have this ability, she would not have been able to thoroughly understand the situation of the people at the bottom of Loen City in such a short time and create such large-scale destruction.
She did not usually use it, just because she did not need it.
"But then again, boss, what you said just now really has the shadow of the duke —"
"Nonsense, I usually take the time to sleep when I have nothing to do. How can I have the time to think about such boring things?" Amber rolled her eyes. "A lot of it is what Gwen … the duke usually said. I just copied it according to the situation. But you can't copy me. Some words have to be said to the right person. Like today's priest, he was born a commoner, has a conscience, understands the suffering of commoners, and can see the darkness of the Church of Holy Light. He came to seek a real and practical way out, so what I said to him worked. But if it were someone else, the same words may have spoiled things … "
"We understand, we understand." Her subordinates nodded repeatedly. Then one of them asked, "Then … should we contact the rear?"
Amber nodded and looked at the tall and thin man standing in the corner of the room. "Skinny, turn on the magic network communicator, internal channel 8. Gray Wolf, guard outside the door. "
The miniaturized magic network communicator was placed on the table. With a slight buzzing sound, this complex and sophisticated arcanotech device was activated. Amber waited patiently for a moment. She saw the crystal at the top of the communicator bloom with soft light, and a holographic projection quickly formed above the crystal.
It was Gwen's face.
"The oil in the pot is boiling." Amber looked at the holographic projection and bared her teeth. "You can flip the table now."
Gwen in the holographic projection nodded. "Is everything going well?"
"It's going according to plan, but there are some situations that need to be reported …"
Gwen quietly listened to Amber's report and memorized it all in his heart. When the report was over, he sighed slightly and looked at the communicator in front of him. "I got it. I'll arrange it in advance. Be careful there. "
Amber in the projection waved her hand impatiently. "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll run if there's a situation. I'm such a coward …"
…
Gwen looked helplessly at the fake who was acting so self-righteous. He shook his head slightly and closed the communicator.
Then he looked up and looked at another magic network communicator in the study.
Above the device, there was an outdoor scene.
Countless people gathered in an open space. The torches in the people's hands and the magic crystal lights in the distance illuminated the gathering place under the night sky. Angry slogans and countless noisy voices came from the image. Uniformed security officers were maintaining order at the scene. A few White Knights in heavy white armor, surrounded by brilliant holy light, and with heavy iron scriptures hanging on their waists, stood in the middle of the crowd and spoke loudly to everyone. They were the most eye-catching in the image.
The voice of the witch Gypsy came from outside the image. "… This is the new city of Tansan. The excavation work is still ongoing. Thirty minutes ago, the engineers found a new cellar …"
"… If it wasn't for Viscount Andrew building a new city here, I'm afraid these things would continue to be covered in dust …"
"… According to the testimony of witnesses, these cellars are one of the secret vaults set up by the Church of Holy Light in the south. We have found a large number of gold and silver objects in the cellars, all of which are the property of the believers. Some of them were voluntarily donated by the believers, and most of them were amassed by the church through atonement, heresy trials, confiscation of civilian property, and other means of occupying the property of other churches. According to the account books and records we found in the nearby churches, the local church had promised that the property would be used to repair the statues, churches, provide relief supplies, and raise orphans. But in fact, more than ninety percent of it had become the private property of the church … "
"Mr. Wright, the leader of the White Knight, said that he had never seen such a shameless thing …"
After a while, Gypsy's voice suddenly sounded again. "Emergency news, Mr. Daedalus, the governor of Hosman City, has just announced a shocking news. The staff in the government office found a large number of bones when they were cleaning up an old facility that once belonged to the Church of Holy Light … It is suspected that the missing orphans in the Hosman area in the past years …"
The crowd on the projection was in an uproar. The excited citizens gathered around the White Knight, and the White Knight raised the heavy power hammer in his hand and shouted the slogan to expel the old church.
Gwen stood up and stepped forward to turn off the projection device. Behind him, Pitman's voice was heard. "It's really scary."
Gwen turned around and looked at the little old man who had always been cynical and shameless in his territory. There was a hint of ridicule on his face. "Do you also think that something is scary?"
Pitman stroked his beard and said faintly, "Of course, I'm scared of a lot of things. Otherwise, who do you think cultivated Amber's adaptability?"
Gwen glanced at Pitman. "So what are you afraid of now?"
"Humans. A crowd full of anger is a scary existence." Pitman shrugged. "But I think you're scarier than that. Because you're the one who guided all of this. You're using a power that's different from Extraordinary power and guns. The effect of this thing … is much more frightening than what you described. "
"There's no distinction between good and bad power. The key is where it's used. Against those who use the Holy Light to do evil, sometimes you have to resort to extreme measures," Gwen said faintly, and then his face turned a little gloomy. "Especially when I learned that children's bones were found in those facilities … I knew that no matter how I deal with those charlatans, it's not too much."
Pitman sighed. "Adopting orphans and brainwashing them from a young age is a common way for the churches to train their loyal fighters. It can not only increase their strength, but also improve their reputation. But not all children have an affinity with the divine arts. Some just don't have the slightest spiritual talent. Even if you use potions and rituals to catalyze them, it's useless. And for these 'bad seeds' who are useless and have seen some of the dark secrets, no church is clean."
"The churches 700 years ago were not like this at all." Gwen shook his head. "Those priests and Knight who fought against the Aberrations back then probably never thought that their successors would fall so low."
Pitman smiled. "Did you ever think that when you woke up, you would see the Aberrations at the entrance of the tomb, and that your descendants would lose your shield?"
Gwen immediately glared at the little old man. "… I'm going to get mad at you for bringing this up."
Then he coughed twice and brought the topic back on track. "So, what do you think of the abnormality of Fran Belaam mentioned in the Amber Report? Did the bishop lock himself up in the cathedral in order to strengthen himself by absorbing power through some means? "
"… I don't think he can become stronger by absorbing power. This is the way of wizards and warlocks. But there must be something wrong with the situation. A normal bishop would not lock himself in the cathedral and do nothing. He would either continue to save the situation, run away, or come out and brutally suppress the Aberrations. In short, he should have done something. "
Gwen shook his head slightly. "In my original plan, Fran Belaam should have taken some desperate action at this stage. But I did not expect that he would lock himself in the cathedral and do nothing. To be honest … this has messed up my plan a little."
Pitman thought for a moment. After a while, the little old man, who had some knowledge in the field of theology, said, "Maybe … he is trying to communicate with God, praying for an unimaginable power to help him get through the desperate situation."
"Is it a divine descent?" Gwen suddenly frowned. "He can perform a divine descent?"
"… It's because it's impossible that I don't understand. A God's Descent requires a high price, and there's a strict threshold. Only a Legendary Master can support a God's Descent without dying. A high-level Master can only perform a God's Descent for a short period of time after paying the price of his life and meeting certain conditions. As for a lower level Master … he doesn't even have the ability to communicate with God's Will. His words can't even reach the ears of his God.
Gwen thought for a full two minutes before he broke the silence. "All in all, it seems that we have to arrange more 'insurance' in the next step. Now that we have come this far, we can't afford to make any mistakes. "
In this world where extraordinary power existed and society was stagnant, this would be the first rebellion of ordinary people against the extraordinary.
Perhaps there were farmers who could not stand being bullied and raised pitchforks against Lord Knight, and innocent people who were convicted of heresy cursed loudly at the priests who judged them. But those occasional, powerless, and insignificant rebellions were different from this time.
This time, it was the first time that ordinary people, who had been deceived and oppressed for a long time, rebelled against the priests as a group.
The world had waited for thousands of years for this first time. If it failed, no one knew how long it would take for the second time.
So, it could not fail.
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.
