Anheuse glanced at Lucien subconsciously, and a hint of caution appeared in his eyes. Why would they discuss such an important matter in front of Leviathan, who had just become the seventh disciple of the Secret Praying Society? Were they not worried that he was a spy who had sneaked in to help the evil god Antanas find the great God of Fire and Destruction? They should at least wait for a year of probation before allowing him to participate in the discussion of core matters.
Under the double pressure of Politan City, as well as the intimidating power of the Temple High Priest and the Divine-Blood Hero, the members of the Secret Praying Order were very careful. Those who were careless had already died, and some had even caused serious damage to the Order.
"Why are we suddenly discussing this? I remember that the last 'preaching' plan was just decided not long ago." Anheuse looked at Jacob, the head of the disciples, and asked solemnly.
Jacob pressed down on the small gray rose pattern on the corner of his shirt and said in a low voice, "This is the order given by the Crown himself. We will wait for his arrival quietly."
The Crown, the leader of the Secret Praying Society and the son of the God of Fire and Destruction, was also claimed to be the incarnation of the God of Fire and Destruction. Lucien and the other disciples called themselves the "preachers", the ones who preached the path of discipline.
Anheuse's expression softened. He sat on a silver chair with a flame pattern that formed the word "five" in the Barril language. Under the scrutinizing, alert, and indifferent gazes of the other disciples, Lucien followed Anheuse's example and walked to the silver chair with the word "seven", as if he was at home.
"Leviathan, I heard from Norton that you were born with incomparable strength and could compete with the weakest divine-blooded person. Is that true?" Jacob's face was covered with a messy white beard, and no one could see his real expression.
The other disciples stared at the dark red round table, as if they did not hear Jacob's question, nor did they expect Lucien's answer. Hercules of this level were rare among human beings, but not unprecedented. It was said that they could compete with the worst divine-blood people only in terms of strength. Once the divine-blood people used the "extraordinary power" that came from their blood to cast magical spells and manipulate natural changes, the hercules would be no different from ordinary people and would die quickly.
Lucien's current appearance was that of an ordinary black-haired, black-eyed man, no different from the ordinary Barril people. He smiled and replied, "I've never fought with a divine-blood person, so I don't know the specific difference, but I can deal with ordinary monsters."
According to Lucien, the reason why he was injured was that he had encountered a terrifying monster in the wild. He relied on his innate strength to escape, and the power of a knight had indeed surprised Norton, who could only cast spells. This might be one of the reasons why Norton recommended Lucien to be the seventh disciple.
Jacob's back was very straight, and his eyes and tone did not change. "Then your 'Seed of Spirit' in the future can lean towards this direction. Strength that can destroy city walls, skin that can defend against swords and spears, and very fast speed, just like the evil god Antanas before he killed his father."
The Lord of War, Antanas, was the son of the God of Sky in the creation myth of the Angornorma Empire. He was half-god and half-human, and had immense strength. Even the sharpest blade and sword could only leave a white scratch on his body. After he killed the nine monsters that had plagued the empire, he was blamed by the God of Sky in the Abode of the Gods. So he rebelled violently, killed the Father God, and ascended to the throne of the Angonorian Pantheon.
"But before that, you need to use your strength to make a sufficient contribution to the great 'Lord of Fire and Destruction'." Before Lucien could answer, Jacob continued, just like how he encouraged every important member of the Secret Praying Council — those who had not received the "Seed of Spirit" to become disciples.
Suddenly, the hall was filled with a fiery aura of destruction, as if a fire was coming.
Jacob was the first to stand up. He put his hand on his chest and bowed. "Welcome, Crown."
The rest of the disciples followed suit. At the same time, Lucien assessed the general level of the aura. If the "Crown" was releasing his aura without holding back to intimidate the initiators, then his strength should be at least level seven. However, the aura was quite strange. It was not the suppression of spiritual power, the suppression of strong willpower, or the suppression of sacred power. Instead, it was more like a "hybrid" with a little bit of all three. There was nothing outstanding about it.
"False god, descending incarnation, son of god … This is getting more and more interesting."
The main reason Lucien joined the Secret Praying Council was to gather information so that he could get out of danger easily. Research was just a side goal. However, as he learned more and more things, the instinctive desire of an arcanist grew stronger and stronger. He even wanted to actively participate in the affairs of the Secret Praying Council. "If he is really the only incarnation of the Lord of Fire and Destruction, then this false god's strength should be at level eight. And the Lord of War, who could let him escape, seems to be at the pinnacle of a level nine golden Knight."
In the early stage of the War of Dawn, the remaining sorcerers were killed by the Saint Truth and did not know much about false gods. However, with the appearance of the Lord of the Undead, Vicente, the Congress later obtained a lot of information about false gods from the South Church.
Even though Lucien did not have enough authority and limited knowledge, he roughly knew that false gods could separate their own power to create incarnations or directly descend on the son of god with their bloodline. The power of the incarnation was at most one level lower than the original, and at this level, there could only be two incarnations at most. If one wanted to create more, they would have to lower the power of the incarnation.
Since the Secret Praying Council claimed to be the main cult of the Lord of Fire and Destruction, Lucien speculated that the son of god that Avando used to control this secret cult, the only incarnation, should belong to the strongest type.
A young and handsome man with black hair walked out from a hidden corner of the stone hall. He was wearing a loose white robe and had an olive wreath on his head. His exposed skin seemed to have a layer of illusory flames flowing on it at all times, setting off his powerful and beautiful muscles.
"He should be strong in close combat and has some spell-like abilities. He's closer to a Knight. No, he's equal to a powerful demon in hell." Lucien made a rough judgment based on the man's performance.
"Crown" Ell looked around at the seven apostles and sat on the golden throne. He then pressed down with his right hand and gestured for everyone to sit down.
"Our kingdom has been invaded by evil gods, our 'children' have been slaughtered by pagans, and our companions are getting fewer and fewer. But we still remember our bloodline, our Father, and still yearn for his residence in the Holy Mountain. Therefore, we have an endless stream of successors, and devout young people are constantly filling in. Leviathan, I hope you can become a strong man guarding the gate of the Holy Mountain, and I also hope you can spread the majesty of our Father to the hearts of the other Barril people."
Ell represented the Lord of Fire and Destruction to acknowledge Lucien's position as the seventh apostle. After all, the Erdo Peninsula was firmly controlled by the Angonnormals, and it was getting harder and harder to find talents.
After Lucien bowed and thanked him, Ell looked down at the seven apostles and said, "Today, I've gathered all of you here to discuss our future path. You should have noticed that the resistance on the peninsula is getting fewer and fewer, and the number of Barril people who are willing to believe in our Father is also decreasing. What do you think? "
"They have forgotten the majesty of their God, and they are no longer afraid of fire and destruction. We must make them remember the fear that is engraved in their souls, and remember the impending purification of fire. Only then can they fight for the great Avando," Anheuse said sternly.
Seeing the other disciples nodding in agreement with Anheuse, Lucien shook his head slightly. It seemed that the Secret Praying Order was still in the most primitive stage of preaching based on fear, instead of mixing the concepts of salvation, beauty, judgment after death, and punishment of extinction. The mature religious model, which was based on redemption, intimidation, good virtues, and spiritual sustenance, was no longer suitable for the current situation. If this continued, the number of believers would only decrease, and they would be completely destroyed by the Angonnormals.
There seemed to be flames dancing in Ell's eyes. He said in a low voice, "It's our responsibility to preach the greatness of our Father, but I think we should change the way we preach."
Lucien and the other apostles looked at Ell, but the meaning in their eyes was completely different. Did he also want to change the way he preached?
Ell's voice was full of enthusiasm, "Currently, the children and subjects of our Father are full of pain under the rule of the pagans. If we continue to use fear to drive them, we will definitely not be able to enter their hearts. What they need is salvation, salvation from this pain. So, tell them that death is not terrible, and that they will only return to their Father's residence in the Holy Mountain, where they will receive eternal peace and happiness. Their sacrifice will also build a holy kingdom for their children on earth, so that war, killing, fear, hatred, and other negative things will be far away. Only such a holy kingdom will be able to avoid the purification of fire in the future. "
"Of course, those who have betrayed our Father will be punished. After a fair trial, they will be sent to the kingdom of the dead to suffer indescribable pain."
"The glory of our Father is not limited to the Barril people. He is compassionate, merciful, and can accept any alien race who is willing to believe in him."
Hearing Ell's words, Lucien was slightly stunned. This was already a very mature religious concept, and it had begun to evolve from a race god and a regional god to an abstract and universal god. The "God of Fire and Destruction" had a great awakening after suffering a great defeat?
"But the great Lord of Fire does not have the priesthoods of salvation, peace of mind, and judgment after death," Jacob asked in confusion. This was the view of the gods of Barril and Angonorma. In their view, everything in nature and life was ruled by the gods. Different gods had different priesthoods and controlled different things. No one could control everything. Therefore, the false gods often formed a divine system with one master and many assistants.
The fire in Ell's eyes lit up. "The Father created other gods, which caused his divinity to decrease. But in this war, the other gods not only did not help him, but also betrayed him, causing him to be seriously injured and defeated. Therefore, he decided to conquer the other gods and strip them of their divinity to strengthen his own strength. He wanted to return to the state when he first created everything. That way, he would be able to completely defeat the evil god Antanas."
This provided an excuse for why Avando, the "God of Fire and Destruction" who created the world in Barril mythology, was defeated. It also explained the direction of the future, which was to unify the internal forces.
"Yes, those gods who betrayed the God of Fire are still dividing the Barril people. Dear Crown, who is our first target?" Anheuse agreed. It seemed that he had been angered by the followers of other gods.
Ell said coldly, "Asin, the God of Moon."
The God of Moon … Lucien suddenly felt that things were a bit strange.
At this time, Ell suddenly stood up. "The Father made this decision because he benefited from a philosopher from the eastern kingdom."
He turned around and said, "Mr. Francis, please tell us what we should do."
Francis? Lucien frowned slightly. He saw a man with black hair and black eyes walking out from where Ell had just come out. He was tall and slender, with a long sword on his back. His face was soft, and his mouth seemed to be always smiling. He was wearing a loose white robe similar to Ell's.
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.
