“Something terrible has happened, Your Holiness! Cracks have appeared on all the statues in our church’s prayer room.”
“Those people who were in the middle of prayers have all suffered various injuries. And we can’t feel any connection with the gods.”
Not long after the church mural was destroyed, a few priests dressed in black prayer clothes suddenly rushed in from the outside. They looked fearful.
Watson was in the bishop’s room. Typically, only the pope and the seven bishops could enter the room. However, Waldo had loaned money to Leon, and they did not want other people to hear about that. So, even though the fight had caused a big commotion, not many people had gone there.
The prayer rooms were used for business. No matter one’s identity, they could use the room if they paid for it. Those were the rooms that the priest had meant.
“What on earth happened? The statues are fine. But how did it crack? And why can’t we sense any connection to the gods?”
Arthas panicked after he heard the report from his subordinates. He gave his orders and then tried to communicate with the gods. Finally, he realized that the gods were not responding to his prayer. His head was dizzy.
A priest’s authority came from the gods’ protection. Without those, they would be nothing.
“It’s him! It must be him!” Waldo was scared silly. He pointed at Watson. “He must have killed the gods, so the gods no longer protect us. We are doomed.”
Arthas, Christina, and Leon looked at Watson with a strange expression.
Even though Waldo’s words were a little crazy, they felt that he was right because they thought the same.
“Hey, why are you looking at me like that? I only killed a projection; I did not kill the god. The god you believe in won’t be so cheap. Just because I killed one of his projections, he cancels his protection for you?”
Watson spread his hands and defended himself.
“Let’s not talk about that for now. Let’s go and check if everyone has lost the god’s protection. If someone still has it, let that person pray and see what happens.”
Arthas could not be bothered to continue pestering Watson. He turned around and ran out, shouting orders.
It was a memorable day for the City of Steel, and it was also a distinctive day for the kingdom. All the statues that people worshipped had cracked open, and all priests and cultivators had lost their connection with the gods. The situation lasted for half a day.
Although they had established their connection with the god again, all the priests in the kingdom were panicking. What was that inexplicable connection loss? Would it happen again in the future? If it were to happen frequently, they would be in great danger.
One could imagine what would happen if they lost their connection to the gods while fighting with powerful magical beasts in the maze.
They would not even be able to release any blessings or curses. Under such circumstances, they would most likely end up in the magical beasts’ stomachs.
Many priests were already considering whether they should switch to another profession?
….
A few hours before that, in the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s capital, which was an unknown distance away from the City of Steel.
The capital had always been the largest and most luxurious city in the Holy Dragon Kingdom. It was located in the center of the entire kingdom. Tens of millions of residents lived on the vast land, and several small towns spread out in a radial shape. Each town was arranged into a ring shape, and at the end of it was a wall that was more than a hundred meters high.
There were nine such tall walls, which formed nine huge circles that protected the capital. Even if the Holy Dragon Kingdom were breached, the capital would never be destroyed if the nine walls did not collapse.
At that moment, in the royal palace at the center of the city, the upright middle-aged emperor, Landhar III, sat on the tall throne. His fingers tapped on the legs of the chair gently as he listened to his ministers’ reports.
“Your Majesty, just a moment ago, a riot broke out in the city. An unknown force had destroyed all the statues and idols in the Church of Light! It’s not just the city. I heard that churches in the nearby towns were also destroyed. The news from further places hasn’t reached us yet, but I’ve already sent people to investigate. It’s obvious that this is a premeditated attack against the church.”
The man who spoke was in thick black armor. The armor chest was engraved with a soaring golden dragon. He was a human, but that man was at least three meters tall. He had a buzz cut, and his face was full of whiskers. He exuded a terrifying aura that was as immovable as a mountain.
The man’s name was Hoen, and he was one of the platinum-tier elites in the kingdom. His nickname was the Kingdom’s Wall. He was not only a swordsman, but he was also proficient in earth-elemental magic. He could create nine layers of barriers with just a sword, and they would not be inferior to the high walls outside the kingdom. He was also the commander of all the soldiers in the kingdom.
“General Hoen, are you sure that this is an attack on the church? Or has something gone wrong with the gods?”
“If someone wanted to attack all the churches simultaneously, they would need a spell that could cover an area of millions of kilometers. At the same time, they would also need to conduct a test to prevent it from hitting anyone other than the churches. General, do you think that you can do that?”
The moment Hoen’s voice fell, another white-haired old man in the hall, who was leaning on a cane, asked in puzzlement.
The old man’s name was Macrotov. He was the kingdom’s only prime minister, and he was also a well-known intellectual. If Hoen was the leader of all the generals, then Mcrotov was the leader of civil officials and ordinary nobles.
“Macrotov, don’t be ridiculous. The gods left this world because they were too powerful. So, they went to a wider realm. No one can attack all the churches at the same time. Perhaps it was someone who can affect the gods?” Hoen glanced at the old man. “Report!”
The civil officials and generals had always been on good terms. They had different thinking because of their different origins. It was the same case with the two leaders.
“Someone must have attacked the churches in the kingdom. General Hoen’s guess is correct. He didn’t say that one person had done it. Maybe it was a gang? I suspect that it was done by the remnants from the Demoness Church. They are still holding a grudge against the church because their sect was destroyed.”
“You’re wrong. If one person did not do it, how could they strike at the same time? Even a well-trained army wouldn’t be able to strike at the same time from a great distance. Furthermore, the church’s defense forces in other cities are also different. How did those terrorists sneak into the city? It is even more impossible to say that it was done by remnants from the Demoness Church. Back then, His Majesty had personally sent people to destroy the Demoness Church. Do you doubt His Majesty’s ability? In my opinion, Macrotov’s guess is more reliable.”
Under the leadership of those two people, dozens of civil servants and generals in the hall were divided into two factions and began to quarrel violently.
Cough. Cough.
At that moment, they heard a cough from the hall. The sound was not loud, but it had suppressed all the discussion in the hall.
The man sitting on the throne stood up. A few maidservants held his long imperial up. Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to look at the face of the kingdom’s ruler.
“I have asked you to discuss the attack on the churches’ statues, but you are only discussing the reason. That is not important at all. What’s important is the result! The attack on the churches had caused all the priests in the kingdom to lose their connection with the gods. Everyone is waiting eagerly for a solution. I only want one solution. Do you understand what to do next?”
The thick voice spread evenly throughout the hall, bringing pressure to everyone who heard it. Even someone as powerful as Hoen could not help but break out in a cold sweat. He said, “His Majesty has taught us that we’d be stupid to argue over useless things.”
“One hour. I will only give you that much time. If you still haven’t found a solution when the time is up, then I will have no choice but to remove a group of useless people from the hall.”
His calm words caused the temperature in the hall to drop by quite a bit; one would feel as if an ice cellar would pierce their bones.
