Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Inside St. Sarl City, within the Temple of Light…
The church had hired talented artists to paint murals on the walls. These murals were intricately designed and very beautiful. It was as if they depicted the solemn benevolence of the kingdom of God.
In fact, the whole temple seemed like it was the center of the kingdom of God, with all of its tall statues and beautiful murals. Standing inside this pure white space, one would feel as if his entire soul was being cleansed.
At this moment, a beautiful fairy-like maiden was standing barefoot in front of the statues. She was dressed in a simple, long robe, and she had long black hair and the face of an angel. Her tall stature and feminine grace made her appear to be a specimen of flawless perfection.
Saintess Kelly was also standing in front of the statues. Before her was the Goddess of light Maria, as well as the statue of the legendary archangel. Her eyes shone like the starry sky and could entrance countless people.
However, at this moment, her starry eyes were focused only on the archangel statue. She had been looking at the statue and praying in the temple for decades. After all, decades seemed like mere days when you spent every moment praying and waiting for a response from God.
“In the eyes of your excellency, our desires and conflicts must be pitifully laughable. I created a heaven on earth for you. Can you see it? Yet, the ugliness of sin still exists on this holy ground. Salvation can only be received within your kingdom.” Saintess Kelly stood alone before the statue, exposing her most inner thoughts, believing wholeheartedly that God could hear her.
Kelly had a dream about the idyllic village that Lord Faross had shown her. She recalled the beautiful town by the mountain slope that he had talked with her about, all while they sat under blue skies. He had then disappeared from her dream…
Whenever she recalled that dream, she could not help but tremble. The corners of her mouth would also starting to curl up, while her face would show a rarely seen expression of pure bliss.
Kelly knelt before God and finished her prayers. Slowly, she put on the mask of Faross and walked out through the corridor of white pillars. The doors of the temple slowly opened as she stepped outside.
Outside of the temple sat the upper echelons of the Church of Light, including Pope Hodap and all of the cardinals and priests. They were all wearing elaborate robes and waiting respectfully to greet Kelly as God’s blood kin on earth.
On the platform stood rows upon rows of fully armored Knights of Light. All of them had swords and shields that were engraved with the sigil of the Church. Even some monarchs and guards from surrounding nations were present.
Although these rulers and knights may not have been happy with the political interference of the Church, their devotion to the faith remained genuine. Many of them were devout believers, so they were fans of Saintess Kelly, as she was the kin and messenger of God.
Saintess Kelly stepped into the hall wearing the Mask of Faross. The noisy scene quieted down immediately. The silence throughout the hall was so pervading, you could hear a pin drop.
All eyes concentrated intently on Kelly, as if the people present could not wait to kneel at her feet and pray. This was St. Sarl’s City, the city of God’s descent. It was also the capital of God’s kingdom on earth!
“Defend the eternal glory of God! In God’s name, advance!” These words of Kelly’s were enough to ignite the passion of the entire city. Everyone cheered and yelled in a frenzy, while they raised their swords and shields.
“By God’s name!”
“Advance! Everything is for the Lord!”
“Move out! Move out!”
Even the elderly Pope Hodap had joined in the cheering. Hodap was already well past one hundred years old. Although he was a master of divine incantations, his innate talent was weak.
As such, he had not managed to breakthrough to increase his lifespan. Thus, he was well on his way to returning to God’s Kingdom. So, the church had started the preparations for the selection of a new Pope.
A large number of knights and soldiers flowed out of St. Sarl’s City, then regrouped with the army outside. They started moving out of St. Sarl’s and towards Crete, setting off towards the essential battle between humanity and the orcs.
The alliance army and several of the church’s priest corps set out to meet with Holy Seville’s army. This was a war between two ideologies and a supernatural faceoff between the Church of Light and the Faith of the Sun.
The most anticipated battle was between the Saintess of the Church and the Emperor of Holy Seville. This war would show which race God favored, as both were fighting in the name of God and glory.
This is also the war that affected the most people on Alen. There were a million soldiers who were fighting in the war. This was also the first major military conflict that involved special abilities.
As such, the tensions were high as Holy Seville and the Church alliance army were quickly converging upon the capital of Crete…
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Within the capital of Crete…
Although the empire focused its efforts on a cover-up, news that 300,000 elites had died in the Depps Grand Canyon at the hands of Holy Seville had already been leaked. Hundreds of thousands of orcs were headed straight towards them.
Originally, Holy Seville was coming for revenge. However, its aims had changed a bit since then. Part of the reason for that was that supplies to Crete had increased greatly after the orc army took over more cities.
This led Holy Seville to offer the nobles of Crete two paths. They could either adopt the faith of the Sun to become citizens of the Empire, thus receiving equal rights, or Holy Seville would enter the city by force, enslave all of the nobles, and subject the civilians to heavy taxes.
All the cities en-route had fallen swiftly under Holy Seville’s assault. The capital was in chaos and the arrogant Cretans, who looked down upon Holy Seville, were now trembling in fear.
Many of the civilians tried to escape. Even the royals abandoned their estates. The highest commanders had split into two parties, one was in favor of reconciliation and the other wanted to surrender.
By now, neither Emperor Zolman II nor Prime Minister Tembor held any control. They had lost 300,000 elites and the trust of their people. Even the common folk were disparaging their names.
Within the city, countless families had lost their sons and husbands, which sent them into deep depressions. As a result, all of the nobles began distancing themselves from them.
Suddenly, the Church’s army appeared under the leadership of Cardinal Leon. The guards opened the city gates and allowed the robed knights onto the King’s Road.
They surrounded the Cretan palace and stormed in. They then took control of the city in one night. The Cardinal took some knights and stormed the room where the other vigilants were meeting and surrounded them.
Tembor stood up and looked at Cardinal Leon, asking, “What are you doing?! This is the royal palace of Crete!”
Leon kicked Tembor and waved an order from the church in the air, terrifying the crowd. He then announced “In the name of the church and God, we are excommunicating emperor Zolman II. He shall be judged here and now.”
Leon looked around, watching as the knights behind him moved out. He then added, “Zolman II, Tembor, and Tito. You are now under arrest and shall face the judgement of God.”
The young emperor Zolman II slid onto the ground from his throne as Tembor shrieked. Only Tito, with his blood stained hands, was peaceful in his surrender.
He had always known that retribution would eventually come for him. All three of them were then dragged out, the ruler of the Crete Empire officially changing at that very moment.
