Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 351 - 350: The Stirring of Holy Light

After returning to the feudal lord’s mansion, Gawain had Amber bring the intelligence gathered over the recent period concerning the Church of the Holy Light and the activities of evil cult followers.

Noticing Gawain’s grim and serious expression, Amber knew that he must have caught wind of something from the recent developments. She couldn’t help but be curious, "What? Do you think the Church of the Holy Light has a conspiracy?"

"It seems putting you in charge of intelligence has led to some progress," Gawain said approvingly, giving Amber a glance, "You also feel something’s amiss?"

Amber waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, not really. I just think that bunch of religious zealots live for conspiracies."

Gawain: "..."

"Hey, hey, tell me more," Amber leaned in with a cheeky grin, "I do feel that the Church of Holy Light’s actions have been overly aggressive recently, but that’s a change anyone can see, brought about by the current situation—what else have you noticed?"

"Ever since the leaders of the major religions signed the Sacred Alliance at Ancestral Peak, despite differing ideologies and internal conflicts, they’ve maintained peace for seven hundred years. In those seven hundred years, there were times when evil cult followers ran rampant—but at those times, no religion ever targeted another orthodox religion. The Church of the Holy Light indeed has a special advantage in combating evil and purifying corruption, while the more darkly inclined religions struggle against evil cult followers, but throughout history, the Church of the Holy Light has always led by example, aiding and guiding the weaker churches in battle."

As Gawain spoke, he set the documents he held aside, "This was also the most normal, correct choice because each religion serves a different social function: the Holy Light combats evil, Fertility ensures agriculture, the War God shelters warriors and directs the order of war and post-war reconstruction, the Blood God restrains desires and monitors contract behaviors. Human survival doesn’t just revolve around fighting evil cult followers. When there are cult followers, the Church of the Holy Light steps up, and when other troubles arise, other churches naturally have their value. I understand this principle, as should the priests of the Church of the Holy Light in theory."

Amber pouted, "But now they’re obviously oppressing the other churches."

"Yes, oppressing the other churches," Gawain nodded, "Since last autumn, as the activities of evil cult followers within Anzu have increased, the Church of the Holy Light has rapidly expanded and grown, using the pretext of combating evil followers. By late winter, they began to suppress and marginalize those churches that performed poorly in combating evil followers, and this situation has gotten worse recently. People can sometimes be blind, especially in states of panic. With the threat of evil cult followers growing daily, nearly everyone tolerated and tacitly approved of the Church of the Holy Light’s actions, with many even applauding it."

"Those marginalized churches won’t just sit and wait for death," Amber said, "In many places, members of the ostracized churches have already clashed head-on with the priests of the Holy Light—the Church of the Holy Light is large, but not unmatched; Combat Monks and Church Cavaliers aren’t exclusive to them."

"I suspect... the Church of the Holy Light is waiting for everyone to resist," Gawain placed his hand on the table, furrowing his brows, "Their ostracization of other churches is too blatant, too hasty. If it were up to me, I definitely wouldn’t suppress all heterodoxies nationwide like this. Instead, I’d first ally with those churches with higher affinity for the Holy Light, then target those leaning towards darkness as heterodoxies, dismantling opponents wave by wave. But now, the Church of the Holy Light’s behavior... seems less like they’re slowly weakening other religions, and more like they’re forcing other religions to unite and confront them in a religious war for mutual destruction..."

"No way..." Amber looked at Gawain with considerable doubt, "Maybe it’s not that complicated. Those Holy Light priests might just be straightforward and reckless, wanting to charge head-on—after all, not everyone is as cunning as you, with your divide-and-conquer strategies, who would even get that?"

"You think those who can rise to the high ranks of the church would be as carefree as you?" Gawain glanced disdainfully at the half-elf, "The strategy of divide and conquer isn’t particularly clever; I’m sure the power holders in the Cathedral of the Holy Light could think of it. Since they haven’t done so... I can’t help but suspect they have bigger plans. Of course, it’s also possible the Church of the Holy Light is overconfident, thinking they can single-handedly confront all beliefs in the world..."

As Gawain said this, a figure unwittingly surfaced in his mind.

Pale golden hair, plain priest’s robes, an extraordinary, almost inhuman aura, the always-embracing Holy Light surrounding her...

That "Saint Princess," Veronica Moen...

As someone in the high ranks of the Church of the Holy Light and also a member of the royal family, is she involved in the current activities? What role does she play in this process? If she has a hand in these changes, dealing with the "Saint Princess" on behalf of the Cecil Clan in the future will require caution...

The Cathedral of the Holy Light, Great Hall of Radiance, pure Holy Light floated around the dome of the hall, casting a shimmering, water-like glow over the domed ceiling depicting the kingdom’s visions, shining as brilliantly as ever.

The bishops reported recent progress in eradicating evil and suppressing heterodoxies across the kingdoms, their calm and steady voices resembling the Holy Light hovering above the dome, though the content of their reports was far from peaceful.

"Your Eminence, the number of evil cult criminals purified by the Holy Light increases daily; the power of the Lord has already manifested, yet those stubborn, ignorant heterodox believers are becoming new troubles," a bishop with a tall crown said, "In The White City, ever since the Blood God chapel secretly controlled by evil cult followers was demolished, many heterodox believers of the Blood God refused to accept the correct faith, refused the opportunity for baptism, purification, and reform. These believers were expelled from the city but wandered the wilderness, turning into bandits attacking our priests spreading the Holy Light."

Another bishop continued, "Similar situations have occurred in the Western Plains, where followers of the Goddess of the Night and Shadows, after being exiled, began attacking our priests, even assaulting ordinary believers of the Holy Light. They have caused great panic locally."

The elderly Saint Ivan III slightly raised his eyelids, his voice devoid of any emotion, "Their behavior validates our judgment, does it not?

"Exile proves their guilt, and we gave them the chance to convert, which was their opportunity to prove their innocence. Those untainted by evil obviously wouldn’t fear embracing the Holy Light, and such fear is proof of falling into evil.

"They become bandits, attack priests, attack the innocent, and previously refused to embrace the Holy Light and convert; this proves they are indeed wicked. As long as we point this out, the world will naturally discern right from wrong."

"Your wisdom has cleared our confusion," the first bishop spoke while bowing his head, "We humbly follow Your will."

Then the bishops continued to report, reporting on the progress of expanding the Church Cavaliers, reporting on the increase in the number of believers, reporting on the spread of the Faith of Holy Light in various regions, and the progress of gathering Indulgence Money...

Saint Ivan III had his eyelids drooping, as if he was asleep, yet as if he was still awake, listening to these reports one after another. The buzzing voices of the bishops echoed in his ears, blending with the greater, unfathomable, boundless divine voice in his mind. This elderly Pope focused a small part of his mind on the bishops’ voices but used the majority of his mental energy to carefully listen to the voice from deep within his spiritual world—

It was the voice of the Lord.

The Lord’s voice whispered indistinctly, yet contained endless wisdom, requiring attentiveness to discern threads of the world’s truth.

Veronica quietly stood beside the Pope, her head slightly bowed, serene and gentle. The Holy Light emanating from her spread throughout the hall, enveloping everyone, creating an extremely complex, constant, faint resonance with the Holy Light emanating from the bishops.

This "sacred resonance" was the source of ubiquitous light in the entire Cathedral of the Holy Light.

When the bishops finally finished reporting and the buzzing in the Great Hall of Radiance quieted, Saint Ivan III slowly opened his eyes and said in a hoarse, low voice, "Is it over..."

Veronica bent at the waist beside the Pope, "Yes, Your Eminence, the bishops have already left."

"I just heard the Lord’s voice," Saint Ivan III said softly, "It was truly a great voice... The Lord must be pleased with our efforts."

"Yes, the Lord is pleased with our actions," Veronica said gently, "He wants to make this world His earthly kingdom, and we must clear the world’s heterodoxies and evil for Him."

"We must clear the world’s heterodoxies and evil for the Lord..." Saint Ivan III muttered in a low voice, slowly sinking into a deep slumber, continuing in his dreams to embrace the indescribable whispers from the Holy Light.

Cecil, in the buffer camp by the White River.

After receiving permission to settle, a place to lie down and sleep, and a hot meal, those who had been frightened for dozens of days from the Plains of the Holy Spirits finally felt a slight sense of relief.

They were grateful for the leader’s mercy, marveled that Gawain Cecil was indeed as rumored, a broad-minded hero protecting the people, but more so, they pondered their future survival.

They could not enter the city yet—though they had seen the neat and prosperous city, before passing the final examination, they had to live in the "buffer camp" outside the city, which was their last source of unrest.

No one knew what the examination entailed or how long this process would take, nor what would happen to those who failed. Although they understood the leader’s caution, as long as their suspicion of being "evil cult followers" was not cleared, they couldn’t be at ease.

These people, who fled from the Plains of the Holy Spirits, gathered in the large tent house allocated to them, whispering about the future, discussing the past. Suddenly, the door of the tent was pushed open.

They looked up nervously, seeing a particularly tall figure standing at the door.

They thought it was a strong warrior but quickly saw that the person was wearing priest robes.

The robe was worn at the edges and had faded, but it could still be seen as clergy robes of the Holy Light.

Everyone grew tense and restless.

"Don’t be afraid," Wright opened his arms, slowly approaching those showing expressions of fear and vigilance, "I have no weapons, no malice, and I’m not here to interrogate heresies.

"I just want to talk to you."