Chapter 491 In The Darkness

Seventree knew that he had no turning back.

And he really couldn't find a better way than now.

He had seen every flyer the Cecilians had entered into the city, and had heard the news circulating in the outer city, and he knew that the Cecilians were preaching a holy light that was almost deviant and blurred the boundaries of man and god. Faith, frankly speaking, he is also very resistant to these things. He has devoutly believed in the God of Holy Light for half his life, and he cannot accept the Cecil people's saying that "the Holy Light comes from the heart".

But he can't accept the current practice of the Holy Light Church that regards faith as a means of making money and the Holy Light as a reliance on violence.

He accepted Amber's invitation, and then learned in detail what he needed to do.

"We can try to interfere with the guards in the chapel area and shut down the defense of the magic circle, but the road to the cathedral is not under our control," the middle-aged low-level priest said of the situation inside the church area , "The Order of Discipline and the Knights of the Holy See guard all the gates, and they only obey the cathedral."

"How are the discipline monks and the Holy See knights fighting? Do you think they will fight to the death to protect the cathedral?"

"...Discipline monks are a profession that is better at faith judgment and commandment arts, and they are not strong in frontal combat. As for the Holy See knights...they were originally the strongest defensive force in Luan Cathedral, but last time Bishop Lemont took away all the High-level knights, the remaining large number of middle-level and low-level knights died a lot while assisting the noble army in battle, and now the remaining combat power is probably less than 20%," Seventree said in detail, "It's just... ...they are still deadly to ordinary people."

"Don't worry about this, there will be other forces coming in to help. You just need to tell me the route map and garrison situation of the church district."

"it is good."

After handing over this most crucial piece of information, Seventree felt that he suddenly relaxed, and he let out a sigh of relief as if he had completed a major mission, while Amber looked at the middle-aged priest. The exhaustion accumulated over many days, suddenly seemed to ask casually: "If I am not wrong, the power of the Holy Light of many priests in the church area should have decreased to varying degrees..."

Seventree suddenly looked surprised: "How did you know?!"

"At the trial of heresy, the effect of divine art can't deceive people," Amber shook his head slightly, "Although I guess there is a big problem with the divine art used to identify heresy, maybe it can make most ordinary people show it. Signs of a shaken belief, but for you clerics who should be very religious in theory... Its effect shouldn't be so significant. I carefully observed the expressions of each of you at the time, your shake, surprise, panic are all The real deal."

Seventree fell silent, and the two low-level priests beside him bowed their heads with complex expressions. After a few seconds of silence, one of the low-level priests finally spoke up: "...You are very observant. powerful."

"At least one-third of the clergy experienced varying degrees of strength loss," Seventree continued, "and the most serious even experienced a level regression. In fact, to be honest, the clergy lost their strength due to their brief confusion. It's not uncommon, it's just that a shake of faith on this scale is probably the first time that Luan Cathedral has been established..."

Amber went on to ask: "When did more people experience strength loss first?"

"Since the order to collect redemption money and suppress the belief in Ability God came from the Holy Spirit Plain, my Holy Light power has stagnated. There are many people in the church district who are similar to me. We cannot accept this kind of conflict with the Holy Spirit. Something that goes against the teachings of light."

Amber blinked, and said in a low voice thoughtfully, "It seems like this is the case..."

As Gawain had speculated, what happened to Wright was not unique.

Although the recent radical actions of the Church of the Holy Light have accumulated enormous wealth on the one hand,

The strength of the church has been rapidly improved, but on the other hand, it has also led to too strong doubts among the low-level priests who have a conscience within the church. Such a low-level priest whose faith is shaken, and as time goes on, this situation will only get worse...

Did the Church of the Holy Light really not realize that these collapses occurred at the bottom? Or... even if they realize it, they still have reasons to do so, even at the risk of splitting the church and causing some clergy to abandon their beliefs, must they use this method of drinking poison to quench their thirst to make the church grow rapidly in a short period of time?

Amber thought hard and found that she really didn't understand, so she simply shook her head and put this problem behind her for the time being - anyway, she just came in to collect information and sabotage it. It's a big deal to really analyze these troublesome things. The old zongzi in the back is good at things, tell the other party about the situation at that time, and let the old man worry about it.

Seventree didn't hear Amber's self-talk, and asked curiously, "What did you just say?"

"It's nothing," Amber waved his hand, "Let's settle this matter as it is, and wait until the dust settles."

Seventree nodded slightly, but before he got up and left, he suddenly seemed to think of one more thing: "I think I should remind you of something - although I don't know what kind of extraordinary power you have prepared, but you must Be careful with Frambérand, I don't think his condition is normal."

"Fran Belland?" Amber raised his eyebrows, "According to the information, he should only be a middle-level peak priest. If all the high-level powerhouses in the Southern Church were not destroyed, it would not be his turn to be a bishop."

"He is indeed a middle-level, but now he has mastered the core of the cathedral's magic array, and its strength may not be so easy to judge," said Fran Berand with a serious face, "and since the heresy trial four days ago, , he locked himself in the cathedral and didn't show up once, even the leader of the Discipline monks didn't get an interview, which is very abnormal. I prayed to the Lord, the message of the Holy Light was full of disturbing Visions and whistling noises, I can feel a powerful force gathering in the cathedral, very much like the Holy Light, but there is something else mixed in there... All in all, it has to be treated with care."

"...Mom, I'm afraid it's not a routine for a breakthrough..."

Frankie couldn't hear: "What?"

"Don't worry," Amber quickly waved his hand, "I will report the situation to my superiors, please rest assured, this action is very stable."

No matter what that Frambérant is doing in the cathedral, Cecil has enough power to suppress it. If it's a big deal, let the team make a lot of trouble in the outer city, and then Byron and Philip will directly attack the inner city. All over the world, in front of enough equivalent works of art, it is useless to be the protagonist of the breakthrough - the "array" will be blown up for you...

Amber didn't realize at all, and unknowingly, his way of thinking has been seriously affected by Gawain...

"Then I'm going back," Seventree stood up after talking about the matter, and gave Amber a clergy courtesy, "Leaving the church district for a long time may be found."

Amber nodded, but just as the three clerics were about to reach the door, she suddenly stopped each other from behind: "Regarding your declining Holy Light power...Cecil has a solution."

In order to ensure that the "internal responders" in the church district can be more reliable, she decided to reveal some "bait" in advance.

Seventree really stopped immediately, with an expression of disbelief on his face: "Are you serious?"

The decline of power caused by the shaking of belief has always been an unsolvable phenomenon for clergymen. Basically, it can only be cured by the passage of time or self-breakthrough. Most people will not be cured in their entire lives, and can only maintain at most. The power of divine magic is stagnant, but those Cecil people... how could they be able to do it?

"It wasn't very clear in those flyers, but Wright did find a new way of the Light, and that way...everyone has a chance to try it."

Seventree's eyes became excited, and nothing could make a devout Holy Light believer more tempted than the opportunity to get closer to the Holy Light: "What conditions are needed?"

Amber thought for a while, and looked at the slightly thin bodies of the three priests in front of him with uncertainty: "Can you carry a forty-pound warhammer?"

The three priests looked at each other for unknown reasons: "...Huh?"

"All in all, let's exercise your body first," Amber said thoughtfully, rubbing his smooth chin, "and then exercise your fighting ability, run 8 kilometers a day with heavy loads, and then move bricks or something. After a month, you should be fine. Can become a qualified field priest..."

After the three confused priests left, the temporary stronghold was quiet for a while.

An MIA operative with an expression of admiration—of course, it's not that he admires Amber for fooling the three priests to exercise at the end, but what his boss said to Seventree before: "Boss, you fool Human ability has not regressed."

Amber waved his hand indifferently: "When have I ever stepped back? It's no use in Cecil City."

As a nicknamed "Queen of Taverns", he was once famous in the circle of illegal mercenaries and adventurers in the southern border, and led a large group of gangsters and rogues to bully the market. How could Amber not have a good eloquence? How could there not be a set of skills that can bring the dead to life?

Living in the most desolate and backward frontier of the Ansu Kingdom, dealing with all kinds of people all day long, this half-elf thief is very good at observing words and controlling people's hearts. If she does not have this ability, it is impossible for her to completely Find out the situation of the people at the bottom of Luan City and create such a large-scale destruction operation.

I don't usually use it, but it just doesn't work.

"But then again, boss, what you just said really has a lot of shadows of the Duke-"

"Bullshit, I usually have nothing to do but hurry to sleep and sleep, how can I have the time to think about such boring things?" Amber rolled his eyes, "A lot of them are Gawain... what the Duke usually says, I think Just copy the situation. But you can’t just imitate me. Some words should be aimed at the target. Like today’s priest, he came from a commoner, has a conscience, understands the suffering of commoners, and can clearly see the darkness of the Holy Light Church. I'm here to find a way out that really makes sense, so what I said to him would work, but if it were another person, the same words might be bad..."

"We understand, we understand," the subordinates nodded again and again, and then one of them asked, "Then next... should we contact the rear?"

Amber snorted and looked at the tall and thin man standing in the corner of the room: "Skinny, turn on the magic web communicator, internal channel 8. Gray wolf, you go to the door to guard."

The miniaturized special magic net communicator was placed on the table. With a slight buzzing sound, the complex and sophisticated magic machinery was activated. Amber waited patiently for a moment, and then saw the crystal blooming on the top of the communicator. With a soft glow, a holographic projection quickly formed over the crystal.

That was Gawain's face.

"The oil in the pot has boiled," Amber looked at the holographic projection, bared his teeth, "It's time to flip the table."

Gao Wen in the holographic projection nodded: "Is everything going well?"

"Development as planned, but some situations need to be reported..."

Gao Wen listened to Amber's report quietly and kept everything in his heart. After the report was over, he let out a slight breath and looked at the communicator in front of him: "I see, this will be arranged in advance. You Be safe there."

Amber in the projection waved his hand impatiently: "Don't worry, don't worry, I really won't run if I encounter a situation, I'm such a coward..."

...

Gawain reluctantly looked at this cowardly fake, shook his head slightly and turned off the communication.

Then he raised his head and looked at another magic net communication device in the study.

Above that equipment, an outdoor scene is emerging——

Countless people gathered in an open field. The torches in their hands and the magic spar lights in the distance illuminated the assembly hall under the night. In the picture, there were people's angry slogans and countless noisy voices. The police in uniforms The team members maintained order at the scene, while several white knights wearing heavy white armor, surrounded by brilliant holy light, with heavy iron-shell scriptures hanging from their waists, stood in the middle of the crowd. The voice speaks to everyone - they are the most prominent in the picture.

The voice of the witch Jibry came from outside the screen: "...This is Tanzania New City, and the excavation work is still going on. Thirty minutes ago, the engineers found a new cellar...

"...If it wasn't for Viscount Andrew to build a new city here, I'm afraid these things will continue to be dusty...

"...According to the testimony of witnesses, these cellars are one of the secret vaults set up by Holy Light Church in the southern border. We have found a large number of gold and silver objects in the cellars, all of which are the property of believers, some of which were donated voluntarily by believers, and another large Part of it was gathered by the church through atonement, heresy trials, confiscating civilian properties, embezzling other church properties, etc. According to the books and records we searched from nearby churches, the local church originally promised that these properties would be used to repair the statues, Churches, distributing relief materials and raising orphans, but in fact more than 90% of them have become the private property of the church...

"Mr. Wright, leader of the White Knights, said he had never seen anything so brazen..."

After a while, Jibry's voice suddenly sounded again: "Urgent news, Mr. Daedalus, the governor of Hosman City, just announced a shocking news that the staff of the Government Affairs Office are cleaning up a place that once belonged to the Church of the Holy Light. A large number of corpses were found in the old rearing facility... It is suspected that orphans in the Hosman area have disappeared in the past few years..."

The crowd on the projection screen rioted, and the excited citizens gathered around the White Knights, while the White Knights raised their heavy powered warhammers high, shouting the slogan of expelling the old church.

Gawain stood up, went forward and turned off the projection equipment, and behind him, Pittman's voice lingered: "It's scary."

Gawain turned his head and looked at this little old man who had always been cynical and brazen on the territory, and there was a hint of ridicule on his face: "Do you also think there is something scary?"

Pittman stroked his beard and said lightly: "Of course, I am afraid of a lot of things, otherwise who do you think Amber's adaptable character is cultivated?"

Gawain glanced at Pittman: "Then what are you afraid of now?"

"Man, angry crowds are a scary being," Pittman shrugged, "but I think you're more scary than that—because it's all your guide. You're using a different The power and the power of guns, the effect of this thing... is much more terrifying than you described."

"There is no difference between good and bad power, the key depends on where it is used. To deal with those who use the Holy Light to do evil, sometimes you have to use some extraordinary means," Gawain said indifferently, and then his face was slightly gloomy, "Especially when I When I knew that the bones of children were found in those facilities... I knew that no matter what I did to deal with those gangsters, it wouldn't be too much."

Pittman sighed: "Adopting orphans for brainwashing is a common method used by various churches to cultivate die-hard fighting power. It can not only increase their strength, but also improve their reputation, but not all children can be compatible with magic, and some people are Without the slightest spiritual talent, it is useless to catalyze even with potions and rituals, and it will consume resources if it is not useful, and I have seen some 'bad seeds' of dark insider... No church has clean hands ."

"The churches seven hundred years ago were not like this at all," Gawain shook his head. "The priests and knights who charged against the aberrations back then probably never imagined that their heirs would fall into this."

Pittman smiled: "Did you ever think that when you woke up, you would see that the aberration had hit the door of the tomb, and that future generations lost your shield?"

Gawain immediately glared at the little old man: "...I'm in a hurry for you to mention this."

Then he coughed lightly and put the topic back on track: "Compared to this, what do you think about the anomaly of Frambérand mentioned in the Amber report? The bishop locked himself in the cathedral, was the Are you drawing strength in some way to strengthen yourself?"

"...I don't think he can get stronger by drawing power or something, that's what wizards and warlocks do, but there's definitely something wrong with the situation. A normal bishop wouldn't be able to lock himself up in that situation. He's doing nothing in the church, he's either going to save the situation, or he's going to run away, or he's going to be brutally repressed, in short, he should do something."

Gawain shook his head slightly: "In my initial plan, Faberland should take some kind of desperate action at this stage, but I didn't expect that he would lock himself in the church and do nothing, to be honest... ...that messed up my schedule a little bit."

Pittman pondered, and after a while, the little old man who had some knowledge in the field of theology said: "Maybe... he is trying to communicate with the gods and praying for unimaginable power to help him get through the desperate situation in front of him."

"Could it be a divine descent?" Gawain frowned immediately, "Can he perform a divine descent?"

"...It's because it's impossible, so I don't understand. God's descent requires a high price, and there are strict thresholds - only legendary powerhouses can support God's descent and not die, high-level powerhouses are paying the price of their lives and After meeting certain conditions, you can perform a short-lived divine descent, and the priests lower than this level... have no ability to communicate with the will of the gods at all, and his words cannot reach the ears of his gods, who does he ask for the divine descent?"

Gawain pondered, and after a full two minutes, he broke the silence: "All in all, it seems that more 'insurance' must be arranged in the next move. This step has been reached, and there must be no mistakes."

Not everyone can understand Gawain's persistence and caution in this matter. In this matter, only he knows——

In this world where there is extraordinary power and society is stagnant, this will be the first resistance of ordinary people against the extraordinary.

There may have been peasants who were unbearable to bully who raised their forks at the knights, and innocents who were condemned as heretics and cursed loudly at the priests who judged them. Not like this time.

This time, it was the first time that ordinary people who had been deceived and oppressed for a long time, as a group, resisted the priests who were another group.

The world has waited thousands of years for this first time, and if it fails, no one knows how long it will take for the second time.

So, it can't fail.