Chapter 363 Gran (Part 1)

Fort Saint-Germain.

Da da da da da…

The sound of horse hooves from the orderly and majestic Knights of Light walked on the stone streets of Fort Saint-Gran.

The sun shines on the pale golden armor of these knights, revealing perseverance, loyalty and determination.

The arrival of the Red Hierarch Claire once again made countless believers excited. The believers cheered on both sides of the street, admiring the majesty of the Knights of Light and the glory of the Red Hierarch.

"It's the Red-robed Hierarch!"

"The great red-robed Hierarch!"

This great red-clothed leader from the distant Aurora Empire of Light, the Aurora Cathedral of Light, which has seen the most frequent miracles since the arrival of the Creator of Light, finally came to St. Granburg again after seventeen years!

Having been bathed in the divine light of the Creator of Light for a long time, in the eyes of believers, Claire seems to feel that as long as she can gaze upon his glory, she will be one step closer to heaven, and the sin of opening the box of desire will also be redeemed.

"The holy power of the church seems to be much weaker than it was more than ten years ago."

At the front of the Knights of Light, Claire stared at the Cathedral of Light in St. Grant's Castle, frowning slightly with her gray eyebrows.

The holy light of the church is most directly related to the number of believers and the degree of piety, and this is also an important criterion for the promotion of all clergy. More than ten years have passed, and the power of faith in the country's highest church has been weakened so much?

Well, there are only two possibilities.

The rise of a god gained the faith of the people.

The war-torn population dropped sharply, resulting in a lack of faith.

As for people giving up their belief in the Creator of Light, Claire never thought that this would happen. After all, the Creator of Light is the only true God in the world!

"Ahem."

Claire couldn't help but cough slightly.

This was due to the two wars he participated in to exterminate the night heretics over the years. He summoned the power of light again and again to release the great power that did not belong to the mortal world. This seriously depleted the vitality in his body and he was already in his twilight years.

"Grand Hierarch, as usual, we have to go to St. Grant's Cathedral first to bless the believers and listen to the bishop's report here. The king will take the initiative to come to see you later."

The judge on the side reminded him under the golden mask.

"Um."

Claire responded in a low voice.

Although his body is very weak and the wrinkles on his face are like old bark that is about to wither, he must maintain enough majesty in front of believers and maintain a calm face amidst the admiration of countless believers.

"Great Lord, please accept my confession!"

"The light is with you."

Each and every devout believer stood with his hands on his chest in excitement, bowed his head in prayer, and even shed tears of excitement.

soon.

This Knights of Light came to St. Granburg Church.

The bishop and many clergy had been waiting in front of the church for a long time. After the short ceremony, Claire looked at the many believers gathered in front of the church. Those who could come here to gather were not ordinary civilians, but almost all nobles of the principality.

According to tradition, he needs to give a bright blessing to the people here on the first day of his arrival.

Seemingly aware of Claire's physical condition, the bishop seemed to be facing the many believers with a calm smile, but inside he was communicating with Claire with mental fluctuations.

"If it's inconvenient, why not let me do it for you?"

Claire glanced at the bishop and slowly shook her head.

He opened his arms as if embracing the sky, calling out to the great Creator of Light.

Buzz…

Warm radiance spread from the sky, bathing everyone nearby. People were excited to witness the miracle and contributed their devout beliefs.

After a long time, the ceremony ended.

Bathed in the light, trees and vegetation become more lush, people's skin becomes younger, pain disappears and is reduced, and even wounds and scars are restored.

Only Claire gasped slightly.

The blessing ceremony that was once almost like breathing to him has become an unparalleled burden on his body that is now almost exhausted.

In order to maintain enough solemnity, he led the Knights of Light to the church almost immediately after the blessing ceremony.

The group walked through the prayer room and came to the back room.

Claire leaned weakly on the animal skin chair and looked at the Bishop of St. Granburg and several senior clergy.

He said slowly: "I came here once more than ten years ago. I remember that at that time, the faith here was very abundant, at least more than double what it is now. Why is the Holy Light here declining so fast now? "

Cough cough cough cough.

He coughed violently several times, panted slightly, and looked extremely tired and sleepy.

"Forgive me for neglecting this place over the years due to the invasion of night heretics. Have the believers here converted to the goddess of wisdom?"

Originally, according to the plan, after the new pope ascended the throne, he would start a new round of crusade to the Night Land. However, he did not expect that due to the changes in the dark world and the invasion of the Night Land, this would lead to the annihilation of heretics and evil gods for more than ten consecutive years. war.

Because of the continuous wars over the years, the Holy See's financial resources are empty, so it needs to encourage believers to self-dedicate and even sell clergy quotas again and again.

This also exacerbated some conflicts that were once hidden.

Fortunately, the invasion of the Night Heretics was finally beaten back, and the land of Star Curtain returned to peace again.

"To be precise, it has been seventeen years, nine months and twenty-one days since you last visited St. Gran Castle and presided over the burning ceremony of heretical books at the Gran Academy of Natural Sciences. As for the decline of the power of the Holy Light here, Not because of the Goddess of Wisdom.”

The bishop said slowly.

Under Claire's gaze, he continued: "Because she failed to participate in the battle for the throne of the new king, the Goddess of Wisdom has withdrawn from the scope of the Grand Principality and turned to several small principalities. She has also fought with the former divine forces in those small principalities. , a war broke out, and although it has stabilized now, due to the massive loss of faith, her godhead has fallen to a low level."

Um?

Claire was surprised: "Then why is the Holy Light here weakened so much?"

"It's because the new king introduced three years of compulsory education! This was originally a good thing, but the king seemed to be very dissatisfied with the Holy See's support for Prince Ping, so he did not introduce "Lighting Ceremony" into compulsory education, but added " "Laws of Nature", "The Mysteries of Evolution", "Alchemy" and other works by some scholars, which has also led to many children not being as pious to the Creator of Light as their parents."

The bishop's face was a little stiff.

He said slowly: "I'm afraid if this continues, in a few years, Glen will become another Zealand. By then, the Holy Light here may have fallen to the bottom."

"Becoming another Zealand? No way."

Claire shook her head and denied.

The bishop didn't know the secret of the Principality of Zealand, but he knew clearly that there was no other Golden Sword in the land of Star Curtain.

"Tell me about this new king and what he has done in these years."

In the eyes of Aurora's Great Empire of Light, the principality is a barren and remote place far away from the Central Plains, a place of faith for the gods.

Because scholars were born in the era of the Black Death plague, which was the weakest era of the Holy See, and together with the Holy See defeated the dark world, the attitude of the Holy See towards scholars has always been the same as that of the people in the Swamp of Death, the Deep Forest of Thorns, and the Hengduan Mountains. Those heretics are like gods. Although they are not close to them, they can be used as tools for use.

As for the atheism promoted by scholars.

In the view of the Holy See, this is not even a heresy, but...ignorance!

For half an hour, the bishop, from a high-level perspective of the principality, mainly explained to Claire King Granchen's political achievements over the years.

Claire frowned slightly and thought.

There was a brief silence in the room. After the bishop hesitated to speak several times, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and said slowly: "In addition... there is one more thing. Over the years, because there is no clear evidence, I have not been able to report to Aurora in time. Report it and ask the Grand Master to conduct a secret investigation."

"What?"

Claire asked.

The Bishop of St. Grant's Castle said slowly: "When His Majesty King Chen fled from St. Grant's Castle during the prince's war, and faced Prince Ping's pursuit, it seemed that there was an elite force of the Holy See who secretly helped him through it. Trouble!"

He took a deep breath.

"But before that, the Holy See's will is very clear, and it supports Prince Ping."