Chapter 469: The "Theology Debate"
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Solna River flowed quietly, nurturing one-third of the creatures living on the Erdo Peninsula. Many river valleys formed alongside. In the valley named after the river, Solna Valley, there were a few city-states. Thanks to the plentiful water resource and rich land, Solna Valley became a very prosperous place second only to Politown.
In front of the newly-built temple for the Lord of War in the city of Husum, there was a spacious square, on which a stage had been built up. People wearing flax robes crowded around it voluntarily, supporting the different god they worshipped. The soldiers of the Angonorma Empire stood by lazily in their bronze armors, showing no care to the small conflicts between the followers, as if they wished that those heretics could just kill each other, which would save much trouble.
On the stage sat the eight chief priests, who were representatives of the remaining eight gods of Barril — the God of Moon, the God of Thunder and Lightning, the God of Storm, the Mother God of Earth, the Lord of Underworld, the God of Sun and Justice, the God of Wisdom, and the Goddess of Love and Breed. They waited for the start of the debate on the silver chairs. Should they fail to win victory in this debate and turn their god into one of the three deities, their god would be driven out of the valley by the Lord of War. Over time, the expelled gods would gradually lose their followers and eventually die or become an avatar of the Angonormanian pantheon due to assimilation.
Although they all knew it well that selecting the three deities was just the Lord of War's strategy for dividing and better ruling them and that, in the end, all of them would be assimilated into Angonormanian pantheon, no one dared to speak against of it as this was the consequence of their own choice. Also, to them, there was still hope if they become one of the three deities — Once they survived, they could gather a great number of new followers in Solna Valley. Maybe, in the future, they would have a chance to in turn replace their counterpart in the Angonormanian pantheon.
Sitting on the golden chair highest above, the chief priest representing the Lord of War was a brown-haired beautiful lady. The slit of her white Angonorma-style dress reached all the way up to her waist, revealing her curves and long, graceful legs.
She was high priestess Nena, the second chief priest in the Temple of War in Politown.
"Salute to the great Lord of War, the master of all conflicts and destruction." The sixteen leading priests of the eight gods bowed together, in the same way as they once bowed to the Lord Avando.
After performing the war dance herself to please the Lord of War, Nena was about to start the debate.
At this time, two black-haired men in white robes came in front of the stage and said to the guards aloud, "let us in! The God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption sent us here for the debate."
"I never heard of this title. It must belong to a false god. Guards, expel them!" Nob, the priest of the God of Moon scolded.
The power of the God of Moon, Asin, was ranked in the middle among the eight remaining Gods. Thus, facing the competitors coming out of nowhere, the old priest was definitely not happy.
As the follower, Francis hurriedly eyed Lucien to deliver the prepared speech.
Fearlessly, Lucien looked right into Nob's eyes and said, "this isn't your decision to make. Only the almighty Lord of War can decide if we could join or not. How dare you speak before the chief priest of the Lord of War?"
Francis was a bit surprised. What Lucien just said was not the version they previously agreed on. However, it worked better. It seemed that this guy named Leviathan was quite good at improvisation.
Overwhelmed by surprise and fear, the chief priest of the God of Moon suddenly became speechless.
Lucien turned to Nena and said sincerely, "dear Lady Nena, the Lord of War told us that all gods preaching in the valley are qualified for attending the debate. Did I understand it wrong?"
"No," Nena answered coldly and briefly.
Lucien smiled. "Our Lord, the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption also has followers in this valley. Please allow us to join in."
"You must prove it." Nena did not refuse, as adding one more god to the debate would not hinder the Lord of Wars arrangement, but could instead intensify the conflict and provide an advantage for the future assimilation.
Lucien raised his right hand. Anheuse, who was hiding in the corner, started applauding. Hearing that, all of the secret previous followers of the Lord of Fire and Destruction began clapping their hands and loudly praising Ell, the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption.
Nob and the other chief priests exchanged a look. They didn't expect the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, whose name and titles they had never heard of, had already gained such influence.
It never occurred to them that the so-called God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption was in fact Avando, the previous Lord of Fire and Destruction. It had never happened before that a god would change his godhood, for godhood reflected a god's power and the possible spell collections possessed. Therefore, even though the name of the god was changed, their godhood would remain the same. Also, the change of the name mostly happened when a god had assimilated another god and wanted to create another incarnation in order to absorb the pre-existing faith.
However, Revival, Fertility, and Redemption seemed to drastically differ from Fire and Destruction. Thus, it was hard to realize that Ell was actually Avando's new identity.
Under the hostile gaze of the other priests, Lucien walked on the stage with Francis and sat down on the added silver chair.
Nena said to them, "today's debate is to tell the true gods from the fake. Only the true gods deserve people's faith. The Lord of War said that the universe came from the number three. Therefore, there will be three final winners."
That being said, no matter how the debate went, the Lord of War was always the dominator, since even the winner was decided under the Lord of War's oracle.
"My Lord is the sun. His radiance nurtures everything on the land and drives away the darkness, like the fire. He is the light, the power of punishment. The power of light brings us brightness and justice. Therefore, my Lord is the one who made the rules that restrain gods and human beings. Undoubtedly, my Lord's power thus exceeds that of the other seven gods." The chief priest of the God of Sun and Justice spoke before everyone else, describing his god's power to attract followers.
The uneducated followers nodded. They did not know much, but they could see the sun hanging up in the sky almost every day. It brought them warm, which contrasts greatly with the darkness, so it should be very important. Thus, it seemed that the God of Sun and Justice should be very powerful as well, and it would do them much good if they worship him.
Seeing that, the priest of the Lord of Underworld took a step forward and said, "when there is life, there's death. No intelligent creature can escape from death. Life is short, but death is eternal. The almighty Lord of Underworld is the one you'll go to after death, the ultimate god that you'll belong to in the end. It is true for everyone. He is unquestionably more important than all the other gods."
Everyone was afraid of death. Imagining the darkness, coldness, and pain that one would suffer after death, many of the listeners were persuaded — maybe worshiping the Lord of Underworld is a better choice than worshiping the God of Sun and Justice. He appeared to be very powerful and important from the descriptions.
"The earth carries everything, including the underworld. Earth carries life, as well as death. Anyone who offends the Mother shall suffer from starvation, earthquake, and landslide." The priest of the Mother God of Earth threatened the crowd.
Now the afterworld sounded too illusionary and far from the listeners. Compared to the long sleep after death, they knew much better how it felt having an empty stomach, not to mention the horrible power of an earthquake. They no longer dared to deviate from the Mother God of Earth.
"My Lord controls lightning — Lightning powerful enough to punish gods, not to mention the mundane. Anyone who disobeys shall be struck by lightning and thunder." The priest of the God of Thunder and Lightning followed.
The priest of the God of Storm would not miss the chance either. "If any of you betray the God of Storm, He would send forty-nine days of storm. Ocean will gush into the cities and towns. Land will be overwhelmed with flood. No creature will survive."
Gradually, most of the priests started to threaten the listeners, controlling them with fear as they always did. However, the priest of the God of Wisdom and the priest of the God of Love and Breed could not use the same strategy. They quitted the debate rather helplessly.
They never had much hope to begin with. Their words about love and wisdom were too pale.
Facing such a chaotic debate where the braggest one was the strongest, Francis felt quite uncomfortable. He sent a secret message to Lucien by controlling the wind in the air. "When it's your turn, try your very best to exaggerate the power of great Ell. You know, using the cycle theory — create, control, destroy, and resurrect."
"The silver moon witnessed the birth of this world. The moon is immortal, and has the power to drive away darkness but also absorb the power from darkness. It brings peacefulness to our mind," said Nob with fine sweat beads on his forehead. Compared to the other gods, Asin the God of Moon had no advantage when it came to threatening others. The god who was best at this was the God of Fire and Destruction.
Finally, after one round, it was Lucien's turn. All the priests turned to look at him, waiting to listen to his words speaking for the so-called God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption.
Sitting straight on the silver chair, Lucien said slowly, "seasons come and go; the sun rises and sets. In this world, when there's birth, there's death. But there's also resurrection after death. And my Lord is the God of Resurrection."
The priest of the God of Sun froze. He knew the meaning of the words — The representative of the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption was saying that the sun was solely a phenomenon, while resurrection was the underlying essence.
"Death isn't the final end; different souls belong to different ends. According to what a person did when he was alive, a fair judgment is given. Those who are kind will jump out of the cycle of life and death and enter the paradise of my Lord, and thus enjoy eternal happiness. Those who are neutral will come to this world again as infants and keep going through the joy and pain of life. While, the vicious and the contemptible will be punished in the underworld, enduring endless suffering…
"However, the followers of my Lord, anyone who's willing to make a heartfelt confession, will be saved by the Lord, and become the one's enjoying the forever happiness as I just mentioned."
The listeners had never heard of anything like this before. They'd rather believe in this young priest's words than the horrible images described by the rest of the priests, because they could now see hope in their tough life, the hope for starting all over again and being saved!
Francis was very impressed by Leviathan's talent, for Leviathan was able to construct a rather comprehensive theoretical theology system based on his simple cycle theory. He didn't expect to find someone this talented in such a primitive otherworld.
The face of the priest representing the Lord of Underworld darkened. Such a theory had instantly degraded his Lord.
Seeing this, Nob made his decision. If he lost this debate, he'd lose everything anyway, so why not use the heretic myth to turn the tide.
"Your gods are all in charge of some specific functions in operating this world, but my Lord is the one who created this world as well as all of the creatures. My lord is the God of Brightness and Creation. In the primordial darkness, my lord brought brightness to the forever silence; he shaped the earth and the lives!" Nob cited one version of the creation myth, completely ignoring Nena's expression.
The rest of the priests were all taken back — Now that the God of Moon claimed to be the god who created the world, how could their god overpower Him? They thought hard, trying to find similar myths of their god to use.
At this time, the priest of the God of Thunder and Lightning burst out laughing. "Alright, the God of Moon created this world and the lives, but my Lord is capable of ruining all of these. When everything sinks back into darkness, only my lord's followers will be saved."
He partially borrowed the theory of redemption from Lucien.
The priest of the God of Sun and Justice was unwilling to fall behind. "My lord is the god maintaining the functioning of the world and delaying the day of destruction…"
"My lord is the pristine darkness and peacefulness." Sneered the priest of the Lord of Underworld.
"This isn't a theology debate… They're simply bragging." Francis rubbed his forehead and complained to Lucien in a low voice. "I'm not good at this at all. It's up to you now."
Seeing that the other priests were gaining support, Lucien did not feel any pressure at all. "Our world is just a small world. The creation, development, and destruction of such a small world are of nothing special. Three thousand of small worlds like this are needed to form a middle world, and three thousand of middle worlds are needed to form a big world. However, there are countless big worlds as many as the grains of sand at the bottom of the Solna river.
"However, the boundless world that contains the countless big worlds is created by my Lord.
"My Lord said, 'Let there be the boundless world', and there was the boundless world.
"My Lord said, 'Let there be light', and there was light.
"When my Lord said, 'Let all be destroyed', and then everything annihilates."
When it came to bragging, Lucien feared nobody.
Chapter 470: The Best Braggart Ever
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
All the priests and the followers were now very confused. They felt that the information was too much for their brain to handle. Things like the small world, the middle world, the big world, and the boundless world had never ever occurred to them. However, although they did not quite understand, they had to admit that the words from this young priest's mouth sounded very powerful and profound. Ell, the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, had become a level higher than the rest of the gods.
Anheuse, who was hiding in a corner, was also very confused.
"Are we talking about the same great Ell…?" He murmured.
Francis was a bit amused. He had to hold himself back from bursting out laughing. Indeed, this young man was quite gifted in terms of telling stories. Even if this young man could not become a real disciple in the future, becoming a bard and telling stories would also make him an epic figure.
Nob felt a bit dizzy from the blood rushing all the way upward into his brain. He felt that his imagination was being ground into bits. He could not believe that there was someone better at bragging than himself, but it was the truth.
Nob could not copy Lucien anymore. Although following Lucien's words, the bragging can never come to an end as Nob could say that there were also small boundless worlds, middle boundless worlds, and big boundless worlds. But it would be too obvious that he was stealing Lucien's theory in front of the listeners, which would make him lose the debate even faster, for it would give the crowd the impression that the God of Moon could only repeat the words of others and was lying all through the debate.
Similar thoughts flashed through the mind of the rest of the priests. Frowning, they tried their very best to find a new perspective to defeat Leviathan's view of the world. However, the religions they belonged to were still in the primitive level, even the simplest philosophy had not yet developed. With the priest's imagination limited by themselves and their era, there was nothing available to them to be used as a weapon.
As for the Mother God of Earth, the God of Wisdom, the God of Storm, and the God of Love, since they had already lost the debate in the previous round, they were now taking pleasure in watching the other priests' respond — If they were going to be expelled from the valley, they should all be expelled together.
Lucien took his time and continued. "My Lord creates the boundless world, maintains it, and then destroys it. But again, from the destroyed, a new boundless world is created by Him. My Lord is the Lord who creates, maintains, and destroys. He is the cycle; He is the resurrection."
… The rest of the priests were speechless.
"My Lord has also created an eternal fairyland outside of this endless cycle of life and death. This place is the ultimate joyous land for our most loyal brothers and sisters. My Lord calls it…" Lucien paused a bit, "… calls it the Pure Land."
Lucien was about to borrow the name 'Mountain Paradise', but he did not want Francis to feel suspicious.
The audience burst into an uproar. They did not expect that the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, with such great power and might, would still lend his hand to them! But the descriptions given by Lucien all linked together well, and they started to believe that the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption could really help them get out of such a vicious cycle and leave this world full of pain and corruption.
He was indeed the God of Redemption!
While Nob's face turned pale and could find no way to refute, Nena's eyes slightly narrowed, as if she was also thinking.
Suddenly, Nob sprang up from the silver chair and took a big step forward. He questioned aloud,
"Leviathan, let me ask you. How was it before the world was first created by your so-called God of Redemption! How did the boundless world look like in the very beginning? What did the Pure Land look like in the very beginning?"
Lucien did not expect that Nob could put forward such a critical question and was stunned for a second. However, he quickly realized what was going on: Nena's lips were moving very slightly.
This might escape from other priests' eyes. But Lucien was also a knight, so he could spot it easily.
It seemed that the priest of the Lord of War could not hold back anymore.
"There was nothing; there was chaos. There was the original point of space and time." Lucien decided to give Nob a chance on purpose. A perfect performance might lead to Francis' suspicion.
Nob burst out laughing. "Then let me ask you: Where does 'nothing' come from? Where does 'chaos' come from? And what is it outside of 'nothing' and 'chaos'?"
Nob's answer was ready — It was the almighty God of Moon.
The followers also became confused. They wanted to know the answers; they wanted to know if a greater being existed before and outside of the "nothing".
Francis' eyes lit up, as he finally found the chance to fight back. After exchanging a look with Lucien, he stood up and said, "outside of 'nothing' is the 'indescribable', namely, my Lord!"
"Indescribable? What is it?" Nob and the other priests laughed at this response.
Francis said seriously, "the so-called 'nothing', 'chaos', and 'the original point of space and time' are all based on human understanding and are still within the human imagination. But the existence of my Lord exceeds any definition, meaning, concepts, logic, material, spirit, and language. It is indescribable; it is undescribable."
Francis' words were even more incomprehensible than that of Leviathan. All the priests, including Nena, could not find a clue at all.
Francis smiled, "I come from the country in the desert to the East. In my country, a famous wise man whose name is Lucien Evans once put it in this way…"
Lucien Evans, the wise man… Lucien almost burst out laughing himself, but he managed to force it back.
However, the priests and the listeners only caught the fact that Francis came from the East. They wondered if the power of Ell had spread across the East.
"He said that our observation of any objects in this world is based on our body and soul. Therefore, the information we obtained would never be comprehensive. For example, when we see light, we think light does not have a specific color. But if we see light through a bubble or a crystal, we know that light is in fact colorful. Therefore, our understanding is the mundane understanding. And our understanding can never describe the real almighty being, which is my Lord.
"Therefore, the existence of my Lord exceeds any definition, meaning, concept, logic, material, spirit, and language. Even the idea of 'nothing' is far from being capable of defining the Lord. In other words, any mundane attempt trying to define the existence of God is a kind of profanity."
Francis' words refreshed all the priests' understanding of god. In the past, their understanding of god was too shallow to step out of the ordinary person's mindset. But… their god, who made their presence and power felt from time to time, seemed to fail the standard of divinity.
Lucien also stood up and smiled. "My Lord has an existence, and also has not. My Lord is the nothing; he is also the everything. My lord shall not be defined by any means, no property, no difference, no shape, no space, no limit, no concept… My Lord is supreme by nature. My lord does not need faith or worshipping.
"But we human need faith. We need to be saved. Therefore, our perception of the true lord became the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption in a lower level of concept. He is the avatar of the true lord, an avatar that we can worship.
"We only need to worship the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. We make heartfelt confessions, and then we can be saved. We can never understand or describe the true lord, and the true lord does not need our understanding or description. We can never affect the true lord, neither will the true lord try to affect the world."
Francis nodded in agreement. Leviathan's explanation was indeed very impressive, which showed that he was obviously a genius in theology. However, this explanation was still too complicated to be used in preaching.
However, Francis found this young man to be a bit suspicious and wondered if there was something wrong with him.
Lucien smiled to himself when he explained. An existence that would never be affected and would never affect anything, an existence that any discussion on which was meaningless — according to the Occam's Razor theory, such an existence didn't even need to exist. If the existence of god was really like this, Lucien could safely conclude that god was dead.
Anything that had an influence on this world must more or less left some traces, must could be explored and explained.
The confused crowd caught the main point in Lucien's words — No matter what, they had to follow the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. This God was very powerful!
Nena, the priest of the Lord of War, could not find any way to object. She felt a chill went up her spines, her right fist clenching tight. As a follower of the Lord of War, she was not good at smart articulation, however, she had got power to eliminate the enemies.
Lucien felt that the way Francis looked at him had changed, so he quickly switched the style of his talking. "Don't even try to pry into the real lord, or you'll be infected by this unknown power and be twisted into nameless monsters in forever pain."
The listeners, including the priests, subconsciously stopped what they were thinking immediately. It sounded so horrible!
However, after a second thought, they believed that a real powerful god should be just like this.
Francis slightly shook his head. This young man and the belief he represented still could not get rid of the use of intimidation commonly seen in primitive religions. He was still confined by his surrounding environment, such a waste of his talent…
From afar, Ell was looking at the debate stage attentively. The clusters of fire in his eyes flickered peacefully, carrying the power to purify.
He murmured to himself,
"Is that… me?
"Am I that powerful?"
Chapter 471: "Who Am I"
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
On the debate stage in front of the Temple of War, the other priests had all fallen into silence after hearing Lucien's speech.
Lucien looked around in his plain white robe and then said to Nena peacefully, "respected Lady Nena, shall the results of the debate be announced now? It seems that no one else wants to continue anymore."
Nena was a bit startled by Lucien's question. She took a cold glance at Lucien and turned to the priests, "do you all agree?"
Nob was about to oppose, but he could not find a single reason. The only words coming up in his mind were those just said by Lucien.
His brain had stopped working. Without the guidance of the brain, his mouth had given out the words, "A… Agree…"
Depressed, the priests of the God of Love and the God of Wisdom who had lost in the first round also agreed.
After a short hesitation, the other priests agreed as well — There would be three winners today, so they still got a chance.
Nena lowered her eyes and hid her emotions. Then she said in cold voice, "according to the words of the supreme Lord of War, the winners from today's debate will be three. Their Church will be awarded the right to stay in the valley of Solna and preach. They are…"
Unconsciously, she had applied the word, supreme, to the Lord of War.
Everyone all held their breath and waited for the final result nervously, including the listeners, as if one single breath could blow the good result away.
"… The God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption," said Nena, announcing the not-at-all surprising result.
Seeing how calm Leviathan and Francis were, the listeners present started to more or less believe in the existence of God Ell.
The manner of a priest could well represent how much confidence he or she had in the god, as well as how powerful the god was.
"The God of Moon,"
Out of great excitement and joy, Nob kneeled down to the ground and kissed the floor while praying and praising his god.
"… and the Lord of Underworld."
Volcan, the priest of the Lord of Underworld, cheered aloud, praising the Lord of Underworld and thanking the Lord of War.
The rest of the priests, however, all looked very pale now.
"Before tomorrow's sunset, the rest of you must leave the valley. The followers must change their belief, otherwise, they shall be exiled as well!" Nena's words were cold and cruel.
"…!" The priests and listeners looked at Nena in great shock and anger. Although they knew that they had to leave, they did not expect the fact that they could not even keep their own followers.
Solna Valley was a rich piece of land. Anyone willing to work hard should be able to feed themselves. Once leaving the valley, what was waiting for them in the wild was definitely not pleasant. Therefore, the priests understood that they were doomed to lose most of their followers now.
However, as priests, they did not have a second choice. They had to stick to their belief, or they would be devoured by the Seed of Spirit within themselves.
The many furious gazes did not bother Nena at all. She slowly lifted her right hand, and the soldiers instantly lifted their black-iron weapons. The swords formed a sharp and dense black-iron forest that reflected cold light.
The scene reminded the rest of the priests that Nena was almost as powerful as their god. Thinking about Politown, they lowered their heads and left the stage.
Here started the wandering.
Nena paid no further attention to the scattering priests. She said to Lucien, Nob, and Volcan, "your preaching must obey the law established by the Temple of War, or you will be exiled too."
Then she simply turned around and left. There were no celebration nor encouragement.
Watching Nena walking away, Francis sent a secret message to Lucien and said casually, "it looks like the Dear Lady has already got the intention to kill us, or, I should say, the Lord of War has got the intention to kill us. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been treated this way. Maybe our description of the almighty Ell made them feel insecure…"
The topic was rather serious, but Francis didn't sound like he was taking it seriously.
Lucien was still playing his role well. With a slight amount of shock that suited his current identity, Lucien asked, "What shall we do then?"
"We'll discuss later. The situation may change." Francis directed Lucien to meet Ell, Jacob, and Anheuse in the hotel.
Lucien nodded seriously. He wondered if Francis was waiting for the rest of the priests to react.
They walked off the stage, and the followers immediately surrounded them. Their eyes were written with great hope for redemption.
They were all followers of the Lord of Fire, and Destruction. Hearing Lucien's words, they preferred the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption to the horrible Avando, as what they longed for was the hope of ascending to the Pure Land, instead of being driven by the fear of the bloodthirsty Avando.
Francis smiled but did not say anything. He was waiting to observe Lucien's response and he didn't even try to hide his intention.
Lucien spoke in a soothing tone, "the almighty Ell always shows mercy. My Lord would never abandon this world full of pain. Instead, my Lord is willing to serve as a bridge, connecting the two worlds to save you all from the endless cycle of pain. Supreme as my Lord, as long as you pray and confess devoutly and act out of kindness, your wish will be heard by Him.
"This is also where the supremacy of my Lord lies: You believe, and then the Lord will be in your heart. I am not superior to any of you, instead, I merely heard the Lord's instruction earlier than you. I will be your mentor, guiding you to see the almighty Ell in your own heart and then to be saved. I am not a priest, but an initiator."
Lucien had his principle: He was never willing to make a fortune out of these followers. Although it was already not the first time that he used divinity to achieve his purpose, he never intended to turn himself into the biggest beneficiary.
If it had not been that Francis and Anheuse were right here, Lucien would like to share with them how he understood superego, ego, and the inner self.
Then Lucien wondered if he was addressing too much about the inner peacefulness. Perhaps, he was on his way shaping something like Buddhism.
Hearing Lucien's words, the followers almost burst into tears. Never had they heard something like this before from a priest — in most cases, they were frightened and threatened.
Francis was a bit amused. In his eyes, Leviathan was such an innocent young man who just joined the Secret Praying Congress but still had his own set of belief. Yet it made sense to Francis, as such a young man who made the previous speech should have his own understanding of divinity.
"Dear initiator, how should we pray? How can we see the almighty Lord Ell in our mind?" Asked one of the followers.
Lucien put on a soft smile, "Anheuse, our another initiator, will tell you the prayer later. Before you pay, you have to learn how to put aside all your emotions first, including your joy, pain, and worries."
The specific prayer had to be modified after today's debate.
"Put aside…" repeated the followers thoughtfully.
"It's simple. You take a deep breath and then exhale… That's right, to release the emotions out…" Lucien showed them.
Lucien could not stay here for too long. Therefore, after leaving the followers to Anheuse, he went back to the hotel with Francis by oxcart.
"To save them, we have to save their mind first." nodded Francis in the oxcart on their way back. He smiled and said, "I thought the debate was a chance for discussing divinity and humanity, universals and primary substance, a priori and transcendent, but it turned out to be for bragging. You did very well."
"Mr. Francis, you taught me a lot," said Lucien, "but since the Lord of War is involved, we cannot target at the God of Moon anymore."
Francis shook his head. "This's also a chance. You'll see."
When the oxcart almost arrived at the hotel, a paper wad was darted fiercely through the curtain. As fast as an arrow, it was just an inch away from Lucien's face.
At this time, Francis raised his right hand and caught the paper wad rather easily.
Lucien slightly squinted — Francis was at least a senior-rank.
Someone on the street made a soft exclamation of surprise and then disappeared in the crowd.
As if Francis was exactly waiting for the paper wad, he did not even check it before opening it. After reading the message, he grinned. "Here it comes."
Lucien took the paper over and saw the message on it:
"Nena, The chief priest of the Lord of War, has given order to the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld, asking them to attack you tonight in order to force the almighty Ell to reveal His presence, so they can kill the almighty Ell. The one among us six which makes the most contribution tonight will earn the place left. However, I am much more willing to work with the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, as the Lord of War is such an unpredictable dictator. If the almighty Ell agrees, we'll meet each other in the middle of the river outside of the city before dawn."
At the bottom, there was a symbol of the sun.
"Cooperation? Or a trap?" Lucien asked, pretending to be both excited and confused.
Francis shrugged. "How should I know? Alright, let's get in the room first."
Lucien walked in the room and saw Ell standing beside the window covered in a white robe. His imposing manner was as great as that of mountain chains. Ell was somehow different now.
Ell turned around when Lucien was still a bit confused. There was no fire in his eyes anymore, instead, his eyes now looked as deep and black as death. Ell put on an easy smile. "Until today when I heard the debate, I finally realized that that Ell in the past wasn't the real Ell. Now, I finally have woken up from the chaos and obscuration."
Lucien and Francis were shocked.
Chapter 472: Speculation and Experiment
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lucien was speechless. He was just bragging.
That the other priests including Nena believed in his words was not surprising, for they had no idea what the truth was; however, Lucien could not believe that Ell himself had also been persuaded by the lecture.
In Lucien's understanding, his lecture should be like a joke to Ell.
He tried hard to accept Ell's change, telling himself that Ell was one of the false gods who were stubborn and crazy according to the Congress' record and that the proper treatment for these false gods should be electrotherapy. However, Lucien still could not understand what happened to Ell.
Lucien wondered if Ell had even actually become more powerful.
It was not scientific, no, not arcanic to Lucien at all. Fortunately, he was more or less mentally prepared for any unusual changes within the divine realm. Calming himself down, he started observing Ell's reaction and taking down detailed notes in his spiritual library.
Lucien secretly looked aside at Francis and saw Francis also looking back at him with a confused smile. Obviously, Francis was also surprised, just like Lucien. Yet in the next second, Francis seemed to had already accepted it and was now keeping his eyes on Ell attentively with a slight hint of fanaticism.
Lucien could more or less understand what Francis was thinking. If Francis was really an expert in theology and philosophy like he said, changes of a god could certainly trigger his interest. And this was perhaps why Francis had chosen to present Ell using part of the theory of the God of Truth.
However, in this way, Lucien became even more confused about where Francis came from. Most of those who were both powerful and profound in theology came from the Church, but so far, Francis had been behaving like a sheer blasphemer.
Retreating his sight, Lucien asked in surprise, "great God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, I don't quite understand…"
Ell said calmly wearing the same smile, "to put it simply, I have found my true self. I have seen the undescribable existence in excess of the universe and its projection in both the spiritual and the material world. Whether the Lord of Fire and Destruction or the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, they share the same origin. Based on what human beings see, know, and believe, the projection takes multiple forms, but there is only one 'self'. I have found the true self, so now I am able to completely control the two forms — Avando and Ell — the two integrated forms."
"My Lord, are you alright?" Francis asked out of concern. The corner of his mouth secretly twitched a bit.
"I feel fine. I feel better than ever," said Ell in great confidence.
Lucien felt that Ell might need some medical treatment. In his eyes, the current Ell seemed to have created a third personality to govern the previous two.
Seeing that Leviathan and Francis still looked very concerned, Ell released a sigh inside — No matter how smart humans were, their intelligence was still far from matching the mightiness of gods, so Ell decided to show his strength to them.
Ell darkened the room, turning the space into the dimension of the dead. A dense black mist rose, and spectres were hiding within. The rotten brought rich nutrition to the soil. The several plants on the ground in the room grew wildly, while the atmosphere became tranquil and peaceful.
Resurrection, fertility, redemption… Ell was no longer an avatar of the God of Flame, instead, He had now become the true God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, whose power had reached level eight, equivalent to that of a radiant knight. But Ell was still in a poor state, so the power He could use right now should be around level seven.
Ell's godhood had changed. Was it because of Ell's own awakening? Or was it because the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption had started accumulating more devout followers?
Lucien carefully took down the notes, recording everything that he saw while making some comments beside,
"If it's the former, then this world is even crazier than I thought, as the change resembles that of one's cognitive world but seems to be more preposterous, and it means that there's still a long way to go for arcana; if it's the latter, then a theoretical system can be formed about this world with some of the untested hypotheses available, however, the key part is still missing. Be careful with further exploration. Arrogance leads to head explosion."
"If the former assumption is true, then this world might run under the Strong Anthropic Principle."
"If the latter is true, an assumption can be made here: Every human being has spiritual power, but some are stronger, while some are relatively weak. Those whose spiritual power exceeds the average level can use meditation to control and utilize spiritual power and thus become sorcerers; As for those who are not gifted in terms of spiritual power and cannot afford or find the power-trigger potion, they follow the uniform instruction and guidance from the Church and pray, so that when they pray, their spiritual power will be attuned to the same frequency and even gather together."
"If a god already has a separate entity, then this special spiritual power or better call it the power of faith, will gather together to the god. Different wishes create different godhoods, and different godhoods use the different special spiritual power to master the corresponding spell-like abilities and enhance their own power."
"This might be a proper explanation for why the Church needed followers. But if the God of Truth did exist, powerful as the He is, why would the Congress of Magic still be allowed to survive? Why did the God of Truth allow the Church to be split into two? Why did cognitive worlds exist? Why didn't the God of Steam come into being despite the fact that there were so many dwarves as followers? Why didn't the God of Truth have a specific godhood domain?"
"… According to the most shared belief in the Congress, spiritual power is a special kind of electromagnetic wave, in other words, it's a kind of invisible light. Then why are souls able to emit special electromagnetic waves?"
"… The school of Necromancy and Electromagnetism have a rough explanation — This is due to the combination of some special electromagnetic fields and some elements…"
When he wrote this sentence, Lucien paused as a strange idea suddenly occurred to him—
One day, the God of Truth might have an exclusive radio channel.
"Welcome, this is FM xxx.x, the God of Truth…"
That was very, very weird.
Although Lucien had written a lot in his spiritual library, only a few seconds in the real world. The air surrounding Ell had changed again. Twirling fierce flames filled the space; the power of destruction withered the newly-grown plants.
"Flame and destruction, level eight, radiant knight level, but still in a weak state…"
More words appeared on the notebook in Lucien's spiritual library.
"Although it seemed that Ell's power did not actually increase, he had integrated with Avando…"
This had something to do with the mind, so Lucien believed that the change came from Ell's sudden enlightenment. Lucien secretly thought that it was like curing a disabled person caused by psychogenic reasons.
As an arcanist, Lucien felt the enthusiastic desire to research rose in his heart. He longed for knowing more in-depth about the false god standing right in front of him. He had no idea whether capturing a false god, bringing it back to Allyn and cutting it up for research would yield any results. But he was certain that observing one closely in such an invisible way, giving stimulations, and recording changes were very effective.
To study wild animals, researchers should go into the wild. It was the same with studying false gods.
At this time, Lucien heard Francis' gentle sigh. Francis smiled and praised, "my most sincere congratulations, my Lord! Your true self has been found, and my Lord, you're now the one and only almighty true god!"
"The one and only true god?" Ell asked confusedly.
"You're the projection of the true almighty, my Lord. Any other so-called gods are false ones in front of you. You're the one and only true god, as your power spread across the world. Some false gods stole your power when you were lost, but now it is time to get them back and reclaim the supreme throne." Francis praised passionately.
Lucien was also a bit lost. The one and only? Was Francis talking about the God of Truth?
Ell slightly frowned, "Are you saying that I should kill all of them and take away their divinity? Then no ally will be left." He seemed to still have some sanity remaining
"It is not necessary, my Lord. The one and only almighty only needs servants. He shall grant part of his power to His servants, my Lord, and let them work and think for Him. But the servants will never be gods, neither do they possess godhoods. The gods who obey your commands can be given this chance, but they will be just half-divine creatures. You don't have to kill them, my Lord." said Francis.
"Intermediaries between God and humanity… What shall I call them?" Ell understood Francis' words and asked full of interest.
Francis put on a flattering smile. "Angels. And there are different ranks of angels, so they have the chance to promote."
The look on Lucien's expression remained unchanged, but his heart suddenly skipped a beat when he heard Francis's proposal. Francis was trying to make another God of Truth! Who was this man named Francis? Was he studying the secrets of the God of Truth? Or did he have other purposes?
"Good." Ell burst into hearty laughter. "I am the one and only true god!"
While Ell laughed, Francis rubbed his brows gently with a mysterious smile on his face. Lucien looked away and confirmed his plan that he must carry on his secret experiment with Ell, to observe, stimulate, and record.
The laughter stopped, and calmness returned to Ell's eyes. "The priest of the God of Wisdom, the God of Love, and the Mother God of Earth sent messages. They have confirmed that the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld will come and attack you tonight in order to lure me out, so they can find a chance to kill me."
"My supreme divinity has not yet recovered. We'll lose facing the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld. Also, it is unknown yet if this is a trap." Ell could never forget how he was betrayed last time.
"In the debate, my true identity has been revealed, and now the Lord of War is afraid of me. If we still stick to the previous plan, it is going to be very dangerous. Shall we leave for now to wait for future chances? What do you think, Francis, Leviathan?" Ell asked.
"No!" Francis and Lucien burst out at the same time.
Chapter 473: The Cooperation
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
"Why?"
It was Anheuse who asked the question.
Anheuse had come back in disguise after finishing up guiding the believers. He was very concerned about the current situation, and the decision could lead to a major consequence. Although the almighty Ell's true power had awakened, the enemy they were now facing was also much stronger than the God of Moon Asin.
Facing the enemy consisting of the Lord of War and the rest seven gods as well as their strongest priests, Anheuse did not believe it at all that Ell had a chance to win.
Therefore, although both Lucien and Francis were quite good at giving speeches, and Anheuse indeed felt quite encouraged, Anheuse would prefer to rely on his own judgment when facing this major decision, rather than blindly hoping for the great existence beyond definitions and imagination to bestow power on Lord Ell.
Hearing Lucien and Ell deny at the same time, Ell did not appear to be surprised at all.
"Say your reason." He said slowly and firmly.
Lucien felt that whether it was because Ell's psychosis became more serious or not, at least He now seemed more like a God. Ell was now calmer and more patient. Although they could not be optimistic at all facing the current situation, Ell's current attitude was definitely more convincing than acting furious and worried.
Lucien took a look at Francis and saw he was just smiling. Obviously, Francis was waiting for him to reply.
Being very cautious, Francis was still testing Lucien.
Weighing the words, Lucien said carefully, "because… because it is a chance, a very good chance."
"Chance? You mean the chance of being killed and entering the underworld?" Anheuse was quite pissed, thinking of the fact that their enemy was now at least eight times stronger than the previous.
He was pissed also because, in order to win the debate, Leviathan and Francis revealed the almighty Ell's true identity, and thus incurred the anger and fear of the Lord of War. Anheuse suspected that it was the almighty Ell who purposefully told Francis and Leviathan his true identity to ensure that the plan could be carried out smoothly. Thus, Anheuse was even feeling a bit jealous — He had been serving the Lord of Fire and Destruction for more than twenty years, yet the Lord trusted the two youngsters who just joined the Secret Praying Convention more than him.
Lucien asked seriously, "why does the Lord of War's priest want Asin and the Lord of Underworld to strike tonight? Why does the Lord of War want all of the churches to get involved?"
Ell nodded, as if He had completely understood what Lucien was trying to imply. He then turned to Francis and gestured him to elaborate.
"Because the Lord of War is afraid, afraid of the almightiness of our Lord, afraid of falling under the magnificent radiance of our Lord. The Lord of War wants to be very cautious. Before he could ascertain the current strength of Lord Ell, he does not dare to strike directly. If our Lord has awakened completely, such a dangerous move could lead to his death."
Francis made lots of praises, but the core message was simple — He and Lucien boasted so far off that the Lord of War was shocked. He became concerned about the power of the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption and therefore decided to send the rest of the eight Gods and the priests to carry out this mission. If something was indeed off, the Lord of War could easily find an excuse and tell the followers that it was just a private conflict.
In the theology debate, Francis and Lucien described the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption as a lawful good god full of mercy and kindness. As long as there was no evidence that the God of War was directly involved in the assassination, the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption would have to show generosity and tolerance.
Meanwhile, according to the information they had, Lucien and Francis believed that the gods of the Angonormanian or Barril pantheon did not believe that there was an omniscient and omnipotent existence above, so many gods died of plotted murder and deception.
"I see…" Anheuse started getting some clues.
During the debate, Nena was acted rather calm, or at least relatively calm, during the debate. She had probably already got the plan at that time.
Ell slightly nodded, the corner of his mouth formed a imperceptible smile that disappeared in a second.
"But, our enemy is still very powerful. The eight gods, and their priests," said Anheuse in great concern. "They are too strong for us now. We'd better leave. Our Lord the almighty Ell has awakened and he will become stronger in the time to go. We can wait in patience, instead of taking the risk for literally nothing."
Lucien was a bit speechless. He wondered if he'd also start having mental problems if he continued to get around with them,
He coughed and said, "according to Mr. Francis's description, our Lord can only gradually grow stronger by taking away others' godhood. If we run away this time, the Lord of War and the rest of the false gods will find it out that we're still weak. They'll abandon any hesitations and keep trying their best to kill us outside of the valley. Then the situation will be even worse."
Before Anheuse could speak, Lucien continued. "Think about it. Except for the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld, will the rest of the gods really work together? Only one out of the six can win our position to preach in the river valley. This seems to be a very slight chance, so will they try other plans? Say, kill the God of Moon 'by mistake', or set up a trap, or… work with us?"
"They surely will," said Anheuse with no doubt.
Ell remained rather calm, "This is indeed our opportunity if we know the right thing to do. But Leviathan, Francis, how do we know who really wants to work with us, and who schemes to betray?"
Francis grinned. "Why need we?"
Even Ell was a bit surprised this time.
"The situation is too complex, and the gods' attitude changes all the time. It's impossible for us to tell who really wants to be our ally. We can trust nobody," said Francis.
Anheuse looked at Francis in confusion.
Lucien took over and continued. "I agree. Since their attitude is changing all the time, we should not waste our time telling who are our allies. Instead, we should focus on turning everyone into our allies!
"The Lord of War is afraid of your power, my Lord, so are the rest of the gods. They are waiting to see if you are that powerful as we said. As long as we are confident enough and show them the power, I believe that they will prefer expelling the Lord of War and sharing the valley with us to fighting for the single position left.
"Yes, the message might be a trap, but it also hints their hope. If we can show it to them, we can turn the trap into our opportunity to fight back; but if we retreat, we'll lose the hope and turn the opportunity into a trap!"
Francis added just in time. "Of course, very likely they'll wait and watch on the side until the situation settles, but that is exactly what we need – Kill Asin, the God of Moon, and take our time to leave!"
"Then what? They'll know that we're using them, and the Lord of War will find it out, too." Anheuse understood Lucien and Francis' idea, yet he was still quite concerned.
Francis asked, "why are we here in Solna Valley?"
"To kill Asin, the God of Moon, and take away His godhood," answered Anheuse.
"Did the Lord of War show mercy to us before? The Lord of War was already seeking for a chance to destroy Avando a long time ago." Lucien smiled.
Anheuse nodded, "That's true. Fortunately, I am very good at disguising, or I would have been killed by his priests already."
"Did we see any help from the rest of the gods?" Francis and Lucien in turns took turns to ask their questions. Their target was not Anheuse, but the mysterious Ell.
"No, not at all. They were helping the Lord of War," said Anheuse bitterly.
"So, we're going to achieve our target, and the consequence will not be worse than before. Why not?" asked Francis.
"The most important thing now is to have our Lord's power recovered. Without power, even allies will turn into enemies." Lucien concluded.
Anheuse remained silent for a while and finally said, "I've got no more question."
When the almighty Ell took in the godhood and the power of the God of Moon, the rest of the gods would choose to be their allies themselves.
Ell smiled, "A very reasonable analysis. But what shall we do to demonstrate our strength, to make the timid be afraid, to make the plotters stand aside,?"
Francis proposed,
"Using the excuse that he profaned your glory during the debate, we will challenge the chief priest of the God of Moon to a duel. When we kill Asin's chief priest right in front of the temple, Asin will definitely take actions, or He would be abandoned by the followers. In this case, when the rest of the plotters see that we are able to kill the God of Moon's priest even without your presence, they'll choose to be cautious onlookers, instead of directly being involved in this fight.
"If we can make a good plan and seize the best chance, we'll have enough time to kill Asin and escape when He is unprepared and the others have chosen to step aside."
His proposal was based on the premise that the divine circles of the Temple of War were still relatively undeveloped so that they could not cover the entire city like the circles in the main material world. Also, they were very close to the Solna River.
"Nob is the chief priest of the God of Moon, and his power should rival that of Jacob. Even if I give Leviathan the Seed of Spirit right now, he'll not be able to adjust to the power and kill Nob," said Ell, who had walked to the window with his hands behind. "Francis, you do it."
Unlike Ell, Jacob did not have special power or speed matching that of a radiant knight. In case of any secret tracking, he was hiding somewhere else in the city.
"I'll show my loyalty, my Lord," said Francis.
Ell nodded. "I am impressed with what you have done for me, Leviathan. When I take in Asin's power, I'll give you the Seed of Spirit. But not now. At the moment I have to keep my power intact against our enemies. This is a bracelet made of Mision stone from Solna River. It enables you to breathe and swim like fish in the water. When the fight starts, go under the water immediately and leave. Wait for us at the promised place."
Taking over the green bracelet, Lucien felt the slight amount of divine air it possessed.
...
In the afternoon, a great stir broke out among the people in the city of Husum – Years after, another fight between two priests was finally going to take place.
A young, black-haired man mixing in the crowd was listening to the discussion attentively.
Slightly frowning, he wondered who was hiding behind this fight and what the purpose truly was.
He was the night watcher ranking no. 13 —"Body Controller" Ramiro.
Chapter 474: Blood Power
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Solna River had become much fiercer after the rainy season. Roaring and rolling, the river currents marched forward.
In front of the temple that stood up high beside the river, Nob was waiting for Francis with a fine laurel wood staff in his hand and this very gloomy look on his face. He had never expected that the priest of the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption would challenge him to a duel. He wished it so bad that the duel could come one day later. After tonight, he would bear no more risk fighting against an enemy he knew pretty much nothing about, because all of them from that side would be dead by tomorrow.
Soon after the debate held in the morning ended, Nob received a secret command from Nena — The Lord of War needed the God of Moon and the Lord of Underworld to kill Leviathan and Francis tonight, in order to lure Ell out.
Therefore, he had spent the entire noon as well as afternoon sending secret messages to the God of Moon hiding in the nearby forest, and they had together worked out an almost perfect plan, including how to coordinate the priests to launch a sudden strike, how to rope in the other churches using the name of the Lord of War, and how to infuriate the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption by torturing and killing Leviathan and Francis in the most brutal manner.
However, when they were still celebrating their perfect plan and the near victory, a formal challenge letter was sent to Nob.
Nob was confused, but even more, intimidated.
And what horrified him the most was the look on the face of the God of Moon. Nob saw fear on the almighty God of Moon's face as well, fear towards the boldness of the priests of god Ell and the one behind them. In the past, no one had ever heard about Ell the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption; no one knew how strong he was, and they could only draw guesses based on the description beyond imagination given during the debate.
Nob tried his very best to postpone the duel to the second day, but he failed. In a theocratic society, it was impossible to turn down a duel challenged in the name of profanity, as it was directly associated with the fame and reputation of one's Lord. Nob had no choice.
"… It's okay. Very possibly, they are just liars." Nob murmured to himself as he watched the crowd gather.
In the Solna Valley, before the Lord of War came into power, fights between chief priests were quite common. Therefore, people in the city of Husum were already very experienced. They would like to see the fight but were also aware that they had to stay far away from the site, say, the other side of Solna river. After all, the fights between priests weren't as plain as those between commoners, as the sound and light could be heard and seen from far away.
"I'll say that Nob will return to the embrace of moonlight today. The God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption is so powerful, and, of course, so is his chief priest," said a young man aloud beside the river. He was a new follower of the Lord of Underworld, but now he was on the edge of switching belief.
"It's hard to say. A debate isn't a fight." Refuted a devoted follower of the God of Moon.
Standing behind, Ramiro folded his arms and listened to the discussion quietly. He was quite confused as before he had never heard of the title "the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption", although he had done quite a bit of research prior to arriving in Erdo. Since the target was the God of Moon, Ramiro wondered if this new god was a role played by Alterna, or that it was a guise of the other forces.
Ramiro had turned himself into an ordinary Barril man. Standing in the crowd, he was like a drop of water in the vast ocean.
At this time, two young men wearing a simple white robe stepped onto the stairs in front of the God of Moon's temple. And the crowd instantly quieted down.
Carrying a heavy sword, Lucien stopped when he was about ten meters away from Nob. Standing on the closer side to the river, he said seriously, "today, we fight for the glory of our Lord, and we shall fight until the last breath. Are you ready?"
Until the last breath… Anger rose beside fear in Nob's heart. He asked, "Leviathan, is it you, or Francis?"
"I am the blessed one of the great God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. I'm my Lord's spokesperson and initiator. You, the priest of a false god, are far from being qualified to fight with me. Francis, send him to the underworld, and a just trial of my Lord awaits him!" Lucien tried his best to infuriate Nob.
"False god?! I'll let you see who is the false one!" Nob, who had become infuriated, yelled furiously. He could feel the anger of his Lord in the temple behind him.
"After I kill Francis, I'll challenge you! You can't say no!"
Lucien smiled. "I have to remind you, priest Nob. A dead man cannot challenge anyone."
"You'll see!" Nob took a deep breath and tried to calm down at the moment. He had to focus on the fight against Francis, instead of losing his mind because of Leviathan's evil words.
Francis drew the heavy sword from his back with both his hands and took a step forward. Gazing at Nob, he said, "on behalf of my Lord, I shall sentence you!"
"On behalf of the God of Moon, I will punish you!" roared Nob. Hearing this sentence, Lucien almost failed to hold back his laugh.
The priest from the Temple of War announced. "Let the fight begin!"
Holding the heavy sword, Francis thrust at Nob like a fierce blow. The heavy sword swept fiercely, its power could even cut off the wind.
A silver-white moon lit up in Nob's eyes, and layers of illusions covered him, like the shadows cast by moonlight in the night.
The heavy sword hit the shadows and disappeared briefly as if it was lost in a haze.
Seizing the chance, Nob quickly pointed his laurel staff at Francis. The temperature within the range dropped significantly and a dense patch sharp icicles formed. The icicles formed a ball that trapped Francis within.
Nob was quite relieved seeing that Francis relied on the strength of his body to fight, instead of using magic. The icicles might not be able to hurt him badly, but they were totally capable of restraining him.
Facing the hideous spear-like icicles, a smile appeared at the corners of Francis' lips. He swept the heavy sword horizontally and, with a deafening roar, slashed it downwards. Surrounding him, all of sudden, eight replicas of him emerged. With the same smile, and the same heavy sword, Francis and his replicas hacked downwards together in the joint power.
But the nine heavy words had different colors — one was covered with electric currents, one with green acid, one with flame, one looked rusted and rotten, one looked colorful, one looked freezing cold… The swords were not just shadows but carried real power.
The icicles reached Francis and a thick layer of ice expanded across. However, under Francis's fierce strikes, the layer of ice instantly broke into pieces, yet there was not even a single shallow wound on Francis' body.
The nine swords slashed at Nob, who did not have enough time to cast the next spell nor was fast enough to dodge.
Nob's body broke into pieces like glass in the mixed colors of light.
From the shadow nearby, Nob appeared again. However, he looked rather embarrassed. All kinds of demi-divine spells reached Francis, however, Francis was not affected by them at all. Together with his eight replicas, he came right in front of Nob, and his sword was ready to taste Nob's blood.
Lightning, acid, flame, withering, toxin, ice, death, mental… Highly resistant to magic and divine power… Lucien was watching from aside analyzed Francis's blood power attentively. Without a doubt, it was the blood power called Hydra. Although Francis was only showing his power up to level seven, Lucien believed that he was at least a level-eight Hydra-blood knight. Therefore, Lucien was certain that Francis was neither a nobleman nor a knight from the Northland or the Dark Mountain Range. He was very likely a night watcher from the South or North Church, or from another secret religious organization.
There were a number of level-eight radiant knights in this world, but definitely not a lot. There was no way that a level-eight knight would pop out of nowhere. The Congress of Magic had information about most of the level-eight knights, except for those who were night watchers and those from other religious groups. Lucien carefully recalled the list, but could not relate anyone to Francis.
However, on the other side of the river, the look on Ramiro's face had changed.
It was him?
"Impressive… Such a powerful Divine-blooded…" Those priests who were hiding in the crowd could not help murmuring to themselves. They had believed that the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption was not a false god.
At this time, the Solna River suddenly surged. Waves over ten-meter high, driven by the gravity of the moon, were thrown at Francis with great momentum.
Asin, the God of Moon, finally took action!
Lucien did not hesitate. He started running very fast, but still within the controlled speed to hide his real power. After a few seconds, he had come to the cliff where was not affected by the waves. Then, Lucien jumped directly into the Solna River.
Francis' body leaned backward, and the eight shadows followed, like a hydra roaring at the sky. The lighting, flame, acid merged together and formed into huge black waves. The two different colored waves crashed right into each other.
The blood power of Hydra was also good at controlling water!
At this time, a slim glitter of moonlight lit up. Behind Francis, an old man with a white beard holding a bent blade appeared and was about to attack Francis. Covering in moonlight, the old man was Asin in the human look!
As soon as Asin's blade reached out, His movement paused. A long, black sword carrying a great dark power of destruction came from above and slashed at His back!
Avando's supporter? Asin was both shocked and furious. Then Asin recognized that it was Avando's chief priest Jacob.
However, all the defense spells that Asin cast beforehand were for resisting the power in the field of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. The spells would not do much help facing the black sword!
Lucien had no idea what was going on above the water. Before he jumped into the water, he heard Ell's cold and detached voice.
"I sentence you to death!"
The river water embraced Lucien. The bracelet worn on his right wrist brought fresh air into his lungs. Instead of swimming along the currents, Lucien went countercurrent like a fish.
The cold light spots drifted away from Asin's body as the power of moonlight was collected by Francis. When Ell was about to kill Asin with the next hack, a long black iron arrow suddenly pierced through Ell's chest with horrible power and momentum!
"You false god!"
A terrifying roar came from the Temple of War.
It was the Lord of War! Somehow the Lord of War not in the Angornorma Empire but was in the Solna Valley, and he had joined the fight!
What attracted the Lord of War here?
Chapter 475: The Connection
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Since this dimension was filled with half-solid space blocks, the speed of flying was greatly restricted. Also, since the world was relatively undeveloped, long-distance teleportation circles did not even exist. Thus, Francis and Lucien both excluded the possibility that the Lord of War would arrive and get involved in this fight when they were making the plan. After all, they thought that the Lord of War was still in the Angonorma Empire, which was quite far away from Erdo. It would take a legendary at least two days to arrive here from the empire. As for a false god like the Lord of War, it would at least take seven to eight days.
Also, no false gods would like to leave their own domain for too long. When Avando escaped after defeated by Antanas, instead of following up the victory, Antanas only asked the priests and the divine-blooded heroes to chase after Avando and himself went back to Angonorma Empire immediately. Unless facing a super serious issue, a false god would never show his full presence.
Neither did France nor Lucien expect this. The real Lord of War had used the level nine legendary power, and thus, the arrow pierced through Ell's chest.
Thoughts quickly flashed through Francis' mind:
The Lord of War must have left Angonorma Empire a week ago to arrive here now. Therefore, the impetus must not be the debate, but something else. Was the Lord of War here to eliminate all the false gods including the God of Moon? Was this debate a mere conspiracy?
But if this was the case, the Lord of War would not have to come here in full presence. An avatar of Him, plus a few chief priests and the divine-blooded heroes, would be more than enough to suppress the weaker churches. The reason should be more than this…
Only a handful of false gods in this world, such as the three Goddesses of Fate on the ice plain in the north, possess the gift of prophecy, the Lord of War was for sure not one of them. There was very unlikely that the Lord of War came was because He sensed some kind of danger, as Ell was not a threat to the Lord of War at that moment at all — Moreover, the almighty power of Ell only existed in their bragging. Even if Ell's power would grow rapidly in the future, no prophecy spells could foresee such a remote fact at the current time.
On the rushing Solna River, the shadow of the cliffs suddenly aggregated and fiercely rose up in the air. Ell took form in the shadow but was now even weaker. Obviously, the penetration from the arrow was bad. If it had not been that he now possessed power in the domain of redemption and evaded the fatal strike by blurring life and death, He would have been completely dead by now.
Ell did not have time to rejoice over His survival — the arrow had torn down his disguise, and the Lord of Underworld and the rest of the gods had known the truth. They were now no more afraid of or concerned about Ell's power — Ell was weak.
However, the biggest threat still came from the arrow. The iron arrow was free from the limitations of space and could arrive without any trace within a blink of the eye.
The Lord of War howled again, and the horrible power gathered one more time. The false gods hiding around were ready to take action. Francis flashed past the air above the Temple of War and turned himself into a dense black cloud, blocking the sky completely.
In the dark cloud, a snake as huge as a mountain lifted its nine heads, revealing the cold, sharp fangs.
Then the hydra dived fiercely and became nine flashing black blades, the black mist winding around carrying this great power of destruction.
All the powers of the rest eight heads joined in the one in the center. The ultimate power of devastation was formed!
Therefore, a radiant knight with the bloodline of Hydra often owned a title closely related to destruction and death, for example, the Eye of Hell.
Boom! Solna River had gone crazy. Huge waves dashed all the way up towards the sky. Those people standing on the ground could no longer keep their balance and stand on their feet anymore.
However, the Temple of War had been wrapped by the dark cloud. No one knew for sure what was going on in there, but there must be a very bad fight.
"It's you, the Haze of Destruction…" Rocking back and forth just like those ordinary people, Ramiro was actually estimating Francis' true power.
If it was Ramiro himself fighting against the Lord of War, he should be able to last over thirty seconds. If he was willing to pay for the cost, he would have a big chance of managing to escape. After all, although the Lord of War was of level nine, when it came to the real fight, His power could only rival a gold knight due to the lack of experience in real fights.
"The power of this blessed is even a bit greater than that of Avando…"
"Why was Ell so weak? Was his power still recovering?"
"Was Ell hiding his true strength?"
The rest of the gods hesitated again; they feared that Ell was indeed a powerful god in a weak state. If this was the case, Ell could still temporarily regain horrible power, and they did not want to be the one to face it.
Suddenly, the part of Solna River beside Ell became pale and full of the air of death. The Lord of Underworld, who was covered in a black robe, rose up from the water, surrounded and guarded by countless specters.
The Lord of Underworld had become the servant of the Lord of War and was allowed to preach in the valley, therefore, He had to take actions right now to prove His loyalty. Besides, the fact that the Lord of War came here in full presence gave the Lord of Underworld confidence. Thus, unlike the other six false gods, He made a prompt decision to attack Ell.
People screamed. The rotten specters around the Lord of Underworld were too intimidating.
Two red needle-like spots of light flickered on the Lord of Underworld's face, locating the still-weak El. Dragging the heavy sickle, the Lord of Underworld came directly for Ell.
Beg for mercy! Accept my sentence!
The Lord of Underworld could not be more confident facing Ell, who was just severely injured. Hatred generated from the debate in the morning rose in his heart.
Ell could feel the freezing cold air of death. Having only partially recovered from the arrow, Ell had to utilize all of His remnant power to use His most powerful spell.
"I command you, to die!" Ell spat out two ancient Baburian words in a tone of great authority. Ell learned this divine-like spell Command after obtaining the domain redemption. The power of the Command was always one level lower in both requirements of usage and power than the corresponding magic spells of the same level.
However, there was no way that the Lord of Underworld would just be killed by a single Command. The Lord of Underworld was not a fool.
The rest of the false gods were ready to join the fight as well. Obviously, Ell's spell had failed to kill the Lord of Underworld, so Ell was not as powerful at all as his followers described.
Ell could feel the power of death from the Lord of Underworld and saw the two red light spots flickering excitedly in the two hollow eye sockets.
To be honest, Ell had tried the very best. The only thing He could do right now was continuing to cast Command. But he also knew that, due to the discrepancy between their power, His command would be of no use at all.
To Ell's great surprised, the flickering light spots suddenly disappeared. Silently, the Lord of Underworld disappeared in the air.
What was going on?
The fake gods hiding around were all more than shocked, including Ell.
The spell of Command did not have this kind of power — the power that could just dissolve the Lord of Underworld in the air, leaving no trace at all!
Confinement Spell! The looked on Ramiro's face suddenly changed as he recognized the spell. There must be an archmage hiding nearby!
This mysterious archmage hid the magic waves when Ell was casting the Command, thus neither false gods nor Francis noticed it. But Ramiro was standing right beside the river and he was quite profound in terms of knowing magic, so he still managed to notice the tiny difference. He knew that it was the ninth-circle magic spell Confinement.
The whole thing was getting increasingly complicated. Ramiro believed that he could use some extra support now.
Shocked but exhilarated, Ell burst out laughter. "I am the true god of this world. This is my true power! My power is even much stronger than I can imagine!"
The rest of the fake gods were greatly intimidated. They were glad that they did not rush to take any action. What happened to the Lord of Underworld was their best lesson. It seemed that Ell's mysterious power could never be drained!
Obviously, Ell believed that it was His own power that killed the Lord of Underworld. Ell's understanding was that when in face of the great danger, his almighty power somehow managed to gain some connection to the supreme version of himself above, and therefore, His long-lost power resumed.
But anyway, no matter to what extent Ell believed in this explanation, He must be confident enough to make others believe in him!
Hearing Ell's laughter, the power coming from the Temple of War stagnated for a second. Seizing the chance, the nine black snakeheads joined together into a flash of sword light and fiercely chopped at the temple.
The ground trembled. Deep cracks appeared, from which black smog came out and devoured the temple.
"Leave!" Francis was still in the form of the black smog. Grabbing Ell and Jacob, who were still during the middle of the fight against the Lord of War, Francis fled away towards the horizon.
A while later, after the black smog entangling the temple suddenly dissipated, an extremely angry roaring came out.
"You all must die!"
...
Putting aside Sun Staff, Lucien activated Transformation Mask and turned himself into a small fish. He swam downwards at a very fast speed.
Having a false god as an experiment subject was not something that happened very often. Lucien did not want to give up halfway.
After a while, Lucien suddenly stopped — He felt that he was being watched!
The feeling flashed past very fast. Lucien carefully checked around but found nothing. Instead, he felt a strong air of death. The fish nearby were both alive and dead — they were all rotten, but somehow still swimming.
No wonder the Lord of Underworld just emerged from the water; It seemed that His realm was hiding deep at the bottom of Solna River. As soon as Lucien figured this out, he swam out of the city of Husum following the currents, since staying here for too long would be very dangerous.
Chapter 476: The Seed of Spirit
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the far west, a bright star appeared in the dusk sky, indicating the arrival of the night. The mountains along the valley started looking darker and darker.
When Lucien arrived at the secret cave as agreed, Ell, Francis, and Jacob had already been waiting there. Even with winding a long distance to get rid of the tailing false gods and priests, they still managed to arrive earlier than Lucien.
"Why so late, Leviathan?" Asked Jacob in low voice, who was at the same time casting spells to make sure that no one was following Lucien.
Ell and Francis also had the same question, as this cave was not far away from the city of Husum, and Leviathan had left the city much earlier than they did.
Lucien explained, well-prepared. "I jumped into the river but got into a bit of trouble because of the tides and waves summoned by the God of Moon. It took me some time to swim away from the currents."
"I see." Jacob nodded, feeling more relieved when he ensured that no one had followed Lucien here.
Ell looked a bit pale but was still smiling in a good spirit. "Although Asin's still alive, his godhood has been taken away, and the rest of the false gods are now all intimidated by my power. You all did very well, and you deserve good rewards."
"Our great pleasure," answered Jacob hurriedly.
At this time, Francis took out a small laurel box which revealed a slight air of divinity. The laurel box made the entire cave smell pleasant.
The box was given to Francis and Jacob by Ell, for collecting the godhood of the God of Moon. Without this box, the mundane could never see or touch the divine power, not to mention collecting it.
"Great God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, this is the godhood of Asin, the God of Moon," said Francis.
To Lucien's surprise, Francis handed the box containing the God's Glory to Ell just like this.
Ell was, by contrast, more in a rush. Ell eagerly opened the box right in front of Jacob, Francis, and Lucien. As soon as the box opened, rays of cool light burst out. They felt like water when touching the skin.
Without hiding his curiosity, Lucien gazed at the glory attentively.
In the wood box, the tiny fragments that looked like the silver moon seemed quite unreal, as if they were very, very far away from Lucien. Meanwhile, there were obscure images changing in the fragments, mysterious and divine.
The moonlight fragments floated in the wood box as if they were dead, occasionally contracting and expanding slightly.
… Lucien felt this scene to be rather familiar. He searched his memories, trying to recall where he once saw them.
"Guard me, you three," said Ell in a low voice. He was in great eagerness, as He had been waiting for this moment for too long. Before Leviathan arrived, Ell was worried that there probably would be enemies following behind, so He did not consume the fragments. But now, the moment of taking in the godhood of the God of Moon and resuming power had finally arrived!
"As your command," said the three followers.
Both Francis and Lucien were staring at every single movement of Ell with the same enthusiastic look on their faces.
Ell's right hand was now covered in a layer of light that possessed the soothing power of both eternity and peace. With the light, Ell reached His right hand into the wood box and grabbed the floating silver moon pieces.
The tiny pieces started aggregating under Ell's power. Gradually, they formed a small silver light ball, just like a small moon.
The light ball throbbed like a beating out, giving out an aura of indifference and divinity, just like the eternal moon watching indifferently from the night sky.
Lucien's mouth opened slightly out of great shock. He finally recalled the familiar scene!
In the reflection of the Sphinx Mausoleum in the World of Souls, there was a light ball stained by rust and blood floating above the Sphinx coffin…
In the inner part of Sun's King's underground palace, there was that white light ball floating above the palm of Thanos' statue…
Memories flashed by like the frames of a movie — clear, and shocking. Although the details of each scene were different, the aura of the power felt exactly the same!
Something struck Lucien, as if he had got a grip on part of the secret of gods and ancient demons. However, soon his mind was filled with more questions — The existence of Alterna, the silver moon, could date back to the time way before all living creatures came into being, and the birth of the powers in ancient hell and abyss was also prior to that of the most creatures. Then where did they come from? Why was there a great difference between the form of existence of the ancient seven demons and the gods including the false ones?
Was he thinking in the wrong way?
Obviously, the World of Souls still hid more secrets than Lucien thought. Meanwhile, Lucien wondered whether it was Sun's Corona or the laurel box that enabled him to see the godhood of the God of Moon.
The silver-white light ball slowly merged into the light covering Ell's right hand. The light joined.
Ell's face was distorted, as if the entire process was very painful.
Then the light suddenly expanded and embraced Ell within like a cocoon, throbbing like a heart.
After quite a while, the cold, divine light burst out from within the cocoon and quickly went into Ell's body. Now, the light was a part of Ell.
Ell opened his eyes and his pupils were now much deeper, like the starry sky, and the way Ell talked and behaved had also changed to the softer and gentler side.
"My three domains — resurrection, fertility, and redemption — have all been enhanced. My power has resumed. And now I have two new domains, specters and moonlight."
Now they should figure out a new title for Ell, with so many godhoods.
"Revival and the specters are all in the realm of Death; flame and fertility belonged to the realm of Life; Redemption and moonlight come from the power of spirit and material; while Destruction covers them all. Therefore, my lord, you are the dominator of both material and spirit, the lord of life and death. You do not have to bother constantly changing your title, you're the Supreme Lord, the Saviour. As for assimilating Asin's godhood, all you need is an avatar named Asin, my Lord."
Obviously, Francis was still pushing Ell towards the side of being 'the one and the almighty', which the God of Truth exactly featured.
Lucien watched carefully, hoping that what he saw might be able to solve some of the questions in his mind.
"Good, this is the title that matches me," said Ell. There was light in his eyes. No matter he believed in it or not in the past, from now on, this would be the only target as his motivation.
"I'll take away the godhood of those fake gods, one by one," Ell claimed.
Obviously, taking in Asin's godhood had brought Ell a completely new experience, and Ell had become obsessed with it.
Ell turned to Francis and Lucien, "Both of you have proved yourself. I'll give both of you the Seed of Spirit to make you stronger and live longer."
Ell reached out his right hand, and a white light ball fell on his palm. Compared to God's Glory, this light ball seemed to be more approachable, but still carried great divinity.
This was the Seed of Spirit. Transformed by a god, the Seed of Spirit would be turned into God's Glory, visible to bare eyes. Lucien guessed that this was the origin of priests' power.
Although Lucien had had a rough idea of what the Seed of Spirit was, he was now even more confused. According to Ell, giving out the Seed of Spirit would reduce the power of a false god, then the number of the seeds give out must be severely restricted. However, there were thousands of pastors, priests, cardinals, grand cardinals in the Saint Truth, and all of them could exert divine power. What happened to the God of Truth? It seemed that the power of the God of Truth had way exceeded that of Alterna, making segmenting deity something more than normal and common that would not hurt the God of Truth at all. What was the difference between the God of Truth and the rest of the false gods?
"Francis, you have shown your power in the fight. It was you who helped me defeat the God of Moon. You're the one who made the biggest contribution and effort. Although this seed can only give you a chief priest's power, you can use divine power from now on. With the seed, you communicate with it using devoutness, and you'll be able to have it as part of you."
Ell was already rather good-looking. After taking in Asin's godhood, Ell's features now looked more feminine. As Ell was talking, the smile on His face was faint and a bit mysterious.
If Francis was planning on something else, he would not dare to take in the seed. If his faith fell, he would be devoured by the Seed of Spirit, both his spirit and body.
Lucien estimated that the seed would give Francis the divine-like power around level six. He carefully watched Francis, waiting to see how Francis would react.
"My devoutness is no inferior to that of anyone." Francis smiled and took over the seed. Holding it on his palm, Francis started praying to Ell.
Soon, the Seed of Spirit began trembling and buzzing, and then it dissolved into Francis's palm. Divine air covered Francis.
Lucien was so surprised that his mouth slightly opened.
Just like this?! There was no way that Francis was a devoted follower of Ell. Why Francis was not concerned at all?
Was it because Francis had his own solution?
In Lucien's mind, the secrets Francis had were no less than his.
"Leviathan, you are smart and brave. Your contribution should also be recognized. This is your seed, which will give you the power of a common divine-blooded hero." Ell was quite content seeing Francis's loyalty. He made another seed for Lucien. However, it was much less powerful.
It made sense because basically what Lucien did was just talking and talking. By contrast, Francis was the one who fought and fought very well.
Francis smiled, as he had become the onlooker. Ell, Francis, and Jacob watched Lucien take over the Seed of Spirit.
Lucien knew what happened to the ancient sorcerers who tried to borrow the power of divinity. He was well aware of the fact that the seed would bring stormy chaos to his cognitive world, and Ell, Francis, and Jacob would know.
The seed was too dangerous to Lucien. He could not just simply take it in like Francis.
"You are new in the convention, and you do not have Francis' power. It might be hard to absorb since it's your first time. You can try multiple times," said Ell, in a tone both encouraging and urging, while Francis and Jacob were staring at Lucien and grinning.
Lucien looked down and held the seed with his both hands up to his chest. The seed touched the center of his chest.