The enemy church responded in one swift motion. Instead of the fierce fight, the higher ups expected.
Mysterious beings calling themselves the lantern holders. Appeared during the dawn and dusk everywhere on the continent.
They hid their bodies underneath a cloth cape with their hand holding the lantern poking out.
Everything other than that remained full of darkness, no matter how much light people used.
Almost no place could escape them.
They walked around for a few hours before dissipating. Nevertheless, they had did one simple thing.
Like fresh news, they talked about the things around the world. Unfiltered and pure, without any omissions.
Scandals that got covered because of mistakes or abuse of power now laid exposed to the eyes of the entire world.
At first, many people didn't believe in it.
That tide of belief changed when the higher ranked people used their connections and found out clues.
One thing confirmed led to another, and it turned into an endless spiral.
Liam watched how the awakened elders and even the enforcers tried to attack them.
And they would succeed. Only to find another lantern holder in a different part of the city.
They never interacted with anyone and passed through people.
It terrified many, but people got used to things that didn't hurt them and even benefitted them.
Such lantern holders became more trusted than the church.
While the dirty secrets, that those lantern holders somehow obtained did uncover most of the hidden deeds by the church.
It also undermined their efforts.
By no means did they strive for destruction and abuse of power every single moment of their existence and instead they sacrificed themselves and many others in order to hold on against an endless enemy.
That the lantern holders didn't choose to say.
Everyone could smell the smell of gunpowder on the streets of any major settlement. With people growing more distrust towards the church every single day.
They tried to promote their deeds even more.
Festivals and other events that almost changed the public opinion turned it into something worse.
Instead of celebrating. People looked at it as a waste.
Humanity defended for uncountable amounts of years. Such a long time no mortal human could imagine.
Deeds, legends and hearsay remained just that.
Words backed by an entity that kept losing credibility by day.
Then, a fateful day came.
The Great North, a place full of frost located on the most extreme north of the major continent, welcomed a new wave of people.
Thousands of mortals, dozens almost a hundred unawakened and awakened elders.
And they gave the church one simple ultimatum.
If they dared to kill them all or do something horrendous. Lantern holders would deliver the news hours later.
No matter what the church would do right about now, it would be detrimental.
In the end, they let everyone except the awakened elders pass.
Strict curfews arrived days later in many cities.
And cracks began to appear in the invincible behemoth that held up the sky for so many years.
Like a vicious cycle. The church could only suppress the following symptoms.
They couldn't roll out any kind of idea in a sufficient manner.
Total annihilation of the Great North would require over a dozen powers a level higher than that of a saint.
Except select a few awakened elders and Saints that descended. No one knew the true number and what kind of thing the saints lived through up there.
Saints seemed to be immortal, or at least very long lived. Higher realms meant more lifespan and the unknown number of powerhouses remained as a powerful hidden card in the human's arsenal.
A card that they had to employ to a certain degree.
Three people descended weeks after the appearance of the lantern holders.
Their robes made out of simple silk, but almost endless mana flowed within, naked for the world to see.
Two women and one man appeared, and the next moment, they vanished.
The world unfolded before their eyes as they gazed at the world as if they could crush it with their bare hands if they wished so.
Each of their eyes flashed, revealing more and more information.
Dots, small structures the size of an ant, and others appeared on the map.
No normal person would be able to read it as it kept flashing into new locations and back.
The thousand lake islands filled with an almost infinite amount of natural resources. Islands made out of solely certain minerals didn't seem rare.
Greatest and most famous mine in the entire human territory.
A huge lake surrounded the uncountable amounts of islands that held endless riches.
Placed on the upper half of the mainland continent. Sometimes also called the Starfall islands, as they seemed to be created in some kind of artificial way.
Many scholars attributed this place to a clue and evidence that some kind of cataclysm appeared and those ancient books didn't tell a lie.
Other than those Starfall islands.
The two most famous places proved to be two mountain ranges.
One that split the mainland into two halves. Also called as the body of the dragon.
And the highest peak of the known world. The dragon's head stood east of the dragon body mountain range.
Not only did that place held the highest mountain peak standing at almost two dozen thousand meters.
It also held the deepest lake in the world.
No one knew its total length. A magical place filled with mysteries unexplored by the greatest.
Saints themselves admitted that they would be crushed to death after the five thousand meter mark.
Unlike the normal freshwater. Inside, the density changed exponentially.
No known creature lived there, but a few select of rare fauna did thrive alone deep inside.
In places that no normal man could visit.
The dragon's head also became the founding sacred place of the church.
Across the world, several of these main churches existed.
Many didn't even know about the existence of the several headquarters, nevertheless select few knew where the true headquarters laid.
Although less inhabited due to the mountain range and inhospitable means.
The place never got abandoned. Many people arrived there with a goal, but found nothing noteworthy.
Thousands of meters below, though. Something hid deep below the lake, where even the saints would struggle.
Without special means and blessings. It became an impenetrable fortress on a level higher than the Great North.
No matter who, they wouldn't be able to use much of their power deep inside the magical water.
Unlike the Great North, where the one enemy remained the same.
And, for the first time in millennia, the calm magical waters trembled.
The three people who descended summoned their vast power.
Air grew turbulent, but the water moved only after the trees in the surroundings almost got uprooted by the sheer force.
Then a light pillar descended. Many times larger than those seen in headquarters across the world.
They took a breather as they awaited.
With a slight tremor, a coffin appeared from the water as it floated.
Two women bowed as the man held his breath and approached the coffin step by step like a mortal.
Walking across the water. His legs began to tremble the closer he got to the coffin.
His face grew pale before he arrived near the coffin and slowly opened it.
There didn't lay a human, but a beating heart.
Unveiled to the world, it let out a beat as if inside a body.
Each beat sent a shock throughout the surroundings as the man spat out blood.
Once in contact with the beating heart. It sensed the incoming blood and trembled with joy for a moment.
Seconds later, it disappeared, replaced by another heart. This time, although impressive, the heart lost all of its luster in seconds.
The man stood there, paralysed.
His eyes lost its luster before regaining a different kind of light. One that demanded authority.
World would bow before those eyes as it wished.
The two women almost prostrated themselves as a light push put them back on their feet.
Without saying a word. The three people vanished, and the world regained its calm.
The coffin floated for a while before submerging itself back into the water.
World itself told the tale of the arrival. Clouds cleared, and the Sun shined while every person felt much better than yesterday.
No one knew why and miracles appeared all across the world.
The lantern holders didn't say anything about it and continued with their news, staining the reputation of the church as much as they could.
Meanwhile, the man appeared on the frontlines along with the two women.
He nodded at them and sent out a piece of light inside their heads.
They bowed and teleported inside the Inn of Dreams.
He looked at the frontlines and observed many humans fighting with the aliens.
Thoughtful, he waved his hand and vanished again.
This time, he appeared above the Great North. His cheerful and uncaring expression filled with divinity gone.
The now sky-blue eyes lit up. And with it, the Great north trembled as if under incredible amount of pressure.
Entire mountains shrunk by a few dozen meters before he let out a satisfied nod and vanished again.
The fate of the people inside became unknown.