Chapter 1541: Progress in the North (Please Vote)
Gawain’s orders were swiftly carried out. The “Lady of Night’s Letters,” concocted by Amber, were soon delivered to all the major cathedrals across the city. Each was accompanied by direct sacrificial rites performed before the gods within the protective zones of the anti-divine barriers, conducted by the various holy sons, holy daughters, archbishops, and metropolitans. To everyone’s surprise, the rituals proceeded with remarkable smoothness and speed. Once most of the city’s sacrifices were complete, Veronica returned to the Cecil Palace to report back to Gawain.
“All the ‘letters’ have been sent ‘upwards.’ None of the churches have received direct feedback from the gods yet, but judging by how quickly the rituals responded, the deities must have sensed the Lady of Night’s presence through the offerings. They haven’t neglected it in the slightest,” Veronica said, standing before Gawain’s desk, clutching her platinum scepter. Her expression was tinged with subtle complexity. “I never imagined things would come to this one day…”
“Don’t say you didn’t expect it—I didn’t either,” Gawain chuckled, shaking his head. “We should review everything again later, just to make sure no gods were left out.”
“I’ve already done a rough check,” Veronica replied, as if anticipating his question. “The imperial capital is the continent’s most important hub for cultural and economic exchange in the north, and it’s also the headquarters of the Divine Authority Council. Every major true-god church has at least one ‘liaison window’ here, and some have even set up their headquarters in Cecil City itself. These ‘windows’ handle sacrificial rites and communication with the gods.
“Of course, besides these major true-god churches, there are smaller, more obscure faiths scattered around—tribal deities worshiped in the western Ogure forests, or local gods venerated in some southern city-states. These regional sects don’t have liaison windows in the capital, but they’re still on the Council’s watchlist. According to the latest Arbitration Court report, I don’t think we need to worry about them. Most haven’t developed into true gods yet; the few that have only produced vague ‘miracles’ with no clear direction, and their activities are currently under control. Such faith systems don’t have the foundation to cause divine disasters.”
Gawain rubbed his temples. What Veronica described as those regional sects were basically rural old men and women blindly following a few wild shamans. Within the three great empires, such “underground churches” were strictly forbidden, but in some backward regions, they persisted. They worshipped all sorts of things—even meteors and mushrooms. Their common trait was that new converts were often given eggs and flatbreads, and most of the followers also secretly held faith in some genuine deity. The major faiths on the Loren continent didn’t enforce exclusive belief, so these strange situations happened frequently.
The Divine Authority Council naturally didn’t want such dangerous, unpredictable phenomena—like a live wire in a powder keg—but the Council was still young. Even with the cooperation of the major true-god churches and the support of all nations, their influence in remote, backward areas was limited. For most of these isolated blind-faith sects, the Council could only monitor and prevent their spread.
This monitoring and containment wasn’t a long-term solution, but it was enough for now. As long as they didn’t develop beyond a certain point, these rural churches couldn’t birth true gods. Even if they produced some faint “spirits,” it wouldn’t be enough to trigger divine disasters. To put it bluntly, even if those superstitious old folks somehow conjured a makeshift god with two taels of pig’s head meat and half a bottle of homemade wine, the local Council could just file a report, and the Arbitration Court would send a couple of judgment knights or nuns to wipe it out.
After all, times had changed. The peace-loving people of Loren were ruthless when it came to eliminating threats to their peace.
“Now it’s just a matter of whether the gods will show up on time,” Gawain exhaled softly, his expression relaxing slightly as the plan progressed smoothly. “But with this, the ‘Recluse’s Refuge of the Natural Sovereign’ won’t be so secluded anymore. I wonder if Amon anticipated how lively his place would become… Well, from here on, the only one we really need to worry about is that one.”
Gawain’s face suddenly grew serious. He looked Veronica in the eyes. “What’s the status over at the God of the Holy Light?”
The God of the Holy Light was the only uncontrollable variable in Gawain’s entire “Divine Explosion” plan. Over seven centuries ago, during the fall of Gondor, the god’s human half was annihilated. What remained in the realm of the Holy Light was a purely divine crystal, mechanically responding to mortal prayers for hundreds of years. In the past, this half-ruined state was a blessing for Gawain—it allowed him to boldly use the god as a test subject for the Council’s many plans and successfully reform the Holy Light Church. But now, it had become a huge problem.
Without its human half, the God of the Holy Light wouldn’t cooperate with Gawain’s plan or help pile up Cecil’s “martial virtue” on the divine throne. When a divine disaster struck, there was no “limiter” to restrain the crystal’s madness.
Of course, since the Holy Light Church was the first to undergo reform, and the process was relatively smooth and thorough, the mortal faith in the Holy Light no longer pointed directly to the god. The crystal’s power had been greatly weakened. But even so, years of weakening couldn’t match centuries of accumulation, as Veronica’s report confirmed.
“…The God of the Holy Light still exists, though its scale has shrunk by more than half, and its aura is no longer as strong as before. But it definitely still exists,” Veronica nodded seriously. “Its core remains operational in the divine realm. Even though mortal faith has been redirected elsewhere, its state remains unchanged, strictly following doctrine.”
“Like a bomb, quietly waiting to be triggered…” Gawain frowned. “You can’t ‘send’ anything into the Holy Light’s realm?”
Veronica shook her head gently. “I can ‘visit’ the Holy Light realm through the power of the platinum scepter, but that’s only a spiritual projection. The scepter can’t transport physical objects into the divine realm. However… I personally think we don’t need to worry too much about the God of the Holy Light’s condition.”
Gawain raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“The God of the Holy Light is currently in a ‘shielded’ state. This shielding isn’t limited to mortal faith,” Veronica explained carefully. “The connection between gods and mortals is built on shared thought currents. Our reforms of the Holy Light Church over the years have targeted these thought currents. The new doctrines sever the link between the thought currents and the God of the Holy Light, effectively cutting off the most critical trigger for rebellion.”
Gawain pondered. “So… at least in the Holy Light domain, the Divine Authority Council has achieved that theoretical goal?”
“That’s my personal judgment. Thought currents and divine states can’t be quantified, so until things reach a certain stage, no conclusion can be 100% certain,” Veronica said cautiously. “But I’ve been closely monitoring the God of the Holy Light’s condition recently, and have used the scepter’s power several times to enter the divine realm and verify the situation. From what I’ve seen, the faith streams above the divine realm have all been redirected.
“Of course, there are still a few stubborn believers clinging to the old doctrines or hidden idol worshippers. After all, a few years of reform and cleansing can’t completely eradicate a deeply rooted faith system. But these heretics are few, unable to conduct open, formal worship. They can’t form clear thought projections in the deep sea, so they can’t affect the God of the Holy Light’s stability.”
The existence of these stubborn elements was a headache—and the hardest problem to solve. The Holy Light Church, based on the old Ansu faith, had operated here for centuries, with deep roots and countless devout followers. Although Gawain’s new church reforms used many clever methods to subtly shift the faith of many believers, and harshly purged a large number of corrupt old believers, he still couldn’t completely eliminate those who sincerely believed in the God of the Holy Light.
What kind of stubborn believers were the hardest to remove? What kind of conservative clergy forced even the empire’s rulers and rebel leaders to tread carefully?
They weren’t corrupt priests who exploited faith for money and oppression, nor old church leaders who rallied followers with supernatural power—those had been caught and publicly executed early in the purges. The ones who remained were impeccable gentlemen, respected by all for their genuine righteousness and conduct.
They followed the doctrine’s path of goodness, disciplined themselves strictly, treated others kindly, and were flawless in morality and wisdom. Their only “fault” was unwavering faith in the God of the Holy Light and their clear-eyed recognition of the new church’s true nature. They were paragons of priesthood.
Even Light himself paid them respect.
In any large faith, no matter how rotten at its core, there would be a few such sages. The best Gawain and Light could do was marginalize these venerable “wise men” to prevent them from influencing the masses.
Fortunately, the age of sages was over.
“Increase surveillance on those old-school priests on the list. Let them live out their days in peace. Keep a close eye on the God of the Holy Light’s status, and report immediately if there are signs of thought currents re-converging,” Gawain sighed, issuing solemn orders. “If it really comes to losing control… we’ll have to purge those on the list and prepare to go to war with the God of the Holy Light. We can’t count on the Lady of Night to help us with this one.”
Veronica bowed deeply. “Understood.”
She left, and the vast study was once again silent except for Gawain.
The entire day had been a whirlwind of activity. When quiet finally returned, the great sun was already sinking toward the horizon. Golden-red rays stretched in from the wilderness, slanting through the crystal glass windows and flooding the study.
Before Gawain, the pen holder, ink bottle, and ornaments on the desk cast long, uneven shadows that stretched across his vision. Staring at the interplay of light and dark, his overworked mind finally relaxed a little.
He leaned back in his high-backed chair, emptying his thoughts and savoring a rare moment of peace.
But unfortunately, the calm didn’t last long.
A familiar presence suddenly appeared beside him. Gawain’s newly relaxed spirit instantly snapped back to full alertness. He immediately focused on the dark rift in the air that was slowly opening beside him.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Amber poked half of her body out from the shadow rift but suddenly stopped, casting a strange look at Gawain, who was sitting upright behind his desk. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, she finally spoke. “…You could actually relax a bit more. Just pretend I never came out.”
Gawain shrugged. “If you suddenly show up in my study right around mealtime, it must be something important. I’m not in a rush to rest for a few more minutes. So, what’s going on?”
“I should’ve dawdled a bit longer then. It’s not like a few minutes matter… Honestly, I’m worried you’ll drop dead at this desk one day,” Amber muttered as she crawled fully out of the shadow rift, then sighed. “There was a communication from the north just now. Modir’s expedition team made a discovery.”
“Modir’s team?” Gawain’s eyes sharpened instantly. “What kind of discovery?”
“They found the City of a Thousand Towers,” Amber said casually. “And inside, they met the ruler of the Violet Kingdom—the last Violet left in the real world—Prince Nash Nart, and that magical AI called Benadetto.”
“Found the City of a Thousand Towers? And met Prince Nash?!” Gawain’s eyes widened slightly. He had guessed Modir would eventually find that mysterious city, but he hadn’t expected them to actually meet the “last Violet.” In his understanding, all the Violet people should have returned to the Night Veil when the Lady of Night awoke. “Aren’t all the Violets supposed to have left the real world by now?”
“You might not believe this, but based on the report from the north, I suspect Prince Nash and that ‘Benadetto’ have a special relationship,” Amber immediately started gossiping. “What do you call that again? Oh, something like paper people…”
Before Amber could finish, Gawain shot her a sharp glare. “Focus on the matter at hand!”
“Okay, okay, focus,” Amber stuck out her tongue and reluctantly straightened up. “Anyway, according to Modir’s intel, the City of a Thousand Towers currently exists in a state between reality and illusion, within the Night Veil surrounding Violet Island. You need a special ‘channel’ to enter. Last night, Modir and his team were invited inside and received hospitality from Prince Nash. But Nash didn’t reveal any new information about the Lady of Night—he only said, ‘The guests are not all here yet.’ Then, when the Night Veil fell again tonight, they were sent back to the surface.”
“Modir now suspects that the City of a Thousand Towers is the gateway to the Shadow Divine Realm. But the Lady of Night must have ordered that the entrance only opens once all invited guests have arrived. Until then, not only is the gate closed, but all information about the Shadow Divine Realm is sealed off from the outside world.”
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(End of chapter)