239. Chapter 238 – The Northern Continent’s Darkest Hour

Chapter 238 – The Northern Continent’s Darkest Hour
In late January, the southern coast of the Northern Continent’s Protoss Empire.

Located in this area of the warmer coastline, snow was not a common weather phenomenon.

Lilom City had always been a warm, lively city with the sea as its backdrop.

Due to this south coast city’s location west of the more remote southern border, extremely far from the large main ports on the south coast of the Protoss Empire, and the large mountainous forests that lie inland behind the city, the nearest inland city is hundreds of kilometers away by road, so it is mostly just a tourist city.

It’s not particularly rich, but the scenery is wonderful.

The city is spread out over a series of small coastal islands and the bridges that connect them, so the artistic bridges are a prominent feature of Lelom, not only facilitating transportation, but also providing an excellent view of the sea.

However, during this year’s rare and extremely cold winter, the storms seemed to have swept all the way from the imperial capitals in the north to their border cities as well.

A light snowfall drifted in during the night.

The light from the lighthouse appeared hidden in this thin curtain of snow, the ships anchored in the harbor were covered in a faint white color, the seabirds no longer twittered but hid in the warm holes of their cabins or lighthouses, and the masts of the ships formed a psychedelic silhouette in the fine snow with the lights in the distance.

The snowflakes landed gently on the city’s stone roads, blending with the snow already on the ground.

The long road leading from the harbor to the city hall was covered in snow for the lights, and the light was soft and hazy through the snow layer of the lampshade.

After dark, pedestrians on the road became scarce, and the occasional ones that did appear were hurrying by in heavy coats and hats on their heads.

Their footsteps left watery trails on the ground, coloring the newly fallen snowflakes black.

These citizens did not seem to be in fear of the cold.

Rather, it was the harmonious yet eerie changes in the Protoss Empire in recent times and the silver-robed clerics that could walk the streets with dignity.

In this late night when even the color of the moon was almost hidden.

Not far from the city hall, in the mansion that was set against family and power.

Crimson tapestries draped the walls, detailed embroideries depicting scenes of war, trade, harmony and prosperity, displaying the history and splendor of the Protoss Empire.

In the parlor two men sat serenely in seats forged from moonflower wood and metal, sharing a drink across the table.

It was like a banquet that had never disappeared in the history of the Northern Continent and belonged to the villains.

“My lord of the Church of the Resurrection, I toast you on behalf of the lord.”

The person wearing a fancy dress specially ordered for an obese body type, who was obviously a powerful person in this city-state, raised his wine cup and then drank it all in one go.

“Viscount Francis is really too illiterate to see the big picture of the Empire at the moment.”

With a pained look, the nobleman shook his head and sighed, as if he was a noble character who worried about the world.

As for who he thought was qualified to rule in this city-state, that attitude displayed towards the Resurrection Cleric in front of him spoke louder than anything else.

“…… Actually I kinda appreciate that lord.”

Opposite the nobleman, the silver-armored cleric with the azure alien holy seal around his neck and a belief in evil gods shook his wine glass lightly and murmured.

The holy seal on his chest was a blue precious quality [Certificate of Resurrection – Bastard].

The members of the Church of the Resurrection who possessed this level of [Certificate of Resurrection] were all great clergymen with positions of great importance, and the purple rare-grade seals further up were almost all the bishop’s direct subordinates or cronies, and were not the big shots that could be seen in a small border place like theirs.

Pink Sacred on the other hand was the Bishop’s chosen Holy Son and Daughter, even further away in the sky. Epic grade would be the [Bishop’s Seal].

Unusual.

The members of the Church of the Resurrection would try their best to hide their [Certificate of the Resurrection], only displaying it when they needed to prove their identity to their peers.

There were hardly any crazy guys who would just turn it into the form of a seal and wear it out in plain sight.

However nowadays.

The Protoss Empire, the Church of the Resurrection has been recognized as a legitimate religion.

And the Cardinals who had been infamous in the Northern Continent, feared and hated by all races, were now all Archbishops of the Protoss Empire who needed to be honored by the people.

This sky-rocketing status quo was not forced by the Church of the Resurrection, nor did the Church of the Resurrection have that ability to force the Protoss Empire, it was a choice made by the Empire on its own initiative.

A few years ago, everyone would have thought that the Empire was crazy.

But at the moment, this is the truth.

“But that lord …… Viscount Francis, he has a serious tendency towards the Goddess of Fate Church, and his attitude towards your Resurrection Church is even more blatant and full of scorn, especially …… since it’s unlikely that he would believe in the Hegemonic Catholic doctrine.”

The nobleman said so, carefully sipping his red wine and gauging the expression of the silver-armored cleric across from him.

“Then it seems …… that he is indeed guilty.”

The silver-armored cleric turned his head sideways, looking at the small fountain in the courtyard thoughtfully to himself.

The entire mansion, from the inside out, was warm and pleasant, with flowing water, so peaceful that it was very different from the atmosphere of the city, or perhaps they were the source of the atmosphere that was supposed to determine whether it was good or bad.

“Indeed, so in order for you to be able to preach more smoothly in this city, as well as to prevent ill-intentioned powers-that-be from maligning your image, I believe a change is needed in the upper echelons of this city.”

With a satisfied snicker, the nobleman drained the wine he had just consumed and wiped the red liquid from the corners of his mouth with his cuff.

“…… Although we, the Church of the Resurrection, are now an orthodox sect recognized by the Protoss Empire, we cannot blatantly violate the laws of the Empire or we will still be imprisoned as criminals.”

The silver-armored cleric seemed to think for a while, then slowly said.

Making a move against an orthodox noble of the empire, that is, Viscount Francis, the lord of this Lilome City, once the upper echelons of the empire launched a picket and found out, he, as a clergyman of the Church of the Resurrection that is now in a very high position, would also face a felony and be made an example of.

“Did you know? The lord’s daughter has some returning demonic traits, even though both her parents are undoubtedly human, someone with demonic traits like her would still be considered a half-demon, and would not have the right to inherit the territory. Once Viscount Francis is no more, I will quickly make her my dependent, and I will be the one to take control of this city-state at that time. I guarantee that the follow-up of this matter will be stone cold, and she won’t have half a chance to have someone from the imperial capital side to check the cause of Viscount Francis’s death.”

The nobleman raised the corners of his mouth, the flab on his face wobbling, probably rising to dirty thoughts.

A concubine in name, but in reality, that kind of filth was only worthy of becoming his plaything and slave.

“You’re such a bad guy.”

The silver-armored cleric laughed and picked up his own wine glass.

Despite the fact that dealing with this kind of noble would leave a handle on him, he didn’t have the guts to tease the cleric of their Bastard Branch.

After all, they weren’t any good.

If they really pissed off the Bastard Catholic Church, it would only take a moment for the entirety of this city-state to disappear from the world forever, and this kind of nobles were nothing more than worms as life.

“Then what do you think, my lord? Right now Viscount Francis is sailing, it is estimated that he will be coming back from the main harbor city in the east in the near days, I can provide you with his commonly used trip plan route.”

The nobleman once again poured a small half glass of wine for the cleric and turned to ask.

In the past, fornicating with a sin-filled cult like the Church of the Resurrection was a death sentence if discovered.

Nowadays, the Church of the Resurrection had been brought to the forefront instead, and there was no need for a doorway to even commission their business within the empire, they could be found in public at any time, and even the shrine in the city of Lilome had been attributed to the Church of the Resurrection.

However, the church of the resurrection has what to keep business, anyone knows in their heart. The current Protoss Empire was in a turbulent gray period, if one didn’t seize the opportunity, once the empire completely completed its transformation until it was stabilized, one might not be able to encounter such a good opportunity again.

“Then I’ll come and help you.”

The silver-armored cleric leaned back in his chair with his arms wrapped around him, the armor on his body emitting a gurgling sound.

Viscount Francis was indeed an obstacle, and it was good to sweep it away.

After all, it made sense for the weak to be killed by the strong, and Viscount Francis could only blame himself for being too weak if he would die like this.

“I will go and bring you the nautical charts that have recorded Viscount Francis’ usual routes, as well as will arrange a boat for you and the clerics, at that time you can rest assured that approaching them will not cause alarm either.”

The nobleman stood up wiggling his stomach and giggling.

Imperial policy, the Church of the Resurrection, and the unrest in the north were none of his business.

The focus was only on what would happen when he got power.

Wisdom was power, and power could rule over what was in front of it, and few could understand how sweet it tasted.

Once power and force collude, even the black can be washed into white, they are axiomatic.

The present empire is absurd and beautiful.

It’s an orgy of villains.

“I’ll go with you.”

The silver-armored cleric stood up as well, as if the meal had been enjoyed.

Naturally, the nobles were welcome to invite the silver-armored cleric to tour the mansion together.

They made their way up the corridors and staircases and soon arrived at the study located on the third floor of the mansion with a wide night view.

The calendar hanging on the wall had just been flipped to a new year not long ago, and it was now the solar calendar year 1798.

On the dark wooden desk, there were many official letters from the Imperial Capital piled up.

Most of them were notices related to some remnants of the Goddess of Fate Church, once these wanted criminals were found in the border cities, the main cities of the provinces needed to be notified immediately, and then reported to the Imperial Capital’s military department.

“It’s really ironic that in just two months’ time, the originally crowned Goddess of Fate Church would be swept out of the empire.”

The nobleman pulled open the drawer, his eyes glanced at the papers and shook his head with a slight sense of irony.

The seeming madness of all this was unintelligible to many of the populace, but those like him who understood the changes in current politics could probably see some clues.

The Protoss Empire needed the power of the Church of the Resurrection, and then, it might be time for a big cleanup with the countries to the northwest.

Despite not knowing exactly what kind of changes were happening within the empire, sweeping away the Church of the Goddess of Fate that was getting in the way must all be to pave the way for this.

Between these official letters though.

There was one red-colored warning that stood out.

It had caught the silver-armored cleric’s eye almost since a moment ago.

It was stamped with personal information about Loren, the High Priest of the Church of the Goddess of Fate in the Southern Continent, and requested that all port cities on the southern coast be extra vigilant against this figure.

Even though the turmoil in the Church of the Goddess of Fate on the northern continent might cause the Church of the Goddess of Fate on the southern continent to come to the northern continent for support.

But this possibility was slim to none.

It was unlikely that Grand Magister Loren would give up protecting his native kingdom and personally cross the sea to come to the northern continent.

Destroying Bishop Ivanoth would be enough for him.

And with the Holy Maiden of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny in the Kingdom of Etheltellan to the northwest, there wasn’t much of a threat of delving into the hinterlands of the Protoss Empire from the back southern shores.

“The Empire can be strangely cautious.”

The silver-armored cleric sighed as he picked up the circular.

Regarding Loren’s official letter, the first item read-

If the holder of the [Primordial Slate – Wind] is found, please report it to the Imperial Military Ministry at the first opportunity.

At the bottom of the official letter, there was also an image of the slate about the [Primordial Slate – Wind] and an example of the unique glow that would be triggered by the [Primordial Slate – Wind] after the bearer casts wind magic.

Since most of the time when a supreme powerhouse like Loren traveled far, he would carry out subtle camouflage, normally even if he infiltrated, he wouldn’t be able to detect him at all.

However, he had one weakness, and that was that once he used his best wind magic, then the vision that would inevitably be generated by the [Primordial Slate – Wind] would be straight to the soul, impossible to imitate, and extremely conspicuous.

Therefore, it was better to recognize a person than a slate.

If anyone was holding the [Primordial Slate – Wind], it would definitely be Loren.

“Hehe, although I heard that Grand Divine Officer Loren is a high and pure man who is unlikely to use underhanded and despicable means, but the Empire has always been extraordinarily cautious in its treatment of strong men, in case he really dares to gamble on leaving the southern continent’s native kingdoms unattended, and secretly sneaks into the Empire’s interior …… “

The nobleman chimed in.

“Genuinely, the Empire is too ignorant of Loren.”

The silver-armored cleric put down the red official letter and shook his head.

“Even if he were to come, he would be supporting the Kingdom of Etheltairan openly and honestly, rather than playing lurk deep inside the Empire to wreak havoc, much less having the guts to run to the Imperial Capital to cause trouble.”

“Unless he’s crazy enough to go and release all those Great Demons in the imperial capital’s prisons that have been held for a hundred years, then there’s a real possibility that he’ll stir up the Protoss Empire into a mess.”

The nobles were full of joking flattery along with the silver-armored cleric’s words, and they chatted a lot about this topic.

At those words, the silver-armored cleric actually frowned and thought seriously for a moment.

It had to be said that this nobleman had quite the villainous mind.

It was a pity that the group of leaderless eighth-order demons didn’t have the slightest cohesion, and essentially the threat wasn’t as great as one would think.

The silver-armored cleric quickly burst into laughter.

The nobleman’s joke just now had finally amused him.

“Dare to go to that prison? Shoot yourself in the foot!”

The nobleman said with a vicious smile as well.

The Church of the Goddess of Fate, nowadays, had been defined as a cult in the Protoss Empire.

A cult leader like Loren would not be able to escape the Empire’s judgment if he dared to come, and would definitely be sent to that prison as well!

(End of chapter)