Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 463 - 462: The Church’s Plan

Restart the laboratory in the defied Fortress.

To be honest, this idea really surprised Gawain, and he looked at Kamel in great astonishment: "I remember... we have already cleared out several laboratories in the defied Fortress."

"We moved the samples and most of the movable equipment, but I am referring to the laboratories themselves," Kamel explained his idea, "The defied Fortress has a divine power defense and alert system that is integrated with the building, and this system cannot be dismantled, but it is still usable. This system utilizes those mysterious ’otherworldly technologies’, and it can effectively resist divine power. When we were cutting the corpse of Amoen, the Giant Stag, the system had already proven its effectiveness—we can conduct experiments within the protection system."

"Will this system interfere with the judgment mechanism of ’Divine Punishment’, resulting in inaccurate final experimental results?" Gawain asked, "If it blocks the perception of the Holy Light, then even if we safely activate the Holy Light rune in the defied Fortress, it doesn’t prove that this process is safe in the real world."

A voice with strange resonance emerged from within Kamel: "You don’t need to worry about that, the defense system does not have a blocking function, it only has a protection function."

Gawain pondered for a moment, then slightly nodded: "You’re the expert in this area, I endorse your plan. But there’s still one last risk... The defied Fortress is located in the shadow realm, a world we currently cannot traverse at will. Right now, only a magic door from Gondor’s time that is a thousand years old can open the passage to the shadow realm, and we haven’t figured out why that door suddenly restarted. Thus, if the connection between the two worlds weakens during the experiment, and the magic door collapses, the experiment personnel in the shadow realm will be trapped inside forever."

This is undoubtedly a huge risk with terrible consequences—adventurers who are skilled at taking risks (and courting death) may have become accustomed to encountering ’accidents’ like magic door collapses, spatial disturbances, and ancient seals when exploring magical ruins, even treating such fatalistic accidents as some sort of "exciting romance", but for Gawain, anything unknown, unexplained by technical means, and uncontrollable must be avoided.

Kamel obviously had thought about these issues in advance, and he replied quickly: "We haven’t completely analyzed the connection patterns between the shadow realm and the real world yet, but through over a year of effort, I have repaired the monitoring system for the ’Shadow Portal’ and added an alert mechanism—by monitoring the fluctuations of the shadow layers, we can predict at least an hour in advance the collapse of the shadow passage. An hour... should be enough to evacuate the personnel."

As a senior technician surviving since Gondor’s time, Kamel has an unusual feeling for the defied Fortress compared to others, and he also understands its technical value better. He has been trying to excavate the valuable technical heritage from the severely damaged Fortress, with research on the shadow portal at the base of the Fortress being one of his ongoing projects.

Unfortunately, there are currently not enough high-end talents in the territory, and few can work with Kamel on the projects involving the defied Fortress.

Hearing Kamel’s response, Gawain gently exhaled: "Since that’s the case... then go ahead, we need to understand the secrets of Divine Arts."

...

In St. Soniel, in the Cathedral of the Holy Light, the aging Pope was listening to the latest news conveyed by the bishops.

"...The flames of war have already reached the Plains of the Holy Spirits, and the Eastern Legion may break through the Kingdom’s military defense before the harvest festival, advancing to the area around Gigantic Tree Path Entrance. Due to the war, a large number of displaced refugees are wandering on the plains... our contact with the Eastern Diocese is becoming increasingly difficult."

"In the central, western, and northern parts of the Plains of the Holy Spirits, the situation is better, as more frightened people and small aristocrats are coming to the church for solace."

"The activities of evil cult followers have not decreased, especially in the eastern part of the plains. The Oblivion Association appears frequently, coupled with the pressure of injuries and illnesses brought by the war, the local aristocrats welcome our priest teams..."

"This war is regrettable," Pope Saint Ivan III’s voice echoed in the Great Hall of Radiance. The aging Pope was deeply nestled in his chair, the sacred light illuminating his compassionate face, "Internal conflict, power struggle, and profit gain, all dragging the innocent into blood and fire... the outbreak of this war proves one point: without the guidance of the Lord, people will ultimately be trapped by folly."

After reaching this conclusion, the old Pope raised his head, looking towards a tall bishop below: "Bishop Megal, is the action to eliminate heterodoxies in the centre of the mainland progressing smoothly?"

"The faith in the central parish is becoming increasingly pure, and the counterattacks organized by the Church of Otherworldly God have all been defeated by us," Bishop Megal bowed his head respectfully, "Most have fled to the east, while others have escaped into the western mountains or fled south."

"Very well, continue your work," the Pope nodded slightly, his somewhat clouded gaze sweeping across the Great Hall of Radiance, "We must guide people on the right path. This war has already warned us—the differences in thought drag people into the whirlpool of power struggles. If there were a unified belief, the situation might not have deteriorated so severely. The Church of Otherworldly God cannot accomplish this, so we must do it."

Veronica Moen, standing beside the Pope, slightly turned her gaze, glancing at the old Pope.

"Our influence in the east is very small," the old Pope continued, "Despite our efforts over hundreds of years, the Loland Clan still refuses to allow the church to delve too deeply into the east, especially after the outbreak of war, the situation in the Eastern Diocese is deteriorating rapidly... According to recent reports, Edmund Moen’s attitude towards the church is even worse than that of the Loland father and son, he has already begun publicly expelling church priests."

Veronica slightly bowed her head: "I regret Edmund’s actions."

"This is not your responsibility, the Prince is blinded by profit and probably has lost his basic judgment," the old Pope shook his head and continued, "Given the current situation, I believe it is time to withdraw the bishop team from the Eastern Diocese."

As the Pope’s voice fell, a slight commotion immediately erupted in the Great Hall of Radiance.

The bishops looked at each other, then began to discuss in low voices. It was evident that even the Pope’s decision had surpassed their expectations. The Holy Light surrounding these bishops wavered with the commotion, mixing and entangling with the "Sea of Holy Light" rippling on the Great Hall of Radiance’s ceiling, emitting a continuous hum.

Veronica raised her head, gazing at the entangled, turbulent Holy Light. She then heard the elderly Pope beside her gently cough.

The turbulent Holy Light swiftly calmed down, regaining uniformity. The bishops’ discussions concluded. One bishop stepped forward as if representing others: "Your Eminence, after recalling the Eastern Territory bishops... what plans do you have?"

"This war... is causing suffering to innocents," the Pope lowered his eyelids, with the Holy Light surrounding him rising, merging with the Sea of Holy Light on the ceiling of the Great Hall of Radiance, imbuing his words with seemingly endless power. "Only unified faith can eliminate these blind ignorant divisions. Therefore, it’s necessary to use more direct measures to strike at the heterodoxies... the Holy Church Army will join this war."

The bishops were once again agitated, but this time their discussion was briefer, as they had faintly anticipated such a development when they first heard about the Pope’s intention to recall the Eastern bishops.

A bishop with a full head of white hair stepped forward: "Your Eminence, shall we support the Anzu Kingdom’s military?"

"The Eastern Territory Rebels have expelled our priests and are already enemies of Holy Light," the elderly Pope said in a deep and authoritative voice. "For the Lord’s cause, we must end neutrality and join the Anzu Kingdom’s military."

The Great Hall of Radiance was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Since Anzu’s founding, religious neutrality has been one of the fundamental rules of this country’s operations.

The King’s realm belongs to the King, the Pope’s realm to the Pope, the royal family has no authority to command the church’s operations, and the church cannot influence the royal family’s rule. This was a promise made together by the pioneering leaders and various church leaders after they cut through thorns and jointly emerged from the wastelands.

However, this rule is about to be broken - among all religions, the church of Holy Light with the strongest military power will participate in this civil war. The participation of the Holy Church Army means the church is no longer a thoroughly neutral organization uninvolved with the royal family’s power.

After this, regardless of the final outcome of the war, the church’s status and influence in Anzu will be completely transformed.

If it were before the civil war, Anzu’s royal family would never allow this, even if the Holy Church Army joined the war in the name of "supporting the royal family," because it means the church is reaching into places it shouldn’t, but in the current situation... Anzu Kingdom’s military is showing signs of defeat under the pressure of the Eastern Territory Rebels, and recently more unsettling news has come from the south. Those two Regent Dukes in the Silver Castle and the nation’s nominal heirs will have no choice.

Veronica, expressionless, stood beside Saint Ivan III. There was no change in her demeanor, and the bishops couldn’t discern her attitude towards this matter from the "Saint Princess" expression, nor could they guess whether there was a shadow of the royal family behind this, but at least one thing was certain:

The royal family does not oppose this.

"Your Eminence, your thoughts are far-reaching," said Bishop Megal loudly, who was tall in stature. "For the cause of the Lord, it’s time for the Holy Church Army to spread the doctrine by the sword."

Another bishop, however, spoke with a hint of concern: "However, our priests and followers who haven’t evacuated from the Eastern Diocese in time might face reprisals from the Eastern Territory Rebels."

"While recalling the bishops, arrange for the evacuation of ordinary priests and missionaries simultaneously - Edmund Moen’s hostility towards the church is the best reason for us to withdraw our priests," said the elderly Pope calmly. "As for the followers... the Lord will watch over their souls."

...

The meeting in the Great Hall of Radiance concluded.

The bishops exited in sequence, and soon, the vast hall was left with only the aged Saint Ivan III and the quietly standing Veronica Moen beside the papal throne.

After a brief silence, the Pope’s aged voice reached Veronica’s ears: "Veronica, do you also think that the Holy Church Army’s participation is a challenge to Anzu’s traditional order?"

The Saint Princess was silent for two seconds and responded calmly: "It benefits both sides - the church will be able to further develop, the Kingdom’s military will have a chance to reverse the declining situation on the battlefield, and the Regent Dukes will make the correct judgments. As I see it... the era has changed, Your Eminence, facing the changes of the times, traditional order can indeed give way."

"Indeed, the era has changed, and the new era brings new threats... but threats are not confined to just one place," the Pope sighed, with a tone filled solely with lament, "What is the situation in the south?"

"Shrouded in fog."