Seven Terry knew that there was no turning back.
And he really can't find a better way than now.
He had read every leaflet that the Cecil people sent into the city, and also heard the news circulating in the outer city. He knew that the Cecil people were promoting a vague and almost heretical idea. Frankly speaking, he is also very resistant to these things. Having devoted himself to the God of Holy Light for half his life, he cannot accept the Cecil people's statement that "the Holy Light comes from the heart" .
But he cannot accept the current practice of the Holy Light Church, which uses faith as a means to make money and uses the Holy Light as a source of violence.
He accepted Amber's invitation and then learned more about what he needed to do.
"We can find ways to interfere with the guards in the chapel area and close the defense of the magical array, but the road to the cathedral is not under our control," said this middle-aged low-level priest Talking about the situation inside the church area, "The Discipline Monks and the Holy See Knights guard all the doors. They only take orders from the cathedral."
"How effective are those Discipline Monks and Holy See Knights in fighting? Do you think they will fight to the death? Protect the cathedral? "
"...Discipline monks are more skilled in faith judgment and discipline magic, and are not strong in frontal combat. As for the Holy See Knights...they were originally the strongest defenders of Luan Cathedral. Strength, but Bishop Lemont took away all the high-level knights last time, and a large number of remaining middle-level and low-level knights died in many battles while assisting the noble army in fighting. Now the remaining combat power is probably less than 20%. "Seven Terry said carefully, "It's just that... they are still fatal to ordinary people."
"Don't worry about this, there will be other forces coming to help you. Just tell me the route map and defense situation of the church area."
"Okay"
After handing over this most crucial information, Severn? Li felt that he suddenly relaxed, and let out a sigh of relief as if he had completed a major mission. Amber looked at the fatigue accumulated in the middle-aged priest's brows for many days, and suddenly asked casually: "If I'm not wrong, the power of the Holy Light of many priests in the church district should have declined to varying degrees..."
Seven Terry suddenly looked surprised: "Why are you Will you know?"
"At the heresy trial, the effects of magic cannot be deceived," Amber shook his head slightly, "Although I guess there is a big problem with the magic used to identify heretics. , maybe it can make most ordinary people show signs of wavering in their faith, but for you clergy who should be very pious in theory... its effect should not be so obvious. I observed each of you carefully at that time. Your expressions, shakes, surprises, and panic are all genuine."
Seven Terry fell silent, and the two low-level priests beside him also lowered their heads with complicated expressions. After a few seconds of silence, one of the low-levelThe priest finally spoke: "...you have a very strong sense of observation."
"At least one-third of the clergy have experienced varying degrees of strength loss," Severn Terry continued, "The most serious ones even involve a regression in class. In fact, to be honest, it is not uncommon for clergy to have their strength decline due to their own temporary confusion. However, this scale of faith shaken is probably the first time since the establishment of Luan Cathedral... "
Amber then asked: "When did more people begin to lose strength?"
"Since the introduction of the collection of atonement and the suppression of aliens from the Holy Spirit Plains? After God’s command of faith, my power of Holy Light has stagnated. There are many people in the church district who are in a similar situation to me. We cannot accept this kind of thing that is contrary to the teachings of Holy Light.”
< p>Amber blinked and whispered thoughtfully: "It seems so..."As Gawain once speculated, what happened to Wright was not a special case.
Although the recent radical behavior of the Holy Light Church has amassed a huge amount of wealth and rapidly increased the strength of the church, on the other hand, it has also led to the emergence of low-level priests who maintain conscience within the church. The separation of the teachings of the Holy Light Canon and the actual behavior of the church has created more and more low-level priests like Wright whose beliefs are wavering, and as time goes by, this situation will only become more and more serious...
Is the Holy Light Church really not aware of the collapse happening at the bottom? Or... even if they realize it, they still have reasons for doing this. Even if they risk splitting the church and causing some clergy to abandon their faith, they still have to use this method of drinking poison to quench their thirst to make the church develop rapidly in a short period of time?
Amber thought hard and found that she really couldn’t figure it out, so she simply shook her head and put the problem behind her mind for the time being - anyway, she was just here to collect intelligence and do damage, and she really wanted to analyze these things. Troublesome things are what the old Zongzi in the rear area is good at. When the time comes, just tell the other party about the situation and let him worry about it.
Seven Terry didn't hear Amber's soliloquy clearly and asked curiously: "What did you just say?"
"Nothing," Amber waved his hand. "Let's just settle this matter. Let's wait until the dust has settled."
Seven Terry nodded slightly, but before getting up and leaving, he suddenly seemed to think of one more thing. : "I think I should remind you of something - although I don't know what kind of extraordinary power you have prepared, you must be careful about Fran Béran. I think his condition is abnormal."
"France Braun?" Amber raised her eyebrows, "According to the intelligence, he should only be a peak middle-level priest. If all the high-level powerful men in the Southern Church had not been wiped out, he would never have been able to become the bishop. ”
“He is indeed an intermediate level, but he has now mastered the core magic array of the cathedral, and his strength may not be so easy to judge."France Béran said with a serious face, "And since the heresy trial four days ago, he has locked himself in the cathedral and has not shown up once. Even the leader of the Discipline Monks has not been given the opportunity to meet. This is not normal. I prayed to the Lord, and the message returned by the Holy Light was full of disturbing visions and whistling sounds. I could feel that a powerful force was gathering in the cathedral, much like the Holy Light, but there was something else mixed in it. Stuff...all in all, must be treated with care. "
"...Oh my god, I'm afraid this is not a trick to break through the formation..."
France Terry didn't hear clearly: "What? "
"Don't worry," Amber quickly waved her hand, "I will report the situation to my superiors. Don't worry, this operation is very stable. "
No matter what Fran Béran is doing in the cathedral, Cecil has enough power to suppress him. At worst, he will let the team cause trouble in the outer city, and then Byron and Philip Over there, the artillery fire is aimed directly at the inner city, and in front of a work of art of sufficient magnitude, it is useless even if you are the protagonist who breaks through on the battlefield - the "formation" will be blown up for you...
A little amber He didn't even realize that his way of thinking had been seriously affected by Gawain unknowingly...
"Then I will go back," Saiwen Te said after talking about the matter. Li stood up and gave Amber the courtesy of a priest, "You may be discovered if you leave the church area for a long time. "
Amber nodded, but just when the three priests were about to walk to the door, she suddenly stopped them from behind: "About your declining power of Holy Light... Sisi I have a solution. "
In order to ensure that the "internal agents" in the church district were more reliable, she decided to reveal some "bait" in advance.
Seven Terry stopped immediately, With an expression of disbelief on his face: "Are you serious? ”
The decline in strength caused by the wavering of faith has always been an unsolvable phenomenon for clergy. Basically, it can only be cured by the passage of time or self-breakthrough, and most people will not be able to do so in their lifetime. Healing can only maintain a state of stagnant magical power at best, but those Cecil people... actually have a way?
"It wasn't very clear in those leaflets, but Wright did. A new path to the Holy Light has been found, and this path... everyone has the opportunity to try. "
Seven Terry's eyes became excited. Nothing would make a devout Holy Light believer more tempted than the opportunity to get close to the Holy Light again: "What are the conditions required? "
Hubo thought for a moment and looked at the slightly thin bodies of the three priests in front of him with uncertainty: "Can you carry a forty-pound war hammer? "
The three priests looked at each other in confusion: "...Huh? ”
“In short, let’s do some physical exercise first,” Amber touched her smooth chin and said thoughtfully, “Then exercise her ability to resist blows and run eight kilometers with a heavy load every day.If you move bricks and stuff here, you should be able to become a qualified field priest in a few months..."
After the three confused priests left, the temporary stronghold became quiet for a while.
A military intelligence officer had an expression of admiration - of course not admiring Amber for tricking the three priests into exercising in the end, but admiring what his boss had said to Severn Terry before. He said: "Boss, your ability to bluff people has not deteriorated. "
Hubo waved his hand nonchalantly: "When did I ever regress? It's just not of use in Cecil City. "
As a nicknamed "Tavern Queen", she was once well-known in the circles of illegal mercenaries and adventurers in the southern border. She led a large group of gangsters to bully the "Big Sister", Amber. How could he not have a good eloquence? How could he not have the ability to talk dead people back to life?
Living in the most barbaric and backward border of the Ansu Kingdom, dealing with all kinds of people all day long, this half The elf thief is very good at observing people's emotions and controlling people's hearts. Without this ability, it would be impossible for her to completely understand the situation of the people at the bottom of Lu'an City in a short period of time and create such a large-scale destructive operation.
Normally, it's just not needed.
"But having said that, boss, what you just said really has a lot of the Duke in it -"
< p>"Nonsense, I usually take the time to take a nap when I have nothing to do. How can I have time to think about such boring things? Amber rolled her eyes, "Many of them are what Gawain...the Duke usually said. I'll just copy them based on the situation." But you can’t imitate me mechanically. Some of the words you say need to be targeted at the right person, like the priest today. He is from a commoner, has a conscience, understands the suffering of the common people, and can see clearly the darkness of the Holy Light Church. He is here to ask for a solution. There is a real way out, so what I said to him will work, but if it is another person, the same words may be bad...""We understand, we understand," the subordinate They nodded repeatedly, and then one of them asked, "Then... should we contact the rear? "
Hubo hummed and looked at the tall, thin man standing in the corner of the room: "Slim, turn on the magic network communicator, internal channel 8." Gray Wolf, go and guard outside the door. ”
The miniaturized and specially made magic network communicator was placed on the table. With a slight buzzing sound, this complex and sophisticated magic machine was activated. Amber waited patiently for a moment, and then Seeing the crystal on the top of the communicator blooming with soft light, a holographic projection quickly formed above the crystal.
That was Gawain's face.
"The oil in the pot. It's already boiling." Amber looked at the holographic projection and bared his teeth, "You can lift the table. "
Gawain in the holographic projection nodded: "Is everything going well? "
"Development is as planned, but some situations need to be reported..."
Gao WenHe listened quietly to what Amber reported and kept everything in mind. After the report was over, he breathed out slightly and looked at the communicator in front of him: "I understand, we will make arrangements in advance here. Where are you?" Pay attention to your safety."
Amber in the projection waved his hands impatiently: "Don't worry, don't worry, I won't run if I encounter a real situation, I'm such a coward..."
......
Gawain looked helplessly at this cowardly fake, and shook his head slightly to close the communication.
Then he raised his head and looked at another Magic Network communication device in the study.
Over that device, an outdoor scene was emerging -
Countless people gathered in an open field, illuminated by the torches in people's hands and the distant magic crystal lights. In this assembly hall under the night, people's angry slogans and countless noisy voices can be heard in the picture. Uniformed security team members maintain order at the scene, while several people wearing thick white armor are surrounded by brilliant lights. The holy light, the thick iron-shelled scripture hanging from an iron chain around his waist, and the unusually tall white knight stood in the center of the crowd, speaking loudly to everyone - they were the most eye-catching people in the picture.
The voice of the witch Jipri came from outside the screen: "...This is the new city of Tanzania, and the excavation work is still continuing. Thirty minutes ago, the engineers found a new cellar...
p>"...If Viscount Andrew hadn't built the new city here, I'm afraid these things would have continued to be sealed in dust...
"...According to the testimony of witnesses, these cellars are where the Holy Light Church was built. One of the secret vaults set up in the south. We have discovered a large number of gold and silver artifacts in the cellar, all of which are the property of believers. Some of them are voluntary donations from believers, and a large part of them are obtained by the church through atonement money, heresy trials, confiscation of civilian property, and embezzlement. According to the account books and records we previously searched from nearby churches, the local church originally promised that these properties would be used to repair statues and churches, distribute disaster relief materials, and raise orphans, but in fact 90% of them were used. All the above have become the private property of the church...
"Mr. Wright, the leader of the White Knights, said that he had never seen such a shameless thing..."
After a while, Jipri's The voice suddenly sounded again: "Emergency news, Mr. Daedalus, the governor of Hosman City, has just announced a shocking news. The staff of the Government Affairs Department discovered a large number of The bones... are suspected to be orphans whose whereabouts have been unknown in the Hosman area in the past years..."
The crowd on the projection screen became commotion, and excited citizens gathered around the white knight, while the white knight stood tall He raised the heavy power hammer in his hand and shouted the slogan of expelling the old church.
Gawain stood up and stepped forward to turn off the projection equipment. Behind him, Pitman's voice came slowly: "It's really scary. ”
Gawain turned around and looked at this man who had always been cynical and shameless.The shameless little old man wandering around the territory had a hint of ridicule on his face: "Do you also find something scary?"
Pitman twirled his beard and said calmly: "Of course, I'm afraid. There are so many things, otherwise who do you think has cultivated Amber's adaptable character?"
Gawain glanced at Pitman: "Then what are you afraid of now?"
"Man, an angry crowd is a scary thing," Pittman shrugged. "But I think you're scarier than that - because it's all your guidance. You're using a different Due to the extraordinary strength and the power of guns, the effect of this thing... is much more terrifying than what you originally described."
"Power is neither good nor bad, the key depends on where it is used and how to deal with it. People who use the Holy Light to do evil sometimes have to use some extreme means," Gawain said calmly, and then his face became slightly gloomy, "Especially when I knew that the bones of children were found in those facilities... I just I know that no matter how I deal with those gangsters, it will never be too much."
Pitman sighed: "Adopting orphans and brainwashing them from an early age is a common method used by various churches to cultivate die-hard combat power. It can also improve your reputation, but not all children are compatible with magical arts. Some people just don't have any spiritual talent. Even if they use potions and rituals to catalyze it, it will be useless. If these are not put to use, they will consume resources. , and have already seen some of the 'bad seeds' of the dark inside... No church has clean hands."
"This was not the case at all in the churches seven hundred years ago," Gawain shook his head. The priests and knights who charged against the aberrations back then probably never imagined that their successors would degenerate like this."
Pittman chuckled: "You thought you would wake up. Did you see that the aberrations had already reached the door of the tomb, and that the descendants had lost your shield?"
Gawain immediately glared at the little old man: "...I'm going to tell you what's wrong with you? You're in a hurry."
Then he coughed twice and brought the topic back on track: "Compared with this, what do you think about the abnormality of Fran Béran mentioned in the Amber Report? What do you think? Is the bishop locking himself in the cathedral to gain strength in some way to strengthen himself?"
"...I don't think he can change by gaining strength or something like that. Strong, this is the method used by wizards and warlocks, but there is definitely something wrong with the situation. It is impossible for a normal bishop to lock himself in the church and do nothing in that situation. He must either continue to save the situation or simply run away. , or run out and suppress them brutally. In short, he should do something."
Gao Wen shook his head slightly: "In my initial plan, Fran Braun should take certain measures at this stage. It was such a desperate move, but I didn’t expect that he would lock himself in the church and do nothing. To be honest... this kind of messed up my arrangement a little bit."
Pitman thought about it after a moment. , which is quite important in the field of theologyThe little old man who knew some knowledge spoke: "Perhaps... he is trying to communicate with the gods and pray for unimaginable power to help him get through the desperate situation in front of him."
"Could it be a descendant of God?" Gawain suddenly frowned, "Can he perform divine surrender?"
"...It's just because it's impossible, so I can't figure it out. Divine surrender requires a high price, and there are strict requirements. The threshold - only the legendary strong ones can support the divine descent without dying. High-level strong men can perform a short-term divine descent after paying the price of their lives and meeting certain conditions. Priests with lower levels than this... don't even have the ability to communicate with divine will. No, his words couldn’t reach the ears of his gods. Who did he ask to surrender?”
Gawain thought about it, and after two minutes, he broke the silence: “In short, it seems that More 'insurance' must be arranged in the next step. We have reached this step and there must be no mistakes."
Not everyone can understand Gao Wen's persistence in this matter. And caution, in this matter, only he himself knows——
In this world where extraordinary power exists and society is stagnant, this will be the first resistance of ordinary people against extraordinary people.
Perhaps there have been farmers who could not bear to be bullied and raised pitchforks against the knights, and there have been innocent people who were condemned as heretics and cursed loudly at the priests who judged them, but those occasional, powerless, The resistance that could not stir up the slightest ripple was different from this time.
This time, it was the first time that ordinary people who had been deceived and oppressed for a long time rebelled as a group against the priests as another group.
The world has waited for thousands of years for this first time, and if it fails, no one knows how long it will have to wait for the second time.
So, it cannot fail.