"In here... Master, is this the chapel? Wait, that is..."
Gaspare, who was marveling at the space around him, suddenly focused his eyes on a towering white statue in the center of the huge hall. When the statue of the goddess with closed eyes, long hair, a veil on her body, and a round mirror in her hand appeared in Gaspare's eyes, his gaze became fixed.
"Is this statue of the Virgin Mary? No, it's a little too young. No statue of the Virgin Mary has this kind of demeanor, and there's no mirror. This is not the Virgin Mary... This is a foreign god! Sister Vanya, this could be a pagan temple of a foreign god!"
Gaspare said this to Vanya beside him with a serious expression, but when he looked at Vanya, he saw that Vanya was standing there in a daze, her eyes fixed on the statue in the distance, her pupils slightly dilated, revealing an obvious look of surprise.
"Sister Vanya, do you know what statue of alien god that is? Let's destroy it now!" Gaspare asked directly when he saw Vanya in front of him. After hearing Gaspare's words, Vanya was slightly startled, and then she immediately reacted, shifting her gaze away from the statue in front of her and looking at Gaspare to speak.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what kind of idol that is. The secret stories and scriptures I've read before have never described such a shape." Vanya said this, and then she seemed to think for a while before continuing to speak.
"But don't get excited, Father Gaspare. I think that since the architectural style here is so similar to that of the Holy Church, it is unlikely that this is a foreign god. It could be an early-style statue of the Virgin Mary, or a statue of the Virgin Mary that has been alienated by heretics."
"An early Madonna statue...a Madonna statue that has been alienated by heretics?" Listening to Vanya's words, Gaspare's eyes showed a hint of confusion. He was indeed not as professional as Vanya in this field of religious history and secret history. Since Vanya had put forward her own point of view, she had no intention of refutation.
"Then, can we confirm whether it is a heretical statue of the Virgin Mary or an early statue of the Virgin Mary? If it is a heretical statue, then it needs to be destroyed..."
"There is no definite method yet, but even if it is a heresy... or even a pagan idol, we cannot destroy it easily, because it may become an important part of the queen's ceremony." Vanya said to Gaspare, and Gaspare became more confused after listening to Vanya's words.
"Ritual? What ritual?"
"It's a consecration ceremony... In the secret world outside the Holy Church, it's also called an idol replacement ceremony, which means idol replacement." Vanya said to Gaspare and continued to explain.
"The Holy Church will not simply destroy the temples of pagans or even the churches that the Holy Church has lost and found in ancient times but are too different from today. Instead, it will evaluate them and try to transform them into the Holy Church's current churches. The most important part of this transformation is the sanctification ceremony.
"A consecration ceremony is a medium-sized ceremony that can modify the meaning and symbolism of a religious site and establish a connection with new symbols. For pagan temples, this ceremony can free them from the control of pagans and bathe them in the glory of the Lord. For pagan churches and lost relics of holy religions, this ceremony can restore lost temples to a new state.
"This kind of ritual is often used by the Holy Church when dealing with religious ceremonies outside of its own. The key to this ritual involves the handling of the main symbols in the religious ceremonies. That statue is obviously the main symbol here, so we can't touch it casually now."
With a serious look, Vanya said this to Gaspare. Listening to Vanya's words, Gaspare couldn't help but think about his response.
"The sanctification ceremony? I have heard of it before. For some valuable ritual sites, the Holy Church does use this method to naturalize them. Unfortunately, when I was in the Knights, I encountered some worthless cult shrines, which were directly destroyed. I have never witnessed this ceremony with my own eyes...
"Sister Vanya, are you saying that this church needs to be consecrated? So we can't move around?"
"Yes, I can feel that this place has great significance. It is definitely worthy of a consecration ceremony to return it to the light of the Lord. This will become another important gospel site of the Holy Church in Prit. If possible, I even want to hold this ceremony myself." Looking at the huge chapel in front of her, Vanya said with a hint of expectation. Listening to Vanya's words, Gaspare couldn't help but ask again.
"Sister Vanya, you said... we can't have the consecration ceremony now?"
"Well, I also saw the existence of the sanctification ceremony in the scriptures, but I don't know the specific way it is held. We cannot hold this ceremony alone. It requires professional knowledge, a lot of arrangements and personnel participation, and even the ceremony takes a long time.
"But all of this is not a problem. After we continue to investigate this place, I will make a report to Divian explaining the situation here and ask them to send professionals over to evaluate this place and hold a ceremony. We will see if we can participate depending on the situation."
Vanya responded to Gaspare's words like this, and Gaspare couldn't help but nodded silently after listening to Vanya's words.
"Sister Vanya, you are right. Regardless of whether this place was once a pagan or heretical temple, whether this statue belongs to the Virgin Mary or not, after we take over this place, it will be a temple of the Holy Church, and this statue will ultimately belong to the Virgin Mary.
"Let's continue exploring here without further delay. Sister Vanya, let's inform Tivian of the situation here as soon as possible and ask them to send someone over. Before they arrive, we must also protect this place."
"Hmm..." Listening to Gaspare's words, Vanya nodded seriously, and then she led people to explore the church in front of them.
But out of their sight, under a stone beam somewhere above the chapel, a small black bat was hanging upside down, silently watching the situation below.
At the same time, outside the church, above the huge round dome, the figures of Barard and Gesmore were standing there, using their own methods to monitor the situation below.
Looking at those Radiant Cultists who had reached their target one step ahead, there was a hint of sharp coldness in Board's eyes, and a cloud of blood mist gathered in his hands. However, after thinking it over again and again, Board finally breathed a sigh of relief and dispersed the blood mist in his hands, but the coldness in his eyes showed no sign of disappearing.
…
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