God-given Knight
"Velderion, why have you come here!" The Goddess of Abundance sat atop the barrier of her divine kingdom, coldly gazing down at the place in her vassal state where Velderion's consciousness resided.
As Floria's voice rang out, a palm strike imbued with her power struck the spot where Veldrian was, the same spot where Soraya had just sensed the power.
The power of the gods can influence the continent, but every time a god's power descends upon the world, a price is demanded.
Sorea knew that only a wisp of Verdrian's consciousness was there, and that Floria couldn't harm his true form, but she still stopped and watched the place where Floria and Verdrian were fighting.
Verdryen knew that this was not a good time to fight Floria. After blocking the attack, he immediately moved away from the Empire of Life and did not contact Floria in order to prevent her from finding out about Solaya's whereabouts.
Sorea stood at the city gate, watching the power of the two gods recede. She knew that Veldrian's consciousness had been following her all along, and that calling out to Him was also to attract Floria's attention.
As Sorea had suspected, Floria noticed the place immediately after sensing Veldrian's power, and was even willing to pay a price to drive him away. Although Floria's actions could be explained as maintaining her dignity, Sorea combined Veldrian's urging with the strangeness of the place, and it was not difficult to conclude that there was something wrong with this small town.
Veldrian's consciousness can exist above all vegetation. Solya knows she cannot escape His gaze, but after Veldrian is discovered, at least within the Empire of Life, he will not easily look at Solya.
Sorea walked towards the hotel with a heavy heart, returned to her room, and woke up the unsuspecting Lilith who was fast asleep.
Lilith was startled awake. Looking at the sky outside the window, she rubbed her eyes and asked groggily, "My dear lady, what's wrong?"
"How come you have no sense of vigilance at all? If I were a bad guy, you would have been in trouble long ago."
“I’m just trusting you, after all, your father is that one.” Lilith propped her head up with her hand, seemingly unconcerned.
Sorea didn't want to reopen Lilith's wounds, but she also hoped that Lilith would be more vigilant. In the end, she took a deep breath helplessly and asked, "How come you forgot about the injury on your face so quickly?"
Upon hearing this, Lilith's smile froze instantly. She had grown up surrounded by pirates, with her grandfather living right next to her. She slept without a care in the world, which led to her sister sneaking into her room and attacking her, and her father killing her grandfather.
Lilith pulled herself out of her reverie, suppressing the pain, resentment, and hatred in her eyes. She gave Solia one last, deep look, then got out of bed, knelt on one knee, placed one hand on her chest, and said earnestly, "I understand what you mean."
Sorea instructed Lilith, "I just went out. There's a problem here. Let's call Annie and leave right away."
After hearing this, Lilith prepared to go next door to wake Annie, but was stopped by Soria as she stepped out of the room: "Come back, no, we'll be discovered if we leave so early. Wait until it's a little brighter before you go to wake her."
Lilith frowned. "What happened?"
Sorea looked at Lilith, her expression completely vanishing: "I don't think you should want to know about things concerning God."
Looking at the sky outside, Solaya suddenly felt tired and unconsciously leaned against the headboard, falling asleep.
Although Sorea gave Lilith a very detailed and insightful reminder, she actually didn't have much experience going out. The reminders she gave were all things that Al and Arlene had previously given her.
"Wake up, wake up quickly." Sorea was finally woken up by Lilith, whose face turned very pale. "There's something there. I was clearly awake, but I fell asleep again after seeing you asleep."
Sorea was about to say something when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Lilith got up to open the door. Annie was outside. Before the two could speak, Annie rattled off a string of words: "Young Miss, are you alright? All the people I arranged to keep watch fell asleep in the early hours of the morning."
“We both inexplicably fell asleep too,” Lilith replied.
Just then, a knight's voice came from downstairs, "Lady Anne, the bishop of the Harvest Church has arrived."
"Understood," Anne called down, then nodded to Sorea. "I'll go downstairs first."
Sorea gestured to Lilith to follow, and then she followed Annie downstairs herself.
The goddess of fertility and abundance, or simply the goddess of abundance, has the primary authority over harvests, hence the churches formed by her followers are called the Harvest Church.
The archbishop is a mid-level official in the church, responsible for the churches of a city, and Anne needs to be on her guard to deal with him.
When Solaya went downstairs, she saw the archbishop talking warmly with Anne. Solaya clearly heard the archbishop subtly asking Anne if she had noticed anything amiss.
Sorea had originally intended to warn Anne to be wary of the Church of Abundance, but the Goddess of Abundance wields power over harvests, and the people of the continent pray to her whenever they engage in planting. Therefore, Anne immediately revealed her coma after the bishop's inquiry.
“Ms. Anne, this is a very serious matter. I will immediately call the Church’s Divine Knights to handle it. I wish you good luck.” The archbishop finished speaking, bowed, and left.
After watching him leave, Sorea stepped forward and casually offered her opinion: "Annie, the Divine Knights are an organization used by the church for law enforcement. There are no members of the Knights' Order here. We should leave as soon as possible and avoid running into them."
Anne thought about it for a moment and agreed with Sorea's point. After calling her teammates to finish breakfast, she continued on her way.
As they rode out of the city, the Holy Knights of the Harvest Church, clad in heavy armor, strode out of the city with great momentum.
Sorea and her group needed to head east, while the Divine Knights headed south. To avoid conflict, Annie and the rest of the Divine Knights waited until they were all out of the city before continuing their journey.
Ten minutes after they set off, Solaya suddenly remembered that the place where the group of divine knights went seemed to be before dawn, the place where she had sensed something was wrong. Solaya didn't have time to explain, put Lilith down, and headed in that direction.
Soleria was an excellent horsewoman, and her speed was too great for Annie, who was leading the group, to keep up with. However, she could not bear the guilt of losing a demigod blessed by the sea god in her hands. She ordered her subordinates and Lilith to stop and guard Rowan, while she chased after Soleria.
Sorea was moving very fast, but all she could see in the distance was a sea of fire.
The barren land that Solaya saw last night is now engulfed in flames, and cries for help can be heard from the houses in the village.
"Annie, let's hurry and rescue them." Sorea's pupils widened, she dismounted, drew several speed-enhancing runes on her body, and sped up to get there.
As Soraya hurried along, she prayed to the god of the sea. In an instant, the inscribed totem representing the flow of water flew toward the village.
Just as the water brought by the inscribed totem descended, the inscription was shattered by the divine knights waiting outside the village.
"Who dares to stop the Harvest Church from purging heresy from the gods?" The leading knight of the Divine Knights shouted as he attacked Sorea and Anne.
The name "God-given Knight" signifies that their power, regardless of its attribute, carries divine power.
Sorea's level was still lower than that of the leading divine knight, and she managed to withstand the attack by relying on the abundant divine power within her.
"The son of the sea god."
However, the divine power that Soraya used to defend against the attack was many times stronger than that of the Divine Knight, making her identity instantly recognizable.
Upon hearing this, Anne looked at Soleria in surprise, all her doubts about Soleria vanishing upon hearing the word "divine child."
"Annie, don't just stand there. I'll hold them off. Go and rescue them." Seeing that her identity had been exposed, Soria simply increased her divine power output, putting the knights of the gods at a complete disadvantage.
Anne didn't hesitate. She didn't believe that everyone inside was a heretic. After hearing Soraya's words, she immediately went to put out the fire.
Without the interference of the Divine Knight, the flames were quickly extinguished by Annie.
“Even if you are a divine child, obstructing the God-given Knights is an offense against my lord. My lord will certainly seek clarification from the God of the Sea regarding your actions.” The captain of the God-given Knights’ gaze was hostile.
Sorea scoffed at his words: "Your goddess was just severely injured and stripped of some of her power by my father. If she's so capable, tell her to go find my father." With that, she helped Anne treat the wounded.
The transfer of power is a common occurrence among gods, but the power of a righteous god usually only increases after defeating an evil god and rarely decreases. The reduction of power is taboo for gods, and Soraya's words are undoubtedly a slap in the face to Floria.
The divinely inspired knight was stunned by Solaya's words. Anne wished she could faint like the people on the ground so she wouldn't hear such blasphemous words. There were some things Solaya, as a divine being, could say directly, but for others to hear them was an extreme blasphemy against the gods.
"Get out of here right now!" Sorea said with disgust when she saw the God-given Knight standing in her way.
The God-given Knight was usually extremely proud, but when facing Soraya, the Goddess, and having overheard a taboo about the gods, he dared not say another word and immediately left.
“Your Highness, Divine Child…” Anne called out to Solaya hesitantly, her hands still moving.
Sorea understood Anne's thoughts and comforted her, "It's alright, I'm sure you'll listen to me. In front of outsiders, just call me Miss."
Just as Anne and Soria were talking, a villager on the ground, still dazed, shouted loudly, "I'm willing to give everything to worship the Goddess of Fertility, please don't harm my child!"
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