The two attendants who were leading the way looked at each other in bewilderment. Phil Gray also stopped and gestured for them not to disturb the people in the corridor.
“The territory of the Dawn Cult is already so large now, and with the territories of these other churches, tsk tsk, I'm afraid the continent of Ver will only be monotheistic in the future,” a female voice said in a sarcastic tone.
"Shh-"
The voice was lowered, but it was still heard very clearly by these believers who were deeply favored by the gods.
“We’ve all seen what the Church of Dawn has done over the years. They’re always boasting that they’re the number one church on the continent of Ver. Of course, we don’t deny their strength, but it’s really unbecoming of a great church to bully weaker churches with their strength,” a male voice added.
“Well… but Dawn has been quite good to our church. Last year, on our Pope’s birthday, they even sent a Pegasus to us. We also have some regular contact, and their attitude has been fairly good.” Someone said hesitantly.
"That's because your church is the Church of Life. Everyone gets hurt sometimes. Of course, Dawn's main goal is to win you over. People like us can only be slaughtered. My sister was forcibly kidnapped by a district bishop of Dawn, and there's still no news of her. I went to their elders to reason with them, but I was beaten half to death. If it weren't for my Pope humbly pleading for me, I'd probably be a dead man keeping their secret. And these bullies aren't isolated cases in Dawn. For a long time, the reputation of the First Church has corrupted their entire sect," the man said indignantly.
Phil Gray frowned, but continued listening.
"Then why did you come to participate in the Dawn God Cult's alliance meeting?" a member of the Church of Life asked curiously.
"How dare we not come?" the man sneered.
"How pitiful! My sect has had a similar experience. Guided by the goddess, our sect has always aimed to explore ourselves and help others, never getting involved in any disputes. We only hope to bring everyone a beautiful dream. But Dawn is wary of us and always tries to smear us in various situations. This time, if we don't come and directly state our position, they will definitely classify us as a cult and take the opportunity to destroy us in the name of eradicating cults." The woman's voice appeared again, sounding like she was about to cry, and she sounded extremely pitiful.
“That’s true. These days, if the Dawn doesn’t like someone, they just put them on the list of cults and then openly expand their territory. This pope really has some tricks up his sleeve. The key is that we have no choice but to stand on their side and contribute our time and money,” the man remarked.
"It shouldn't be that bad. The Plague Controllers cruelly murdered the people of an entire city of Dawn, which is why Dawn decided to eradicate them. Besides, the Blood Calamity and other sects have done so many evil deeds over the years that it's not an exaggeration to label them as cults," a member of the Church of Life said with some disagreement.
"Alright, alright, I dare not say anything more. After all, the situation of Dawn's dominance is now settled, and it will be of no use for us to say anything."
"That's enough, that's enough." The woman from the Dream God Cult sighed, her voice sounding somewhat powerless.
"Disbanded? After smearing my Dawn Cult, you think you can just disband like this?"
A sharp, mocking voice suddenly rang out, startling the group.
Phil Gray stepped off the stairs and onto the corridor, where he could see the faces of the people.
The woman's eyes darted around, and a hint of panic appeared on her face. The light-colored bubble pattern on her robe revealed her identity—a follower of the Dream God Cult.
The follower of the Church of Life smiled slightly at Phil Gray. Although he did not say anything to discredit Dawn, the content of their conversation still made him somewhat embarrassed.
The man who had been vehemently accusing Chenxi looked away, appearing to be "enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens," as if he had immense resentment but was forced to submit due to Chenxi's authority.
He wore a brown cloak adorned with three colorful feathers on his shoulders, and his eyebrows and eyes were painted with pale blue fluorescent patterns. Phil Gray recognized the man from the books he had read before; he was from a church in the northernmost part of the Eastern Continent. It was a small church that worshipped the god of the wilderness, and most of its believers lived in the wilderness with wild beasts and did not usually associate with other churches.
"You said a district bishop from Dawn kidnapped your sister. Which bishop was it? And which elder stopped you?" Phil Gray questioned the man, each word distinct, his usual smile gone. "Anyone can make up rumors without concrete evidence."
"And then there's the Dream Cult. Our cult believed you were genuinely here to cooperate, and we didn't even pursue the matter of you maliciously creating nightmare monsters to wreak havoc on the Dark Night Cult. We never expected you to take this opportunity to smear us. And think back to your actions in Duer City, where you tried to incite a religious war. You are the ones with malicious intentions. I strongly suspect that your cult is colluding with those cults," Phil Gray said coldly.
"Duer City? Isn't that within my church's jurisdiction?" A follower of the Church of Life couldn't help but interject.
“Yes, I spent some time there before. During that time, the followers of the Dream Cult first helped the Crimson Calamity switch the Flower of Life in Duer City, and then spread illusions through a love book, causing several female followers to be trapped in dreams forever,” Phil Gray explained.
The expression of the Life Church follower changed instantly. He glared at the woman fiercely. He was a divine revelation level person and was in charge of a city within the Life Church's jurisdiction. Although he was far from Duer City, he had heard about what had happened there. He just didn't expect that the Dream God Church was involved.
If he had known this would happen, he would never have spoken to the people from the Dream Cult.
"You just said you need evidence, so how can you prove that what you said about Duer City and the Dark Night Cult area is true?"
The woman's eyes flashed, and she hurriedly retorted.
“I don’t know about Duer City, but I know perfectly well what you, the Dream Cult, did in my Dark Night. I know perfectly well what the tens of thousands of residents of Lunsi Port did. Even the decline of my Dark Night Cult is inextricably linked to you. I can testify for Dawn.” A door in the corridor suddenly opened, and Bishop Eugene slowly walked out. He nodded slightly to Phil Gray and then looked at the followers of the Dream Cult, his eyes filled with resentment.
The disappearance of the Children of Night and the rise of the Goddess of Dreams, though a struggle between gods, are not far removed from the lives of mortals like themselves. Believers worship the gods, rely on their protection, and fight for them.
Over the years, the Dream Cult has suppressed them both openly and covertly.
"You..." The woman's face paled, then she revealed a sinister smile. "You're all in cahoots with Dawn, I've seen through you. You can even call white black. It seems Dawn has secretly won over quite a few churches. Now, I, Dream, concede defeat, but before I leave, I hope you all will think about how to treat Dawn in the future. Treating them as honored guests is not enough; I'm afraid we'll have to give up our territory! Qiaoxi, let's go."
The "people" she was referring to were not just those in the corridor. The chosen ones were sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, and the representatives of each church in the room could hear everything that happened in the corridor clearly. What seemed like a complaint about Dawn's actions to a chosen one was actually a smear campaign against Dawn to all the churches.
Phil Gray's face darkened. It seemed that this was the purpose of the Dream Cult: to deliberately join the Dawn's Covenant and use this opportunity to secretly sow discord between the Dawn and other churches. Although they would not completely believe the Dream Cult's words, they would still harbor resentment towards the Dawn.
As the members of the Dream God Cult and the Wilderness Church left one after another, several representatives from lesser-known small churches also left trembling with fear.
"It seems the Dream God Cult has already won over these smaller churches, deliberately adopting a non-cooperative attitude to provoke other churches to follow suit," Eli clicked his tongue.
“Perhaps we’ll be facing even more enemies. If we break ties with them now, the Dream Cult will definitely have another move.” Phil Gray frowned and let out a long sigh.
Eli crossed his arms and softly comforted her, "Let Pope Dawn worry about these things. How can we, insignificant people, control the war?"
"That's true."
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