Chapter 305 The Empire of Light
On a massive planet approximately 9 light-years from the continent where Holy Spirit City is located.
Because most of the planets in this world were pieced together from outstanding planes from various realms, the situation on this continent is exceptionally complex.
Its area is more than ten times that of the novice continent, with dozens of empires standing side by side, and more than a hundred gods at the Upper God level alone.
Originally, each empire worshipped different gods, including deities from various pantheons such as Holy Light, Wind, and Fire.
However, because the world was completely sealed, the temples in various empires have not received a response from the gods for countless years, and the faith of the creatures on the continent has become weaker and weaker, and has been replaced by some powerful superior gods.
Today, most of the temples have been demolished, and those that remain are scattered in remote corners and largely ignored.
At this moment, in a bustling city of the Bright Empire.
"Great Lord of Light, may your glory never fade."
An elderly man, dressed in a divine robe and slightly hunched over, bowed to a stone statue before him, then took out an ancient scroll that glowed with a faint white light and began to pray devoutly:
"The Holy Lord created the world..."
Below, several thin, patched-up boys with dirty faces picked up a thick handwritten book and began to read along.
"The Holy Lord created..."
Bang!
Before he could finish reciting the second line, the temple's dilapidated wooden door was suddenly kicked open, and a group of soldiers in fine armor escorted a man dressed as a nobleman as he entered.
"Who dares to blaspheme the Temple of Holy Light? Aren't you afraid of divine punishment?!"
The priest's face changed drastically, and he roared at the newcomer.
"Pfft... divine punishment?"
The leading nobleman scoffed: "Murak, I think you're getting senile. Look at this place of yours, it's like a dilapidated building in a slum, shabby and run-down, even the statues are made from stones picked up from the roadside. Aside from that ancient book in your hand imbued with the magic of 'Eternity,' it hardly resembles a temple."
"Hahaha!" The soldiers next to him also burst into laughter.
"As long as my heart is sincere, the ground beneath my feet is a temple. What do the great Holy Lord care about such trivial matters? You vulgar people are not worthy of the Holy Light's favor. Get out."
The priest did not back down at all.
He carefully put down the ancient scroll in his hand, rolled up his sleeves, picked up an iron rod from beside his feet, and looked ready to fight to the death.
Those skinny boys somehow produced a few bricks and stood behind the priest with a mixture of fear and determination.
"Hmph, stubborn fools. Those ancient evil gods have abandoned us. Now, only the emperor of the empire, the great His Majesty Saint Light, is the only god."
Seeing this, the nobleman snorted coldly: "To tell you the truth, His Majesty Saint Light has personally ordered that from this day forward, there shall be no evil god temples within the territory of the Bright Empire. Considering your age, here is 100 silver coins. If you know what's good for you, sign the contract and take the money and leave. Otherwise, I'll have to help you save face."
"Ignorant misguided one, if it weren't for the great Holy Lord of Light personally leading the Holy Light pantheon in a desperate battle against the abyss, how could we have survived to this day? That Saint Light who dares to distort history, will have to step over my dead body first!"
The priest's eyes widened in anger, and the veins on his hands, gripping the iron bar, bulged.
"Nonsense."
The nobleman shook his head and said calmly, "Arrest them, then smash this place up."
"Yes, sir."
Courage cannot make up for the gap in strength.
Several well-equipped soldiers stepped forward, easily knocking the iron bar from the priest's hand with a single sword stroke, and then tied the men up and dragged them aside.
Then, he imbued his sword with fighting spirit and aimed it at the stone statue above, ready to strike it down.
"Stop!" the priest struggled desperately.
Since losing the favor of the gods, these believers who gained power through faith have also lost their magic one after another. By his generation, they could no longer even defeat ordinary soldiers.
"Wha...what's going on?!"
Just as the sword energy was about to be unleashed, the soldier suddenly trembled, pointing at the stone statue with a look of fear on his face, and said, "It...it's moving!"
"What!"
Everyone instinctively looked in the direction he was pointing.
Suddenly, the roughly carved stone statue emitted a dazzling golden light, and its blurry face gradually became angular, revealing the image of a young man.
His left eye shone with golden light, while his right eye was dark and deep. A thick scroll floated in his hand, with three large divine characters engraved on it.
“The Book of Genesis…this is the Book of Genesis! The great Lord of Light has returned. I knew that the Holy Light would shine on the earth once more.”
The priest broke free of his restraints and rushed forward with a fanatical expression, kneeling and praying incessantly. Several thin boys behind him followed suit and knelt down as well.
"That's impossible!"
The soldiers, including the noblemen, took several steps back, looking on incredulously.
"Weren't the gods long gone? How could there be a miracle? This must be an illusion... Yes, an illusion! Only the great Emperor Saint Light is the sole god of the Light Empire."
The nobleman's eyes hardened, and he drew his sword, preparing to personally destroy the statue.
Just then, space above the statue suddenly tore open, and a beautiful woman with a heroic spirit, wearing milky white armor, stepped out, her twelve wings gently fluttering behind her.
It was Losia who came to preach on Jiang Yan's orders.
"Is this the Temple of Holy Light?"
Losia was slightly taken aback by the dilapidated state of her surroundings. She had just sensed the only place of holy light and faith on this planet and teleported here, but she hadn't expected it to be in such a state of ruin.
"You are...you are..."
The priest, seeing the angel suddenly appear, quickly flipped through the ancient scroll in his hand to a certain page, comparing it with the illustrations on it. His face flushed red, and he exclaimed with great excitement, "Are you the legendary Holy War Angel, Her Majesty Losia, the controller of war and punishment, the guardian of the Eternal Holy Prison, and the unparalleled warrior?"
"Huh, they actually know me... Oh, no wonder, it's a sacred text from the First Heaven era."
Losia glanced at the ancient scroll in the other person's hand and suddenly realized, "So, you're the bishop of this temple? How did it get so dilapidated?"
"Your Excellency Archangel, since this place lost contact with the gods, more and more people have gone astray, forgotten their faith in the Holy Light, and now, even the temple is reduced to this one."
The priest said bitterly, "We are powerless to stop all of this. Please punish us, Your Majesty."
"Is that so...?"
Loshia looked somewhat troubled upon hearing this.
Preaching was never her forte. She had originally planned to rely on the local believers to develop the faith, but now she realized there was only one temple and one old man left. How could she compete with the others and receive the Holy Lord's reward?
Damn it! She finally managed to get a medal thanks to arriving first, which would have given her the advantage to hold her head high in front of Tinas. What if she didn't get it this time, and Tinas did? Then she'd be at a disadvantage!
Absolutely not!
Since we can't compete with them in formal preaching, let's use what we're best at and outsmart them!
Thinking of this, Loshia looked at the people in the temple and said calmly:
"Who's in charge of this force now?"
"yes..."
"It is the evil god Saint Light, the current ruler of the Bright Empire, who has ordered the destruction of all temples within the empire. His crimes are utterly heinous!"
Before the priest could speak, the nobleman suddenly interrupted quickly, his expression sincere:
"Great Angel, I implore you to unleash divine punishment and vanquish such wicked people. I, Hal, Imperial Baron, a faithful follower of the Holy Light Church, am willing to be your vanguard and lead the way!"
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