Royal Authority and Divine Authority

Canglan City, Emerald Palace

Ever since news arrived that the Blood Moon Horn had appeared in Southeast Province, Alpha Kingdom's entire upper echelon had begun losing sleep. Even the great King Caesar III was no exception.

Logically speaking, a mere cursed artifact, no matter how formidable its reputation in history, should not have warranted such a massive mobilization from so many important figures.

After all, three hundred years ago, when the Blood Moon Cult ran rampant across the Aslant Continent, it had been the result of many factors. The Blood Moon Horn had merely been one of them.

If one truly believed that a single cursed artifact could slaughter all opposition and throw the continent into chaos, that would be far too much of an underestimation of the foundations of the major powers.

The key was that the emergence of the Blood Moon Horn also implicated the Church of Dawn. Once any matter involved the Church, no kingdom dared take it lightly.

Alpha Kingdom was relatively fortunate. It possessed sufficient autonomy, and the Church's influence here was not strong enough to sway national policy.

Though they still paid tithes to the Church, the noble factions had always complied only on the surface. What ought to have been the Church's most important source of income, the "tithe," was only enough here to cover the daily expenses of maintaining its churches.

If they had not feared that the Church would be unable to sustain itself and withdraw, they would likely have gone even further. Naturally, the people below could only dare act this way with the support of those above.

The Blood Moon Calamity three hundred years ago had been both a contest between the ruling class and the Rebel Army, and a clash between royal authority and divine authority.

The Empire of Light, supported by the Church, had crumbled apart during that struggle. The ten great legions that served as the Church's military backing were reduced to less than a tenth of their former strength after the war, forcing the severely weakened Church into a strategic retreat.

And that was only the beginning. The Church still retained considerable local influence. The struggle between secular royal authority and divine authority continued.

After generations of kings worked through infiltration, division, bribery, suppression, and other means, Alpha Kingdom successfully drove a wedge between the local Church organizations and the Papal State. Only then did it manage to lock the Church's power in a cage.

The Church organizations in Alpha Kingdom now nominally answered to the Pope, but in reality had long been secretly controlled by the great nobles of each region.

The kingdom's archbishop was a member of the royal family, while bishops across the land were all sons of great nobles. Whether in talent cultivation or internal promotion, they had already formed a self-contained system.

Everyone selectively obeyed the Pope's orders. If an order harmed their own interests, it was nothing more than toilet paper.

Against that backdrop, relations between Alpha Kingdom and the Papal State could naturally not be good.

The only reason no direct conflict had erupted was that the law could not punish everyone. Every moderately powerful kingdom on the continent played the same game.

Those nations that had yet to curb divine authority were also striving in that direction, leaving the Pope unwilling to act rashly.

No matter what, everyone was currently under the Lord of Dawn. If pushed too hard, they could simply start their own churches and set up a whole pile of large and small Churches. Then there would be no way to continue playing this game.

The Lord of Dawn had not manifested a miracle for thousands of years, and people's reverence for the gods had long fallen to its lowest point. If not for the need to have the Church fool the common folk, whether the Church could still exist at all would have been uncertain.

Every cause had its effect. The Church had simply gone too wild in those days, sending people to the stake at the slightest provocation. Even kings had felt unsafe.

Today's Alpha Kingdom was far more harmonious. Though the king and noble factions still fought among themselves without end, there were no longer any cases of nobles being sent to the stake.

They were all family. Even if one lost a power struggle, at worst one retired early. Cases of exterminating entire families were rare.

"The Blood Moon Horn has appeared in Southeast Province. It seems our kindly old Pope isn't as gentle as he appears.

"But he should not have started with my Alpha Kingdom. Does he really think this is still three hundred years ago, when everyone had to bow to them?"

Caesar III said with a cold sneer.

Strength was always the greatest source of confidence. Freed from the Church's exploitation and oppression, the nations of the continent had undergone earth-shaking changes in strength.

Although the royal family had suffered grievous losses in the Beastfolk War a century ago, showing signs of decline and struggling somewhat to restrain the kingdom's great nobles, Alpha Kingdom still maintained its political balance through Caesar III's efforts.

When it came to the Church, the noble factions stood united. After all, no one wanted another ancestor above their heads taking a share of their money, especially one who could send them to the stake at any time.

Even though the Church had worked hard to change its public image over the past century and almost never sent nobles to the stake anymore, it still could not win their approval.

"Your Majesty, this was to be expected. After three hundred years of recuperation, the Church has recovered a considerable portion of its strength.

"Though it has not returned to its peak, it still surpasses every human kingdom on the continent. Now that its development has reached its limit, it is not surprising that it has turned its gaze beyond the Quikening Peninsula.

"The Blood Moon Horn's appearance in Southeast Province was most likely a test aimed at us. If Count Pierce can sever the tentacles they have extended in time, the Papal State will likely change targets again.

"Before this, similar incidents occurred in the Frankish Kingdom, Dante Kingdom, and South Bank Kingdom."

Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland replied calmly.

One squeezed the soft persimmon first. If the Church wished to reclaim its former glory, its first step had to succeed.

Choosing an opponent was therefore an enormous test of skill. One with too little influence would not do; not only would it fail to intimidate anyone, it might instead provoke a united resistance from the nations.

But a strong opponent would not do either. If they were taught a harsh lesson, that would be awkward indeed.

"The Church is not a monolith. Not everyone enjoys stirring things up. Most cardinals hope to maintain the status quo.

"The ones who chiefly want to cause trouble are the Order of Judgment Knights, the Inquisition, the Holy Temple, the Gate of Heaven... those infamous organizations.

"This time, the Blood Moon Horn falling into the hands of the Skull Society may well have been the work of one of them. After all, it is not as though they have only just begun manipulating cult organizations to wreak havoc across the continent."

Minister of Military Affairs Duke Affierro analyzed coolly.

The organization most ruthless in suppressing heretics had ultimately become a patron of heresy. It had to be called ironic.

But there was no helping it. Without heretics, how could the Church display its greatness?

During the years of the Church's strategic retreat, only the endless emergence of heretical cults causing chaos in local regions could highlight the Church's importance.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the increasingly powerful noble factions had constantly been stealing their business.

The heretics they should have been stepping in to suppress were wiped out by the nobles first, leaving them no opportunity to put on a show.

As a result, in the eyes of many commoners, the Church had been reduced to churches where they could pray and priests who only knew how to rake in money.