Demons ran wild in the cathedral, ambushing an archbishop of Dawn

Ryan headed to the capital of Andara.

The royal city was still under renovation and construction. Of course, the most important parts had long been completed, but it still looked as magnificent as it had been before the Orcs trampled it. King Adams was wantonly venting his Monarch power in this magnificent royal city.

Ryan briefly assumed the power of war here, and one thing that pleased Ryan was that there was no such thing as Monarch power between the Monarch and the nobles. As long as Ryan did not have any major problems, the King could not revoke the military command previously granted to him.

Of course, this does not mean that power can be seized by force.

"The war in the the North cannot be allowed to go wrong. If the Orcs breach the defenses, they will reappear at the foot of the royal city."

"This city... is difficult to defend against the Rhino Orcs, who are even more powerful than the Warthog Orcs. Those Rhino Orcs breed a ferocious beast called the Dreadnought, whose horns, longer than an arm, can easily destroy stone."

"As for the war in the south, the Sera Kingdom is not as powerful as you imagine. The Andara Kingdom is not weak either. As the royal family's Guardian Knight, Daryl's existence will make the Sera Kingdom understand that war is not a short-term matter."

"Moreover, the Empire will help you, Your Majesty."

Ryan said to King Adams of Andara, "In the end, things are moving in the direction Ryan wanted. Adams is much more panicked than Ryan had imagined. The simultaneous wars in the south and the north have left him somewhat at a loss."

"What does the emperor intend to do?"

Adams asked, adding that he also believed Ryan's presence in the Andara Kingdom at this time was on Emperor Flor's orders.

How could Ryan know what the emperor of that Imperial Capital wanted to do? He could only say it himself:

"War will not cost you the dignity of King."

The polite words eased Adams's mood. Ryan and Count Merses, who was standing next to him, were told that they had recently acquired a piece of land from Adams Andara Kingdom was even larger than the manor.

After leaving the King's palace, Ryan and Count Merses walked side by side.

"The Earl's complexion is getting better and better."

Ryan said with a smile, and Moses nodded in agreement. "Any nobleman can't flatter each other?"

"Baron Ryan, you look even stronger."

Ryan has indeed grown taller, and his extraordinary path has brought his physique to near perfection, giving him a strong yet not bulky, noble yet elegant demeanor that makes people want to get close to him.

"I wonder if Your Excellency has any interest in war?"

When Ryan said this, Moses didn't quite understand what Ryan meant. In the Andara Kingdom, the two had reached a tacit understanding when they met last time: Moses would not interfere with Ryan's military command, and Ryan would not interfere with Moses's meddling in the kingdom's political affairs.

"I don't understand war, and I don't even have my own army."

The more something is lacking, the more it is valued. If Count Merses wants to regain the strength and status that a great noble should have, an army is essential. However, he has lost too much of his foundation, and the accumulation during this period is not enough for him to build his own army.

"War is not just about the charge on the battlefield, but also about the logistical support."

"With war breaking out in the south, the kingdom will likely have to levy taxes on food and weapons from the nobles again."

"To ensure the success of the war, Count Merses might be able to take on this responsibility."

Power meant wealth, and Moses was tempted.

The two reached a consensus once again, leaving the trouble of the hostility from the nobles caused by logistical issues to Count Merses. Ryan did not linger; he went to the Grand Cathedral of Light in the royal city.

The fact that the two kingdoms were at war was purely coincidental and accidental; Ryan's goal was to kill the Archbishop of that the Church.

The Grand Cathedral of Light in Andara Royal City was even more absurd than Ryan had imagined.

It's not because of the architecture; this cathedral is no less grand than the Royal Palace within the royal city.

What left Ryan speechless was that... the interior of this cathedral was filled with Mages.

Are there no clergy, or are these Mages posing as followers of the God of Light?

"Won't He have any objections?"

Ryan stood in the church hall, looking up at the gray-white stone sculpture that was over ten meters tall. Was this the image of the God of Light? The face with the outline of the Sun on the back of its head looked somewhat similar to the Elector.

No, that's not quite right. It should be that the image of this God of Light bears a striking resemblance to His Majesty the Emperor of the Florian Empire.

"No wonder you keep getting assassinated."

As soon as Ryan finished speaking, he felt Brandt suddenly draw his Knight's Greatsword and protect him from behind.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted throughout the Grand Cathedral of Light... no, it was as if multicolored lights were flashing as Mages, who had been hunted down by the Church a century ago, unleashed their spells to protect the towering statue of the God of Light. Immediately following this, the Mages ' roars echoed through the air.

"Damn rat!!!"

"None of you are getting away today!"

A burly old man flew out, and from beneath his Mages robes emerged a hand covered in dragon Dragon Scale, reaching out to grab at a patch of shadow.

A normal arm suddenly stretched out and appeared in front of the shadow, and within the shadow, countless tentacles seemed to block all escape routes, until the hand arrived, grabbed a Black Swan Assassin, and crushed his head.

In less than five minutes, Ryan stood there, watching the thirteen Black Swan Assassin being killed by Mages from all directions, unsure of what to say.

Only after it was over did he look at the Mage Apprentice who was walking by nonchalantly and ask:

"Is this kind of thing common here?"

The Mage Apprentice turned his head to look at Ryan, glanced at his noble attire, and then nodded.

"These assassins come every few days, and our meditation rooms have been moved to the rooftops."

The Mage Apprentice seemed used to this. Ryan looked at the three statues of the God of Light in the likeness of Emperor Flor, along with the Mages around him, and wondered whose idea this was.

That Legendary Mage, Ivy, doesn't seem so unruly.

"The noble bloodline of the Flor Royal Family will not succumb to the threats of heresy from the Church!"

Ryan met Nyx Columbus, the envoy sent by the Empire to the Andara Kingdom, and the son of the Marquis of the Blazing Snow Province. This Imperial House bloodline was extremely proud in response to Ryan's questions.

Ryan felt that this guy was even more high-profile than the Elector in terms of his confidence in his own bloodline.

So you're the one who caused the Grand Cathedral of Light to have a small assassination attempt every three days and a large one every five days? And that's why the cathedral has no believers left?

Ryan was speechless. He knew about the assassination attempt before he was here, but he never expected it to be for such an absurd reason. And did this cathedral really not need believers of the God of Light to pray?

"This is not a qualified missionary," Ryan thought to himself.

If the royal city has no followers of the God of Light, how could other places have them? Moreover, faith will not disappear. If the God of Light cannot gain faith in this land, then the prayers of mankind will naturally fall on the heads of other Deities.

For example, the Lord of Dawn, or other Otherworldly God. Fortunately, no other Otherworldly God appeared on the Norris Continent, otherwise the land of the Andara Kingdom would be paradise for them.

No... Ryan thought of Hobii. I wonder if that guy is still hiding in some corner of this world. Will he come to harvest the unattended believers in Andara?

Ryan met Aven, the Legendary Life Mage, whose title was [Ivy].

Ryan had nothing to say to the Nyx, who was of Imperial House blood, but he did ask Aven his question.

"I do hope that Hobii the wight will show up."

Aven's eyes gleamed with intense desire, a stark contrast to those of Lady Ophelia, the "The Eternal One of the Void."

He desperately wanted to hunt down the Deities and then use Deities life force to perfect his own truth.

"Sir, life is about evolution. If the evolution of life stops, it is no different from death."

Aven said that for the sake of the truth of life, he could make a very simple choice, just like when he parted ways with Farrell, the current Commander of Winged Gorge.

Ryan did not argue with the Mages about the truth, but instead revealed his purpose.

"Archbishop sent by the Church to the Sera Kingdom?"

Aven remained silent; he had no interest in such matters.

"If Your Excellency Aven is unwilling to take action personally, I would appreciate your assistance. I believe the Archbishop sent by the Church to the Sera Kingdom is not as powerful as the Pastor Soto of the Andara Kingdom back then."

The Pastor Soto was Legendary; even the Archbishop had to bow before him.

"I'd be interested if it were Legendary."

Aven said that each of the Empire's ten Legendary Mage had significant conflicts with the Church. Their pursuit of truth was a challenge to the Church's suppression of human civilization.

The Church said that fire was a gift from the Deities to mankind, and that mankind should devoutly believe in the Deities. The Mages, however, conjured fire with his hand and said that Magic Power was the source.

"But if we could kill the Archbishop of the Church, that would also cause them some trouble."

Aven laughed and handed a blue seed to Ryan. Ryan could clearly see a snow-white line on Aven's wrist, like a shrimp thread, connecting his wrist to the depths hidden under the Mages's robe.

Noticing Ryan's gaze, Aven withdrew his hand.

"The Church's Black Swan Assassin are more troublesome than I imagined."

The assassination attempt on this Grand Cathedral of Light in the Andara Kingdom was no small matter, especially since even the Legendary Mages was injured at the very beginning.

The Church's desire to destroy this Grand Cathedral of Light is no less than its desire to win the Southern War.

Ryan swallowed hard and quickly left this troublesome place.

"The nobles of the Northwind Province also suffered a multi-faceted assassination attempt, hopefully unrelated to this matter."

Seeing the Kingdom's Grand Cathedral of Light, Ryan had good reason to suspect that the all-out assassination threat in Northwind Province was the Church's attempt to use the nobles of Northwind Province to cancel the Kingdom's cathedral at the table of imperial political confrontation.

The attempt was to frighten the nobles and then force Emperor Flor to withdraw the Kingdom's Grand Cathedral of Light the government.

It's not impossible, after all... if His Majesty the Emperor knew that the Grand Cathedral of Light looked like this, wouldn't this Emperor and the Grand Pope of Light also reprimand Nyx and Aven?

The southern border of the Sera Kingdom.

Further south from here lies a hilly area of over 200,000 square kilometers, which blocks direct communication between the South lands and the the North Sera Kingdom and Andara Kingdom. Of course, the hills are not an absolute obstacle. If you travel east along the border of the Sera Kingdom, between the hills and the eastern the Woodlands, there is a plain that allows you to enter the land further south.

Besides this road, the only other options are to either cross the hills directly or take the Northwind Avenue into the Empire and then from there into the South lands.

The three roads, and it is precisely because of this advantageous geographical environment, that the wealth generated by Northwind Avenue has become increasingly substantial.

Crossing the hills was beyond the capabilities of the merchant guild, and even ordinary armies could not do it. Traveling through the eastern plains, near the Woodlands, might not only provoke the hostility of the Elves, but the beasts on that plain were also not to be trifled with.

However, these problems were not problems for Archbishop Sigurd from the Church of Dawn.

The nearly two-meter- Gyrfalcon is even more imposing than an eagle. Its key advantage is that it can carry humans in flight. However, its disadvantage is also obvious: it cannot travel long distances for extended periods.

Instead, it is its ferocity.

Phew!

With a sharp cry, the raptor plunged into the depths of the Mountain Forest. The next moment, it took flight, lifting a seven- or eight-meter-long snake into the air, its sharp claws cleaving the snake in two mid-air.

It wasn't alone; there were thirty other Gyrfalcon of Magical Beast- level quality in the surrounding sky.

Correspondingly below were the same number of the Church clad in snow-white robes: Holy Light Knight, priests of Dawn, missionaries, and even four voluptuous nuns with alluring expressions.

These people were all members of the core group of the Archbishop Sigurd, and each of them was powerful enough, except for the four nuns.

Archbishop Sigurd, with a languid gaze, stood at the very front. His snow-white robe made him appear very tall, but as the wind blew around him, revealing the outline of his robe clinging to his body, it was clear that the Archbishop's belly was not slender.

Within the Church, he had a privately sarcastic nickname—"the barrel."

"Heh, those damned guys are just jealous. They actually tried to compete with me for this overseas assignment from the Sera Kingdom!"

The clergy of the Church were generally reluctant to go to remote places like the Northlands, but the Sera Kingdom was an exception because it was home to hundreds of thousands of fanatical followers left behind by Archbishop Adriana.

Those fanatics can grant clergy more divinity and more powerful Divine Art.

So when they were on the Holy Mountain, the Archbishop fought fiercely for it, but in the end Sigurd got the better deal because he had an uncle who was Cardinal Archbishop.

At this moment, Sigurd was already imagining the wonderful life in the Sera Kingdom. He had heard that the women in the the North lands had very rough skin, and he was worried that it might damage his little brother.

Fortunately, I brought some with me, so it should last for a while. Holy Water can refine the skin, allowing me to earn a lot of money while continuing to train...

In the sky, the birds of prey had finished their meal, and Sigurd ordered them to continue their journey. He had no desire to stay in this the Wilds any longer; it was simply not a place for humans to enjoy.

However, the moment the birds of prey landed beside these the Church, the ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked open, and thick vines shot straight up, piercing through them and lifting them more than ten meters into the air, to the horrified eyes of the Sigurds, including the birds of prey.

The first to die were the four shapely nuns who had only one function. They had no supernatural powers, and within a few breaths, their life force was devoured by the thorns on the green vines, leaving them withered and hanging on the vines that resembled tree trunks.

The remaining people were still struggling, especially a few priests and missionaries, who used Divine Art to try to stop the vines piercing their bodies and devouring their life force.

In the distance, Ryan drew his bow and released a magical arrow that struck the clergy who were casting Divine Art, but whose Divine Art defenses had already been broken.

Around him, Knight Retainer were also firing arrows, giving these the Church members no time to use Divine Art to save themselves.

Half a minute later, only desiccated corpses remained hanging on bright red vines in the distance.

"What terrifying magic."

Beside Ryan, Roland was shocked. Was this the power Legendary Mage possessed? He could kill twenty or thirty extraordinary beings from the Church of Dawn in less than a minute.

On the other side, Otto, wielding a giant axe, was itching to use it.

"We came without Father's knowledge, you can't interfere."

Does the Church have a way of knowing the cause of these people's deaths? Ryan guessed that they might be able to know some of it.

Therefore, they will eventually trace it back to [Ivy], and may also discover that the Imperial Army was involved.

But it's okay, if you know, you know.

Lord Ryan possesses Divine Blessing.

By bringing Roland and Otto, the two princes of the Sera Kingdom, along, it was obviously to drag them down with him. They were all in the same boat, and Ryan needed to tie the royal family of the Sera Kingdom to himself more tightly.

Sera King, doesn't that "Wind Emperor" know? He most likely does.

No secret could escape the notice of a Legendary Wind Emperor.

In the distance, the wildly growing vines had broken into sections of rotten plant wood, and the withered corpses that had fallen from a height of more than ten meters crashed to the ground with a loud thud.

At Dawn the day after Ryan and his men left, sunlight streamed down from the sky, and a snow-white Holy Radiance condensed in mid-air to form the shape of a human.

His appearance resembled that of the archangel Samir, but not the winged Samir; rather, it was the wingless, human-like form covered in silver-white metallic armor that Sven had seen before.

He appeared and disappeared intermittently. The moment he landed on the ground following the path of the sunlight, the land collapsed with a deafening roar, and then the blood-red carnivorous flowers opened their gaping maws and swallowed the figure whole.

As the sound of chewing filled the air, inside the Grand Cathedral of Light in the distant Andara Kingdom, Ivy Aven let out a breath of ecstasy, and the 'shrimp line' on his wrist dimmed slightly.

(End of this chapter)