Religious Charlatan, Shaman

"Don't you believe in the Holy Light? Don't you believe that I'm a Divine Favor?"

Ergons Tevalin felt a little awkward, but Pastor Ramses Bolton felt even more awkward.

Just moments ago, he had still felt as though he had improved tremendously and possessed immense power. His entire being was still in an indescribable state caused by the shock to his consciousness.

But when the corner of his eye caught sight of William drawing his dagger, Adamson clenched his enormous fists, which were covered by iron gauntlets.

He immediately sobered up a little.

"I... Or rather, no one in the Church believes in the Holy Light anymore."

Seeing Ergons and the others waiting for his answer, Priest Rams called his attendants in from outside. Despite their extreme reluctance, he opened the large leather trunk he had always treasured and refused to let anyone else see, right in front of them.

The trunk contained various bottles and jars, coils of rope, fire-starting tools, and three... three-barreled muskets?

The priest was about to fall apart. After personally experiencing that whole-body eruption of golden light just now, he was truly baffled. Looking at the things in the trunk, his emotions were incredibly complicated.

Ergons's feelings were even more complicated. He shoved the priest aside and walked up to the trunk. The attendant tried to rebuke him, but the priest stopped him.

He absolutely could not mistake these things. The curved iron rod beside the musket was a ramrod. The large leather flask next to it contained shot. The thing coiled up beside it was a matchcord. The fire striker was easy to identify, and the remaining three jars obviously contained gunpowder.

He had proficiency with firearms. There was no way he could be mistaken.

Although he had never seen these things before or after transmigrating, when he had gained proficiency in every field, the relevant knowledge and experience had been transmitted to him as well.

It could be said that no one in this room was more familiar with their use than he was.

"This is the Holy Light you were talking about? Isn't this a musket? Is this how the entire Church blasphemes the divine now? Do you really think the Holy Light won't punish you?"

Although Ergons Tevalin did not even raise his head and his tone was mainly one of astonishment, Pastor Ramses Bolton was frightened into stammering as he tried to explain, unable to get the words out.

The pastor felt so wronged!

No miracles had appeared for the past one or two hundred years, so from top to bottom, no one in the Church had truly seen the Holy Light anymore.

The Holy Light had almost become a mere slogan, while firearms were a substitute developed by the Church to maintain its authority. How could there really be someone capable of using the Holy Light in such a poor and remote place?

The more Pastor Ramses Bolton thought about it, the more confused he became. With a thud, he dropped to his knees.

Ergons suddenly felt that something was wrong. He glanced at William, who was equally shocked. "Wait, didn't you say you'd seen a pastor use healing holy magic?"

William was confused as well. He removed his gauntlet, held out the massive wound on his wrist before Pastor Ramses Bolton, and questioned him.

"Are you just incompetent? When I was fighting in the army, my arm was almost chopped off. A pastor healed it for me."

Pastor Ramses Bolton became even more ashamed. He fidgeted evasively, wishing he could dig a hole and crawl into it.

"That was healing powder, refined from magical beasts. Using too much of it will overdraw your life."

"Fuck me!"

If Ergons had not pulled him back quickly, William Adena would have kicked the pastor's head flat.

After calming William down, Ergons looked down at the kneeling pastor and his attendant. He also removed his gauntlet, rolled up his chainmail sleeve, and used William's dagger to slash hard at the same spot.

As blood sprayed into the air, Ergons asked calmly, "Shouldn't the Holy Light's effects look like this? I originally wondered how a scar could remain. I never expected that you were all a bunch of blasphemers. Watch closely."

He silently recited "Level 1 Permit" and used CTRL+H, which restored him to full health once in any condition.

Golden light burst from the wound. As the radiance faded, the wound healed.

When the golden light disappeared, the deep, bone-revealing gash on his wrist had already recovered completely, leaving not even the slightest trace on his flesh.

"The Holy Light! My Lord! Forgive me! Forgive me!"

After Pastor Ramses Bolton and his attendant witnessed everything, they fearfully slammed their heads against the floor. They crawled before Ergons and kissed the toes of his plate-armored boots.

The sharp tips of the plate boots pierced their mouths until they bled, but neither paid it any mind. Their hearts were already filled with terror.

Seeing that their loyalty had not only reached its maximum but that they were also so terrified, Ergons felt that perhaps he had overdone the act.

"That's enough. I can forgive your sins. I can even make you, Ramses Bolton, my representative in the mortal world. However, you must keep my identity secret. Otherwise, I won't even give you the chance to fall into hell."

"Thank you for your grace, my Lord. Hell?"

The two had originally been crying tears of joy, scrubbing his plate boots even more diligently with saliva, tears, and blood. But when they suddenly heard the word "hell," they became somewhat bewildered.

Ergons Tevalin also cursed himself for running his mouth. The mythology of this world was crude: the Holy Light illuminated the mortal realm, and after death, people returned to the embrace of the Holy Light.

Apparently, no one had invented concepts like heaven and hell yet.

There was no helping it. He had made the mess, so he had to clean it up. He continued speaking with feigned benevolence. "Originally, everyone who believes in the Holy Light is a child of my Holy Light, and in the end, they will return to my embrace.

"I can descend upon any one of my children at will. It is as if I have personally arrived, just as this body is currently my vessel.

"The mortal world is not worth it. The mortal world itself is hell.

"People struggle painfully in this world. Those who can return to the embrace of the Holy Light after death will reach their final destination. That is heaven.

"It is a place flowing with milk and honey. There is no war or suffering there, and everyone can live forever in peace and tranquility beneath the radiance of the Holy Light.

"But those who can only sink in this cycle of reincarnation, return to the mortal world, and experience the struggles of life again and again—those people are in hell!"

Pastor Ramses Bolton began filling in the blanks himself. The reason the Holy Light had not descended for a hundred years was because no one truly believed in it anymore.

Or perhaps it had descended in the past, only to become disappointed with the Church for not believing in it. He suddenly felt that this was his opportunity.

"What would you like me to do?"

Pastor Ramses Bolton asked eagerly, the fervor in his eyes nearly overflowing.

Ergons shook his head slightly and said, appearing deeply disappointed, "Don't ask what the Lord can give you. Ask what you can give the Lord. Don't ask what the Lord wants you to do. Take the initiative to consider what you can do for the Lord."

"Return to reinforce and help the Holy Light's vessel in the mortal world, Sir Davis Tevalin, lead Tervain Village through its present crisis. I can do that."

The priest desperately tried to express himself. His frenzied state helped him find the only answer. "I can do it. I can persuade the Baron to send reinforcements. There is already a Church cleric beside the Baron. He thinks the Church doesn't know that he's pretending to be foolish, but in reality, he's already been stripped of his authority."

Ergons shook his head again. Although this was exactly the result he wanted, he still had to maintain his act and preserve his inscrutability.

At the very least, he had to elevate the matter to a sufficiently lofty ideological level.

"The petty scheming of the mortal world is not my focus. What I care about is that no one in this world seems to truly believe in me anymore. Believers exist only among the poor, ignorant laboring masses.

"What you must do is become the new Pope and represent me once more. Of course, this process can be slow. It cannot be accomplished overnight.

"Those who currently occupy high positions without earning them do not believe in me. I do not expect you to rebuild the Church, nor do I want your act of representing me to cause too much upheaval.

"So begin tomorrow, when you first reveal my divinity before the people."

After sending away the pastor, who had nearly been willing to kneel there and serve him, Ergons Tevalin felt much more relaxed. He secretly kept watch on the map over the village that was under siege.

He kept his composure and waited until they were ready to set out tomorrow before continuing the plan. After all, only then would everything proceed naturally.