The Church of Dagon was at the height of its power.
That was both true and false.
As the High Priest of the Church of Dagon, Kaecilius was in a deeply conflicted state of mind.
With the government's support, the Church of Dagon had grown at a tremendous pace. If they could defeat the Red Hulk and his group of demons, it might even be possible for the Church of Dagon to replace the Church as New York's foremost church.
People were practical. If you had to choose between a church with a true god who could protect you and one with a false god who could do nothing but take your donations, which would you choose?
Especially with troubled times approaching, when only the strong could survive. A false church would collapse sooner or later, and America could have only one church.
But a shadow that never went away hung over the Church of Dagon.
That shadow was all the work of one man: Bronksky.
Everyone in the Church of Dagon, except Kaecilius himself, had suffered humiliation at that man's hands.
Their last battle against Bronksky had been a disgrace to the entire Church of Dagon.
They claimed to be the servants of a true god, yet a demon had nearly taken them all on single-handedly.
They could make excuses to save face: the High Priest hadn't been there, and this had been only one church's worth of forces, so they hadn't been able to subdue the demon and had been forced to flee in disarray.
But was the High Priest really the only person in the entire Church of Dagon with any strength? Were the rest of them just there to make up the numbers? And this had happened at their headquarters, no less.
If that was really