Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Dark Church (黑暗教廷) 41 |
| Occupation/Role | Religious organization operating through temples, strongholds, covert agents, and dark-magic practitioners 41 96 100 |
| Status | Headquarters destroyed and Pope Morsfield killed 125 126 |
| First Appearance | Chapter 41 41 |
Organization and Methods
- Leadership: Morsfield serves as Dark Pope, directing senior members and field operations from the Church’s headquarters 100.
- Headquarters: The Dark Temple stands in Black Abyss Canyon in the Gloomy Mountains. Illusion barriers, a Dark Veil, and the Eternal Night Barrier protect the site 123 124.
- Covert network: The Church maintains disguised strongholds, contact points, spies, assassins, and an experimental laboratory 87 96 97 98.
- Combat forces: Its personnel include dark mages, priests, warriors, necromancers, and Saint Realm experts. It also fields a Shadow Angel Battle Formation 41 48 99 102.
- Rituals: A Soul Gathering Array at Devil Rock uses a blood pool, while a separate altar at Silent Valley is prepared with hundreds of weakened people as sacrifices 41 48.
History
Rituals on the Yulan Continent
Lin Qin discovers two seventh-rank Dark Church mages operating a Soul Gathering Array inside Devil Rock. He defeats them, extracts information from one, and destroys the array 41.
In the Yulan Empire, an outer member poisons town water sources to weaken residents and collect energy for a large-scale ritual. Lin Qin and Aileen trace the activity to Silent Valley, where three Saint Realm practitioners oversee an altar surrounded by captives. Aileen disrupts its bone pillars while Lin Qin holds off the practitioners; the two escape after Lin Qin detonates his Thick Earth Seal 47 48 50 51 52.
Conflict with Dragon Rock Territory
Lin Qin bans both the Dark Church and the Radiant Church from Dragon Rock Territory, ordering their temples closed and clergy to leave. Authorities subsequently uncover a disguised Dark Church stronghold in Blackwater City, capture undercover agents, and repel an assassination squad targeting officials and water supplies 95 96 97 98.
Morsfield responds to losses against Dragon Rock Territory by preparing the Shadow Angel Battle Formation. He sends Elaine and Blood Blade Kasa to wait near the territory while the Radiant Church attacks, intending to seize Lin Qin’s corpse and Dragon Rock’s resources after the fighting. Following the Radiant Church’s defeat, the Dark Church suspends direct hostilities and turns to intelligence gathering 100 102 106.
Fall of the Headquarters
Lin Qin leads a raid on Black Abyss Canyon with Dragon Rock forces. He breaks the Eternal Night Barrier and enters the Dark Temple, where Morsfield sacrifices his own power to summon a Lesser God’s projection into his body. Lin Qin defeats him, destroying both his body and soul 123 124 125.
Morsfield’s death and the altar’s collapse cause the temple’s dark aura to dissipate and its defenders’ morale to break. Dragon Rock forces clear the canyon, seize the treasury and records, then burn the site and seal its entrance with explosives 126.
Relationships
- Lin Qin and Dragon Rock Territory — The Church’s rituals and covert attacks bring it into conflict with Lin Qin, who ultimately destroys its headquarters 41 95 96 125 126.
- Radiant Church — A rival religious power. The Dark Church attempts to exploit its planned assault on Dragon Rock Territory rather than join it 41 99 100 102.