The Unreliable Radiance Church

After Rena finished explaining, everyone responded with remarkable enthusiasm.

"No problem!"

"It's only 10,000 Justice Points. Let's all chip in!"

"The sooner we unlock it, the sooner we enjoy it!"

"This is a solid plan!"

"Same here!"

One after another, they contributed the Justice Points they had just earned toward unlocking the first event-limited skill, [Status Display].

Before long, the progress bar rose from 0/10000 to 5387/10000.

Such efficiency truly exceeded Pete's expectations and made him marvel at the unity of the Knowledge Sect.

Churches had organized donation drives in the past, calling on people to donate money so the church could prepare supplies to fight monsters.

But at times like those, very few people were genuinely willing to donate.

Even those who agreed usually gave only a tiny, miserly amount.

The Knowledge Sect was completely different.

The moment it was said that everyone needed to work together and unite their efforts, they responded more eagerly than the last!

Pete made a rough estimate.

The Justice Points earned during the event were distributed according to each person's contribution. In that righteous beatdown earlier, most people had probably received only around 100 Justice Points.

Yet the activation progress had immediately been pushed past 5,000, which meant most people had invested every point they had just earned.

On second thought, Pete understood their reasoning.

With the God of Knowledge, every early investment would receive a corresponding return in the future.

Everyone could know clearly exactly when they would receive that return.

As long as they worked together to fill the progress bar, they could all enjoy the special skill's effects.

The Justice Points they had worked so hard to earn had not disappeared. They had merely changed forms and stayed by their side!

"Also, there's another issue!"

After settling the matter of activating the event skill, Pete raised his hand to draw everyone's attention.

"When we ran into those Bloodfang Gang thugs last time, they were still five ordinary people."

"In just a few days, all of them gained the strength of Tier 1 professions, and the powers they possessed were very similar."

"I don't think that's right."

Pete frowned as he thought. "I suspect the Bloodfang Gang may have had some kind of encounter and received the blessing of an unknown Outer God."

Brandon was quick-witted and immediately asked, "They... didn't pledge themselves to an evil god, did they?!"

Pete hesitated before shaking his head. "Probably not?"

"Greenport has the Radiance Church stationed here. If anyone really dared to serve an evil god, the Holy Crusaders would have deployed and wiped them and their entire gang out."

"Since the Radiance Church hasn't made a move, then the Bloodfang Gang probably... has nothing to do with evil gods, right?"

Just as Pete was about to dismiss that possibility, Rena's clear voice rang out and interrupted his thoughts. "Unfortunately, your guess is wrong, Pete."

Pete froze and looked toward Rena.

The expression on Rena's face was grim.

"I already prayed to the God of Knowledge and asked. He gave me the answer."

"The Bloodfang Gang has colluded with an evil god!"

"This is also why the great God of Knowledge, Noven, gathered us to launch this limited-time event."

"That evil god's power has not fully descended yet, so the strength the Bloodfang Gang received is not particularly great."

"But if we can't stop the Bloodfang Gang soon, we'll be in serious trouble!"

A wave of sharp breaths rose through the tavern. The moment the words "evil god" were spoken, it seemed as though even the temperature in the room had dropped.

Pete's heart sank.

"That shouldn't be possible. If the Bloodfang Gang really has ties to an evil god, why haven't the Radiance Church's Holy Crusaders deployed yet?"

The Radiance Church possessed a powerful divine spell that could detect signs of evil god activity in a given area.

It was because of this divine spell that evil god forces found it difficult to infiltrate towns and cities. They were often discovered and eliminated while still in their infancy.

Logically speaking, a city like Greenport should have been regularly checked with such a spell.

Gale, seated beside Pete, suddenly thought of something, and his expression turned equally grim.

"Damn it!"

"It's late June. The bishop of Greenport's Radiance Church branch is about to complete his three-year term, and he'll be transferred back to the Rayak Royal Capital in early July!"

"The Radiance Church has a supplementary rule: if an evil god-related incident breaks out in a district, the relevant church personnel must remain there for at least one year to observe whether the aftereffects caused by the evil god have dissipated!"

"Could it be that—"

"The Radiance Church actually noticed signs of evil god activity in the Lower District, but that bishop who's about to be transferred suppressed it!"

"He wants to safely get through these fifteen days, then return to the royal capital for a promotion."

"Even if evil god forces have infiltrated the city, it'll take time before they grow into a full-blown outbreak. As long as he can leave Greenport, what happens here will no longer be his problem!"

Although Gale's speculation was dark, combined with the situation in the Lower District, it was a logically plausible possibility.

Brandon stammered in disbelief.

"How could a bishop do something like that?!"

"Aren't they loyal believers of the God of Radiance? If they let an evil god run rampant, aren't they afraid of being punished by their god and abandoned by him?!"

In the eyes of most ordinary people, the Radiance Church was a massive whole. They had no idea what its actual structure looked like.

Pete and Gale were born into noble families, so they understood far more than commoners like Brandon.

Pete explained.

"The Radiance Church is divided into two departments: administration and combat."

"The Holy Crusaders responsible for combat are loyal believers of the God of Radiance. Their power comes from the great God of Radiance, so they strictly uphold the doctrines and are irreconcilable enemies with evil gods."

"As for the bishops, deacons, and priests responsible for administration, they used to be assessed on their faith as well, but now that has gradually shifted toward evaluating various metrics within their assigned districts."

This change had happened gradually.

After all, a fanatic could become the church's blade and fight against evil god forces.

But asking one to govern the church and handle all kinds of coordination? They might not actually have the ability for it.

Therefore, the church's administrative positions had demanded increasing professional expertise in recent years, while requiring less and less faith in the gods. The focus had gradually shifted toward practical competence.

If someone was merely a shallow believer, then even if they did something that violated the doctrines, they often would not be punished by the gods. They simply could not become a true believer or receive further blessings.

For those responsible for church administration, such costs were basically irrelevant.

"If the Radiance Church doesn't intend to deploy the Holy Crusaders," Pete said heavily, "then that means we will be facing a Bloodfang Gang that has already pledged itself to an evil god, and perhaps... even the evil god behind them."

"Fighting an evil god will be a battle to the death."

"Everyone, this is no longer as simple as taking down a few thugs or fighting a few gang bosses."