Hearing that his bank and all his Merit Vouchers were to be handed over to the state, Victor's face flushed red.
This was outright robbery!
"Y-you... what right do you have? His Majesty the Emperor never said my church was illegal!"
Augustus took the golden badge from his robes and placed it on the table.
Victor stared at the badge as the color slowly drained from his face.
He recognized it—the Imperial Supreme Military Authorization Order. Whoever held it could mobilize any military unit.
"Y-you're going to use the army against me?" His voice trembled.
"No army." Augustus put the badge away.
"I'll give you three days. Three days from now, if your church still exists, if your Merit Vouchers are still being sold, if your bank is still taking believers' money—I'll come with people."
He turned and walked out of the church.
Victor stood where he was, his face livid.
Behind him, the believers whispered among themselves. Some were terrified, some furious, and some had already begun leaving.
"Leader, what do we do?"
"Fight him! We have tens of thousands of believers!"
"Tens of thousands of believers? They have an army!"
Victor did not answer.
Watching Augustus's retreating figure, he suddenly remembered a sentence he had read in his youth: True faith did not need to be bought or sold.
That night, Victor locked himself in his room and drank bottle after bottle.
At dawn, he opened the door and told the assistant waiting outside, "Go tell Augustus that I agree."
Gear Town, Neg's church.
When the news arrived, Neg was preaching.
He stood atop the platform, a crude clay idol behind him and thousands of believers kneeling before him.
He had reached the climax of his sermon and was shouting himself hoarse.
"The Supreme God has spoken! Those