Where there was light, there was darkness; where there was day, there was night. Even the brightest city had a moment when darkness swallowed it whole.
But in the Papal State, in the Lord's earthly Heaven, that rule had been overturned.
Soft light gathered from every direction and enveloped the entire Papal State. Its warm radiance made the place seem like Heaven on earth, without a trace of darkness or sin.
If Blue Star had possessed the same laws as the Otherworld, allowing faith to create gods, the faith Christianity had gathered over more than two thousand years might long since have brought every named angel of its myths into being. Even the omniscient, omnipotent Lord might have emerged from faith.
Yet even in a world so barren of divine power, Jiang Hao had used the Shadow Magic Net to project the vast, seemingly endless energy of the universe onto Blue Star as elements. Its environment had begun to change.
The gathered light mingled with the scattered faith and seeped into the Papal State drop by drop, transforming ordinary materials into sacred ones. The entire Papal State was becoming Heaven on earth.
Every believer there was constantly bathed in sacred power. Together with the pervasive atmosphere of faith, it strengthened their devotion without their realizing it.
In a few years, or perhaps a few decades, every believer living there would become one of God's most fervent followers. The whole city would become Heaven on earth in the truest sense.
It was then that a group of anxious, frightened people set foot there.
"God, please protect your believers!"
A congressman traced the sign of the cross over his chest and began to pray under his breath.
As unwilling participants in Lucifer's Game, they had weighed their options and finally come to