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The virtually undefended checkpoint on Feynapotter's border was soon breached by the visiting demigod. Within minutes, clergymen of the Church of the Storm, dressed in deep blue and deep black robes embroidered with silver patterns, had entered Feynapotter's territory.
Some tried to raise their weapons in resistance, but lightning struck them down as they lifted their hands.
The Archbishop at their head made a gesture, and the Mandated Punishers who had remained on home soil filed out to take over the checkpoint. With the speed and efficiency that had always characterized the Church of the Storm, they swiftly gathered every resident from the checkpoint and the border town behind it in the square, regardless of whether they were crying or clutching their loved ones' belongings in a daze, murmuring the Mother Goddess's honorific name.
"From this moment on."
The Archbishop stepped onto a platform built from three wooden crates. Looking down at the hundreds of people below, he declared loudly, "The Feynapotter Kingdom will be incorporated into the territory of the Loen Empire. You will all become subjects under the protection of the great God of Thunder!"
With national sovereignty and faith at stake, the residents below reacted immediately. More than one person raised their head to stare in shock and anger at the Archbishop standing above them. A young man in the crowd shouted angrily:
"You're lying! How could our kingdom suddenly become part of your territory?"
"Didn't you people from Loen just annex Lenburg and Segar through despicable means? This is an invasion! Now you're reaching your claws toward the fertile lands protected by the Mother Goddess!"
His words drew agreement from quite a few people, and a small commotion rippled through the crowd.
Some tried to reach for their weapons, only to be immediately restrained by