The prayer hall of the church was as dark as Evernight, with only a few rays of light seeping in through the holes in the walls, like stars in the night.
Klein sat down in an inconspicuous corner, took off his tall top hat, and began to pray like a devout believer.
He briefly mentioned that Roselle had been resurrected in the last mausoleum, focusing on the contamination of the " The Moon Primordial," and specifically emphasizing that the emperor, in order to prevent the "Red Moon" within him from being born into the real world, actively interrupted the process of the " Black Emperor " pathway's " Uniqueness " and the return of the three Sequence 1 Beyonder Characteristic.
At the end of the prayer, Klein pointed out the potential dangers posed by the " Card of Blasphemy " and expressed concern about the whereabouts of the "Mother" and " The Moon " cards.
Actually, Roselle only said to be careful with the "Mother" card, without mentioning the " The Moon " card. However, Klein knew that both the "Earth" and " The Moon " paths had once belonged to that " Mother Goddess of Depravity," so he added the " The Moon " card as a precaution.
This is also the main reason why he is worried about " Earth Mother " Lilith.
Compared to most of the twenty-two pathways, High-Sequence Beyonder of the " Planter " and " The Moon " pathways have a significant advantage: they do not need to worry about the Primordial awakening within them or about experiencing "personality splits" when approaching the underground. This is because their Beyonder Characteristic do not originate directly from the Primordial, and there is no corresponding mental imprint present. If they were to directly enter the underground, into the " Chaos Sea," everyone would be contaminated, though the degree and manifestation would differ.
This advantage was likely the reason why Lilith, the progenitor of the vampires, was more unique than other ancient gods in ancient times. After all, she did not need to devote a large part of her energy to fighting against the primordial awakening of the will. At that time, the invisible barrier protecting this world was strong enough to effectively keep out the "Fallen Mother Goddess" and other ancient beings from the stars, making it difficult for them to exert much influence on the situation inside.
However, as time went on, this advantage gradually turned into a problem.
As the underground pollution weakens, the invisible barrier also becomes increasingly fragile, cracks appearing. Under these circumstances, the situation of " Earth Mother " Lilith becomes increasingly difficult, because she faces the ever-growing and terrifying erosion of the " Mother Goddess of Depravity "—in this respect, the dead the Original Creator is certainly no match for the still-living " Mother Goddess of Depravity."
Considering the influence of Outer Deity Beyond the Sequence on their respective pathways, Klein believed that there could be absolutely no negligence in the relevant matters.
After finishing his prayer, he waited for nearly five minutes to make sure there was no response before standing up, putting on the top hat of a wandering Magician, and walking slowly out of the church that belonged to the Evernight.
For him, this was mainly about fulfilling his obligation to inform; as for what the " Evernight Goddess " planned to do or whether she would remind him of something, he had no say in it.
In short, Klein could only temporarily trust that the " Evernight Goddess " knew the difference between what was important and what was urgent.
Backlund, Bridge South Borough, Harvest Church.
Emlyn White stepped down from his carriage, glanced at the Sun obscured by clouds and mist, and put on his top hat.
As he walked toward the church entrance, he subtly turned the ring on his left hand, as if to proclaim his identity.
The ring was translucent, seemingly made of pale red amber, with a blood-red gem set at its tip. It was Emlyn's reward from long ago. " Lilith's Ring."
After becoming Demigod, Emlyn was able to suppress the "blood thirst" associated with the ring to some extent. He only needed to drink human blood from three blood collection vials every day to avoid the corresponding negative effects. Therefore, in order to reflect his special status as a favored Blessed of the Progenitor, he began to wear the ring for a long time.
Upon entering the Harvest Church, Emlyn automatically and consciously removed his top hat.
At this moment, Kasimi, Ernes, and other Backlund Sanguine, who were waiting for Bishop Utravsky to preach, stood up one after another, looked at the floor of the corridor, and spoke in low voices:
Good morning, Your Excellency.
Emlyn looked ahead and nodded almost imperceptibly:
"Has Mistral not arrived yet?"
"Count Mistral had a small chapel set up in his home," Ernes explained simply.
Emlyn didn't comment on this behavior, but simply said casually as he walked forward:
"But you still have to come here for Mass."
He glanced around and then said:
"Where is Bishop Utravsky?"
"The bishop is waiting for you behind us; the church's messenger has arrived." Ernes controlled his facial expression and answered Emlyn's question with considerable respect.
Emlyn, the church's messenger, twirled the pale red ring on his left hand and walked toward the back of the church.
Soon, he met Father Utravsky and a church messenger with slightly curly black hair, a high nose, and deep-set eyes in the room.
"This is Archbishop Loreto," Father Utravsky introduced to Emlyn.
He stood by the window, blocking almost all the light.
"Good morning, Lord Loreto," Emlyn replied in the manner of the Church of Earth.
Loreto chuckled in somewhat awkward Loenese:
"There's no need to address me as Your Excellency. Although you are not an archbishop, you hold the position of one. From today onwards, you are the clergyman and high deacon in charge of the affairs of the Backlund Sanguine."
Before Emlyn could process the news, Loreto continued:
"I have come to Backlund at the request of the Apostolic Nuncio to tell you in person some matters that require attention within the Church."
"Please speak," Emlyn said politely, suppressing his inner smugness.
Loreto's expression immediately turned serious:
"First and foremost, whether they are clergy or believers in the Mother Goddess, anyone who claims to have received divine revelation has been tempted by the Demon, without exception."
"If anyone reports something similar to you, or if you yourself receive divine revelation, please inform Bishop Utravsky as soon as possible and report it to the Church."
The priest hadn't mentioned this before... This request sounds strange, like he's questioning something... Emlyn frowned slightly and glanced at Father Utravsky by the window, saying:
"The bishop never mentioned anything about paying attention to this..."
Before he could finish speaking, Emlyn suddenly realized that what he said sounded like he was criticizing Bishop Utravsky, but he couldn't find a better excuse in his haste.
Almost simultaneously, he understood the oddity of Archbishop Loreto's earlier words:
This is to tell everyone that the Mother Goddess you sense may not be the real Mother Goddess!
This is practically saying that a large part of the Progenitor revelations we Sanguine received were false, that they came from Demon or evil gods... Emlyn's eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to maintain his composure and not lose his composure.
At this moment, Loreto smiled without any hesitation:
"Bishop Utravsky didn't tell you because he didn't know either."
The priest was unaware... In that instant, Emlyn felt a pang of sympathy for Bishop Utravsky, realizing that as a Feysac and a clergyman who had converted later, he had been subjected to overt or covert exclusion by the rest of the Church of Earth.
Noticing the change in his gaze, Loreto added:
That's because he is God's Blessed and doesn't need to be tempted by Demon and evil gods.
Bishop Utravsky nodded in agreement and said in a calm tone:
"The revelation of the Mother Goddess is in Her holy scriptures, in those doctrines; anything else is heresy."
Emlyn was slightly puzzled, but then felt there was nothing to ask, so he simply hummed in agreement and said to Loreto:
"What's the second point we need to pay attention to?"
Loreto's expression returned to seriousness.
"If you receive a divine message, do not blindly believe it; immediately seek confirmation from Bishop Utravsky."
"Why?" Emlyn asked, increasingly puzzled.
This is practically telling him that anyone who responds to him is either an evil god or Demon.
Loreto carefully considered his words and explained in detail:
"There are many evil beings in this world who impersonate gods, bewitch clergy, and deceive believers."
"Because our Church of the Earth Mother's two main paths are both related to life, we are more severely affected than other churches. From time to time, some people go astray, try forbidden life experiments, and gradually Depravity."
"To curb this trend, we reorganized the church long ago under the guidance of the Mother Goddess's will, establishing two major systems: those with God's Grace and those God's Blessed."
God's Grace and those God's Blessed... Emlyn's understanding of the Church of Earth was limited to the scriptures and some texts, so he was a little confused when he heard this.
He never asked Father Utravsky any questions about the Church of Earth.
Loreto glanced at Emlyn and nodded slightly.
" Those God's Grace refer to clergy who are favored by the Mother Goddess through the two pathways of 'Earth' and ' The Moon ', while those God's Blessed Goddess refer to those who are favored by the Mother Goddess from the outside or through other pathways."
"The latter is less influenced by Demon and evil gods, and can help us distinguish between true and false oracles."
"Under such circumstances, even decrees issued by the Papacy must be countersigned by at least one of the God's Blessed; otherwise, they can be considered invalid."
As they spoke, Loreto took out a document and unfolded it for Emlyn to see. The main contents, besides what the archbishop had just said, were his acceptance of the appointment as an envoy.
At the end of the document were several names listed side by side. The first belonged to the Church of Earth, Lady Roland. The rest were names Emlyn did not recognize. Only the last one was barely recognizable to him as Father Utravsky.
The priest's handwriting is really bad... Emlyn muttered to himself, while a strong sense of doubt arose in his mind about the two systems of divine grace and God's Blessed.
Why are those God's Blessed less susceptible to temptation from evil gods or Demon?
Why can they distinguish between genuine and fake oracles, while those with God's Grace cannot?
As his thoughts raced, Emlyn suddenly noticed a detail:
Those God's Blessed do not belong to either the "Earth" or " The Moon " pathways!
So, the problem isn't with the God's Grace, but with the two paths themselves? Emlyn vaguely felt that his guess might be the truth.