"Splash splash splash..."
The night was pitch black, and the torrential rain was lashing against the church roof, making a loud, rushing sound.
A single lamp flickers dimly; the light from candles in those days was insufficient to illuminate a great distance, making it difficult to dispel the surrounding darkness even with several candles standing upright in the silver lamp on the table.
"Why hasn't the Boya Empire made a move yet?" A low voice, tinged with anger, rang out, but it couldn't penetrate the rain to be heard by the others in the Church.
"His Majesty the King has not yet confirmed the veracity of the news. The Holy See is currently Holy See silent. If the news of the Holy Judgment Order's annihilation is a fabricated lie, the royal family cannot afford the repercussions of taking action!"
The classical church room was not small, but it was completely filled with various bookshelves and miscellaneous items, leaving only a small amount of open space for Bishop Duoxia's use.
Archbishop Duoxia loved reading, especially books that were unorthodox or unconventional.
For example, some political books with views that are very different from those of the present era, and some economic books written by ordinary people that are particularly rebellious but also have their merits. It's just that these days these books are not called by these professional names, but are simply collectively referred to as banned books.
For example, a scholar from the Holy See once wrote a forbidden book called "The Heaven Beyond the Heavens," claiming that God is not singular, and that the sun and moon are spherical luminous bodies. By analogy, could other luminous stars also be distant suns and moons? From this, it could be inferred that perhaps other worlds exist at comparable distances from other suns and moons, and each world might have its own creator god. As a result, he was beheaded, not even given the chance to be burned at the stake and go to Heaven.
Archbishop Duoxia, on the other hand, enjoyed reading these imaginative and whimsical books.
But this also led to a complete conflict between his ideas and the conservative, closed-minded Holy See.
He scoffed at the Holy See's various attempts to restrict thought. He advocated some biased views, believing that the Church should not remain unchanged, as this would only lead to its decay beneath a strong exterior. Instead, it should constantly change in order to truly maintain Church vitality and dynamism.
Most importantly, he did not endorse Church rule, believing that the Church's current fanatical way of ruling would inevitably bring extremely serious consequences.
He believed that no regime could last long, just like the disintegration of the Ancient Holy Noah Empire a thousand years ago. Because power and politics represent interests, they would eventually be ended by stronger violence in pursuit of those interests.
Archbishop Duoxia loved the Church dearly, and everything he did was devoted to Holy Church. But because of this, he did not want the Church to go as he envisioned. Therefore, he was extremely opposed to the current Holy See system.
In order to truly rid the Church of its association with violence or self-interest, and to ensure that the Holy Church can change while maintaining a positive image, Archbishop Duoxia decided to destroy the Holy See, which symbolizes self-interest, and rebuild a Church!
It's hard to imagine that this is a human thought.
However, it must be said that his vision was quite farsighted, after all, the Europe Church ultimately became a true theological institution, no longer participating in any form of rule. This, in turn, allowed it to endure and expand forever.
But his approach... since the crisis of the Church's destruction is unavoidable, then I will create destruction and usher in new life?
Archbishop Duoxia, dressed in a purple archbishop's robe, stared grimly at the Boya Empire spy kneeling before him.
Hearing the spy's words, he sneered, "Foolish! Your people went to investigate the destruction of the Holy Judgment Order long ago. How could you still not be able to confirm the news? Let me tell you, the Church has the means to continue training these Holy Knight. If you delay any longer, the Pope will raise another Holy Knight force in a few years! At that time, your century-long plan will be in vain, and you will never be able to recover!"
Archbishop Duoxia knew that the Church could train Holy Knight, but he didn't know how; he only knew that it could.
Because initially, the Holy Judgment Order consisted of only fifty members, but over the years it has grown to more than seven hundred (each cathedral with a minor bishop has two minor Holy Knight ), it is clear that the Pope must be holding some unknown secret.
So if we don't act now, His Holiness the Pope will have to train another batch.
Even the lowest-ranking task, a decapitation operation carried out by a group of one hundred people, would be too much for any royal family to handle.
After all, the army couldn't be stationed in the palace all the time to guard against the arrival of the Holy Knight.
"Therefore, His Majesty the King has brought a message, Lord Duoxia. As long as you cooperate in the operation and simultaneously instigate a rebellion within the Papal State, our Boya Empire will seize the opportunity to rise up and completely overthrow the rule of the Papal State."
Lord Duoxia, while I greatly admire your decision to relinquish power, you still wield considerable authority. Contributing appropriately will naturally lead to a more lucrative reward later. Although you have no interest in power, His Majesty the King has decided to reserve the position of the next Pope for you."
The spies from the Boya Empire were extremely respectful.
The reason why the Boya Empire has not sent troops so far is not because the Holy See has not sent any information, but because they are unsure whether this is a scheme orchestrated by the Holy See and Archbishop Duoxia.
Because this Archbishop Duoxia was simply too abnormal. His views and attitudes toward power and secular matters terrified and horrified the Emperor of the Boya Empire.
Archbishop Duoxia believed that human desires were being suppressed and divine principles were being obliterated. He argued that the Church's current control and operation were extremely destructive to human nature, and that all possibilities for change were being ruthlessly destroyed under this harsh system, leaving human society devoid of vitality.
He believed that the Church was only suitable to serve as a genuine missionary entity, and should not control the nation through ideology or use brainwashing to devastate the minds of the people.
He was even willing to give up his current power for this, just to restore the vitality of so-called human society and allow the Church to continue in a carefree manner forever.
Who would believe such an idea if it were spoken aloud? Even today, the emperor of the Boya Empire finds it hard to believe that this is the idea of one person. Or rather, he simply doesn't understand what this Archbishop Duoxia's so-called idea means.
If it's hard to understand, then it's naturally impossible to believe.
If the entire Holy Judgment Order hadn't actually perished in the Holy Lord City, he would have absolutely believed that Archbishop Duoxia was merely bait used by the Church to lure him into a trap.
Even so, he still didn't understand and found it hard to believe.
Therefore, the only option is for Archbishop Duoxia to donate even more.
There are no normal people in the Church!
The rain was pouring down, and Norton, who was eavesdropping on the conversation inside from the rooftop, was grinning from ear to ear.
See? He said it before: the tide has turned against the Papal State, and something bad is bound to happen to them!
I never expected that an archbishop would participate in the rebellion; this is incredibly exciting!
That's even better! This Lino City will soon become Lord Norton's Heaven!
Norton held his breath and silently swept across the rooftops, heading towards a more secluded part of the Church.
Before even starting the hunt, he had already reaped a huge harvest, and he felt that the trip had been worthwhile.
Now, it's hunting time.
Norton's bloodshot eyes swept across the enormous church. Despite the torrential rain, his sense of smell was largely unaffected, allowing him to clearly distinguish between areas with large and small crowds.
Since Archbishop Duoxia already has a lot of troubles, Norton will add a little more to his list, making things even more complicated.
Having lived in the Church for twenty years, Norton could tell what each hall was for just by the number of people inside, even without looking at their names.
If you were to throw a brick and kill someone, the most suitable place would be a confessional.