Chapter 350 — The Stirring of the Holy Light

After returning to the lord's manor, Gao Yang had Amber bring him all the intelligence gathered over the past period concerning the Church of the Daystar and the activities of heretics in various regions.

Noticing Gao Yang's dark, grave expression, Amber knew at once that he must have caught a whiff of something in the recent turn of events. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "What? You think the Church of the Daystar is up to something?"

"It seems putting you in charge of intelligence has produced some progress after all," Gao Yang said, glancing at Amber with approval. "You've sensed something wrong too?"

Amber waved a hand. "Oh, no, not at all. I just figure those holy frauds live only to scheme."

Gao Yang: "..."

"Hey, hey, come on, tell me, tell me," Amber said, shamelessly sidling up again. "I do think the Church of the Daystar has been acting far too aggressively lately, but that's a change anyone can see, and it's just a product of the current situation. What else have you noticed?"

"Ever since the leaders of the great churches signed the Sacred Covenant at Mount Mingcen, the churches have held seven hundred years of peace despite their differing creeds and mutual disagreements. In those seven hundred years, there were times when heretics ran rampant, but never once did any church turn its spearhead against another orthodox faith. The Church of the Daystar does possess a special advantage in combating evil forces and purifying corruption, while those churches inclined toward darkness and negativity struggle against heretics—yet all along, the Church of the Daystar has acted as a leader, helping and guiding the weaker churches to fight side by side."

As he spoke, Gao Cen set the documents in his hand aside. "That is also the most natural and correct choice, because each church serves a different social function. The Holy Light can oppose evil, Abundance ensures agriculture, the God of War protects warriors and guides the order of war and postwar reconstruction, the Blood God restrains private desire and oversees contracts. Human survival has never had only one goal—fighting heretics. When heretics appear, the Church of the Daystar steps forward; when other troubles arise, the other churches naturally have their own value. I understand this principle, and in theory the priests of the Church of the Daystar should understand it as well."

Amber curled her lip. "But right now they're obviously suppressing the other churches."

"Exactly—suppressing the other churches," Gao Yan nodded. "Since last autumn, as heretics have grown more active within Ansu, the Church of the Daystar has been expanding and swelling rapidly under the banner of striking down heretics. And by late winter, they began suppressing and pushing out those churches that performed poorly in the fight against heretics. This has only intensified recently. The people are sometimes blind, especially in a state of panic. With the threat of heretics growing by the day, almost everyone has tolerated and acquiesced to the Church of the Daystar's actions—many are even applauding them."

"Those churches being pushed out won't sit around waiting to die," Amber said. "In many places, members of the sidelined churches have already clashed head-on with the Holy Light priests. The Church of the Daystar may be large, but it's hardly the greatest under heaven—battle monks and church cavalry aren't theirs alone."

"I rather suspect... the Church of the Daystar is waiting for everyone to resist," Gao Yang said, placing his hand on the table, his brows furrowing. "Their suppression of the other churches is too blatant, too hasty. If this were my undertaking, I certainly wouldn't suppress all heretics nationwide so directly. I'd first draw in a portion of the churches with high affinity for the Holy Light, then brand those inclined toward darkness as heretics—pulling one wave and striking another, breaking down the opposition piece by piece. But the Church of the Daystar's current behavior... rather than slowly weakening the other churches, it looks more like they're forcing the other churches to unite and fight them head-on in a religious war, one that leaves both sides crippled..."

"No way..." Amber looked at Gao Yang with considerable doubt. "Maybe it's not that complicated. Maybe those Holy Light priests are just that straight-laced and simple-minded, wanting to charge head-on. Not everyone is as sly as you, with your divide-and-conquer, your twisting and turning—who could understand all that?"

"You think someone who could climb to the upper ranks of the church is as guileless as you?" Gao Yang shot the half-elf a look. "Pull one wave, strike another—that's not some brilliant stratagem. I'm sure the powers that be in the Daystar Cathedral have thought of it. Since they haven't done it... I have to suspect they're aiming at something greater. Of course, I can't rule out that the Church of the Daystar is simply overconfident, believing they can topple every faith in the world on their own..."

As he spoke, a figure surfaced unbidden in Gao Yang's mind.

Pale golden hair, a plain priest's robe, a bearing so transcendent it seemed hardly human, the aura of Holy Light that always lingered about her...

That "Saint Princess," Virodai?Morne...

She stood high in the Church of the Daystar and was at the same time a member of the royal family—was she connected to the church's current activities? What role was she playing in all this? If she was driving these changes, then the next time the Cecil Territory dealt with that "Saint Princess," they would have to be careful...

In the Daystar Cathedral, the Great Hall of Light, the pure Holy Light hovered and drifted above the dome of the hall, coating the surface—painted with scenes of the divine kingdom—in a faintly rippling halo like the surface of water, resplendent and radiant as ever.

The bishops reported on the progress of rooting out evil and suppressing heretics across the kingdom over the recent period. Their voices were calm and steady as the Holy Light drifting over the dome, but the content of their reports was not so calm as their voices.

"Your Eminence, the wicked of the cults purified by the Holy Light grow more numerous by the day, and the Lord's power has been made manifest. But those stubborn, benighted followers of the false faiths are becoming a new trouble," said a bishop wearing a tall mitre. "In Stonewall City, ever since the Blood God chapel secretly controlled by heretics was torn down, a great many followers of the Blood God have refused to accept the true faith, refused the chance for baptism, purification, and repentance. Those believers were driven from the city, but they wander the wilderness causing havoc, turning bandit and attacking the priests we send out to spread the Holy Light."

Another bishop continued: "Similar situations have arisen in the western plains. After being exiled, followers of the Shadow God began attacking our priests, even ordinary believers of the Holy Light. They have caused great panic locally."

The aged Saint Ivan III slightly raised his eyelids, his voice betraying neither pleasure nor anger: "Their conduct only confirms our judgment, does it not?

"Exile proves they are suspect, and the chance we give them to convert is the chance to prove their innocence. Those untouched by evil would of course not fear embracing the Holy Light; to fear embracing the Holy Light is proof of having fallen into evil.

"That they became bandits, attacked priests, attacked the innocent, and before that refused to embrace the Holy Light and refused to convert—this proves they are truly agents of evil. We need only point this out, and the world will naturally discern right from wrong."

"Your wisdom has cleared away our confusion," said the bishop who had spoken first, bowing his head. "We shall obey your will."