Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 661 - 660: Divine Oracle

Within the Silver Castle, Amber brought some materials that Gawain needed.

"These things are not difficult to find—although they are confidential externally, they’re not a secret in the hands of a former palace advisor," Amber spoke with undisguised pride on her face, "The daily life of royal members is recorded in detail, these are about Veronica..."

Gawain took the organized copies, his gaze slowly moving across the lines of text.

"Veronica Moen possessed strong magical and spiritual talents since childhood, but when she was born, she was almost declared dead by doctors and priests," Amber casually remarked next to Gawain as he looked at the documents, "She was born without a heartbeat, like a stillborn, and only showed signs of life an hour later.

"Later, the Church of the Holy Light explained it as ’divine grace,’ saying the power of the Holy Light revived this infant with strong holy light affinity. It sounds completely misleading, yet the doctors couldn’t explain the phenomenon, so it was recorded as ’divine grace,’ which later became one of the factors in Veronica Moen’s conversion to the Holy Light...

"Before the age of six, Veronica frequently fell into sudden comas. Despite numerous examinations and the declaration by all doctors and priests that the little princess was healthy, she continued to faint often. Consequently, she almost never left her room before turning six and required a maid’s supervision twenty-four hours a day.

"Her conversion to the Holy Light seemed to have no doubts—at ten years old, Veronica Moen went to the church for the first time together with other royal members. During this event, she demonstrated extremely high spiritual talents and holy light affinity, attracting the attention of Saint Ivan III. Afterwards, she gradually showed interest in the Holy Light, followed by several years of study and understanding, coupled with overt and covert negotiations between the royal family and the church, leading to her ’conversion to the Holy Light’ at the age of sixteen.

"The whole process seemed very normal, a transaction achieved after negotiations from various parties, and Veronica’s role in it never exceeded her duty."

Gawain turned a page of the document in hand, speaking plainly: "As an ancient soul that has lived a thousand years, she has enough patience and wisdom to ensure every action leaves no doubts. Her ’conversion’ process naturally raises no suspicions."

"Makes sense, I think so too," Amber nodded, arms folded, "Do you think those coma records before she was six are related to her ’soul parasitism’?"

"A girl under six should be unable to house a high-ranking soul, these records indirectly prove Veronica’s description about herself is true, at least as part of the evidence," Gawain set down the documents, "Is there anything else?"

"This is all the documented data," Amber spread her hands, "So, do you think this ’Defier’ poses a big risk? Should we continue investigating those maids and doctors who cared for her at the time, along with scholars who taught her at court? Many are still in the Silver Castle..."

"No need, excessive investigation might come off too offensive, and it’s unlikely to find anything," Gawain gestured dismissively, "The situation is roughly as I anticipated, some evidence can support Veronica’s statements, but there surely won’t be extra evidence exposing her secrets... however, this doesn’t affect our cooperation with her."

"She indeed seems to be fulfilling her promise, stabilizing the order among believers in the city. By this morning, she has already aided the White Knight Brigade’s smooth entry into the Cathedral of the Holy Light. Disregarding her identity, she can certainly exert a substantial impact."

The White Knight Brigade has already entered the Cathedral of the Holy Light.

According to the plan, this signifies the northern church’s leadership transfer is complete—the White Knights representing the southern church will become controllers of the cathedral, and the Great Shepherd Wright from the southern church will, with Veronica’s assistance and the support of the "divine oracle", enter the Great Hall of Radiance, becoming the leader of both northern and southern churches.

The northern church will undergo a reform during this process, starting with changes in the church’s upper ruling structure. The title of "Pope" will be abolished, replaced by the position of "Great Shepherd" from the southern church, simultaneously establishing various positions like treasurer and bishop to replace the former structure of the bishop team.

Afterwards, the southern church’s doctrines and commandments will gradually replace those of the northern church. Additionally, numerous past "holy orders" from the northern church, including indulgence money, enforced conversion, and heterodox prosecutions, will also be abolished.

For the northern church, these changes are nearly earth-shattering, but all must be carried out since they are the "divine oracle," conveyed by the Holy Light God to the last pope, Saint Ivan III, recorded by the living saint Veronica, approved by the Empire’s governor and high-levels from the Administrative Office, and ratified by the Empire’s leader.

Gawain lowered his head to look at the other materials on the table, while Amber quietly vanished from sight, though her presence lingered in the study, and outside the window, an elegant yet solemn bell was ringing beyond the Silver Castle.

The bell enveloped the Cathedral of the Holy Light, sacred glow rippling among sentinel towers, domes, and columns, where priests, clergymen, baptized knights, and devout core followers quietly stood amidst columns, outside the Great Hall of Radiance, listening to this graceful bell, nervous yet expectant awaiting the conclusion of the "Holy See Conference."

The White Knights from the south guarded the entrances and doors throughout the cathedral. These tall and imposing clergymen stood in solemn silence, their armors and warhammers shimmering, resembling legendary kingdom warriors full of majesty. Their faces hidden beneath full helmets, only cool gazes seemingly leaked from the crystal visors of their helmets, scanning crowds gathered in various parts of the cathedral, these steely warriors made no extraneous movements or dialogues.

Those unqualified to enter the Great Hall of Radiance, or even the main body of the cathedral, lesser clergymen and followers were filled with reverence. In their view, the holy light surrounding the White Knights and their silent, dignified demeanor inherently reflected divine grace—certainly, they were the most devout and strongest believers, else how could they possess such radiant bodies?

Inside the Great Hall of Radiance, Wright stood at the center of the hall, before him gathered the last remaining high priest Clergy of the Church of the Holy Light. Northern Church’s living saint Veronica stood beside him, this Saint Princess held the platinum scepter symbolizing "God’s Bridge" in one hand, the other hand opened, speaking in a gentle yet indisputable tone: "...Venerable and respected Saint Ivan sacrificed nobly to earn us the mercy of the Holy Light, new divine oracles revealed the correct path to us...

"...The divine oracle has designated our new leader, he’s emerged from the light, following the path of the holy light to come before us, his actions indeed reflect the true path of the Holy Light...

"...The dreadful and blasphemous disaster was a test and a warning to us, for previously we misunderstood the essence of the holy light’s will. Thus, we must undergo this trial to reshape our beliefs...

"Saint Ivan failed to bear our errors, thereby leaving this world, yet due to his great sacrifice, the Holy Light summoned him prematurely, using his voice to convey these truths to us before his departure..."

Veronica’s voice echoed in the Great Hall of Radiance, and the high priests listened silently. When her voice faded, they did not question her with words, but instead praised in unison: "Praise the Holy Light, praise our Lord, praise our new guide and protector, praise Rhett Aiviken... "

In the midst of the praise, Wright raised his warhammer high.

An unprecedentedly pure and powerful glory descended from the sky, piercing through the celestial sea of the Holy Light at the top of the Great Hall of Radiance, enveloping Wright.

The high priests in the hall were deeply moved and praised once again, with a seemingly greater sense of sincerity this time...

"Disperse," Wright said softly as the radiance illuminated him, "Go and convey this good news to the believers; there will be no chaos, no one will be abandoned or subjected to unjust judgment, as the Holy Light still protects everyone."

The Church Attendant opened all seven doors of the hall, and the high priests began to leave. Soon, the sacred hall became quiet.

Wright sighed gently: "...In the end, they still need a ’lord’ to be praised..."

"It must be done step by step after all; the Northern Church has survived on this land for seven hundred years. The roots of devout faith are deeply ingrained. We cannot expect them to leave their Lord right away," Veronica said gently. "Furthermore... we all know that ’lord’ truly exists."

Wright glanced at this "Defier" and nodded slightly.

Whether it was Gawain supporting the Southern Church, Wright promoting the New Doctrine, or the Defiers confronting the gods, they have never denied the true existence of "God."

The existence of God is an objective fact in this world, and the most admirable aspect of the Defiers is precisely this:

They acknowledge the existence of gods, and under this premise, they attempt to oppose them.

"Using the new concept of ’Holy Light Will’ to gradually replace the old title of the Holy Light and, in the process, implement the true path of the Holy Light, is indeed a more prudent plan, but also be cautious that the concept of ’Holy Light Will’ doesn’t become a new shackle..." Wright said in a deep voice. "You must have considered this, haven’t you?"

"If the old system of faith and doctrine doesn’t change, then the shackles won’t change. Simply renaming the deity will not fundamentally liberate people’s minds. We all understand these simple truths," Veronica smiled faintly. "But we are precisely aiming for these fundamental changes, aren’t we?"

Speaking thus, the Defier paused for a moment and continued calmly: "So it can be understood this way—if everyone realizes that the transcendent power of the Holy Light belongs to everyone, if everyone realizes that each person can freely think about doctrine and solely view the god as a spiritual support rather than an ultimate law and the dominator of personal destiny, then even if everyone still believes in the Holy Light, this shackle has already unlocked itself, hasn’t it?"

Wright quietly pondered the depth of Veronica’s words and only looked up after half a minute: "Is this some research conclusion of yours as a ’Defier’?"

"It could be considered as such," Veronica smiled, "but not as a final conclusion... Perhaps it will only be when mortals can directly confront the gods, when we finally reach the kingdom of gods and find deity, then we can truly understand what deities are, understand how they operate, and only then will we have reached a final conclusion."

Wright pondered briefly but did not pursue further, instead addressing the practical matters at hand: "The reforms for the Northern Church will begin with St. Soniel. In the first step, I will establish a structure of clergymen here according to the manner of the Southern Church, with key positions held by priests transferred from the Southern Church. Do you have any suggestions in this regard?"

"Since the old group of bishops has disappeared, you will encounter no obstacles on this layer, but when you start touching the interests of middle and lower-level priests, you will inevitably face resistance. But the more middle and lower-level the priests are, the more their weaknesses can be addressed by secular means. Compared to ’divinity,’ their human weaknesses are more pronounced: money, violence, divide and conquer, psychological strategies—all these methods will be effective against them.

"Furthermore, you must ensure adequate force to maintain this entire process. The White Knights are powerful, and their might is well-suited for this purpose. Do not be merciful; the situation in the northern parts is different from the south. Here, many extremely stubborn conservative priests will allow no mercy.

"Finally, for the majority of believers, the power of the words ’God’s Will’ is immense. Fully utilize these words to make them believe and follow. In the northern regions, this approach is most effective. But beware of abusing these words, ’using the name of God for convenient deeds’ is a huge temptation; indulge in it, and you will be no different from the original Northern Church, also falling unwittingly into the shackles of the gods."

Wright nodded slightly.

Veronica’s suggestions were much like what Gawain privately mentioned to him, but more detailed and better suited to the special circumstances of the northern regions. This could perhaps indirectly prove that the Defier before him was worthy of cooperation.

"God’s Will..." Wright muttered lightly, with a hint of lament, "Then we need to further strengthen the radiant image of Saint Ivan III..."

"To ensure our reforms proceed smoothly and make ’God’s Will’ more legitimate and convincing, a noble sacrificial lamb is indispensable," Veronica said quietly, turning to look at the empty pope’s seat in the center of the hall.

"Glory to the dead, since His Eminence the Pope has already been gloriously summoned by the Lord, then we can boldly ascribe all great causes to him..."