Only God

Yes, Danschel only needed absolute power, with over sixty legions at its disposal, and when necessary, it could mobilize hundreds of legions, arming millions of men to heed its commands, the ruler of such an empire was indeed the embodiment of might.

Yet, it was such an Emperor who had been slapped in the face before all eyes.

The dignity of the Emperor was inviolable, and even Eden himself did not find it hard to guess that he was very likely to be sentenced to the most severe punishment.

Faced with the question from the half-Fawen named Timian, Eden slowly answered,

"Justice, doing good, and worshipping the Lord, this is our doctrine.

You ask me on what grounds do I stand, I tell you,

even if the Emperor is the Emperor, that is merely a secular status; within the Church, he remains but a lay believer, and I am a Priest. If he commits an unjust act, of course, I have the right to admonish him."

As Eden's words fell, the people looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"God, I thought there was some political conspiracy inside, but it turns out he's just a fool hung up on scripture!"

"Hey, this guy is out of his mind, I bet he'll be hanged like a murderer."

"There are so many people in this world who commit unjust acts, do you intend to slap every single one of them?"

............…

At night, the rain began to fall, draping over the land of Danschel. Due to curfew, the whole city dimmed, the sun's brilliance temporarily departed, and the misty veil of rain gathered even the faintest light within its fold.

Outside the prison cell, Eden faintly heard some noise amidst the rain.

According to the laws of the Empire, during curfew, the entire city was supposed to maintain silence and extinguish lights. Otherwise, the guards could arbitrarily throw violators into prison. But the Empire appeared to be no longer like it once was; this law was set when the Empire was at its peak, back then, nearly every street had two or three patrolling guards. Now, it was two or three streets per guard.

Eden's mind wandered as he sat on a pile of straw, silently rotating his prayer beads in his hand.

Before long, the noise dissipated, and the world quieted in the rain.

Eden silently raised his eyes, gazing at the prisoners outside the cell.

"Brian, here for offending the ceremony."

"Rama, here for adultery."

"Kanbries, in for murder, also guilty of assault and theft."

...…

Eden silently recited in his mind, as if in his eyes, he could see each person's sins.

Fortunately, he kept his statements to himself, for if spoken aloud, he would certainly encounter the cold mockery and hostility of the other prisoners once more.

The rain kept falling, without a moment's pause.

Eden sat quietly, twisting the prayer beads in his hand, slowly entering a state of spiritual cultivation.

The so-called spiritual cultivation likely originated during King Dertulian's era when Logos's Ancient Kingdom was destroyed under the wrath of God, and the Priests of the Nus Kingdom took this as a warning, admonishing the Elves to stay away from the intrusion of desire, to leave behind worldly greed, to learn to pursue the will of God, and to keep their hearts peaceful and pure, thereby becoming closer to God and perfecting themselves.

Simply put, at the beginning, spiritual cultivation bore certain similarities to meditation.

However, with the arrival of Prophet Noen, the second one, the meaning of spiritual cultivation underwent a new change.

This was because Prophet Noen brought the ancient words of God.

Thereafter, spiritual cultivation was no longer merely meditation, but also the comprehension of the ancient words, studying the powers bestowed by God.

And with the appearance of God-created paths, the meaning of spiritual cultivation once again underwent a change.

Spiritual cultivation was not only about understanding the ancient words but also studying the God-created paths, scrutinizing one's own path, completing a journey of self-discovery.

Compared to his peers in the clergy, Eden entered into the spiritual cultivation state far more easily than others.

This was like a special favor from the Lord...

But this divine care seemed to come with a corresponding price.

In short, Eden could see things others couldn't.

For example, the sins of others, just now, as Eden was about to enter a state of Spiritual Cultivation, he saw the sins each person had committed.

Sin, in the eyes of most people, often means painful punishment, the condemnation of conscience, and the scorn of the public, yet sins often fade away with the grinding of time and changes in space.

For instance, a person who committed a sin ten years ago, after ten years, is barely remembered by anyone, and a person who committed a crime in one nation, upon reaching another, is unknown.

Sin seems like something that simply goes away once it's past.

But in Eden's eyes, sin wasn't something that would just disappear into thin air; instead, it was clearly inscribed in the soul, like forgotten tracks in the snow.

There's a saying that goes, "To know someone's face is not to know their heart," yet Eden's ability allowed him to know both face and heart.

This seemed to be pure divine care, and when he secretly shared this secret with the deputy abbot of the Monastery, the latter was astounded and uncontrollably excited.

However, for Eden, this divine care genuinely caused him pain.

In interactions between people, one usually only sees the good side of others, but Eden could see not only the good but also the evil side.

A dignified and elegant lady would visit the Monastery to pray and leave a good impression on countless Monks, yet Eden could see the sin she had committed of killing her husband.

Eden could see the imperfections of the world and was deeply resentful and pained by it, yet powerless to change it.

At first, he would speak out about the sins of others, hoping to educate them into reforming, but what he received in return was not reform or atonement, but loathing and hatred.

Some even cursed him in private as the Devil's spawn, that this orphan without parents had been sent by the Devil to the Monastery.

All these things deeply wounded Eden's nerves, so he decided to no longer mention the things he saw, keeping all visions silently within himself.

"All sentient beings mourn, the earth in disaster, earthquakes, mountain collapses, tsunamis, swords arising from the mountains, plagues, and skirmishes like divine punishment, storms, tsunamis, fierce fires, sulfur, beasts of sin ravaging everywhere... until the firmament cracks open, and one day an Angel descends, manifesting grandeur, manifesting holiness, proclaiming the Kingdom of God."

During Spiritual Cultivation, Eden softly recited the Scriptures in his heart, gradually retreating to a more peaceful place within.

Gradually, the scenes in his eyes started to blur and become hazy, the sound of rain disappeared, the whole world became illusory, and the cells opposite him were no longer a series of bodies, but a series of souls.

Eden had entered the deepest part of Spiritual Cultivation; the world before his eyes was no longer the real world, but seemed like the reverse side of reality—the Spirit Realm.

In this state, any living creature would appear before him in a state of the soul.

Eden actually disliked the scenes of the Spirit Realm.

It meant that all the hypocrisies of the world were laid bare before him.

Those sins were so painful and infuriating for him.

Being able to look directly into the hearts of people seemed like a grace, but for some inherently good people, it was not a good thing at all.

This is also why he came to believe in the Prophecy of the Savior and became a suspected heretic.

Eden longed for a Savior to descend to the earth and purify all the sins of the world, which in his theological thoughts, manifested as the confrontation between good and evil, the Holy Spirit and Evil Spirits.

Of course, this was heretical thinking, even deemed so by Prophet Solamus from the Book of Thousand-Year-Old Prophets.

The "Book of Thousand-Year-Old Prophets" mentions that someone once asked Solamus whether Heaven had not descended because of original sin, and if the sins of the world had not been eradicated?

Solamus gave a negative answer, saying, "The coming of Heaven is not because of sin, but because of God's will."

So, Eden always felt panicky about his own heretical thoughts, not daring to express them too much.

"But now, what's the use of being fearful? I'm going to die anyway, to become a Martyr."

Eden muttered to himself in a low voice.

Having offended the Emperor on a whim, no matter when, would never end well.

Eden had prepared himself mentally from the beginning; death was not fearsome to him, after all, there was too much in this world he abhorred.