Only God

A single stone causes a thousand ripples; Eden's scream, filled with the last of his vigor, immediately touched upon everyone's most sensitive nerves. People turned to look in the direction of the clearing instantly, all hearing the faint sound of armor rubbing together.

Eden was dressed exceptionally plainly: he did not wear a monk's robe, nor did he carry a scepter in his hand, nor was he cloaked in a white vestment robe over his shoulders. But at this moment, people unanimously chose to believe in him. Under that cry, the crowd began to panic, scattering swiftly in all directions.

Bruce stood atop the platform, gaping at this scene. His eyes darted around before he immediately opened his mouth to call out to retain them:

"Children of the Lord, do not heed that bewitching voice!"

As the priest's words fell, many people stopped in their tracks, staring fearfully at the perimeter of the clearing, towards the small alleys. They all trusted this priest, just as they had trusted the previous ones. It must be known that already seven priests had become martyrs for this city, so fiercely loyal they were, and they believed Bruce to be the same.

Seeing this, Eden shouted anxiously,

"He has deceived you, God, curse him!"

No sooner had his voice fallen than the heretic soldiers appeared on the perimeter of the open ground. Eden's words were instantly confirmed, and everyone understood what was happening: someone had betrayed them, and that person was very likely Priest Bruce.

A tumultuous wave of noise swept over the area, filled with arguments, cries for help, and prayers, all blending together. People began to run, desperately fleeing, colliding with the encroaching heretic soldiers.

Shouts filled the air, and the atmosphere was fraught with agitation. At first, a number of people managed to escape, but as more heretic soldiers arrived at the scene, the unarmed True Believers were no match. Shouts and praises from the heretics rose, completely encircling the True Believers.

"King of Kings, you rule the world!"

"Capture all those dullards, leave none behind!"

"If they do not convert by tomorrow, take them all to be fed to the wolves!"

The brash soldiers' noise grew louder, with more troops continually rushing into the streets. Despite the True Believers' utmost efforts to break the siege, the circle tightened further. Then came the sound of blades slicing through flesh—a True Believer had died.

In pain, Eden watched the scene before him. When he turned his head, he noticed that Priest Bruce had disappeared without a trace. The True Believers were suddenly left leaderless, steadily losing ground under the soldiers' encirclement.

"There must, there must be someone to stand up," echoed in Eden's heart.

On the clearing, filled with piteous cries for help, among the angry and frenzied roars of the heretic soldiers, the True Believers had no choice but to flee in panic. But this chaotic and unorganized escape was not enough to break through the heretics' encirclement—they were driven back time and again. Only by targeting the weakest point to break through could more people escape.

Eden could have escaped then and there; with his ability, it would not have been difficult to slip away from the cordon. But he clenched his teeth, turned around, climbed onto the platform, and donned the monk's robe he always carried.

He took a deep breath and focused, and under the hazy moonlight and the firelight from the field, he surveyed the heretic siege. At last, he found a gap—it was on the northeast side, where there were not many soldiers.

"Children of the Lord, go that way, run towards the northeast!"

Eden shouted loudly.

Many True Believers turned their heads, and they saw Eden dressed in a Monk's vestment robe, looking every bit the part of a Priest. He became their lifeline and immediately gained the trust of the panicked crowd; the order to breach northeast swiftly spread among the people. While crying, some True Believers shouted, "God has not forsaken us."

In an instant, with a leader and a beacon of faith, the headless True Believers began breaking out toward the northeast. There were no few True Believers gathered in this area, at least several thousand, and the Heresy soldiers, no matter how numerous, found it difficult to guard everywhere. Soon, the soldiers to the east could not withstand the pressure, and a hole was torn through the encircling net; amid the flashing blades and shadowing swords, the crowd surged through the breach in escape.

More and more True Believers followed the others out of the encirclement. The Heresy soldiers could no longer sit still; they launched a new round of assault in near madness, and countless unarmed True Believers fell into pools of blood. Eden wanted to use the Ancient Language to save them, but he discovered that the ground had long been set with a ritual that restricted the Ancient Language.

"That damned Priest, Bruce!"

Eden cursed,

"This is an outright trap!"

Nearly two-thirds of the True Believers managed to break out of the encirclement. More True Believers began urging Eden to leave quickly under their cover; after weighing his options, Eden clenched his teeth and reluctantly nodded. Just as he was about to join the people for another charge, more Heresy soldiers surrounded them, making the field completely sealed off.

Dark clouds swept by, obscuring the only light from the sky; the sounds of fighting and vicious roars continued to rise from the field. The remaining True Believers, facing a sea of Heresy soldiers, lost all hope of escape.

.......................

Just as Eden had surmised, it was a complete trap.

The ruler of the city, referred to as "Arota" (akin to an Earl) by the Giant King believers, had intentionally withdrawn many Guards over the past half year and eased the intensity of the curfew, deliberately allowing the True Believers to gather and hold mass—for the sole purpose of luring them out one day to capture them all in a single net.

The local Arota called it "a gift to the King of Kings"; he spared no effort for this "gift," not only preparing the soldiers with fine equipment but also paying a heavy sum to bribe the Church-sent Priest, Bruce.

However, this meticulously crafted plan had a slight mishap.

The mishap lay in the fact that the previously leaderless True Believers suddenly found a leader who guided them through the encirclement and allowed two-thirds of the True Believers to escape.

Arota was not pleased with this.

But, as luck would have it amidst the misfortune, that so-called leader had been arrested and thrown into a dungeon.

Many harbored deep-seated hatred for him, demanding that he be executed publicly as an example to others, but the local Arota was not blinded by rage; he realized that if he could also bribe this person, it would prove very useful.

Thus, Arota first sent someone with a bag of Gold Coins to see him, but it wasn't long before the person who had brought the Gold Coins to visit Eden returned empty-handed.

As Arota fretted over this, a person stepped forward and volunteered to serve the Lord.

And this person was none other than Priest Bruce, the very one who had led the True Believers of the city into a trap.