Only God

He felt a chill, as he couldn't find any heretic Scripture Institutes in this city, nor any heretic books; he could hardly find a trace of heresy. Then, was it possible that those heretics had already been persecuted to extinction?

Eden's hands felt cold as he tried to deny this thought, but how could the scene unfolding before his eyes let him deny it?

The crowd was growing larger, and the emotions among the people were intensifying with each rise and fall of their shouting. Every person seemed to transform into a part of the mob, hurling insults like a violent storm. Someone needed to stop all this.

"Stop, stop right now!"

Eden roared.

But almost no one paid attention to him.

Eden raised his voice, and more people noticed him, but no one stopped because of his voice.

"I am a Priest! I am a Priest! God won't forgive you, have you forgotten the admonitions of the Prophets?"

Eden shouted at the top of his lungs.

These threatening words finally had some effect. Fear flickered in the eyes of many, and the voices of the crowd diminished. Eden pushed his way into the center of the crowd.

The blaze of rage in the people was temporarily extinguished; the mother and son stood up frantically, looking for a way to escape, but the crowd had surrounded them completely. The eyes of the True Believers were all focused on the man claiming to be a Priest.

Even if Eden were judged a heretic and not fit to perform a Priest's duties, how could the decree of the Great Council apply in this day and age? With the situation being critical, Eden didn't care about anything else and stepped up using the identity of a Priest to take control of the situation.

The True Believers didn't leave; they stared intently at Eden, nobody daring to approach him, nor did anyone want to leave at this moment. The whirlpool of anger was surging, and nobody wanted to let the heretic mother and child go so easily.

The True Believers encircling them exchanged glances, whispering to each other as if they were trying to confirm whether anyone recognized this "Priest."

Eden knew that the longer the delay, the more it disadvantaged him, after all, he wasn't a Priest of this time period. Once those people realized that, they would surely treat him as a fraud.

He lifted his hand, ready to shoo away the encircling True Believers, when at that moment, a middle-aged man looking like a Priest hastily squeezed through the crowd.

Eden felt a tightness in his chest and instinctively panicked.

Given the current religious conflict, how would this Priest handle the heretic mother and son?

"What are all of you doing, what are all of you doing!"

The Priest yelled:

"Everyone leave this place, Oh Lord, let your people leave this place."

However, unexpectedly, the Priest seemed to be driving away the True Believers who had surrounded the place.

The crowd erupted into noise again, the True Believers chattering for quite a while before reluctantly beginning to disperse; some were unwilling to leave and glared hatefully at the heretics.

The Priest pointed at a few who refused to leave and called out their names accurately:

"Bruce, get out of here!"

"Matthew, go, just go. It wasn't this unarmed mother and son who killed your brother. May God give you just judgment."

"Lame George, you get moving as well, don't stay here, this has nothing to do with you."

......…

The Priest waved his hands, driving away the True Believers one by one. Finally, under the Priest's efforts, the True Believers who had surrounded the mother and son had almost all left, leaving just a few people on the plaza.

"If you need anything, come to the church. If you need bread, come to the church as well."

The Priest approached the mother and son and whispered.

Numbly, the mother and son nodded their heads before standing up and running away swiftly, their figures disappearing from sight.

At this moment, the Priest turned around and looked at Eden.

"Thank you… I should've come earlier, my brother, my name is George, I am the resident Priest here."

The Priest introduced himself.

"I'm called Eden."

Eden did not say where he was a priest from, after all, he had long been stripped of his priestly duties,

"The situation here is..."

Before Eden could finish, the priest interjected,

"Let's talk at the church first."

The priest nodded slightly.

.........…

Soon after, they arrived at the church, not through the main entrance hall but by the side door, which left Eden somewhat regretful that he could not see if the church had changed from his own time or if it was different in this era.

Priest George brought Eden to the parlor and personally filled his glass with cool water.

After they had exchanged blessings, Priest George asked,

"Priest Eden, where do you come from?"

"The capital... outskirts of the Empire."

Eden responded vaguely.

Priest George did not suspect further; he sighed softly and said,

"Oh, then you probably have never seen such a sight."

Eden nodded sincerely,

"How could this happen here?"

Priest George sighed again,

"Pray for God's mercy, it has always been like this here.

You are from the capital, which is a bustling place, but here, not to mention bustling, even peace is rare.

The people here profoundly hate those heathens, because over a decade ago, the heathens' troops set foot in this city and looted it completely.

It's not just this city; the people from around here all hate those heathens. Do you know where these people come from?"

Eden shook his head.

"All over the world, they are True Believers from various countries, responding to the Emperor's request and summons, coming to defend the True Religion world.

Among them, there are knights, nobles, bastards, landlords, peasants, unemployed... True Believers of various countries and races came, people who do not speak the same language reclaiming lost land from the hands of heathens for a common faith.

It sounds very beautiful, very grand, doesn't it?"

Priest George said this, his eyes reflecting a hint of reminiscence, which vanished after a brief moment,

"At first, I felt the same way. I came here as a Priest who accompanied the Empire's soldiers.

But what did I see when the city gates were breached?

A massacre occurred in the city; countless houses were set aflame, and the poor soldiers were the first to rush to plunder, raping a heathen woman every time they smashed into a house. In just a few days, the whole city was reduced to a bloodbath, and apart from a handful of lucky escapees, countless heathens were killed on the spot and even some True Believers did not escape the slaughter, because those people were already mad with killing and plundering.

Just like some heathens do to us, we did the same to them. I still remember, the bodies were piled up like mountains, the blood on the floors of the heathen Scripture Institute was deep enough to drown a horse's knees. Soldiers sang hymns as they broke down the doors of the institute, hauling out and killing the hiding heathens. Lord, how could you allow Your people be so cruel?"

Priest George lamented as he spoke,

"The Empire launched a conquest for the lost lands, calling upon countless True Believers to join,

For the Empire, reclaiming lost land meant restoring its former power, but for True Believers, conquering here meant that God's glory would shine upon the land once more.

Us True Believers, especially the common people, always shouted the slogan "Kill the devil's offspring," exterminating living beings as if they were soulless devils, and even those who converted weren't necessarily spared.

Everyone treated the blood of heathens as a contribution to the faith, offering up their victory as if it were a sacrifice. I watched so many True Believers incur blood debts, and perhaps one day, that blood will pile up and clog the source of God's forgiveness."