NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1250
Chapter 88: Second Branch [Church of Truth]
As I watched the figures of the two treants fade into the forest, the black-haired girl casually pulled out a chaise lounge from her backpack, stretching lazily in the dappled sunlight coming through the trees, lying down as if on a beach holiday.
“Tsk tsk… No main dish in sight, but we get a hefty plate of trouble instead. With a level of mysterious power like this, it’s no wonder the Adventurer’s Guild is practically stumped…”
“What do you think, Shadow?”
No sooner had she spoken than a shadowy figure slowly rose from behind her, transforming quickly into a short-haired girl with blue-gray hair, clad in a tight black suit, with two slender swords on her back. She knelt with one knee, entirely concealed in the elongated shadow cast by the Priestess, her tone calm.
“What’s happening here is indeed beyond normal handling, Princess Vilyric. Should we call for reinforcements?”
“Reinforcements?”
The girl, lounging lazily, blinked in surprise, almost unable to suppress a chuckle.
“What do you mean by reinforcements? Don’t even mention that the Ost Empire is any better than the United Kingdom—we’re basically isolated here. Even if we did switch sides, with the two of us and Enrique’s siblings, we’re still up against at least four legendary beings. If we can’t handle this ourselves, what good would ordinary folks do in greater numbers?”
“……”
Shadow opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but quickly suppressed that urge, bowing her head even more respectfully — though from the perspective of the girl in front, she shouldn’t even be visible.
“Yes, my apologies, Your Highness. I misspoke.”
“Alright, no need to be so formal. Speaking of which, you came all this way to see me—did you uncover any progress?”
The Shadow Warrior girl nodded slightly.
“Based on the information you provided, we contacted 48 outposts within the Ost Empire, utilizing our connections, and have found traces of activities related to the [Church of Truth].”
“From various informants, we can confirm that this is a historical mid-sized sect that used to operate primarily within the realm of the Holy Empire.”
“About three hundred years ago, during the Third Demon War, the Holy Empire was thrown into turmoil. The prolonged and brutal conflict, combined with the Goddess Church’s deliberate focus on uniting divine authority against external threats, affected many religious institutions within the holy nations, forcing the Church of Truth to migrate eastward to escape the chaos.”
“Due to certain unverified changes, this group split in two during their escape, with one part choosing to cross the Endless Sea and never returning, while the other settled in the southeast of the Ost Empire, nearly halting all missionary activities and was once thought to have completely disbanded.”
“However, over the past six months, this sect has suddenly re-emerged, spreading their beliefs in a surprisingly rapid yet remarkably stealthy manner, with traces of their activities observed in several provinces of the Ost Empire.”
“Here are the detailed materials related to this. Please take a look, Your Highness.”
Shadow finally stood up and approached the side of the chaise lounge, producing a thick stack of freshly compiled documents, presenting them respectfully with both hands to the black-haired girl.
“So, it split into two… Interesting. Why would a sect that shares the same deity split like that?”
On another note, Liliya’s subordinates are quite impressive to dig up such ancient affairs from three hundred years ago in just a few days. Maybe I underestimated the powers of the United Kingdom a bit…
The [Church of Truth] organization was something Vilyric encountered during the [Four Saints Selection Tournament] in the Ancient Spirit Realm. According to a coincidentally captured member, they indeed had to flee eastward due to the pressures caused by changes in the Holy Empire over three hundred years ago.
Vilyric had used the [Sword of Origin] to rewrite parts of the holy nation’s history, but that was merely a minor change. She eliminated the potential risks posed by [faith-based magic]—a concept already fraught with issues—replacing it with a similar kind of power, but to prevent the world from undergoing drastic changes due to a butterfly effect, events from over three hundred years prior had to be restored as closely as possible.
The [Goddess Church] remains the [Goddess Church], unaffected by the disappearance of faith-based magic. Even the rather inexplicable [Church of the Light] still exists; the difference now is that the former rebranded itself due to the miraculous manifestation of the “Goddess’s Miracle” three hundred years ago, which led to the development of a holy magic system.
Ahem, though it feels a bit strange, it can’t be helped.
Vilyric hadn’t yet delved deeply into the particulars, but like in original history, the [Church of the Light] underwent significant changes during that war—the three saintesses relinquished power, leading to the gradual formation of the Holy Church and the Holy Light magic system. The Holy Empire gained more powerful weapons, making divine authority more centralized and rigid.
The Church of Truth was evidently resisted and had no choice but to abandon its original base and migrate to the eastern Ost Empire.
However, the Church member she met in the Ancient Spirit Realm clearly wasn’t a high-ranking official, so they only knew part of the story and were unaware that some followers hadn’t crossed the sea but remained in their original homeland.
But what caused such a divergence in their decisions?
And the name Church of Truth, at first glance, seems to be a sect worshiping the [God of Truth and the Blue Sea], but the issue is that Surs Te’s domain is the sea, and he has long been dead for over a thousand years. How could such a religion arise within the Holy Empire?
There must be deeper reasons at play. I hope these materials prove helpful.
“Regardless, thank you for your hard work.”
Waving her hand, the stack of documents flew up as if pulled by an unseen force, landing gracefully in Vilyric’s hands.
Shadow Warrior slightly raised her head, surprise flashing in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed the emotion, maintaining her respectful kneeling posture with dignity.
“This is all part of the [Shadow People]’s duties. Do you have any further orders, Your Highness?”
While casually flipping through the documents, the black-haired girl waved her hand dismissively.
“For now, that’s all… Oh, by the way, I probably won’t be back to the Coastal City of Leila for quite a while. You don’t need to go wandering around; just stay close to me as Liliya suggested. You saw those two adventurers earlier—do you think you can keep them oblivious?”
“Of course I can.”
Several hours later, around the afternoon, Enrique and Sophie, who had gone off to search the nearby areas, returned breathlessly to the agreed meeting spot, reuniting with the Priestess, who appeared solitary but had actually gone through the documents.
Their efforts were obviously in vain; in fact, Vilyric had already used Spiritual Points to scan this entire area, confirming that visible traces of people wouldn’t appear until one crossed the surrounding mountains, reaching a main road nearly ten kilometers away, which belonged to another village or town.
After checking around, it firmly established their prior assumption that even these two legendary adventurers had to give up in resignation. They quickly resolved their food situation with rations and rested on the spot, waiting alongside Vilyric for the moment of change.
Time passed slowly. Soon, dusk fell, and the sky darkened gradually, the bright moon of March and countless stars rising anew.
Night had fallen.
And in that very moment…
“!”
The three legendary adventurers suddenly changed expressions, with Sophie acting first without hesitation, rolling forward with an agility far beyond that of a shield warrior, holding her “Tree Wall” directly in front of herself and Vilyric!
“Swish swish swish!”
In the next moment, three diamond-shaped shurikens silently appeared on that large, wooden shield entwined with vines.