Chapter 1201 - 95: Really Take Action When Needed!

Chapter 1201: Chapter 95: Really Take Action When Needed!

Santier Castle.

A Priest in a black hooded robe hurried into a secret Divine Hall, strode up to an elderly Bishop, and said in a low voice, "Mansong is dead..."

What?

Hearing this, the elderly Bishop’s expression changed; he snapped his head up in shock and asked, "Who killed him?"

The Priest shook his head and said, "I don’t know."

"But Mansong orchestrated the attack on Tivandon. Most likely it was done by a Divine Favored of some benevolent Divine Spirit."

"Ordinary people could never deal with him."

(Note: In order to completely seize control of the vital artery of the gold route, Tivandon will eventually be slaughtered to the last, directly wiped out by the Scantlin Association.)

The old Bishop’s expression grew grave as he said slowly, "Don’t spread this around. Immediately send people to take over the Scantlin Association."

"I will personally arrange what comes next."

With that, he swiftly summoned a High-tier Assassin, gave a few brief instructions, then walked into the inner secret chapel, where all the Fanatics of Dark Sun Shirek were gathered—many of them former followers of Baal, the God of Murder, and Mircro, the God of Death.

Shirek did not trust them; he used certain methods to turn them into Fanatics who could be sent to die at any moment.

"Anyone who dares oppose Shirek must die. Bow before His supreme power, and offer up the blood of those foolish mortals who refuse to believe in the one and only True God."

A frenzied Priest was proclaiming Shirek’s doctrine. Staring at the kneeling believers before him, he spoke in a deranged tone: "Fear and submit to whoever holds power—but if they are weak, or show a tendency toward unrealistic, nebulous goals of so-called goodness, then in the name of the Dark Sun, kill them."

"Bring death to those who oppose the orthodox Church of Shirek; bring death to those who attempt to create or maintain peace, order, and law. All legitimate authority comes from Shirek; every other form of authority must be overturned."

"Do not launch open rebellion, for when armies march, all faiths and all gods will take notice. The best method is to defeat your enemies one by one, so that all commoners live in terror and unease, in a constant state of conflict—and under Shirek’s ever-expanding reign of cruelty."

Shirek’s doctrine was simple and brutal.

His Church had only just recently taken shape, built entirely from the former believers of the God of Murder and the God of Death.

If a Priest lived long enough,

he could even recall certain deeds of Shirek back when he was still a Mortal, before he became a god, that is, before the Saint’s Calamity broke out.

Of course, Shirek’s Church denied this. They claimed Shirek had been a Divine Spirit from birth.

But the Saint’s Calamity happened only a few years ago; that amount of time is nowhere near enough to erase the traces of Shirek’s mortal past. Far too many beings knew what he was like as a Mortal, and accordingly did not hold this Divine Spirit in much awe.

And then, all these people were killed by Shirek.

Everyone who opposed him was killed.

Shirek ruled his Church through death and fear; at present, the largest Assassin organization in the entire realm of Ferren was in His hands.

The doctrines of this realm’s Divine Spirits were, for the most part, jokes to be listened to for amusement.

As the old Bishop appeared, the frenzied Priest who had been preaching signaled for someone to lead the believers in prayer, while he himself quickly walked over and said, "Teacher."

"What has happened?"

The elderly Bishop said in a low voice, "Mansong is dead."

"The Scantlin Association will very likely split apart. I want you to immediately seize control of those evil scum."

"As for the enemy who killed Mansong..."

"I will report to our Lord."

After Shirek ascended to godhood, Mansong—founder of the Scantlin Association—had dropped to his knees on the spot.

But Mansong’s faith was far from devout; he was a typical fence-sitter. Later he even fell out with Shirek and fled. After the incident of Bane’s resurrection, the entire Scantlin Association wavered so badly it was almost wiped out.

Though this was hardly surprising.

Ten years ago, when Shirek was still a wandering vagabond sneaking chickens and stealing dogs, Mansong probably already knew. How was he supposed to worship devoutly after that?

The Priest who had been preaching the doctrine nodded and said, "Understood."

"Do you have any other instructions, Teacher?"

The elderly Bishop before him pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "Go find more scribes, preferably ones who possess Casting Ability."

"Our Lord’s sacred scripture is not yet complete."

The Shirek Scriptures Catastrophe.

Another major event after the Saint’s Calamity.

After becoming a god, Dark Sun Shirek discovered that managing the Church and developing faith was not as easy as imagined. Being someone accustomed to shortcuts, Shirek came up with a brilliant idea.

That was to compile a book, the "Shirek Scriptures," so that everyone who read it would become His Fanatic, convinced that He was the supreme True God.

Converting people one by one, spreading the faith one by one—how could that ever be as efficient as using the Shirek Scriptures to brainwash people?

This was the classic cost-free business model of a cult.

Shirek was a god of words and action; once he decided, he did it, and he already had. Most of His energy was poured into this project, with a portion reserved to deal with the Goddess of Magic, Mystra.

But the "Shirek Scriptures" in its current stage of compilation had one fatal flaw.

It burned through scribes.

So far, one or two hundred scribes had already died. If it were to be fully completed, most likely three to four hundred scribes would have to die. (To be precise, 397.)

This was an extremely dangerous job.

The Bishops of the Church not only had to deal with those deranged scribes, they also had to prepare more people for sacrifice, and even guard against the followers of the Goddess of Magic, as well as the followers of the God of Knowledge.

The good news, however, was that Dark Sun Shirek had sped up the compilation of this blasphemous scripture. Although more people had died, a large portion of it was now complete.ℯℯ𝑙.