Throne of Magical Arcana

“A philosopher from the eastern kingdoms?” The first apostle Jacob looked at Francis, confused.

Jacob wasn’t questioning this philosopher’s abilities or background — He had passed Avando’s test and won “Crown” Ell’s trust. Jacob had raised the question hoping to learn more to make a better judgment about Francis’ proposal. After all, he was the Secret Praying Congress’ main leader.

The other apostles shared similar concerns. Even Lucien bore a similar expression.

The situation of this world is rather special. False gods, including those that have Moon as part of their domain, are plenty. When the authentic God of the Silver Moon, Alterna, fell to this world, She would be attracted to those whose godhood is similar to hers. It was possible that she would try to reclaim her powers from them. After all, She was also the Primordial Ancestor of the Vampires and was able to harness blood and godhood.

The Congress of Magic’s understanding of divine powers was extremely underdeveloped and Lucien’s descriptions were largely borrowed from the Church. He had only a vague idea of what terms like “domain” and “godhood” referred to, but was unclear to what they were exactly.

With this in mind, Lucien thought to himself that if there are no better methods of finding the Alterna, one effective way to locate Her would be to control and monitor the false gods whose duties were related to the moon.

As for Francis, Lucien wondered which church was he from. He could be from the North Church, the South Church, or the Church of the false gods in the Northwest of the Dark Mountain Range. He could also be from the Congress of Magic or the Dark Congress… The only thing to be sure of was that he’s definitely not a Druid or an elf.

Ell’s words about a mature religious concept did not make identifying Francis’ identity any easier, for Lucien was able to spew similar sentiments himself. If Francis was from one of the Churches, then helping the false gods revolutionize their religion seemed to conflict his own faith. However, for members of the Church’s upper echelon and the high-ranking night watchers, it wouldn’t be too big a deal to slightly bend one’s faith for matters important as finding the God of Silver Moon.

Thinking about this, Lucien grew cautious and alert. Most of his magical items were damaged, and he would be disadvantaged in a long, drawn-out fight. It was also unknown whether Francis had any allies nearby.

Ell pointed at Francis and smiled. ‘Mr. Francis had come from an oasis in the eastern desert. He has done extensive research on philosophy, divinity, and occultism. One night, he witnessed a star glow curiously bright for a short while before swiftly returning to normal. It symbolized the rising of God the Father, and Mr. Francis thus came to Erdo to pay religious homage and establish communications.

This quack… Lucien swore under his breath. His suspicion about Francis was growing by the minute. The astrological phenomenon that he had described was one indicating the fall of an “old god” for a new one to take its place. It had nothing to do with the rise of Avando.

Was he simply making things up or had he said it deliberately to taunt Avando and Ell who clearly knew nothing about Astrology?

Francis sat down on one of the silver chairs. Still wearing that faint smile, he looked at the apostles and said, “the great God of Fire and Destruction is no longer worshiped by Barrils, not only because the way of preaching was problematic but also was He indeed defeated by Antanas. The Barrils who had feared Avando realized that the God of Fire and Destruction was weaker than they had imagined.”

“That’s because the other gods betrayed Him!” The second apostle said loudly. He was unwilling to accept that the God of Fire Avando who was able to destroy the world was defeated.

Francis laid back into his chair leisurely. “Regardless, He was defeated. For the gods, defeat is even worse than death. As such, I suggest that we forget about Avando’s image of the past, and embrace a new method of preaching. We can say that from the flames of destruction, Ell the Savior was born. The previous failure of Avando was only a test for His followers. Those who failed to pass the test must repent devoutly, for only then will they receive redemption from Ell and harvest on the fertile lands after the fire.

“It will be a new god — Ell, the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. He will then gradually embody traits of Avando and assume the domain of Fire and Destruction. Then the followers will understand that Ell is Avando and vice versa. The two of them will be able to become a truly powerful god when They become one.

“Anything that happens after can also be explained as simply another test of god.”

The six apostles around the round table fell silent. Francis’ plan made sense. However, writing anything off as the test of the gods sounded rather blasphemous.

On the other hand, Lucien noticed that Francis delivered his words with no sarcasm but rather with an air of fanaticism, which made his words very convincing.

Lucien was more and more convinced that Francis was a “visitor” from the main material world. He wondered if Francis was really that great of an actor, or was he seeking the God of the Silver Moon for other motives.

The apostles remained in silence. Francis stood up, placed his hand on his chest, and saluted Ell.

“We mortals are incapable of truly understanding the minds of god. If anything goes wrong, it must mean that we have failed to understand enough and neglected His test.

“God has been around since the dawn of time and will continue to exist forever. God does not require our worship. However, we need to worship god for redemption.

“God represents truth, virtue, redemption, and every other positive value. He is the only true god in charge of everything!”

Ell’s expression became slightly excited upon hearing those words. The flames in his eyes danced even fiercer. Francis’ altered religious doctrine elevated his “divine throne” dramatically such that he was now distinct from the false gods that walked among mortals, which made it easier for followers to worship him wholeheartedly.

“Isn’t this the latest edition of the Church’s explanation of divinity?” Lucien silently cringed.

The Saint Truth needed to be on top of the advancements in arcana, as did arcanists require knowledge on divinity. Both sides knew well of the power of knowing their enemy.

This made it even harder for Lucien to determine Francis’ identity. Ironically, the chances that Francis is a member of the Saint Truth is the smallest. Even the pope would be accused of blasphemy had he applied the Saint Truth’s religious doctrine on false gods, unless he had ulterior motives.

“Great God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption, please accept our faith and pardon our sins. Save us from this tainted world.” Jacob, the most experienced preacher was the first to recognize what they should do. He immediately started worshiping Ell and accepted the new “God of Fire and Destruction” on behalf of the other apostles.

Ell nodded contently. “My godhood has been passed onto me by God the Father, but it is still weak. We must wave war on the other False Gods who have similar domains to strengthen it. The God of Moon Asin bears the duty of immortality, fertility, and peace. It is intrinsically tied to Resurrection, Fertility, and Redemption. He shall be out first target.”

Ell no longer viewed Asin as a god.

“Asin had betrayed the great Avando in the war against the fiend Antanas. She is currently spreading her religion at the Solna river valley. Other gods who also betrayed Avando are competing with her for the limited resource of faith. Fearing the great Avando’s revenge, their divine realms are ever more elusive. Our chances of winning, even with the great Avando at our side, are slim if we were to fight them in their own realm.” Anheuse frequently preached in the outside world and was very familiar with the state of the world.

Their blatant thirst for faith resource made Lucien ponder over the origin of divine powers. Lucien wondered if the source of divinity is indeed the power of faith, then does it mean that mental power exists or does it mean that mental power is a special form of spiritual power with a special frequency.

Francis smiled. “God of Moon Asin’s guard would be lowered if he faces Ell under the title of the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. On my way here, I learned that there will be a divinity debate taking place in the Solana river valley, where the temples could attract followers by boasting about the capabilities of the one’s god. Those who fail would be exiled from the river valley. The priest of the fiend Antanas would be there too. He seeks to ‘convert’ the false gods there to true members of the Angonormanian pantheon.

“We shall participate under the name of a new religion. During the debate, try to agitate Asin and lead him to the ambush.”

Ell nodded. “Let’s do what Mr. Francis says. When the time comes, Francis, Jacob, and I will kill Asin easily outside of his realm.”

“Mr. Francis too?” Jacob asked in surprise.

He was the leader of the apostle and received the most powerful “Seed of Spirit” from Avando, which was equivalent to the total of the other apostles. His strength was about level six, equivalent. What made Francis worthy to fight alongside him?

Francis smiled. “I was once blessed by the great true god. I managed to run into the death of a Hydra who had strength on par with false gods. After bathing in its blood and devouring its heart, I too have obtained strength akin to that of the divine-blooded.”

Bloodline knight? Despite the lie, Lucien understood what Francis was trying to get across and thought that if this was the case, he could not be a member of the Congress of Magic.

There were no bloodline knights in the Congress of Magic.

Jacob was taken aback and ceased his questioning to Francis. He turned to the other apostles. “Leviathan, it’s time for you to serve. Since you have yet to come into contact with other religions, you can represent the God of Revival, Fertility, and Redemption. Anheuse shall aid you…”

“I will accompany you there too. It would be otherwise hard to win the debate and agitate Asin for someone untrained like you.” Francis added.