Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 27 The man came and then left

The yearning for heaven and the fear of hell constitute the contradiction of the faith of the Abrahamic religions. It is the contradiction between heaven and hell, coupled with the involvement of many "miracles", that makes people more and more devout and fanatical through word of mouth and preaching by priests.

When people believe that death is not the end, but that there is a choice between heaven and hell, then a fear even more terrifying than death is born - falling into hell.

When the fear of hell is greater than the fear of death, death becomes less scary, and believers will stop at nothing in their quest to reach heaven.

And the prophets, the Son of God, the Messiah... these idols wrapped in religion announced to the world that they had the means to ascend to heaven, and announced to the world what kind of sins would lead to hell.

As long as they are trusted by others, they seem to have great power and can mobilize the people to work for their own benefit.

Those who had witnessed Garys' extraordinary appearance and received the money naturally had great faith in him. Later, through word of mouth among the villagers, those who had never seen Garys' extraordinary miracles also realized the miracle of Jason's mother being cured of her illness in one day.

So much so that the strips of clothing cut by Gellis were also sought after by many peasant women, who regarded them as sacred objects with divine power. If Gellis had not repeatedly emphasized that the secret of curing diseases lies in the ingenious use of the laws designed by God, and that the crime of theft is unforgivable, those strips of clothing might have been stolen and hidden long ago.

Perhaps, these potential believers who have full trust in Garys are unlikely to directly arm themselves against Leonard, but Garys' words already carry a lot of weight in their hearts.

When such a being announced to them that Ahmed, the well-known, public-spirited and righteous man, would surely fall into hell and suffer eternal torture, they were naturally very happy, and some of the brave ones even started to make a fuss.

"This villain doesn't deserve to stay in the world!!"

"He killed my son and sold my daughter!"

"Go to hell!"

Accompanied by one or two loud roars, followed by a surging wave, as noisy and chaotic as a flock of crows taking off.

Hundreds of people spoke in unison, expressing the blessings that they had long dared not express and had always found difficult to say in person.

"Let him go to hell! Let him receive eternal punishment!"

"Ahmed go to hell!"

As people's shouts grew louder, a solemn and terrifying atmosphere seemed to permeate the air, making Garys, who was standing on the high platform, look even more magical and majestic, as if he had the ability to control people's minds and was a truly powerful person blessed by divine power.

The tax farmer's face had turned as black as coal. As a high-level exploiter, he was naturally well versed in the language of the exploited. Faced with such blatant curses or prophecies, how could he not be furious?

"Be quiet! Do you want to rebel?" Ahmed shouted.

But when facing the crowd that had been swept up in a frenzy by Garys, his roar was like a toothpick poking an elephant, and had no effect at all.

Such impotent rage only further stimulated the people around to make the most sincere predictions.

For a moment, the villagers seemed to have forgotten that there were ten elite heavy infantrymen beside Ahmed, and that there were more private soldiers of the tax farmers gathering outside the village ready to go. They forgot that they were unarmed and that they would suffer heavy casualties in just one charge.

Perhaps, this is not about forgetting, but just an outburst of long-term pent-up emotions when they can no longer bear it. The villagers enjoy the false sense of security among the mob to relieve their fear and anger.

It was as if it was because behind them stood the Son of God who was protected by Jehovah of Hosts...

"Unruly people! Unruly people! They are all unruly people." Ahmed was so angry that he pulled out a scimitar from the waist of the soldier next to him and performed some sword dance in the sun.

The sun was dazzling and merciless. The sunlight it emitted was refracted by swords and stabbed towards the people.

Those villagers who were dazzled by the light narrowed their eyes and felt a chill in their hearts. They suddenly woke up from the frenzy of the group and noticed that the armored heavy infantrymen around Ahmed had begun to raise their shields and draw their swords one by one.

The villagers tugged at the clothes of their companions, trying to wake them up, and also tried to retreat.

One person, two people, three people...more people realized that something was wrong, and they began to walk back in panic, causing the already motley crowd of villagers to be squeezed like chicks, with some people even falling down.

The scene finally quieted down, and Ahmed and the soldiers around him used their swords and armor to force the villagers to wake up from their illusions and face reality. When the armor flashed, the swords were unsheathed, and the soldiers showed their fierceness, a potential killing seemed inevitable.

After everyone shut up, Ahmed raised his head with disdain and snorted disdainfully at Garys on the stage.

This is the power of secular tyranny, which can shut people up and make them dare not speak out.

The villagers standing in the back row were whispering to each other, looking at Gailis expectantly.

But in the face of the villagers' expectations, Gailis did not stand up, but slowly raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. His eyes were like torches, sweeping across the faces of each villager, staring at the expectations on their faces.

Then, he said in a deep voice: "There will always be tax collectors and man-eating beasts, but there is only one Messiah... He was hung on the cross by the soldiers of the Roman Caesar, and bore the original sin of the world a thousand years ago!"

"Now that I'm here, you're watching me. What will you do when I'm gone?"

"The Lord of Hosts sent me to this world and gave me miracles, not to let me clean up the world alone! But just to give hope to the poor people, so that you know that God is on your side!"

"When I fight, you must fight too! When I pray, you must pray too! Because God's blessing not only falls on me, but also on each of your hearts!"

Garys took the sword handed to him by Simon and pulled it out with a swish.

The dazzling sunlight, refracted by the polished surface of the sword, once again refracted dazzling light.

But this time, the light did not make the villagers feel cold, but it was as if God's eyes were watching over this land.

……

Oh my God,
Please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

Please give me the courage to change the things I can change;

And give me the wisdom to know the difference between the two.

Amen.

　It's the last minute to update. I hope everyone can vote for it so that this book won't fail. This way I can use the time I spend delivering takeout to write.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)