Throne of the North.

Chapter 608 The Battle to the Heavens (Part 7)

The Holy Mountain is the place where believers gather to express their faith.

The sacred mountain in the south is certainly not as majestic as the sacred mountain that once stood in the heart of the Norris continent, because the Dawn Church once ruled the entire world, but now the Church no longer fully controls even the third of the southern land occupied by humans.

Everything on the sacred mountain is pure white, even the soil and dust radiate a holy white glow.

Anything on this mountain would be incredibly valuable in the outside world. Devout believers would give anything to obtain a single stone from the sacred mountain. In the eyes of ordinary believers, it is the dwelling place of the gods, and they don't even have the right to kneel on the ground and kiss the earth.

The sacred mountain is towering, inhabited by the most authoritative clergy of the Dawn, who are the earthly embodiment of the Lord of Dawn, and who hold all the power of speech.

Bishops and archbishops gather here, and with the holy mountain at their core, they govern the faith of all human civilization, and faith helps them gain power that transcends all living beings.

They were kind and approachable, always smiling at everyone they met. The goodness of the gods was reflected in these believers, but the higher one climbed, the more serious these clergymen became.

In the highest church on the holy mountain, beneath the long, bright red robes of several cardinals, bishops and archbishops knelt devoutly before the Lord, praying for world peace.

Beneath the sculpted body of the Lord of Dawn, a figure shimmering with starlight, the Pope, seated on a tall throne, looked down upon all his devout followers.

"I never imagined that the Papacy would lose so completely in a war."

No one dared to speak. Even the cardinals sat with their heads bowed in their seats, their robes fluttering in the still air. This church, which did not appear large from the outside, actually spanned more than 100,000 meters in its interior space.

The Pope sat high above the cardinals in the center and on either side, but his voice easily echoed in the ears of every bishop and archbishop. None of the elders, priests, knights, ascetics, missionaries, or believers standing to the side dared to respond to the Pope at that moment.

Anyone who has spent a long time on the holy mountain knows that the Pope's anger may not be anger, but his silence is a terrifying display of rage.

"A hundred years ago, the royal family of the Flor Empire betrayed the Great Dawn under the pretext that the believers of the Church had lost their faith. At that time, we all regarded the empire as a joke."

“We killed Columbus I, we killed Columbus II, and the Dawn Church has won many victories. We all believe that we will eventually trample the Flor Empire under our feet and bring that dark land back into the embrace of the Dawn.”

"Those on and off Mount Holy are not thinking about how to burn the heretics of the Flor Empire, but about when and by what means they can let you parasites gain more benefits and more power."

“You’re all thinking that when the Flor Empire surrenders to the Dawn Church, you might be able to compete to go to that empire and gain greater power and faith.”

"But what about now?"

"You believe that the Papacy's army of believers is invincible, and that our enemies will be crying and begging for mercy in front of our fearless fanatics, just like they were a hundred years ago."

"The Empire's extraordinary legions, their only fear is not our soldiers who are fearless of death under divine magic, but that their weapons will be dulled and unable to participate in the next day's battle after a day and night of slaughter!"

"No matter how powerful the believer soldiers are, they cannot kill those superhuman soldiers who have become their followers. The blasphemous nobles of the Empire have surpassed the Church in a hundred years of development."

"The Lord is still asleep, and He has not given us any divine guidance, so our army remains stuck a hundred years in the past."

"So, in the face of the Flor Empire, our soldiers either fled or suffered a crushing defeat."

“Just yesterday, a member of the royal family of the Iron Eagle Kingdom wrote me a secret letter saying that the Hakan royal family is about to betray my lord and pledge allegiance to the Empire’s light.”

After the Pope finished speaking, everyone was shocked and then enraged. They raised their heads and roared loudly that they wanted to send the Iron Eagle Kingdom's royal family to the gallows.

Raising his hand, Pope Saint Solari silenced the interior of the High Cathedral, then suddenly looked at a cardinal.

“Your Excellency Zechariah, Archbishop Medi, it was your recommendation that led you to the Snow Valley, wasn’t it? You told me that he is meticulous in his work and would surely be able to hold off the Empire’s army.”

"However, he lost Snow Valley in just one night. He wasn't even facing the chosen one of the empire, but a count."

"The Empire was right a hundred years ago. The Papacy is corrupt. There are far too many worms inside this great tree nourished by the Lord's glory!"

After the Pope finished speaking, Cardinal Zechariah, who was standing next to him, looked terrified. He felt a terrifying force descending from the sky.

A beam of pure white, transparent light fell from the sun at the center of the starry ceiling above, piercing through and covering the cardinal's entire body. He struggled but was powerless, and so he begged for mercy.

“Your Holiness, I beg you to forgive my sins. I… I will personally go to the Kingdom of Nantes and vow to defend the glory of my Lord to the death. Even if I die, I will stop the Empire from advancing again.”

Pope Solarion did not respond to his pleas for mercy, but calmly raised his head and opened his arms to embrace the sun.

“You are dressed in red, so you are the servant closest to my lord. I have no right to judge your sins; your sins will be judged by my lord.”

After the Pope finished speaking, Zechariah's expression became even more terrified. How could he not know what was going on? The Pope had absolute power to control the Lord's judgment. His words were not an offer of a chance, but a pronouncement that he, the cardinal, was doomed to die.

"Your Holiness, I am a servant of the Lord, and I am willing to atone for my sins. I can offer all my life savings for this purpose. Your Holiness, I... Ah!!!"

The intense holy light engulfed Cardinal Zechariah. After a long while, Archangel Samir, who was standing behind the Pope, withdrew his angelic sword, and the seat where the Cardinal had been sitting was now empty.

The Pope wanted to make an example of someone, to purge the Dawn Papacy through a series of defeats in the war.

“Execute my order, strip Archbishop Maddie of his title, and send him and his 100,000 followers to the abyss of hell to atone for their sins. The sentence is 10,000 years.”

Even as they were forced to atone for their sins until death, the clergy who had initially wanted to speak fell silent at this moment, not daring to challenge the Pope's authority.

"Let them atone with their lives in the abyss."

After the Pope finished speaking, he looked at another cardinal and said:
"Arnold".

"Your Majesty."

Cardinal Arnold stood up and bowed respectfully, somewhat nervous, worried that he might suffer the same fate as his predecessor.

“Because of Archbishop Maddie, because of Cardinal Zechariah, I, the Pope, dare not even easily execute the King of the Iron Eagle Kingdom. They are heretics, they have become traitors.”

"That is their crime."

"Now, if the Kingdom of Nantes loses the war, the Kingdom of Iron will declare its betrayal, which will be the most serious disgrace the Holy See has suffered in a century!"

“I need you to swear to my Lord with your life that you will defeat the Empire’s army on the land of the Kingdom of Nantes. The royal family of that kingdom are devout believers in the Dawn. We should not let the believers down.”

Arnold knew what was going on, but he dared not refuse this hot potato. The death of Cardinal Zechariah made all the cardinals feel the authority of the Pope.

That was a top-tier, legendary cardinal.

Although the Pope has absolute power to kill anyone in this supreme cathedral, could a legendary cardinal be so easily killed in the Pope's eyes?
Arnold was very nervous. He couldn't figure out what to do in a short time, and the Pope wasn't giving him any time to think.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Arnold knelt on the ground, swearing in the name of the believers that he would die in the land of faith in the Kingdom of Nantes.

He might not die if things go well on the battlefield, but he will definitely die if the war turns against him.

Cardinal Arnold was somewhat helpless. Subsequently, the Pope announced the stripping of a large number of clergy members of their status and the imposition of penance sentences. As expected, almost all the clergy members who were to atone for their sins had to go to the abyss to fight against the demons.

After a long while, the Supreme Cathedral finally became empty, and Solarion looked at the Archangel Samir beside him.

"I swear in the name of the Pope and as a believer of the Lord that I will cleanse all the sins within the church. I became Pope to make the Dawn Papacy great once again, and to let the glory of the Lord bloom in the blossoming of the Dawn Flower."

"The Papacy's overly heavy body hinders faith in my Lord, and I, as Pope, will use every means to purify the land of my Lord's faith."

"The Lord will see my piety, which is no less than that of Archbishop Adriana." A year has passed since the archangel arrived at the holy mountain, and the Pope has felt pressure and urgency from him.

The Lord of Dawn trusts Adriana more than he, the Pope of Dawn. How could this not make the Pope nervous? Everything he possessed came from the great Dawn, and the Lord of Dawn was about to awaken. When that happened, he, the Pope, would lose everything…

All those who hinder him from holding onto power must be brought to justice. Those damned parasites of the Vatican are the stumbling blocks that prevent him from wielding power in Solarian, and he must personally eliminate them.

All conflicts of interest are meaningless in the face of him; he is the Pope, and only he can possess everything.

"When will my Lord awaken?"

The Pope inquired that he needed time to complete his Great Purge plan and restore pious faith within the Papacy.

"When the darkness dissipates."

Archangel Samir raised his head and looked to the north, and said this.

The Pope was relieved to think it was an empire; if that was the case, there was still a long way to go.

……

Large numbers of religious armies gathered toward the Kingdom of Nantes. Of course, the fastest to arrive was the extraordinary legion of the Dawn Church, and Cardinal Arnold even went to the Kingdom of Nantes on the same day.

The kingdom's nobles were finally relieved; the appearance of the cardinal signified that the Dawn Church would invest massive amounts of resources here.

Arnold looked at these nobles with a cold smile, but there was little mockery in his eyes, because his own life was forced to be tied to the land of the Kingdom of Nantes, and he might die even earlier than these nobles.

Thinking of this, Arnold couldn't help but feel a surge of anger, and he showed no kindness whatsoever in the kingdom.

"Your Highness Prince Duke, why are you still here? You should be on the front lines."

Arnold looked at the young king, his gaze falling on Prince Duke beside him. The latter had lost the arrogance he displayed when facing nobles. Under the rule of the Dawn Church, the nobles held these clergy in considerable awe, as their power surpassed that of the nobles.

The cardinal's status is no less than that of the king, and with divine blessing, the king often seeks the cardinal's advice.

"I have dispatched all the noble troops to assemble; they will stop the imperial army."

"Are you talking about those noble soldiers who should be hanged? Those damned soldiers, do you think they'd launch an attack when the imperial army arrives?!"

Arnold roared, showing no kindness whatsoever to Prince Duke, who looked displeased but could not refute him.

"You can now go and command the army of those useless nobles in the Kingdom of Nantes."

Prince Duke left, suppressing his anger. Arnold's gaze fell on the young king, and he coldly asked:
Where is your mother?

The power in the Kingdom of Nantes was in the hands of Prince Duke, because the king was still young—he shouldn't have been so young—but his father had died of anger.

No one in the kingdom knew why he died of anger, and there was much suspicion about Prince Duke, but Arnold knew the truth.

The queen of the kingdom and the pope of the holy mountain were having an affair.

"Solarion speaks grandly of the Vatican's corruption because of too many parasites, but he forgets that he himself is one of us parasites."

"He actually killed Zechariah! Has he forgotten how much Zechariah paid to put him on the papacy?"

“Zechariah was his biggest supporter, yet he was killed by him.”

Cardinal Arnold walked deeper into the royal palace, suppressing his anger. He knew he might die here, in the body of a god. The Empire's Sun Legion had inflicted heavy damage on the Papacy years ago, and he didn't know what other way to resist besides divine intervention.

The Pope sent him to the Kingdom of Nantes so that he would die here.

Thinking of this, Arnold felt even more unwilling, wondering if his methods of staying on the Holy Mountain could counter the Pope.

"Solarion has become increasingly arrogant since becoming pope, yet he is more powerful than any pope before him. Damn it, we should never have made him pope in the first place. Now no one can deal with him!"

Arnold was speaking when he suddenly froze, staring wide-eyed and mouth agape at the woman in front of him.

Martina Lillard, mother of the King of Nantes, is the most beautiful woman on the continent of Norris.

Arnold didn't quite believe in such rankings, but now he did. Looking at the woman in front of him, Arnold's breathing quickened; she was a thousand times more beautiful than the nuns on the holy mountain.

"you are?"

The woman watched in terror as Arnold rushed towards her, screaming loudly as he frantically tore at her already meager clothing.

There were many beautiful maids around, completely naked, and they all bowed their heads. They were not servants of women, but nuns of the Dawn Church.

In the king's palace, the young king took out his father's treasured keepsake. He heard a distant sound, but his eyes were fixed on the silk in his hands.

“That damned slut doesn’t deserve to be your mother. Remember this: she will be killed by the Pope of the Holy Mountain. One day she will be abandoned by the Pope of the Holy Mountain. How ridiculous that she actually thought she could get love from the Pope of the Holy Mountain.”

“She thought the other party wouldn’t, she thought that by possessing some of the Pope’s secrets she could prevent him from abandoning her, but one day time will prove your father, me, His Majesty the King of Vio Haconant, right.”

“That slut thinks too highly of herself. Remember this: the Pope’s secret is hidden here, the secret that can kill him.”

The king opened the silk, but there was nothing inside. However, the angry roar of his father echoed in his ears, leading him to choose to believe.

The kingdom's nobles did not know how the previous king died. Some clergy members of the papacy thought he had died of anger because of the pope and queen, but only the young king himself knew that his father had committed suicide.

“My death will cut off all the trail. Remember, you will have many nobles who are loyal to you, including Prince Duke.”

This is why Prince Duke was able to issue orders on behalf of the king; the young king, though unaware of why, chose to comply.

However... the war between the Empire and the Papacy disrupted everything.

Meanwhile, in the Queen's palace, Cardinal Arnold, having calmed down, looked at the naked woman beneath him, whose body was covered in handprints, and asked:

"When we were young, we all had great ambitions and wanted to put the corrupt Papacy back on track. It's laughable, isn't it? Whether it's this old man like me or His Holiness the Pope Solarion, who made peace with you, we all wanted to be saviors when we were young."

“He shouldn’t be that powerful. Of all the popes in history, apart from the esteemed first pope, no one has been as powerful as him. This shouldn’t be the case. There must be a secret about him.”

Did he say anything to you?

Arnold moved his body to wake the woman beneath him, but said nothing.

"I will find it."

Cardinal Arnold, his life threatened, angrily departs, knowing he must hold off the imperial army before uncovering the Pope's secret.

However, to Arnold's surprise, the Empire's attack was so swift.

The clergy of the Papacy have long been accustomed to a slow-paced life, while the Empire's fast-paced approach has kept the Papacy from waking up to the present.

The Empire's extraordinary legions have launched an attack.

(End of this chapter)