Throne of the North.

Chapter 633 Dawn and Darkness (Part 5)
In the shadows of dusk, shadow vanguards moved through the streets, and as their weapons flashed, hundreds of fanatical believers fell one after another.

In less than three minutes, only the bodies of the fanatics and the shadow vanguard standing among them remained on the ground. Even the fanatic who ran the furthest did not truly escape the street.

"what!!!"

The Shadow Vanguard members exchanged glances before bursting into the houses, followed by screams of agony.

The firelight illuminated the dim sky. Flooding the Unicorn Fortress was no easy feat, but it happened nonetheless. As the firelight appeared, large numbers of people began to approach the burning area.

The flames drew the crowd together, but also made it easier for the Shadow Vanguard to find their targets.

……

"How can there be so many corpses?!"

When Sven arrived, he saw corpses in the flames. They were not cold because the fire was very hot. People around him had come to fight the fire, but when they saw the bloody scene on the ground, they all convulsed and dared not put out the fire.

Sven gritted his teeth, looking at the corpses, he already knew what had happened, then turned around and snatched a bucket of water from one of the people and threw it at the flames.

"What are you standing there for? Put out the fire! They might have entered eternal heaven, but more likely, they've met with divine punishment!!!"

The priest shouted loudly, and the others, watching his frantic firefighting efforts, couldn't help but respect him and began to join him.

Early the next morning, wisps of black smoke rose from Unicorn Fortress, and everywhere were burned houses and black scorch marks.

Everyone stared blankly at the ruins, but fortunately, many people still managed to find what they were looking for within them.

“This money, this money is what we donated to the great Lord. It should be in the church. Why is it here?”

People opened the charred boxes one by one. These boxes were well protected, as the fire had not reached this place. They looked at the money inside the boxes and then looked around.

"This is... the home of Reverend Thomas."

Some people stood in front of a huge solid wood dining table. The ashes from the raging flames did not turn the table into firewood; it was sturdy and could withstand the flames.

“This table, the wooden table that Pastor Thomas asked us to carve from a thousand-year-old tree, he told us that it would be used to be offered at the feet of the Lord, to bear the faith that the Lord needs, and that the person who provides the offering table will be given a place in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven, and it’s actually here.”

Some people wept aloud, not out of anger at what Pastor Thomas had done, but out of fear.

“What should we do? Pastor Thomas said that our family’s names have already entered the eternal Kingdom of Heaven, and that we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven after we die.”

"Now, now it's all over."

"My mother passed away two months ago. Did she go to hell? Mother, my mother!!!"

The person kneeling on the ground, crying uncontrollably, was trembling with fear and filled with despair.

Despair permeated not only this one person, but everyone else looked around with a chill. What made Sven silent was that not a single person blamed Pastor Thomas for the problem. They were all afraid that the Lord had abandoned them.

This discovery made Sven's anger towards those shadow avant-garde figures disappear.

He slowly walked to the dining table, knelt down, and helped up the man who had collapsed on the ground and lost his balance.

"Don't be afraid. Your devout faith has been received by the Lord. Your mother must also be a devout believer, right?"

"Of course, even Pastor Thomas said that my current faith in the Lord ranks among the top in Unicorn Fortress."

"Then she must have gone to the eternal heaven."

Reverend Sven smiled and helped the man up, telling him, in his capacity as a priest, that he could offer his assurances.

"Your faith is certainly devout. The Lord can sense your faith in Him. You are His people, and you should go to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven."

"And Pastor Thomas? Is that his name?"

“He shamelessly stole your offerings to the Lord. He took the Lord’s mercy as his rightful right, so he seized the altar that should belong to the great Lord, and also seized the money that was used to spread the Lord’s glory!”

"And so, he was punished by the gods."

“He was punished by God because he neglected his duties and misinterpreted the glory of our Lord. Otherwise, how could a devout pastor have died?”

"If he is faithful to his faith and strives with all his might for the glory of our Lord, the Lord will naturally favor him. A pastor favored by the Lord cannot die."

"But now, everyone, look around. Has Pastor Thomas really done what he was supposed to do?"

"He suffered divine punishment, and it is only right that our Lord judges him."

Is that so? Is that really so? Everyone looked at Sven, who was radiating divine light, a dazzling holy radiance that ordinary believers could not possess.

Archbishop Adriana's words were still having an effect: any of the Lord of Dawn's subjects could doubt him about anything but the identity of his followers.

“Then, Father Sven, what should we do now? Reverend Thomas is dead, and there is no one to pass on our prayers.”

"Dawn represents the hope of today, and I will guide all."

“Look up at the light of our Lord, for He gives us hope and lets us know the preciousness of life.”

Everyone looked up, and the gentle voice echoed in their ears.

"Look at the glorious light of our Lord, do you still remember what you should be doing today?"

"I, I'm going out of the city to farm today."

"Yes, do you find satisfaction in farming?"

"Yes, I feel very satisfied every day when I see the wheat seedlings ripen."

"That is the hope that the Lord has given us."

"I need to go to the east street to weave cloth, then dye it, and then..."

"What are you doing without the glory of my Lord?"

"Huh? Then...then I won't be able to do anything."

"So this is also the hope that the Lord gives you. When the dawn comes, you will know that your life has meaning today."

"When dawn breaks, we will leave behind the fear and helplessness brought by darkness, and we will find the traces of our lives in the sunlight."

Sven answered each believer's anxious and uncertain questions loudly. He might not be able to become the savior, but at this moment, the Dawn Priest could calm the hearts of all believers who were filled with fear and unease.

Just then, the cries of the believers came from afar again.

"It's not good, it's not good!"

"Knight Watts, Knight Reed, and Priest Schultz, Priest Rise... they are all dead, and they died horribly."

The surroundings suddenly fell silent. Siwen pushed through the crowd, his eyes fixed firmly ahead.

"Then let us see whether they have been judged by our Lord, whether they have broken the oath they took on the holy mountain, and whether their faith is still sincere."

"I will always believe that the Lord is never wrong."

Sven doesn't need to actually find evidence. Just like the followers of Thomas, these people have truly trusted Sven, the priest of dawn, so what he says must be true.

This is the terrifying aspect of religion. Sven hadn't even reached the places where those clergymen had died; along the way, his followers had already gradually uncovered the reasons for the trials of the dead. Fortunately, Sven still managed to find a large number of items in those homes that shouldn't have been there.

Even now, the believers still don't see anything wrong with this wealth; they simply see it as more evidence of those people's trial. As for the previous evidence, it was the words of the Confucian priest.

The words of the Dawn Priest can be taken as evidence!

Many believers, upon seeing this wealth, became even more convinced of their own beliefs.

They need to hurry up and donate more money to make up for the wealth that has not appeared in the church; they need to give double to make up for the church's deficit.

Sven was shocked by the extremism of these fanatics.

Overnight, a large number of clergy at Unicorn Fortress were punished by the gods, and the fanatics, believing the words of the Dawn Priest, were judged by the gods.

The chapel inside Unicorn Fortress naturally found an owner.

However, Sven also felt tired. Despite having Ryan's various blessings and being physically strong, he still felt somewhat overwhelmed.

"Do you know about those clergy members who are exempt from divine punishment?"

“Those you believe will not be subject to the Lord’s judgment.”

The believers hesitated, looking at Sven with some confusion.

“Priest, we…we have no right to question, and we don’t know who will be punished by the Lord God.”

In the hearts of believers, only the refined priest knows who will be punished by God, and he is the leader.

He remained silent for a moment, then changed his tone.

“Then please tell me some names, and I will go to them in person to inquire about them. I will then know whether my Lord has judged them.”

Although believers may have extreme inner thoughts, life instinctively tells them that the actions of the clergy affect every aspect of their lives, for better or for worse, in a way that their bodies can feel.

Following the guidance of the Dawn Priests, they would unconsciously utter those names.

Sven did not visit the papacy immediately after receiving the list, since he was not recognized by the pope and contacting him rashly might cause problems.

He needs to get a result from Shadow Vanguard first.

"You'd better hurry, I need to get back to the Kingdom of Andara, there are still many Black Swan assassins there."

Signy appeared before Sven, who said helplessly:

"Lord Signy, I want to tell you, could you please not kill all those people?"

Signy looked at Sven with a face full of disapproval.

"He said when we were on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain that unifying the faith in the eastern part of the continent is not your business alone. Our mission is to eliminate all your troubles, whether they are from nobles or the Church."

"You can't just say whatever you want. Anyway, once those people are dealt with, you can handle the rest."

It is indeed convenient, but it also leaves you with no one to rely on, meaning you'll have to take on all the positions yourself.

"That being said, I hope to keep some people alive who can help us; they will become my assistants."

"They'll listen to you?"

Sven looked at the pairs of eager, unwavering gazes outside and nodded.

"As long as they become my followers, I can guarantee that they will stand on our side."

Signy still didn't care. If it weren't for the fact that the Dawn Cult needed its members, people, she would have burned the entire Unicorn Fortress down last night.

“I need men. Lord Signy, you have a group of shadow vanguards to help you. Lord Ryan hasn’t given me any more manpower. How can I manage so many people? This Unicorn Fortress alone has 100,000 believers.”

Sven could only bring up Ryan, and Signy thought for a moment and then nodded.

“You keep those who are meant to survive with you. I will kill the other clergy in the coming days. As for the Kingdom of Sera… in other parts of the Kingdom of Sera, those nobles will not stop you.”

"Boss Ryan wrote a letter to King Sera. He won't help you, but he won't stop you either."

"That would be perfect."

Sven also became excited. He understood that the nobles of the Kingdom of Sera currently only cared about the land left behind by the nobles of Carlos, and they needed Baron Ryan's approval and help.

"Then within a month, I will spread the will of dawn throughout the Kingdom of Sera."

Sven said with certainty that after seeing these fanatics, he could be much bolder.

Many things don't need a reason at all, or rather, the only reason is very simple, as Father Dawn said.

His words will be absolutely recognized and beyond question.

……

“A civilized priest? You have distorted the doctrines of Dawn!”

A knight glared angrily at Sven, his hand already on the hilt of his knight's longsword.

"The dawn has never denied the light of the empire. Look up and see that the glory of our Lord is not just the fleeting dawn, but also the eternal light."

"The great sun nurtures the life of the world. Dawn is the beginning of the Lord's gaze upon this world, and dusk is the veil He closes His eyes. You say I have distorted the doctrine of dawn? But have you ever thought that both light and dawn are approved by my Lord?"

“You have only seen a part of the glory of my Lord. Can’t your eyes see that the glory of my Lord is so great that more than half the day is under His light?”

The knight remained enraged, rubbing his hand harder and harder against the hilt of his sword.

"Do you want to kill me? What right do you have to kill me without the Pope's order? Besides, even the Pope himself committed such a scandal!"

"scandal!"

Looking at the struggling and bewildered knight before him, Sven had already found the real reason for the man's dejection.

"The Dawn Church is different now, isn't it? The popes of the past never blasphemed their faith, but what about the Church today?"

"That is why the Dawn Church has suffered repeated defeats when facing the Empire, because the Lord has become extremely disappointed with the Church and does not want certain members of the Church to continue to hold onto their divine power."

"He bestowed a portion of his divine power upon the light of the empire."

"So do you think the Great Lord will approve of the hope brought by the dawn?"

Sven raised his head, his entire body bathed in the dazzling holy light.

No one can question Sven's faith.

"Come with me, Mr. Knight."

“We all know that the glory and greatness of the Lord should not be like this now.”

Sven extended an inviting hand, and the knight loosened his grip on his sword hilt.

(End of this chapter)