Throne of the North.

Chapter 634 Dawn and Darkness (Part Six)
"The dawn pierces the cage of darkness, but the light of day is the hope that will lead us into the light."

"The dawn is blazing and sharp, but what it gives to the world is endless warmth and kindness."

"I never deny that dawn is wrong. On the contrary, the existence of dawn is inevitable. Only with dawn can there be a boundary between light and darkness."

“I have only found a tiny part of the endless glory of my Lord, just like the morning sun. What they follow is only a fraction of the Lord’s glory.”

Who can guarantee that we can embrace all of the Lord's glory? Are we worthy of all of Him?

"Yes, that is of course impossible, so we can only do our best to kiss the small part of the Lord's glory that we can touch."

“If I am wrong, it is clear that God has given me divine magic, so I am not wrong.”

"Dawn is part of the Lord's endless glory."

"Dawn cannot represent everything, but it can represent our faith. The Pope's mistakes are irrelevant to us, and all we need to do is practice our piety."

In Unicorn Fortress, both Dawn Priest Sven and Shadow Vanguard Signi are active; many die, and many follow Sven.

In less than a week, Unicorn Fortress had a shared vision.

When Ryan received the result, he was not surprised by Sven and Signy's speed.

this is normal.

The lower-class believers in the Kingdom of Sera desperately wanted the appearance of a leader, whether it was a missionary or a priest, they would be satisfied as long as he appeared.

As for the clergy, batches of them died, and the last remaining clergy were filled with fear and anxiety. Moreover, because of the Pope's affair, they became even more confused. The scandals surrounding the Pope made them lose their last pillar of support, and at this time, Sven took advantage of their vulnerability and directly occupied the part of their hearts that was missing.

As long as Sven performs well enough, this recognition will gradually solidify, taking root in their hearts like a stabilizing force.

These people will become Dawn followers completely.

"Next, Sven will begin spreading the doctrines of Dawn, won't he?"

"Have him add something."

Ryan handed the pre-written notes to the voluptuous Viscountess, the housekeeper, and asked her to pass them on to the sage priest.

Unicorn Fortress.

Dawn Priest Sven stood on the high platform, surrounded by believers of the dawn on all sides.

Sven, with a solemn expression, stood at the highest point, surrounded by Holy Knights. When everyone quieted down, Sven finally spoke, drawing everyone's attention.

“I always think about what we are praying for when we pray to the great Lord.”

"We pray for an abundance of food, we pray to live longer, we pray that the wheat that grows from the earth will turn into bread on its own, and we pray that the Lord will grant us great strength."

"The Lord hears our prayers, but He will not give us what we want. He tells us with the light of dawn that hope is always there."

"This is the only communication that mortals can have with the Lord. The Lord has never asked anything of us, but He has never cared about the hope of mankind that is so insignificant as to be nothing but dust."

"We pray, we pray that the great God will respond to His believers, but what can get the Lord's response?"

Will the Lord have mercy on your suffering?

Sven looked at the believers around him.

Will the Lord grant you powerful divine magic because of your hard work?

Sven looked at the knights.

"None of these will happen, because the desires of mortals are never within the consideration of the Lord."

"So, what does the great Lord care about?"

"In the long history of human civilization, there is only one chance to come into contact with the great Lord!"

"Only once, more than a hundred years ago, did mankind truly see the great Lord, who asked us to become His soldiers and fight for Him."

"That was the only time in the long history of mankind that we heard the Lord's request."

“After that, the North appeared.”

"The Lord communicates with mortals because of the North. As His servants, if we want our prayers to be heard by Him, shouldn't we also take the North as our direction?"

"What the Lord cares about is the North, so Archbishop Adriana went to the North. The Lord created everything, but He did not want the North to exist. What He wanted to see was that we would still be full of hope in the face of the end times, and that the dawn would fall on every corner of the world."

“We can pass our prayers to Him through the North; this is our only chance.”

"Dawn brings us hope, and hope enables us to drive away the North and return humanity to that fertile land!"

"We will have countless grains and houses, and we will live in a better world!"

Thousands of people went wild.

Did they understand...? Not a single word. The believers couldn't understand a single word the sermons were saying, but that didn't stop their revelry.

They only remembered one thing: the Dawn Priest told them that they could receive a response from God.

Yes, from beginning to end, these believers remembered only one sentence: the Dawn Priest told them that God would answer their prayers.

So these tens of thousands of believers reveled, not in the North or hope that Sven had spoken of.

They had a fervent belief in this Dawn Priest.

This applies to the lower-level believers, but it's not so easy to fool those clergy.

However, they could not refute Sven, because Archbishop Adriana, the Chosen One, had indeed gone to the North, and the gods did indeed care about the North, since the North was the result of the gods' transdimensional war.

The Northern Outbreak was the only time humanity ever had a medium with the gods.

But that's not enough; they need to see the Dawn Priests do more.

This was undoubtedly a challenge for Sven, because he did not come from the Holy Mountain and was not acting on the orders of the Pope, so legally Sven lacked legitimacy.

He can only gain their absolute support by doing more and earning their genuine approval.

The power of faith is terrifying, and Sven is accepting this challenge. He left Unicorn Fortress that very day and traveled through the various territories of the Kingdom of Sera, especially... the territories of the nobles of the Carlos bloodline.

The Carlos bloodline nobles are almost all dead, which has left their territories in a state of neglect and chaos. Without a lord, the people are in a state of panic.

Because they were surrounded by raiders, they lost their protection without a lord.

The phrase "completely lost and bewildered" perfectly describes the mental state of these people; they need a leader, whoever it may be.

Sven arrived at this time and began to recruit his followers. According to Ryan's requirements, each village and town only needed a very small number of followers, enough to subtly influence the faith of the people without affecting the integrity of the territory.

"We are servants of the dawn, slaves of the light, followers of the daybreak."

Of the three identities, the Dawn Cult member certainly sounds the most prestigious, and subtly, it will make these people more likely to identify with the civilized priests.

"Dawn spreads hope. In the harsh environment of the North, we will forge ahead and dispel the threats from the North!"

Sven said this to many people, but not many followed him for that reason.

Why? Because I don't really feel anything about the North.

The nobles and the slaves and commoners listened to the sven priest talk about the end of the North, but they did not feel the slightest fear of the end of the world. Without the end of the world, hope seemed insignificant. Most of the Dawn followers who followed the sven priest approved of him for other reasons.

For example, many people were shocked by what the Confucian priests said: that the Lord never asks for anything, but rather uses the mercy of dawn to gain their approval and thus follow Him.

"Hope remains, disasters never cease, and we are no longer embroiled in war."

Sven spoke to the nobles in this way, and this answer made the nobles agree even more. They were still believers of the Dawn, but hesitated to join the Dawn Cult.

But it doesn't matter. Sven arrived in the nobles' territories not to preach to them, but to have the Dawn Cult take charge of the churches within the nobles' territories.

Some territorial churches are just wooden houses, but even such churches have the power to spread faith.

"Why did Lord Ryan include the Northern Calamity in this?"

Sven didn't understand either; if he used the idea that dawn represents hope and that the gods don't seek wealth from believers, he might gain more acceptance.

No one else in the entire frozen tundra could understand this.

For Ryan, controlling the faith of the Eastern Continent, which was beyond the reach of the Dawn Church, was not only to prevent others from using their faith in the gods against him, but also to spread his values ​​to them.

What values? Of course, it's the value that the North is the enemy of humanity. By exaggerating the threat from the North, it's natural that anyone who dares to challenge the North in the future will be recognized.

They believed that the person who was dealing with the North was on the side of the gods.

The power of faith was too terrifying, and Ryan had to manipulate it to his advantage.

Those believers, even if they cannot become your friends, should absolutely not become your enemies.

This is one of the few remaining opportunities. Otherwise, once the Pope of Dawn returns from the abyss to atone for his sins, everything will return to normal. What Ryan needs to do is to use this time to build a harmless team within the Dawn Church.

If Dawn is destined to be his enemy, then he hopes that his enemies are only half of Dawn's followers.

"The noble territories of the Kingdom of Sera have little to do with faith. After the Carlos bloodline nobles died out, the vacant titles became a battleground for the nobles' political struggles."

"It's time for him to go to the kingdoms further south."

The Kingdom of Coran—Laine had dealt with them before. When dealing with the Gerald noble lords, Laine led his cavalry to intercept their supply convoy in that field.

Cutting off Gerald's supply lines was crucial to winning the final battle.

The Kingdom of Coran therefore did not treat Ryan well.

However, Ryan doesn't need these things. The Shadow Vanguard will arrive in the Kingdom of Coran first, and when Sven enters Coran, things will go much more smoothly.

"The Dawn Church can no longer directly control the Kingdom of Coran. I hope that they can stand on the same side as me."

Ryan was speaking to Wolf-skin Ulf and Fox-skin Brunamigis, who were familiar with the area and could also serve as druids, a supernatural profession, so that the Kingdom of Coran would not direct its resentment at Ryan.

“Sven’s missionary work in the Kingdom of Coran will provide you with cover.”

Ryan's strategic planning on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain and his control over the faith in the east were never just Sven's task; many of his followers in the Frozen Territory would play a crucial role in it.

The Shadow Vanguard moved very fast. Sven had just set off from the Kingdom of Sera, preparing to overcome numerous difficulties to reach the Kingdom of Coran, when Signi had already appeared in the capital city of Coran.

The rebel girl leader looked at this prosperous royal city and did only one thing.

Setting fire to the fire, it was already almost autumn, and the weather was dry. The hills to the north blocked half of the moisture, and the fields near Gerald blocked the other half of the moisture from the north, making the area exceptionally dry.

It's perfect for burning. Signi loves hot environments; the frigid North would only make her hibernate, but the heat from the flames can keep her active.

For three consecutive days, more than twenty flames of all sizes were set ablaze in the city of Kolan, with the most critical location being the royal palace of the Kolan Kingdom.

Although fires had occurred in the Kingdom of Kolan in the past at this time, they had never been so frequent. The King of Kolan angrily reprimanded the nobles, both high and low, for neglecting to take care of the royal city.

Of course, a considerable number of slaves were killed in the process.

The king rebuked the nobles because he wanted to escalate the conflict into a political struggle with them. He had previously expended a great deal of resources to support the Kingdom of Coran, the noble territory of Gerald, so naturally there would be a conflict of interest.

Killing those slaves was purely out of anger; if a fire broke out, it was obviously the slaves' responsibility for not taking good care of it.

Every time a fire broke out, a large number of slaves were killed, but the Shadow Vanguard felt no remorse for it; they were only dissatisfied that the fires did not kill many people.

So they increased their efforts.

When Sven arrived in the capital, he saw a city of Coran covered in scorch marks.

"The Kingdom of Kolan, is it really in such a sorry state?"

Sven was stunned. This was nothing like what a royal city should look like. Not only was there no prosperity, but there were also scorch marks everywhere.

“Your Majesty, those clergy members of the Holy See, because of His Holiness the Pope, have neglected the consolidation of their faith. These flames must have been made by those fallen Dawn believers.”

Some nobles saw an opportunity when Sven arrived and shifted the blame to the Dawn Church, which had recently been in great turmoil.

(End of this chapter)