Throne of the North.

Chapter 635 Dawn and Darkness (Part 7)
The Kingdom of Kolan is now divided into three factions, the first of which is naturally the king.

As a result of the war between the Flor Empire and the Dawn Church, the Empire broke the Church's blockade against it, allowing the whole world to witness the new era and new look of the Empire.

The nobles all wanted to learn from the empire's strength; they were unwilling to fall behind.

The same applies to the Kingdom of Kolan, but this cannot be accomplished by the king alone. Only when the king and the nobles work together can the ancient Kingdom of Kolan be revitalized.

The second faction within the kingdom is Grand Duke Gaelan.

Grand Duke Gaelan wanted to break away from the Dawn Church and join the Empire, advocating a move from the Dawn into the Light.

As for why this is the case and why it has the support of nobles, it's quite simple.

The Dawn Church had given them all sorts of orders, and behind each order was nothing more than asking the Kingdom of Coran to provide this or that.

Over time, the wealth of the nobles of the Kingdom of Coran dwindled significantly, and they naturally became dissatisfied with the Dawn Church.

Moreover, the Dawn Church has recently experienced tremendous turmoil, and the nobles have lost their last shred of reverence for the priests and bishops of the church.

The third faction consists of the nobles who support the king and the grand duke. They are quite indifferent; when faced with any problem, they will only show a blank face and say, "Huh? What are you talking about?"
The main point is that I'm like a dead pig that's not afraid of boiling water; whatever you're doing, don't take me with you.

Of course, their "salted fish" mentality is not entirely pure, and the three political conflicts are not absolutely opposed. The king may gain the political support of the Grand Duke of Gaelan, and the "salted fish" faction may become allies of the king or the Grand Duke.

These three political policies were not important to them; the key was... balancing the interests of the nobles.

Because no matter what was done, it was impossible for all the nobles to benefit, which led to chaos within the Kingdom of Kolan.

Shifting the blame onto the clergy of the Vatican—I don't know which brilliant person came up with this idea, but it couldn't be more perfect.

Sven thought so too.

On his first day in the capital city of Coran, he witnessed a war.

Soldiers belonging to Viscount Sharp clashed with the cultists of the Royal City Church.

"what are you doing?"

"What are you doing?"

After a friendly greeting, cries of pain erupted as the two sides began to fight in the street, neither giving an inch.

"How dare you desecrate the dawn!"

"You will all be burned to death by the Holy Light."

The believers angrily rebuked the soldiers, who were still somewhat afraid, but were quickly swayed by their leader's emotions.

"Will you burn your pope at the stake?"

"The glory of my Lord shall not be insulted; anyone who stands in the way of my faith shall suffer eternal punishment."

"Will you burn your pope at the stake?"

"Your souls will not be qualified to enter the eternal kingdom of heaven."

"Will you burn your pope at the stake?"

"I heard that your Pope has a son, and he's your Holy Son. Will he come to the Kingdom of Coran?"

Ultimately, the war between the Empire and the Papacy had a huge impact. The nobles of the Kingdom of Coran had become quite bold enough to confront the Dawn Papacy. The Flor Empire had shown them that the Dawn Papacy was not as powerful as they thought.

The saying goes, "What the superiors do, the inferiors will follow."

These nobles had been severely suppressed by the Dawn Church before, and now that they had found an opportunity, they naturally wanted to show that they were not actually afraid of the Dawn Church.

Since nobles dared not behave in public, there was no problem with them behaving within their own territories.

Seeing their lord act this way, the lord's servants naturally followed suit.

Having honed their courage in their own territory, the soldiers were naturally less reserved on the streets. As the interactions became more and more exciting, they finally let loose.

So the soldiers, now free to do as they pleased, beat the believers again.

Sven watched this scene, then smiled and walked forward. Some soldiers were oblivious and couldn't see that this clergyman was different. They tried to make a move, but were immediately punched away by Millie next to them.

The soldier lying on the ground was naturally spitting out blood; the bodies of ordinary people are simply too fragile.

The sudden change silenced everyone, and the soldiers stood aside again. To put it bluntly, the petty squabbles at the lower levels were no big deal, but if someone at the higher levels saw it, the responsibility would be obvious and very troublesome.

Viscount Sharp's soldier leader, Knight Hans, was very nervous and uneasy. He ultimately dared not lay a hand on the true believers of the Dawn, fearing that he would be severely punished for it.

For example, he was very worried that his soul would not be able to enter the eternal kingdom of heaven.

His gentle and kind smile eased the tension among the people. He first looked at the group of believers from the Dawn Church.

"You've come to welcome me, haven't you?"

what?
The believer looked up at the distinguished missionary before him. Were they there to greet him?

I don't know, but the thought of the pain in their bodies makes believers climb up the pole.

"Yes, missionary, we have come to welcome you."

After speaking, he glared angrily at the soldiers on the other side.

"But they, they actually dared to beat us, right in front of you! Don't they know we came to welcome you? Damn it, these damned peasants must be hanged!"

"How dare they desecrate you."

The soldiers on the other side were terrified. Were these Dawn Believers here to welcome missionaries? Impossible. Weren't they the ones who swaggered through the streets robbing civilians of their money?

How could this be? At this moment, Knight Hans felt as if the sky had fallen.

After listening, Sven approached the group of extremely nervous soldiers and said:
"May the Lord have mercy on you, may the Lord give you the hope of dawn, and may the Lord guide you into the eternal Kingdom of Heaven."

In front of everyone, Sven began to pray for the soldiers. His prayer was gentle yet powerful, and he emanated a faint holy glow, which made the prayer seem incredibly real.

The soldiers became devout. The Kingdom of Coran was not like the Flor Empire, which had undergone a century of dramatic changes. Many of its people had the faith of the Dawn.

Their eyes also became firm; this is the power of faith.

After the prayer was finished, Sven looked at the bewildered Dawn believers.

"Let's go. Now that you've received me, it's time to escort me to the Holy See."

These Dawn believers didn't know him, nor could they have come to greet him, but Sven had already made them acknowledge him, so now they had to comply.

This was how he got to the Royal City Church. As for the believers? They couldn't afford to deceive a missionary, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and head towards the church with Sven.

Along the way, many more Holy Knights joined Sven's ranks, making the group more formal.

At Sven's insistence, they moved very slowly, which was noticed by many people in the capital. There was no other way; the capital was now littered with the charred remains of a fire, and many people had lost their homes and were forced to live on the streets, thus witnessing this scene.

"Who are they?"

"It's a gentleman from the Dawn Church."

"Those are Holy Knights. It is said that they become angels after they go to heaven."

"That's a priest! My God, he's bathed in holy light. If I could be blessed by him, I could definitely become a knight."

"Who is leading them? It must be the lord of Dawn Holy Mountain, which is said to be a mountain peak made of white sand."

The refined man, greeted by the worshippers, entered the church openly and without giving the clergy any time to react.

By the time the clergy had come to their senses, Sven was already standing in front of the lectern, loudly reciting the principles followed by the Dawn Church.

"Who is he? Why is he standing in my position?"

A priest appeared angrily and loudly rebuked Sven.

“Father, has the Lord given you the right to make such a fuss before Him?”

Sven's voice was gentle, while the priest was arrogant and haughty. In this sacred church, the difference in their status was immediately apparent, and almost everyone thought that Sven was more suitable for reading the Bible.

"Damn it, get out of here right now!"

"Colombia is not a place for a scoundrel like you."

“I’m sorry, this is where my Lord’s faith is located, and it is only right that I be here.”

Millie appeared before the priest. The Kingdom of Coran was not only too far from Mount Dawn, but also too far from the Empire. This had caused the clergy here to be unwilling to even act, showing no demeanor whatsoever of the clergy of the Holy See.

So Millie simply picked him up and threw him out. The priest had very little divine power left, and he couldn't withstand the powerful Millie now.

“No loud noises are allowed in the presence of the Lord. Tie him up.”

Beside them, a Holy Knight stepped forward, tied up the priest, and silenced his frantic shouts. The Holy Knights did not hesitate at all. Coming from the Kingdom of Sera, seeing the appearance of the clergy from the Kingdom of Coran, they were even more convinced of the refined priest.

The clergy of this kingdom are not even as good as those of the Kingdom of Sera.

They have fallen, and the fallen must be judged.

"Have you betrayed my Lord?"

Sven looked at the priest and asked directly.

Sven certainly had evidence, because if there was no betrayal, then why would he dare to make a loud noise in the sacred church hall, disregarding the dignity of the Lord?
As for more evidence, there would probably be a whole basketful to be found.

"I think you will spend the rest of your life in prison, Father."

The priest's eyes widened. He had been gagged and hadn't even had a chance to refute the question about whether he had betrayed the priest before he was already judged.
The priest struggled, but he couldn't overcome the power of the Holy Knight. At that moment, a sharp sound suddenly rang out.

"What are you doing? Release Father Pike right now!"

“Father Piqué is my master. If you want to take him away, you’ll have to step over my dead body.”

The voice came from a nun dressed in revealing clothing, which seemed particularly out of place in the sacred church. Seeing the priest being restrained, the nun rushed over and began punching and kicking the Holy Knight.

"Damn Father Pico, how dare you insult my Lord's devout believer!"

Looking at the nun's appearance, Sven suddenly showed an expression of extreme disgust as he looked at the struggling priest.

"Lock him in the dungeon!"

Although it was his first time visiting the Corinthian Cathedral, Sven was already quite familiar with the place. Not to mention that Shadow Vanguard had already figured out the environment, the churches built by the Dawn Church were all pretty much the same. If you were familiar with one, you could be familiar with the whole world.

Even if the priest is locked in the dungeon, he won't get lost. As for the nun, she was actually released by Sven on purpose. She had been living in the priest's room and serving him with everything she had. Sven found her and told her that the priest had been arrested.

Of course, this whole thing was meant to be seen by others, so that Siwen could smoothly take over the other person's job.

The work of reading the Bible represents a right.

Moreover, this is the fastest way for the Dawn doctrine to spread.

"I heard that the nobles of the Royal City of Coran are trying to force the cathedral to hand over its wealth to them?"

Sven's voice grew louder, but he was already standing outside the hall.

"I will never allow anyone to blaspheme the Lord's wealth!"

His firm statement ignited fervor among many believers.

The nobles are trying to force the church to hand over its wealth? Even the nobles themselves are unaware of this.

……

"We're here to help them."

"The nobles of the Kingdom of Coran are now extremely poor. They have lost a lot, but the Dawn Church has a lot of wealth. If we give the Church's wealth to the nobles, they will become our friends."

"Because they had no other choice at that time."

"At that time, the Gerald noble territory will be able to continue trading in the southern lands."

Brunnakis said to Kermon Gerald beside him.

“I’m sorry to have you come along, young master, but I think what Lord Ryan said is very much in line with your father’s wishes. The future Earl Gerald should be an earl who keeps up with the times and has a wider range of knowledge.”

"I will."

Kemon gripped a long, icy-blue sword tightly, his gaze fixed firmly on the royal city of Kolan before him. The first thing he did upon entering was to pay a visit to the high-ranking nobles who had arrived in the city.

The Grand Duke of Coran, the Grand Duke of Gelan.

The Grand Duke had a bad temper, but because his title was high enough, he didn't need to suppress it, especially when dealing with Gerald.

Upon seeing Kermon, Grand Duke Gaelan recalled his previous crushing defeat in the north, where his army had become a laughingstock throughout the kingdom, and some counts had even lost respect for him.

Grand Duke Gelan was eager to avenge his previous humiliation, which is why he sought to rely on the Empire for more direct military support.

He was the nobleman in the entire Kingdom of Kolan who most desired to use military force to satisfy all his interests.

“I know that the Duke harbors deep anger towards Gerald, but that cannot change your past failures. Please do not be angry, Your Highness. I have come here to provide you with the support you need.”

"The army of the Kingdom of Kolan... is terrible."

(End of this chapter)