Throne of the North.

Chapter 684 The Death of the Emperor (Part Two)

A hundred handsome highland warhorses, with golden gauze curtains hanging down, and a carriage with a canopy several meters high, slowly left the capital city, traveling on the road between the Christians on both sides. When he saw the Cathedral of Light covered with golden divine light, Columbus III was extremely excited.

The day has finally arrived; his authority will reach its zenith in the entire world today.

He is the emperor, and he will be the pope.

Thinking of this, Columbus III felt that the world before him was vast, and everyone seemed like a good person with a kind face.

He was like a god walking among mortals; everything about ordinary people was nothing but smoke and clouds to him. What was there for him to care about?
Columbus III smiled, then quickly lost his composure.

He saw the Pope of Dawn.

The only one still qualified to confront him head-on, the Pope of Dawn, is the only one who can still make the emperor lose his composure, and he is here today.

However, Columbus III quickly regained his smile. The Pope of Dawn did not come here willingly; he came because of his defeat.

The Empire's victory over the Papacy means that even the Pope of Dawn will submit to him, the Great Pope. His arrival is the most magnificent backdrop today.

"Have the artist draw me properly."

Columbus III gave a soft command to those around him. He had become a legend because he became emperor, but there were few ordinary people here today. The emperor's voice made the attendants around him nod, but it also reached the ears of the other nobles and clergy, as well as His Holiness the Pope, without any ambiguity.

Those who have cultivated power for a long time easily understood the meaning behind this.

The Pope of Dawn possesses unparalleled authority, but today, that authority will become a stepping stone for the Emperor, propelling him to even greater heights.

Pope Solarian did not respond, as if he had not heard, and stood on the high place with a friendly smile until Columbus III got off the carriage and walked up the steps to stand between Pope Dawn and Archduke Meyers.

On one side, he represents the royal power of the nobility, and on the other side, he represents the sacred divine power.

And this... is the only sense of ceremony in this coronation ceremony.

Whether it was the lowest-ranking baron or the esteemed emperor, they all appeared crude in their sense of ceremony, partly due to a lack of experience and partly due to the ancient traditions.

What were the coronation ceremonies for nobles like in the past? The Church of Dawn would send clergy to place a crown on the noble's head, say some grand words about the glory of God, and that would be it.

This extraordinary world is frighteningly rudimentary in some ways.

Of course, this one stop alone gave the painter a direction, but it didn't belong to the whole day. The believers of the Light had been walking all morning from the capital to here, and at noon, the prayers of all the believers, including the emperor, were the most crucial.

This is an extraordinary world where gods truly exist. Therefore, in everything, the gods are the most important element, and other rituals can be simplified as they may not matter.

"Praise the light!"

"Praise the light!!!"

"Praise the light!!!!!"

More than 100,000 people cheered wildly inside and outside the Cathedral of Light. At this moment, the golden divine light that bathed the Cathedral of Light shone to its fullest extent.

Columbus III glanced smugly at Pope Solarion beside him, who remained calm and unhurried.

Only a great deity can crown a pope. Columbus III slowly turned around and came to the statue of the god of light. On the steps on the left and right sides, there were believers wearing golden cloaks who presented the robes representing the pope of light to Columbus III and draped them over him.

The emperor knelt before the god of light, his robes now bulky and heavy. Before him, a golden crown rested quietly, and the direct sunlight overhead connected the sun and the earth like a beam of light.

The great gods have lost their divine essence, and no one on earth can crown the emperor. Solarion should have been qualified, but the current Pope of Dawn has lost his authority and can only be a background figure, standing not far behind the emperor with Grand Duke Meyers, watching the emperor reach out and take the crown himself.

"I am the Great Pope of Light."

With a fanatical gaze, Columbus III held the crown, which symbolized both royal and divine power, and felt its weight on his forehead—the weight of power itself.

The emperor did not rise. He crossed his arms and murmured incantations. He was still praying, still praying, still waiting for the divine grace of the great God of Light. That was the great god's recognition of him, and the proof that he could truly become the Great Pope of Light.

At the same time, thousands of points of light twinkled around the entire Cathedral of Light, rising into the void like fireflies, shimmering like stars.

They are the true origin of the stars. The terrifying array set up by Lord [Star] Tasi has condensed a month's worth of starlight, which has now transformed into a magnificent and dazzling celestial canopy.

This celestial canopy blocked all excess light from falling to the earth, dimming the sky, and the scattered starlight formed a universe that draped over this cathedral bathed in golden light.

"Almighty Creator, Immortal God of Light..."

The emperor was still muttering to himself; he knew what was about to happen, this was a 'miracle' that had been planned long ago.

For decades, apart from Archbishop Adriana, no one has been able to directly receive the divine favor of the great Lord of Dawn, the God of Light, whether in the Empire or the Papacy.

What is well known in aristocratic circles is that all the miracles of the past few decades have been—man-made.

It is relatively easy for the Dawn Church to create miracles because the Dawn Holy Mountain contains a vast amount of Dawn divine essence and a large amount of faith power.

Empires, on the other hand, often take the wrong path.

For example, at this very moment, the dark sky above, adorned with twinkling stars, suddenly... cracked open as the emperor's voice grew louder and louder.

A golden celestial gate tore through the dark cosmos, descending from the heavens with a blazing, magnificent, and hollow power, enveloping the emperor of the empire and the great pope of light.

"Long live the Emperor!"

Long live the Great Pope of Light!

"Long live the Emperor!"

Long live the Great Pope of Light!

……

Tens of thousands of cultists of light shouted fervently, followed by the commoners who had arrived from the capital, and even some nobles looked eagerly at their king.

That was the goal they were loyal to.

Incredibly slowly, the golden beam of light from the celestial gate thinned into a thread, and it too hung high in the middle of the sky. The stars slowly rotated, revolving around the golden 'sun', with it as the center.

"Indeed, even the sun is part of the stars."

In the distance, the mage Tashi, whose title was "Star," looked at Columbus III with burning eyes. His guess was correct; the sun in the sky had not refused to become the center of the stars and the center of all things.

He acknowledged the power that the stars had given him.

"This is the truth I've been searching for."

In Tasi's eyes, the starry sky was reflected, a power he could control, comparable to that of a great being.

Columbus III was bathed in the radiance of these stars, and the golden 'sun' at the center of those stars was his priest to a certain great being. His name was Dawn, Eternal Gaze, Franzca. This golden 'sun' could be the divine source of the god of light, or it could be said to be His gaze.

He looked upon this world.

"I will awaken your return as a believer, great Franzca."

"I, as the Emperor of the Flor Empire, the Pope of Light, the most supreme authority in this world, awaken you."

"The most intense light at noon."

The great Lord of Dawn, the God of Light, has thirteen great followers, each belonging to one of the twelve hours of this world.

Columbus III was unsure whether his plan would earn him divine favor from the God of Light, so he opted for a less desirable option: to awaken one of his thirteen great followers.

His identity is the same as that of Ifrit the Sunbird and Surtur the Twilight. Columbus III had a grand plan: to make this great being the guardian of the empire. Only in this way could the empire rival the Church of Dawn in terms of faith.

Not far behind, Solarion narrowed his eyes, his gaze revealing something he was thinking about.

Soon, the Pope of Dawn's eyes became expectant.

Columbus III was still chanting his prayers, while the golden 'sun' in the starry sky above grew brighter and brighter.

In that instant, all the great beings of the multiverse, including the magic lords of the abyss, sensed the great aura reviving, and a god awakening deep within the eternal heaven.

Fransca

At this moment, many great beings called out His name, and the gaze of the sun of the eternal kingdom finally responded to His devout believers.

In the center of the starry sky, the golden 'sun' began to spread its great divinity, and gradually, the whole world—yes, the whole world—felt the revival of this great being.

"This is the true power possessed by living beings. Compared to those gods who have only slightly revived, this is the true source of divinity."

Many powerful legendary beings gazed at the sky with fervor. In that instant, the sun in the sky shone with unparalleled brilliance. It was awakening and drawing infinitely closer to the continent of Norris.

He responded to His believers, and in the name of the dawn, He granted the orthodoxy of light.

【I……】

The will of the great being spread throughout the world; wherever the sun's rays could shine, all living beings called upon Franzca's name.

In the North, somewhere.

Ryan suddenly looked up at the northern sky, where an extreme black mist was howling, and a terrifying aura was rising out, like a black dragon sweeping across the land.

"Hobby?"

"No, there's a second evil god. The aura of the abyss is strong. Is it an abyssal demon released by those fallen clergy of the Dawn Church?"

Before Ryan could even sense the auras of those two intertwined great beings, he suddenly felt the sun in the high sky suddenly radiate an even more intense light, shining directly into the depths of the North, where the two evil gods resided.

Boom! ! !
On the snow-covered plains, countless avalanches erupted from the high mountains, and the ground, stretching for thousands of miles, trembled and collapsed, a sensation clearly felt even in the frozen tundra.

This is not the world's roar, but the screams of great beings in this way, wounded by the sharp edge of light. And this is Fransca announcing her awakening, announcing her return.

His awakening was at its peak.

He proclaimed the glory of the Lord of Dawn and the God of Light by utterly destroying all the evil gods on the continent of Norris.

Imperial capital city.

Columbus III raised his head with great fervor, his gaze fixed on the 'sun' in the sky.

Mortals are not qualified to look directly at the sun, let alone be so close to it, but Columbus III did, and that was Franzca's response to him; she was overjoyed at this feast of stars.

"Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live the Great Pope!"

Throughout the entire Flor Empire, an invisible faith began to emerge from all directions. Columbus III had never been exposed to the power of faith, but at this moment, he felt his own power, as the faith belonging to the Church of Light was gathering around him, the High Pope of Light.

Clergy are servants of a great deity, collecting faith for the deity, and the final link in this process is the Pope.

The Pope is the medium between the human world and the Kingdom of Heaven, the way to spread the faith of the gods on earth and to transport that faith to the immortal Kingdom of Heaven.

Thus, the Pope became the spokesperson for God on earth.

Columbus III was born, and the empire's plan, which had been in preparation for half a year, was approved by Franzka at this moment.

"I am the emperor!"

"I am also the Great Pope of Light!"

Columbus III stood up, turned around, and looked at the Grand Duke and the Pope of Dawn. He looked at the Pope with arrogance, then ignored him and looked at the more than 100,000 subjects, or believers, surrounding the Grand Pope of Light.

"Long live the Empire!"

"Eternal Light!"

The emperor's booming voice, like a bell, resounded throughout the Cathedral of Light, followed by the actual tolling of bells, spreading the authority of the Great Emperor of Light throughout the capital city and then fading into the distance.

Solarion remained calm as he looked at the arrogant emperor of the empire, then raised his head to gaze at the starry sky above.

The stars have vanished, leaving only faint shadows. All the stellar essence it contained has been absorbed by Fransca, which is the source of His satisfaction.

Solarion was a little anxious, but fortunately, Dawn of Eternal Vision Fransca did not keep him waiting. After devouring the essence of the stars, he disappeared once more. He had awakened and was eager to awaken the creator he followed—the Lord of Dawn.

With Fransca's departure, Solarion finally had an opportunity to find the next great being he had been waiting for.

He descended silently over the capital city and set his gaze upon the Cathedral of Light.

"Following the ancient oath and covenant, you must keep your promise—kill him."

Solarion's low murmur was only heard by Grand Duke Meyers beside him. He turned around in alarm, but it was too late to warn Columbus III.

The sky, a deep, dark vortex, and stars, echoed with a deafening roar from the extreme darkness.

It emerged from the vortex with its sky-covering head, then opened its gaping maw to devour everything, followed by dark dragon breath...

Arrive!

(End of this chapter)