Throne of the North.

Chapter 821: A Faith War Unleashed in the Name of Dawn! (Part 3)

“Clerk Sven, we’ve lost them again.”

With Dawn's prestige, the Dawn Cult borrowed an abandoned village as a temporary base. The villagers had vanished, but the abyss's aura still lingered there.

The Dawn followers who followed the Sven priests thought it would be a difficult missionary journey, full of uncertainties and terrible dangers, but in reality, they traveled slowly but safely.

Following behind the armored bear legion, they witnessed the horrific devastation and ruins left by the terrifying army. Everything that should have existed on the ground was destroyed, leaving only the world's most primitive and rugged state.

The dense abyssal aura had been reduced to a faint mist remaining on the surface. If it weren't for the unusual season, they would have thought it was just a cold morning mist.

Is there no one left on this land?

Sven looked somewhat sullen as he gazed at the griffin riders, hoping they could find traces of human life in the sky.

Even with its keen eyesight, the griffin in the sky took a full two hours to bring Sven an answer.

"To the east of here, between two mountain peaks, there is a fortress, and we saw humans there."

"Perhaps it's human."

The griffin knight added that he had also seen those abyssal servants and was too terrified to approach them. No one knew why those abyssal servants had become like this, their souls sacrificed yet still alive.

Sven immediately decided to go. As the air grew colder and the atmosphere became increasingly uneasy, the nobleman's earthen castle finally came into view between two low hills.

The disheveled soldiers, covered in dirt and looking malnourished, almost instinctively sounded the alarm upon seeing the large influx of humans.

The castle sprang into action; there was no other way, without such speed they would have been swallowed by the abyss long ago.

"We are not servants of the abyss."

The griffin riders roared in the sky, while on the ground, the Dawn Knights radiated a holy light as sacred magic descended. No one believed it was the work of the Abyss.

The tense soldiers inside the castle finally broke down in tears of emotion.

"The great Lord has finally come to save us."

"Waaaaah, the Lord has come to save us."

Sven arrived at the front, but the castle gates did not open. On the high walls, the figures of nobles appeared.

Compared to the peasants within his territory, Baron Ashton was much more vigilant, observing the well-dressed people outside and pondering what to do.

“I come from the North, a missionary and a believer in my Lord.”

"Clerk Sven said loudly, but Ashton was still hesitant."

However, given the Dawn Knight's methods, he still explained:

"Not long ago, a noble caravan came, trying to get me to open the castle, but that shameless and depraved fellow was actually a damned Abyss cultist who had dedicated his soul to the gods of the Abyss!"

"We paid a heavy price to drive them back."

Ashton explained his wariness, and the venerable priest, instead of being angered, replied with approval:

“Sir, you have done well, but I can prove that we cannot be believers in the Abyss. In fact, we are cleaning up the Abyss faith here. My arrival is to bring this land back into the embrace of the Lord.”

"Then wait."

Lord Ashton said that shortly afterward, another figure appeared on the high wall; it was a clergyman.

"The glory of the dawn is eternal."

The priest named Thor made a prayer gesture, which was tantamount to helping Baron Ashton acknowledge Sven's identity. However, Sven's response was not the etiquette of the Dawn Church, but a soft murmur.

May the dawn be with you.

"You are?"

The priest froze, looking at the refined clergyman with confusion, only then realizing that the robes worn by this missionary and the clergy behind him were quite different from those of the Dawn Church.

"The Lord's light brings hope of life and warmth at the dawn of each day, and we, through His mercy, become the dawn light that dispels evil."

"Dawn represents hope, just as you, Father, can see tomorrow's sun; that is the mercy of the Lord."

"That is the mercy of the Lord."

The priest responded with the last sentence, but still didn't understand.

“They are indeed my lord’s servants, your Lord Baron. Open the city gates; they are reinforcements.”

"Yes, Father."

Ashton was finally relieved and felt extremely relaxed. Overjoyed, he greeted the arrival of the civilized priest at the gate of the high wall with tears in his eyes.

“We have finally waited for your arrival. I thought that my family and I would die completely on this land. In that case, I would become a sinner of the entire Ashton family. I couldn’t even send my child to a safe place.”

"What has happened to this world? Has the great Lord of Dawn abandoned His people? Why is the power of the Abyss invading our territory? Damn it!"

The Baron finally had someone to confide in, and he kept questioning him. He had done better than any baron before him, but everything he had received was not enough to put him under such terrible pressure.

Sven instructed the Dawn Cult members to distribute a small portion of the food, only to learn that there was actually a prayer room inside the castle.

“Father Thor used his divine magic to help us fight against the whispers of the abyss; otherwise, we would have all had our souls devoured. The noble team we faced earlier was also repelled because of the priest’s divine magic.”

"Unfortunately, due to the constant overuse, the priest has aged considerably."

"Fortunately, two days ago, a terrible army appeared on the battlefield and destroyed the army of abyssal minions, which gave us a chance to catch our breath."

"Otherwise, the missionary might not have seen Father Thor today."

Lord Ashton spoke from the side, and Sven stopped to ask.

"Was that army a legion riding armored bears?"

"Yes."

Baron Ashton was filled with lingering fear.

“They were terrifying. I even doubted that this centuries-old family castle beneath my feet could withstand a single charge from them. It was a miracle. The moment they appeared, they destroyed all the wars.”

"It's good that they showed up."

"Two days ago, Corps Commander Bogeld actually showed up here..."

The priest was somewhat troubled; it was too early. He summoned the griffin rider.

"Please be sure to find Commander Bogeld. She has gone too far. We are still unaware of the distribution of the Abyss Faith in this land. The Abyss Gods hidden in the darkness may launch a devastating attack on us at any time."

"The Armored Bear Legion is the brainchild of Lord Ryan; it cannot be allowed to disappear from this land."

Sven understood that if something happened to the Armored Bear Legion, wouldn't he be the one to take the blame? Commander Bogeld, on the other hand, would never be punished.

“At the very least, we need to rest for a while,” Sven sighed, Baron Ashton’s eyes flickering.

"That terrible army, is it a friend of the missionary?"

"Yes, they are the extraordinary legion of Baron Ryan of the Empire. They accepted the request of Earl of Jinze and the Kingdom of Coran to come to this land corrupted by the abyss, attempting to bring this world back into the embrace of humanity."

"The Empire..."

Baron Ashton's eyes revealed a distant envy. He didn't know how powerful the Empire was, but he knew perfectly well that it was a powerful beacon of humanity.

"They saved my territory."

Upon learning that it was a nobleman's army, the matter involved the noble tradition between Baron Ashton and Baron Lane, and everything fell on the baron's shoulders.

"You should save those words for Lord Ryan, Mr. Baron."

"what?"

"Although he is still young and awaiting the birth of his child, he has already become a legend and a descendant of the dragon knights of Norris."

"what?!"

Baron Ashton was utterly shocked, gaining a deeper understanding of the Empire's power.

There was no way to make him understand why a baron was so powerful; that would be too agonizing. He could only attribute it all to that distant, incomparably powerful empire.

"I heard that the Empire has won two full-scale orc invasions in succession. In the past, only the Dawn Church leading all of humanity, with the help of dwarves and elves, could resist this."

The news of Baron Ashton came from the triumphant return of the noble knights' vengeful legion led by Freud as they traversed this land.

The nobles of this land could hardly comprehend what it meant to have an army composed entirely of extraordinary knights.

"The Lord's faith will not abandon this land. Our arrival is hope. The arrival of Baron Ryan's army also proves that the nobles will not stand idly by."

“Lord Ashton, you can get some rest now.”

Sven cast a divine spell, and he could see the deep weariness in the baron's heart. He had withstood all the pressure to keep the castle from collapsing.

Of course, because of this incident, he gained the genuine love and respect of those who fled from his own territory and the surrounding territories.

In addition, the Dawn Chapel, originally part of Baron Ashton’s estate, also played a significant role.

The Church of Dawn has fallen, but its clergy, who have not yet fallen, still piously fulfill their duties, contributing the radiance of their faith to the Lord of Dawn in the depths of the eternal Kingdom.

Father Thor was such a qualified priest. He would personally appear beside the soldiers to pray for them, and he would also appear on the battlefield. Although he was physically weak, he still used his divine magic to bless the soldiers, so that they would not have to listen to the whispers of the abyss to erode their souls in battle.

The peace of mind is thanks to the priest; it is nothing short of a miracle that this small castle was able to hold on.

But as it turns out, miracles alone are not enough; only absolute war potential can bring the hope of dawn. When the armored bear legion swept through the land, they survived. When the Sven priests arrived with the Dawn Cult, they knew they had truly survived.

“We won’t become those monsters, will we, Mr. Missionary?”

The soldiers gripped the arms of the Dawn Cult members tightly, filled with worry. They had witnessed firsthand how the human-like Abyss servants had suddenly torn apart, transforming into grotesque Abyss monsters. The mental shock of that scene was terrifying; without the blessing of the Dawn Divine Art, they would have already had their souls devoured.

"No, the light of dawn will dispel all the filth within you and drive out the power of the abyss."

"The Lord is with you, and the dawn is with you."

The first thing the clergy did upon arriving here was to preach and spread the power of faith. With bread and eggs in one hand and dazzling divine magic in the other, they dispelled all the unease of the people here.

"Praise be to the great Lord of the Dawn."

Many people slept soundly in peace, and the whole castle was filled with joy, except for Father Thor, who was particularly uneasy.

"I...I haven't received any orders from His Holiness the Pope. Are you actually members of the Dawn Church?"

“That’s not important, Father.”

The cleric looked at Father Thor.

“We are all believers in the Lord, and that is enough. We are all spreading the Lord’s faith, and that is the best thing. This is the only requirement the Lord has for us. Shouldn’t we do our best to fulfill it?”

"You are too fixated on whether you serve the Papacy or the great Lord, so you can only become a priest in a baronial territory, unable to bring more faith to the Lord, nor spread the Lord's mercy to more distant places."

"Are you serving His Holiness the Pope?"

"Or is it the Lord of Dawn?"

"Of course it's my lord."

"So, what does my Lord need you to do?"

"My Lord needs His light to dispel every darkness in the world."

"So, are you doing it?"

“Of course, Mr. Missionary, you need not doubt my devout faith in the Lord. I can accept the questioning of the vow of faith.”

"So, what else does the Lord require of you besides this?"

"Nothing is needed anymore."

"Yes, nothing else is needed, that's enough. We're all doing what the Lord needs us to do, and we only need to do this one thing. Can't we do it well?"

“We serve our great Lord, not the papacy under the rule of the Pope.”

"This is a misinterpretation. His Holiness the Pope is the incarnation of our Lord on earth."

"What does that have to do with what you did?"

"His Holiness the Pope is His Holiness the Pope, but the priest should know what the other members of the Dawn Church are like. Otherwise, how could this land have been corrupted by the abyss?"

“Those gods of the abyss should not even be able to touch the light of this land.”

Father Thor became conflicted and distressed.

"Your Holiness, has Your Holiness truly abandoned the faith of this land?"

"The light of dawn will not give up. As the leader of dawn, the divine message I have received is to plant hope as a seed and wait for tomorrow to come."

“Father Thor, do you know? On the day I received the oracle at dawn, I didn’t know what it meant until I heard about the invasion of the abyss’s power over this land.”

“I finally understand that my Lord had already seen the future of this land, so He gave me a divine decree, and that is how I came here.”

"My arrival is to bring hope."

"In this dark land."

"May the dawn be with you, for the light of hope is the strength the Lord gives us."

(End of this chapter)