Throne of the North.

Chapter 826: A Faith War Unleashed in the Name of Dawn! (Part 8)

Dawn City.

Wars between people are accompanied by interests and the justification of having a legitimate reason to wage war.

What if one side of the war was a great being?
This requires the support of faith and the approval of the divine.

Humans cannot touch great deities, but if it is the will of a great being whom people believe in, then there is no problem.

Teams set off for the southern land corrupted by the Abyss Faith, and Ryan inevitably needed support from the faith, but fortunately this was not a problem for him.

Isn't it perfectly reasonable and necessary for the great Lord of Dawn and the followers of the God of Light to fight against the invading evil forces of the abyss?

No reason is needed, because the abyss is the Lord's enemy.

Dawn City is bustling with activity. It has become the most prosperous economic center in the Kingdom of Andara. Caravans from all directions eventually stop here before departing.

Then comes the city's inherent historical heritage.

The city of Dawn's profound faith will not disappear just because its inhabitants have left. Now, with the Dawn Cult replenishing the city's temporary void of faith, the buildings that represent the power of faith are beginning to shine with glory.

On this day, tens of thousands of believers gathered in the largest church, atop the tall castle in the distance, where Queen Letta, draped in an animal skin shawl, watched the Dawn Cult members pray.

"Can they succeed? It is said that the Lord of Dawn has not awakened, and it is all a lie of the Dawn Church."

Beside her stood Viscountess Wittmann, the chief lady of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, and next to her slender waist stood Apia, the cat-woman assassin draped in a cloak.

"The master said that the Lord of Dawn will not refuse the prayers of His followers regarding the Abyss, and there will be only one response: the most powerful counterattack."

"But this is too audacious, using the name of the Lord of Dawn to start a war in that southern land full of noble territories."

"Is this considered daring?"

The Viscountess smiled as she looked at Queen Letta. This noble lady, who had never been to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, knew far too little about Ryan.

"If the master were truly bold, he would personally lead the army to the south, even disregarding the condemnation of all the nobles."

"At least here, he still hopes to gain the approval of the gods and provide reasonable faith support to the followers of the Dawn Cult in the name of the Lord of Dawn and the God of Light."

Queen Letta shook her head in confusion; she didn't quite understand these things about political direction.

In the distance, inside the cathedral, the Dawn Cult members knelt devoutly before the sculpture of dawn. Their faith was pure; the Dawn Cult members were originally civilized missionaries who had rescued those believers who had not yet fallen from the corrupt soil.

As the saying goes, those who have witnessed darkness yearn for light even more. The devout faith of these believers is probably unmatched even by holy mountains.

They are the most sincere believers in the sun in the sky.

For the first time in their lives, they had never prayed for anything before, and on this day, they prayed for a response from a great being.

Dawn City was both quiet and noisy, because no one dared to make a sound amidst the prayers of the Dawn Cult members.

Fortunately, the great being of the sky, the master of the eternal kingdom, the immortal creator of light—the Lord of Dawn, the God of Light—truly answered His followers' prayers about the abyss.

A blazing, sacred, snow-white beam of light descended from the sky. It was magnificent and supreme, surpassing everything. It brought unimaginable majesty to the end of the heavens. In that instant, the entire city of Dawn was in an uproar. Whether they were believers or not, everyone stared at the sky with fervor.

The Lord of Dawn actually responded to them!

He has not truly responded to His believers for a long time. In the past hundred years, only Archbishop Adriana has received this divine grace. Now it has finally happened a second time, not on the Holy Mountain, not in the Cathedral of Light of the Empire, but in Dawn City, the place of faith of the Kingdom of Andara.

Moreover, the Lord of Dawn has only one response to the invasion of his faith land by the evil forces of the abyss: to dispel the darkness with holy war and awaken the light with the dawn.

Every day when the sun rises, all darkness should flee. The sun's rays bring life and light to the world, and this is the origin of the Empire's Church of Light.

The holy, snow-white beam of light emanated directly from the eternal heaven. The great god had responded to His followers. This event would undoubtedly cause a huge stir throughout the entire continent of Norris. The Holy Mountain and the Empire would certainly send people to respond.

But here, for Ryan, this scene meant he had already achieved his goal.

This is a divine oracle, a divine oracle bestowed by the great being who is the only faith of humanity on the continent of Norris. Everything becomes justified, righteous, and pure. Furthermore, this divine grace also grants the followers of the Dawn Cult an inviolable status.

Even the Lord of faith has acknowledged their identity, so who can doubt that the Dawn Cult members are not believers in the dawn or the light?
The divine approval ignited the flame of faith in Dawn City, dispelling the faint unease in the hearts of countless people and propelling the priests to even greater heights. Within just a few minutes, an army was formed in this city!
“The Sven priest is dispelling darkness from the evil soil of the South, driving out the abyss with the faith of dawn. He needs us! He needs warriors who fight for the dawn!”

"We must never lose the priest, he is the guide of dawn, he brought us hope."

The followers clamored and formed a group to go to Priest Sven's side, but this required Ryan's authorization.

That... the godfather who supposedly brought the doctrine of dawn to the civilized clergy.

Fortunately, Ryan had been keeping an eye on things, and the cat-man assassin relayed the message back to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain as quickly as possible, with the Baron responding immediately.

"In the name of dawn, tell the evil of the abyss that there is no faith for them in this world."

"When the dawn of a new day breaks, I will see your triumphant return."

Ryan's voice reached Dawn City, and an army composed entirely of believers was formed. They marched along Dawn City toward the south of the Kingdom of Coran, and their appearance gave all the previous armies that had followed Ryan's will to go there the most justifiable legitimacy.

“This is the Lord’s divine decree. They are devout believers who follow the decree. The Lord will see their efforts and will bestow upon them the gift of eternal heaven.”

This war against the abyss is the most righteous.

All of this, at this moment, cannot yet reach that dark land.

……

The northern warhorses puffed out cold air from their nostrils. The dim mist close to the ground here carried the aura of the abyss, which they disliked. The ground beneath their feet was filled with strange power, as if a terrible vortex could appear at any moment and swallow them into that terrifying abyss.

Brand soothed the warhorse. The Bucks had indeed never fought in such an environment before, but that was alright.

"go ahead."

The appearance of this army is completely different from that of the armored bears. Everything is orderly and planned. The Kingdom of Coran's legion has already set up camp under its command. The roads they form as they advance will be marked with the flags of the army and the insignia of the nobles.

Furthermore, the first thing to do was to make contact with the group of civilized priests.

Brand spent three days on this process.

Thanks to the Armored Bear Legion, the abyssal minions of this land were completely wiped out.

Baron Ashton.

On the castle nestled between two low hills, Baron Ashton watched nervously as a vast army silently appeared on the plain before him. The earth itself seemed to grow colder at their arrival. "They are—reinforcements?"

The baron's eyes widened with excitement, and the refined priest beside him, unsure of his reason for such a reaction, could only nod in response.

“This is Lord Ryan’s extraordinary legion. The ones behind him should be the Kingdom’s army of the Kingdom of Coran. The fact that they are here means that there is now a safe route from Baron Ashton’s territory to the Kingdom of Coran. You can leave here at any time for the safety of the North.”

“I feel I have absolutely no reason to leave, Mr. Sven.”

Seeing the army appear ahead, Baron Ashton took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I have never seen an army like this before. Even the army of the Duke of Oren City is no match for them. Just by looking at them, I can tell how powerful they are."

"Are these the nobles of the Empire!?"

"Blabolic nobles, how terrifying."

Outside the empire, especially among nobles in remote areas, perceptions of the empire were influenced by many factors. The Ashton family's history, in its descriptions of the empire a century ago, emphasized the most important aspect: the empire's blasphemous acquisition of terrifying power.

The Dawn Church instilled in them the idea that the Empire had strayed from the Dawn's faith and become a heretic.

The appearance of these two heretics has made the problem very serious, to the point that a minor nobleman like Baron Ashton could not possibly understand the inside story, otherwise the priests in the baronate would have made him pay dearly.

The empire broke free of its information cocoon because of war, and the emergence of the term "war" only amplifies the empire's terrifying nature.

"Mr. Sven."

The legendary aura resisted the power of the abyss, but it made everyone in Baron Ashton's territory feel tense and suppressed. Fortunately, Brand had no ill intentions towards this place.

"Commander Brand".

"Lord Ryan said that Commander Bogeld is in a tough battle and has sent us to help. Do you know where she is?"

The priest nodded; he hadn't been doing nothing here these days.

"According to the information provided by the nobles of this land, the last place the Armored Bear Legion was supposed to appear was in Oren City. Miss Bogeld ordered an attack on that city, but now..."

"That city vanished, swallowed up and disappeared by the power of the abyss."

"So that's how it is. It seems that the Armored Bear Legion has indeed been cut off from the continent of Norris by the Abyss Lord's divine kingdom."

After Brand finished speaking, he looked at Baron Ashton, who was standing next to Sven.

“Baron, my troops need to stay here for a few days.”

"Huh? Why?"

Baron Ashton spoke instinctively, but regretted it as soon as he finished speaking. He wished the army would stay there forever, as long as he didn't have to pay for the food and timber the army needed.

Baron Ashton couldn't afford to support him.

Brand didn't find it strange at all and replied:

“Before I arrived, Dawn City should have been praying to the gods for divine guidance. We need His support in the face of the great being of the Abyss.”

"what?"

This question came from the venerable priest, who seemed to be the least likely person to be questioned.

Sven was utterly puzzled. Only he himself knew the true nature of his role as a bard. Perhaps no one in the Dawn Cult was more devout and hoped for the help of the Lord of Dawn and the God of Light than he was.

Sven didn't have this problem; he only had Ryan and the Frozen Territory behind him.

Why is it that suddenly we need the Lord of Dawn?

"In the name of Dawn, Lord Ryan needs all believers in this land to be followers of Dawn from now on, and no longer followers of the Morning Light."

After Brand finished speaking, Sven was deeply shocked; he understood what it meant.

The next moment, Siwen's expression turned solemn, and he said in a calm and sincere tone:

“The corrupt Dawn Church has abandoned this land. They have not sent any clergy to expel the evil forces of the abyss until now. But the Lord will not abandon this land, so—I have come.”

“I am a missionary of dawn, a devout believer of the Lord, and I will spread His faith and the teachings of dawn, even if I am alone.”

The cleric solemnly swore an oath, and Brand nodded as he watched him.

“You are not a man, Mr. Respectful Priest.”

"My army will clear away all obstacles for you."

Sven hummed in agreement and turned to look at Baron Ashton.

"Sir Baron, would you be willing to become a follower of the Dawn?"

"what?"

Baron Ashton looked at the two men. The majesty of the Dawn Church had been intimidating in this world and in the lands outside the Empire for too long. The further away from the Empire, the more deeply rooted the Dawn's rule became.

Therefore, Baron Ashton was in a dilemma at this moment.

What does it take to become a member of the Dawn Cult?

"Nothing is needed except a sincere heart toward the Lord."

“Priest Sven, as you know, I have always been a believer of my Lord, so unsurprisingly, I have always been a member of the Dawn Church.”

Lord Ashton grasped the hand of the Sven priest, his eyes brimming with tears of emotion.

"Dawn shines upon you, Baron."

In the north, just as the army of the Dawn Cult was marching south with the divine oracle, news of the sudden divine radiance descending upon Dawn City swept across the entire continent of Norris, the most powerful place, at an alarming speed.

Lord of Dawn, God of Light, is the source of the most tense relationship between the Empire and the Papacy. The Imperial Capital is rebuilding the Cathedral of Light, and Columbus IV will soon inherit the power of his father, the Pope of Light. Mount Dawn is also restoring order, and the power centered on the Pope is beginning to forcefully expel and occupy all the interests of the Papacy.

That place is about to become a one-man show, and this... according to the Pope, is also a divine decree.

(End of this chapter)