Fantasy Writers 1860

Faced with matters involving the Immaculate Dawn Order, Lily decisively chose to report them.

It just so happens that Scotland Yard has been embroiled in the theater bombings lately and must have suspected them for a long time, but has been struggling to find any evidence.

"As you know, the Order's influence in Lentinion has been expanding rapidly recently, and the Cabinet still hasn't decided how to deal with it..." Inspector Reid sighed deeply, feeling a throbbing pain in his temples.

"If it is confirmed that such evil sacrificial rituals are indeed their actions and long-term goals, then they cannot be true believers," Lily said seriously.

"That's right, God's nature is benevolent, He couldn't possibly perform such an evil miracle... But this raises an even bigger question: how can miracles be performed if it's not true faith?"

Unlike traditional magic, which has declined in popularity, divine magic is a miracle. Its operation does not involve the flow of magical energy, but rather acts directly on reality.

Only those who can use divine magic will be recognized by the world as having "true faith".

There is more than one true faith in the world. Different gods and beliefs have been born in different countries, and the devout and pure believers in each group can all use similar divine arts. No essential difference has been found in terms of power.

In Europe, the primordial light gave rise to seven primordial gods who became the main deities of the belief system. In the East, the spirit of Pangu after his death transformed into seven divine lights. Similar legends also exist among the native inhabitants of Barat and Emilia.

Myths and deities vary around the world, but the narrative theme of "one primordial being differentiated into seven subordinate beings" exists in all civilizations.

Therefore, some people have always believed that the God that everyone believes in is essentially the same God.

At least they all share the commonality that "one primordial being differentiated into seven subordinate beings".

New righteous beliefs will emerge, and old ones will perish; therefore, it is natural that some people in history have had this idea.

For various purposes or needs, some people may impersonate messengers of the new orthodox faith, claiming to have received new divine revelation and wanting to establish a new religious sect.

In the past, such scammers were indeed able to deceive many people.

They will use magic to disguise it as divine spells, achieving an effect similar to a miracle.

However, with the booming development of the magic industry in recent years, the need for precise monitoring of magic operation has led to the increasing affordability and widespread availability of devices for detecting traces of magic.

The old tricks of using strange magic to pretend to be divine powers to deceive people are no longer viable.

Therefore, for a long time now, no one on the entire continent has claimed to have received any new divine revelation.

Until five years ago, the Immaculate Dawn Order suddenly appeared.

The "miracles" they performed have naturally been met with countless questions over the past five years, but until now, no one has been able to detect any signs of them using magic to impersonate others, nor has anyone been able to expose what kind of illusion they used.

Everything points in a disturbing direction: the "miracles" they perform don't actually involve magic, they are truly "divine arts," and they are truly "true believers."

What is disturbing is that their doctrines are so different from other orthodox beliefs, so...evil and dangerous.

They proclaim that the world has been corrupt for too long, and that the Almighty God will soon purify all the "filth" in the world and then create a new, flawless world like paradise, where "flawless people" can live and enjoy eternal peace, tranquility, and happiness.

The definition of "dirt" is quite broad; basically, whoever they say is dirt is dirt.

The definition of "the spotless one" is quite clear: it refers to those who join their order, devoutly believe in the Almighty God with them, and obey the commands of the High Priest.

"Five years ago, during their first public event, they predicted the plague in the Old City." Inspector Lesder's fingers tapped unconsciously on the table. "Nobody paid any attention at the time, until a month later when the plague took seven thousand lives, and the Immaculate Dawn Order expanded rapidly after the plague ended."

Reid continued, "They claimed that was the first 'purification,' a warning from God to the world. Then, every now and then, they would issue new prophecies, and they always came true."

Inspector Reed pulled a crudely printed leaflet from the stack of reports on the table. Several lines of text were printed in scarlet ink on it:

The fire without a source will devour the halls of hypocrites, and the most filthy blood and bones will be purified by this fire.

"The fire without a source corresponds to the explosion of magic crystal dust at the Mayfair Theater, the temple of hypocrites is the Mayfair Theater that was showing 'The Voice of Janus' that day, a play supporting the demi-human rights movement, and the most filthy one is that demi-human activist... It's come true again, isn't it?" Reid smiled bitterly and pressed the rough leaflet on the table.

Lily had naturally read the information in that brown paper bag before giving it to them; it contained many heinous cases, making it hard to believe that a "righteous" group would do such things.

Even if other "orthodox" people aren't all saints or completely clean, at least they know how to put on an act. But these people don't even bother to put on an act.

This is why the cabinet's attitude towards them is currently ambiguous:

On the one hand, all signs indicate that they can indeed use divine magic and are a genuine "orthodox faith" that should be accepted; on the other hand, their doctrines and the things they do make it seem like a cult.

Accepting it isn't a good idea, and annihilating it isn't appropriate either, so we're stuck in the middle, hesitant and undecided.

Inspector Leeds took a cigar from the drawer, lit it, and took a deep drag, trying to calm himself down.

Although the Immaculate Dawn Order has a relatively broad definition of "filth," demi-humans are undoubtedly the most "filthy" beings in their system, and they are so conservative in their treatment of demi-humans that even he, a conservative, thinks they are too conservative.

He felt that demi-humans were natural potential criminals and unstable factors, and were third-class citizens who needed to be strictly controlled. He believed that this group of people should be exterminated like the Emilyka Federation.

They had at least contributed their meager strength to the empire; to exterminate them all was still too much.

The Mayfair Theater bombing, the previous murders of a series of demi-human activists or those with pro-demi-human stances, and the numerous cases in Miss Lily's investigation report...

Everything seems to point to an obvious conclusion:

All of this is the work of the Immaculate Dawn Order.

Once Inspector Reid started thinking in this direction, he felt that all the recent cases that he had vaguely sensed were somehow related to them.

For example, starting the day before yesterday, there was a sudden surge in reports of cases with almost identical details.

"Those bizarre fraud cases might also be related to them..." Detective Inspector Leeds put down his cigar, thinking to himself, "You know, those fraud cases that have happened these past few days, right?"

"I don't know," Lily replied simply.

"Then you probably haven't been reading the newspapers these past couple of days," Inspector Reid was taken aback by Lily's straightforward "I don't know," and almost didn't know what to say. "It's about a new type of scam that has suddenly appeared all over Lentinion since the day before yesterday. The scammers pretend to be wealthy people and go around swindling people. Some carry a large counterfeit gold pound note, while others have nothing but their own words. The modus operandi is almost identical..."

"In just three days, hundreds of people have reported being scammed, including three members of parliament."

"It sounds just like..."

"That's right, it's like the plot of the currently popular novel 'The Million Pound Stamp'."

"This case is too unusual," Lily said.

"Yes, it's outrageous. After reading your report, I suspect the Order of the Flawless Dawn is also behind this." Reid stood up, quickly walked to the coat rack by the door, and put on his coat. "Let's go somewhere; maybe we can find some clues."

"where?"

"114 Lambeth Riverside Plaza, the editorial office of the Lontinion Weekly, the birthplace of that novel—they've also filed a police report and are now surrounded by angry, deceived crowds."

……

Meanwhile, Dorian, who had been lying dead in his hut, could no longer stay still.

He received a hastily written letter from Editor-in-Chief Clancy, which began by saying that the situation had developed far beyond his expectations and that the Lentinion Weekly was now at a critical juncture for its survival.

What's going on that's so exaggerated?

Seeing how terrifying Clancy described it, out of respect, Dorian decided not to stay in bed to read it, but to sit up and see what was going on.

After quickly reading through it, Dorian stood up immediately.

"No way, are there really people who do this? I'm writing a novel, not an instruction manual!"