Chapter 1 The Sun Sets

The sun was already almost completely below the mountains, and with Leyton Town situated in a depression surrounded by peaks, darkness fell quickly here. By the time the group entered the town, the lights were already coming on, and the magnificent pale purple light screen in the sky looked even more spectacular against the darkening night. However, despite this magnificent night scene, few people were out on the streets to watch. Hao Ren followed the stern man in the black robe into the town, seeing everywhere doors tightly shut. The usually bustling night market had not a single stall open. The most common sight on the road was heavily armed town guards: some were national knights of the Blue Kingdom in standard armor or robes, with the kingdom's blue emblem on their chests, and others were knights of the Radiant Church in black or white cloaks over their clothes. In addition to these professional soldiers, there were also some mercenaries with mismatched equipment active in the streets. Although the latter were not as well-equipped as the professional soldiers, their demeanor showed that they were old warriors who had been through many battles, likely conscripted by the knights to supplement the defense after the attack.

The whole town was permeated with such a repressed and solemn atmosphere. It seemed that the attack from afternoon to evening had everyone on edge, and Hao Ren also saw confusion on the faces of some of the young soldiers. It seemed these professional warriors had also been stunned by the sudden appearance of the bizarre monsters.

The tall, thin man leading the way hardly spoke a word, silently leading the group through the oppressive streets. Hao Ren took the opportunity to observe the man's appearance, comparing it to some of the knowledge he had gained in the past two days.

The man in the black robe had circular, triangular, and lightning bolt patterns on his back, so he was likely a church mage. The clergy of the Radiant Church in this world were very special. While serving as clergy, they also followed the world's occupational classifications, divided into many professions such as mages, warriors, alchemists, and hunters. Moreover, they came from all races, which could be said to be quite inclusive. The priesthood was just another identity in addition to their respective professions. Radiant priests used both "divine arts" and their own professional powers to fight. A church warrior would certainly know the priest's blessing arts in addition to their own combat abilities, and similarly, a church mage would have to practice the power of prayer in addition to magic. Although no one knew exactly how they obtained this extra "divinely bestowed power," every Radiant priest was indeed more powerful than ordinary professionals.

They explained this special power as "evidence of the goddess's blessing," and most people in this world firmly believed it.

Hao Ren, of course, doubted this. He knew what real gods were like. They were creatures beyond comprehension, and they had a wide range of knowledge. Even a guy as unreliable as Raven 12345 was constantly paying attention to the balance of the entire universe. Therefore, he did not believe that the "goddess" of the Dream Plane, who had spent so long preparing a big move only to barely burn a planet and not even completely burn it, was a true god. He believed that a powerful being had once existed in this world, but that powerful being was probably not quite the same as the one depicted by the Radiant Church.

In short, the clergy of the Radiant Church were a group of people who possessed special powers, and all their clergy were divided into two types: white-robed and black-robed.

Black-robed priests were professional combat personnel. They fought with unwavering faith in the goddess and focused solely on their faith, belonging to "force," while white-robed priests were responsible for everything other than charging into battle, such as evangelism, medicine, research, administration, and so on, belonging to "wisdom." At the same time, the Pope himself had to be a white-robed priest. This was stipulated in the sacred texts of the Radiant Church: power must be under the rule of reason to ensure balance, so the spiritual leaders and commanders of the church could only be white-robed priests.

Of course, not all white-robed priests were clerical staff, nor did it mean that they had no combat power. On the contrary, white-robed priests not only frequently appeared on the battlefield, but also, with the exception of those who were completely dedicated to paperwork, the vast majority of white-robed priests had extremely powerful abilities—but their main focus was more on strategy and assistance, unlike black-robed priests who specialized in combat. Knights and mages wearing white cloaks could also be seen on the streets; they belonged to the district commanders or staff officers in the defense forces.

The unwavering faith in the goddess, the fanatical worship of the sacred texts, the deep fear of the doomsday legend, coupled with the brilliant rule of the successive popes, jointly ensured that this system had never been surpassed.

In addition to these superficial divisions, there were many subtle divisions within the Radiant Church. They influenced the entire world as a complex and efficient multi-racial, multi-professional cooperative, but these were not things that Hao Ren could fully understand at this time.

Perhaps it was because the black-robed priests were not very easy to get along with, but the man leading the way kept a straight face and did not say a word. Nangong Wuyue felt that it was boring to travel like this, so she couldn't help but bring up a topic: "Speaking of... was the attack this afternoon serious?"

The other party was silent for a moment, his face still like a wooden sculpture: "Local defense, no comment."

Nangong Wuyue was rebuffed, and Becky became a little dissatisfied: "We brought important information about the stone giants and personally saw them separating from the cliffs. This information is worth at least twenty gold shields. Why can't we even inquire about some small matters?"

The black-robed priest was silent again: "Local defense, no comment."

So, he was a repeating machine.

Vivian stopped Becky, who wanted to continue pressing the matter. She didn't think it was the time to argue about this kind of thing. At this moment, the group had arrived deep in the town, and a small but ornate spire church appeared at the end of the road.

In front of the small church was a semicircular plaza paved with red pebbles. A circle of magical light spheres floated around the plaza, illuminating it as bright as day. Knights of the church in black cloaks guarded the entrance of the church tightly, and several middle-aged monks in white cloaks were gathered in a circle around a purple-red crystal in the center of the plaza, silently praying.

The central spire of the church was emitting a mysterious glow. Layers of complex runes emerged from the ancient and ornate carved stone bricks, slowly rising around the square tower, cycling endlessly. A bright pale purple beam of light gathered at the end of these surging runes and shot into the unfathomable night sky, then dispersed and descended around the town. This was the defense barrier of Leyton Town, a miraculous power that relied entirely on "divine arts" and was supported by this church.

"Energy sample collection complete," the data terminal's voice sounded in Hao Ren's mind almost simultaneously. "Preliminary analysis... no analytical value. It's a simple repulsion wall that can offset external physical impacts above a certain speed. The energy flow is normal, and no high-level mysterious properties related to the symbols of true gods have been found."

"So, the so-called divine arts of the Radiant Church are also a special kind of magic." Hao Ren muttered to himself, while the black-robed priest leading the way handed over the guard to the personnel responsible for guarding the plaza, and then led Hao Ren and the others towards the church. This time, he finally said a little more: "His Excellency, the District Overseer Gerton, is discussing important matters with distinguished guests, but he has agreed to allow you to meet him first. Please pay attention to etiquette, His Excellency Gerton is a highly respected elder."

The church was brightly lit, but there were no ordinary believers in the long hall used for prayer and worship, only black-robed priests on guard duty. Hao Ren and the others turned seven times and eight times from a small corridor behind the long hall and arrived at a special room deep in the church. The black-robed priest responsible for leading the way stopped at the door: "Please."

Becky nervously pushed the door open, and the scene in the room was immediately revealed to everyone.

Unexpectedly, it looked quite simple. The office of the general overseer of the church in the entire Beinz area was just an ordinary, undecorated study. The room was spacious, but almost all the walls were occupied by heavy bookshelves piled with files. The floor, paved with plain stone bricks, didn't even have a carpet. In the center of the room was a large wooden table, and an old man and a young woman, judging from her back, were talking across the table.

District Overseer Gerton was an old man who looked to be in his sixties or seventies, with sparse hair, a long beard, a wrinkled face, and a small stature. He sat behind the desk, hunching over with his hands tucked into his sleeves as if he were cold. This district overseer had been leading his priests to patrol near Lake Beinz for many years, absorbing too much "bad air," which made his health seem worrisome. But those who knew him would not underestimate this seemingly slow old man: his body might have begun to decay, but his spirit was still strong. As long as his wise eyes were not closed, he would still be a powerful spellcaster, and the blessings of the gods would operate according to his will.

Opposite Gerton was a woman wearing a fitted female-style armor. Since she was facing away from the group, all they could see was her long, chestnut-colored curly hair, and the fair skin on her neck and wrists indicated that she was still young.

When Becky pushed the door open, District Overseer Gerton was speaking to the female soldier opposite him: "Your Excellency Aufra, the situation is not yet clear. There is no evidence that this series of mutations is related, let alone that the goddess's test would unfold in this way. We should first appease the people and then, with piety... Oh, it seems our guests have arrived."

The old man stood up and nodded to Hao Ren with a smile.