Chapter 1 A Storm is Coming

A heavy rain seemed imminent.

It should have been midday, but thick, ink-like clouds blocked almost all sunlight, darkening the sky as if it were midnight. The sun had not appeared since morning, so the city lights had remained on since then.

The streets and alleys of Holleretta, the royal capital, felt deserted. Though it hadn't started raining yet, people had no interest in going out in this abnormal weather. Whether nobles or commoners, they seemed to sense an unsettling aura enveloping the world. They hid in their homes, closed their doors, shut their windows, comforted their children, and hoped this strange phenomenon would end soon.

But even in such weather, some people were still out and about. Aufra, the kingdom's legendary marshal, wearing her favorite white light armor, was heading towards the Radiant Church accompanied by several attendants. The silver-white armor made her look like a leaping white flame in the dim environment, giving people a sense of encouragement and stability. Just watching her energetic figure calmed the guards in the church square.

Stepping into the Radiant Church, the dim world outside seemed completely cut off. The church was brightly lit and filled with a warm atmosphere. Although the Radiant Order's "ascetic" precepts limited the church to simple decorations and unpretentious furnishings, just entering such a bright and warm place was enough to make one feel cheerful.

Aufra stopped before the holy icon and looked up at the huge curtain that always hung from the church dome. On the massive cloth, indescribable colors were intertwined, forming bizarre and inexplicable patterns—this was the Radiant Order's depiction of their Creator Goddess, or rather, their impression of the existence of "God." For thousands of years, these strange patterns had hung in every Radiant Church.

But what was the reality? Was this indescribable pattern truly the impression the goddess projected to her followers? Or was it an illusion created by the mortals of the earthly world, constantly influenced by the creatures from the underground, under the mental suggestion of the "Firstborn"?

Aufra gazed at the pattern on the curtain, and couldn't help but entertain these far-fetched thoughts. She knew that she was not the only one to have such thoughts. In fact, in recent years, discussions and revisions of the Radiant Order's various legends, doctrines, and precepts had never ceased. Not only were those unholy "heretics" outside the order discussing these matters, but even the church itself was arguing about them.

All of this had started four years ago, Aufra knew very well—after the foreigners helped the world clear out the parasitic "Firstborn" within this planet. Ordinary people might not understand this well enough, but Aufra and other informed people could easily see the connection:

After the Firstborn was eliminated, the mental suggestion from the depths of the underground also ceased. The humans of the earthly world would naturally be affected. Some ideas that had never arisen before would emerge, and some things that had once been firmly believed would waver with the cessation of mental suggestion. The various disputes the Radiant Order had faced in recent years proved this point.

As a person in the military field rather than the religious field, Aufra was not sure whether this change was good or bad. The Radiant Order might get on the right track after breaking away from the mental influence of the "Firstborn," but it might also be fundamentally shaken—this depended entirely on whether the church's faith was influenced more by the goddess, or by the corrupted Firstborn.

But in any case, the Radiant Order was still the most influential church in the world, and the religious organization most trusted by the people. Thousands of years of accumulation was one reason, and the noble sacrifices made by the Pope and the Gerton Diocese Chief a few years ago was another important reason.

That sacrifice proved at least one thing: no matter how much the church had been influenced by the "Firstborn" in the process of inheritance, at least their heart to protect this world was genuine.

Various chaotic thoughts涌上came up and gradually faded away. Aufra noticed a monk approaching her, so she took the initiative to ask, "Where is the Pope?"

"His Holiness has been locked in the prayer room since late last night," the young monk said with a bow. Although the clergy of the Radiant Order had a special and transcendent status in the kingdom, even the Pope himself would show enough respect to Aufra, a living legend, let alone an ordinary acolyte. "But he already knows that Marshal will be visiting at this time, so he should be out soon."

"Is that so... No hurry, I'll just wait here for a while," Aufra said gently, then turned her head to look at a corner of the church—two nuns were talking in low voices there. Seeing the slightly nervous look on their faces, she knew that something important had indeed happened in the church last night. "His Majesty is very concerned about the issue of 'divine will'—you have seen the weather outside, it is definitely not the normal phenomenon that should occur in this season."

"We are also waiting for a clearer divine will," the young acolyte said. "The power of God suddenly swept across this world. This is something that has not happened for thousands of years. The only similar records come from ancient times, in the records left before the 'Divine Might Destroyed the World'."

Aufra nodded understandingly: "Understandable."

The gods have left this world, and have been gone for a long, long time.

Ordinary people do not know this truth, and even most of the clergy do not know the fact that "God has fallen." In fact, just a few years ago, even Aufra herself knew nothing about all of this, but after those foreigners arrived, many truths were gradually revealed.

Aufra knew very well that the Creator Goddess who protected this world had fallen ten thousand years ago, and the source of power that the Radiant Order now prayed to and obtained power from was just a little bit of "echo" left after the Creator Goddess fell.

But the "death" of the true God was only an appearance and a temporary situation. According to the information obtained from Earl Becky, the body of the Creator Goddess had been found by the foreigners, and it seemed to have been resurrected. Now that God who had fallen for ten thousand years should be reorganizing the order of this universe, and Holleretta... it was just an extremely tiny corner of this boundless universe.

So until now, Holleretta had not received any clear will from the goddess—the newly resurrected God must be very busy.

But last night, the situation suddenly changed. The will of God swept across the entire planet in an instant. Almost all clergy and more devout believers heard the voice of God, but human spirits were too fragile. No one comprehended any substantial meaning from that instant of divine will, so the Pope had locked himself in the prayer room since last night to conduct direct divine communication.

Ironically, this was the first time in thousands of years that the Radiant Order had truly established contact with God.

In the prayer room deep in the church, the new Pope Otumss closed his eyes, bowed before the holy icon, and quietly listened to the decree conveyed by the true God from the depths of the universe.

It took him a long time to successfully establish contact.

Although the ancient典籍books of the church recorded the method of communicating with divine will, and various records from ancient times also described the circumstances in which God descended, the fact was that God had been away from this world for ten thousand years. All the methods of prayer and communication were actually just empty talk. Those methods that had become disordered and erroneous in successive transmissions usually only led to two results—

The God you are calling is not in the service area.

The God you are calling is temporarily unavailable, please dial again later.

But in any case, the connection was finally successfully established. What made the old Pope quite ashamed was that it was the goddess who took the initiative to contact him.

The voice of God clearly echoed in his mind. Just hearing this voice was enough to make ordinary believers burst into tears: "...Is that so, you have rebuilt civilization... I have been asleep for so many years, it has really been hard on you...

"Yesterday? Ah, cough cough... I haven't used a free mic for a long time, I didn't... No, it's nothing, I just tried shouting into a喇叭loudspeaker last night, I didn't actually say anything, so it's normal that you couldn't comprehend anything."

The words of God are so profound.

The old Pope almost used all his strength to control his agitated emotions, and asked respectfully and cautiously: "My Lord, believers have recently been seeing ominous omens. Do you have any instructions?"

God paused for a moment, and said gently: "A disaster is indeed about to happen. My friends and I will do our best to protect the safety of this world, but you also have your own mission."

"Please grant us guidance, my Lord."

God paused again, and the voice came again: "The most ancient evil force in the universe has awakened. I defeated it many years ago, but it has returned, and its goal is to drag the entire world into chaos and destruction.

"My friends and I will block it and completely destroy it in this war, but this force is pervasive. It will inevitably erode the mortal world and attempt to use your souls as its own food to enhance its own power.

"An army will descend before you, led by foreigners. That legion is composed of英灵heroic spirits from another world. That legion is forged from radiant metal, and inside the metal armor is the fire of dancing souls, which you will be able to discern at a glance.

"And you, before this army arrives, must organize your own teams, prepare weapons for the soldiers, let the civilians stay at home, light holy fires and sprinkle holy water in every city and village, and chant a special prayer once a day. I will send you that prayer, it can enhance the resistance of mortals to that evil force and protect your souls from being invaded...

"...In addition, you should also stop all worldly disputes, because internal disputes among mortals are easily exploited by that force. It will take advantage of your negative emotions and catalyze your disputes into disasters that can destroy the world.

"And if someone has already been controlled by this force, you should decisively deal with it. I will send you together the methods to identify the infected and deal with different infections. Remember, do not abuse this power, because the negative emotions brought about by the abuse of power are also the source of attracting disaster..."

"Yes, my Lord, we respectfully obey your teachings," the old Pope said immediately respectfully, and then he hesitated slightly, and still boldly asked his question, "My Lord, you paused many times when you issued the decree just now, could it be... is there any decree that is inconvenient to tell us? As long as it is something we can do, we will swear to..."

"Oh no, I'm writing '53' here."

The words of God are so profound...