Chapter 21 Fanatical Faith Sweeps Through

Within the sacred sanctuary, a fierce wind of zeal swept through.

No longer was there a tranquil atmosphere, but rather an ardent, intense impulse of faith.

The light cast by the stained-glass windows illuminated the faces of the challengers, their eyes gradually filling with resolve, as if infected by the power of the gods.

"Praise the Goddess of Fate! If I am a damned cultist, a traitor, then guide my fate towards destruction!"

"Resurrection Church followers, may traitors' families die! The Goddess of Fate is my witness! This I swear!"

Everyone, regardless of whether they were followers of the Church of the Goddess of Fate, began to imitate Lanqi and repeat his words!

Generally speaking.

No country or priest of the Goddess of Fate would be bored enough to force everyone to proclaim praises to the Goddess of Fate in order to prove their innocence.

Or simply disgust the cultists.

Because this violates the doctrine of the Church of the Goddess of Fate—never force any living being to obey fate.

No priest of the Church of the Goddess of Fate has ever been able to carry out such coercive proselytizing, which is more heretical than heresy itself.

But under the current circumstances.

The urgency of the matter is by no means ordinary; it is directly related to everyone's life, whether the world will suffer the disasters brought about by the failure of the Shadow World, and whether they can catch the cultists who endanger the world!

When it comes to righteousness, there are no personal emotions or considerations of baseness or nobility.

If they are innocent challengers, there is no loss in publicly proclaiming praises to the Goddess of Fate in front of the Shadow World Recording Program, and they can swear any kind of oath with a clear conscience.

But if they are followers of the Resurrection Church.

As long as they sincerely praise the Goddess of Fate and swear an oath in front of the Shadow World live stream, which will leave many records.

No matter how much effort they have put into lurking in the real world for so many years, or how much credit they can gain in this Shadow World, it will all be meaningless!

Their path to promotion in the church has been cut off.

A strong surge of emotion twisted into a rope of unity within the sanctuary, and the challengers seemed to be ignited by some kind of holy passion.

They prayed aloud, their fervent words echoing through the sacred hall, their voices converging into a giant wave, impacting everyone's hearts.

"Has everyone said it?"

"Who hasn't said it yet?"

The young master of the merchant guild actively observed; he was the least afraid of attracting hatred besides Lanqi.

Even the three clergy members began to supervise, disregarding the moral ethics of their positions.

Anyone who had resistance and did not follow everyone else's words was obviously suspicious.

It was meaningless to quibble at this time.

They would inevitably be controlled by everyone together.

"Another round?"

"This time, let's unify our wording and repeat the lawyer's original sentence."

And then, in this sanctuary.

After Lanqi set a bad example, everyone became more and more enthusiastic, swearing all kinds of poisonous oaths to the Goddess of Fate!

Under this purposeful and fanatical faith, the challengers' faces were gradually occupied by passion.

They transformed their hatred and persecution of the traitors into faith in the gods, and began to swear to the gods selflessly, each word seemingly full of power, constantly echoing in the sanctuary.

Hearing everyone's declarations, one sentence after another, and even gradually enjoying it.

"Feel free to laugh if you're happy, there's really no need to hold back," Lanqi suggested, feeling that the atmosphere of this themed Shadow World should be one of joy and harmony.

"Surely...there isn't anyone who can't laugh naturally, is there?"

Hyberian also immediately understood and helped him stir up trouble.

Although she was doing something bad, she felt like crying, feeling that her merit had been used up again.

The Goddess didn't want you to use her for prayer like this!

Last time in the Demon Realm Shadow World, there were only demons, and Hyberian hadn't noticed it yet.

Now she finally realized that Lanqi seemed to have a contagious mental illness; the more you communicated with him, the more abnormal a normal person would become!

"Lawyer, you're really wicked!"

The young master of the merchant guild laughed gleefully.

Everyone knew that there were two people in this sanctuary whose mentalities were probably shattered, bleeding in their hearts but still having to laugh along with everyone else to fit in.

Maintaining this extreme acting, which was completely contrary to their inner emotions, was a deadly torment for the actors every minute and every second.

"Everything is a gift from the Goddess; we are not guilty."

Even the three clergy members from the Northern Continent knew that they were doing something immoral and contrary to the teachings, and that they would definitely be severely punished by the Church of the Goddess of Fate when they returned, but they were also happy beyond words.

When everyone laughs, and you are happy to begin with, it is really difficult to hold back from laughing.

The sense of betrayal under duress and the joy of thoroughly trampling on the cultists were mixed together, making it unforgettable for them.

This kind of opportunity may only come once in a lifetime; since they are going to be punished anyway, they might as well have fun.

Thus, under the stained-glass windows of the sanctuary, people were shrouded in a mysterious and somewhat abnormal frenzy.

In the light refracted by the gold-carved murals in the sanctuary, they endlessly sang and praised the Goddess's infinite grace; at the same time, they issued cold and cruel poisonous oaths in their prayers, their faces gradually beginning to fill with morbid laughter, their eyes both fiery and insane, staring at each other, as if looking for some mysterious connection.

All of this gradually evolved into an indescribable religious activity.

The twisted joy and cruel sneer echoed in the silent sanctuary, forming a strong contrast with the sacred hall under this light.

It seemed to have gone far beyond the scope of reverence for the gods, becoming more and more terrifying and bizarre.

…

Ikerite Academy, in the Council Chamber of the Wise Men.

Although the decorative tones of the conference room were soft, at this moment, a deathly silence solidified in this enclosed space.

Every teacher's face looked particularly serious, and they looked away from the screen in the center of the conference room, not daring to say a word.

Because the dean, who was also the high priest of the Church of the Goddess of Fate, Loren, had not spoken for a long time in the main seat.

Looking at the strange picture on the magic screen.

"...?!"

Loren had already widened his eyes.

His lips parted slightly, but he couldn't make a sound for a long time.

They were a good, orderly, and benevolent church.

But Lanqi's operation had made them look like a group of depraved believers whose minds had been invaded by evil gods, holding a frenzied ritual.

Even the Resurrection Church would call them heretics!

The priest, executioner, and paladin on the screen were having a great time playing with Lanqi, and seemed to have learned a new trick to identify cultists.

Loren didn't know what the cultists' blood pressure was like; he only felt that his blood pressure was about to explode.

This recording of the Shadow World will definitely cause irreversible damage to the image of the Church of the Goddess of Fate in the real world!

"I have remembered these three clergy members; both the North and South continents will be notified and criticized," Loren said after thinking for a long time.

And in the future, he must warn all clergy members to stay away from Lanqi Wilford, especially young clergy members whose minds are not so firm.

(End of this chapter)