Severn Terry knows there's no turning back.

And he really couldn't find a better way to go than now.

He had seen every leaflet that the Cecil had put into the city, and he had heard the news circulating in the outer city, and he knew that Cecil was preaching an almost deviant belief in the Holy Light that blurred the boundaries between man and God, and frankly speaking, he was also very resistant to these things, and he had believed in the God of Light for half his life, and he could not accept the Cecil saying that "the Holy Light comes from the heart".

But he could not accept the current practice of the Holy Light Church using faith as a means of accumulating money and the Holy Light as a violent dependence.

He accepts Amber's invitation and then learns more about what he needs to do.

"We can find a way to interfere with the guards in the chapel area and close the defenses of the Divine Circle, but the road to the cathedral is out of our control," the middle-aged junior priest said of the situation inside the cathedral district, "The Order of the Monks and the Papal Knights guard all the gates, and they only obey the orders of the cathedral. ”

"What is the combat effectiveness of those Priests and Papal Knights? Do you think they will fight to protect the cathedral? ”

“…… The Monk of Discipline is a profession that is more adept at faith judgment and precept spells, and is not very strong in frontal combat, as for the Papal Knight...... They were originally the strongest garrison in Luan Cathedral, but last time Bishop Lemont took all the high-ranking knights, and the remaining large number of mid-rank and low-ranking knights died a lot while assisting the noble army in battle, and now the remaining combat strength is probably less than 20,000," Severn Terry said carefully, "but ...... They are still fatal to the average person. ”

"Don't worry about this, there will be other forces coming in to help, you just need to tell me the road map and garrison of the church area."

"Okay."

After handing over this most important piece of information, Severn Terry felt that he suddenly relaxed, as if he had completed a major mission, and Amber looked at the exhaustion accumulated between the middle-aged priest's eyebrows for many days, and suddenly asked seemingly casually: "If I guess correctly, the Holy Light power of many priests in the church district should have decreased to varying degrees......

Severn Terry was surprised: "How do you know?!" ”

"At the scene of the heresy trial, the effect of divine magic cannot deceive people," Amber shook her head slightly, "Although I guess that the divine magic used to identify heresy is very problematic, and perhaps it can make most ordinary people show signs of wavering faith, but for you clergy who should be very religious in theory...... It shouldn't be so effective. I carefully observed the expressions of each and every one of you at that time, and your vacillation, surprise, and panic were all genuine. ”

Severn Terry fell silent, and the two junior priests beside him bowed their heads with the same complicated expressions, and after a few seconds of silence, one of the junior priests finally spoke: "...... You are very observant. ”

"At least one-third of the clergy have experienced some degree of loss of power," Severn Terry continued, "and in the worst cases have even experienced a regression in rank." In fact, to be honest, it is not uncommon for the clergy to lose their strength due to their own temporary confusion, but this is probably the first time that the Luan Cathedral has been established since its establishment......"

Amber then asked, "When did the first occurrence of a loss of strength in more people occur?" ”

"Ever since the Order of the Plains of the Holy Spirit to collect atonement money and suppress the belief in other gods, my Light has stagnated, and there are many people in the church district who are in a similar situation to me. We cannot accept such things as being contrary to the teachings of the Light. ”

Amber blinked, and whispered thoughtfully, "Looks like that......"

As Gawain had speculated, what happened to Wright was not unique.

Although the radical behavior of the Holy Light Church in recent times has amassed a huge amount of wealth and rapidly increased the strength of the Church on the one hand, on the other hand, it has also led to too strong doubts from the conscience of the low-level clergy within the Church, and the separation between the teachings of the Holy Light and the actual behavior of the Church has created more and more low-level clergy like Wright, and this situation will only get worse with the passage of time......

Is the Church of Light really unaware of the collapse that is happening at the bottom? Or is it ...... Even if they realized it, they had to do it, even at the risk of splitting the church and turning some of the clergy away from the faith, and they had to use this way to quench their thirst and make the church grow rapidly in a short period of time?

Amber thought about it hard, and found that she really couldn't figure it out, so she simply shook her head and put this question on the back of her mind for the time being - anyway, she just came in to collect intelligence and cause sabotage, and really analyzing these headaches is what the old dumpling in the rear is good at, and when the time comes, just tell the other party about the situation and let the old man worry.

Severn Terry didn't hear Amber talking to herself, and asked curiously, "What did you just say?" ”

"It's nothing," Amber waved her hand, "let it be settled, and wait until the dust settles." ”

Severn Terry nodded slightly, but before he got up to leave, he suddenly thought of another thing: "There's something I think I should warn you about - I don't know what kind of extraordinary power you have prepared, but be careful of Fran Béran, I don't think he's in a normal situation." ”

"Fran B. Braun?" Amber raised her eyebrows, "According to the intelligence, he should only be a mid-level peak priest, if it weren't for the fact that all the high-level powerhouses of the Southern Church were all wiped out, it would not be his turn to be a bishop at all." ”

"He's really mid-rank, but now that he's mastered the cathedral's core magic array, I'm afraid his strength isn't so easy to judge," Fran Béran said with a serious face, "And since the heresy trial four days ago, he hasn't shown himself up in the cathedral once, and even the leader of the Order of the Monks of the Precepts hasn't been given a chance to meet him, which is very abnormal." I prayed to the Lord, the message of the Light was filled with disturbing visions and whistling sounds, and I could feel a powerful force gathering in the cathedral, much like the Light, but with something else mixed in there...... All in all, it must be treated with care. ”

“…… Damn, I'm afraid it's not a routine to break through the formation......"

Fran Terry didn't hear clearly: "What? ”

"Don't worry," Amber quickly waved her hand, "I'll report the situation to my superiors, don't worry, this operation is very stable." ”

No matter what that Fran Béran is doing in the cathedral, Cecil has enough strength to suppress it, and when the time comes, let the team make trouble in the outer city, and then Byron and Philip will directly level the inner city, and in front of the artwork of sufficient equivalent, it is really useless to break through the protagonist - the "array" has blown you up......

Amber didn't realize that her way of thinking had been heavily influenced by Gawain......

"Then I'm going back," said Severn Terry, standing up and making a clergyman's salute to Amber, "and may be spotted if he has been away from the church district for a long time. ”

Amber nodded, but just as the three clerics were about to reach the door, she suddenly stopped each other from behind, "About your declining Light power...... Cecil has the solution. ”

In order to ensure that the "insiders" of the church district can be more reliable, she decided to reveal some "bait" in advance.

Severn Terry immediately stopped, with a look of disbelief on his face: "Are you serious? ”

The decline of power caused by the shaking of faith has always been an inexplicable phenomenon for the clergy, and basically can only be cured by the passage of time or self-breakthrough, and most people will not be cured in their lifetime, and at most they can only maintain a state of stagnation in the power of divine magic, but those Cecil people ...... Is there a way?

"It wasn't too clear in those leaflets, but Wright did find a new way of light, and that path ...... Everyone has a chance to try. ”

Severn Terry's eyes became excited, and nothing moved a devout follower of the Light more than the opportunity to regain access to the Light: "What does it take?" ”

Amber thought for a moment, and looked at the slightly thin bodies of the three priests in front of her with uncertainty: "Can you carry a forty-pound war hammer?" ”

The three priests looked at each other for some reason: "...... Yes? ”

"All in all, let's exercise first," Amber said thoughtfully, touching her smooth chin, "and then exercise your ability to resist blows, run eight kilometers a day with weights and move bricks or something, and in a month you should be able to become a qualified field priest......"

After the three confused priests left, the temporary stronghold was quiet for a while.

A MIA operative had an expression of admiration—not Amber for fooling the three priests into exercising, of course—but for what his boss had said to Severn Terry earlier: "Boss, your ability to bluff people has not regressed." ”

Amber waved her hand nonchalantly, "When have I ever stepped back?" It's not needed on Cecil's side. ”

As a nicknamed the "Tavern Queen", once quite famous in the circle of illegal mercenaries and adventurers in the South, and leading a large group of gangsters to bully and dominate the market, how could Amber not have a good eloquence? How can there be no set of skills that can tell the dead to live?

Begging for a living on the most barbaric and backward frontier of the Ansu Kingdom, dealing with all kinds of people all day long, this half-elf thief is very familiar with observing words and controlling people's hearts, and without this ability, it is impossible for her to completely understand the situation of the people at the bottom of Lu'an City in a short period of time, and create such a large-scale sabotage operation.

I don't usually use it, but I just don't use it.

"But then again, Boss, there are really a lot of shadows of Lord Duke in those words you just said-"

"Nonsense, I usually have nothing to do and hurry up to sleep, how can I have the time to think about such boring things?" Amber rolled her eyes, "Quite a few of them are Gawain...... What the Duke usually says, I'll just copy it depending on the situation. But you can't just follow me, there are some things to say to the target, like the priest today, he was born a commoner, he has a conscience, he understands the suffering of the commoners, and he can see the darkness of the Church of the Light, he is here to find a real and meaningful way out, so what I said to him will work, but if I change people, the same words may be bad......"

"We know we understand," the men nodded repeatedly, and then one of them asked, "and what next...... It's time to contact the rear, right? ”

Amber snorted and looked at the tall thin man standing in the corner of the room: "Thin man, turn on the magic network communicator, internal channel 8." Gray wolf, you go to the door to stand on guard. ”

The miniaturized Magic Net Communicator was placed on the table, and with a slight humming sound, the complex and sophisticated magic mechanism was activated, and Amber waited patiently for a moment before seeing the crystal on the top of the communicator bloom with a soft glow, and a holographic projection quickly formed over the crystal.

That was Gawain's face.

"The oil in the pot is already boiling," Amber looked at the holographic projection and bared her teeth, "It's time to flip the table." ”

Gawain in the holographic projection nodded: "Is everything going well?" ”

"It's going as planned, but there are some things that need to be reported......"

Gao Wen quietly listened to the content of Amber's report, remembering everything in his heart, and when the report was over, he exhaled slightly and looked at the communicator in front of him: "I know, this side will be arranged in advance." You stay safe there. ”

Amber in the projection waved her hand impatiently: "Don't worry, don't worry, I won't run if I really encounter a situation, I'm such a cowardly person......"

……

Gawain looked helplessly at this fake who was arrogant, shook his head slightly and closed the communication.

Then he looked up and looked at the other magic network communication device in the study.

Above that device, an outdoor scene is emerging—

Countless people gathered in an open field, torches in people's hands and magic crystals in the distance illuminated the assembly hall under the cover of night, and the scene was filled with angry slogans and countless noisy voices, uniformed security guards maintained order at the scene, and several unusually tall white knights in heavy white armor, surrounded by brilliant holy light, with heavy iron-clad scriptures hanging from their waists, stood in the center of the crowd, speaking loudly to everyone—they were the most striking in the picture.

The voice of the witch Gypley came from outside the frame: "...... This is Tanzania New Town, where excavations are continuing, and thirty minutes ago, engineers found a new cellar......

“…… If it weren't for Viscount Andrew's construction of a new town here, I'm afraid these things would continue to be dusty......

“…… According to the testimony of witnesses, these cellars are one of the secret vaults set up by the Holy Light Church in the south, and we have found a large number of gold and silver artifacts in the cellars, all of which are the property of the faithful, some of which are voluntary donations of the faithful, and a large part of which the Church has gathered through means such as ransom money, heresy trials, confiscation of civilian property, and embezzlement of other church property. According to the account books and records we have previously found from nearby churches, the local church promised that the property would be used to repair statues, churches, distribute relief materials, and raise orphans, but in fact more than 90% of them became the private property of the church......

"Mr. Wright, the leader of the White Knights, said he had never seen anything so brazen......"

After a moment, Jipley's voice suddenly rang out again: "Urgent news, Mr. Deedalos, the Governor of Hossman City, has just announced a shocking news that the staff of the Government Department have found a large number of bones while cleaning an old fostering facility that was once affiliated with the Church of Light...... Suspected orphans whose whereabouts are unknown in the Hossman area over the past years......"

The crowd on the projection screen was in an uproar, and the agitated citizens gathered around the White Knights, who raised their heavy power hammers in their hands and shouted slogans for the expulsion of the old church.

Gawain stood up and turned off the projection equipment, and behind him, Pittman's voice came slowly: "It's terrible. ”

Gawain turned his head and looked at the little old man who had always been cynical and brazen in the territory, and there was a hint of ridicule on his face: "Do you also think that something is scary?" ”

Pitman stroked his beard and said lightly: "Of course, I have a lot of things to fear, otherwise who do you think Amber has cultivated such an adaptable character?" ”

Gawain glanced at Pittman: "So what are you afraid of now?" ”

"People, angry crowds are a terrible presence," Pitman shrugged, "but I think you're more terrible than that—because it's all your guidance." You're using a different kind of power than the supernatural and the guns, the effect of this thing...... It's much more terrifying than you originally described. ”

"There is no difference between good and bad power, the key depends on where it is used, and sometimes you have to use some extraordinary means to deal with those who use the Holy Light to do evil," Gao Wen said indifferently, and then his face was slightly gloomy, "Especially when I know that the bones of children have been found in those facilities...... I knew that no matter what I did against those gods, I wouldn't be too much. ”

Pittman sighed: "Adopting orphans from an early age and brainwashing is a common means for various churches to cultivate die-hard combat power, which can not only increase their strength but also improve their reputation, but not all children can be friendly with divine arts, and some people just don't have a little spiritual talent, even if they use potions and rituals to catalyze, it is useless, and for these useless and useless will consume resources, and some of the 'bad seeds' of the dark insider have been seen...... None of the churches have clean hands. ”

"This was not the case with the churches of seven hundred years ago," Gawain shook his head, "The priests and knights who charged against the deviant could never have imagined that their successors would degenerate into this. ”

Pitman smiled, "Did you ever think that you would wake up and see that the aberrations had hit the tomb door, and that future generations would lose your shield?" ”

Gawain immediately glared at the little old man: "...... I'm anxious with you when you mention this stubble. ”

Then he coughed lightly and brought the conversation back to the right point: "What do you think of the anomalies of Fran B. Braun mentioned in the Amber report?" Was the bishop empowering himself by shutting himself in the cathedral in some way? ”

“…… I don't think he can get stronger by drawing power or something, which is the trick of wizards and warlocks, but there must be something wrong with the situation. It is impossible for a normal bishop to lock himself in the church and do nothing in that situation, he will either continue to save the situation, or simply run away, or run out to brutally suppress, in a word, he should always do something. ”

Gawain shook his head slightly: "In my initial plan, Fran B. B. Lang should take some kind of desperate action at this stage, but I didn't expect him to lock himself in the church and do nothing, to be honest...... This disrupted my arrangement a little. ”

Pitman pondered, and after a moment, the little old man, who knew a little in the field of theology, spoke: "Perhaps...... He is trying to communicate with the gods, praying for unimaginable power to help him overcome the desperate situation in front of him. ”

"Is it from God?" Gawain frowned suddenly, "Can he perform a divine descent?" ”

“…… It's because it's impossible, so I can't figure it out. Divine descent requires a high price, and there is a strict threshold - only the legendary strong can support the divine descent without dying, and the high-level strong can perform a short divine descent after paying the price of their lives and meeting certain conditions, and the lower level of the divine officer ...... He doesn't even have the ability to communicate with the gods, and his words can't reach the ears of his gods. ”

Gawain pondered, and after a full two minutes, he broke his silence: "All in all, it seems that more 'insurance' must be arranged in the next move." This step has been made, and there must be no room for error. ”

Not everyone can understand Gawain's persistence and caution in this matter, in this matter, only he knows -

In this world where supernatural forces exist and society stagnates, this will be the first rebellion of ordinary people against the transcendent.

There may have been times when a peasant who could not be bullied raised a fork against the knight, and there were innocents who had been convicted of heresy and cursed at the priest who judged him, but the occasional, powerless, and irrevocable rebellion was different from this one.

This is the first time that ordinary people, who have been deceived and oppressed for a long time, have rebelled against the priests as another collective as a collective.

The world has waited thousands of years for this first time, and if it fails, no one knows how long it will have to wait for the second time.

So, it can't fail.