Chapter 546: Harvest Ceremony
“Is this church…this big?”
There was no obvious contrast when they saw it at the port before, but when they really arrived at the foot of the church, they realized how tall the church was, and how incredibly huge it was.
The highest point of the church is at least 200 meters.
Standing here, it looks like a small city.
It's like a giant barrier standing on the battlefield.
The spire of the high tower and various elements of the Virgin Mary are mixed together on this huge building.
At this moment, they were almost bathed in the golden beam of light cast from the sky.
The temperature around was neither cold nor hot, but warm under the golden light.
Especially the main entrance of the church, the height of the gate must be at least more than 10 meters.
The gate is painted with the legendary figures of the Virgin Mary and her heroes from the scriptures.
Alka and his friends followed the soldiers to the side door.
Walking through the side door, the two soldiers said goodbye and left.
Alka and the others stood on the side and watched.
Inside is a huge domed hall.
Or rather a giant dome chapel.
Rows and rows of seats are densely packed and extend all the way to the gate.
The seats were full.
An old man in simple church clothes was speaking on the stage with a Bible in his hand.
After each round of speeches, people in the rows of seats left in an orderly manner through the side doors on both sides.
Then the next group of pilgrims came in and sat around very quietly.
In this sacred place, they maintained the most basic silence.
Alka and the others stood on the side.
Until another round of pilgrims left.
The old man on the podium left.
Others took his place.
At this time, a Wheat Ear Knight standing next to them spoke.
"Archbishop An En is coming down, everyone please follow me."
As he said this, he led them forward along the magnificent corridor next to him.
According to Alka's understanding.
Teachings say there is no such thing as a Pope.
The highest position is actually that of Archbishop.
Just like the highest position in the Home Sea is Archbishop.
At first Alka was confused, but later he understood.
The church where the archbishop is located basically manages several surrounding sea areas, not a connected sea area.
And in the Holy City, the headquarters of the church, there would normally be three archbishops.
They were in charge of different things and then discussed it.
There are also bishops' conferences held every few years to decide some things.
The highest office is a council of six elected from among the archbishops.
Basically, it is they who judge and formulate the direction of the church.
Six-person meeting, three people rotate.
Simple and effective.
And because there really is a Virgin Mary above, there is no such thing as power corruption. To be able to sit in this position is to truly fulfill the will of the Virgin Mary in mind and body.
According to the communion with Our Lady.
Some of the ideas of many bishops may even have some influence on the Virgin Mary herself, correcting her ideas and making them more perfect.
Tell the truth.
Each and every one of these archbishops can be described as a saint.
But just the communication I had with those soldiers on the way here.
Now most of the affairs of the Holy City are managed by the Archbishop named Ann.
It’s not because his power is so great, but because the other two archbishops have too many things to do.
Need to go somewhere else to do it.
After all, the whole world is in unrest now and they are extremely busy.
Quickly walked through the corridor and came upstairs.
A wheat ear knight brought them into a hall.
But in the end, only Alka, Xiadeti, Jason and Lucelia remained.
Because other people did not have much interest in meeting Archbishop Ann.
They were taken by other church members to tour the entire cathedral.
Several people knocked on the door and walked in.
At this time on a desk.
The Archbishop An, whom I just saw, was busy at his desk.
There were piles of books all around him, as well as various orders that needed his signature.
There was a secretary on the left who was assisting, and an assistant on the right who was looking at Alka and the others with an apologetic smile.
It does seem busy.
Alka and the others did not disturb them. They just found a seat nearby and sat down, waiting quietly.
It was not until Archbishop An finally rested for a while and drank a sip of water that he turned his attention to them.
He stood up and walked in front of a few people.
He nodded to everyone and crossed his arms.
"Welcome everyone."
As he said this he looked at Alka with a scrutinizing look.
Alka also looked at the archbishop in front of him.
to be honest.
He saw one red, two orange and three gold flashing on the archbishop's body. He had collected all six treasures in a triangle.
Maybe he is already in the ascension ceremony.
The strength is also at the ninth level.
Almost reaching the pinnacle of normal mortals in this world.
It is even about to break through this peak.
A truly powerful person.
He examined Alka.
Then he nodded and said, "Very impressive young man. I have been listening to your stories and intelligence over the years."
Hearing this Alka nodded and smiled.
To be honest, he didn't know much about Archbishop An En. He even didn't know much about the famous figures and system of the entire Holy Mother Church.
“The Trial Tower is still under the control of the teachings. It is not far away. If you are not in a hurry, you can wait until tomorrow to leave.
Tomorrow is the Harvest Festival. It is fate that you can arrive here today. Maybe it is the guidance of the Virgin Mary?"
Alka nodded and said, "That's exactly what we meant."
Hearing this, Archbishop Anen nodded, then looked at Alka and the others, thought for a moment, and asked, "Do you want to host this festival?"
Hearing this, several people were stunned.
Then they all shook their heads.
What a joke! To be honest, apart from experiencing the so-called Harvest Festival in their home sea, they have never participated in one, let alone hosted it.
Moreover, this is a holy city. The headquarters of the Church of Our Lady is also the largest celebration venue for the Harvest Festival, and so many believers come here for pilgrimage.
It is a bit too outrageous to let them host the event with no experience.
"Young people just need to exercise more, really. But since you refuse, forget it." Archbishop An murmured.
Then he looked at Alka.
"Thank you for your contribution to the World Scar. If it weren't for your actions in the dream, I don't know how much the World Scar would have paid at that time."
"What do you mean?" Alka asked in confusion.
To be honest, he did not receive any information in this regard.
Alka's expression didn't look fake.
An En explained: "When you ascended to godhood in the dreamland before, it was quite a big deal. Although only a few people knew about it, the timing of your ascension was a bit of a coincidence.
At that time, we just suppressed the demons that were about to attack, and bought time for defense. If it weren't for your suppression, the wall of defense would have collapsed. "
Hearing this, Alka nodded.
So that's how it is.
But it is true that he himself did not know that his advancement from the eighth stage to the ninth stage would be the level of dream-realm godhood.
It's just a coincidence.
"Although the magic-proof wall has fallen..."
"ah?"
These words must have surprised Alka and the others.
"What's so surprising about this? You should have expected this. Is it so hard to accept?"
Although they had expected it, the news of the fall of the magic wall did not come at the expected time. So they thought they had taken some defensive measures and held on.
"There's nothing you can do about it. At least you've bought them some time to set up a more solid defense in the rear.
Alas, the road ahead is bleak, and I don’t know how to walk on it.” Archbishop An murmured.
Then, as if he had finished his rest, he sat back in his seat and started to get busy.
After Alka and the others chatted briefly for a while, they said goodbye and left.
Soon church staff took them to a resting place.
But no one came back.
Still wandering .
So they started visiting this sacred cathedral earlier.
But as mentioned before, this sacred cathedral is indeed extremely busy.
And it was not Alka's illusion. He found that many civil servants had some disabilities.
It is obvious that these people are retired from the front line.
well.
…
The next day.
As soon as the sky brightened, the sounds of a festive atmosphere could be heard outside.
The sound of music celebrating the harvest spread across the island.
Alka and the others also got up early.
Under the guidance of church staff, we sat inside the church.
At this point I don't know how I did it.
The wall that originally stood in front of the cathedral's main entrance had completely disappeared.
It is equivalent to connecting the hall in front of the entire cathedral and the square outside.
The square was crowded with pilgrims, members of the Chamber of Commerce who happened to be staying here, and residents of the island. All you could see were heads, and even people could be seen sitting in the residential buildings and windows near the church.
Almost all the people around and on the island gathered here.
And in the early morning just after dawn.
Although the weather did not change at all.
But this is still the most important time of the Harvest Festival.
Alka and the others were sitting inside the church.
A middle-aged man who should be an important member of the church stood on the stage.
You can see some scars and bandages on his body.
Then he began to speak.
After listening to this speech, Alka and the others understood.
The content of this speech is nothing but talking about some of the crises facing the world and the difficulties experienced on the front lines, and then thanking everyone for their support over the years.
Finally, there are the children in the orphanage.
Dressed in pure white, they formed a choir and began to sing.
The songs sung are those of the Virgin Mary.
Some kind of festive song.
And to the accompaniment of the music, Julia was standing in the middle of it.
You know, Julia's fame has long been known among all those who love music.
After all, her works had already been spread with the help of the Four Gods Church.
As the prelude falls.
Children's singing began.
Julia seems ready for a big one.
A phonograph appeared beside her, and then a huge harp.
She began to play.
He mobilized all his treasures.
The sound of music spread out.
By the way, we also helped expand the voices of these children.
In an instant, the children's chorus and the sound of music resounded throughout the island and even spread to the sea.
This is a song that represents the Virgin Mary.
Inspired by music.
The Virgin Mary seemed to project more holy light, and golden spots of light in the sky slowly fell across the entire island.
I don’t know if it was an illusion, but even the golden ears of wheat on the island seemed to have risen a bit higher for unknown reasons.
Everyone closed their eyes, immersed in the sound of the music, and was moved by their own emotions.
Today, the place is almost full of believers.
Their beliefs began to coalesce.
Four nodes outside the world.
The node representing the Virgin Mary inexplicably shone brightly, transmitting powerful energy, and inexplicably reinforced the entire protective membrane.
"What's going on?" wondered the traitor gods who were secretly invading the world from within.
Even the new gods who had just joined the node and the other four gods were somewhat confused.
Why is there so much energy coming from the direction of the Virgin Mary for no apparent reason?
Where did it come from?
Not to mention them, even the Virgin Mary herself was a little surprised.
The sky has been so busy lately that the Virgin Mary almost forgot that today is the annual Harvest Festival.
For Our Lady, once a year is not a very long span of time.
She hadn't let her eyes wander there for a long time.
The strong energy she felt made her turn her gaze toward the island once again.
Not just her.
The other four gods, the flower fairies, and those gods who had already ascended to the throne and joined the defense system, cast their eyes over there.
Then I saw the scene on the island at that time.
It seems to be led by Julia.
With the help of Julia's new treasure, everyone's faith in the Virgin Mary has reached its highest point .
The combined faith turned into a powerful force.
In this center of Marian devotion, pass it on to Our Lady.
At this time, the Virgin Mary also fed back part of this energy.
The rain-like golden dots of light seemed to become more numerous.
"If I'm not mistaken... that's a believer in life, right? Or a saint, I think. And a mermaid."
The flower fairy looked at Julia and said that she had seen Julia.
"Haha, Life must be pissed off, and the Sea God will definitely not be happy either. Hahaha."
This is indeed the case with these two gods.
Julia was a believer in life, and still is, but she behaved in this way because of the current atmosphere.
"Hmm... I'd like to let Julia do this on her growth day someday."
Poseidon was the most unhappy one.
Because Julia, who was causing all this at this time, was a mermaid.
Although the mermaid is an intelligent life in the ocean, it was indeed created by him.
But the problem is that in the end, marine creatures like mermaids were all taken over by Life because of some experiences and became her believers.
Now it has almost nothing to do with him.
However, this time, this scene from the Harvest Day of Our Lady seems to have opened up some new ideas for the gods.
And at this time, the sacred city.
As the song ended, everyone was unable to savor it for a long time, and the sound of the music became fainter and fainter, but it still floated in the air.
Until everyone has fully come to their senses.
At this time, Archbishop Ann was already standing on the stage.
“It is the harvest day of another year, now let us sing praises to the Virgin Mary.
Praise the harvest, praise the new life.
Let us welcome the gift from the Virgin Mary and thank her for her grace..."
As the words fell.
The believers on the island began to chant prayers to the Virgin Mary.
Ann is also connected to their religious rituals.
Welcoming the arrival of this year's Our Lady Angels.
She will bring the grace of Our Lady.
It's like this every year.
It’s just that this year these believers seem to have a little more faith.
Maybe it was the sound of the music just now.
The crowd also watched these ceremonies.
In Alka's eyes, this ceremony really connected to the Holy Mother's kingdom of God.
It really conveys the message of prayer.
Let everyone’s prayers reach the ears of the Virgin Mary.
Then the beams of light falling from the sky began to gather at the top of the hall of the central church.
A faint golden light began to gather.
The expressions on the believers' faces became more and more pious.
However, although the church staff still had pious expressions on their faces, they did not seem overly surprised. It seemed that this was the case every year.
The figure gathered by the golden light became the size of a child.
A child in a robe fell down in the golden light.
A little girl.
"Um?"
Alka knows.
