Volume 2: Funeral Song of Crows Chapter 8 Sealing the Temple
After being protected by metal magic, the oak door took on the color of brass.
When a hoe, axe or some other tool that should not be used for killing hit the door outside, there was a heavy "bang bang" echoing sound, which made the survivors hiding in the hall feel numb.
Why is this happening?
Should I have chosen to leave at the beginning?
Wurt thought as he placed the magic medium against the gate to release [Brass Gate].
But... this is the Sealed Temple... Why would the Holy Spirit Church give up even the Sealed Temple?
Thinking of this, Walter realized that his thoughts had crossed the line, so he shook his head fiercely and threw those inappropriate thoughts out of his mind.
The Sealed Temple is an important part of the power of the Holy Spirit Church, or it can be said to be the most important part.
Generally, each diocese will have two to three branch temples, and there are about thirty branch temples in total distributed in every corner of the continent.
The clergy of the Sealed Temple are not responsible for any missionary work, sacraments, sacrifices, baptisms, etc. In fact, their existence is semi-secret, and most people do not even know of the existence of the Sealed Temple.
The duty of the Sealed Temple is to ensure that the teachings of the Church are not distorted - of course, this is just a formal announcement to the outside world. In essence, the Sealed Temple is a violent organization rooted in the place where the Church's authority shines, and it is used to maintain the authority of the Church in a not-so-merciful way.
In short, they are responsible for detaining and interrogating spreaders of various heretical doctrines, collecting intelligence from various places, sealing and managing holy relics, and maintaining large-scale teleportation arrays, etc.
The local lords who hold secular power actually do not like such an armed force that will not obey their orders. Therefore, except for cities like Platinum City or Wanren City that serve as centers of faith, most local sealing temples are only allowed to be built in the countryside or small towns. They are generally not too close to the core cities, but of course not too far away.
For example, the Sealed Temple, which is responsible for all affairs of the northern diocese of Blackwater Province, is located in a small town called Hongquan Town, about 80 kilometers away from Thorn City, the political and economic center of Blackwater Province.
It was built underground, under the cover of the Church of the Holy Spirit in the center of the town.
This place should be the uncrowned king of the entire northern diocese of Blackwater Province. Any work that the Holy Spirit Church wants to carry out in the northern part of Blackwater Province should not bypass here.
It should be like this...
But what exactly is the problem?
A loud "bang" came from outside the door. This time, the things outside the door seemed to have rolled a very heavy thing over and hit the door.
This time, even the protected gate had tiny cracks.
A grinding wheel? Or something else?
"Roy, try to activate the communication array again. It may just be a temporary malfunction."
Feeling the pressure gradually increasing, Walter turned around and spoke to the woman who was sitting in the corner bandaging the wound with her hand and teeth after something tore a large piece of flesh off her shoulder.
"You've been saying this for two weeks. It shouldn't take the church two weeks to rebuild a communication array."
The woman named Roy, whose lips were bloodless, spoke weakly. Then she gritted her teeth and tightened the bandage. After a few painful gasps, she continued:
"It's useless. The church has already given up this land. Our last chance to leave here was half a year ago. If you were willing then... Never mind. It's too late to say anything now. Instead of counting on the church to send reinforcements, you might as well hope that the few people who escaped can go to Thorn City and ask Sage Scorch to send reinforcements..."
"Try to activate the communication array again, and this time use my authority to contact the Demon Burial Agency directly."
Walter ignored the other party's analysis, but took off a key with a seven-pointed star relief from his neck and threw it to the woman named Roy.
"With such a large number of Moon Realm monsters active and such a large-scale spread of heretical beliefs, the Holy Spirit Church will not just sit there and do nothing."
As Wulter spoke, he increased his magic output, and the brass color on the oak door became even richer.
The knocking sound outside the door also became much duller.
Roy took the key and sighed.
Unlike Würth, who was adopted by the church since childhood and whose faith is as solid as a rock.
Roy grew up in the slums and converted to the Holy Spirit Church just to make a living. Deep down, she didn't have any faith in the Holy Spirit, but she was very clear about things like being "used" or "abandoned".
In her opinion, there is no essential difference between the leaders of the church and the gang leaders in the downtown area, except that they wear higher hats and appear more elegant when using knives and forks to eat.
When gang leaders are trying to trick their men into going to their deaths, they often talk about loyalty and dignity, while church leaders will talk to you about faith and dedication.
Don't listen to what the other person promises you, but look at what he is doing. This is Roy's standard for judging whether a person is reliable or not.
Therefore, in recent years, the Holy Spirit Church has continuously withdrawn the executors of this sealed temple, transferred the sealed holy objects, stopped the regular maintenance of the defense array, and transferred the detained prisoners... All these actions made her feel very uneasy.
This uneasiness reached its peak when the Platinum City Church appointed Wuerth as the person in charge of the Sealed Temple. Indeed, Wuerth's belief in the Holy Spirit was the most devout among all the others here. Perhaps all the others combined were not as devout as him. But as the person in charge of the temple, problems could not be solved by piety alone, especially some problems that could only be solved by more realistic means...
"The Vatican explained that the previous arrangements were mainly due to financial issues. They want to transfer resources here to Platinum Province first. In the future, we need to rely on the church here to develop ourselves."
This is what Walter told her after returning from a meeting in Platinum City.
"Rely on the church in Blackwater Province, which is struggling to protect itself, to develop the Sealed Temple? Or should I let you take charge?"
Roy almost laughed out loud. This was obviously just leaving a frame to seal the temple for a fool who would not complain to maintain it temporarily.
He was completely abandoned by the church as an outcast.
That's what she thought at the time.
But this time, even she misjudged the extent of being "abandoned".
More than a month ago, the visit of the relic recycler from the Eighth Order gave her some renewed confidence, but that woman did not cause any waves here afterwards.
Then came the widely reported incident of the tide of the dead in the Thorn City Cemetery and the appearance of the Eighth Holy Spirit more than two weeks ago.
After Wurt reported the intelligence to the headquarters of the Sealed Temple in Platinum City, the entire communication array became ineffective the next day.
And then there is the current situation.
Cult of the Hungry and Rotten Lady, the Church of the Bloated.
Not long ago, that group of Moon-worshippers disguised themselves as traveling merchants and sold bread "blessed" by the Moon to the residents of Red Spring Town right under their noses. But last night, half of the residents of the town were transformed into bloated zombies.
Wurt commanded the few clergymen in the Sealed Temple to rescue some of the surviving residents and retreat here, but this also exposed the temple hidden underground. Now hundreds or thousands of zombies covered with bright fungi were knocking on the door outside.
All of them were trapped here and died.
Roy used the key to open the iron door that was sealed with a triple magic barrier and walked into the dungeon filled with mold.
She did not go to the communication array as Walter said, and wasted time trying in vain to contact the Demon Burial Agency or some other church department.
She wants to live.
Therefore, she came directly to the Sealed Temple where the serious heretics were imprisoned.
Since the current combat power of the Sealed Temple is not enough, we can use the prisoners here to supplement it.
Although the prisoners here can't add much combat power.
Originally, most of the serious criminals imprisoned here were heretic wizards or Moon Realm worshippers, but during this year, those prisoners were transferred to other Sealed Temples one after another. Now, there is only one prisoner left in the entire dungeon.
This person claims to be a prophet and a human spokesperson chosen by a great being.
He had predicted what would happen today a few days ago, but no one believed him at the time.
Roy took out the key and knocked on the cell door engraved with various blocking runes.
"Your predictions have all been verified. A crisis caused by wheat ears and corruption will befall all of us. But why don't you just make it clear that the Cult of Edema intends to summon zombies in this town? Do you have to use riddles like 'wheat ears devouring people, rotten sprouts everywhere'?"
"I am only responsible for relaying the prophecy. It is not my job to interpret it specifically. And prophecy is like this. Before the fact happens, you can interpret it in countless directions, and people will always choose the direction they are willing to believe."
After hearing Roy's words, a man's voice sounded and got closer and closer to the cell door.
"Only after something unexpected happens will they think deeply about other possibilities of the prophecy. Then they will suddenly realize it, and then they will start to regret it. Ah, it was me who did not follow the prophecy's arrangements, I misunderstood the meaning of the prophecy... People will only complain that they misunderstood it, but will not blame the one who knew the prophecy."
A man with skin as pale as a drowned person appeared at the observation port of the cell door. His cheeks were thin and his black hair was stuck to his forehead in strands as if it had been soaked in oil.
"...Forget it, I'm not here to discuss your riddle-like prophecy. There are probably thousands of bloated zombies surrounding the gate of the Sealed Temple right now. At the current rate, it won't be long before they break through the gate and rush in . Our current combat power is seriously insufficient. I saw in your file before that you seem to be a Viper magic caster with an expert title, so you should be proficient in transformation and metal spells, right?"
Roy said as he observed the expression on the other person's face.
Unfortunately, the expression on the other person's face didn't change at all.
Roy continued:
"I need you to help reinforce the gate, and then hold out as long as possible until Thorn City finds out about the problem here and sends reinforcements. Is that okay?"
In response, the man shook his head and said:
"I don't see how I can gain anything by helping you."
"So you're not worried at all about those bloated zombies rushing in and eating you alive?"
Roy asked curiously.
"Don't worry, I'm not like you mortals. I won't die until I fulfill my destiny."
The man who claimed to be a prophet replied.
This again...
Roy thought helplessly that it was too difficult to communicate with this group of people whose brains were dulled by faith. It seemed that he was the only one who was seriously trying to find a way to survive.
"Okay, okay, if you have any conditions, please state them now."
But he couldn't care less about that right now, so Roy spoke directly.
"I want freedom. Of course, you can't restrict me from this. In addition, I want to take something from your holy room."
The man said.
"The Holy Relic Room? Almost everything in there has been moved away. I can't guarantee that what you want is still there."
Roy replied.
"No, what I want must still be in there."
The man said in a very affirmative tone.
"Well then...if he's really not here, then I've warned you before, so I'll open the door and let you out now."
Roy said, and the other party nodded.
As she opened the door, she asked casually:
"You just said that you won't die until you fulfill your destiny. What is your destiny then?"
The man replied solemnly:
"To make my Lord whole again."
Sure enough, this is another person whose mind is damaged by faith...
Roy thought, and then she asked:
"So who is your master?"
With a "click", the cell door opened and the man bent down and walked out.
He was unusually tall and his frame looked very big, but perhaps because he had been in prison for too long, he was skinny and his limbs were as thin as bamboo poles. He looked like he could be blown down by a gust of wind.
"I cannot speak His name, for He is hidden, and anyone who knows His existence would be excommunicated if he spoke His name."
Looking at the other party's serious expression, Roy smiled and said:
"Is it so exaggerated? I feel like even the Void King doesn't have such a big air, right?"
The man shook his head and said:
"That's because the Void Kings are always trying to expand their territory, so they are happy to let the world know about their existence. But my Lord is just the opposite. His mysteries are destined to be listened to by only a few people, and His existence is destined to be known by only a few people... But it's okay to tell you what we, His followers, call ourselves, because we usually gather in the form of ominous birds with black wings on stormy nights, so we call ourselves..."
"Crows."
