Not only the Holy Justice Citadel, but across the Great Cosmic Continent of Leo, within the countless Temples dedicated to the Holy Justice God, and even in the Great Temples, the same terrifying phenomenon played out.
The statues of Holy Justice God fractured, and sacred murals bled ink all over the continent.
Believers convulsed mid-sermon as the power of their divine blessings was suddenly ripped away.
The faithful—those whose entire identity was bound to their faith—felt their souls reel in a terror they had never imagined. It was as if their God had looked away... or worse... turned against them.
Some lost consciousness. Others began to scream in blasphemous madness, tearing their robes and scratching at their own flesh, unable to bear the void left behind by the power of faith.
In the center of it all, in the Citadel’s most sacred site, all eyes turned to the grand dais at the far end of the main hall.
They waited—for the one who always stood firm in times of doubt. They waited—for the Holy Pontiff, the Holy King, the Saintess of Holy Justice, the Divine Daughter of the Holy Justice God...they waited for Eliza!
But even as the chaos continued to ensue, she did not come.
Time passed. The tremors continued. The light never returned, and Eliza was nowhere to be found. Even her personal chambers, locked behind layers of wards, remained sealed and silent.
Some began to whisper—quietly at first, then louder, almost desperate...
"Where is the Holy King...?"
"Why hasn’t she come...?"
"Has she... has she betrayed the Supreme Justice!?"
Panic swelled, and then came the worst news of all. The Seal of Divine Authority, which always hung above the altar in the Great Temples, shattered into a rain of faint golden dust. Its fragments never touched the ground... they simply evaporated, as if they were never real to begin with.
At that moment, within the safety of the Space Travesty Shuttle, Jacob witnessed the entire chaos with a hint of dark amusement.
Although he knew there might be some consequences of taking the Trace Faith Idol and the altar that was probably as important as the Trace Faith Idol, he still wasn’t expecting this kind of chaos!
’Just who does the Faith Gods operate, really? Given the current state of the Cardinal Spirit Temple, it’s fairly clear that the ’faith’ could potentially grant them unimaginable power. Still, the moment it vanished, it’ll all crumble down like a sand castle.
’As for the Faith Gods, they probably won’t even care about a bunch of ants, for them, they were just like vessels to harvest Godly Faith Nectar. Furthermore, this phenomenon is probably caused by my ’activities’, and I wondered how and when the Holy Justice God would notice it...’
An icy glint flashed in his eyes as he still vividly remembered that ’arrogant God’ who made a deal with the ’Void’ to deliver this Trace Faith Idol into the Legendary Plains.
With all the trouble the Holy Justice God had gone through to send this Trace Faith Idol, Jacob was really looking forward to God’s reaction when God realized that it had vanished!
Jacob was about to order Black Mechanic, who had replaced the original AI of the shuttle without much effort, to leave the Great Cosmic Continent of Leo since he had already gotten everything he had come here to. He needed time to seclude himself to absorb everything he had gained.
But Black Mechanic’s static voice suddenly sounded, "Sir, an unidentified Battleship has been detected, and there is more than 90% possibility that it’s a Legendary King Rank battleship!
"Only the three absolute factions have such battleships, and even then, there aren’t a lot of people who are authorized to take them out. There are also a few more individuals who have such battleships. I have compiled the list of names. Please take a look.
"Lastly, bringing this kind of battleship directly to the headquarters of the Cardinal Spirit Temple is akin to declaring war on them!"
Jacob stopped the order as his attention was instantly drawn to this unexpected turn of events. Furthermore, with Black Mechanic on his side, and its massive data bank, Jacob didn’t need to be so passive about this kind of information like in the past.
A hologram projection appeared in front of Jacob, and on it were the list of the Legendary King Rank battleships and those who have the authority to operate them among the three factions.
Jacob also saw some familiar names among this list of ’private and unauthorized battleships’; they were actually the Champion King of Star Pirates, Spirit Poison King of Venomous Royale, and more individuals who weren’t part of those three factions.
He was again amazed by the proficiency of information gathered by the ATLAS, and all of that information was at his disposal.
The space travesty shuttle was hidden within the layer of space, and unless a detection formation above legendary king rank appeared, it was impossible to detect.
Jacob was monitoring everything with the shuttle’s observation system, which Black Mechanic further improved.
At this moment, the scene on the projection changed, and Jacob saw the dark skies above the Holy Justice Citadel suddenly cracked like glass.
The next moment, the space shattered, and an enormous battleship, with a blackened hull glistening like stars and runic inscriptions glowing faintly along its surface, slowly exited the space.
The battleship’s towering sails, crafted from translucent cosmic silk, shimmered despite the lack of light. At the same time, powerful energy cores at its base radiated pulses of vibrant elemental power, propelling the ship forward.
The vessel cut through the space like a predator, its imposing structure bristling with weaponry and defensive formations.
At this moment, Jacob’s eyes suddenly focused on a symbol of a shattered star engraved on its flag, and a hint of realization dawned on him because he recognized who this ship belonged to.
Furthermore, Black Mechanic announced at this moment, "Sir, I’ve confirmed it, that battleship is the ’Shattered Star Cruiser’ of Shattered Star Pirates, and their captain is the renowned Champion King!"