Chapter 556: Chapter 492: You Shall Hold the Kingdom of Heaven, as God’s Right Hand!
At noon, the Sekas Empire, hailed as a ‘heaven on earth,’ ‘Land of Shining Stars,’ the sound of cannon fire continued unabated outside the Holy City, but inside it was unexpectedly silent, or perhaps ‘deathly silent’ was a more appropriate description.
Tens of thousands of devout Believers lay unconsciously in the streets and squares, their faces still bearing an inner fervor, as if they had entered into a sweet dreamland.
A few days ago, the messenger of God on earth, His Holiness Pope Alvis, had held a grand prayer ceremony within the Holy City.
He called together the habitants of the entire Holy City to show their devout faith to the almighty God, to speak of the sufferings this continent had endured, and prayed for God to come to this land soon, to punish the minions of the Evil God and to disperse the gloom of the apocalypse.
This prayer ceremony was undoubtedly a great success. The Moon Goddess, the creator of all things, responded to their request, and the projection of the Divine Kingdom descended upon the Holy City.
Just as depicted in the holy scriptures, all things were restored, light shone upon the earth, and they saw rivers flowing with fine wine, the holy trees laden with ripe steaks, and the beautiful, seductive dream sprites…
And they, as God’s most devout Believers, had even received God’s promise that they need not endure the tribulation of the apocalypse, but could enter the true Divine Kingdom in advance, to enjoy endless peace and joy.
After a day of revelry and pleasure, the citizens of the Holy City did not hesitate to throw themselves into the embrace of God, and their souls returned to the Divine Kingdom…
Cardinal Sirid, who had witnessed all of this, felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.
This most sacred and celebratory event, for some reason, reminded him of the scenes of sacrifice by the Evil Gods.
No, this is the glory and blessing of God, and no sacrilege shall be permitted!
Sirid hurriedly stopped his wild thoughts and continued to maintain the operation of the Divine Array.
The onslaught from those Wizards outside the city might not be enough to affect the Holy City, but as the maintainers and controllers of Divine Arts, these cardinals also faced considerable pressure.
Fortunately, according to the directions of His Holiness the Pope, the great Moon Goddess would soon descend from the Divine Kingdom, and they just needed to hold on a little longer!
Meanwhile, the Church’s new Holy Maiden, the earthly incarnation of the Moon Goddess, stood at the highest level of the Sky Dome Tower.
A peculiar crystal, glowing with a fluorescent light, was suspended in the center of the tower, rotating slowly and steadily.
The reason it was considered peculiar was that it seemed to exist between illusion and reality, or rather, on the border between falsehood and truth, its interior reflecting the scenes of the Divine Kingdom from the scriptures.
“Is it still not enough?” sighed the Holy Maiden softly.
To gather a sufficient number of devout Believers, she did not hesitate to send the Church’s most elite forces to block the Wizards’ march like sending them to their deaths, and used Divine Arts to stimulate their faith.
At the moment of death, approximately fifty thousand people became her devout Believers, their souls merging into the Divine Kingdom. Even so, together with the more than two hundred thousand devout Believers who had come from all over the empire to the Holy City and the Church’s accumulation over hundreds of years, they were still about one-tenth short of the target of one million.
“You need not hesitate any longer, my Lord!” Pope Alvis said with grave emphasis.
Now that those Wizards had reached just outside the Holy City, and although they couldn’t momentarily affect the Divine Arts protecting the outer part, under such an assault, the priests and bishops of the Church were afraid they could only hold on for about a day at most.
The only solution was for the clergy of the Church to compensate for these losses!
To achieve their goal, to completely resolve the poison of disbelief and to bring the True God to this land, any person could be sacrificed, even they, the high echelons of the Church, were no exception!
“If necessary, I am ready to give everything for you, even if it means my life and soul!” proclaimed Pope Alvis, as he lay prostrate on the ground.
A touched expression appeared on the Holy Maiden’s face. She then shook her head, “You have done enough, Alvis, even in the new world, your existence will still be indispensable.”
It was based on this consideration that she had hesitated to make a decision.
The Divine Arts system that covered the entire empire was the result of her hundreds of years of effort, and it was the key to shepherding this vast land.
Just as the Holy Maiden was about to speak again, the entire Sky Dome Tower suddenly shook violently.
“What’s happened?” Alvis’s complexion changed drastically as he immediately looked towards the crystal suspended in the tower, thinking that the power emanating from it was affecting the Sky Dome Tower.
The new Holy Maiden’s expression darkened, her star-like dazzling eyes penetrating the walls of the Sky Dome Tower, looking towards various parts of the Holy City.
Accompanied by a rumbling sound from the deepest part of the earth, a fissure suddenly cracked open in the western ground of the Holy City, and then terrifying, surging magma burst forth from below, instantly engulfing a vast area.
More than two thousand priests and bishops to the west died on the spot, and the widening crack continued to spread rapidly in all directions.
The ground split open, bricks and stones crumbled, houses collapsed… Huge stones and debris flew everywhere, and in just a few seconds, most of the Holy City had collapsed…
“The Holy City has fallen, it must be those Wizards attacking from beneath the earth…” The Holy Maiden’s voice was incredibly cold, and her heart was filled with extreme rage.