The prayer hall in the Evernight cathedral was as dark as before. Only the holes on the walls allowed some light to seep in, like stars in the night.
Klein sat in a corner that wasnât eye-catching. He took off his tall hat and began praying like a pious member of the congregation.
He simply mentioned how Roselle had revived in his last mausoleum, and focused on the corruption of the Primordial Moon. He deliberately emphasized that, in order to prevent the âcrimson moonâ within him from being born in the real world, Roselle had chosen to terminate the process of having his Black Emperor Uniqueness and three Sequence 1 characteristics return to him.
At the end of the prayer, Klein pointed out the hidden dangers of the Cards of Blasphemy, and he expressed his concerns about the whereabouts of the Mother card and The Moon Card.
In fact, Roselle only mentioned the need to be careful of the Mother card and didnât mention The Moon. However, Klein knew that the two pathways of Earth and Moon belonged to the Mother Goddess of Depravity. Therefore, to be cautious, he specially added The Moon Card.
This was also the main reason he was worried about Earth Mother Lilith.
Compared to most of the twenty-two pathways, the High-Sequence Beyonders of the Planter and Moon pathway had a huge advantage. That was that they didnât need to worry about the Primordial One from awakening in their bodies. They didnât need to worry about dissociation from approaching the world underground. This was because the Beyonder characteristics they possessed didnât directly come from the Primordial One which led to no corresponding mental imprint. However, if they were to directly go underground and enter the Chaos Sea, no matter who it was, they would encounter corruption. It was just that the extent would be different.
This advantage was very likely due to the fact that the Sanguine Ancestor Lilith was more special than the other ancient gods. After all, âSheâ didnât need to divert a large part of âHerâ energy to resist the will of the Primordial One awakening within her. And back then, the invisible barrier protecting this world was still sufficiently sturdy, separating the Mother Goddess of Depravity and the other Great Old Ones from Earth, making it difficult for âThemâ to exert too much of an influence on the situation inside.
But with the passage of time, this advantage gradually became a problem.
As the underground corruption became weaker and weaker, the invisible barrier also became weaker and cracks began appearing. Under such circumstances, Earth Mother Lilithâs situation became worse. This was because âSheâ was facing the intrusion of the Mother Goddess of Depravity that was ever increasing in potency and terror. In this aspect, the original Creatorâthe Oldest Oneâwho was dead was definitely inferior to the living Mother Goddess of Depravity.
Considering how Outer Deities who had transcended Sequences had an influence on Beyonders from their own pathway, Klein felt that he couldnât afford negligence on such matters.
After he finished his prayer, he waited for nearly five minutes. After confirming that there was no response, he stood up, put on his wandering magicianâs tall hat, and walked out of the cathedral that belonged to the Evernight.
To him, this was mainly a disclosure obligation. As for what the Evernight Goddess planned to do with it, or if âSheâ would remind him of certain matters, it was beyond his control.
In short, Klein could only temporarily believe that the Evernight Goddess knew the relative importance of matters.
âŚ
Backlund, at the Harvest Church south of the Bridge.
The top-hatted Emlyn White got off his carriage and looked at the sun covered by the clouds and mist.
On the way to the entrance of the cathedral, he gently rotated the ring on his left hand, as if to flaunt his identity.
The ring was semi-translucent in color, as though it was made from light-red amber. There was a blood-red gem embedded on its tipâa reward Emlyn had received a long time agoâLilithâs Ring.
After becoming a demigod, Emlyn could suppress the effect of bloodthirst from the ring to a certain extent. Every day, he only needed to drink three bottles of human blood to be immune to the corresponding negative effects. Therefore, in order to showcase his special identity as the Ancestorâs Blessed, he began wearing this ring permanently.
After entering the Harvest Church, Emlyn automatically removed his top hat.
At this moment, Cosmi, Ernes, and the other Sanguine in Backlund, who were waiting for Bishop Utravsky, stood up one after another. Looking down at the aisle, they greeted softly, âGood morning, My Lord.â
Emlyn looked ahead and nodded indiscernibly.
âIs Mistral still not here yet?â
âCount Mistral set up a chapel at home,â Ernes simply explained.
Emlyn didnât comment on this. He walked forward and casually said, âHe will still have to come when Mass is held.â
He looked around before saying, âWhereâs Bishop Utravsky?â
âThe bishop is waiting for you behind. The Churchâs envoy has arrived.â Ernes controlled his facial expression as he answered Emlynâs question politely.
The Churchâs envoy⌠Emlyn rotated the light-red ring on his left hand and walked to the back of the cathedral.
Soon, he saw Father Utravsky and the slightly curly black-haired envoy the Church with a tall nose and deep eyes.
âThis is the archbishop, His Grace Loreto,â Father Utravsky introduced the envoy to Emlyn.
He stood by the window, blocking most of the light.
âGood morning, Your Grace,â Emlyn replied with the etiquette of the Church of Earth.
Loreto smiled and spoke in rather awkward Loenese.
âThereâs no need to address me as Your Grace. Although you arenât an archbishop, you have the status of an archbishop. From today onwards, you will be a hierophant, a high-ranking deacon of the Church. You will be in charge of the Sanguine matters in Backlund.â
Without giving Emlyn any time to digest this information, Loreto continued, âI came to Backlund under the Holy Seeâs orders. Iâll tell you everything that needs to be taken note of within the Church.â
âPlease speak,â Emlyn suppressed his glee and said politely.
Loretoâs expression immediately turned serious.
âFirst of all, the most important point is that, be it the clergymen of the Church or the believers of the Earth Mother, as long as you claim that you have obtained a revelation, they are individuals who have been enticed by demonsâwith no exceptions.
âIf anyone reports something like this to you, or if you have obtained a revelation personally, please inform Bishop Utravsky as soon as possible and report it to the Church.â
Father Utravsky didnât mention this before⌠This request sounds very strange, as though thereâs some suspicion⌠Emlyn frowned as he looked at Father Utravsky who was standing by the window.
âThe bishop never said anything about taking note of such mattersâŚâ
Before he finished his sentence, Emlyn suddenly realized that he came off as criticizing Bishop Utravsky, but he couldnât find any better explanation in his haste.
Almost at the same time, he understood what was odd about what Archbishop Loreto had said.
This was telling everyone that the Earth Mother you sensed isnât the real Earth Mother!
This is saying that a large number of the revelations us Sanguine received from the Ancestor are fake. Itâs from demons or evil gods⌠The look in Emlynâs eyes sank as he tried to maintain his composure.
At this moment, Loreto didnât mind and smiled.
âBishop Utravsky didnât tell you because he didnât know either.â
Father didnât know⌠In that instant, Emlyn actually felt a little sympathetic towards Bishop Utravsky. He felt that as a Feysacian, a hierophant who had changed faith in his later years, he had been ostracized by the other members of the Church of Earth.
Sensing the change in his gaze, Loreto added, âThatâs because heâs a Blessed. He doesnât need to care about the temptation of demons and evil gods.â
Bishop Utravsky nodded and said calmly, âThe revelations of Earth Mother are in âHerâ Holy Bible, in those lines of teaching. Anything other than that is heresy.â
Emlyn was somewhat puzzled, but he couldnât think of any question. He grunted and said to Loreto, âThen what is the second point that needs paying attention?â
Loreto made his expression turn serious.
âIf you receive a revelation, donât blindly believe it. Please immediately seek confirmation from Bishop Utravsky.â
âWhy?â Emlyn was puzzled.
This was basically telling him that the only response he would receive was either from evil gods or demons.
Loreto deliberated over his words and explained in detail,
âIn this world, there are many evil existences. âTheyâ will pretend to be deities, and bewitch the clergyman in an act of enticing believers.
âThatâs because the two main pathways of the Church of Earth Mother are related to life. Therefore, the effects they receive are more severe than the other Churches. From time to time, there are people who will take the wrong path and attempt forbidden life experiments; thus, slowly degenerating.
âIn order to prevent such a development, we reorganized the Church a long time ago under the guidance of the Motherâs will to establish the system of a Favored and Blessed.â
Favored and Blessed⌠Emlynâs understanding of the Church of Earth was limited to the Holy Bible and part of the scriptures. He was momentarily at a loss.
He had never taken the initiative to ask Father Utravsky about the Church of Earth Mother.
Loreto glanced at Emlyn and nodded slightly.
âThe Favored are clergymen who have won the Motherâs favor and are from the two pathways of Earth and Moon. The Blessed refers to people who have obtained the Motherâs blessing and are from other pathways.
âThe latter is less affected by the demons and evil gods. It can help us verify the authenticity of the revelations.
âUnder such circumstances, even if itâs a decree issued by the Holy See, there has to be at least a second-in-command Favored. Otherwise, it can be regarded as null and void.â
As he spoke, Loreto took out a document and unfolded it in front of Emlyn. Apart from what the archbishop had just said, it included the details of him accepting the mission and appointment as an envoy.
At the end of the document, there were a few names. The first was from the Holy See of the Church of Earth, Matriarch Roland, and the rest were all names that Emlyn didnât know. He barely recognized the last one to be Father Utravsky.
Father Utravskyâs handwriting is really ugly⌠As Emlyn mumbled to himself, he began to have a strong sense of doubt regarding the Blessed and Favored system.
Why were the Blessed less enticed by evil gods or demons?
Why were they able to verify a revelation, but the Favored couldnât?
As his thoughts raced, Emlyn suddenly noticed a detail:
The Blessed arenât from the two pathways of Earth and Moon!
Therefore, the problem didnât lie in the Favored, but the two pathways themselves? Emlyn vaguely felt that his guess was the truth.