Chapter 45: A New Task

Chapter 45: A New Task

Emlyn vaguely sensed that there might be certain abnormalities with the Earth and Moon Beyonder pathways, but he did not raise the question directly with Archbishop Loreto.

He looks like he wouldn’t answer… I’ll wait until the next Tarot Gathering and ask The World or The Hanged Man… As Emlyn nodded almost imperceptibly to show that he already understood the distinction between those who received God’s Grace and those favored by God, he muttered silently to himself.

He did not consider seeking an answer from Mr. Fool. In his view, the corresponding problem should not be too great and did not warrant that. After all, the sanguine dukes, marquises, and earls were all still alive and well, and no particularly negative rumors had spread from the Church of Earth Mother.

At the same time, the guess he had just formed also made Emlyn think of the Primordial Moon, an existence he did not know whether to classify as an evil god or a high-level devil in disguise. It clearly possessed influence over the Moon pathway, and it had once caused quite a few sanguine who prayed to it to lose control on the spot, turning into monsters that knew only mating and reproduction.

Emlyn suspected that this was one of the evil existences bestowing false revelations and false oracles.

Seeing that he asked no further questions, Loreto put away the document in his hand. After thinking briefly, he said,

“These are the matters that require special attention.

“In addition, the Pontiff hopes that you can establish three to five Beyonder teams in Backlund with the sanguine as their core.”

“The Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms have no objections?” Emlyn had always been law-abiding. At most, he had gone to hospitals to secretly drink a little blood. Subconsciously, he raised his doubt.

Loreto smiled benevolently.

“This is precisely what they requested.

“With the overwhelming majority of the Church of Steam’s forces withdrawing, Loen’s official Beyonders are in considerable shortage.

“Although the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms have also incorporated a group of Machinery Hivemind members and low-ranking clergy who were unwilling to leave Loen, that is ultimately only a small number. Furthermore, they must also take into account the cleanup in Feysac and the maintenance of Churches in the overseas colonies that have gained independence. Therefore, they hope that we can provide a certain amount of assistance.

“This brings no small benefit to our missionary work in Loen. However, you must remember that here, we must be restrained enough. We cannot preach on a large scale. Remaining at the same level as the remnants of the Church of Steam is enough. Of course, for a very long time, our number of believers will be unable to catch up with the current Church of Steam. This will require the effort of one generation, two generations, or even three generations.”

Right. Maintaining the current scale and developing only to a certain degree is enough… Preaching on a large scale is such a hassle… Emlyn breathed out in relief and calmly replied,

“All right.”

…

In the Sonia Sea, at Bayam, the City of Generosity.

Alger wore a bishop’s robe embroidered with symbols of lightning and waves, with a metal Storm Sacred Emblem on his chest. He stood atop a seaside mountain peak, gazing beyond the island’s forest.

There, far fewer trees remained. The surrounding hills and small mountains had been flattened one after another, revealing a hidden harbor.

It was the private harbor that had once belonged to the resistance army. Its scale naturally could not compare with Bayam’s harbor, but it was still of moderate size and enough to sustain the livelihood of many people.

At this moment, near the harbor, a city built in a bold, rough style had already taken initial shape. It was not large, perhaps only one-fifth the size of Bayam, or even less.

In its center stood two towers side by side. One had a dome, while the other had a pointed top. Both were a strange silver color, reflecting somewhat dazzling light beneath the sun.

Around those twin towers, many roads paved with cement spread outward. Some led to buildings constructed mainly from stone; others connected broad squares and training grounds. Verdant trees had already been planted along the roads, giving the place an impression of vigorous prosperity.

Alger knew that the people currently living in this city were not only residents of the City of Silver. There were also people from Moon City.

Those people had many deformities and, for now, were not very willing to interact with the residents of Bayam or the other cities on the island. They purchased necessary daily supplies only through the people of the City of Silver.

It was said that they intended to build a city belonging to themselves deep in the forest and leave only one road leading to New City of Silver.

All of them are Mr. Fool’s believers. They must be slowly guided into becoming part of the overall Rorsted Archipelago… For now, I can avoid disturbing those with deformities. The City of Silver’s residents can bring the Moon City residents whose appearances are relatively normal to Bayam more often… Alger seriously considered what he should do next.

After making the initial arrangements for the residents of the City of Silver and Moon City, he had, in truth, completed the task Mr. Fool had assigned him. But he felt that he was still very far from exchanging for the identity, authority, and status related to the Sea God. Thus, he devoted himself to handling the various problems left over from the Great Migration.

To be frank, what Alger currently feared most was Mr. Fool not giving him anything to do. If that happened, he did not know when he could accumulate enough contributions.

And as New City of Silver was established and displayed flourishing vitality, he keenly felt a little more sense of crisis:

The City of Silver and Moon City had more than one Sequence 4 demigod between them, and all were loyal believers of Mr. Fool. Perhaps at some point, Mr. Fool might bestow the Sea God’s identity, status, authority, and power upon one of them!

The City of Silver has two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, one Sequence 3 Saint, three Sequence 4 Saints, nearly ten Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, and a small number of demigod Beyonder characteristics that can temporarily function as Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts… Moon City has three demigods, five Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, and a large number of potion formulas… This… Alger merely made a rough inventory and discovered that these two factions belonging to Mr. Fool were somewhat terrifyingly powerful.

Combined, they were almost equivalent to one-fourth of the Church of Storms!

As a Cardinal, Alger knew that each major orthodox Church possessed between five and eight Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, and that no more than four angels remained active on earth. In those two aspects, the orthodox Churches were indeed far stronger than Moon City and the City of Silver combined.

But in terms of Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts and the number of Saints, the orthodox Churches’ advantage was not that great—especially in the latter category.

Even with the outbreak of all-out war and the upper ranks increasing the effort to cultivate Saints, the Church of Storms currently had only slightly more than twenty Saints.

The Church of the Sea God still has no demigod, but it will not be long before a new Sea God appears… And beneath Mr. Fool’s seat, there is also The World, who is an angel; that Death Consul; an angel of the Fate pathway… and us Saints from the Tarot Club… The more Alger thought, the more shocked he became, discovering that he had actually been somewhat slow in this regard.

Perhaps because he was part of it, though he had always marveled at similar matters, he had only now clearly realized:

Before he knew it, Mr. Fool’s forces had already developed to the point where they could rival an orthodox Church. Even if there was still a gap, it lay only in the accumulation brought by a long history.

And less than three years had passed since Alger had joined the Tarot Club!

If I had not personally experienced these changes, I definitely would not believe them. Alger sighed inwardly. His desire to do something for Mr. Fool grew even more fervent, so he could accumulate enough merit as soon as possible to become the embodiment of the Sea God.

At that time, he would truly be able to turn his gaze toward the Book of Calamity and attempt to complete the commission of the Elf Queen Cohinem.

Withdrawing his gaze, Alger looked again toward Bayam at the foot of the mountain. The city, which had not suffered overly serious damage during the earlier war, had already regained its brilliance and could once again be called the most prosperous city on the Sonia Sea.

At that moment, priests, bishops, and believers of the Church of Storms were cooperating with employees of the new government and people from the Church of the Sea God to build schools and hospitals for children in the slums and for natives without financial ability, providing education, medical treatment, and relief.

Alger watched the people moving back and forth on the roads like ants. He watched the brightly colored buildings, so different from most places in Loen. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, then quickly fell again.

He narrowed his eyes, as though experiencing and enjoying something.

Just then, grayish-white fog suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Immediately afterward, he saw the ancient palace in the center of the fog and the blurry figure. He heard Mr. Fool’s voice:

“A task: monitor a person named Verdu Garcia.”

Accompanying the oracle was a vast quantity of complicated information. It fell like rain and entered Alger’s mind, allowing him to learn Verdu Garcia’s specific situation.

This was a hidden member of the Abraham family. He had recently left Desi County and come to the Rorsted Archipelago.

“I obey Your will,” Alger replied respectfully, bowing his head. Rather than being alarmed, he felt delighted.

…

Klein knew that Verdu Garcia Abraham had left the Northern Continent for the Rorsted Archipelago because Dorian Gray had mentioned it in prayer.

And he had long known that the person named Verdu desired to save Mr. Door and allow this King of Angels to return to the real world.

The reason Klein had made Miss Magician tell the Abraham family members one of the rituals for helping Mr. Door escape was that mutual trust between the two sides was still insufficient. If she had hidden it, or offered a lie involving a ritual that required hunting an angel, the Abraham family members would definitely become suspicious. They would have Fors the Magician continue contacting Mr. Door and attempt to use other methods, other channels, to confirm the truth.

Once they discovered something, Klein would lose control over the Abraham family and be unable to eliminate the risk in advance.

A few years ago, Klein would not have been too worried about this. But as the apocalypse drew closer, the Outer Deities’ corrosion of reality grew increasingly frequent. It was impossible to say when a member of the Abraham family might come into contact with related objects or believers and obtain the correct ritual.

Therefore, Klein believed that giving them the extremely difficult ritual would effectively gain the trust of the Abraham family members, make them believe in Mr. Fool further and grow increasingly devout. Then he could monitor the people who displayed radical tendencies through those devout believers, grasp their movements, and intervene in time.