Chapter 230: The Twilight Pursuit (2)

Chapter 230: The Twilight Pursuit (2)

Several months prior, a new cult had emerged across the Seven Kingdoms. They were known as the Twilight Cult, and lately, their activity had been intensifying.

People began to think: As if the Cult of the Black God weren’t enough, now we have these Twilight cultists stirring chaos in the world... or do we?

"The thing is," Erantel said, "their movements are peculiar, not what you’d expect from those trying to cause chaos."

Just as he pointed out, the Twilight Cult was noticeably different from the Cult of the Black God. The Black God's Cultists thrived on spreading confusion and corrupting both the world and its people.

In contrast, the Twilight cult did little else besides attacking the Black God's Cult. Rather than expanding their own influence like a typical cult, they focused entirely on assaulting the Black God’s Cult, purging them, and looting their assets.

"In fact, if you look at it from a religious standpoint, the Cult of the Black God actually looks more like a proper religion," Erantel remarked.

The Cult of the Black God, in their pursuit of expansion, often took in outcasts and provided them with places to live. They welcomed anyone, regardless of status, wealth, or ability. That was why there were so many secret bases of the cult in wastelands, dungeons, and abandoned ruins.

But the Twilight Cult had no interest in inflating their numbers with useless followers. Saving the outcast? They did no such thing. If someone had no use, they were simply discarded. As a result, they didn’t maintain hidden strongholds like the Black God’s Cult.

Instead, they concealed their identities, blending seamlessly into society as ordinary people in everyday life.

"They can only do that because they’re small in number," Erantel noted.

The core of the Twilight Cult consisted of two groups: Dissenters who had defected from the Black God’s Cult, and those who bore a grudge against them but lacked the strength to take revenge, until they sought the power of Twilight. They were an elite force, and entirely ability-driven.

"In sheer numbers, they’re estimated to be less than five percent of the Black God's Cult."

But the thing was, ninety-five percent of the Black God's Cultists were ordinary folk with no combat abilities whatsoever. Their actual fighting force amounted to barely a handful.

Meanwhile, the Twilight Cult was, as a whole, a force capable of battle. If you compared military strength alone, they were at least even with the Black God's Cult, if not superior. With no cumbersome mass of ordinary followers to drag them down, they could move with far greater efficiency.

"Honestly, their actions make them look more like a gang of thugs or a multinational trade syndicate than a cult," Erantel remarked.

Their approach to necromancy was different as well. The Cult of the Black God treated necromancy as divine magic. It was an expression of faith in their God of Death and Darkness, Tesranach. The Twilight Cult did not.

To them, necromancy was nothing more than a means to an end. To them, it was a necessary evil, wisdom granted by their goddess of twilight, Serakal.

They acknowledged that necromancy was inherently wicked, but, like poison turned medicine in proper doses, they believed it was acceptable if used sparingly and only when needed, in accordance with Serakal’s teachings.

"Of course, the fact remains that they’re both evil cultists to the core, simply by virtue of practicing necromancy. But still, the Twilight Cult does seem less dangerous, doesn’t it? Unlike most cults, they’re not even trying to expand their influence," Erantel said.

Karnak nodded earnestly at the explanation.

"That does make sense," he replied.

But inside, he was smiling.

Truthfully, they’re actually the more typical cult.

The Cult of the Black God had simply adopted the trappings of a legitimate religion because they needed to gather real worshippers for Tesranach. In contrast, the Twilight Cult’s behavior more closely resembled the kinds of pseudo-religious groups that exploited faith for personal gain.

Still, there was another reason why the Twilight Cult was being treated ambiguously. Thinking back on past events, Karnak felt quietly pleased.

Looks like the countermeasures I prepared are working well.

As Leven had worried before, if the Twilight Cult grew unchecked, they would eventually clash with the Church of the Goddesses. That was why, when Karnak dispatched the four governors including Demphis, he had given them specific instructions.

—Start by bribing them. Everything in this world begins with money.

Since they practiced necromancy, full integration into the existing order was out of the question. But with the right distance and the right weight in gold, they could at least be tolerated by the powers that be.

They hunted the Black God’s Cult zealously. And from their spoils, they offered a portion to the local lords as bribes. Unlike the Black God's Cult, which had too many mouths to feed, the Twilight Cult had almost no ordinary followers. With fewer operational costs, they could afford such tactics.

Of course, not every noble in the world was corrupt, and not all of them would accept bribes from a cult. That was why Karnak had instructed them to make the bribes subtle, in a more refined manner.

—The wicked cult of darkness has plundered the wealth of the people. We are merely returning it to the people.

In short, they played the role of righteous thieves. Only, they didn’t give the money directly to the commoners. Instead, they handed it to the region’s lord and asked them to use it for the good of the people. The justification sounded plausible enough.

—Who else should we entrust this wealth to, if not the lords who tirelessly labor to care for their people? Are we to hand it over to some passing beggar?

The lords couldn’t refuse the money. It had originally belonged to their people and their lands in the first place.

Thus, the Twilight Cult was blatantly aligning itself with the existing order. Normally, such a move would tear a cult apart from the inside. After all, cults were, by nature, born from discontent with the status quo.

If they were going to join forces with the very system they wanted to overturn, they might as well believe in the established Seven Goddesses instead of seeking a new faith.

But the Twilight Cult was a different story. Their goal had always been singular: to punish the Cult of the Black God. They merely used necromancy—a power not recognized by the Church of the Goddesses—in pursuit of that goal.

They neither denied nor saw themselves as enemies of the existing order. Thanks to this, the royal families and nobles of various kingdoms didn’t hold a particularly bad opinion of the Twilight Cult.

When there were two cults to consider—one that plundered their wealth and people, and another that returned money and caused no harm—which one would naturally win their favor?

On the surface, they all proclaimed their intent to eradicate all cults. But in truth, most kingdoms simply turned a blind eye to the Twilight Cult. With things being as they were, even the Church of the Goddess couldn’t openly persecute them. They were too occupied with stopping the Cult of the Black God to spread their forces thin.

Of course, the strict fundamentalists had initially launched fervent campaigns against the Twilight Cult, but even that fervor had cooled in recent times. This shift had come once the teachings of the Twilight Cult started to spread little by little.

***

Everything had been proceeding smoothly when Demphis alone had been managing the Twilight Cult. But with three more archliches joining the effort, their efficiency had dramatically improved.

In particular, Maloka was unmatched among the four governors when it came to organizational management, propaganda, and the spreading of rumors.

The very first thing she did upon taking charge of the cult was this:

—Let’s start by firmly establishing our doctrine!

The ambiguous figure of the Goddess of Twilight and Chaos, Serakal, was clearly defined at last. Twilight was the darkness that awaited the dawn. Serakal was the youngest, the eighth goddess who came after the Seven Goddesses.

Thus, followers of the Twilight Cult wielded the power of darkness, but sought the light, preparing for the coming age of twilight. They cleverly latched onto the existing faith of the Seven Goddesses, claiming that while the current age belonged to the seven, the Age of Twilight would one day dawn, and then Serakal would take her rightful place as the eighth goddess.

The biggest difference from the Cult of the Black God was that they did not reject the Church of the Goddesses. The Black God, Tesranach, sought to overthrow the existing world and usher in a new one.

In contrast, the Goddess of Twilight and Chaos, Serakal, was merely the eighth goddess, not a force of destruction. Their doctrine was surprisingly modest, claiming they were simply filling the gaps left by the hard work of the other goddesses.

There were even records of conversations between rescued priests of the church and followers of the Twilight Cult.

—The Goddess of Twilight was meant to descend during the Age of Twilight. But with the Black God's Cult running rampant and disturbing the world, we move now to ensure a proper twilight.

—What will you do once the Cult of the Black God is defeated?

—We shall wait for the Age of Twilight. That is the proper order of things.

—And when will that come?

—We do not know. We will wait until it arrives.

In short, once the Cult of the Black God was eradicated, the Twilight Cult would fade away, leaving the world to the Seven Goddesses until their time eventually came, far in the future.

Leaning back into the sofa, Erantel spoke in a tired voice. "The Twilight Cult is certainly a heretical sect and will inevitably become a blight on society in the long term."

But, given the current chaos sown by the Cult of the Black God, they were proving to be rather useful hunting dogs. They couldn’t fully accept the Twilight Cult, but nor did they feel the need to reject them outright.

"That’s the current stance of most royal families and nobles," Erantel explained.

"And the Church of the Goddesses?" Karnak asked immediately.

Erantel let out a rough chuckle.

"The Church of the Seven Goddesses is a little different."

They could never accept the Twilight Cult. To them, they were an unforgivable heresy. Once the Cult of the Black God was dealt with, the Twilight Cult would be next.

"So until then, they’ve decided to use them as poison to fight poison."

"So basically, it’s just a fancy way of saying

let’s fight the Cult of the Black God together

, isn’t it?"

"Well, yes, but that’s their official position," Erantel replied.

Karnak was satisfied with the answer. At this rate, the Twilight Cult would have no trouble operating in the future.

Maloka really is terrible at fighting, but she’s brilliant at things like this

, Karnak thought to himself. He felt proud to have revived her not once, but three times. Ah, well, technically, the current Maloka was the one resurrected by Tesranach, but that hardly mattered now.

"If you wish to know more about the Twilight Cult, seek out Mis Saria later. She should be able to provide you with additional materials." After finishing his explanation, Erantel leaned forward. "Now then, I'd like to hear your side of things. What exactly happened in Harthol City?"

"Ah, well, you see..."

Karnak gave a rough account of the battle against Jedex and his forces. Karnak took on a serious expression after finishing. "Without a doubt, that was the power of the Sun Goddess, Latiel."

For someone wielding the power of darkness to be commanding the authority of Latiel—this was no ordinary matter.

"I believe we must inform the Church of the Goddesses about this," he continued.

"Of course," Erantel replied at once.

"So, with that in mind, could you arrange a meeting with the priests of Sellas?"

Near Drunta, the capital of the Kingdom of Eustil, stood the Great Temple of Sellas, the heart of the Allium Order. It was one of the three largest temples across the Seven Kingdoms, a place where powerful and high-ranking priests gathered.

"If anyone can shed light on this issue, it will be them."

At Karnak's request, Erantel let out a short, dry laugh. "Arrange a meeting, you say?"

There was no need for Karnak to even ask.

"They'll come looking for you first. It's that serious of a matter."