Chapter 53: The Absurdity of the Church of Light

The door swung open once Wang Yu had activated his credentials. A wave of spatial distortion swept over him as a luminous screen was revealed behind the door.

"Walk straight through. Later, I'll teach you how to directly access the dark web from outside too," Sieg said. He stepped into the light. The moment he touched the screen, his figure vanished from the corridor.

Wang Yu followed suit, pressing his hand against the light curtain. A peculiar magic flowed from the screen to Wang Yu's body in a complex manner under the control of a highly intricate magical array. A vast amount of magic activated, completing the spatial transfer in an instant.

The next moment, just like when Charles first brought him into the dark web, Wang Yu's vision blurred. He found that he was no longer in the corridor.

Looking around, he realized that he was standing in what seemed to be the side hall of a chapel. The room was sparsely furnished, with just a few chairs and a statue of the god of light.

Wang Yu glanced at the statue and suddenly noticed something he hadn't paid attention to before. The statues of the god of light seemed to be different in each church. The one he had seen in the unnamed village's church was quite different from the one here.

The statue in the village's church, though cheaply made, clearly depicted an elderly figure exuding authority, clad in a white cleric's robe, holding a thick holy book, and crowned with a halo.

The statue before Wang Yu was also of an elderly figure with a halo, but something felt off. Although he couldn't pinpoint the discrepancy immediately, he was certain that something was different.

As Wang Yu scrutinized the statue in more detail, the door to the side hall creaked open.

Archbishop Fang's burly figure came into view, the same warm and approachable smile on his face as before.

Wang Yu figured out what was wrong immediately. The statue's muscles seemed unusually well defined.

It had bulging biceps, a broad back, and other muscles that were so exaggerated that even its flowing cleric's robes didn't suffice to hide it all.

This statue of the god of light, despite bearing a close resemblance to the one in the small village's church, looked as if the god had frequented the gym far more than its counterpart. Its physique was on a whole different level.

Wang Yu couldn't help but find it strange. Weren't the statues of deities supposed to be uniform across all churches?

The statues of the goddess of wealth that he had seen in various merchants' establishments, for one, were identical. Why did Archbishop Fang's statue of the god of light look so... muscular?

As Archbishop Fang entered the hall, Sieg greeted him. "Archbishop, I've finished handling Wang Yu's paperwork. I brought him here because he has some matters to report to you, and he's hoping you can help him raise his strength."

"Understood. I'll help Wang Yu with that later. Now, let's hear your report," Archbishop Fang said, casually dragging a chair over and sitting down with a complete lack of pretense for someone of his stature.

The first part was addressed to Sieg, and the second to Wang Yu.

"Well, here's the situation..." Wang Yu launched straight into a recounting of his journey to the capital with the merchant caravan and his subsequent encounter with the goblins.

He presented the facts without embellishment, clearly and methodically. As a narrative, it would have been dry and dull; as a report, it was exemplary.

"What I'd like to know is what Selwyn is doing, and whether this Lady of the Night, Eunice, can be trusted," Wang Yu concluded. He posed his questions to Archbishop Fang, who had been listening intently.

"You made the right choice in bringing this to my attention. It's very helpful. Sieg, provide a report on recent issues within the capital by its walls," Archbishop Fang instructed.

He didn't immediately address Wang Yu's questions; rather, he gestured for Sieg to speak first.

"Certainly, Archbishop. The Nightblades' preliminary investigation team has been focusing on the slums by the outskirts of the capital for the last few months. Recently, a cult devoted to Erphine, the Font of Life, has sprung up there. Our findings indicate that this deity is recorded in folklore from the northern borders, and is principally worshiped in areas where Selwyn territory intersects with Aleisterre's."

Sieg had been listening to Wang Yu's report as well. After he finished his summary, he adjusted his gold-rimmed monocle and continued, "Until now, we hadn't considered a connection to Selwyn—the cult seemed like a typical heretical cult. However, Wang Yu's account of this mysterious Lady Eunice, likewise linked to Selwynian lore, aligns with Erphine's origins. Selwyn might well be responsible for both these affairs.

"The cultists by the inner walls have been conducting a ritual known as the 'Restoration of Life.' Our investigators detected fluctuations in the void during their surveillance, but the cultists themselves showed no significant changes. As a result, our reports concluded that the rituals failed—that they hadn't managed to contact the evil god they worship.

"Because we never considered Selwynian folklore, however, we failed to take into account the domains that these deities control. Considering that Lady Eunice's powers align with those from her myths, it stands to reason that Erphine's powers likely do the same. Archbishop Fang, Wang Yu, if you'll excuse me—I must consult the records immediately," Sieg said, his features growing increasingly grave as the implications of Wang Yu's report sank in.

Sieg had to act on this newfound knowledge immediately, researching what was known about Erphine and directing more investigators to survey the situation by the inner walls of the capital.

He excused himself and walked briskly to the entrance to the dark web. With a flash of light from his gloved hand, he disappeared.

"Sieg is as dependable as ever," Archbishop Fang remarked, watching him leave.

Wang Yu nodded in agreement. The scholarly Sieg, nicknamed the "Professor," exuded a sense of reliability that Charles didn't possess at all.

"Do you still have the steel spikes and the emblems from the goblins? Let me examine them—I may be able to uncover something," Archbishop Fang asked, turning back to Wang Yu.

Wang Yu nodded. He had prepared these items beforehand . One of the steel spikes had been damaged. Of the other two, Wang Yu had kept one and given the other to the gnome merchants' guild for their own report. As for the emblems, Wang Yu had kept two and given them one.

Wang Yu retrieved a small box from his pocket and opened it, placing a steel spike and an emblem on the table before Archbishop Fang.

Fang picked up the emblem and immediately recited the prayer inscribed upon it. His steady and authoritative voice echoed through the chapel. "Queen of the night, protector of darkness, we exalt your name, Lady of the Night, Eunice..."

The steel spike reacted instantly, glowing brightly before shooting toward Fang's forehead with alarming speed—but if Wang Yu had been able to block the spike himself, Fang surely could do so easily as well.

The spike collided with a translucent golden barrier that shimmered into existence. A radiant golden cube formed around the table, trapping the spike within.

The spike struggled violently, but couldn't break through the divine barrier that Fang had casually summoned.

Fang made a fist. Immediately, the barrier contracted. The translucent golden membrane wrapped around the steel spike that was still attempting to break free and attack the priest, completely imprisoning it. This time, even the self-destructive mechanism that had allowed it to shatter and attack Wang Yu was nullified.

With a casual gesture, the priest moved the spike, now enveloped in golden light, before him. He examined it carefully. After a few seconds, the golden glow pulsed. The steel spike's exterior disintegrated into dust.

As the outer shell broke apart, it revealed the object inside—something Wang Yu had previously encountered when the spike had shattered and invaded his mindscape.

"As I expected." Fang smiled. What had appeared in the golden membrane was a cluster of rapidly shifting runes.

The runes flickered and changed constantly, creating a dizzying effect. It resembled lines of code on a malfunctioning computer, constantly flickering and causing headaches for anyone who stared at them for too long.

"What's that?" Wang Yu asked.

"It's a marker. A divine marker," Fang clarified, before suddenly clenching his hand tightly and crushing the bundle of runes apart.

"A divine marker...?" Wang Yu didn't quite understand what that meant.

"A means of observation," Fang explained. "It allows a deity to see you as clearly as you see them. You are unique, perhaps too much so. Your ability to directly communicate with a deity without losing your sanity is astounding. Your resistance to divine corruption is extraordinary, even to me. It's a terrifying ability," Fang explained, shaking his head. This was a simplified explanation that Wang Yu still struggled to fully grasp.

"Deities are immensely powerful beings. Their every action exerts a significant impact on the world and those within it. For us, beings whose souls exist between material reality and the void, their influence is profound. This marker was designed to force your soul to directly confront a deity's essence—a relatively weak one, to be sure, but one that possesses a critical spark of divinity.

"Unintelligent beings will transform into zealots, while intelligent ones will either go mad or become absolutely devoted themselves. Because these deities have been forgotten for so long and remain in a weakened state, however, it's unlikely that they would cause full madness. Rather, they're likely to work more subtly, slowly influencing their followers' souls over time.

"They'll turn people into believers step by step and have them promulgate their faith. Those cultists by the inner walls, for example, are likely under such influence."

Then, Fang chuckled. "However, your resistance bypassed this entirely. You were able to communicate directly with the Lady of the Night, allowing us to piece together critical knowledge that would have taken us far longer to gather otherwise. I'm truly glad that I recommended you to join the Nightblades' special ops team. Your ability will be of tremendous use."

Fang praised Wang Yu, then continued, "As for your questions, I'll address them now. First, it seems that you misunderstand the concept of 'faith.' Faith doesn't require complete devotion or total acceptance of a deity's manifold aspects. All it requires is acknowledgment. What you're referring to as faith—the kind exhibited by zealots—is much more extreme. You simply need to recognize your deity's power, agree with their teachings, abide by them, and transmit them. That is faith. It's not as rigid or stringent as you seem to think."

Wang Yu nodded thoughtfully. His understanding of faith was heavily influenced by his experience on Earth.

"Among all the deities and their manifold expressions of faith, that of the church of light is probably the most unique. You'll already have noticed that we don't invoke the god of light's name obsessively, and neither do we approach worship with excessive humility."

Wang Yu nodded again. He recalled how the followers of the god of light that he had encountered had been noble warriors or kind, pragmatic priests like the one from the nameless village.

Even so, hearing this from an archbishop of the god of light sounded rather...

"That's because, truthfully, the god of light might just be a conceptual entity," Fang continued. "In fact, I'm probably more of an agnostic than a believer. Do you know how I became a priest in the first place?"

Wang Yu shook his head.

"I fought my way up," Fang said with a grin. "Years ago, the church was holding a competition to select new paladins. I entered and relied on my own strength to win. There were twelve of us in all.

The previous archbishop personally faced us all in combat, defeating the eleven others besides me. I was the only one who was able to face him for a full hour. Then, because I was young and full of stamina, he grew tired before me. That's how I became the archbishop..." Fang spread his hands with an amused expression on his face.

Wang Yu was speechless.

"You see, we don't even worship a specific entity in the church of light. Other churches worship, say, the Lady of Fortune, Aelini; the Lord of War, Kael; and so on and so forth. We of the church of light, on the other hand, have no such singular figure. What we believe in is the concept of light—the ideals of kindness, courage, and making the world a better place.

"That's why the statues of the god of light vary so much. Most depict a stern, authoritative elder with a halo. As you've noticed, mine is a more muscular version of that figure. Some depict a radiant orb much like the sun, while others might show a beautiful and dignified goddess. Everyone sees the god of light differently.

"When I first became the archbishop,I couldn't believe it myself—but as I followed the church's teachings and used their methods to draw on divine power, I felt the warmth of the golden light. I thought to myself, 'This is worth believing in.'"

"That's... very impressive," Wang Yu finally said.

He understood why the church of light seemed so approachable now.

It also explained why the followers of the church of light didn't seem to reject other faiths at all...

"I believe you now understand what faith is—nothing but acknowledgment. You can trust the Lady of the Night, Eunice, and spread her faith on her behalf. She is no evil god, and as long as a deity isn't malevolent, faith is safe. Evil gods, on the other hand, corrupt and manipulate. They don't just want your faith, but your whole being as well."

Fang paused. "Here, let me write you my approval. You can use this as proof that you are no cultist or follower of an evil god." He quickly drew up an official-looking document infused with divine light and handed it to Wang Yu.

"Now, given the situation by the outskirts of the capital, you'll likely be assigned tasks there soon enough. While your mental resilience is extraordinary, your physical strength as a mid-tier knight-in-training is insufficient for handling missions in the capital. Even if Sieg didn't ask me for help, I would have shown you this place. Follow me. It's going to be one of the fastest methods to help you grow stronger."

Fang stood up and led Wang Yu into the dark web. They stepped into the Gap, that liminal place between realms.

"Where are we going, Fang?" Wang Yu asked.

"To a rather large library. What you need is a knight's secret art, one that's often called a pseudopotential," Fang replied.