Fanatics were useless believers to the lawful gods.
They could provide a great deal of faith power, a dozen, if not hundreds of times more than the average believer.
But the problem was that this group of people were too extreme in their actions.
They didn’t care at all about the status of others, nor did they care about the context in which others spoke. Whenever someone dared to say half a bad word about their god, they would break loose.
There was absolutely no room for maneuvering.
They pushed things to the point of no return.
So most of the time, the fanatics were given a place to settle.
They were put in some special organization, bound by doctrine.
But this wasn’t very safe either.
Once they found an opportunity to break out of their cage, they would cause great trouble.
The Church of Light then threw all the fanatics into the Inquisition, so at least a third of the people in the Inquisition were fanatics.
Including the director Macaron.
He looked at the Pope. His eyes then swept slightly over the three Saint Samurai with a flat expression. “I didn’t expect such a great man as you to come to our dull place.”
“Macaron, tell your men to stop.” The Pope sighed. “Things can’t go on like this. We can investigate internally, but we can’t arrest those outsiders. We need evidence.” “Evidence?” Macaron snorted. “Is that important? Is it as important as the reputation of our religion? Will it diminish the wrath of the Goddess? You should feel it too: the Goddess has cast her eyes down. She will be disappointed if we don’t do something about
it.”
The Pope held back his anger and advised, “That is no reason for you to arrest people indiscriminately, and I now hear that you have sent someone arrest those at the First Princess’s manor!”
“Can’t I?” Macaron snorted. “A woman with the scent of a Demon God is wandering in the territory of the Holy Realm. The Holy Lady sees it and ignores it, you hear about it and don’t care, and since you are ignoring this obvious oddity at such an important time, we, the Inquisition, will take responsibility for bringing her back for questioning?”.
“That’s the royal family’s territory, not ours.” The Pope finally couldn’t hold back and slammed the table, shouting, “Don’t throw a tantrum, think of the big picture. In this case, just uncover the people who corrupted Tula. If we really strike at the royal family, we’ll have to face the joint counterattack of the royal family and the Association of Mages. The two forces are inextricably linked. Wouldn’t sending people to the First Princess’s manor now be a declaration of war on the royal family? A declaration of war on the Association of Mages?”
“So what?” Macaron snorted.
“Stephanie is the future queen-do you understand what to do if something happens to her?”
“With the princess gone, there are still princes
– plenty of princes to inherit the throne.” Macaron stood up straight and proud. “All they’ve lost is a princess, and what we’ve lost is a Saint Samurai.”
The Pope took a deep breath. He almost couldn’t suppress his anger anymore. “Regardless, I forbid you to send men to deal with Stephanie.”
“You have no authority to order me around, Pope.” Macaron snorted. “The Inquisition has been out of the hands of the papal chambers since its inception, and you have no control over what we do.”
The Pope was so angry that the veins on his head were popping out.
The Church of Light had a system of separation of powers.
The Pope oversaw all the archbishops and combat priests, the Holy Lady managed the clerical, denominational propaganda, and logistical side of things, while the Inquisition cleaned up apostates internally and did some of the more shady work of tying up loose ends externally.
Normally, the Church of Light had the pope as its head.
But when it came to critical times, each faction of power had the freedom to act alone.
Normally, the Inquisition would give face to the Pope, but now the other side did not accept the Pope’s command and management. The Pope couldn’t deal with them in the name of apostasy.
Macaron said to his trusted aide next to him, “Thomas, take five hundred men and set out. If anyone dares to stand in your way, deal with them by the ordinance of apostasy, and if there’s someone you can’t handle, come back and tell me.”
Thomas smiled and glanced at the Pope, then turned and left.
The Pope clenched his teeth in anger, then he immediately said to a Saint Samurai behind him, “Orlanto, your wings of light are better and fly faster, now go immediately to inform Her Highness the First Princess and tell her to be careful. Tell her the Church of Light is caught up in internal strife.” The Saint Samurai turned around and left.
Most of the Saint Samurai were originally combat Priests, so they had more respect for the Pope, their old boss.
Macaron looked at the Pope coldly. “Telling the outside world that we’re in internal strife, Pope, where does this put the reputation of our church? Does the Goddess’s reputation still matter-do you, the Pope, still have some heart to defend the Goddess?”
The Pope said slowly, “Everything I do is for the development of the church, to spread the glory of the Goddess to more lands.”
“You have been compromising with worldly forces, and I see no move on your part to spread glory.” Macaron extended his finger and pointed it at the Pope’s heart. “Ask your conscience, has the total number of followers of our church grown in the decades of your reign?”
The Pope snorted. “A reckless man is worthy enough to talk to me about how to govern a church? You don’t even know what it means to protect the foundation, do you?”
“I only know that once the secular forces are subdued, there will naturally be more believers.” Maccarone sneered. “What your papal office dares not do, I will do for you. That’s all, Pope. Please leave, you’re too honorable to stay in such a gloomy place.”
The Pope’s old face grew darker and darker as he snorted, flung his cuffs, and turned to leave.
Once outside the confines of the Inquisition, the Pope said to the two Saint Samurai behind him, “Go to the First Princess’s manor as well, and if a fight breaks out, try to stop them. Try to lessen the deaths and injuries on the Princess’s side, and try not to let our people get hurt.”
The two Saint Samurai spread their wings and left.
The Pope had a forlorn look on his face.
As angry as he was at Macaron’s recklessness, the Inquisition was part of the Church of Light after all, and he had to help them tie up loose ends when they screwed things up; he couldn’t push them out and see them as outsiders.
It was a relationship between the palm and the back of the hand.
At this time, in front of the First Princess stood Orlanto.
After listening to the other party, Stephanie showed a hint of sarcasm. “Honorable Saint Samurai, your people are coming, and now you’re letting us go… I appreciate you informing us beforehand, but I have a question for you. Can you answer it?”
“Please go ahead.” Orlanto saluted slightly in a gentlemanly manner.
“If we go, then we’re showing fear for the Temple of Light. What will others think of the royal family? Wouldn’t they think we are cowards?” Stephanie spoke gently, but the words that slipped out from between her pink lips were sharp. “Glory is hard to establish, but it can be destroyed with one or two small things. In the future, the royal family will have a reputation for being cowards. Can you compensate for this? Or is this your scheme? You are the ones who sent people out to deal with me, and you are the ones who persuaded me to leave. Interestingly, you are the bad guys and the good guys—that is, you can tarnish the reputation of the royal family without making us hate you.”
Orlanto’s face became rather stiff.
When he came, he did have the idea of saving and protecting the First Princess.
As long as there was no corruption, there was a bottom line and a code of conduct for Saint Samurai.
But they couldn’t help what others may think.
“I…” Orlanto ran out of words. He was a Saint Samurai, not a politician or an orator, and didn’t know how to handle such a situation.
The First Princess looked at him and snorted. “So, Mr. Orlanto, please leave. I, Stephanie Fareins, will stand here today and never back down, whether it is the Inquisition or His Holiness the Pope’s squad of combat Priests that come. No one will make me so much as step half a foot out of this manor.”
An icy fury came over him.
Orlanto closed his eyes helplessly, knowing full well that things were going the way the Pope had feared.
The Inquisition had gone haywire and set its sights on the First Princess.
Once something happened to the First Princess, the Association of Mages would lean toward the royal family. When the two sides joined, a series of chain reactions would be produced, and the whole capital would descend into chaos.
And the demons who were hidden among them would even take this opportunity to cause trouble.
Even if they couldn’t corrupt the Saint Samurai, as long as they corrupted one or two archbishops or high-ranking priests, it was just as big a loss for the church.
He rubbed his brow, now at a loss for words of persuasion.
He had already found that the more he tried to persuade the First Princess Stephanie, the more she would firm up her position.
This was no longer a mere dispute of interests, but a matter of reputation.
But could he leave?
He didn’t dare to leave.
At this time, Stephanie looked at him and continued, “Mr. Orlanto, please leave my manor. When the people from the Inquisition come over later, there will be a conflict, and we will only see you as an enemy and attack.”
“I understand.”
mas
Orlanto turned and left the manor. He was just out the door when he saw Thomas approaching with over five hundred gray-robed inquisitors.
He immediately blocked the way, and when the men came over, he said, “Thomas, take my advice and stop. Director Macaron is wrong. We shouldn’t have come to the First Princess’s estate. And the First Princess has no reason to breed demons to trap us.”
“Whether there is a reason or not, we will know when we ask.” Thomas looked at Orlanto. “Lord Saint Samurai, you do have the power to order all believers, but we, the Inquisition, also have the power to not take orders. Please move out of the way and don’t make things difficult for us.”
“And what if I don’t get out of the way?” Orlanto snorted. “Are you going to kill me as well, or subdue me and throw me into your great jail?”
“How could I?” Thomas smiled. “The Saint Samurai are the Goddess’s favorite children, of course, we wouldn’t dare, nor could we harm you, but we could harm ourselves.”
Orlanto froze—what did this mean?
“Seven-eight, eight-two, six-nine, and four-zero-four step forward.”
Four people in gray robes stepped forward.
Thomas smiled and said, “Cut your own throat.”
As soon as those words were said, the four in gray robes didn’t hesitate to take out their daggers and swipe at their own throats.
There was no hesitation, no confusion.
Four lines of blood spurted out, and the four in gray robes fell at the same time.
The professionals were so resilient that they didn’t die immediately, even from fatal injuries.
They lay on the ground, gurgling in their throats, their breath mixing with arterial blood spurting out, sucking it back in, and spitting it out again.
It was like the sound of a fountain about to run dry.
The lack of oxygen was quite painful, but there was no pain on the faces of these four men, and no sadness in their eyes, only relief at the completion of their orders-and frenzy!
“You’re all crazy!” Orlanto turned pale with shock.
He hurriedly cast Sunlight to suppress the injuries of these four people and strengthen their vitality.
Then he rushed over and immediately administered divine healing to the four dying
men.
With this, there was no way for him to block the middle of the road.
Thomas waved his hand, and the squad bypassed Orlanto and continued.
Orlanto turned back and roared as he treated the men: “Thomas, you bas*ard, you bas*ard who ordered the mutilation of his own people. When my hands are free, I will punish you with the laws of the church.”
Thomas turned back. His eyes were similar to those of the four dying men just now. “It’s okay, Your Holiness. I’d give anything to have the glory of the Goddess shed one more bit of light on this earth, whether it be my money, freedom, life, or soul.”
After speaking, Thomas threw a wink at Orlanto and turned to continue on his way.
Orlanto was shaking with anger. “Another crazy fanatic.”
He didn’t dare to stop these inquisitors, for as soon as the treatment was interrupted, the four men would immediately die. The Saint Samurai’s healing was indeed powerful, but healing four people at the same time was still a bit of a struggle.
If only one person needed to be treated, they would have been saved by now.
With four seriously injured people, he could only keep them alive. Macaron led his five hundred men to the front of Stephanie’s manor.
The place was heavily guarded, and when the royal guards saw such a large number of gray-robed people approaching, they immediately bellowed, “Who is it? This is the residence of Her Highness the First Princess Stephanie. All unrelated persons are to stop immediately and are not allowed to come any closer without the princess’s permission.”
Macaron gestured to make an attack and said, “Kill everyone except First Princess Stephanie.”
At that, the bodies of the five hundred gray-robed people simultaneously emitted a light golden glow.
Light divine spells came crashing down.
Stephanie was sitting in the study at this moment, trying to discuss with Roland how to deal with the attack of the church, but not even a few words of this were said before she saw Roland’s face change drastically.
With a wave, Roland enveloped both him and the First Princess completely in a small, light blue barrier.
Stephanie froze for a moment, then saw through the translucent blue barrier layer to the window beyond where the light shone brightly.
A large number of spells were then thrown in.
A complete carpet bombing.
Lots of balls of light, light spears, and light arrows were thrown into the manor.
There was a rumbling explosion that shattered and splattered everything in its path.
There was a simultaneous burst of intense flashes of light, and in just under three seconds of looking at it, Stephanie’s eyes were dazed.
At the same time, she became furious. “Temple of Light, how dare you do this!”
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