The Era of Gods - Chapter 421
Chapter 421: Chapter 421 The Notary Arrives
Time progressed slowly amidst chaos. Following the arrival of human outsiders, the Children of Nightmare and Children of the Spirit Realm successively descended, further exacerbating the turmoil of the entire plane.
The number of these outsiders was not small, and they mostly disregarded the rules of engagement. Upon their arrival, they began to plunder territories, clashing with existing Descenders or native inhabitants, leading to frequent battles.
All of this had little to do with Lin Xiao. The Kingdom of Alphonso was remote, situated at the southernmost tip of the continent. Most of the Descenders arrived directly within the three Great Empires of the mainland, where large groups descended upon this region to fight fiercely over territories.
Among them, the Holy Church suffered the deepest wounds. Two of the three Great Empires had essentially slipped from the grasp of the Holy Church. In particular, the faith in the Holy Church within the Saernos Empire had completely collapsed, divided amongst many Descenders.
As competition continued to escalate, more and more Descenders arrived, many of whom were from other regions of the Totem Continent.
The majority came to divide the Power of Faith, but a small portion arrived with other intentions.
With an increasing population and insufficient territories, it was only natural that some set their sights on the unscathed Kingdom of Alphonso, wanting to carve out a few provinces for themselves.
However, before they could even start, they were easily suppressed by the local forces of various provinces, including the direct killing of many Descenders.
Still, this piqued the interest of many, and despite the suppression of many on the spot, there were those stubborn enough to keep coming.
And all this, Lin Xiao did not hear of it; it was already handled by Alphonso.
Life Grand Cathedral, the refuge.
“Phew, it’s finally about to happen!”
Looking at the golden runes on the surface of the Space god pattern that were mostly gone, Lin Xiao exhaled lightly.
It had taken him a whole eight months to initially refine the sealing runes on the surface of the Divinity, and the next step was the most crucial one.
But before that, he left the Grand Cathedral for a moment, first convening all the core believers to instruct them on some matters and then writing a letter to Lisha.
It didn’t take long for Lisha to arrive, and she was slightly startled at the first glance of him, her beautiful eyes scanning him up and down, curiously asking,
“You seem… different somehow.”
He smiled and gestured for her to sit down in front of him, saying,
“There is something different, and it’s related to why I called you here.”
She sat down gracefully in front of him, gazing at him intently and said,
“Did you ascend to be a Totem Lord?”
He shook his head:
“Not yet, but I’m at the final step. Before that, there is something I need to tell you.”
“Hmm, I’m listening.”
Lin Xiao turned around and took out an exquisitely made small box from behind him. He opened it to reveal a golden statue radiating a milky aura. Lisha’s eyes brightened at the sight:
“Such a strong concentration of the Power of Faith.”
He closed the box and slid it towards her, saying,
“In some time, a world-shaking transformation will occur in this plane. It would be best if you leave this plane immediately.”
Her expression shifted slightly as she asked,
“Are you preparing to…?”
He neither nodded nor shook his head but simply stated,
“Don’t ask too much. The Power of Faith accumulated here is enough for you to use until you become a Totem Lord.”
“Looks like it really is serious then. Alright, I’ll listen to you.”
She didn’t hesitate, taking the box and glancing up at him with a lift of her eyelids, suddenly leaning in with a smile and said,
“You still have a conscience, so let me make you feel good one more time.”
….
As he watched her graceful figure disappear, Lin Xiao reminisced about the delightful moments just passed, letting out a soft chuckle as he gathered his thoughts.
Most of what needed to be handled had been taken care of, and it was time to officially begin Opening the Totem Territory.
After ordering the Church to prepare, Lin Xiao returned to the Life Grand Cathedral once more.
With a calm heart and mind, his consciousness sank into the sea of knowledge, where The Golden Ancient Tree undulated up and down. Rings of golden waves surrounded The Golden Ancient Tree, undulating up and down, ready to burst forth.
During the past eight months, he had been doing more than just Refining Divinity; he had also been preparing for Opening the Territory, with everything now ready for the final step.
Taking a deep breath, with a thought, the previously poised golden light suddenly expanded, merging into a single surge that combined with an invisible fluctuation from The Golden Ancient Tree. It formed a dark golden wave that slowly expanded from The Golden Ancient Tree as the center.
With each expansion of the dark golden wave, Lin Xiao felt his soul and will expanding and becoming more powerful.
This expanding dark golden wave centered around The Golden Ancient Tree was the edge of the newly opened Territory, with new Territory forming wherever the dark gold wave passed.
The dark golden wave was a power produced by the combination of his spiritual power and the Power of Faith. As it expanded outward, its strength gradually depleted until it reached the limit of his domain.
Lin Xiao didn’t focus on the expansion of the dark golden wave. Once it reached a certain extent, he pulled his will back and it settled above the golden branches of The Golden Ancient Tree. Taking a deep breath, his mind moved, and the last remaining rune seal began to burn.
As soon as the final rune seal ignited, a surge of strength far greater than before erupted, spreading out like a tide in all directions, quickly surpassing the dark golden wave of the opened domain, toward the far-off realm visible only on a spiritual level.
From the outside, Lin Xiao, who was seated on the metal array platform, seemed to be swept over by an invisible fluctuation that then penetrated the surrounding walls.
In the instant that this invisible fluctuation emerged, an angry roar erupted from the Hymn Cathedral enveloped by a halo of Milky Belief Power at the center of the Divine Empire’s Imperial City. Immediately after, the infinite Power of Faith that permeated the heavens above the Holy City converged toward the center of the cathedral, forming a light angel emanating an awe-inspiring divine presence with a giant light sword pointing into the distance:
“Heretic, holy war!”
The powerful Divine Empire was stirred up by this divine mandate. As the headquarters of the Holy Church and a theocracy, the Emperor of the Empire was not only the supreme ruler but also the Pope of the Holy Church.
After entering the Grand Cathedral of the Holy City and personally communicating with the Holy God, the Pope issued the highest level of holy war ever decreed by the church.
At the same time, a heart-shaking announcement was issued to all forces across the continent:
“A heretic is about to achieve Divine Enthronement!”
The entire plane was shocked by this message, followed by a flurry of discussion.
“Are you saying someone is about to ascend to becoming a Totem Lord in this plane?”
Xiang Lei, one of the new human Descenders’ leaders, looked at his subordinate in astonishment and asked:
“Do you know who it is?”
The subordinate nodded while stroking his chin:
“Although the Holy Church hasn’t confirmed who it is, the pointed direction is the southern part of the continent. The strongest force in the south, and the most likely person, is Rore, who occupies the Alphonso Kingdom. If nothing goes wrong, it should be him.”
“This person you’ve mentioned before, the strongest Descender of this plane, plundered a kingdom’s thousand years of accumulated Power of Faith and claimed a kingdom. As long as the ascension resources are sufficient, indeed, they can quickly become a Totem Lord.”
“Hmm, that’s a tough decision,”
He raised his head to look southward, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
The whole plane was boiling over because of this declaration, whether it was the Descenders, Children of Nightmare, or Child of the Spirit Realm, all were shocked by this message.
While others were discussing whether to get involved, to just watch, or to take part, the kingdoms of Finland Kingdom and Sardinian Kingdom on the borders of the Alphonso territory responded to the call of the Holy Church and declared war on the Alphonso Kingdom simultaneously.
The troops stationed at the border sent out a large number of scouts into the territory of the Alphonso Kingdom, who soon vanished without a trace.
The Alfanso Empire did not attack or retreat; the border remained as usual.
Half a month later, with the help of the Holy Church, both kingdoms, at an unprecedented speed, each gathered an army of over twenty thousand troops and agreed to meet at the border. Several armies of Children of Nightmare and Children of the Spirit Realm also gathered there in response to the call for a holy war.
Although also Descenders, as long as they did not proselytize, they would not be excluded.
But this was not the most aggressive move. Outside Dier City, a foreign caravan was slowly approaching. A dozen members dressed as merchants, Children of the Spirit Realm, squinted their eyes at the tall city walls, concealing the gleam in their eyes. One of them whispered:
“After entering the city, we’ll kill the king in the Imperial Palace to create chaos first, then assassinate that human Descender. He is not yet a Totem Lord, he won’t be able to block our assault.”
The caravan moved slowly towards the city gate with the crowd, and when it was nearly their turn to be checked by the soldiers at the gate, one of the Children of the Spirit Realm suddenly saw a small pavilion at the gate with several priests of the Life and Wisdom Church inside. One of the priests was staring in their direction, and they felt something was amiss.
Soon it was their turn. Before the soldiers could start their inspection, the priest stood and murmured a few words to his companions before walking towards them. A line of priests and church knights came over, wielding hammers and staves with unfriendly expressions.
The dozen Children of the Spirit Realm knew they had been exposed and were bewildered, but without time for questions, they glanced around. One of them, his eyes filled with viciousness, hissed:
“Kill everyone at the city gate and retreat.”
As he roared, his body rapidly swelled, swiftly turning into a small giant with blue-black skin. His arms quickly expanded and split, turning into a dozen or so meaty tendrils stretching twenty to thirty meters in length, lashing out at the shocked civilians around them.
Several priests were startled by this and one of them immediately struck the city gate’s bronze gong and shouted:
“There’s a Demon devouring people, be on alert!”
The Spirit Realm Child who took action grew even angrier at this cry and extended his arms with seven or eight lashing tendrils towards the priest.
“Shield of Belief!”
A shield of light formed, and as the tendrils hit it with a thud, the force of the impact sent the man flying.
Another Child of the Spirit Realm tore off the cloth covering his eyes, and his eyes quickly caught fire, ejecting twin narrow columns of intense flame dozens of meters long, hitting another soldier and melting through his armor, but another priest immediately raised a Shield of Belief to block it.
“Divine Arts?”
The Child of the Spirit Realm with the blue-black face was surprised:
“How is this possible?”
A sinister feeling crept over him, and he sensed something ominous.
As the thought crossed his mind, he heard a huge rumbling from inside the city, like the footsteps of a person. Following that, an immense head emerged from over the city walls.
