Chapter 131
Chapter 131: Ghost Festival
【I, God of Law Wumianzhe, declare that under my will, the capital of the East Mist Diffindor will become a sacred land of the Law Faction—— A land devoid of sins 】
All mortals must remain humble before the will of a true God. When a God’s declaration was conveyed from the clouds, even the most furious of paladins and priests had to stop their arguments.
The God beyond the clouds showcased their might and innumerable pillars of light descended from the heavens. The silver Light of Law illuminated the entire world. The faint layer of silver cloaked the ruinous infrastructure within the city, causing the city to look solemn and dignified.
Contained in the golden scroll is the God Power of the God of Law. Without a doubt, this was a nation level (permanent) strategic Forbidden Spell.
Along with the tearing of the scroll, the overflowing Power of Law turned me into the medium of this Forbidden Spell as I replaced the God of Law to release this extreme Forbidden Spell.
However, in the predetermined declaration, I added in my own verse.
【Can sunlight survive alone without the night to complement it; is there no darkness to the other end of the Holy Light?】
【In my city, Undead do not represent evil, and Holy Light does not represent justice. Before the Rules of God, everyone is evil. The benevolent will be rewarded, and heinous sinners will not be spared!】
The two souls of the same origin harmonized with one another, and Wumianzhe, who did not possess self-awareness, gave up his control in the end, allowing my will to rewrite the predetermined declaration.
When the declaration of the true God echoed throughout the entire world, even I am unsure of what kind of repercussions it could bring, and what the additional words I added into the declaration would cause.
At the very least, in the eyes of those of the Holy Church, a true God bringing up the idea of ‘Darkness to the other end of Holy Light; Holy Light does not represent justice’ was a slap to their face. At this very moment, despite being in the Order Faction as well, in the eyes of all Holy Light jobs, the God of Law had become the top enemy of the God of Holy Light.
Even so, they were unable to censure us. After all, Wumianzhe was also a true God of the Order Faction, standing neck to neck with the God of Holy Light in a certain sense. On the other hand, the Church of Holy Light, in name, was the servant and representative of the teachings of Holy Light. No matter what, a servant criticizing a companion of his master was a disrespectful action.
“What does Wumianzhe mean by this? Does he intend to start an internal war among the Order Gods?”
Facing an unpleasant guest, the servants might not be qualified to make a stand, but the owner was allowed to reprimand the other party for their discourtesy. Everyone waited for the God of Holy Light to respond to the declaration, but the long-awaited response never arrived.
Alright, actually, these two true Gods do not possess self-awareness. They operate only on their path of logic to expand their faith. My declaration didn’t contain any direct insults, and I only brought up the possibility of ‘darkness to the other end of Holy Light, and that it does not represent justice’. These were facts and would not be determined as an aggressive action by that simple logical thinking of his. In fact, in the logic map of the God of Holy Light, those words had nothing to do with him at all. And thus, it wouldn’t elicit a response to my words.
Perhaps, in the eyes of those who understood the secrets of the Gods, this was just a meaningless little trick. They would only be doubtful of how Wumianzhe, who had lost his self-awareness, was able to utilize such a play on words. However, in the eyes of most mortals, this was equal to the silent acknowledgement of the words of the God of Law by the magnanimous God of Holy Light.
“There could be villains hiding beneath the cloak of Holy Light, and shadows exist behind the Holy Light as well. Perhaps the Church of Holy Light isn’t as sacred and righteous as it seems.”
This was probably the thought going through the minds of a majority of the listeners. Very possibly, in the eyes of the world, the God of Law and God of Holy Light had already started to stand at opposite ends with one another. At the very least, the most direct impact of this declaration was that there would be some friction among the Church of Holy Light against Law jobs.
However, since my initial goal was to poach personnel from the Holy Light and even replace the Holy Light in its entirety in the future, hostility of this level is within expectation. On the other hand, only when faced with enmity on the outside could the Law Faction unite together as one.
As the medium of the Forbidden Spell, I fully understood the effects of it.
Being a God Power Forbidden Spell on the same level as the City of Rain, when the Light of Law permanently envelops the entire city, anyone who oversteps the boundaries of the Rules of God within this city will be marked with the highest-tier Judgement Spell, turning their entire body crimson-red. This effect would be sustained for 24 hours, and all Enforcers who were aware of it must pass judgement on the criminal.
The Sinless City. When all tragic sins are exposed under the sun and it becomes impossible to escape from one’s crimes, the ideal of a city devoid of crimes will become reality very quickly.
If Liu Huang Mountain City is the Law Faction’s sacred land of origin, then Diffindor is fated to become its land of miracles as well as the land where Law will start rising from. From today onward, the Law Faction would be intricately linked to the East Mist Communal Nation.
At this moment, the agitated citizens were surrounding and attacking the bunch from the Church of Holy Light. Under the hint of my gaze, Xueti stepped forward to stop them.
“Under the gaze of my Lord, Wumianzhe, no sinners will be able to conceal themselves. Even if the Church of Holy Light has numerous past sins, the ones before us are indeed sinless. Please allow them to leave.”
After the descent of the miracle, the position of the Church of Law, which had just become the national religion of East Mist, would reach greater heights. The Tauren Pope of the God of Law religion would, without a doubt, become one of top three most authoritative figures in this country. Under such circumstances, his words would naturally be influential.
“Archbishop Lorf, your presence here will only worsen the conflict. Please hurry up and leave. If you still treasure your pride, please leave this city as soon as possible. If you choose to persevere on here, please do not die in this city; you will only cause unnecessary work for us.”
By the side, Xueti made sarcastic remarks while helping them out of the situation. With the Church of Law regulating the situation, the moment a gap appeared among the crowd, the noble regional Archbishop immediately fled, leaving his guards and priests behind…
“That is enough. It will be troublesome for us if their Archbishop were to die here. Given their nature, it is totally possible for them to fabricate stories like ‘The God of Law has colluded with the Undead and some Archbishop has died in the midst of carrying out his duties’. Judging from his current look, he seems to be scared out of his wits, so he will probably lead his team out of the city soon. It would be best if the Church of Holy Light can give up on the entire Northern Lands. Sigh, given their overbearing methods of dealing with problems, the possibility of them completely letting go of the Northern Lands isn’t great. Looks like we will still have to toil out with them in the future.”
With the departure of the ‘villains’, the citizens started to cheer triumphantly. The horns echoed once more and the symphony of victory played.
Under the war flags, the Knights proceeded on with their march; different from their prior solemness, the citizens joined the ancient heroes in the homecoming parade.
With the guarantee from numerous heroes and the descent of the miracle, the estrangement between the living and the dead shattered, and the forced, one-sided show came to an end. In the start, I was still slightly worried and hesitant, but now, the crowds were finally cheering for the returning ancient knights.
The grave atmosphere dissipated shortly after. When the living joined in the ranks of the formation, the parade started to exude joyfulness.
The elderly tried to ask the knights about the difference between the history they knew and the true history, while the middle-aged tried their best to leave their impressions on the knights. The youngsters beheld the figures of the unyielding knights of Mist with admiring gazes, wondering if they could become one of them, whereas the mischievous children would secretly prod the ice swords and flaunt their bravery to their companions.
The Aurora Knights at the front of the parade quickly became crowded. The elegant ice armors attracted the attention of the females and the children, while the legends of those donning it became the dreams of all males. At this moment, despite the stony faces on the Knights, happiness was gushing through their hearts. At the same time, they had to guard themselves against the sudden assaults by the rascals, as well as to explain the dangers the ice armor could pose to the crowd as well so that they wouldn’t touch it.
Most of the knights were the same as well. However, what left the greatest impression on them was the bizarre method of acknowledgement and reunion.
“The clan insignia on the flag… Could it be that you are my ancestor?”
“You… Are you the descendants of my younger sister? You truly resemble her!”
“Lord, can you visit our family when you are free? My children should be interested in listening to your stories.”
“Of course I can. I will head there the moment the parade ends! Everyone, look, I have descendants! I have a family once more; I am no longer alone!”
These sights occurred one after another. After receiving an affirmative, the living would receive the admiration of the other residents while the dead would be blinded by their joy and gleefully flaunt their descendants to their companions. Of course, most of them were the descendants of their siblings.
As for those who had no descendants of their own, they solemnly decided to check the civilian records to see if there were any descendants that were of their bloodline, or any far relatives who had changed their names. At the very least, for a family of their own.
Their cold outer appearance was like a barrier that the Undead Knights were used to putting on to isolate the coldness of outsiders from the inner heart. However, at this moment, the barrier was slowly crumbling, exposing the gentleness within.
The ones who were touched weren’t in the minority, and I had seen two Undead Skeleton General who laughed their lower jawbone down.
In my vision, even for the mentally resilient as Camisia, when young girls were busy putting on flower garlands on the head he was hanging by his waist, that flustered reaction and cross-eyed look revealed how touched he was, as well as his inherent qualities as a virgin with centuries of experience.
Should I be thankful for the fact that Undead were incapable of shedding tears? Otherwise, judging from the agitation of their soul, their uncontrollable tears of joy would have flooded the whole place, and the march of victory wouldn’t be as magnificent as it was.
“Finally… This is a true march of victory!”
Yes, what is a march of victory when only the triumphant homecoming warriors are involved? The waiting and welcoming villagers were the true reasons for the struggles of the warrior. Without the understanding and welcoming of the Mist citizens, without the blissful smiles on their face, what was the meaning behind the sacrifice of the warriors and their return?
At this moment, the thousand pound stone in my heart was finally relieved.
“What do I do if the citizens are unable to accept the Undead Knights? If it comes to that, everyone would be miserable, and it would be impossible to salvage the situation.”
In reality, even though I spoke of it so confidently and was the first one who entered through the gates, my heart was pounding furiously.
However, I know that I must not reveal my cowardice, otherwise ‘escapees’ will appear within those hesitant fellows, and we wouldn’t have the success we were experiencing now.
Despite being massive and hideous, the Abomination Carlos had rascals climbing up his shoulders. Perhaps the young parents hoped that their children could interact more with this young knight who died young, or perhaps this was the Mist citizens using their own ways to console this unfortunate youngster.
Should I be thankful to the Church of Holy Light for their hindrance? If it weren’t for their enmity, the painful dark history wouldn’t be pulled out and the Undead Knights wouldn’t be so easily accepted by the people.
“No, we should be thankful for the Mist citizens dwelling upon this land. It is my trust in them that made me stake in on this bet. It is impossible for the living to tread beside the Undead in any other countries!”
“Un, we might as well commemorate this day. Every year, we will hold a small celebration to deepen the friendship between the two.”
I didn’t expect that this thought of mine would result in the birth of the famous Ghost Festival of the Northern Lands. On that day, youngsters would dress up as demons and mythical beasts to join in the night parade of a hundred demons. Naturally, there were true ‘ghosts’ in their midst as well.
Undead not being viewed as evil will become one of the most important trademarks of the Sinless City. Soon, when the news spread, countless discriminated races and minorities would start to consider heading to the Northern Lands.
“I have not sinned, so why must you all pursue me to no ends? I have had enough of this.
—————
While Roland was still busying himself for the future, a certain someone was destined for tragedy.
A few months later, when the news of the Northern Land reached the Auland Empire, the emperor who was still vigorous despite losing his capital showed his weariness for the first time.
“You will regret it.” The elegant figure and her words appeared in his dreams once again, and the words that contained another meaning beneath the surface became the greatest rue of a certain emperor.
“Yes, I’ve regretted it! I’ve truly regretted it! Is this karma? Is this retribution for allowing others to assassinate you? Or was I mistaken from the very start?”
Every time the emperor drank on his own, he would be shouting these words while bawling over it.
At this moment, the attendants who thought that the emperor was stressed due to the worsening war situation would close the doors and call for Lord Hermit and Lord Rosemary.
The former was a strategist deeply trusted by the emperor. Regardless of whether it was matters concerning the war or daily affairs, he was always able to come up with suggestions that satisfied and left the emperor assured. On the other hand, the latter was a beauty that left one dizzy-headed. Empathetic, she was always able to soothe the burden and emotions of the emperor with a few words.
This time, it seemed that Lord Hermit was too busy with war affairs, thus only Rosemary came.
“Emperor Darsos? Why did you drink so much again?”
“Rosemary? Come, accompany me for a drink.”
“As you wish, your highness. Except, it will better for you to cut down on the alcohol. Drinking too much harms your body.”
“Hehe, I never expected that you, who she sent to me, would worry over me. Come, let’s chat.”
As expected, after a few words, the spirits of the doleful emperor lifted.
“Rosemary, you are truly my soulmate. Regardless of whether it is military affairs, politics, economics or commercial activities, you truly know it all. Perhaps, if I chose you to be my queen from the start, many things would not have occurred…”
Seeing the two of them hitting it off, the understanding royal attendants silently closed the doors. Perhaps, not long later, something would happen.