Emlyn vaguely sensed that there might be some abnormalities in the two Beyonder pathways of Earth and Moon, but he didn't ask Archbishop Loreto about it directly.
He doesn't seem like he would answer... It's better to wait for the next Tarot Gathering to ask The World, The Hanged Man, and the others... Emlyn nodded indiscernibly, indicating that he already knew the difference between a Favored and a Blessed as he muttered to himself.
He didn't consider seeking Mr. Fool's answer, because he felt that there was no need since the corresponding problem wasn't too important. After all, the Sanguine's Dukes, Marquises, and Counts were still alive and well, and there hadn't been any particularly negative news regarding the Church of Earth Mother.
At the same time, his previous guess also made Emlyn connect these to the influence the Primordial Moon, an existence which was perhaps an evil god or a high-level Devil in disguise, had on the Moon pathway. "He" had once caused many Sanguine who had prayed to "Him" to lose control, turning into monsters that only knew how to mate and reproduce.
Emlyn suspected that this was one of the evil existences that sent the fake visions and revelations.
With no more questions from him, Loreto put away the document in his hand and thought for a moment before saying, "This is the problem that requires special attention.
"In addition, I hope that you can set up three to five Beyonder teams in Backlund. They should mainly be members of the Sanguine."
Emlyn was always law-abiding. The only crime he did was steal blood at the hospital. He subconsciously raised his question, "Does the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms have any objections?"
Loreto said with a benevolent smile, "This was a request from them.
"As most of the forces of the Church of Steam have withdrawn, there is a lack of official Beyonders in Loen.
"Although the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms have also recruited a group of Machinery Hivemind members who don't wish to leave Loen, and the lower-ranking clergymen, they are ultimately just a minority. Furthermore, they still need to handle the purge in Feysac and the independent colonies overseas. Therefore, they hope that they can provide some help.
"This is quite beneficial for our proselytizing in Loen. However, you have to remember that, here, we have to restrain ourselves. We can't freely proselytize. Just be on the same level as the remnant Church of Steam. Of course, our believers won't be able to catch up to the Church of Steam for a long period of time. This requires a generation, two generations, or even three generations of effort."
Yes, maintaining the present scale and having a certain degree of development is enough... It's too troublesome to proselytize... Emlyn heaved a sigh of relief and calmly replied, "Okay."
...
In the Sonia Sea, City of Generosity, Bayam.
Alger wore a bishop's robe embroidered with symbols of lightning and waves. He wore a metal Storm Sacred Emblem and stood at the peak of the coastal mountain range, looking out at the other side of the forest.
There were very few trees there. The surrounding hills and short mountains had been flattened, revealing a hidden harbor.
It was a private harbor that belonged to the Resistance. It was definitely not comparable to Bayam's port, but it was of medium size, enough to sustain many people's lives.
A city with an unconstrained and crude style had been built near the harbor. The city wasn't huge, probably only one-fifth the size of Bayam or smaller.
In the center were two towers. One was a spire, the other steeple. They were all strangely silver, reflecting blinding light under the sun.
Surrounding the twin towers were many paved roads made of cement. They led to buildings that were mainly made of stone or were connected to open squares and training grounds. The green trees lining the sides of the street exuded a feeling of grandeur.
Alger knew that the city didn't only consist of residents from the City of Silver, but also people from Moon City.
Many of the latter were extremely deformed. They were temporarily unwilling to interact with Bayam, as well as the residents of the other cities on the island. They only purchased their necessities through the people of the City of Silver.
It was said that they planned on building a city that belonged to them deep in the forest, and would only leave a path to the new City of Silver.
These are all believers of Mr. Fool. I'll have to slowly integrate them into the entirety of the Rorsted Archipelago... For now, I'll temporarily not disturb the deformed and allow the residents of the City of Silver to bring normal-looking Moon City residents to Bayam... Alger seriously considered his subsequent actions.
After settling down the residents of the City of Silver and Moon City, he had actually completed the mission that Mr. Fool had given him. However, he believed that he was still far from being able to exchange for Sea God's identity, authority, and status. Therefore, he did his best to deal with the problems left behind by the "great migration."
To be frank, Alger was most worried that Mr. Fool didn't give him anything to do. If that happened, he didn't know how long it would take for him to make enough contributions.
Accompanying the new City of Silver's establishment and the immense vibrancy it exuded, he acutely sensed danger.
There was more than one Sequence 4 demigod in the City of Silver and Moon City, and they were Mr. Fool's loyal believers. Perhaps, Mr. Fool would one day bestow the identity, status, authority, and power of Sea God to one of them!
There are two Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts in the City of Silver, a Sequence 3 saint, three Sequence 4 saints, and nearly ten Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, as well as a few demigod Beyonder characteristics that can temporarily be used as Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts... There are three demigods in Moon City, five Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, and a large number of potion formulas... This... Alger only made a slight calculation before realizing that the two factions that came under Mr. Fool were a little terrifying.
All of them combined was equivalent to a quarter of the Church of Storms!
According to what Alger knew, the number of Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts each Church had numbered between five to eight. There were fewer than four Grounded Angels active at present. In this aspect, they were indeed much stronger than the combined Moon City and City of Silver.
However, the orthodox Churches had no advantage in numbers when it came to Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts and saints, especially the latter.
Due to an all-out war, with the brass increasing the number of saints by nurturing them, the Church of Storms only had around twenty saints.
The Church of the Sea God doesn't have a demigod yet, but it won't be long before a new Sea God will appear... As for the angels under Mr. Fool, there's The World, the Death Consul, and the angel of the Fate pathway... There are the saints from our Tarot Club... The more Alger thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He realized that he was a little slow in this aspect.
Perhaps it was because he couldn't extricate himself to take an objective look at things, and although he had always been amazed by such matters, he finally came to a clear realization today:
Unknowingly, Mr. Fool's faction had already developed to a level that was comparable to an orthodox Church. Even if there was a certain gap, it was only due to the lack of accumulation that needed to span across years.
And it hadn't even been three years since Alger joined the Tarot Club!
If I hadn't experienced all these changes myself, I definitely wouldn't have believed it. Alger sighed inwardly as he fervently wished to do something for Mr. Fool so that he could quickly accumulate the contributions needed to transform into Sea God.
When that happened, he could truly cast his gaze towards the Book of Calamity and attempt to complete the request of the elven queen, Cohinem.
Retracting his gaze, Alger glanced at Bayam at the foot of the mountain. He saw that this city, which hadn't suffered any serious damage in the war, had once again lit up. It could also be called the most prosperous city in the Sonia Sea.
At that moment, the priests, bishops, and believers of the Church of the Lord of Storms were cooperating with the new government civil servants and the Church of Sea God to build schools and hospitals to the children in the slums and the natives with no financial capacity that would provide education, medical treatment, and assistance.
As Alger watched the people walking along the streets like ants and the colorful buildings that were different from the vast majority of Loen, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly before he wiped away his smile.
He narrowed his eyes, unsure what he was experiencing or enjoying.
At that moment, a grayish-white fog suddenly appeared in front of him.
Following that, he saw the ancient palace and blurry figure in the middle of the fog. He heard Mr. Fool's words:
"A mission. Monitor a man named Verdu Garcia."
Along with the revelation, plenty of miscellaneous information rained down and drilled into Alger's mind, allowing him to know the exact situation of Verdu Garcia.
He was a member of the Abraham family that had concealed his identity. He had recently left Desi County and had come to the Rorsted Archipelago.
Alger was thrilled. He bowed his head respectfully in response. "By your will."
...
Klein knew that Verdu Garcia Abraham had left the Northern Continent and was heading to the Rorsted Archipelago, as Dorian Gray had mentioned this when he prayed.
He knew very well that the person named Verdu yearned to save Mr. Door so that the King of Angels could return to the real world.
The reason why Klein had gotten Miss Magician to inform the Abraham family of one of the rituals that helped Mr. Door escape was because the trust between the two parties was insufficient. If he were to hide it or lie by saying that an angel needed to be hunted for the ritual, the Abraham family would definitely suspect Fors and make her continue contacting Mr. Door and try to confirm it through other means.
Once they discovered anything, Klein would lose control of the Abraham family, preventing him from nipping the problem in the bud.
If it had been a few years ago, Klein wouldn't have been too worried about such problems. However, as the apocalypse approached, the infiltration of the Outer Deities would only increase. It was possible that a member of the Abraham family would come into contact with a corresponding item or believer and obtain the correct ritual.
Therefore, Klein believed that the ritual that was extremely difficult to complete could be used to effectively gain the trust of the Abrahams, allowing them to deepen their faith in Mr. Fool and become more devout. Then, he could monitor the extreme ones among the devout and grasp their trajectories, and interfere with them in time.
