Chapter 16: Holy Book

How should he choose between secular and sacred, regime and church power? How can he choose?

Perhaps only he himself knew in his heart whether he had any choice at that moment.

In any case, when he walked out of the imperial palace, Roger finally felt a little relaxed. At least in front of him, the uneasiness that had always hung in his heart was finally eliminated, although the price was equally huge. He couldn't even say whether the price he paid was worth it. Until Roger sat in his study, the emperor's voice still echoed in his ears.

"Rog, I heard that the Eye of Wisdom and the Holy Sect of Silver are about to merge. Is there something wrong?" Feuerbach's low voice kept echoing in the extremely dark study, as if a beast was roaring faintly.

"Yes, your Majesty." Roger replied respectfully. A chill faintly arose in his heart.

"Now the Eye of Wisdom and the Holy Sect of Silver are the same goddess, right? The original Ice and Snow Goddess should have been defeated by the Goddess of Eye of Wisdom. Is that true?" the emperor asked slowly.

A thin cold sweat began to seep out of Roger's forehead. He knew that his answer was very critical. If one is not good, he might immediately cause a murder. At least with the boss Sarah Wenger, he had no chance to assassinate the emperor or escape.

"Yes. The goddess of the Eye of Wisdom Audreh showed his divine power and defeated the Ice and Snow Goddess worshipped by the Silver Holy Church. She didn't know how to make the believers of the Silver Holy Church think that she was the Ice and Snow Goddess. Your Majesty, I know so much about this. After all, the realm of God is not something that I, a mortal, can understand." Rogge chose to tell the truth, at least part of the truth.

The emperor nodded and said, "Very good."

Roger felt that the sharp feeling behind him, like a sharp needle, finally disappeared.

Feuerbach said again: "Rogge, since you arrived in the empire, you have personally experienced the battle formation, expanded your territory, and made many great contributions to the empire. I heard that you are familiar with history, so you must know that for an outsider like you, you can be granted a principality, receive a title of prince, and be able to command a 100,000 army. What does this mean? I am not treating you badly, right?"

"I just want to serve Your Majesty, and there is no requirement at all. Of course... If you have a little selfishness, I also hope that Your Majesty's war horse can set foot on the rich southern land."

The emperor was expressionless and indifferent to Roger's declaration of loyalty, and slowly said: "After the two religions are united, their influence in the empire will exceed the original Silver Holy Church, and no one can match you with your power in politics now except Alexander and Pompey. What kind of ending do you think will be if this situation develops?"

Roger rolled in cold sweat, knelt on the ground with a plop, and hurriedly said, "I have never had any worries about Your Majesty!"

"Get up, our Aslofik Empire is not as jealous as the Southerners. You have made great contributions and have always been loyal, so you can rest assured that I will still entrust you with important tasks. But this situation cannot continue, and the struggle between you and Alexander and Pompey should come to an end. Between secular rights and church rights, you should choose the same choice!"

Roger's thoughts came to an end. He stood up, slowly walked out of the room, and looked up at the sky.

The sky is as always, with a thin cloud like a lead curtain hanging. But today's clouds seem higher than before, and it also makes people feel a little refreshing.

Behind the clouds is the high and cold sky. Behind the sky is the endless void. Beyond the void, are you going to the forbidden area of ​​the gods?

What are some in the realm of the gods? Is it also monotonous, cold and lonely like the wastelands of the northern country?

Roger sighed secretly, then called out: "Come!"

"What are your instructions?" Before the fat man finished speaking, Robertsky came out of nowhere. Usually, as long as Roger returned home and called him, this guy would definitely appear, and the fat man could handle every thing he told him to do. It seems that over the years, Roberts has improved a lot, and his vision and ability are far beyond that of the time when he was the leader of the bandits.

"Prepare the car, follow me to the Holy Church Cathedral." Roger ordered.

At this moment, the cathedral of the Silver Holy Church has been renovated, and it looks even more sacred, solemn, solemn and luxurious. According to Gregory's suggestion, the statue of the Ice and Snow Goddess in front of the main hall has been pushed down. With the efforts of fanatical believers and the assistance of countless mages, a new statue of the goddess is being built at an extremely fast speed. The only thing that is quarrel is the face of the statue.

Unlike the original solemn but dull image of the Ice and Snow Goddess statue, the newly erected goddess looks lifelike. In view of the perspective of demonstrating the goddess' majesty, Gregory proposed that a giant dragon should be added in front of the goddess' throne to show that the goddess' majesty has overwhelmed the dragon, the most powerful creature in people's mind.

Of course, the selfishness it contains is well known to everyone. But the results of things are often not satisfactory. Although Mora adopted Gregory's suggestion when designing the sketch, she actually asked the designer to design the statue of the dragon according to the image of Silver Dragonston.

This hit Gregory's key point in one fell swoop. No matter how the sacred dragon threatened and tempted him, Mora did not give in at all. Gregory's own identity is special, and there are very few people who know it exists. Even if they want to find a designer to modify the sketches in person, no one will listen to it.

Mora's style is extremely rigorous, and she either prays or practices. As Fengyue's magician, her own strength has also increased dramatically with the increase of Fengyue's divine power. Therefore, it is very difficult for Gregory, who sneaks into the secret, to approach her in secret. Even if she succeeds a few times occasionally, she does not catch any topics that can threaten her.

Helplessly, Gregory finally found Mora privately and begged for a while. After paying a heavy price, he finally got the opportunity to stand in front of the goddess and accept worship from believers.

After suffering a great loss at Mora for no reason, how could Gregory be willing to be willing? The wise sacred dragon is thinking about today. How should we find an opportunity to sue her in front of the two goddesses and get back the disadvantages in one fell swoop.

Just when Gregory was hiding somewhere to consider its revenge plan, Roger's carriage had already stopped at the gate of the Silver Holy Lord's Hall. He stepped out of the carriage, took a deep breath of cold and fresh air, and looked up silently at the statue of the goddess dozens of meters high and not yet completed. After a while, he walked towards the main hall of the Ice and Snow Temple.

The courtyard is full of busy craftsmen, technicians, mages, and sacrifices. Layered scaffoldings are not only placed around the statue of the Ice and Snow Goddess, but also around the Ice and Snow Temple. The walls of the gorgeous Ice and Snow Temple were originally carved with miracles of the Ice and Snow Goddess, but many of these carvings have to be removed and replaced with statues praising Audreh.

The main hall also seemed messy. The original altar in the main hall had been demolished, and the new altar had not been completed, and only a magic circle was arranged. Under the command of several mages, dozens of craftsmen carefully cast the melted mercury in the grooves carved on the surface of the blue jade.

There are many fully armed Ice Palace samurai in the hall. Their bright eyes are not stopped by the busy craftsmen, guarding against everyone who may destroy the renovation of the hall. Now the relationship within the Silver Holy Church is very tense and sensitive, and Mora completely relies on iron fist and blood suppression of opposition. But the resistance within the church is almost always there.

These Ice Palace warriors all recognized Rogge. After the salute, they immediately gave way to Rogge. Rogge walked through the crowd and strode towards the prayer room behind the temple. Except for some major rituals or meetings, Mora usually stayed there alone.

Roger asked Robsky to wait outside, but he pushed the door open and entered the prayer room, and gently closed the thick ice-iron door with his backhand.

The prayer room is the most sacred place in the entire Ice and Snow Temple. No one is allowed to enter except Mora and Rogue.

Morra's long hair was scattered like a waterfall on her face and shoulders, looking charming. She knelt in front of the small altar and was praying devoutly. Hearing the sound of the door behind her, she stood up and turned around, staring at Rogue with a pair of water-like eyes.

Although she looks weak and moving at this moment, the fat man knows that these are all illusions. At this moment, her strength is becoming increasingly powerful with the increase of the goddess's power, and her natural charm is still amazing. What's more, this saint, in the name of the goddess, has become more and more bloody and ruthless, and is not a person who can be underestimated at all.

Roger asked, "Mora, how is your situation?"

"It's not going well." Mora took a piece of parchment from the altar and handed it to Roger, saying, "I have arrested more than a dozen people who have different opinions, but there will always be new people who stand up to oppose the unity of the two religions. This is the next group of people who are expected to be sent to the prison of heretics. You see, it's only a week since the last arrest, and more than a hundred people have appeared on the list."

Looking at the long list, the fat man frowned and said, "Mora, have you checked the wealth and background of these people? And I heard that your heretic prison is not a good place to stay. People often die in it, right?"

"There is no need to be kind to treat heresy." Morra said coldly.

The fat man sighed and said, "The secular world is very complex. It is not simply divided into black and white colors based on belief or not. Your current approach is very lacking in consideration. You should know that iron fist is not the only way to achieve your goal. So, let Robertsky help you in this matter. Go back and give him this list, let him see who can move, who can't move, and who else belong to those who can fight for it. How are the organization of the Ice and Snow Mage and the New Ice Temple Warriors?"

Mora turned around and took out two thin books and handed them to Roger, saying, "The Ice and Snow Mages have initially selected fifty-one people, but some of them have to be carefully tested for their magic level. The final official candidate should be about forty people. There are currently only more than four hundred warriors in the Ice Temple, and they have basically only a prototype, so they have to continue to recruit."

Roger opened two booklets and looked at it. One recorded the background and magic level of each ice and snow mage in detail, while the other was the selection conditions of the Ice Temple warriors and the draft rules of the samurai. He flipped through it casually and put them aside.

Mora hung up a large plain canvas again, and then gently blew out an ice breath towards the canvas, and lines of beautiful fonts with a little chill began to appear on the empty canvas.

Mora turned around and said to Rogge: "This is the architectural chart after the comprehensive reorganization of the Silver Holy Sect that I just formulated. Do you see if you are not satisfied with it?"

Roger was extremely serious this time. He looked at the canvas several times, then nodded and looked at Mora. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly glanced at several magic books neatly placed on the altar. Roger walked over, took these books, and looked them one by one.

These books are plain and elegant, but they are very ordinary in their appearance. Most of the contents talk about how to enhance their belief in the ice goddess Audreh so as to reach the stage of blind faith in the shortest time. Then a small paragraph tells how to sense Audreh's existence when the faith is enough and how to correctly understand her power. The last part of the book records several powerful spells that are not within the magic system. Morana can cause the enemy to move slowly and be damaged on a large scale.

The fat man carefully read these books from beginning to end. Mora stood quietly by his side like an ice sculpture, quietly waiting for him to finish reading. Finally, Roger turned the last page of these books. He was now completely sure that these books were a complete set of lessons for training the divine arts of Audrech.

He looked up and looked at Morra.

Morra smiled faintly and said, "Yes, I wrote these books, and the above method has proved to be very effective. Now, in the Silver Holy Church, there are four goddess magicians, including me. If there is enough magic power of a mage, but the faith is not particularly pious, I will also consider using my charm to help them overcome the last difficulties. The goddess's divine power is vast, and I believe that the Holy Church will have more and more magicians."

After hearing this, Roger was silent for a long time, and finally sighed softly.

Mora Yingying walked up, stared at Roger, and asked gently, "Sir Roger, what are you worried about?"

Roger smiled tiredly and said, "Nothing. Mora, you are really outstanding. I didn't expect that your magic has reached this point, nor did I expect that you can organize a system to train magicians. I think it is impossible to appear in the Silver Holy Sect in the future. Perhaps our magic glory can surpass the most glorious era of the Holy Sect. However, Mora, there are many areas in your plan that need improvement. For example, in the past, the Silver Holy Sect almost only selected candidates for the Ice and Snow Mage based on their noble status and family background. As a result, a considerable number of talented civilian children were locked outside the gate of the Ice and Snow Mage Corps. There are also problems in your practice of selecting candidates for the Mage based on your faith. It is not only faith and magic that constitute an Ice and Snow Mage. Noble bloodline and strong financial resources are also rare resources."

Mora frowned slightly and said, "What should I accept these people with dishonest faith in this? The Silver Holy Church should be a holy place for devout believers of the goddess. If a believer does not even have the minimum conditions for faith, it will not help expand the glory of the goddess and strengthen the foundation of the holy religion."

Roger stood up, smiled, and said, "Mora, even if these people do not have pious beliefs, their role in expanding the influence of the Holy Church may be far greater than that of many honest people. But I know that you don't understand these things, and your goddess also doesn't understand them either. But it doesn't matter, my main energy will be placed on the church in the future. I believe that in no time, the new Holy Church will completely surpass the most glorious era of the Silver Holy Church in the past. Come here, we must first make some modifications to the structure of the new Holy Church you designed. The original structure is too simple, and there are too few levels of upper and lower, which is not suitable for the needs of a huge church like us. You see, when there are enough levels, you can promote meritorious clergy in a short time. The power of this motivation is probably far beyond your imagination!"

While explaining, Roger modified Mora's original plan on the canvas with the pure magic flames sprayed from his fingertips. However, his calligraphy skills were too far behind Mora's powerful fonts.
Chapter completed!