Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 356 Half a Month Passed by
And five days later, Luo Xiu received Hubert's letter.

As expected, urgent news came from the northern border - the psychic army from the "Holy Tower Kingdom" invaded the empire's border the day before, and occupied an entire border fortress with an almost overwhelming force!

The country that reveres the [Lost], the paradise of magic and arcane - the "Holy Tower Kingdom", officially declared war on the Empire in the name of "holy war"!

And their pope has also mobilized for this purpose, called "holy war" -

"The South! That lost land ruled by heretics who are not favored by God. The poor people are still ignorant, and our comrades are suffering!"

"Therefore, for our sacred and great faith, for the life and miracles given to us by the Original Mother Goddess, we should go to the south! To educate, to save, to spread..."

"..."

The Crusades speech belongs to.jpg
The text of the "mobilization speech" was secretly infiltrated into the pagans of the empire and began to be distributed to various important cities. At the same time, "sacrifices" occurred more and more frequently, causing people from all walks of life in the empire to fall into deep panic.

But the empire was not completely silent on this matter.

Long before, in Songyuan Diocese, Archbishop Sid learned of the suspicious movements of the Holy Tower Kingdom and reported it to the Holy See. At the same time, the "Saint" Franya, who returned to the imperial capital, also confirmed the matter to Pope Lorente.

Knowing the seriousness of the matter, Pope Lorentz personally went to meet with Emperor Augustwell. The emperor then warned several counties that might be hit first, and urgently mobilized the nearby "Knights of the Seal of God" to rush to the border adjacent to the Theocracy.

Based on these precautions, and the reverse infiltration and investigation that the Empire had conducted on the Holy Tower Theocracy, the Empire quickly responded to this crisis.

A "Divine Seal Knight Group" led by the "Knight of Heaven's Announcement", a [Supreme] sixth-level destiny, had already set up an ambush on the road that the Holy Tower Kingdom must pass through with the assistance of the Songyuan Diocese.

And surrounded them when their first legion of psykers captured and "sacrificed" the first fortress!

The "Holy See" also followed suit. Under the orders of Archbishop Sid and the archbishop of another diocese, the "Bishops' Conference", "Glorious Knights" and "Holy Deacons" of the two major dioceses have united to launch a fierce attack on the blockaded and surrounded psychic army.

This effectively curbed the ambition of the Holy Tower Church to intervene in the war at the first step.

The leaders of the "Original Sect" that carried out the invasion did not understand why the Empire reacted so quickly - they thought that no important secrets had been leaked, and no high-ranking officials who knew about these had fallen into the hands of the Empire...

However, the other party, relying on his [Glory], [Wisdom] and [Supreme] means, should not have the ability to master divination or prediction!

The top leaders of the "Original Sect" speculated like this.

But things have already happened, and they are powerless to change anything. They can only temporarily contend with the saints of the "Holy See" and the "Department of Law", while urgently sending a message back to the Vatican, awaiting further instructions from the Pope.

As a result, although the invasion of the "Holy Tower Kingdom" was not completely prevented, their actions were curbed to a considerable extent.

The battle between the Empire and the Theocracy took place between several fortress cities in Songyuan Territory and the neighboring counties. The flames of war did not spread to the heartland of the Empire, nor did they cause the same devastating impact on the political core of the Empire as in the previous life.

……

And two days later, the Holy Tower Church officially declared a "holy war" against the Empire.

Red Maple City, inside the [Authentic Dwarf Blacksmith Shop] manor.

"—You will be baptized!"

Behind the young bishop, the "Archangel" holding a golden holy bell made this announcement.

In front of this "bishop" was another dwarf with his head slightly lowered and the color in his eyes long gone.

While the "Archangel" was giving him divine counsel, a faint golden glow visibly appeared on the dwarf's body, and his originally lifeless eyes gradually regained their luster.

It was just that the sudden change made it difficult for him to adapt to the drastic change.

"……who I am?"

Almost subconsciously, the dwarf murmured vaguely.

But the "bishop" in front of the dwarf did not answer him, but just took a step back with a smile. The body of the archangel behind him who had just cast the "divine word" was gradually becoming illusory and dissipating.

"Frog Grit..."

Next to the dwarf, another dwarf's somewhat excited voice was heard.

That was Mir's voice.

"Is that you? Are you back, Frog?"

Mil's voice trembled a little. He stared at his fellow tribesman in front of him and asked him tentatively.

"I……"

The dwarf named "Frog Sand" was still confused. He slowly turned his head, looked at Mir, and murmured:

"…I am…Frog?"

"Yes, yes... I am... Frog..."

"…You are…Mil? What on earth happened…"

"..."

"You're really back..."

Mil's expression seemed a little excited, and his voice was trembling and choked.

"Thank you, Luo Xiu."

He immediately looked in front of the dwarf Frog and thanked the bishop who had just used his authority to "purify" Frog:
"Thank you so much... Luo Xiu, you have saved my compatriots once again."

"Frog Grit, he is the eighth dwarf to regain consciousness. I believe... soon, all my compatriots will be rescued..."

"..."

"You're welcome, Mir."

Luo Xiu nodded slightly, a faint smile appeared on his face, and responded to him:
"With more dwarves who have recovered from the influence of the Seal of Ignorance, your forge manor will have more manpower."

"You should also consider expanding this manor, Mir, to accommodate your fellow tribesmen from 'Sand' - do you need my help? In the name of the church, can I help you negotiate for the one next door?"

He said this to Mir half-jokingly, but Mir just shook his head and said:

"You've helped me so much, Luo Xiu."

"I should indeed expand it... I have also negotiated the purchase price with the owner of another manor next door, and everything is going well." "Well, the blacksmith shop's business has been good recently, and there are more commissioned forging orders. I have some savings on hand, which is just enough."

"That's good." Luo Xiu nodded.

"In that case, Mir, I will go back first. You can chat with this dwarf friend for a while. I still have some business to deal with in the church. I will come back at this time tomorrow."

As he spoke, Luo Xiu nodded to Mir and Frog Sand respectively.

Although the latter's reaction was still slow and weak, Luo Xiu didn't care. After recovering, there always needs to be a period of adaptation.

Mir said goodbye to Luo Xiu and watched him leave the Forge Manor. He and the two clergymen who accompanied him disappeared around the corner of the street.

……

Now is the tenth day to trigger the hidden mission [Liberation from Ignorance].

Up to now, Luo Xiu has used the Level II authority [Seal of God's Word] to purify the mark of ignorance in the bodies of the eight dwarves, restoring them to normal.

This has effectively advanced more than one-fifth of the final mission goal of "Liberation from Ignorance".

This is a good pace... Luo Xiu thought as he walked on the way to the church.

There are still about three months until the ancient dragon "Quesanx's Disaster" erupts.

As long as we complete this round of hidden tasks before then and get the two "Ancient Dragon Secret Treasures" from Mir - "Dragon Flame Demon Sword" and "Dragon Breath Scepter", we will have plenty of time.

……

So, in the next five days.

Luo Xiu would go to the forging manor every morning to purify the seal for a dwarf who was controlled by the [Seal of Ignorance].

Soon, the number of dwarves who had purified the [Seal of Ignorance] and recovered reached thirteen, which meant that one third of the hidden mission [Liberation from Ignorance] had been completed.

Mir became more and more grateful to Luo Xiu, and most of the dwarves who had returned to normal were willing to stay and help Mir run his forging estate.

However, there are a few dwarves who want to leave here and are unwilling to stay in the dangerous border fortress of Red Maple City.

Although Mir would try to keep them, he would not force them.

If they still insisted on leaving, Mir would give them some money, which would be enough for them to live in peace for a while.

……

It was on the morning of the fifth day.

Shortly after Luo Xiu cast the [Seal of God's Word] on a dwarf named "Halkin Gravel" and removed the Seal of Ignorance from his body, he left the forge manor under the grateful gaze of Mir and other dwarves.

As he walked along the streets of Red Maple City, preparing to return to the church to deal with some backlogged matters, his panel suddenly jumped and new content emerged -

[He was pleased to see that His pious apostles fulfilled His instructions——]

[The blasphemer was rejected outside the high wall, and the turbid light could no longer be extinguished——]

【But the disaster still exists. 】

[The ominousness of the Moon Road has not ended. The descendants of the Moon Mother Goddess still have ambitions, but they choose to lie dormant, waiting for the next time, the next time...]

[The conspiracy has not yet been broken, and the haze is still spreading——]

[As a 'divine apostle', you have fulfilled your oath, but it is not perfect. ]

[A divine gift commensurate with your achievements will be bestowed in a moment]

【…】

[Completed the God-given mission: The Coming Blasphemy (?? Difficulty)]

[Receive a divine gift in a moment! ]

[Your "divinity" attribute increases by 53 points; the upper limit of health and mana increases by an additional 5%; you gain 33 free attribute points]

[Not Completed the "Divine Revelation"]

[Feat. "God-Gifted (Epic, Milestone)", maintains original quality and effects]

【…】

Such content appeared on Luo Xiu's panel.

This is the reminder that [Divine Revelation] has been completed!

Luo Xiu quickly browsed the contents on the panel and nodded lightly, his expression still calm.

This time, the mission of [Divine Revelation] - "The Coming Blasphemy" was not completed successfully.

The reason why the completion prompt popped up at this time was simply because the 18-day countdown for "Disaster Appearance" ended today, and the "future" that Luo Xiu foresaw through [Divine Glory Oracle] did not appear -

This was within Luo Xiu's expectations.

Although it was an imperfect completion, Luo Xiu was not discouraged.

Because this time the difficulty of the [Divine Revelation] mission is obviously higher than the last "Disaster in Onsika Town", and to be honest, Luo Xiu did not really expect that the Church could retreat just by sending the saints to the border, which was almost like throwing a stone to ask for gold.

Luo Xiu knew that this time, the intelligence value of [Divine Revelation] was far higher than its value bestowed by God, and Luo Xiu was indeed happy about it.

Because this at least proves that the saints sent to the border by the Empire and the "Holy Court" did play a role. This means that border fortresses like Red Maple City, which is adjacent to the Dark Principality, will not face high pressure from both sides, at least in the short term!
Thinking of this, Luo Xiu had already received God's gift and immediately closed the panel.

In his mind, he was thinking about another thing at the same time...

Now that the 18-day countdown for [Divine Revelation] has ended, then...

Thirty days after the end of the closed beta, players will "descend" again for the public beta - the time for it to start is already quite close.

……

(End of this chapter)