Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 182 The Holy Grail Faction

The first thing a monotheistic religion does after taking power.

First, collect a tithe.

History seems to have taken a turn at this moment; although some historical events have clearly been altered, some of the events that were originally planned to happen still occurred.

The tithe is the most obvious sign.

With Duncan's quiet return, the situation on the entire British Isles is also changing rapidly. The polytheistic forces, who have always been suppressed by the Church, suddenly took a tougher stance, which directly led to violent conflicts in the area. The trigger was the 'tithing' imposed by the Church, which many people in Britain refused to pay.

Night falls.

With only a faint moonlight in the sky, in the pitch-black night, groups of figures draped in black robes entered a building on the side of the clock tower on the banks of the Thames. It is said that this clock tower was designed and completed by the legendary wizard Merlin over several decades and is considered one of London's iconic landmarks.

Squeak!

The heavy door opened.

As the group of people clad in black robes entered the hall, many people were already waiting inside. Among them were men and women dressed as wizards, as well as church priests wearing crosses. The leader of the group of people in black robes looked up, casually removed his hood, revealing a middle-aged face with a thick beard and hair. He had a tattoo on his neck. He gestured slightly to the others and took the initiative to sit on the right side of the council table.

Behind him, more than a dozen men in black robes took their seats in the council seats below.

"Everyone is here?"

Above the long table stood an elderly man in a red robe. He was Cardinal James of the Diocese of Britain. The position of Cardinal of the Diocese of Britain has always been a sensitive one, as it is considered one of the strongholds of polytheism, and a monarch of special status is buried here.

No one knows if he might suddenly rise from his coffin one day, after all, immortals possess the power to break the rules to some extent.

The entire parliament hall was clearly divided into sections.

The people on the right are mostly church believers, as well as magicians who have converted to the church. Those sitting in the first row are mostly bishops from the British region, but there are also some unfamiliar faces from the French region, who are envoys sent by the Roman Catholic Church.

The people on the left are mostly Celtic druids. Modern druids have changed a lot, dressing more like scholars, but they all share one characteristic: thick hair and beards. Their group includes wizards, priests, and polytheists, all native Britannia, including some wizarding families with lineages spanning two or three hundred years. Their existence is a result of the world's shackles being broken, making it much easier for wizards to have offspring.

In the very center of the hall was a newly emerging faction known as the 'Holy Grail'.

These people originated in Greater Germania, the German region, and appeared at the end of the sixth century. They were moderates and initially advocated that believers and priests could share bread and wine during Mass, hence the name "Holy Grail" which held the wine.

As for the other meaning of this name, it is not something that ordinary people can easily know: their spiritual leader is Pope St. Patrick I.

These people are more complicated.

Among them were church believers, missionaries, pastors, and even converted magicians, and there were quite a few of them.

London is considered one of the strongholds of the Grail movement.

In recent years, the situation on the British Isles has become increasingly turbulent. The introduction of the tithe has brought war to the brink of conflict. The Kingdom of Britain and the French Empire had already fought a war more than a decade ago. The war that broke out in Normandy caused heavy casualties on both sides, and the war even got out of control at one point, drawing supernatural wizards, druids, magicians, priests, church ministers, and others into the battle.

The final casualties reached nearly 120,000, and both sides had to compromise and maintain peace for a short period of time.

St. James was a member of the Grail Movement.

This meeting, through the efforts of many parties, finally managed to get the tense forces to sit down and talk. If they hadn't reached an agreement today, the Second Anglo-French War might have broken out again very soon.

A murmur rippled through the room.

The polytheistic archdruid, Aldry, sitting on the right, shook his head firmly and said, "Taxing a tithe is impossible."

"This is not France, and your emperor cannot command us."

Around the end of the sixth century AD, the Church, using the biblical statement that one-tenth of agricultural and pastoral produce belonged to God, began levying this tax on its members. Initially, it was only practiced in the Frankish region, but it gradually spread to other areas, eventually becoming a common practice throughout Europe surrounding Italy.

After the collapse of the empire, the Kingdom of France rose to power. They established monotheism as the state religion and later enacted a law that made paying tithes an obligation for every resident of the Kingdom of France.

As it has developed, the tithe has become very complex.

The taxes levied were categorized by product type into major taxes (grain), minor taxes (vegetables and fruits), and blood taxes (livestock).

Historically, Britain was the last country to abolish tithes, levying them until 1936. But in the present-day Kingdom of Britain, to put it bluntly, if the Pope wanted to collect tithes, the British people would ask how many divisions they had.

The tithe was one of the triggers for the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and not only because of legitimacy.

At this time.

Below the parliament hall, a young man couldn't help but speak up: "Today we compromised and agreed to the tithe."

"They'll dare to sell indulgences tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, an elder beside him tugged at him and pulled the young man to the back of the crowd.

However, his words still sparked a lot of discussion, with many people agreeing with his views.

The high druid Odry, seated in his seat, couldn't help but glance at the young man again, and whispered, "Who is that person? I've never seen him before."

The polytheistic attendant beside him whispered, "His name is Huss, and he comes from the German region."

"They are priests who came here for further studies."

Audrey looked a little disappointed. If only he were a polytheistic believer. Now, the mystical power has further declined, and Greater Germania has become the territory of the church. The Kingdom of Germany is also in a state of extreme religious division. Although Scandinavia still adheres to the Nordic faith, the area surrounding Greater Germania has been replaced by the church.

When Duncan conquered Scandinavia, he promised the Vikings autonomy and the preservation of their Norse beliefs. For a time…

The entire council hall was in an uproar, even tense, atmosphere. If it weren't for the presence of leaders from various factions, a war between superhumans might have broken out immediately.

But some wizards secretly chanted spells, and before they knew it, the ground was covered with venomous snakes.

"host!"

"Please unleash the fire of punishment."

In the crowd, a church hermit prayed softly, and in an instant, flames rose up, burning a cross pattern on the ground, and hundreds of venomous snakes were burned to ashes.

"enough!"

Above the parliamentary table, Archbishop St. James of the Diocese of Britain slammed his fist on the table. Although he was a centrist and moderate, he had a volatile temper and had participated in the Crusades in his early years. He glared at the extremists who were quietly fighting below and said in a deep voice, "According to the tradition left by St. Patrick I, the implementation of tithes shall be determined by the Holy Grail ceremony."

At this point, his gaze darkened, and he said, "If you're still not satisfied!"

"Then let's prepare for secular war."

He was not, after all, St. Patrick I. There were very few people in the church who could navigate between so many forces like St. Patrick and keep Duncan in check.

Saint James was a notoriously hot-tempered man whose specialty before becoming a saint was killing people.

His stance is indeed centrist, but his method is to beat up both extremes and make them sit down and talk. If they anger him, he will side with the other side if anyone opposes him.

St. James is one of the saints strongly promoted by Ireland.

As the only saint present flew into a rage, the others also calmed down a bit. To put it bluntly, none of them could defeat the centrist peacemaker in front of them, because when St. Patrick I became pope, he distributed some of the church's holy relics to the dioceses on the island of Britain.

Saint James possessed both the scarab beetle and a fragment of the True Cross.

Unless the mastermind behind the wizarding academy comes out of retirement, even within the Roman Catholic Church, the Archbishop of Britain could stand up and glare.

Those present started discussing it again.

Ultimately, everyone left in discord, and the first religious council beneath the London Clock Tower yielded no results.

However, as a neutral faction, the moderate Grail faction continues to work in secret. They do not want a large-scale war to break out, and prefer to resolve the issue through small-scale conflicts.

In their own words, it was about using a 'Holy Grail War' to prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of people.

This appeasement approach may not solve the root problem, but historically the Grail Wars have indeed prevented many religious wars. The religious affiliation in Greater Germania, the religious conflicts in Romania, and even the Italian Renaissance all bear traces of Grail ritual decision-making.

If everyone sits down and can't reach an agreement, they'll still have to fight in the end!
But the question is, to what extent should it go?

Is it a clandestine conflict orchestrated by extraordinary individuals behind the scenes? Or is it a war launched by secular forces, with tens or hundreds of thousands dying before they are satisfied?

This is how the Grail movement gradually grew and expanded.

Moreover, this faction has many magicians who have converted to monotheistic beliefs, and its early prototype was a secret organization directly under Pope St. Patrick I. The Holy Grail rituals they later initiated were relatively small-scale; there was only one truly large-scale Holy Grail ritual, which was the dispute over the ownership of the faith in Greater Germania.

The saints of the church secretly joined the war against Beowulf, the legendary hero of Norse mythology.

After this battle, many church saints died.

Beowulf also died soon after.

The Holy Grail ritual, as described by the Grailists, is essentially a legendary magic.

Its full name is 'Spirit Summoning Ritual - Heroic Spirit Summoning', an inscription in the annals of human history, a powerful magic used to save the world. If a catastrophe threatens the world, it summons the most powerful heroic spirits to eliminate the threat before it occurs.

Later, for their own convenience, humans downgraded this legendary magic to a summoning ritual.

The first launch was the largest in scale.

The subsequent ceremonies in Romania were small in scale, and those in Italy were limited to the area around the peninsula and were also not large in scale. In the end, a man named Dante won, and the Renaissance began.

If the Holy Grail ritual fails to resolve the conflicts in the supernatural world, then a secular war will break out.

This tithe is another way for the church to put pressure on the British Isles.

If implemented, the church would have the power to directly impose taxes on secular society.

Several days passed quickly.

Through the mediation of the Grail faction, the radical forces on both sides eventually compromised, preparing to use the Grail ritual to determine the implementation of the tithe. However, many people remained dissatisfied, believing that such a matter could not be decided by a Grail ritual, and that only a brutal war could completely defeat the opponent.

At this moment.

While the British Isles were becoming a vortex of conflict, in the rear of Greater Germania, German farmers, artisans, and small landowners were also brewing a large-scale religious upheaval.

There are now a growing number of people calling for the abolition of indulgences.

………………

(End of this chapter)