Becoming an Emperor Starting from the World of The Wandering Earth

Chapter 103 Sebastian Thor

"A trial? A trial with the lives of the entire city?" Samson's voice shrilled. "Adolf, do you want your Rock City to become a second Ash City? You saw the report too, the entire city center was burned to ashes! Not even ashes remained! Faith? Can faith stop something like that?"

"That's because those fools in Ash City have fallen so low, colluding with those bloodsucking beasts! They deserve to be purified!" Adolf roared back. "We in Rock City are united, our faith is unwavering, our defenses are strong, and our supplies are plentiful. Even if that false god comes in person, we'll make him suffer a crushing defeat!"

The two sides started arguing, with their respective clergy members chiming in and defending them. The communication screen was filled with flashing lights and the noise was as chaotic as a marketplace.

In the main seat of the council chamber, an elderly man with snow-white hair and beard sat quietly, his withered fingers resting on the carved armrest of the chair, without uttering a word.

Sebastian Thor, the oldest and most senior archbishop among the seven holy cities, is now in his nineties.

He was already the bishop of Oasis City before anyone else was born.

Logically speaking, at his age, he should be enjoying a life of luxury in the final moments of his life.

But Sebastian did not.

He had no luxurious residence, no strange or unusual hobbies; all he had was a dilapidated wooden hut and his clothes.

That worn-out priest's robe.

For Sebastian, his life can be summed up in just two words—faith.

Although Sebastian was old, he sadly discovered that the vampires had been banished and the world was at peace.

But people's lives did not get better; in fact, they got worse.

Even though he did his best to maintain the Oasis City under his rule, he could only watch as the city gradually slid into a corrupt abyss of stagnation, internal strife, and exploitation of believers to maintain the extravagance of a few.

At this moment, the old man had no interest in the argument in the council chamber; he was staring intently at the battle reports spread out on the table.

Ironthorn City changed hands in half a day, Ash City turned into a scorched pit, heavenly soldiers in golden armor, iron birds covering the sky, divine punishment flames—every word was like a steel needle, piercing his already riddled heart.

The argument lasted for most of the day, but there was still almost no progress.

Samson grew increasingly fearful, Adolf became increasingly radicalized, and Oasis City split into two factions: those advocating war and those advocating peace, arguing fiercely.

As evening fell, the setting sun painted the rough stone walls of the council chamber with a dark red glow.

When Adolf once again roared at Samson as an apostate and a coward, Sebastian finally moved.

That's enough.

The sound wasn't loud, but the noisy conference hall instantly fell silent as everyone's eyes turned to the silent old man.

Sebastian didn't look at anyone; he simply stood up slowly, hunched over, and moved step by step to the window.

Outside the window is Oasis City.

This city, named "Oasis," actually has only a few scattered drought-resistant shrubs and a few small, artificially maintained crop areas outside its walls.

Under the setting sun, countless ragged people toiled like ants on the barren land.

The children were pale and thin, the women had numb eyes, and the men's backs were bent under the weight of life.

In the distance, the majestic city wall that had once blocked countless vampire attacks cast a huge shadow in the twilight.

Sebastian stared at it for a long time, so long that the sky outside the window darkened, so long that the others in the council chamber began to feel uneasy.

Finally, he turned around and faced the crowd with their various expressions.

"Prepare to surrender!"

"Archbishop!" A young, radical acolyte from Oasis City suddenly stood up, his face filled with disbelief.

Upon hearing this, Adolf shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Sebastian! Are you senile?! You're handing over the Father's legacy to a false god! You're a sinner of the Papacy! You are—"

"Adolf."

Sebastian interrupted him, his cloudy eyes looking at the projection, which contained no emotion, only a bottomless weariness. "Stop using faith as an excuse. You and I both know what you've done all these years. Your so-called faith is nothing more than an excuse for your greed and lust for power."

"I won't stop you from dying if you want to, but I can't just stand by and watch the last hundred thousand people of Oasis City turn into ashes because of your greed and my ignorance."

In terms of familiarity with papal scriptures and devotion to the Father, Sebastian Toll believed he was second to none.

He didn't believe in the so-called divine intervention at all; it was too deliberate, too much like a carefully planned performance.

But he knew even better how many of the cannons on the walls of Oasis City had rusted to death, and how low the morale of the guards was.

The "false god" who destroyed Ash City possessed power they could not comprehend.

Faith cannot feed you, much less protect you from the destructive fire that falls from the sky.

Just as Adolf was about to roar something, with a hiss, the display screens connecting the three cities went out instantly.

Before anyone could react.

"boom!!!!"

A terrifying explosion, as if the heavens and earth had split open, suddenly came from outside the city!

Sebastian abruptly turned his head and looked out the window.

On the west side of Oasis City, a large section of the majestic city wall, which had been reinforced and repaired by countless generations, collapsed amidst the soaring orange-red flames and thick smoke!

"Enemy attack!" The piercing alarm bells and heart-wrenching cries finally arrived, echoing in the chaos of the city.

Before Sebastian and the others in the hall could recover from the sudden devastation, an even more despairing scene unfolded.

The clouds, now even more murky from the smoke and dust, were brutally torn apart by countless dark shadows!

hum hum hum!

Hundreds of golden, menacing-looking armed helicopters tore through the smoke and swooped down toward Oasis City!

Before the smoke and dust had completely dissipated, the helicopters suddenly came to a stop, followed by a dull thud as they plummeted to the ground.

One after another, giants, each over two and a half meters tall, covered in thick golden armor, resembling legendary war gods, emerged from that...

He jumped off the helicopter.

At the same time, countless lights and shadows in the sky above the city were rapidly distorting, eventually forming a huge golden phantom that was over a thousand meters high and stood tall.

Golden hair flowed in the light and shadow like burning flames, and golden armor covered his entire body. Only a pair of calm, deep eyes that seemed to encompass all things stood out.

The council chamber was deathly silent.

Everyone froze on the spot, their faces ashen, their pupils dilated, unable to breathe.

Sebastian Thor stared blankly out the window at the towering golden figure, at the city's defenses destroyed like toys, and at the guards and civilians who collapsed and knelt before the golden giant.

Perseverance? Resistance? Faith?

All thoughts, all hopes, all anxieties were crushed to dust by that absolute power at this moment.

His lips trembled as he tried to make a prayer gesture, but his fingers were too stiff to obey him.

In the end, the last bit of strength was drained from that body, which was over ninety years old and weathered by time.

With a "thump," the old man's knees buckled, and he knelt heavily on the ground in the direction of the golden figure outside the window.

Two days later, Oasis City, Ironwall City, and Rock City were all pacified.