The Necromancer's Church Management Manual

Your betrayal of the God of Death has angered Hades, who will soon purge all traitors.

[Countdown: 89 days]

The blizzard turned Gussenburg into an ice and snow capital, and the temperature plummeted by more than ten degrees. Stray dogs on the roadside, not expecting this situation, huddled on one side of the bridge and are now frozen solid.

Below the bridge, a young man in a black robe stamped his feet, shivering in the cold as he huddled in a recess in the bridge arch, muttering to himself from time to time.

"Damn, why did we have to meet at a place like this? It's freezing!"

He looked up into the distance, and under the gradually darkening sky, a towering and magnificent church stood out among countless low houses.

That place is the Temple of War, in the Kingdom of Slo, which reveres war, and has built temples dedicated to the god of war in every town.

At the beginning of each month, children who have turned twelve would go to the Temple of War to perform a worship ceremony. If they won the favor of the God of War, they would receive His protection and become His most favored ones.

However, these were no longer things for him to consider now that he was already an adult. He was staring at the clock at the top of the Temple of War, watching the second hand slowly point to 12, and the time had come to exactly three o'clock in the afternoon.

Perhaps he was too focused on what he was looking at, so the young man did not notice the short girl standing in front of him.

Lucia stared at her disheveled brother with a mixture of pity and disgust, as if he were a stray dog ​​frozen to death.

"elder brother."

It wasn't until she pulled down her scarf and called out that the young man suddenly looked at Lucia.

"When did you get here?!"

Lucia withdrew her pity, and now only disgust filled her face. She took a card out of her pocket and threw it at the young man.

"Alright, this is your new identity. Don't come looking for me again."

The young man picked up the card; it had an unfamiliar name written on it:

Gar Hawke.

This will be his name from now on.

"Thank you!" Garr nodded, making a move to leave this cold place.

"Wait! Don't you have anything to say to me?" Seeing Gard leave, Lucia became somewhat anxious.

"Uh... what did you say?"

"Brother, you must know that from the day you secretly went to the Temple of the Dead and worshipped the God of Death, the Cardia family completely severed ties with you. The family regards you as a traitor, the kingdom considers you an enemy, and the Federation regards you as a heretic."

"Yes, I know."

"If you had believed in the God of War like us, fought against Minos, resisted monsters, and guarded Gusenburg... you would have become the heir to the Duke of Kadisia, the master of Gusenburg..."

"you're right."

"Have you... ever regretted it?"

No regrets.

Hearing Lucia's question, Gar simply looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.

"If you made the wrong choice, you made the wrong choice. Don't always belittle your past self. He was alone back then, standing in the fog, feeling lost too."

Lucia was taken aback by such a philosophical answer. She was slightly stunned until the thin figure disappeared from her sight before she came to her senses.

Feeling lost...?

The wind, carrying a chill, whistled back and forth in the bridge arch, making the tip of her nose slightly red.

After leaving the bridge arch, Gar quickened his pace.

At this moment, he was constantly thinking about his situation.

About a week ago, he was still called Xu Kun, a hard-working man who had been working for many years. That day, he was walking home from get off work in a daze when he was unfortunately hit by a passing car.

When he regained consciousness, he arrived in this world and took over the body of this necromancer.

He inherited most of the original owner's memories and learned that this was a fantasy world controlled by nine orthodox gods.

Here dwell gods and their retinues, alchemists and enchanters, magic and spells, dragons and vampires...

The original owner was named Andrew Cardisia, the eldest son of Duke Gusenberg, a human. According to his original life trajectory, he would have gone to the Temple of War at the age of twelve, worshipped and became a follower of the God of War, and become the heir of Duke Gusenberg.

However, Andrew may have been bound by the strict rules of the Duke's mansion for too long. He was rebellious, he longed for freedom, and he firmly believed that even without the Duke's support, he could make a name for himself.

So, the day before he was to go to the Temple of War, he ran away from home.

Gar did not mock Andrew's ridiculous idea. Who hasn't been young and impetuous? Who hasn't been ambitious but lacking in ability?

He was no different from Andrew, until he was brutally beaten by society and he finally put away his naive mindset.

Unfortunately, Andrew was too young to distinguish right from wrong, and ultimately went down a path of no return.

Entering the gray area, accumulating huge gambling debts, joining the Necromancer's Temple, becoming a necromancer, plundering the Glory Sanctuary, kidnapping the kingdom's princess, and stealing royal treasures...

As expected, Andrew was arrested by the federal government and imprisoned.

The crimes he committed were enough to warrant his death ten thousand times over.

Thinking of this, Gar quickened his pace. The surrounding environment was changing. The original Gothic-style buildings were gradually being replaced by dilapidated mud and stone houses. The roads were narrow and the rivers were murky. Even in winter, there was a faint, pungent smell in the air.

This is the lower town of Gussenburg, a place where the poor and slaves lived.

The walls of the house were plastered with bounties, which made Gar pull his hood even tighter, shrouding his face in shadow.

And so he entered the tavern, ignoring the owner and the few remaining drunks, and went straight upstairs to his room.

Close the door.

The next moment, a book appeared before his eyes, its cover engraved with exquisite cursive script, revealing its name.

Church Management Manual

With a thought, the church management manual opened its cover, revealing the contents of the title page.

[You have made a pact with Icarus, the God of Light; the Church Management Manual has been unlocked]

[Church name: Bright Church]

[Faith Level: Lv0]

Church Reputation: 0 (Unknown)

Total number of believers: 0

[Faith Blessing: None available]

Immediately following this was a string of striking red text.

[Warning! Your pact with Icarus has betrayed the oath you swore to the god of death, and your actions have incurred Hades' wrath! He will purge all traitors in due time.]

[Countdown: 89 days]

[Hint: Gain more followers to make Icarus stronger (0/1000)]

Garr sighed as he looked at the deep red handwriting filled with urgency.

When he deposed Andrew, he was on the verge of being beheaded in the Commonwealth. If he did nothing, he would lose his head like Louis XVI.

At this critical moment, the god Icarus appeared before him.

He claimed he could lead Gar away from the Federation's encirclement, in exchange for helping Icarus establish the Church of Light and recruit believers.

Although he didn't know why the gods had appeared in the federal prison or why they had approached him, Garr had no other choice.

Ultimately, he made a pact with Icarus.

This church management manual is the golden finger that was obtained after signing the contract.

It was this very contract that Hades considered a betrayal, and with only 89 days left, he would be killed by Hades.

Gal didn't think he could save his life by hiding. Instead, he decided to follow the instructions in the manual, recruit a thousand followers, and make Icarus powerful enough to resist the god of death.