The matter with Dipresy was not yet concluded. After his secretary withdrew, a second visitor immediately burst into the office.

"Your Majesty, how was the hunt today?"

Charles XVI wiped his sweat with a velvet cloth. "Neither man nor beast wishes to meet in this weather, so I had to return empty-handed! Count Dipresy, what is the reaction from our subordinates? Do those judges realize they were wrong yet?"

"I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. I suggest you prepare for all possibilities." The advice the Lord Chancellor gave the King was the complete opposite of his advice to the auditor. "Besides appointing a new Chief Justice, you should gather your firearm squads and your Commissioned Knights, ready to support the local authorities at any time should unrest stir in the northern region."

"Can those judges truly incite the common people?" Although Dipresy hadn’t said so explicitly, Charles XVI understood the implication. The Prime Minister had advised against allowing local governors to mobilize their own troops. This was partly to avoid provoking the populace, but there was another reason—he didn’t trust the local armies!

Because their provisions and pay were not forthcoming... The only reliable military forces were those directly under His Majesty the King. At least the King’s Guard and Knight Orders were well-fed and supplied, with a full complement of mounts and armor.

"The situation is not yet out of control. I’m just reminding you to be prepared, just in case."

"Oh, I understand." The King set aside his anxiety. "Very well. But you know that ever since Nekker left, my coffers have been running dry! And now my detestable cousin at the royal mint is working against me... The deployment of troops must be handled with care. You said so yourself."

Finally, the King left the office. He paused before departing and asked tentatively, "Actually, Nekker did a fine job while in office, didn’t he? Have you read the new book he published?"

"If I find the time, I would be delighted to peruse it." With a dark expression, Dipresy saw Charles XVI out.

The third visitor made his entrance. The Lord Chancellor felt like he was on a stage at the theater, actors arriving and departing one by one. Unfortunately, it seemed the play he was in was a farce.

The visitor was Priest Joseph. ’Thank goodness, a sensible man.’

"Priest Joseph, shouldn’t you be in the Church?"

"You should be in the Church even more so, Lord Bishop." Joseph, in his gray robes, wore a rare look of sorrow. "Within the Church, the heretical ideas of Wigram are still stirring. We must stop our brothers who have gone astray..."

"Has that evil object been moved?"

Joseph nodded. "It will arrive soon."

"Good. Starting tomorrow—no, tonight—I will take up residence at Saint Miller Cathedral."

Joseph looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted. "That is a great relief." Currently, only the Lord Priest could persuade Dipresy to act.

The Divine Spirits had fallen silent and no longer responded to the faithful. Naturally, this caused murmuring within the Church. Attitudes toward the matter were generally split into two camps:

One camp’s view was that with the Divine Spirits’ restraints gone, it was time to let loose! Build the churches bigger and more luxurious! Let the wine and meat flow freely! Don’t you understand the prestige of the continent’s number one Church? What’s that? Out of money? Collect the tithing! Sell the Absolution Certificates!

The other camp adhered to a life of poverty and purity. They declared that the Divine Spirit’s silence was a test for the faithful, who must become even more devout in Its absence. Such ideas were quite popular in the southern part of the Kingdom.

Of course, everyone from the Pope and the Bishops down to the humblest Monks claimed to agree with the latter view. Yet, for hundreds of years, the churches had only grown more and more opulent.

And so, an extremist faction stood up and proposed the "Doctrine of Judgment": when the Lord of Order returns to the continent, He will conclude this long trial and pass a great judgment upon all the sins of the world. Only the followers of the Holy Son, those who have kept their souls pure, will be pardoned.

Then, the most extreme of the extremists suggested waking our God up right now. Let the old master see for Himself how you people, flying the banner of the Divine Spirit, have become so hedonistic and corrupt! Bring the great judgment forward, and let them all die!

The Church’s upper echelons found this horrifying and hastily branded these radical extremists as heretics.

The "heretics" had been all but purged, until a clash with the Mother Earth Sect. A few months ago, a "Holy Relic" was excavated from the remains of an underground battle. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

It was the personal sword of Brother Odysseus. Its golden, crystalline structure remained, having once borne the power of a Divine Spirit. It gave many brothers within the religious orders hope for the Lord’s return.

However, the holy light on the sword’s blade slowly faded, revealing defiled markings. The Priests determined it was the residue of some evil power, but they could not imagine what sort of corruption the Lord’s brilliance could not expel.

"Of course the Lord’s brilliance can purge all evil! The stains on the sword are nothing more than battle scars. My Lord’s power still surges within it. This is undeniably a Holy Artifact. What is there to doubt?"

Among the Gray Robe Knights, a Cultivator named Wigram began to preach his "Great Judgment" theory. He found that when he held the sword, the Lord’s brilliance would intensify and suppress the evil corruption. And so, a "Judgment Ritual" began to spread among the Gray Robe Knights. The brothers were to take turns holding the hilt, competing to see who could best evoke the Lord’s power and taking great pride in the result.

Since the Lord’s power responded to the brothers, Wigram believed the sword was a bridge to communicate with the Lord of Order. He gradually made contact with more Holy Knights and Clergy, hoping to have more people undergo the "judgment" and attempting to organize a ritual centered on the "Holy Sword."

Over several months, many such rituals were held. They even went so far as to establish the "Order of the Sword of Judgment."

Still, quite a few of their colleagues heard about this and thought the man had lost his mind. He was recklessly holding rituals without even understanding the nature of the sword’s corruption. Who would take responsibility if something went wrong? Eventually, someone reported these dangerous experiments to Joseph and Dipresy.

But the two of them were busy men. By the time Priest Joseph personally stumbled upon the ritual, it was already too late. A Bishop, who was resting in the Church after attending the Noble Conference, was being half-forced by the Gray Robe Knights and Holy Knights to undergo the "judgment."

The moment this bloated dignitary touched the hilt, he let out a scream like a butchered pig. His hand seemed to be seared and was welded to the "Holy Sword." The holy radiance completely vanished, and a terrifying, ink-green evil energy took over, creeping up the Lord Bishop’s arm.

The high-ranking clergyman began to melt, his flesh and blood re-forming into something utterly nauseating. Only his broken confessions—"I have sinned..." and "The choir... the boys..."—echoed through the chamber.

"So such a wicked man was hiding in God’s service! He has finally been judged by the Holy Sword!" Wigram had yet to realize the gravity of the situation, but the other brothers’ faces were already ashen. They understood just what a colossal disaster the fool had caused.

When Joseph arrived, the Gray Robe Knights and Holy Knights had already split into two groups. One had seized the "heretic Wigram" and brought him before the Lord Priest for judgment. The others were attempting to suppress the amalgam of the Evil Sword and the Bishop’s flesh.

The battle was brief. In the end, Joseph manifested a shimmering golden film of light over his right hand and took hold of the rampaging Great Sword. In an instant, the evil power was once again vaporized by the radiance, just as it had been on the night Brother Odysseus made his sacrifice.

The entire sword, however, had turned a dull, ink-green, its luster gone. Joseph attempted to destroy and purify it, only to find his own power was insufficient to expel the evil within.

"Seal this evil thing at once! Everyone who participated in the ritual is to be investigated!"

Joseph’s plan was to move the unholy object to the Kingdom’s largest church, Saint Miller Church, and hold a mass to summon enough Holy Light for a complete Purification.