Chapter 541

They were just petrified, not dead; he couldn't understand why they had to cry. Wasn't this better than turning into a pile of bones? Of course, it made no difference to Ang; he would be happy even if they turned into a pile of bones, and undead creatures were under his jurisdiction anyway.

Gonia burst into tears of joy on the spot, snot bubbles even popping out. She rushed over quickly, picked up the baby that had been revived first, and then helped the revived battle clerics down one by one, terrified that they might fall or get hurt.

One of the battle clerics struggled to open her eyes. Seeing it was Gonia, she said weakly: "It's the Captain... you've returned... that's great... save the children..."

"Here, they are here, sleeping soundly." Gonia showed the baby sleeping soundly in her other hand. After the petrification was lifted, the baby continued to sleep while blowing bubbles.

"That is... wonderful..." After saying this, the battle cleric passed out in relief.

Anthony couldn't help but sigh: "When I first joined the church, I encountered many people as pure as them, but later, there were fewer and fewer."

"Oh? Why did that happen? Were they polluted by money and desire?" Negris asked.

"No." Anthony whispered: "It's because I pushed them out. With people who are too pure in the church, it's hard for me to stir up trouble."

"Pfft—you old con artist." Negris really wanted to punch Anthony's old face to see how thick it was.

Anthony made a shushing gesture: "Shh, from now on, none of you are to speak. Do not expose our information. My lord is about to start preten—cough, cough, cough, my lord is about to start showing his might. Everyone, make sure not to slip up."

Negris rolled its eyes: "What rotten idea have you come up with again? Is it fun? If it's not fun, I'm going to expose you."

Although it said that, Negris's body was very cooperative. It trotted over and quietly told everyone, not even leaving out Diya Li on the outside.

Anthony leaned over to the little angel and whispered: "Wait a moment, cooperate with me and my lord. Later, I'll find a chance to invite you to a fight."

The little angel's eyes widened abruptly, she curled up her little fists, and nodded excitedly and vigorously.

Then, he used his soul connection to report the entire plan to Ang, obtained Ang's consent, and now they just had to wait for the right moment.

Petrification was much simpler than resurrection; as long as one rested to replenish nutrients and received some healing, one would soon recover completely.

Once these people had mostly recovered, the little angel spread her six wings with a swish and slowly ascended into the air like a glowing light bulb.

"Six... six-winged Archangel? Supreme Holy Spirit?" The battle clerics, who had already mostly recovered, instantly felt their legs go weak and looked at Gonia in unison.

Gonia was even more dumbfounded. The cute, pink-cheeked little girl beside Ang was actually a Supreme Holy Spirit?

Anthony emerged from behind, already draped in the solemn and sacred papal crown, radiating a holy glow. When it came to acting, no one could beat an old con artist who had been pretending for over a thousand years.

As soon as he appeared, those battle clerics whose legs had already turned to jelly plopped down onto their knees.

Ang also followed Anthony's request and revealed his divine 'aspect'.

A light-shadow emerged from Ang's body, growing to over ten meters tall, looking down at everyone before him from on high.

Actually, everyone couldn't see the light-shadow's gaze, but everyone felt a look focused on them and immediately felt a heavy pressure, causing them to bow their heads involuntarily. This pressure was called divine might.

Ang never liked to reveal his divine aspect because, besides posturing, this light-shadow aspect had no meaning at all and only wasted divine power.

However, posturing was exactly the point of the divine aspect. The God of Arbitration always maintained a light-shadow state, a giant light-shadow figure; those who saw him were already three parts timid before the battle even began.

Now, what Anthony needed was exactly Ang's posturing.

Under the gaze of the light-shadow giant, all the battle clerics, including Gonia, lowered their heads and prostrated piously, their foreheads pressed against the ground.

Before bowing their heads, they had already seen the Ring of Scales and the Holy Cross of Equality behind the light-shadow aspect. This was the main god they had prayed to for so long but had never received a response from—the God of Equality and Scales.

Anthony's voice asked solemnly: "Under the light, pious shepherds, welcome to the kingdom of the gods—the God Realm."

Gonia and the battle clerics kneeling on the ground couldn't help but look up, their faces filled with shock, especially Gonia. They had just explained the situation to her earlier; they hadn't mentioned any God Realm, had they?

Negris's heart skipped a beat. It understood what trick Anthony wanted to play; he definitely wanted to pass these people off as a holy crusade army from the God Realm.

Didn't the Warlock Alliance not believe they could summon thirty million crusaders? Well, now they would summon two hundred thousand first, and summon the remaining twenty-nine million eight hundred thousand slowly.

But they had already revealed quite a bit of information to Gonia earlier; let's see how this con artist talks his way out of this.

Anthony smiled kindly: "It seems you don't know much about the God Realm. That's fine. Just remember, this is the kingdom of the gods. Three thousand years have passed while you were frozen. In these three thousand-plus years, many things have happened. The plane you were in, let's temporarily call it the Starburst Plane; the gods there have all fallen."

"What!? Impossible! How could that be? Who could make the gods fall?!" The group of battle clerics was in an uproar. Quite a few couldn't help but stand up, looking like they were about to rush up and question Anthony.

At this time, the one in charge of the scene had to take action. Ang swept a glance at them, and a powerful might pressed down on them.

Divine might, just like the soul gaze, made whoever he stared at kneel. Those few he stared at plopped down onto their knees again.

Of course, the divine might of the Scales only worked well on believers of the light. If he encountered non-believers of the light, it might have the opposite effect.

"Quiet, have you forgotten the awe in your hearts?" Anthony said majestically. His voice carried a power of intimidation that rumbled in everyone's ears.

Everyone trembled as they prostrated on the ground.

"In the Starburst Plane, there is a force called the Warlock Alliance. They invented a powerful weapon—the Starburst Array, which can release a faith storm to annihilate the gods."

"We won't discuss this for now. When you see the Starburst Array with your own eyes, you will understand what kind of weapon can annihilate the gods, because that was originally a divine artifact of destruction. For now, let's talk about your situation."

"In the three thousand-plus years you were frozen, the shattered plane drifted all the way here to the kingdom of the gods. This is the God Realm. Well, this name was also given by the people of the Warlock plane."

"We call this the kingdom of the gods, the sacred Heavenly Kingdom. Whether it is the Church of Light or the Goddess of Redemption, they all originate from here. This is the home of the gods."

"The God of Equality and Scales has saved you, along with those other frozen lambs. Join me in thanking the grace of the gods. Your mercy and love are the light cast upon the earth. Your..."

Under the lead of the old con artist, the scene instantly turned into a prayer meeting. Gonia and the battle clerics, who were left dizzy by Anthony's words, instinctively entered the rhythm of prayer.

Only Gonia frowned in distress, muttering: "Why can't I feel whether his words are true or false? Is my intuition no longer accurate? Or is it because the Pope's power has blocked my perception?"

"Peerless Sword God"

Negris, who heard her muttering from the side, couldn't help but mutter in its heart: Don't talk about you; when he lies, he can even fool himself.

Although three thousand years had passed, because they had been in a state of petrification, the prayers felt as if they had been performed just yesterday, and they were very proficient. Thus, they discovered some different changes.

"I... I... I sense the gaze of the gods?" one of the battle clerics exclaimed subconsciously.

"I feel it too, and power. I feel like I'm filled with power."

"Me too, me too. I've never had this situation before. How could this be?"

How could this be? Of course, it's because the god is standing right in front of you, so there's no loss in power transmission. But what does 'never had this before' mean?

Anthony couldn't help but ask: "Have you never received the gaze of the gods before?"

Gonia and the others looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.

"Uh, so you Knights of Faith are believers of the Goddess of Redemption, but you have never seen the Goddess of Redemption?" Anthony asked hesitantly.

Everyone looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.

"Then I understand." Anthony smiled and nodded, confirming one thing in his heart: the divine fire of the Goddess of Redemption had not been lit here.

The gods of light have their own lineage: Scales, Redemption, Arbitration, Light Aspect, Dark Aspect... but the one that was banished was the main god-rank.

The main god of light would not re-establish a new lineage, because the main god-rank is not an individual with creativity; it is the believers who create the gods.

However, having experienced banishment, the main god of light might have already learned some lessons and did not let other divine fires be lit, but instead monopolized all the faith.

If this continues, the main god of light will very likely become the only supreme god of this world.

However, the Warlock Alliance interrupted all of this.

Perhaps it was the development of the Church of Light that alerted the Warlock Alliance, leading them to think of developing the Starburst Array to solve the problem once and for all.

Therefore, these poor believers, although they could borrow power from the main god-rank, had never received the gaze of the gods.

"Pray piously. My Lord Scales is watching over you. Open your hearts and pour out your longing for the light." The thousand-year-old con artist guided them precisely, and soon everyone was immersed in a wondrous state.

Everyone's hearts felt as if they were connected to a powerful entity.

After finishing all this, Anthony arranged for everyone to board the Warlock Ladder as quickly as possible and used the teleportation array inside the ladder to teleport back to the Starburst Plane.

When everyone emerged from the teleportation array and looked up at the massive object whose outline was clearly visible in the sky, they were stunned on the spot. They immediately understood why the Pope had said: "Once you see it, you will know what can annihilate the gods. This is a divine artifact of destruction."

"But it doesn't matter. The gods already know of the suffering here. The God Realm has already mobilized thirty million holy crusade legions. Get ready to spread the light."

"Yes!" The battle clerics were filled with righteous indignation, as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

When Cabrilla received the news that a group of light battle clerics had suddenly appeared on the land they had sold to Ang near the Dead Line, her eyes nearly popped out: "They really moved people over? They wouldn't have really mobilized thirty million crusaders, would they?"