Chapter 151: The Fanatical Saint Yuri
Ultimately, Dustin agreed to Shirazawa's request.
His sole purpose in founding the Word of God Religion was to make it easier to coordinate the human nations so he could better save the world.
As for the Saint, she was merely a chess piece planted by the Church next to the Hero, meant to keep track of all information regarding the Hero.
To Dustin, both were expendable. Since Shirazawa needed her, there was no harm in handing her over.
"However... changing a church's faith is a bit tricky."
"The Word of God Religion has been deeply rooted in this world for countless years. Even shaking it will take some work. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Shirazawa only wanted to study the mysteries of faith authority and prepare for harvesting believers across the worlds in the future. He didn't care much whether it succeeded or failed; success would be best, but failure would just be a learning experience.
Fortunately, Dustin knew the ins and outs of the Church's system very well and quickly thought of a solution.
First of all, what the Word of God Religion worshiped was not a living creature, but the system voice heard during skill level-ups—the Divine Voice spoken by the Goddess Sariel.
Once interfered with, this kind of meaningless faith could easily be overturned.
For instance, a divine oracle could be issued to all church members directly through the system voice, commanding them to worship the true god.
This way, the so-called Word of God Religion would exist in name only, turning into a shell for the White God Church.
Of course, tampering with the Divine Voice was a difficult task.
But that was only for Dustin.
With Shirazawa's current abilities, hacking into the system to change a few prompt lines was quite simple.
The two old foxes hit it off immediately and began planning their next steps.
In passing, Shirazawa also cast his gaze toward the Goddess Religion. If he could unify the Goddess Religion as well, it would count as pulling out that thousand-year-old thorn from Dustin's heart, and he was more than happy to do the job.
The next morning.
Dustin gathered the Cardinals to discuss the reshaping plan for the Word of God Religion, announcing that a divine oracle would descend in one month to build momentum for the upcoming plan.
Meanwhile, Shirazawa had arrived at the system core in the deepest part of the labyrinth.
Ariel had already returned to the Demon territory ahead of time, leaving only Shiro silently studying system loopholes here.
Without disturbing his deeply focused little wife, Shirazawa looked at the combat-specialized angel, Sariel, who was pinned in the void. He rubbed his chin and studied her.
"What is the relationship between the ancient Angel Race and those birdmen in the Pantheon?"
"Sariel's godhood should have reached the mid-tier, right?"
"What a great fighter. If I can win her over, wouldn't that be another layer of security?"
Shirazawa rubbed his hands together, imagining scenes of Sariel bringing him various godhoods.
"Darling, are you thinking about something bad again~"
The sudden voice made Shirazawa shudder.
Turning around, he saw Shiro appearing behind him at some unknown point, looking at him with a smile.
"How could I~"
Shirazawa let out a few hollow laughs and quickly changed the subject. "How is the system decryption going?"
"Progressing well~"
As she spoke, Shiro tapped her slender jade finger against the void, displaying the patterns of the super-huge magic of the system before Shirazawa's eyes.
"The core hub has been encrypted by someone. It requires fourteen keys to open; otherwise, it will trigger the system's protection mechanism and send system guards to intercept us."
"Fourteen keys... does that mean the Ruler skills?"
"Exactly. The Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues each correspond to their respective keys. Currently, based on the Ruler skills we once obtained, along with Sophia's Envy, Wrath's Wrath, and Ariel's Gluttony and Humility, I have cracked ten keys. We are still missing four."
"Diligence and Temperance are with Potimas and Dustin, while Chastity and Greed are missing."
Shirazawa nodded slightly. "No matter. Worst case, we just force our way in. After all, in the face of absolute strength, a mere defense measure is just paper."
His tone was calm, but Shiro's eyes sparkled.
"Oh right, we can also use brute force to dismantle it."
An eager look appeared on Shiro's face. "How about we give it a try right now?"
"Uh..."
Looking at Shiro's serious yet casual expression—as if she were discussing what to have for dinner—Shirazawa went silent for a moment. "Are you serious?"
"Of course, we are so powerful now, what is there to be afraid of?" Shiro waved her little arms as if showing off.
"...That may be true, but the energy required by the system hasn't been fully replenished yet. Let's not alert the snake."
"Alert the snake? Where is the snake?" Shiro looked puzzled, then suddenly realized. "Do you mean... D?"
"Exactly. With her wicked personality, she wouldn't let us clear the game so easily." Shirazawa took it for granted.
Thinking about it, that was indeed the case.
Helpless, Shiro ultimately gave up.
"Our main task now is to master our respective divine authorities as quickly as possible and increase our strength."
"Once we take care of Potimas, we will gather all forces to dismantle the system, replenish the energy, rescue Sariel, and have Ariel and the others achieve godhood as soon as possible."
Shirazawa talked grandly, laying out a blueprint of one core, two ideologies, and four plans.
Bidding farewell to Sariel, the two returned to the Mystic Mountains.
This time, they came to replenish food supplies for the white army in the alternate dimension.
They had been delayed before by the battle between Wrath and Nia, so they hadn't had time to hunt monsters, and the little spiders were starving.
After some searching, the two discovered a massive, dense horde of large monkeys in a certain mountain range.
It was exactly the same army of revenge monkeys they had encountered in the lower stratum of the labyrinth back then.
With this, wouldn't the little spiders have their food?
One month later.
On the massive plaza of the Holy Kingdom of Alleius, Dustin stood on a high platform with a solemn expression.
On the plaza below, hundreds of thousands of church believers stood neatly in rows.
"Today is a blessing from the god! Our god has bestowed divine grace, restoring the divine duties of the Word of God Religion. From now on, the Holy See will welcome a new era of prosperity!"
Dustin shouted with raised arms, utilizing a solemn and majestic Holy Aura magic that made him look exceptionally tall and grand.
The believers clasped their hands together, their eyes filled with piety and fanaticism.
The most fanatical believer among them was none other than the white-haired girl standing at the very front of the crowd, Yuri.
Perhaps her experiences in her past life had distorted her mind. In this life, she was saved by the Church as an orphan. After a brief period of confusion, she was successfully brainwashed, becoming a highly influential Saint in the Holy See with a decent status.
Moreover, due to her special constitution, she had the privilege of becoming a God-chosen.
Although the position of God-chosen was temporarily added by the Pope, it was said that this holy duty allowed one to listen to the teachings of the god and receive miracles.
This caused Yuri's status to skyrocket, comparable to a Cardinal.
Such unprecedented treatment made her faith in the Church increasingly firm, even a bit crazy.
Day and night of pious prayers caused her body and soul to be entirely dedicated to the unknown god.
Today was the moment for the god to send down a miracle!
She would surely throw herself into the god's embrace, feeling the god's warm chest and broad shoulders, and...
"Mm-hmm!"
A suggestive moan escaped from Yuri's nose. Her pretty face flushed red, and her watery, alluring eyes rippled with passion, looking as though she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
"The holy and pure white divine envoy, Yuri Uren, respectfully requests our god to send down a miracle—"
The Saint's white gown flashed with light, and a dazzling pillar of light shot straight into the sky.
The glow of the miracle scattered down, instantly drawing cheers from the believers.
"Wow~ What is this?"
"Terrific, a miracle! Has the god manifested?"
"Yes, yes, the god has pity on us! He has definitely noticed us."
The divine grace rained down, enveloping the entire country.
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