Chapter 490: Commandments
In the interior of Northern Ufeiga, the capital of the Kingdom of Adus, Adis.
In the afternoon, dense dark clouds loomed over Adis, filling the entire city with a feeling of oppression and gloom, as if it were a prelude to an explosion, leaving the citizens of Adis feeling quite uncomfortable.
Within the negotiation hall of Baruk Palace, a tense confrontation was ongoing. When Muhetar announced his intentions, the tension in the hall immediately reached its peak.
At that moment, it was evident to the keen-eyed observers in the negotiation hall that the Savior’s Incarnation Sect was now prepared to resort to force. Members of the Church’s envoy group drew their weapons, directly confronting Muhetar. Facing the envoy group, Shadi displayed a look of astonishment and spoke frankly to Muhetar.
“Lord Muhetar, what are you doing? This is not the attitude of negotiation; please pay a little attention…”
“Force is also a form of communication, and communication is a form of force. We have exhausted our words during this so-called negotiation. Since you cannot understand our position… we have no choice but to use this final form of communication to resolve the issue. General Shadi, it would be best to restrain your subordinates from acting recklessly, or else we cannot guarantee that we won’t accidentally harm you.”
Casting a glance at Shadi, Muhetar spoke with a contemptuous tone, then turned his gaze to Vania and the others, and slowly opened his mouth with a serious tone.
“Heresy Nun, along with all your followers, what you face now is the truth of Glimmer. Under the Lord’s mercy, you have the right to convert to the truth. As long as you immediately abandon your three false beliefs, I can spare you. So now, choose! Will you convert, or will you perish!”
To Vania before him, Muhetar proclaimed directly, effectively issuing the final ultimatum. Faced with such intimidation, Vania showed no fear, responding quietly.
“I have been blessed by the Three Saints since childhood. The true meaning of the Three Saints is devoid of any hypocrisy. The Savior and the Three Saints are of the same source and substance, and there should be no distinction. The Savior above does not wish for you to stray into the wrong path, ultimately leading to doom. Therefore, I advise you, while there is still an opportunity, to turn back. Otherwise, what awaits you and the entire Kingdom of Adus is only the end of the road.”
Vania responded to Muhetar like this, not only outright rejecting his ultimatum but also attempting to persuade him at this last moment. The guards beside her, chosen for their excellent skills, displayed firm expressions, their fervent eyes showing no signs of fear, all poised with their weapons at Muhetar. In light of this situation, the already prepared Muhetar could not help but snort coldly.
“Hmph… If that’s the case, then you shall witness for yourselves whether your three false gods exist or not…” As he spoke, Muhetar slowly raised his hand towards Vania and the others, and just when he seemed about to do something, an unexpected event suddenly occurred.
Outside the large negotiation hall, flashes of lightning began to sporadically appear, followed by a series of thunderclaps that startled everyone inside, causing them to pause in shock.
People had seen thunder before, and just earlier, they had heard it; however, never had they encountered such relentless thunder. Clearly, something was amiss. Although the atmosphere was tense, many people’s gazes shifted towards the direction of the sound after the strange roars, and many immediately sensed that the direction of the thunder was rather odd, as it all seemed to be coming from the same place. Those beside Muhetar noticed that the direction of the thunder seemed to be precisely the location of their headquarters in Adis, the Radiant Church.
Hidden within the bone object beside Shadi, the undead Setute sensed the continuous thunder outside, and his entire spirit body seemed to exhibit signs of unease. Upon sensing this change, Shadi couldn’t help but be taken aback, then spoke softly in a manner intelligible only to the undead.
“What’s wrong, Setute?”
“It has been activated… It really has been activated. My previous premonition was not an illusion, it was not an illusion…”
“What illusion? What has been activated? Please clarify!” Listening to Setute’s words, Shadi continued to ask in a confused tone, and this time Setute paused slightly before responding in a solemn voice.
“Adis… or rather the city defense system left by Radset has been activated. Someone has successfully entered the Enlightenment Mark Temple and activated the remnants inside… Incredible… The possibilities I speculated before turned out to be true!”
Setute mumbled in this way. Some of his words were understandable to Shadi, such as the name Radset, which seemed to refer to the ancient name of Adis from seven thousand years ago. However, he wasn’t clear about what the Enlightenment Mark Temple or the city defense system entailed, so he continued to question Setute with a puzzled expression.
“What speculation? What did you speculate? Is this related to the thunder outside? Could it be the ‘change’ that the Nun mentioned?” Shadi inquired. Last night, while conspiring with Sister Vania about today’s matters, she told him to remain alert for a change at this time, waiting for the right moment to act. He was curious about what the Nun meant by ‘change,’ and now it seemed like… it was a thunderstorm!?
Had that Church Nun foreseen this thunderstorm? What was the essence of this thunderstorm? Shadi felt utterly confused and could only consult Setute, who, after a moment of silence, slowly began to speak.
“It is the ‘Enlightenment’… A being of extraordinary ability that meets all the requirements, at least a White Chalk Tier, has unlocked the lightning puzzles of the Enlightenment Mark Temple and entered the hidden archives, taking control of the extraordinary city defense system left by Radset. This storm is produced by that extraordinary being utilizing this system!”
“What… an ‘Enlightenment’ Being?” Hearing Setute’s words, Shadi was instantly dumbfounded. Having roamed the Secret World for decades, he naturally understood what an ‘Enlightenment’ Being meant. It was a theoretical existence, one that had never appeared in the entire Secret World—an extraordinary profession that filled a vast blank in the modern extraordinary system, a tabooed field that countless people sought yet led to depths of poison recognition instead, a legend that had been extinct for a millennium.
In a moment, all sorts of thoughts flooded Shadi’s mind, filling his expression with shock, while the faces of most of the others present remained puzzled. Many were still captivated by the continuous thunder outside, opening windows to gaze towards the direction of the sound, and what they saw were arcs of twisted lightning flashing across the sky, striking at unseen places behind buildings, leaving many wondering what was happening over there.
Muhetar was deeply displeased that his intimidation had been interrupted by the inexplicable thunder. Looking at the continuous flashes in the distant sky, his brows furrowed, then he turned to his subordinate and demanded.
“Go ask the Church what is happening over there! What’s going on with this thunder?”
Muhetar said sternly to his men, but before they could respond, suddenly someone stumbled in from outside the negotiation hall—a member of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect.
“Lord Muhetar! There is an urgent report from the Radiant Church!”
With a look of panic on his face, the messenger rushed into the negotiation hall and approached Muhetar. Seeing this, Muhetar immediately turned to him and spoke in a severe tone.
“Speak! What’s the situation over there? What’s causing this thunder?”
After Muhetar finished speaking, he awaited the messenger’s response, and the attention of everyone present focused on him. Taking a breath, the messenger spoke with a slight tremor in his voice.
“Acc… according to the survivors from the Radiant Church, they encountered a thunderstorm attack. The Lord’s altar was shattered, and more than half of those who remained at the scene have perished…”
“A thunderstorm… How could such a large-scale storm appear out of nowhere? Is someone playing tricks!?” Hearing the messenger’s response, Muhetar spoke in a cold voice, then turned his gaze towards Vania and the others, clearly implying that this was a conspiracy by the envoy group.
Muhetar’s voice was laden with accusations, and in his mind, there was no doubt that such an extraordinary event must have been orchestrated by powerful forces opposed to the Savior’s Sect. Within the city of Adis, that extraordinary force was undoubtedly the enclave of the envoys from Sacred Summit. Thus he directly blamed the envoy group.
Regardless of the truth, such accusations were certainly beneficial for Muhetar’s side. With the thunderstorm’s attack, they could completely clear out the envoy group and blame the envoy group for the attack on the Radiant Church during the thunderstorm, turning the cause of the incident into the envoy group’s initial unprovoked assault on the Savior’s Sect’s Radiant Church, resulting in significant casualties, necessitating the Savior’s Sect to retaliate.
In this slight inversion of the sequence of events, the actions of the Savior’s Sect today would seem much more justifiable. It wasn’t that the Savior’s Sect acted unwontedly, but that the envoy group had recklessly attacked the Savior’s Sect’s Church, killing many, thus the Savior’s Sect was merely retaliating against the envoy group. This way, the Savior’s actions appeared far more righteous.
The Radiant Church was unaware of the cause of the thunderstorm. This was the response Muhetar hoped to hear regarding this incident, and it was the most plausible answer. However, what Muhetar did not expect was that the response from the messenger before him would greatly surpass his expectations.
“Yes… Lord Muhetar, you are correct. This thunderstorm was indeed summoned by someone. According to the survivors at the Radiant Church, this storm was summoned by a woman from Northern Ufa named Isis, and she claims to be the priestess of the Judge of Heaven! She declared herself the representative of the divine to govern this land before the Lord…”
“Judge of Heaven…”
Upon hearing the messenger’s response, Muhetar’s eyes widened slightly, and a deeper confusion crossed the faces of most people present. Meanwhile, Shadi suddenly sensed an intense reaction from Setute upon hearing the messenger’s words, the likes of which he had never encountered in all these years.
“Hey… Setute, what’s wrong? Your spiritual state seems unstable…”
“The priestess of the Heavenly Saint… How is that possible… Could the Heavenly Saint be…”
Setute murmured with evident astonishment, while the messenger continued to speak.
“Yes… the Judge of Heaven. According to what the priestess said, the Judge of Heaven is the initial deity that governs this land, the one true supreme god. The priestess claims that both we and the three false gods are shameful usurpers, and she is here to judge us, leading this land back to the correct path!”
Just as the messenger finished speaking, and while Muhetar was about to respond, he suddenly sensed a wave of danger. The powerful perception from the “Lamp” being alerted him to the gathering of immense spirituality above him, danger was imminent. He began to react, activating his extraordinary ability.
“Boom!”
Before anyone present could respond to the messenger’s words, a sudden change erupted around them. Accompanied by a brilliant white light flashing outside the negotiation hall, the massive vault ceiling of the hall abruptly collapsed. Amidst the falling rocks, a thick beam of lightning shot down through the shattered ceiling and struck right above Muhetar’s head. In an instant, Muhetar and several nearby priests were engulfed in the dazzling white light, completely obscuring their forms.
The thunder roared, and the white light dazzled. Under the intense proximity of the lightning strike, many people in the negotiation hall experienced temporary deafness and blindness. When they regained their senses, they beheld a scene of devastation.
The once grand and dignified negotiation hall had now become ruins in many places. The broken ceiling lay in ruins, the spot where Muhetar had stood now a charred pit, and the exquisite marble floors were shattered into fragments. In the pit lay the charred corpses of those who had been Muhetar’s subordinates, reduced to darkened remains in an instant after a strike of lightning.
And at the center of the pit stood a figure—Muhetar, unmoving in the middle of the pit, his clothing ablaze, exposing large areas of scorched skin, looking as if he might topple over at any moment.
Yet, despite Muhetar’s shaky form and pained expression, he did not fall. Slowly, after the lightning strike, he opened his eyes, then, with cracked lips, he spoke softly.
“Heart triumphs over matter, soul triumphs over body; the suffering of the flesh does not shake a steadfast faith…”
Murmuring, Muhetar exhibited a change. The flames on his clothing began to extinguish, and though his skin bore injuries, his form regained stability, the pain on his face dissipating.
At that moment, although Muhetar was injured and his clothes were torn, emanating an unusual, intangible aura of authority, spreading outwards, making everyone instinctively hesitate to underestimate him. Seeing this scene, Gaspare, beside Vania, couldn’t help but remark.
“This is the spirit enduring the flesh… With the tenacity of the soul to withstand the injuries of the body, it provides extraordinary beings with immense resilience.”
“To suffer in the body to understand the soul, to understand the divine will through the soul; this is the training method of the ascetics, and one of their most potent abilities…”
While Gaspare spoke, the sky above Baruk Palace suddenly erupted with thunder, bolts of lightning tearing down from the clouds, striking the locations where the Savior’s forces lay in ambush. The previously stealthy Savior’s operatives fell into chaos under the sudden assault of thunder, revealing signs of fear and even panic in the wake of the lightning’s might. Upon sensing this scene, Muhetar opened his sacred text and spoke with authority.
“Commandments, fear not, do not falter; uphold order, for the might of the thunder cannot shake a steadfast faith.”
