"Is this church... so huge?"
It hadn't been obvious from the port before, but when they actually reached the foot of the church, they realized its staggering height.
The church's highest point must have been at least 200 meters.
It towered over the place like a small city.
It was like a massive fortress on a battlefield.
The towering spire, various elements of the Virgin Mary, were softly interwoven into this massive structure.
At this moment, they were practically bathed in the golden beams of light pouring down from the sky.
The surrounding temperature was neither cold nor hot, but warm beneath the golden glow.
The main entrance, in particular, was at least 10 meters high.
Paintings depicted the Virgin Mary and the heroic legends from her sacred texts.
Alka and the others followed the soldiers to the side entrance.
Through the side entrance, the two soldiers said goodbye and left.
Alka and the others stood to the side, looking in.
Inside was a vast domed hall.
Or rather, a giant domed chapel.
Rows and rows of seats stretched densely to the entrance.
The seats were filled with people.
An elderly man in simple church attire, scripture in hand, spoke from the podium.
After each lecture, the people in the rows of seats left in an orderly manner through the side doors.
Then the next group of pilgrims entered and sat quietly around.
In this sacred place, they maintained the most basic silence.
Alka and the others stood to the side.
Until another round of pilgrims left.
The elderly man on the podium left.
Others took his place.
At this time, a Wheatear Knight standing beside them spoke.
"Archbishop Ann has arrived. Please follow me."
He then led them forward along the magnificent corridor next to him.
According to Alka's understanding,
In the Church, there is no such position as the Pope.
The highest position is actually the Archbishop.
Just like the highest position in the Home Sea is also the Archbishop.
At first, Alka was a little confused, but later he understood.
The church where the Archbishop resides generally governs several surrounding seas, not just a single connected sea.
And in a place like the Holy City, the church's headquarters, there are normally three Archbishops.
They each handle different matters and then consult with each other.
There are also bishops' synods held every few years to decide certain matters.
The highest position is held by a council of six elected from among the Archbishops.
They are the ones who judge and set the direction of the church.
A six-member meeting, with three rotating.
Simple and effective.
And because there truly is a Holy Mother at the helm, there's no such thing as power corruption. To hold this position is to truly carry out the Holy Mother's will in mind and body.
Based on communication with the Holy Mother,
The ideas of many bishops may even have an impact on the Holy Mother herself, refining her ideals and bringing them to greater perfection.
To be honest,
Every one of these archbishops could be described as a saint.
But just based on my conversation with the soldiers on the way here.
Currently, most affairs in the Holy City are managed by Archbishop Ann.
It's not because of his immense power, but because the other two archbishops have too much on their plate.
They need to be elsewhere.
After all, the world is in turmoil right now, and they're incredibly busy.
They quickly crossed the corridor and headed upstairs.
A Wheat Knight led them into a hall.
In the end, only Alka, Sofia, Jason, and Lucilia remained.
The others weren't particularly interested in meeting Archbishop An.
They were led by other church officials on a tour of the cathedral.
A few knocked on the door and walked in.
At that moment, on a desk...
Archbishop An, whom they had just seen, was buried in his work.
Surrounding him were piles of books and various orders requiring his signature.
A secretary assisted him on his left, and an assistant on his right gave Alka and the others an apologetic smile.
It seemed they were indeed very busy.
Alka and the others didn't bother them, finding a seat nearby and quietly waiting.
It wasn't until Archbishop An finally rested for a moment and drank a sip of water that he turned his attention to them.
He stood up and walked over to the group.
He nodded to everyone and folded his arms.
"Welcome everyone."
He looked at Alka with a scrutinizing gaze.
Alka also looked at the Archbishop before him.
Honestly.
He saw the Archbishop flashing with one red, two orange, and three gold treasures in a triangle. He had already gathered all six of them.
Perhaps he was already in the ascension ceremony.
His strength was also at the ninth level.
He had almost reached the pinnacle of normal mortals in this world.
He was even on the verge of breaking through.
A truly powerful being.
He examined Alka.
Then he nodded. "You're a very capable young man. I've been hearing your stories and intelligence for years."
He nodded and smiled.
To be honest, he didn't know much about Archbishop Ann. He even didn't know much about the prominent figures and systems of the entire Holy Mother Church.
"The Trial Tower is still under the control of the Teachings and is not far away. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait until tomorrow to leave.
Tomorrow is the Harvest Festival. It's a blessing that you're here today. Perhaps it's the guidance of the Holy Mother?"
Alka nodded and said, "That's what we were thinking."
Hearing this, Archbishop Ann nodded, then looked at Alka and the others, thought for a moment, and asked, "Will you preside over the festival?"
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
Then they all shook their heads.
Are you kidding? Honestly, aside from the so-called Harvest Festival in the Home Sea, they've never participated in one, let alone hosted one.
Furthermore, this is the Holy City, and the headquarters of the Holy Mother Church is the largest Harvest Festival venue, drawing so many believers.
Assigning such inexperienced individuals to preside over it is a bit outrageous.
"Young people need more training, really. But since you refuse, forget it," Archbishop An muttered.
Then he looked at Alka.
"Thank you for your contributions to World Scars. If it weren't for your actions in the dream, who knows how much the World Scars would have paid back then."
"What do you mean?" Alka asked, somewhat puzzled.
To be honest, he hadn't received any intelligence on this matter.
Looking at Alka's expression, it didn't seem fake.
An explained, "Your ascension to the Gods in the Dream Realm made quite a splash. Although only a few people knew about it, the timing of your ascension was a bit of a coincidence.
It just so happened that you were able to suppress the demons that were about to launch a general attack, buying time for the defense. If it weren't for your ascension, the Demon Wall would have fallen."
Hearing this, Alka nodded.
Is that so?
Though he himself hadn't known that his advancement from Stage 8 to Stage 9 would be the standard for Dream Realm ascension.
It was quite a coincidence.
"Although the Demon Wall has already fallen..."
"Huh?"
This surprised Alka and the others.
"What's so surprising? You should have expected this. Is it that hard to accept?"
Although they had expected this, the news of the Demon Wall's fall hadn't arrived at the expected time. So they thought they'd taken some extra defensive measures and held on.
"It couldn't be helped. At least you've bought them time to establish a stronger defense in the rear.
Alas, the road ahead is bleak. I don't know how to navigate it," Archbishop An murmured.
Then, as if resting, he returned to his seat and began to work.
After a brief chat with Alka and the others, they said goodbye and left.
Soon, church staff led them to their resting area.
But no one returned.
Still wandering around the church.
So they began their tour of this sacred cathedral even earlier.
But as mentioned before, this sacred cathedral was indeed unusually busy.
And it wasn't Alka's illusion; he noticed that many of the civilian staff had some degree of disability.
Clearly, these personnel had retired from the front lines.
Sigh.
…
The next day.
As soon as the sky brightened, the sounds of a festive atmosphere rang out outside.
The sound of music celebrating the harvest spread across the entire island.
Alka and the others also rose early.
Led by church staff, they sat inside the church.
At this point, it was unclear how this had happened.
The wall that had once stood in front of the cathedral's main entrance had completely vanished.
It was as if the entire cathedral hall and the square outside were connected.
The square was densely packed with pilgrims, members of the Chamber of Commerce who happened to be staying there, and even island residents. Only a few heads could be seen, and even people could be seen sitting near the windows of the residential buildings near the church.
The people in the surrounding area, almost everyone on the island, had gathered here.
And in the early morning, just after dawn...
Although the sky remained unchanged, this was still the most important time of the Harvest Festival.
Alka and the others sat inside the church.
A middle-aged man, presumably an important member of the church, stood on the platform.
One could see scars and bandages on his body.
Then he began to speak.
Listening to the speech, Alka and the others understood.
The speech was simple: it spoke of the crises facing the world and the difficulties experienced on the front lines, and thanked everyone for their support over the years.
Finally, the children of the orphanage came to the stage.
Dressed in pure white, they formed a choir and began to sing.
Their song was a hymn to the Virgin Mary.
It was a festive song.
And Julia stood amidst the music.
You know, Julia's fame has long been known among all music lovers.
After all, her works had already spread far and wide with the assistance of the Church of the Four Gods.
As the prelude ended,
The sound of children singing began to rise.
Julia seemed ready for a major event.
A phonograph appeared beside her, followed by a massive harp.
She began to play.
She activated all of her treasures.
The music spread, and
it also amplified the children's voices.
In an instant, the children's chorus and the sound of the music resounded throughout the island, even reaching the sea.
This was a song representing the Virgin Mary.
Inspired by the music,
The Virgin Mary seemed to project even more holy light, and golden dots of light slowly descended from the sky across the island. I don't know if it was an illusion, but even the golden ears of wheat on the island inexplicably rose a notch higher.
Everyone closed their eyes, lost in the sound of the music, moved by their own emotions.
Now, the place was practically filled with believers.
Their faith began to coalesce.
Four nodes outside the world.
The node representing the Mother Mother inexplicably shone brightly, transmitting powerful energy. It inexplicably reinforced the entire protective barrier.
"What's going on?" wondered the traitorous gods, who were secretly invading the world from within.
Even the new gods who had joined the node and the other four gods were puzzled.
Why was so much energy inexplicably coming from the direction of the Mother Mother?
Where was it coming from?
Not only them, but even the Mother Mother herself was a little surprised.
The recent bustle in the sky had made the Mother Mother almost forget that today was the annual Harvest Festival. For the Virgin Mary, once a year wasn't a particularly long time span.
She hadn't cast her gaze there for a long time.
The intense energy emanating from her drew her gaze once again toward the island.
She wasn't the only one.
The other Four Gods, the Flower Fairies, and those who had already ascended to divine status and joined the defense system all cast their gazes in that direction.
Then they saw the scene on the island at that moment.
It seemed Julia was leading the charge.
With the help of Julia's new treasure, everyone's faith in the Virgin Mary reached its peak.
This condensed faith transformed into a powerful force.
At this center of the Virgin Mary's faith, it was transmitted to her.
And now, the Virgin Mary also fed some of this energy back.
The rain of golden light dots seemed to increase in number.
"If I'm not mistaken... that's a believer of Life, right? A saint, I think. And a mermaid."
The Flower Fairy said, looking at Julia. She had seen Julia before.
"Haha, Life must be furious, and the Sea God certainly won't be happy either. Hahaha."
The two gods certainly thought so.
Julia was a believer of Life, and still is, but she's just acting this way because of the current atmosphere.
"Hmm... when will Julia do something like this on her own birthday?"
The Sea God was the most displeased.
Because Julia, who was stirring up all this, was a mermaid.
Although mermaids were intelligent life forms in the ocean and were indeed created by him,
The problem was that, due to certain experiences, all marine creatures like mermaids were eventually swept away by Life and became its followers.
Now, they had almost nothing to do with him.
However, this scene from the Harvest Day seemed to have opened up some new ideas for the gods.
And now, in the Holy City.
As the song ended, the crowd was lost in thought, and the music grew fainter, yet it still lingered in the air.
Until everyone fully recovered.
At this time, Archbishop Ann was already standing on the stage.
"Another Harvest Day. Now, let us sing a hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary."
Praise the harvest, praise the new life.
Let us welcome the gifts from the Virgin Mary and thank her for her grace…"
As the words fell,
the believers on the island began chanting prayers to the Virgin Mary.
Ann was also connecting with their religious rituals.
They were welcoming the arrival of this year's angelic Virgin Mary.
She would bring the Virgin Mary's grace.
It was like this every year.
It seemed only this year that the believers' faith seemed a little stronger.
Perhaps it was the sound of the music just now.
Everyone else was watching the ritual from the side.
In Alka's eyes, this ritual truly connected to the Virgin Mary's kingdom of God. It truly was conveying the message of prayer.
Allowing the words of the crowd's prayers to reach the Virgin Mary's ears.
Then, a pillar of light descended from the sky and began to converge on the ceiling of the central church hall.
A faint golden light began to converge.
The expressions on the faces of the believers grew increasingly devout.
Though the church members' faces remained devout, they weren't overly surprised. It seemed to be the same every year.
The figure within the golden light became roughly the size of a child.
A child in a robe descended from the golden light.
A little girl.
"Hmm?"
Alka recognized her.