Chapter 146: Faith
Iron Fortress, Plaza District.
The gargantuan doors of the Evernight Cathedral had not remained shut for a single second today. An unending dragon of humanity snaked from the entrance, coiling three times around the central plaza; the tail of the line had nearly reached the city gates.
Father Anchi sat expressionless beneath the shadow of the massive skeletal statue. Before him sat a small wooden desk equipped with a single stamp and a tin of ink.
His job was simple: for every individual who finished their "mandatory devotion," he would issue a stamped "Prayer Completion Card." Then, the next person would step forward. The cycle repeated.
Anchi's movements had devolved into a mechanical, soulless instinct. Lift. Stamp. Hand over. Smooth and mindless. He could no longer recall how many hours he had been sitting there, nor how many thousands of cards he had certified. He only knew that ever since That Personage issued the decree requiring a daily act of prayer from all Citizens and Residents, he hadn't seen the sun before high noon.
"NEXT!"
Sister Cecilia's roar erupted from the threshold. She stood like a temple guardian, hands on her hips, responsible for keeping the dragon of people from devolving into a riot.
An elderly man, having just finished his prayer, remained on his knees before the statue. He was clutching the gargantuan toe-bones of the carving, tears of gratitude tracking through his wrinkles.
"Thank you, My Lord! Thank you, Evernight Empire!" the old man sobbed. "I've lived sixty years, but I've finally lived to see the benevolent rule of the Dead! Praise be!"
He looked ready to testify for three days and three nights. Cecilia marched over and hoisted the old man up by his collar.
"Alright, pop, he heard you! Move it! You're blocking the line!"
She tucked the old man under her arm. Even as his legs kicked the air, he continued to babble: "I haven't donated yet! I must offer my everything to the Empire!"
Cecilia dragged him to the exit, pointing a thumb toward a massive wooden chest that was currently overflowing. "The box is right there! Put it in yourself!"
Beside the donation chest sat a cordoned-off area filled with a chaotic assortment of "offerings": mud-caked radishes freshly pulled from the earth, baskets of squawking live chickens, several strings of dried salted fish, and even a hand-knitted wool sweater of such gargantuan proportions it was clearly intended for the statue to wear.
Kula was currently crouched beside the chest. Nominally, she was helping "organize" the offerings. In reality, her hands were a blur of motion. With the speed of a strike from the Shadow Guard, she snatched a smoked sausage from the pile and jammed it into her mouth, her cheeks bulging like a squirrel's.
She then resumed her "work," sorting radishes with an expression of pure, unadulterated innocence.
Cecilia, having just dropped the old man, whipped her head around and caught the movement. She lunged forward, her hand clamping onto Kula's wrist just as the succubus reached for a bag of apples.
"You dare steal the offerings?! Spit it out!"
Kula refused to yield, her mouth full of sausage as she let out muffled, defiant grunts. "Mmm-mmm! Di-ish a giff fwoom de faif-fuw!"
"Gift, my foot! You were 'gifted' thirty eggs and five roasted chickens just last week!"
The two immediately engaged in a high-intensity wrestling match over the fruit. Meanwhile, Danica moved through the hall like a busy bee, carrying a bucket of water.
"Careful! Please, Madam, your candle is too large! You'll set the cathedral on fire!"
An over-enthusiastic believer had somehow procured a ceremonial candle thicker than an arm and was currently attempting to ignite it at the statue's feet. Danica frantically doused the wick with water, earning a look of intense disappointment from the worshiper.
The atmosphere inside the sanctuary held zero dignity. It felt less like a house of the Spirit and more like a marketplace ten minutes before a clearance sale.
Anchi felt a phantom pulse throb in his skull. I've had enough.
He slammed his hands onto his desk and unleashed a roar he had been suppressing for days. "EVERYONE, BE SILENT!"
His voice was instantly swallowed by the roar of the crowd. A burly man, having just finished his prayer, clapped a heavy hand onto Anchi's shoulder.
"Good work, Father! You look exhausted! Here—take this to keep your strength up!"
The man shoved an oil-paper bundle into Anchi's hands. Anchi opened it to find a whole, steaming roasted chicken. He looked at the bird, then at the line outside that showed no sign of shrinking, and felt a sudden, profound desire for the void to claim him.
Just then, Cecilia stopped her brawl with Kula, looking toward the main entrance.
A group was moving against the flow of the crowd, entering the hall. They wore uniform grey robes, their expressions solemn and their strides steady. They looked entirely out of place in the chaotic environment. At their head was a white-haired man whose eyes scanned the scene before him, his brow furrowing into a deep, judgmental scowl.
Anchi noticed the intruders. He recognized them immediately.
They were former clergy of the Theocracy. After the fall of Gusteko, they had been incorporated into the Imperial system and sent to the rear for "Ideological Re-education."
The old man marched up to Anchi, producing a parchment sealed with the crest of the Iron Fortress Administrative Office.
"By order of the Department of State, I, Valeri, former Bishop of the Holy See, lead one hundred and twenty ordained staff to assist in the daily operations of the Evernight Cathedral."
Valeri spoke with the lingering arrogance of the old world. He spared a glance at Anchi's soul-dead face, then at Kula, who was still trying to bite Cecilia's arm over a bag of apples. Finally, his gaze settled on the gargantuan statue of the skeleton resting his chin on his hand.
Valeri's lip gave a violent twitch.
Anchi took the document, reading it blearily. It was real. A complicated mixture of emotions washed over him. On one hand, he finally had reinforcements; he wouldn't have to face this nightmare alone. On the other hand, it was these people—the stiffest, most pedantic traditionalists in the faith.
Before Anchi could even offer a greeting, Bishop Valeri began barking orders.
"This is utter lunacy!" he shouted, pointing at the cluttered donation chest. "Sacred offerings mixed with root vegetables?! Guards! Separate the coin from the produce! Inventory the food and prepare it for distribution to the impoverished faithful immediately!"
He turned toward the believers kneeling and wailing on the floor. "Prayer is a sacred communion with the Divine! It is not a place to shriek for your mothers! SILENCE! I demand absolute decorum!"
Finally, he leveled a finger at Kula. "And you! You... thing! This is a house of the Sovereign, not a larder for your petty thievery!"
Kula, being insulted to her face, didn't get angry. She simply clutched her stolen apples tighter and blew Valeri a mocking raspberry. Cecilia crossed her arms, watching the scene with malicious glee, making no move to help the newcomer.
The re-educated priests moved into action. They tried to separate the crowd by gender. They tried to categorize the bizarre donations. They tried to stop the frantic shouting.
And they failed. Utterly.
"Why can't I cry?! My gratitude for the Master is too big to keep inside!"
"This rooster is the loudest in my village! I'm offering it to the Master as a wake-up call! Who are you to stop me?!"
"The line? We've been in the line!"
"Why are you making me move? My husband is right in front of me!"
The chaos doubled in volume. Bishop Valeri's face turned a dangerous shade of purple. He took a deep breath, marched to the foot of the statue, and faced the crowd, his voice booming.
"SILENCE!"
"We offer our faith to the Sovereign of Evernight, the Bringer of Order and Light!"
"His path is one of rigor! Of sanctity!"
"We must offer our respects through the most pious and solemn of rites!"
He pulled a thick, leather-bound volume from his robes. "I have spent the last seventy-two hours compiling this: The First Draft of the Evernight Codex! Now, everyone! Recite with me! Chapter One: The Sacred Frame!"
Valeri opened the book and began to read in a dramatic, liturgical chant. "O Great Master of Calcium, You are the cornerstone that ended the chaos, the beacon that pierced the night..."
The priests behind him joined the chant, attempting to create an atmosphere of divine weight. The believers went quiet for a moment, looking at each other in confusion.
One middle-aged woman whispered to her neighbor, "What's he saying? I don't get it."
"I think he's complimenting the Master?"
"Oh! Compliments? I can do that too!"
The next second, the entire tone of the cathedral shifted.
"THE MASTER IS OP!"
"PRAISE THE BONE-BAG!"
"THE LIGHT OF EVERNIGHT IS A TOTAL CHAD!"
A cacophony of simple, vulgar, and incredibly loud praise erupted from every corner, instantly drowning out Valeri's high-fantasy liturgical chant.
Bishop Valeri's face shifted from purple to a sickly beet-red. One of his young novices pointed a shaking finger at Mona, who had just woken up and was idly eating a pear she had "found" on a bench.
"A succubus! An impure demon in the sanctuary!" the novice shrieked. She began tracing defensive signs in the air, chanting an exorcism rite.
Mona, annoyed by the noise, stood up and waved her pear at the girl before taking a loud, juicy bite.
Anchi covered his eyes with his hands.
Scarlett appeared beside him, holding a cup of hot tea. "Don't look so miserable, Father Anchi. Look on the bright side—it's much more lively now, isn't it?"
Anchi didn't take the tea. He pointed at the former bishops bickering with the produce-donating peasants. "Lively? You call this lively? These old fossils are only going to make the headache worse!"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Scarlett said, sipping her tea. "They're rigid, yes, but they understand infrastructure. They know how to manage an organization. These fanatical believers lack rules—and that is exactly what the 'fossils' provide. Look at Valeri; he's furious, but he's already establishing a canon. It looks ridiculous now, but give it time. A new, ordered religion is being born from this mess."
Anchi stared at her. He looked at Valeri, who was currently shouting at a man trying to gift the statue a pair of boots. He realized Scarlett was right. The chaos was slowly being channeled into a structure he didn't recognize.
Just then, a Skeleton Messenger shoved through the crowd and stopped before him.
"Father Anchi. Document from the Iron Fortress Administrative Hall."
The skeleton handed over a thick, wax-sealed envelope. Anchi opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a magnificently worded appointment decree.
In light of the unprecedented religious fervor displayed by the populace regarding the Evernight Faith, and to better disseminate the Sovereign's glory, the Administration has resolved to establish one hundred new Evernight Cathedrals across the Empire's territories.
Effective immediately, Father Anchi is appointed as the First Primate (Archbishop) of the Evernight Church.
He is granted full authority over the training of all new clergy, the unification of the Codex, and the auditing of all ecclesiastical finances.
Anchi's eyes went wide. The world began to tilt.
Archbishop?
One hundred cathedrals?
Before he could even process the promotion, he saw the young novice nun finally lose her mind and lunge at Mona to snatch her pear. A second succubus tripped the nun, and a full-blown catfight erupted on the floor.
Scarlett immediately pulled out a chalkboard and started taking bets. "Place your wagers! Nuns at 3-to-1! Succubi at 1.5! Step up, step up!"
Anchi's eyes rolled back into his head, and he toppled straight backward.
"FATHER ANCHI!"
"ANCHI!"
Danica and Cecilia's cries were lost in the roar of the crowd.
"PRAISE THE MASTER! WE HAVE AN ARCHBISHOP!"
"THE ARCHBISHOP WAS SO HAPPY HE FAINTED!"
"QUICK! HOIST THE ARCHBISHOP! TOSS HIM IN THE AIR TO CELEBRATE!"
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