"Good evening to everyone around the world. I am here today to speak about the situation concerning our Lord and Savior," Pope Urban IX announced, his voice carrying across the packed St. Peter's Square. Thousands of faithful had gathered in person, while news organizations used their allocated satellite capacity to broadcast the speech live to cities across the world. Even newspapers had rushed special editions into production, knowing that whatever the Pope was about to announce would become one of the biggest stories since mana first appeared.
"The first piece of news I have to share is that I now have proof that our Lord is real, and that humanity has finally grown strong enough to handle a fraction of His power," Urban continued, his expression becoming solemn. "According to His words, before mana arrived, humanity and the Earth were simply too weak to withstand His presence directly. Only the most faithful humans possessing the necessary physique could endure even a small portion of His power before the arrival of mana."
"His arrival has already been felt throughout Rome," Urban said with a smile as the crowd erupted into whispers. "He appeared when I broke through Stage One, and through that breakthrough, I was finally able to communicate with Him." The Pope paused for several seconds, allowing the magnitude of his statement to settle over the square before continuing. "I understand that many of you will find this difficult to believe, but I assure you that I would not stand here today and make such a declaration without certainty."
With that statement alone, the world seemed to hold its breath. For centuries, humanity had argued over whether God existed, yet now the leader of one of the world's largest religions was claiming to have personally communicated with Him. The fact that Urban had recently become a Mortal made the statement even more difficult to dismiss, especially after humanity had already witnessed impossible phenomena since the arrival of mana. Then Urban revealed that his newfound connection to God had come with something far more serious than confirmation of faith.
"Our Lord has given the Church its first mission," Urban announced, his expression turning grim. "He has sensed that His people are in danger in North America, where something foul is growing, something that must be contained before it gets completely out of hand." The Pope then revealed the scale of the response, announcing that 250,000 of the Church's bravest warriors had been selected for the operation. "They will be transported next week with His grace so that they may fight on His behalf and defend those who are in danger."
The announcement sent another wave of murmurs through St. Peter's Square, though Urban raised a hand to calm the crowd. "May all who believe in Him pray for the well-being of those soldiers," he said firmly. "We will always welcome anyone who genuinely needs our help, regardless of where they come from or what nation they currently call home." His words were deliberately broad, but everyone listening understood that the Church had just announced the largest military deployment associated with a religion in modern history.
"Besides this, we will also release our cultivation technique, which can be used by anyone who sincerely believes in the Lord," Urban continued. "My bishops will be contacting governments around the world to discuss how we can coexist peacefully, so I ask every nation not to rush into laws designed to persecute Christians." He then gave the crowd a final smile, raised his hand in blessing, and said, "Amen," before turning around and returning inside St. Peter's Basilica.
Urban had no intention of sleeping that night. Before the Church could transport 250,000 people, an enormous magic circle had to be constructed, tested, and charged, while bishops across the world would undoubtedly bombard him with questions. He also needed to establish secure communication procedures, because he did not trust the remaining technological infrastructure enough to discuss sensitive information through ordinary channels. Whatever the Church was about to do, Urban understood that one careless message could expose information that should remain secret.
Meanwhile, the rest of humanity was still struggling to process the announcement. The revelation that God was apparently real would have been enough to cause worldwide upheaval by itself, but the claim that North America was facing some kind of supernatural threat turned the situation into something far more dangerous. Governments immediately began calling emergency meetings, while politicians tried to determine whether there was any realistic way to prevent the Church from suddenly becoming one of the most powerful organizations on Earth.
The greatest concern came from democratic nations that feared the political consequences of a rapidly expanding religious organization. Many governments worried that a strengthened Christian Church could become too conservative, too influential, or simply too difficult to regulate once it possessed a cultivation technique and hundreds of thousands of armed followers. Yet those same governments quickly encountered the uncomfortable reality that there was very little they could actually do. Attempting to suppress Christianity immediately after the Pope had publicly demonstrated contact with a supposedly real divine entity could easily turn millions of ordinary believers against their governments.
Then, almost as quickly as the panic began, another piece of information appeared. A relatively inexpensive tome concerning gods was suddenly discovered and rapidly circulated through newspapers, news broadcasts, and online archives around the world. The book described the creation of gods through accumulated cultural energy and explained that such beings possessed no direct authority over the souls of individual humans.
The information contained within the tome was surprisingly consistent with what humanity was already witnessing. It explained that gods could exist because people believed in them strongly enough for cultural energy to eventually give those beliefs form. However, it also explained that such gods were not omnipotent beings and that their ability to influence the physical world depended heavily upon mana and the conditions surrounding their creation.
The most important revelation was that the gods could not simply seize control of human souls. They could influence their followers under certain circumstances, but there were fundamental limitations to what they could accomplish. That single detail dramatically changed the political conversation, because governments suddenly realized that the existence of a god did not automatically mean that humanity had to surrender control of its own societies.
The tome spread across the world within hours, creating an entirely different kind of chaos. Scholars argued over its implications, religious leaders desperately attempted to interpret its contents, and ordinary people debated whether the existence of gods made traditional religion more convincing or less convincing. Meanwhile, Gaia watched the resulting confusion with considerable satisfaction, because she had never intended to turn humanity into unquestioning followers of religion.
Her objective was much simpler. She wanted humanity to have more options when dealing with the coming dangers, and religious organizations could provide one of those options if they were given the opportunity to develop properly. The existence of organized religions could also help reduce crime and stabilize communities, but that was secondary to the much larger problem facing the United States.
Gaia needed something capable of shaking the country out of its current trajectory. The Church was now willing to intervene in North America, and the timing was simply too convenient to ignore. If the resulting confrontation forced the American government to deal with the corruption and criminal organizations it had tolerated, then Gaia considered the disruption worthwhile.
"Well, this is interesting," Karl said as he watched the evening news with a predatory smile. He already knew about Gaia and therefore found it difficult to believe that the Pope's announcement had somehow happened entirely independently of her influence. After all, he had recently purchased a tome about gods for the insignificant price of one hundred silver coins, and its contents had already given him enough information to understand that the situation was far more complicated than the news suggested.
"So that campaign in what is essentially the United States is an obvious opportunity," Karl muttered, leaning back in his chair. "It gives them a reason to send their forces there, gives us an excuse to operate there, and creates exactly the kind of storm that could expose what is hiding underneath." His smile widened as he realized that what appeared to be a religious mission might become something far more useful to the Sonnenbergs.
A phone rang in the dark office of a man who had just finished reading a tome.
Orazio glanced toward the device with a tired expression. "Who could that be?" he wondered aloud, already expecting another problem to land on his desk. "This is promising to be an exhausting week." He picked up the receiver and immediately recognized the voice on the other end.
Hello, Orazio, I am here to call you about something, " said Karl, his expression becoming amused. "I am calling about the Pope's announcement." He listened for a moment before continuing, his voice dropping slightly as he began speaking in the careful double language they had adopted for sensitive conversations.
"Based on this news, I think the Pope's announcement is effectively an open invitation for us to begin operating our own shows there," Karl said. "If their God wants them to intervene in North America, then I think it is safe to assume that the real one is finished with them for now." He paused, his smile becoming increasingly mischievous. "Stirring the pot with a few shows of our own would not be a bad idea."
"And with those two acting as the main attraction while we remain in the background, it could become quite an interesting performance," Karl continued. "Perhaps we could even convince India to become involved." He then ended the call before the conversation could become too explicit, having already communicated everything Orazio needed to know without leaving anything sensitive in plain language.
Karl placed the receiver down and leaned back in his chair. "That went well and quite fast," he muttered with a satisfied smile. "Quite the timing too." The Pope had effectively opened the door for everyone else to start extending their influence into North America, and Karl had no intention of allowing the Sonnenbergs to be the only faction watching from the sidelines.
Across the room, Orazio Vassevilliers ended his own call with an equally sinister smile. "They really should have thought twice before extending their hands into our territory," he said quietly. Then he reached for another phone and began contacting the people who would make sure that the coming upheaval became considerably more interesting.