Chapter 824 - Berk
The relationship between a believer and their patron god is a symbiotic one.
The worshipper's prayers embolden the divine through the strength of their faith, and in turn, the Gods allow the worshipper to borrow a portion of their power to protect themselves or conduct crusades in their name.
This means the stronger one's faith in their God is, the more power they are able to call upon.
That's is why oftentimes these great Divine beings go out of their way to reaffirm their worshipper's faith in them even if it means lying or using other duplicitous and nefarious means.
The original treaty was put in place to limit the power of all these divine beings at least within the Origin world and allow for each generation to grow up unsullied by facetious rhetoric that is created to indoctrinate mortals since birth and keep them appeased.
And one of the main and perhaps the most important term of the treaty forbids these churches and temples to interfere in any way so long as the matter pertained to the forces coming from the Origin Worlds, especially the ones related to the younger generation since in most cases they wouldn't know any better.
Yet if what Berk was saying correct, then that condition had already been breached a long time ago. To be able to call upon the power of the Holy Light, they must have been avid believers for a long time which was no laughing matter and could not be simply overlooked.
And to make the matters worse, it was being perpetuated by the first protector of the Academy who in this world, was the utmost authority on the matter.
Berk nodded begrudgingly, "Yes. Lord Dai Zhi has already created a sizable force that is able to call upon the Holy Light without reservations. I knew a guy that oversaw much of the procedure."
Henrik's brow appeared to be permanently furrowed as his mind raced with a myriad of thoughts. After a few minutes of silence he urged Berk to continue, hoping that there would be some clues.
"What procedure?"
Berk shook his head as he recalled the details.
"It was...inhuman what we did to them. It started on a small scale with the creation of a handful of refugee camps that were built under Lord Dai Zhi's command. He gathered all the fleeing mortals that had no place left to go, the ones that were fleeing from the very wars caused by us."
"At first he provided them a safe haven and slowly introduced them to the Church. But the progress was extremely slow and after some time it became quite apparent that these natives were not particularly interested in the teachings."
"So he ramped up his efforts, sending even more people from the Church and foretelling a great disaster that would befall them if they did not accept them. A few others joined but maybe it was their numbers or the lack of faith that caused him to change his approach completely."
"After several months of caring for them, we were abruptly told to pull out from all camps but two. The ones that were left unprotected were attacked overnight by various beasts, thieves, and raiders which were in turn controlled by him."
"He created an example out of them. We told them that the source of all this misfortune was their own lack of faith, that they did not believe. That only the "Holy Light" could protect them."
"This incident was the spark that he needed. They started converting, believing that it would save them and their loved ones."
"Slowly over time more and more refugees appeared and we did the same thing to them. Showing them what could happen if they believed, and what WOULD happen if they didn't."
"At the time I didn't know this was happening since he kept everything compartmentalized and by the time many of us caught up, it was too late to do anything about it. His own power was already strong enough without the backing of the Church so there wasn't much we could do."
"Some of us tried to speak up but they were either suppressed one way or another or if not, people like me were sent to make them disappear."
"Hundreds of thousands died and no one even knew about it. He kept everything under wraps, only showing himself to bequeath "miracles" and lend his power to a select few, claiming to be of divine origin. He never said it himself mind you, but others did."
"We spread rumors that Lord Dai Zhi was the only one that could protect them, that he was a great Champion of the Church. His name became synonymous with the Holy Light and all its glory."
"His sacred arts awed the ignorant masses into submission. Those with the strongest faith were gathered in a secret location and trained by Lord Dai Zhi's most trusted servants. Most probably for war. But that was already a long time ago. They realized I wasn't a devout follower and started to push me out, which I preferred."
He went silent for a short moment thereafter, bitting his lips as his fists balled up in anguish.
"I...can't even get a full night's sleep anymore. Their cries of help, the screams of the children calling for their parents, the scores of helpless men and women that were slaughtered for no reason. I can still see their faces and hear their pleas when I close my eyes."
"And...I heard there were a few camps where even worse things happened. Needless torture, constant sexual, physical and mental abuse, and magical exploitation to warp their minds.. Some of the stories I heard sounded like they were describing hell itself."