Chapter 253: Memorial Tablets

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav

Henceforth, the God of Law and the God of Holy Light were allies; congratulations, felicitations, congratulations…. fine , at the very least we were quite happy with the results. Whatever the Holy Church thought wasn’t important to us.

What the Holy Church thought was unimportant—the important part was what the God of Holy Light intended to do…

From the very start, it had been part of my overall plan to use the power of Law to replace the power of Holy Light. It would obviously be necessary to challenge the old leader for a new God to rise above the rest. Or else how would the rest of the pack admit a new leader?

Even if it was true that the God of Holy Light had lost his sense of self, he would still follow basic logical reasoning and come to the conclusion that the power of Law was a future enemy. But if he and Law were destined to become future enemies to begin with, why would he still want to be allies?

It was because we were at the onset of the Holy War. It was time to ally together against greater enemies.

Yes. With the arrival of the Holy War, the True Gods and the churches of the Order Faction had to band together. The God of Holy Light was the leader of the Order Gods and had to set an example for the rest, else he wouldn’t be able to lead by example.

“Since we can’t be enemies for the time being, let’s temporarily become allies.”

The God of Holy Light had nothing more than the thinking capacity of a machine; he could only process things with inflexible logic. He would never be able to spout anything like “In order to defeat the enemy, we must first settle our internal differences.” In that case, he would definitely request to ally with the new Order God Wumianzhe to deal with him. I had expected this from the beginning itself.

As for whether or not we’d turn on each other after the Holy War? Heh heh, weren’t things obvious? If we lost the Holy War, there’d be no more future. But if we won, whoever remained would obviously be of the strongest, and the God most supported would become the new leader of the Order Gods. All alliances and agreements would mean nothing more than rubbish.

“Allies? Of course we’ll agree. Why wouldn’t we agree? If we’re as intimate as family, we’d call them allies, and even if we stab each other in the back we’d still call them allies. And, of course, we’re destined to become the latter.”

No matter what, the Holy Church was the main church of human society. When dealing with a powerful external enemy, it was practically set in stone that the largest and strongest faction would end up as cannon fodder—er—the foundation. As the God of Holy Light had obtained his position and power in the previous Holy War, for him to lose it in this one could be only considered normal.

Actually, those with secret ambitions weren’t limited to only the us with the power of Law. All the Guardian Gods of the various races, the new War Gods, Smithing Gods, Merchant Gods, Luck Gods and so on—wouldn’t they be ambitious as well?

The God of Holy Light was far too powerful. He enjoyed more than half of all the faith and territory of the Order Faction combined. In a way, he had become the “biggest enemy” of both the factions. In such a situation, if he declared war against any of the Order Gods, he would definitely set off a huge wave.

“The twin pillars of Order? I’d be such a fool if I really believed that.”

And that was why I was over ninety percent confident that no matter how furious the Holy Church was with me, the God of Holy Light would still send a divine message and suppress them in the end. After all, we were now allies, and until the Holy War ended and the God of Holy Light truly declared war against us, they would have to restrain themselves… Heh heh! How hilarious for the living to be controlled by a Divine Concept that had lost its own sense of self. They even treated the Holy Light as the highest-level existence.

Even if something went wrong with the God of Holy Light, and he disregarded any consequences and declared us to be heretics, I, of course, had a backup plan. Even if that meant we would completely turn on each other.

However, based on historical events, I believed that no matter how much they were willing to sacrifice, they would still not be able to conquer the Northlands. After all, even last time, the armies of the Holy Church had not obtained victory in the end. They had to also consider the consequences of forcing me to the very brink. Another Yongye Calamity would be quite possible.

Yet yesterday afternoon, I heard a piece of news that led me to completely abandon the possibility that the Holy Church would turn on me.

“The Bardi Empire has begun to exile the Holy Church and Holy Light job class members from within its borders? Haha! I don’t know whether I should be angry or happy.”

Judging by the information I had on hand, the Bardi Empire possessed a major problem.

However, the most anxious would probably be the Holy Church. Any single human mega-empire was a foundational pillar of human society. Even if they lost the entire Northlands, which was so small to begin with, it would be an insignificant loss. At the very least, the Bardi Empire would become the Holy Church’s focus for the time being.

Of course, if word of the conversation between me and the Holy Church envoy group spread, it would definitely shake the very foundation of the Holy Church and might even cause the formation of internal factions, such as an Orthodox Sect or a Protestant Sect. It was just like how the young Holy Knights lost their powers when I showed them the truth. The younger they were, the more easily their faith would be shaken and the more of an impact they would receive… Perhaps I should try expanding my Nanxiang Law Schools across all the countries and add more classes to help Holy Knights change their job to Knights of Justice. Yep, for the first batch of students, let’s recruit those unfortunate youngsters.

For a top-level company to have a massive internal problem with its system and morale, the happiest would be another company in the same line of business. It would be unavoidable for there to be a massive loss of elite members, with many jumping ship to other companies… Yet to prevent a declaration of war before the commencement of the Holy War, I might as well take things slow.

Perhaps the most unfortunate of all was the envoy group that the Holy Church had sent me. As the leader of the envoy group, Cardinal Soros was sure to shoulder the blame for such a massive misstep.

Upon returning, it would be practically impossible for him to ever be promoted; it would be considered the lightest punishment possible if he would never be assigned to anything of importance. I felt that there was a high probability that he would be assigned to copy records in the archives for the rest of his life.

If rumors were slow poison, then the fact that Aivla had become a fallen angel could be considered as the most critical damage that he would be unable to not take responsibility for. The Holy Church particularly viewed half-blood angels as valuable, not to mention that Aivla was a well-known Holy Knight above the Legend rank. In addition, she was young and attractive; she was someone with both beauty and power. Naturally, she became one of the living advertisements and spokespersons for the Holy Church.

In past advertisements, Aivla was praised as an epic hero. It was possible for ordinary people to not be aware of Estrada, but everybody knew who “Red-Winged Griffin” Aivla was. After all, she was one of the most famous Holy Knights of the current generation. Her heroic deeds were long since made into stories and sung by bards, having spread everywhere.

Yet the higher one was regarded as, the worse the fall would be. The purer and holier her image as a holy half-angel, the larger the negative influence on the Holy Church after she became fallen.

And, right now, the Holy Church’s huge problem had become a small problem of my own.

“Why are you following me around?”

“…I have nowhere to go.”

Becoming fallen was the same as becoming demonized; although one’s species and power would undergo a change, it wasn’t brainwashing. One’s memories would be perfectly preserved, and it was only natural for one to remain the same as they were before.

The current Aivla seemed to have less of a thorny aura, and she no longer looked at me with enmity. It was obvious that her personality and powers had vastly changed, but she was still that stubborn female knight.

Looking at this black-winged fallen angel who was filled with confusion and was unrecognizable as her former self, I didn’t know what to say, either.

Ever since she had believed my words so easily and even revealed a bunch of secrets to me on that day, I knew that she was probably the same type as Diana: an idiot who fought for the sake of her own beliefs. For these muscleheads, who added all their bonus points to Strength and Constitution, it was perfectly understandable that their Intelligence would be a little low.

At least she wasn’t foolish to the extreme. She knew that she had become a living stain upon the Holy Church. However, as long as she didn’t commit any crimes, even a fallen angel would receive equal protection by the Crimeless City. The members of the Holy Church would likely be unable to do anything to her for the time being. Yet the moment she left, she would be met with nothing but assassination attempts.

Having her leave together with the members of the Holy Church would be no different from sending her off to be executed. It was possible that even Estrada would personally deal with her immediately if she left this city. It would be a matter of time before she died.

Aivla, too, had a bitter expression on her face. It had only been less than a day since she lost her faith and became fallen, and her heart was probably in utter chaos. She followed me only because she instinctively wanted someone to rely on.

I had a headache. Although this fallen angel following me around made for great eye candy, I felt like if I foolishly brought her home like this, nothing but misfortune would await me. If this fallen angel had a significant amount of combat strength, it would be even more trouble.

“…Since the Holy Light is unable to stop the warfare, then what can you do? Don’t you have any ideas? Do you only know how to raise questions but not solve problems? How irresponsible.”

Not long ago, I learned that Aivla’s parents had both died at the hands of undead mages. Her parents’ bodies had been defiled as well, which was why she had an almost fanatical hatred of the undead and was one of the Holy Light’s most fervent believers.

“Wait a little bit, and I’ll write a recommendation letter for you. Go learn Nanxiang Law for about two months, and you’ll understand everything. We even help you find a job after graduation.”

Alright, nobody laughed at my joke. This fallen angel only kept her unhappy expression as she silently followed me around.

Today my schedule was packed full, so if she wanted to follow me, then that was fine. I just had to find some place to give her something to do later.

I put on a black hood that I had prepared beforehand and tossed one to Aivla as well. If I appeared before everyone with my real appearance in such a lively festival, it would be impossible for me to accomplish anything.

My first stop was the central area of this Day of Peace Plaza. At this location, there were a series of stone signs, and all the members of the military parade passing by had to stop here and pay their respects. Now that the military parade was over, this place was crowded with people.

I merely watched for a while without a sound, then I intended to make my leave.

“What are those undead doing?”

When she saw those living people together with the undead—even having fun together—not to mention that these people were ordinary people with no powers whatsoever, Aivla was filled with disbelief. This was despite the fact that this was not her first time witnessing such an event.

In the middle of the spectators was a group of high-level undead. They were currently competing with each other as they scribbled on the stone signs; it appeared that they were inscribing something.

“Those are memorial tablets that record the names of all the brave warriors that have sacrificed themselves for our country. Over the past three hundred years, including the Mist Kingdom and East Mist, there are quite the number of names. In the end, with everyone trying to recall names, they still haven’t finished even up until now.”

However, a voice informed me of what the truth really was.

“No, they’ve actually finished the task of recalling the fallen already. Currently, they’ve been competing for several dozen rounds on who gets to inscribe their name in front of the others.”

A mysterious connection between us helped a certain hound discover me, but Ah Bas’ explanation astonished me.

What, was there something about the undead carving their own names onto memorial tablets? Yep—although it seemed a little strange, it seemed like the right thing to do in its own way as well. They were heroes; they had indeed fought to their deaths for our country. It was only natural that they had the right to carve their own names.

However, right now, these lively undead were nothing more than hoodlums who were fighting with each other in order to have their names carved into the first row. Why did I feel like this was all so awkward? This was no different from the dead crawling out of their own graves to write their own epitaphs!

“Why didn’t they inscribe their own names before? Didn’t they have plenty of time?”

“You know how the military parade had a ceremonial part of giving respect to the memorials? Everyone said that they felt it would be strange to pay respects to themselves, so they delayed it until after the military parade.”

“Isn’t inscribing their own names on a memorial even stranger?”

I felt rather helpless as I looked over at the horde of undead crowded around the obsidian memorial tablets.

Originally, I had intended to imitate memorials from my previous world and use one large tablet for everyone, but when Timier had, immediately afterwards, read out the entire aerial cavalry squad’s names and stared at me with an imploring expression, I discovered that merely one tablet probably wasn’t going to be enough.

In the end, as expected, all the high-level undead did their best to recall all their friends’ names, and more and more names were inscribed. There were already thirty seven memorial tablets over ten meters tall that had been erected, but judging by the situation, that still probably wasn’t enough.

“Why are they fighting over being in the front?” Perhaps it was because Aivla had changed species, as this was the first time she had ever expressed curiosity about the undead.

Bastian glanced confusedly at the black-clad person before him, but at my indication, he still answered.

“That’s for the honor of a warrior. Nobody wants to be at the end.”

“Then why don’t they just carve their names at the very forefront?”

“That’s also for the honor of a warrior. Compared to the brave warriors that are truly resting forever, we’re already so fortunate. How could we possibly want to compete with them?”

A long silence followed his words. However, Ah Bas seemed to recall something as he added as an afterthought:

“Relax! No matter how much they fight over it, we left the first position open for you. Only you are suitable for the highest position.”

Alright, I now knew what was more ridiculous than a dead person writing his own epitaph—it was a living person writing his own epitaph!

“Hey, I’m still living! That’s not necessary!”

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