From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 210: The Unstoppable Rise of the Church

Following the divine thunder came a prolonged silence and an even longer period of darkness.

Although the vampires had slowly crept in long after nightfall, and so much had transpired since then, the color of the sky remained unchanged. In truth, the hands of the clock had barely moved.

This judgment had taken less than half an hour. Within that brief span, the two angels accomplished their mission and withdrew, leaving behind two elderly men who stood frozen in place.

"Cardinal Rasinger! Cardinal Niki!"

Suddenly, a loud shout snapped the two of them out of their possessed state. They jolted awake!

Only then did they notice the three people standing before them, led by Bishop Lyon Lankechi.

"Cardinal Rasinger, Holy Knight Lyon reporting for duty!" Lyon declared loudly.

Prior to this, Lyon's impression of The Catholic Church had been entirely centered around the Pope. But after running into Andrea at the suburban airport and learning about the situation in Milan, he gained a profound respect for Cardinal Rasinger—a man who dared to place himself in the most dangerous zone.

Divine faith could not be faked. Only the most devout believers could truly remain in this city without fear of death, standing resolute to protect it.

Compared to those "so-called bishops" in other regions who lacked even a shred of faith but had no shortage of wealth-hoarding schemes, this Cardinal was genuinely putting his beliefs and willpower into practice. That alone was worthy of admiration!"You're here?" Rasinger exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "I've heard your name many times from His Holiness the Pope! Thank you so much for coming!"

As one of the four great Transcendent figures of the Church in America, and the only one who had rushed to Italy, Lyon absolutely deserved his trust.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Lyon introduced Gaboriel to Rasinger and Niki. In turn, the two Cardinals provided them with a simple explanation of the situation.

"So, the booming roars and divine thunder we heard on our way here were actually the power of two angels?" Lyon and the others were astonished. Gaboriel and Andrea, in particular, were filled with deep regret; they had never witnessed an angelic descent before and hadn't expected to miss out on this one completely.

"The price this time was agonizingly steep," Rasinger sighed. His body was weak and exhausted, but that was secondary. More importantly, he could feel a distinct "loss" of some essential element within his body!

To summon the angelic descent this time, they had paid a terrifying series of prices. This lost element was likely not something that could be replenished through cultivation, rest, or prayer. It might not even be a recoverable power at all!

"Such a price is worth it!" Niki declared calmly. "After this, even if those dark creatures dare to invade again, they will have to think long and hard about whether they truly want a destructive outcome where both sides suffer catastrophic losses!"

Supported by the other three, the two elderly Cardinals shuffled toward the interior of the church little by little. This signaled to the outside observers that this localized event, which had relatively few spectators, had finally come to an end.

Meanwhile, the agents and reporters on the perimeter were frantically gathering their equipment, which was nearly ruined by the electromagnetic reaction caused by the overwhelming electrical currents.

They all felt incredibly fortunate. The angels had seen them and had even dealt out punishment, but they had not taken their lives!

Many of the faithful even viewed this as a test and a reward from The Lord. Perhaps, after being struck by lightning, they would find it easier to draw closer to The Lord during their prayers.

As for the rest, those who had successfully broadcast the footage online were beaming with joy, already anticipating their hefty bonuses. Those who failed to transmit anything could only stare at their shattered gear and weep in silence.

Even if you gave them ten thousand times the courage, they wouldn't dare shift the blame onto the angels.

This was how the ordinary mortals reacted. As for the vampires hiding in the shadows, they had long since prepared to flee.

They hadn't run earlier not because they didn't want to, but because they simply couldn't!

They were Transcendent beings, and only they truly understood how crushing the pressure had been. The two angels seemed to only be targeting the Tzimisce Clan, but in reality, they had locked down every single entity within the vicinity, making even drawing a breath feel like an impossible luxury.

But in the end, the angels merely delivered a minor punishment as a major warning. They hadn't unleashed an absolute slaughter upon the city, which allowed this group of relatively well-behaved vampires to barely escape with their lives!

"I knew the Toreador Clan was spouting total bullshit! They talked all big about gathering forces to wipe out The Church's power. The Tzimisce Clan actually believed them, and now their entire clan has been reduced to charcoal!" one clan member spat viciously.

"This is what they call a 'weakened' Church? Then what are we? Single-celled paramecia?"

"The Church has truly returned. Shouldn't we move further away? Just keep our distance from them entirely. What if they decide to launch another purge?" another vampire voiced, worried about their future survival.

"The Church doesn't own the whole world. Weren't our lives much harder a few thousand years ago? We just go about our business as usual. Even angels can't just casually descend to the mortal realm whenever they please!"

After the initial panic faded, this group recovered remarkably fast. Some of their arguments did carry a bit of reason.

The Church was undeniably powerful, but their baseline strength might not be overwhelmingly invincible at all times. The reason they took such a heavy beating this time was ultimately because the Tzimisce Clan had gotten too arrogant. They had marched right up to their enemy's home turf and flaunted their dominance. Who could possibly tolerate that?

"The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin dictates that it is impossible to truly cleanse all the evil in the world. Darkness is merely a part of the light, and Crown Lucifer would never allow them to act with absolute impunity anyway. So, let's just leave for now. We will still have plenty of opportunities in the future!" This was indeed true. Good and evil were inherently dualistic. Even the most devout believers wouldn't assume the entire world was filled with pure benevolence. As long as malice wasn't entirely erased, the darkness would inevitably be passed down. As long as they kept a low profile and didn't act out of turn, the worst they would face were a few Exorcists.

Some even suspected that The Church deliberately kept them around precisely to maintain the faith of the masses, intentionally heightening the sharp contrast between light and darkness. Because of this logic, they weren't overly terrified.

In essence, everyone was just trying to survive day by day. There's still plenty of time, after all.

While fleeing, one of them glanced back at the only beacon of light in the city—the Milan Cathedral, which stood out brilliantly against the dark night—and sighed with a hint of regret.

"After today, the rise of The Catholic Church will be completely unstoppable!"

"Who wouldn't agree? If I wasn't a dark creature, even I would want to join The Church. Those angels were just unimaginably powerful!"

"You'd better not say that in front of the elders. Otherwise, I'm afraid neither of us will live to see tomorrow's moon..."

The vampires finally departed. They needed to return and either officially reduce the Thirteen Clans to twelve or quickly select a new bloodline to inherit the fallen clan's power.

For a very long time, the world would likely not hear a single peep from them again.

......

Three days later, Rome.

"Crown, the Wish Power gathered from The Catholic Church's entire Italian faith zone has surged by over fifty percent following this event!" Alvin's voice rang out in pleasant surprise, prompting Bai Yang to give a slight nod.

"Mm, just as I expected. After such a crisis, a much grander wave of divine faith was bound to follow!"

The great evacuation of Milan brought about more than just widespread apprehension among various regions regarding The Catholic Church's ability to guide the masses. Truthfully, the world actually needed this kind of unifying power.

After all, without the backing of The Catholic Church, how could the citizens—who had practically zero trust in their respective governments—have evacuated the city so rapidly?

But everyone knew that in the wake of this incident, everything else had been reduced to minor details. They now had to discuss a much more terrifying issue: the unstoppable rise of the Catholic Church!

However, to Bai Yang, all of this was nothing more than a trifle. He didn't care about geopolitics. What he cared about most was what this crisis could bring him in its aftermath!

As he spoke, he opened his palm. A cluster of flames was slowly burning above it. Compared to the previous history and the gods, this flame now clearly contained something else—namely, "rules"!

Yes, rules. Bai Yang had orchestrated this judgment, naturally causing countless people to fear it. But at the same time, he had deeply engraved the attribute known as "rules" into the hearts of humanity.

For The Catholic Church, these so-called rules were, of course, the laws of God, The Bible, the Book of Revelation, and all verified scriptures and the deeds recorded within them. They were also the Precepts and the words spoken by the angels.

But for a creator like Bai Yang, who was guiding the rules of the world, the essence hidden within these concepts was what truly mattered to him.

With the addition of the entities from the Inquisition and the Holy See Council, the entire Shadow Department of The Church's system was gradually being perfected.

"Only the members of the Religious Tribunal are left; they haven't fully assembled yet!" Bai Yang remarked. "However, this divine fire has indeed grown to the point where it can begin Condensing a Godhead!"

"Crown, since you aren't planning on Condensing a Godhead, then it's time to forge the Divine Realm, right?" Alvin asked with curiosity.

"Mm, exactly. Forging the Christian Divine Realm begins with this grand ritual!"

Bai Yang gazed down at the city of Rome below him, watching the bustling crowds of the Vatican. With a calm expression, he murmured, "Gathering Faith, Consolidating Divine Power, Igniting Divine Fire, Condensing a Godhead, Establishing Divinity, Uplifting a Divine Kingdom..."

"The largest religion in this world, and so much gathered faith... If I don't use it now, it truly will go to waste!"