Green Monster Epic

Chapter 769: Divine Right vs. Royal Power

After Garvin left, silence descended upon Allen's study for a long time.

Allen was not moved by Garvin's words at all. Whether it was the Church of Nature or the Assassin's Guild, they were both potential enemies to Allen, threatening forces that could strike at any time.

Although he had maintained a good relationship with the Assassin's Guild, and even allowed them to establish a branch in Fort Mure, he also believed that if given enough incentive, their so-called promises could be broken at any time.

However, there was one thing that Allen had to consider carefully. The fact that he was establishing a faith had apparently been discovered by many forces. Perhaps the previous incidents targeting him and the Green Field Tribe could be partly attributed to this.

What Allen found difficult to understand was why humans and elves were involved in this matter. Were these ancient and powerful gods so afraid of a new god emerging from the wilderness? The followers of humans, elves, and wilderness gods had only a small overlap, and overall, their target audiences were completely different. It was clearly inappropriate to say there was any competition between them, so why were their actions more aggressive and decisive than those of the wilderness-based churches?

Of course, Allen would not know that it was because of his sudden whim during his journey to the Ice and Snow Kingdom, when he entered the Land of the Fallen Gods and caused an anomaly, that humans mistakenly believed he had a connection with the Father of the Oak, and thus sought to nip this threat in the bud.

It wasn't a big problem that the Assassin's Guild knew he was on the path to becoming a god, but now that the Church of Nature knew about it, their previous assassinations, though fueling the flames of hatred in Allen's heart, could now be understood in terms of their choices and actions.

However, their sudden abandonment of hostility and initiative to show goodwill, regardless of whether they were ultimately sincere or had other calculations behind it, forced Allen to treat them with caution.

If the Church of Nature pushed this matter to the Temple of Nature, inciting the various churches within the temple to jointly suppress and eliminate him and the Green Field Tribe, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The disparity in strength meant that Allen did not yet have enough confidence to offend existences like the Church of Nature and the Oak Pantheon, which was why he had remained calm even after being repeatedly assassinated. This mission was seen by Allen as a reminder and a warning, an observation of his attitude towards the wilderness and the temples.

Therefore, deep down, Allen already had an answer, but he himself was still somewhat unwilling.

He had worked hard to reach his current position and strength, but when faced with many important moments in reality, Allen still had to bow his head to certain things and forces. This feeling of helplessness and frustration was bound to make people uncomfortable!

"Sigh!"

With a long sigh, a pair of eyes shone brightly in the dim study. As the mighty figure of the bear goblin slowly stood up, those restless and distressed negative emotions were also suppressed and buried deep in his heart.

Walking out of the study again, the bear goblin, leaving the castle, once again transformed into a dignified and solemn figure, walking like the wind.

Since the other party had given him half a month, even if he had made up his mind, Allen did not intend to give them an answer now. He might as well take advantage of the current free time to visit the headquarters of the Oak Trading Company and the Nature Trading Company, and scavenge some precious potions and scrolls as a backup.

The dragon blood potion in his hand had been exhausted, and the only remaining trump cards were two bottles of demon blood potion with extremely strong side effects. Not only was the enhancement effect far inferior to the dragon blood potion, but the side effects were also much greater. The corrosive aura from the abyss remained in the potion and could not be eradicated. Therefore, while the potion was being enhanced, it was also poisoning Allen's body. Finally, when the weakness period arrived, the side effects were so great that Allen dared not use it easily.

Giant dragon blood was not so easy to obtain. Even if there was a small amount of circulation on the market, its value would inevitably be expensive. Because of his fighting style, Allen had not yet found a potion that was as compatible with him as the dragon blood potion. Therefore, Allen did not have much hope of encountering a similar potion in the trading company.

Fortunately, Allen today can be described as rich and powerful. The spoils obtained from killing two demigods and more than a dozen legendary powerhouses in the past few years alone were worth more than the total income of the Green Field Tribe for more than ten years.

Although many of the treasured potions, scrolls, and magical items were not to Allen's liking, if they were taken to other powerhouses or forces for exchange, there would always be items that met Allen's requirements appearing in his hands.

… … … …

The Lionheart Kingdom has been established for ten thousand years. Although it is not as long-standing and deeply rooted as dynasties like the Dawn Empire and the Light Dynasty, the Suffering God, the mainstream belief in the country, has a firm alliance with the God of Loyalty and the God of Justice. The influence of its church headquarters on the kingdom is extremely great, so the kingdom has been able to stand tall and develop slowly.

Especially the Tide of Demons that began three hundred years ago, which caused the nearby Spring Country to suffer a devastating disaster. Although the human gods designed against the Father of the Oak, the Lionheart Kingdom also took the opportunity to absorb a lot of the original territory of the Spring Country, as well as its large population, eventually bringing the Lionheart Dynasty only one step away from the threshold of the empire.

Although the Country of Four Seasons was re-established later, many of the original subjects of the Spring Country re-separated from the jurisdiction of the Lionheart Kingdom, and some of the land occupied by the Lionheart Kingdom was re-incorporated into the territory of the Country of Four Seasons, the Lionheart Kingdom was still one of the human kingdoms that benefited the most in this war.

The increase in population and land brought about an increase in the strength of the kingdom. This should have been something that the rulers of the kingdom were happy about, but as time passed, the rulers of the kingdom suddenly discovered that these newly joined people had become a dark current in the kingdom, gradually affecting the rule of the kingdom.

The reason for this should start with the betrayal of the Spring Country's god to his believers, as well as the Spring Country's royal family.

In order to deceive the prophetic perception of the Nature God System and prevent the nature gods from noticing the trap set by the human gods against the Father of the Oak, the Goddess of Spring took the initiative to abandon her protected people as nourishment for the demons to invade the human kingdom, eventually causing the entire Spring Country to fall into a place of demonic slaughter, with countless common people displaced.

Originally, these inside stories would be strictly sealed off, and only the royal courts of the human kingdoms could know the secrets. However, when the capital of the Spring Country fell, Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells, suddenly intervened, tempting the Spring Country's royal family to build the Gate of Bones for him, in order to widely publicize the actions of the human gods. As the last loyal and brave men of Bright Creek City dispersed to the four regions, the secret was spread out.

Because of the Spring Goddess's actions, when she later obtained the authority of the four seasons and re-established the country, the vast majority of the Spring Country's survivors not only gave up following the goddess again, but also deeply resented her and spread her evil deeds from generation to generation.

At the same time, the human spellcasters of the Eternal Truth Council broke through the Wall of the Faithless and publicized this matter. Although the church forces tried to block it, they could not resist the spread of the magicians' magical spells.

From then on, even if intelligent races no longer believed in gods, their souls would not suffer eternal torment after death. The shackles and fetters hanging over humans no longer existed, so many humans simply gave up so-called faith and lived a relaxed and free life without any hindrance.

You must know that a believer of a god not only needs to pray and confess to the god daily, but also has to allocate a portion of their meager income each year to the church as an offering to show their loyalty and atone for their sins. There are also powerful churches that even override the kingdom's government agencies, collecting taxes from all the people and requiring believers to serve the Holy See.

Many families' children, after being born for four or five years, would receive baptism from the church and have their talents checked. Children with outstanding talents would even be taken over by the church and incorporated into the Holy See's affiliated orphanages without their parents' consent, and would begin to learn professional skills such as fighting and killing from a young age.

When the Holy See needed to build new buildings or there were major events such as Holy See wars, the church would also require believers to work and fight for the church without compensation. The Holy See would not bear any responsibility for the resulting damage or deaths, which would all be borne by the kingdom's subjects themselves.

Furthermore, those scholars whose thinking and knowledge were somewhat open-minded due to the influence of magicians pursuing the truth, and those warriors who dared to resist the injustice of the Holy See, were regarded as heretics and rioters tempted by demons by the Holy See, and were brutally suppressed by the Holy See with extremely cruel methods.

Such unreasonable atrocities had long been met with resentment among the people, but they had been suffering from the existence of the Wall of the Faithless, an innate shackle, which forced ordinary people to persevere bitterly until the end of their lives for the sake of the so-called peace of their souls.

The Spring Church and the Spring Goddess's cold-blooded and ruthless actions also sounded the alarm for many royal family members in the human kingdom. The power struggle between the royal family and the church had already begun many years ago, and then the Spring Country incident occurred, causing the human royal family and nobles to feel a sense of unease, and naturally added a bit of vigilance towards the church in their hearts.

There are also irreconcilable conflicts of interest between the kingdom's ruling nobles and the seemingly detached Holy See. The kingdom's income comes from the taxes of the common people, and development and the formation of armies cannot be separated from the ordinary people. Therefore, far-sighted rulers, while exploiting the people of their kingdom, also hope to give the bottom people the power and opportunity to survive, so that the kingdom can continue in the long run.

However, the Holy See's actions not only compete with the kingdom's ruling class for the already meager purses of the bottom people, but also compete with the kingdom for population, taking all the outstanding talents into the Holy See. This is almost unacceptable to the kingdom's ruling class.

What can they do if they don't accept it?

Even the ruler of a kingdom, if he wants to obtain the orthodox right of inheritance, must be crowned by the Pope of the most mainstream and influential church in the kingdom, let alone the few dukes and earls in the kingdom who are of lower status. If they want to inherit their titles, they must deliberately curry favor with the Holy See and gain their approval.

The vast majority of the kingdom's interests and power are occupied by the Holy See, and the seemingly noble human nobles have to bear the obligation of ruling the kingdom. This unfair gap in power eventually led to the nobles' rebellion.

Gradually, the nobles of the human kingdom and the forces of the Holy See, centered on royal power and divine power, began to compete in the superstructure. Although royal power has always been at a disadvantage, it is not entirely without opportunities.

There are too many human kingdoms. Except for the empires ruled by a few powerful god churches, the other dozen or so kingdoms are basically a gathering of gods, and believers who believe in various gods are mixed with each other. Although a certain god church has a greater influence in the country, other churches also have their own basic base.

Because of the development of believers, the churches are also in a competitive relationship with each other in peacetime, which gives the rulers in those kingdoms an opportunity to gradually grow themselves. By jumping left and right between the various churches and obtaining the greatest benefits from them, the supporters of royal power are constantly accumulating strength in secret until their strength is enough to compete with the various churches.

Royal power also has a major advantage over divine power, that is, their relationship with the bottom people is closer. Normal public security management and the pursuit of thieves and murderers, or the responsibility of providing relief in the event of natural disasters, make their image deeply rooted among the people, at least more useful than those priests who only know how to preach so-called fairness, justice, and love hypocritically.

With the gradual development of the people, the people's thinking is also gradually changing, especially after the news that the Wall of the Faithless was destroyed spread, the scale of the faithless who no longer believe in gods and are unwilling to accept exploitation is also gradually expanding.

The more numerous the faithless or pan-theistic groups are, the easier it is for the royalist faction to win them over. The two sides have common interests and demands in some aspects, and they also have the same opponents. Therefore, the strength of the royalist faction has gradually begun to emerge in various countries in the past two hundred years.

Of course, this certainly requires the wilderness, beastmen, or elves to fan the flames behind the scenes, and even human mages such as the Eternal Truth Council. As long as they can create some trouble for the most powerful human civilization and weaken their strength, then everything is worth it.

The Lionheart Kingdom is the hardest hit area of these two major power struggles. The kingdom absorbed a large number of survivors from the Spring Country, and it is also adjacent to the Ice and Snow Country, a heterogeneous country jointly managed and developed by human spellcasters and the royal family. The faithless are constantly spreading in the kingdom, impacting the original orthodox authority and power of the Suffering Church.

A few years ago, the kingdom also succumbed to the pressure of the church forces and returned the land and population that it had finally absorbed to the current Four Seasons Country, which damaged the interests of the royal family and nobles, so it is inevitable that other ideas will arise.

After witnessing the tragic experience of the Spring Country's royal family and nobles being betrayed by the Spring Church, the Lionheart Kingdom's royal family, with the help of the local faithless and the forces of the truth seekers from the Ice and Snow Country, gradually took the kingdom's power into their hands.

What followed was the gradually revealed struggle between royal power and divine power.