“Reporting to Your Highness!” The Bright Saint knelt before the statue of Wu Hui, both pious and calm as she spoke, “The Third Patrol indeed has the suspicion of blasphemy, but as soldiers, it is their duty to obey orders. The ringleader, Nico, has already been judged and executed by Your Highness. Furthermore, the members of the Third Patrol had pulled back from the brink at a critical moment, without truly harming the holy faithful. Therefore, Catherine begs Your Highness to give them a chance to return to the embrace of the light.”
The Bright Saint’s prestige was high, and her words immediately caused more than half of the faithful to nod in agreement with her.
However, there was still a part of the faithful who despised the Third Patrol. They didn’t voice any objections, but their faces were still full of anger.
Swordsman Landon couldn’t help but frown, “Saint, you are merciful. But forgiving the Third Patrol’s crime so easily, how can it show the might of Your Highness?”
Among the faithful, Swordsman Landon’s prestige was second only to the Bright Saint, and his words were also recognized by some of the faithful.
If blasphemers or heretics can be forgiven so easily, wouldn’t anyone be able to blaspheme the gods at will, as long as they begged for forgiveness after being defeated?
“Landon, the four of you are the most loyal warriors of Your Highness.” The Bright Saint Catherine turned her head and looked at them, her voice calm and imposing, “But you have also committed blasphemy before. Your Highness forgave you out of mercy, and you have since repented and served Your Highness devoutly.”
“Now that Your Highness has just returned from conquering the otherworld, our forces are weak. If we pardon them, we can gain a group of holy warriors who will fight against the heretics and expand our territory for Your Highness. Or do you want Your Highness to descend to the battlefield every time?”
The faithful pondered seriously and nodded their heads. It was a fact that there was a shortage of warriors at the moment. The great and glorious Lord of Light was invincible in battle, but if He had to personally go to the battlefield every time, what was the use of these believers?
The soldiers of the Third Patrol who knelt on the ground also listened to this discussion that concerned their lives. The meaning expressed by the Light Holy Maiden filled them with joy and hope, and they all eagerly shouted, “Your Highness, we are willing to repent and return to the embrace of the Light.”
These words were not entirely insincere, they did not say it just to save their lives. In the past, they did not believe in the gods because they were too distant and elusive to be touched for several lifetimes. But now that the God of Light had personally appeared and performed miracles, most people felt a sense of awe and guilt.
“This…” Langdon was at a loss for words and hesitated for a few seconds before saying, “The Holy Maiden’s words make sense, but if we easily forgive those warriors, it may disappoint the believers.”
The soldiers of the Third Patrol felt a chill in their hearts, and the glimmer of hope that had just arisen began to waver again.
“The Holy Maiden proposes a purification within the Third Patrol,” said the Light Holy Maiden Katherina in a cold and murderous voice. “Identify those who are guilty of heinous crimes and unforgivable sins, and bring them to trial and purification. As for those who were accomplices under the coercion of the heretic Nico, they will be given a chance to pledge allegiance to the Lord and make up for their sins with their military achievements.”
At this point, the vast majority of the faithful believed that this was the best solution. A small minority of dissatisfied believers still harbored some resentment, but their faith remained unshaken.
The conversation between Langdon and the Light Holy Maiden was planned all along to recruit those defectors and resolve the dissatisfaction and unrest among their own believers.
Seeing that the goal had been achieved, Wu Hui used a voice of unparalleled dignity to make the final decision: “Approved, follow the Holy Maiden’s plan.”
“Roar~”
The faithful cheered and shouted wildly, their eyes like fiery flames as they looked at the soldiers of the Third Patrol who were kneeling on the ground.
Most of the soldiers from the Third Patrol Brigade breathed a sigh of relief and felt grateful towards the God of Light and the Saint of Light. They were facing a situation where death was almost certain, but thanks to them, they were given a chance for forgiveness.
Only a few notorious and criminal members of the patrol brigade had a dead look on their faces and lay on the ground like a pile of mud. They understood that they couldn’t escape this judgment based on their past bad deeds.
As for any thoughts of resistance, they vanished in the face of the surrounding “colleagues” who were watching them like hawks. Their former colleagues would surely expose them.
Soon, under the testimony of the believers and ordinary soldiers of the Third Patrol Brigade, 21 heinous criminals were identified from the brigade. Most of them were team leaders or the personal guards of the brigade leader, Neko.
Under the gaze of the God of Light, Wu Hui, the believers and soldiers would not dare to fabricate evidence. These criminals were truly wicked and could not be easily forgiven.
Soon, a huge pile of wood was stacked up in the Square of Faith, and the 21 selected criminals were chained to the woodpile and waiting for judgment.
In front of the woodpile, the Saint of Light, Catherine, held a silver cross in her hand and solemnly announced the crimes of the criminals. She represented Wu Hui and pronounced the sentence publicly: “The above 21 criminals have committed heinous crimes that are unforgivable. They will be given the death penalty by fire. May the holy flames purify their sinful and dirty souls.”
During this month, Catherine carried the heavy burden of restoring the Holy See of Light, and she was under immense pressure. In a very short time, she transformed from a novice nun into a mature and qualified Saint.
At this moment, as she announced the execution of the 21 criminals, she showed no signs of weakness but instead appeared solemn and divine.
At her command, the believers lit the woodpile with torches.
The flames suddenly burst into the woodpile.
The scorching flames burned the skin of the evildoers, who struggled desperately but were restrained by iron chains and could only endure the burning.
Watching this scene, the believers were extremely excited, constantly shouting “burn the evildoers”, “burn the evildoers”, creating a fanatical and terrifying atmosphere.
Beside them, the other soldiers of the Third Patrol Regiment were nervously swallowing saliva, grateful that they hadn’t done too many evil deeds in the past and escaped punishment, and full of gratitude to the God of Light for being willing to spare them. At the same time, they were terrified by the ongoing divine punishment and filled with awe.
In fact, not only them, even Wu Hui, whose consciousness was attached to the statue of the God, couldn’t help but feel chills seeing the fanatical look of these believers punishing evildoers.
However, as long as he thought that those who were burned to death were all notorious criminals who had committed enough crimes to be executed several times in the society of the Earth, he felt relieved in his heart.
Soon, the struggling evildoers in the pile of firewood were silent, completely swallowed up by the flames.
Under the organization of Landon and others, the remaining 176 soldiers of the Third Patrol Regiment lined up and knelt under the statue, bathing in the divine light emitted by the statue, and began to cry and repent their sins, praying for the forgiveness of the God of Light Wu Hui.
This was a ceremony, meant to make them remember their repentance today for the rest of their lives and to be full of awe and vigilance.
It was a matter of great importance, and Wu Hui was willing to spend some divine power to stay a little longer.
During this confession, they repented for more than half an hour.
After more than half an hour, the Light Saint Catherine felt it was enough and knelt down again, praying, “I pray to the Lord of Light, forgive the sins of the 176 sinners.”
If the number of pardoned people is small, the Light Saint herself can perform the pardon ceremony. However, with so many sinners involved and with Wu Hui watching, it is natural to seek Wu Hui’s guidance.
Upon hearing the prayer, Wu Hui’s majestic and solemn voice echoed in the air: “Since you sinners repent sincerely, this deity declares to forgive your past sins. If you offend again in the future, you will be punished doubly.”
“Thank you for your mercy, Lord of Light.”
The Light Saint led the crowd in bowing down and saluting.
Until this moment, the big stone in the hearts of the 176 sinners finally fell. They were both surprised and happy, grateful and in tears, worshipping, “Thank you for your mercy, Lord of Light. We offer our lifelong loyalty to the Lord.”
As their words fell, one faith channel after another was established, and each one was very sturdy and strong, far from the weak faith channels of ordinary believers.
In an instant, Wu Hui had 176 more believers.
