Divine Flame Crystal

Chapter 619 Are you ready?

Of course, the God of Light was unwilling to be outdone, so he mobilized the "Ceremony of the Descent of Holy Light" and directly initiated divine punishment, carrying out large-scale erasure of faith in the areas of faith of the Storm God system.

This type of divine magic is extremely cruel. Its target is not the army or gods, but "the believers themselves" - the Church controls the Holy Light Messengers to burn and sacrifice Storm believers in villages and towns to purify the space and rebuild the Holy Seal network.

The Storm God was furious and cast the "Remnant Seal of the Thunder God" overnight, which caused dozens of minor border gods and beast gods to defect and join the Free God Alliance camp.

Eventually, the war advanced to the center of the divine realm, and the God of Light descended in person, carrying the twelve-winged holy light, and confronted the God of Storms at the edge of the rift in the "Soul Void Realm".

The clash between the two gods transcended language, will, and time. Mere mortals could not observe it, only the stars in the sky shook violently that night, as if the heavens were torn apart. To this day, some magicians claim that they can occasionally hear the explosion of holy light and thunder from that battle in the depths of their souls.

The war ultimately ended with the God of Light barely maintaining control of theocracy. The Storm God's temple was permanently exiled to the edge of the Prime Material Plane, known as the "Eye of the Storm of Disorder," and its ministry was dispersed among four loyal deputy gods, entrusted to the Church.

The Free Gods' Alliance collapsed, with most members stripped of their holy orders, sealed, or demoted to "Fallen Gods," and their system of believers disintegrated. The God of Night and the God of Dreams fled into the depths of the starry sky, their godhood on the verge of collapse, having lost the support of faith.

But—the Holy Order was shaken for the first time.

After the war, many former members of the Church lost their Holy Seals, the Holy Light fluctuated frequently, and the once-indestructible faith system began to show flaws. The most obvious manifestations were: believers' responses to God were significantly delayed, the failure rate of sacred arts increased, and priests became frequently incapacitated.

The Church tried to cover up all this, calling it the "Soul Trial Period," but more and more cities and scholars are questioning it.

"If the God of Light is invincible, why does he need to burn heretics to maintain his divine power?"

"If the Holy Order is legitimate, why would even God himself try to escape it?"*

An organization called "Night Ash Land" was quietly established, calling on people to abandon the holy order and re-connect with the "original divinity" through their soul instincts.

And somewhere in the abyss beneath the northern border, a young man, once condemned by the Church as a "soul heretic," gazed at the sky. A flicker of divine flame slowly ignited, as if responding to the rift left by the war between the gods...

Although this "Battle of Storms and Holy Light" ended with the victory of the God of Light, it had profoundly changed the landscape of the world of gods:

For the first time, a large-scale alliance of gods emerged to resist the order;

The authority of the Holy Orders was questioned;

The boundaries of the divine realm were broken;

Trust among the gods crumbles, and belief systems falter. Ordinary people begin to reflect and seek new spiritual sustenance. Countless young talents from different races may become new innovators, leading a wave of spiritual awakening.

Mortals began to organize non-Holy Order faith groups.

It is not the end, but the prelude to a greater storm between "God's rule" and "freedom of the soul".

In this brief period of calm when the divine light and thunder ceased, the real collapse had just begun deep in the continent.

Xingluo held the intelligence in his hands, with magical shadows in his eyes. The situation at that time was similar to the present, and their destinies intersected at this moment, but he was not there in the past, but he was here now. In the battle against the God of Light, pure combat power has been proven to be unable to win, so they must change their minds, dig out the foundation of the belief in the God of Light, let them believe in magic and science, and no longer blindly believe in the hypocritical God of Light.

The night was as dark as ink, and the cold wind passed through the peak of Holy Light, blowing the golden curtains of the highest tower of the Temple of Light.

Tiffany stood atop the statue, draped in a sacred robe woven from divine threads, a divine light shrouding her, like a goddess descending to earth. But her gaze was chillingly cold.

At the end of her sight, the vast temple was reduced to a fire, the burning flames devouring the night. The flames were red, but they could not illuminate the darkness in her heart.

"The light is no longer pure..." she said slowly, "The Church is no longer sacred..."

She finally understood that this storm was not just about the falling stars, nor was it just about a war.

This is an era breaking free from shackles and an entire race awakening.

Human beings are no longer willing to be bound by gods at the altar.

She turned and walked into the deepest part of the temple to summon the Supreme Tribunal.

It has never been used for thousands of years.

That was the most extreme divine law of the Holy See of Light - even if they were clergy, as long as they "did not cooperate with sacrifices", "did not wear the holy emblem" or "spread dissenting opinions", they would be immediately labeled as "heretics", executed in public or killed on the spot without trial or pardon.

More importantly, this order extends the authority of the Light God to all races, whether they are dwarves, elves, dragons, or humans themselves - it applies to all.

This is not only a declaration of war to exterminate freedom of belief, but also a restart of spiritual slavery.

A few days later, the mainland was shocked.

In the Imperial Capital's Announcement Square, nine great scholars who had participated in the "Burning Ashes Oath" were burned at the stake as a public display, and their bodies were not even allowed to be buried.

In the southern border, the Knights of Light entered the villages and forcibly erected statues on the roofs; those who refused to worship had their legs broken in public.

On the northern border, an entire village was burned down by the Holy Judgment Army for "not observing the prayer ceremony of the Holy Light Festival", and all 127 people in the village were buried in the sacred fire.

The Temple of Light on the border of the elves was forced to restart the "Altar of Judgment", which has triggered multiple racial resistance conflicts.

In the name of light, faith is no longer mercy, but shackles made of iron and fire.

At the same time, Xingluo stood on the highest tower of Meteoric Moon Castle.

That night, he walked up to the top of the tower alone, wearing a black and silver robe, and the scepter behind him was slightly shining in the night wind.

In the distance, the sky was lit red by the burning churches, villages, and temples, as if the entire continent was wailing in fire.

He knew that he had no way out.

Mo stood behind him and whispered, "Tiffany doesn't just want your life, she wants the human will to completely surrender."

Xingluo smiled slightly, but there was no smile in her eyes.

He raised his scepter and connected to the Flame Communication Array—a long-distance array designed by dwarven craftsmen and magicians that used magical mineral veins to transmit information.

He knew that tens of millions of ears across the continent were listening at this moment.

So, he said only five words:

“Faith is not equal to God.”

These words, like a bolt of thunder, pierced through the fear created by the Holy See.

Like a sharp sword, it cut off the spiritual shackles of thousands of years.

At that moment, the common people, soldiers, sorcerers, craftsmen, refugees, and even some silent priests who heard these words all had a vague thought in their hearts:

It turns out... we have the right not to believe.

At that moment, the flame was no longer just a tool to burn down the temple, but became hope itself.

Less than a quarter of an hour after Xingluo finished speaking, responses came from all over the continent.

The first to respond was the Burning Oath:

"I am willing to use my body as firewood to light the way for others. From today on, I swear to no longer believe in God."

Following closely behind is the Moonfall Intelligence Organization:

"We no longer serve gods, we only protect the truth."

The third one was a statement from the head of the Dwarven Craftsmen's Union:

"Those golden-robed priests of the Vatican can't even hold a wrench. We don't trust them, we only believe in forging and fire."

Next are the Northern Free Knights - descendants of the original defectors of the Knights of Light:

"Xingluo saved us, and we are willing to burn our last life for him."

The last thing that appeared was the Dragon Language - the ancient voice from the underground dragon clan:

"The gods once wanted to enslave us, but now we are free. Starfall is the first of freedom, and we all pledge our all."

In just one night, a new alliance was born:

"Human Freedom Alliance."

This name represents not only the army but also the race.

It represents: a voluntary alliance of people to resist theocracy.

It transcends national boundaries, languages, beliefs, and bloodlines, and brings together not only humans, but also dwarves, elves, dragons, and even some fallen ones and necromancers.

A war that completely shook the foundation of the gods' rule was finally ignited.

Xingluo did not cheer, he just stood quietly on the tower, looking at the flames in the sky.

He knew that this was not victory, but the beginning of a real war.

It's not for territory, it's not for wealth, it's for a simple right:

“Choose what to believe.”

However, this right has never really existed since the establishment of the Holy See of Light.

Mo walked forward and asked quietly, "Are you ready?"

Xingluo nodded.

"It's not that I'm ready, but that the world is finally ready to face the real me."

He looked down at the scepter and vaguely saw the shadow of the divine flame crystal. It was a weapon bestowed by the God of Time and Space across thousands of years, but it was now burning in the hands of a mortal.