In the afternoon in Glamorgan, by the Dazzle Star Lake, many citizens were gathered together, pointing and discussing the huge building that had suddenly appeared in the center of the lake. The municipal police were dispatched urgently, arriving at the lakeside to disperse the onlookers. Under the Drive away, these onlookers had to leave the scene.
The appearance of the Church in the lake caused a stir around the Dazzle Star Lake near the City of Glamorgan, while on a remote lakeside, atop a small hill, a tense atmosphere was spreading.
At the top of the small hill, several men and women in ordinary clothes were standing here, looking anxiously at the huge Church in the distant lake, seemingly waiting for something.
Just then, a fresh red suddenly appeared in the air. A blood mist suddenly appeared out of thin air, and then became increasingly dense. These blood mists gathered and condensed, finally forming two human figures. Not long after, the figures of Bo Ade and Gothsmore appeared at the scene. The people at the scene immediately bowed and saluted after seeing them.
"Priest! Lord Oracle!"
Without paying much heed to his subordinates at the scene, Bo Ade and Gothsmore looked towards the scene in the distant lake. Unconcealable astonishment immediately appeared between their tightly furrowed brows. Gothsmore was the first to speak.
"Is that the temple of the moon whore!? How did it suddenly appear? And in the daytime? What's going on, Bo Ade? It's still a few days until the full moon!"
Turning her head, Gothsmore spoke bluntly to Bo Ade beside her in a sharp tone, while Bo Ade murmured with a solemn expression.
"It shouldn't be... it shouldn't be? Is that really the temple of the Night Sky Empress? It was really hidden in this lake, but why would it appear at this time?"
Looking at the scene on the lake, Bo Ade's face was full of confusion. Then he looked at the few subordinates beside him and continued to speak.
"What just happened on this lake? Was anyone performing a large-scale ritual? How did this temple suddenly appear?"
"No, there was no ritual. We didn't see anyone performing a large-scale ritual. That thing just suddenly appeared. There were no signs at all before, and we were all startled." With a hint of fear, one of Bo Ade's subordinates responded to him. After he finished speaking, he suddenly seemed to remember something and immediately continued to speak.
"Ah, that's right. When that temple appeared, Sister Vanya of the Church was on the lakeside over there holding her relic exhibition. Not long after the exhibition ended, the temple suddenly emerged from the lake."
"That Sister? Where are they now?" Hearing his subordinate's words, Bo Ade paused, then asked urgently. His subordinate immediately pointed to the lake and replied.
"After the temple appeared, that Sister seemed to have taken her people and rowed onto the lake. They seem to want to go inside that temple."
"What..."
Hearing his subordinate's words, Bo Ade glanced at Gothsmore beside him, then both of them gazed at the Church in the distant lake, and then each turned into a ball of blood mist and drifted towards that direction.
...
On the other side, in the center of the Dazzle Star Lake, in front of the vast Church on the lake surface, several small boats had docked beside the wide platform surrounded by several columns. From the small boats, several Church Knights and guards in uniform boarded the platform. Vanya, wearing a white Sister's habit, couldn't help but look around after stepping onto this strangely appearing building.
"This building... is indeed real, not an illusion. It's incredible, such a large, real entity actually appearing out of thin air?" Looking at the surrounding scene, Vanya couldn't help but say in a tone of surprise, while Gaspare, who walked up beside her, spoke slowly with a vigilant expression.
"I didn't expect... we came up so easily. It seems there really are no restrictions or guards around here, but now is not the time to let our guard down."
Gaspare said this, and then he, along with the other Knights and guards, looked around the building with curiosity, looking at the exquisite Stone column arches and the tall circular dome, and then couldn't help but exclaim.
"What a large building. Looking at this architectural type, it's somewhat similar to the saint church's Church, but there are many differences in style. This wouldn't be some otherworld temple, would it?"
Gaspare guessed vigilantly, while Vanya beside him continued to speak.
"I feel like there's a possibility. The style of those corridors and columns, and many details... have similar points to the saint church's Church. If this wasn't built by otherworld, then it might be a lost ruin from the early days of the saint church. The architectural style of the saint church a thousand years ago was still very different from today's..."
Vanya stroked the ancient column beside her while speaking in a scholarly and meticulous tone. Because Vanya was born in the Historical Scripture Department and had previously been exposed to a large amount of secret history and secret transmission, although she was only a grassroots member of the Historical Scripture Department at the time, her knowledge level in the entire Church system could be considered high, especially compared to people like Gaspare who were originally under the Holy War Army system. Vanya was even more authoritative in this regard.
"A lost ruin from the early days of the saint church?" Hearing Vanya's words, Gaspare's eyes lit up. Then, after looking around again, he continued to speak.
"Sister Vanya, if this is truly a lost ruin from the early days of the saint church, then recovering it would be a great honor. With the scale of this Church, if it was truly a part of the saint church before, then it must have held a very important position."
"Yes, but we still need to investigate further to find out the specific situation here. Let's go, we'll go inside and see what it looks like."
Saying this, Vanya stepped towards the huge Church door in front of her, while Gaspare and all the guard team members followed behind.
Walking on the long Stone slab path, Vanya and the people behind her examined the surrounding scene as they moved forward. Finally, after stepping through the open large door, they entered the vast chapel. Looking around, they were surprised by the huge space under the circular dome that was not supported by any columns.
"It's... so big inside. Is this the chapel? Wait, that is..."
Gaspare, who was marveling at the surrounding space, his gaze suddenly focused on the center of this vast hall, on a towering white statue. When the goddess statue, with her eyes closed, long hair spread out, draped in a light veil, and holding a round mirror in her hand, appeared in Gaspare's eyes, his gaze became solemn.
"This statue, is it the Holy Mother? No, this is a bit young. No Holy Mother statue has this posture, nor a mirror. This isn't the Holy Mother... This is an otherworld god! Sister Vanya, this might be a temple of an otherworld god from a different religion!"
Gaspare said to Vanya beside him with a serious expression, and when he looked at Vanya, he saw that Vanya was currently frozen in place, staring intently at the distant statue. Her gaze was focused on the statue's face, her pupils slightly dilated, showing obvious surprise.
"Sister Vanya, do you know what otherworld god's statue that is? We'll destroy it now!" Looking at Vanya in front of him, Gaspare asked directly. Hearing Gaspare's words, Vanya was slightly startled, then immediately reacted. After moving her gaze away from the statue in front, she looked at Gaspare and spoke.
"I'm very sorry, I also don't know what otherworld god's idol that is. Among the secret transmission and scriptures I've read before, none described such an image." Vanya said this, then she seemed to ponder for a moment before continuing to speak.
"But Gasparre Priest, don't get excited. I think, since the architectural style here is so similar to the saint church, the possibility of this being an otherworld god is perhaps not high. This might be an early style Holy Mother statue, or a Holy Mother image that has been otherworldized by otherworld."
"An early Holy Mother statue... or a Holy Mother statue that has been otherworldized by otherworld?" Hearing Vanya's words, a hint of confusion appeared in Gaspare's eyes. Regarding matters of religious history and secret history, he was indeed not as professional as Vanya. Since Vanya had put forward her own opinion, he had no intention of refuting it.
"So, can we confirm whether it is an otherworld Holy Mother statue or an early Holy Mother statue? If it's an otherworld statue, then it needs to be destroyed, right..."
"There is no definite way yet, but even if it is otherworld... or even a statue of an otherworld god, we cannot easily destroy it, because it might become an important part of a future ritual." Vanya said to Gaspare. Hearing Vanya's words, Gaspare's expression became even more confused.
"Ritual? What ritual?"
"It's the Return to Saint ritual... In the secret world outside the saint church, this is also called the Idol Exchange ritual, meaning idol replacement." Vanya said this to Gaspare, and further continued to explain.
"For the temples of other religions and otherworld, and even Churches that the saint church itself lost in ancient times and recovered, but are too different from today's, in many cases, they will not be simply destroyed, but after evaluation, they will be attempted to be transformed into the saint church's current own Churches. The most important part of this transformation project is the Return to Saint ritual.
"The Return to Saint ritual is a medium-scale ritual. It can modify the meaning and symbolism of a religious site and establish a connection with a new symbol. For the temples of other religions, this ritual can free them from the control of otherworld saint and bathe them in the Light of the Lord. And for otherworld Churches and lost ruins of the saint church, this ritual can allow the lost sanctuary to return."
"When the saint church deals with religious sites outside itself, this ritual is often used. And the key to this ritual involves dealing with the main symbolic objects within the religious site, and that statue is clearly the main symbolic object here, so we cannot move it casually now."
With a serious expression, Vanya said this to Gaspare. Hearing Vanya's words, Gaspare couldn't help but ponder and respond.
"The Return to Saint ritual? I've also heard a little about it before. For some ritual sites of relatively high value, the saint church does indeed use such methods to assimilate them. Unfortunately, when I was in the knight order before, I only encountered some cult shrines of little value, which were all directly destroyed. I haven't witnessed this ritual firsthand...",
"Sister Vanya, do you mean that this Church needs to hold the Return to Saint ritual? So we can't move recklessly yet?"
"Yes, I can feel that the significance here is great, and it is absolutely worth performing the Return to Saint ritual to bring it under the Light of the Lord. This will become another important place of gospel for the saint church in Prit. If possible, I even want to personally hold this ritual." Looking at the huge chapel in front of her, Vanya said with a hint of hopeful expression. Hearing Vanya's words, Gaspare couldn't help but ask again.
"Listening to you, Sister Vanya... we can't hold the Return to Saint ritual now, can we?"
"Well, the existence of the Return to Saint ritual, I also saw it in the scriptures, and I don't know the specific way to hold it. We alone cannot hold this ritual. This requires professional knowledge, extensive arrangements and personnel participation, and even the ritual time is very long."
"But none of this is a problem. After we investigate here again, I will send a report to Tivian explaining the situation here and ask them to send professional personnel over to evaluate this place and then hold the ritual. We'll see if we can participate depending on the situation."
Vanya responded to Gaspare like this. Hearing Vanya's words, Gaspare couldn't help but nod silently.
"Sister Vanya, you are right. Regardless of whether this was once a temple of another religion or otherworld, and whether this statue belongs to the Holy Mother, after we take over here, this will be the saint church's hall, and this statue will eventually be the Holy Mother."
"Without further ado, let's continue to explore here, Sister Vanya. We will inform Tivian about the situation here as soon as possible and ask them to send people over. Before they arrive, we must also protect this place."
"Mm..." Hearing Gaspare's words, Vanya also nodded solemnly. Then the two continued to lead people into the Church in front of them to explore.
And outside of their sight, under a Stone beam somewhere above the chapel, a small, pitch-black bat was hanging upside down there, silently watching the situation below.
Meanwhile, outside the Church, above the huge circular dome, the figures of Bo Ade and Gothsmore were standing there. They were using their respective methods to monitor the situation below.
Looking at the Shining Light Church followers who had entered their target one step early, Bo Ade's eyes contained a hint of sharp, cold intent. He couldn't help but gather a ball of blood mist in his hand, but after much thought, Bo Ade finally let out a heavy sigh and dispersed the blood mist in his hand, but the coldness in his eyes showed no sign of disappearing.
Hmm, thanks to the big book friend for the treasure chest reward.