313

Year 282

Shasan. The Land of Switching Sands and Seas

Lumoof dropped in and watched Emperor Erranuel’s men work. The Emperor and his group of followers had quickly fought with some local rulers, taken control of one of the towns, and declared it as the new Hawa Capital of Shasan. He had even styled it the Holy City of Hawa.

They’d worked quickly to gain one town. It was their first year on a foreign world, and for them, they did not have the systems or processes on how to set up a new outpost on another world. Interestingly, we found both Michael of Museo and Olivia of Olpash, both on Shasan.

“It’s interesting that both of you are here.” Lumoof smiled as he visited the Emperor’s new office. The void mage that helped send them here did provide a list of people he had transported over, but Lumoof thought it strange and wanted to see for himself.

“It is only right that we stand to support our fellow brother in faith in his quest to expand Hawa’s reach.” Michael answered.

“That is so, that is so. How have you found the experience so far?”

“Different.” Olivia answered. “The people of this world seem unsure of their faith, as if Hawa does not exist to them.”

“I don’t blame them. Hawa really doesn’t exist here. I’m sure you have noticed when you attempt to tap into your god’s power.”

Olivia frowned. There is an imprint that exists in the system, and priests can tap into that. But that connection is stronger in worlds where the god’s presence is stronger. By the same measure, Hoyia and my other priest’s connection to me is stronger in worlds where I have a node, and weaker in worlds where I have none. But not defenseless, because they can also tap into the system, and the system is everywhere. It was quite like connecting through a rootnet, versus speaking through [message].

“We both intend to spread Hawa’s faith, and strengthen Hawa’s presence. In time, this drawback will fade.” Michael supported his compatriot.

“Then good luck with that.”

I wondered whether Michael and Olivia would find a weakness in the Shasanian’s psyche and tap into a vulnerability in their hearts. If they could, maybe they would be able to sweep through Shasan like Hoyia as well.

***

Twinspace

The new converts were zealots. Those new to the faith were driven and eager to prove their faith, and it was frightening. Did I really want to use this power?

That was something I asked myself as I watched the Treeology priests whip the population of about ten towns into something not too different from a passionate bunch of looters. The promise of a bountiful land, salvation from their current suffering, and the gospel of prosperity made me think of my own interactions of similar religious institutions. Was this what I had in mind?

The town lord stood obediently as Matriarch Hoyia took the stand, and she swayed even more nobles to her side.

“Matriarch Hoyia, the King now wants to raise an army against us!” A passionate zealot reported. A convert. Spies. It was surreal that Hoyia had built an entirely new structure of zealots centered around her and her closest advisors.

Johann and Roon stared at each other and even asked her. “You sure you didn’t use some kind of mind control on them?”

Hoyia chuckled at the domain holder’s suggestion, but Twinspace’s expansion would be led by Hoyia, just like how Lausanne controlled Magisar. We needed to give the level 140s greater responsibilities and hopefully push them towards a domain. “Oh not at all. They believe in the promise. A crusade. A cause. Now this is the moment we must guide the fire.”

“We’re playing with fire.” Johann observed. “This could very easily turn against us.”

“Oh, it can. Which is why we must tend to it carefully, feed it. And clamp down on those who do not fit in our faith.” Hoyia said as she heard the reports from the various zealots. “If the King wants an army to fight us, then we will have one. Now, my fellow faithful of Aeon, we have nothing to fear! What do we, those gifted and blessed by Aeon itself, have to fear from these faithless men?”

Johann and Roon were a little uncomfortable. “I think using priests offensively might be a mistake.”

But it’s effectiveness was incredible. The various nations of Twinspace were dumbfounded by how quickly the Temple of Aeon spread, and how these priests of Aeon appeared out of nowhere and converted thousands in mere weeks. Some Kings immediately launched purges against Aeonic believers, which somehow only emboldened those faithful that they were right.

“They fear us because we are right!” Hoyia roared in a fiery sermon to the new zealots, as she recited a verse from an invented book of Aeon. “Even in Aeon’s homeworld, there are those who do not believe. And just like us today, those faithless men waged not one, but two crusades against Aeon! But we do not fear them, because just like Aeon, we will prevail. They attacked us. They will stop us from trading. But they will eventually give in. Because they lack faith!”

The crowds everywhere bought it, and the fires of zealotry formed into an army, an army Hoyia called ‘The Defenders of the Faith.’

Twinspace was no stranger to occult faiths. Over the centuries, there had been many charismatic individuals, who had used their powers of persuasion to create a cult. The difference between a cult and a faith was thin, and the only difference was whether a faith had a link to real power.

“I feel bad that we are manipulating them into this shit.” Johann admitted to Hoyia after the sermon.

“But what is the alternative? A status quo where they are aimless, purposeless, and do not contribute to the security of the realm?” Hoyia said. “Not all people have the same potential to rise and think for themselves. But that doesn’t mean they cannot contribute. With faith, we can tell them what to do.”

“This isn’t far off from what the White Statue is doing.” Johann said.

“Oh. I was actually inspired by what the White Statue did and believe that Aeon can do it too. It is why we should. The masses of Twinspace and its massive population are wasted in their current state. Reproducing in large quantities but not amounting to much. The wider worlds would benefit from their increased productivity. It isn’t really that different from what Alka did on Delvegard. I am giving them a purpose, packaged in the form of faith, and they have accepted it into their hearts and minds.”

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“Damn.” Johann said. “I still think it’ll bite us in the back someday.”

“Consequences that Aeon can deal with.” Hoyia smiled sweetly. “You should head over to your dragonworlds and get back to work. We’ll need an army of drakes and dragons.”

***

Religious ceremonies were common throughout Treehome and Branchhold, and often they were used to provide small scale blessings that lasted a long time. A blessing to a young child to grow up healthy, a blessing to somehow recover from injuries, a blessing for clarity when studying, and so on.

The power of a priest was mainly manifested through [blessings]. They could replicate the blessings of their patron god, often to a lesser degree. A power of the [system].

It was the equivalent of tapping into the system’s concept, that an entity like Aeon exists.

My general conceptual understanding is that a person’s faith, a person’s soul, these are the two things that power the [system] as a whole. The World Faith System, this offshoot and variant of the existing system, merely tapped into that faith directly, rather than through the entire system as an intermediary.

An army, raised by a threatened neighboring King, marched on the converted Towns, and the Towns raised an army to match them. Though there were actual soldiers among them, in the end, it was mainly an army of peasants armed with sticks and simple tools that walked to the field of battle.

Hoyia could’ve called on the Order to act. But she didn’t. A part of me thought this was crazy, but then, Matriarch Hoyia, as the lead Valthorn member of the Twinspace expedition, had full decision making authority.

As the worlds grow, I must delegate. And I must allow them to make mistakes.

I could feel Hoyia’s loyalty, and I knew she did not doubt.

“Sacrifice. Participation. They are all necessary for real faith. To experience fear, and to be saved.” She said gently, as there were about ten other lower leveled priests around her. She held in her hand, a broken branch that she collected from my main body.

The opposing army was thirty thousand strong and comprised mainly of actual soldiers. The converted zealot army was about the same size, but only a third of it were actual soldiers.

Hoyia watched and prepared a ritual. Over the decades, the Treeology priests developed rituals and abilities, and they were most effective on the weakest segments of society. A blessing was an additional wind of strength behind an already strong warrior, but for the weakest soldiers, it was transformative.

The priests began to sing. A hymn. A chant. A call on me. A call on the system. A prayer to me. A prayer to Edna. If Edna was here to witness it, maybe she would feel crazy embarrassed about it.

Yet Hoyia could say it with a straight face. With full faith. Commitment. Seriousness. Perhaps it is the nature of priests in our world, that they must believe in those that are their friends. Their reporting officers. And the stick vibrated with holy power. A priest tapped into the system, and through the system, it channeled a memory of my power.

“Charge!” The enemy general roared. “Slay these heretics! Slay those who seek to venture to the demon continent and go against our old traditions!”

The generals activated a range of abilities that supported their army. The peasant army looked afraid, but there were a few generals who converted over to Hoyia’s faith, and they too activated skills to counter the enemy general’s abilities.

But Hoyia had planned this. The priests wanted this. In a way, manipulative.

“Don’t let them get too close.” Hoyia said to the generals. She could’ve started the blessing earlier. “Protect us as we call on the powers of Aeon.”

The zealots immediately shouted in defiance. “Protect the matriarch!”

It was not necessary. An army of 30,000 couldn’t get past Matriarch Hoyia’s shields even if they all attacked together. The two armies met. Blood stained the fields as the peasant army struggled to hold back the forces of the enemy.

She wanted this.

She was prepared to let some of them die.

She wanted the peasants to feel they contributed.

She wanted their devotion. She wanted them to truly buy in. She wanted them to put their lives on the line, and feel rewarded for it.

She dragged it on slightly, fully aware of what was happening. Was it really necessary to convert people to the faith this way?

But I must trust my generals. She waited, as the enemy army, a group of heavily armed cavalry, forced through the zealot’s defensive lines. They were getting nearer.

“Matriarch Hoyia, you must retreat. They are getting nearer!” The zealot general said, eager to protect the leader of the faith.

“No.” Hoyia said. She feared nothing, her acting perfectly on point. “There is nothing to fear when we are right.”

At this distance, the enemy cavalry roared. They could even hear them curse her. “Charge! Let’s grab that succubus’s head! Kill her and destroy this heretic cult!”

Hoyia smiled. The zealots on her side tried their best to protect her. “Protect the matriarch!” They roared, and a few of her loyalists died, as the enemy’s spear pierced through their flesh.

“Let it be known that I do not fear them.” Hoyia commanded, her voice somehow could be heard everywhere. It was a priestly ability to give sermons even to a large army. “Zealots of Aeon! Your faith will be rewarded!” She finally triggered the blessings she dragged forever. It was a form of dramatic timing. To make it seem as if it was a perilous battle with real danger.

The enemy’s army wanted to punch through the defending zealots, and claim their heads.

Then, a large-scale blessing spread throughout the army of peasants and soldiers. The zealots suddenly felt a surge of strength. For those under level 30, this surge felt like it added a good fifteen levels to their strength. For those under level 50, it still was a respectable ten levels of extra strength.

The enemy cavalry’s charge slammed into a wall of magic. “There is nothing to fear.” Hoyia roared. “Our god has answered our prayers! Crush them all!” The blessed army turned into a frenzy, as the sudden surge in strength heavily flipped the balance.

The war that the zealots should’ve lost on paper, turned into a decisive victory. Then Hoyia fanned the flames of fear as she held the heads of the slain enemy generals and declared to a listening army of peasants and soldiers.

“My fellow zealots, our cause is true. They will claim we are heretics. They will claim we are evil. They will claim everything is wrong. But are we afraid?”

Amplified by the moment. The death. The slaughter. The adrenaline and high of a victory. They roared and answered their shepherd. The peasants and soldiers present all roared “NO!” as I somehow sensed many of them experienced a conversion of their classes.

At least a thousand of those present gained an [Aeonic] class variant that day, because I could suddenly feel the presence of many new believers. Hoyia turned the army of zealots into an army that would put their life on the line for her. They would cut their flesh off, sever their limbs and kill their family if she asked.

I watched in equal parts awe and horror.

The Order, traditionally, used faith defensively. On Treehome, on Branchhold, and on Threeworlds, my faith had so far been to maintain order in my controlled territories, to ensure loyalty among my subjects, and to support our domestic policies.

This was because of the faith’s origins. We initially used the faith to counter the four temples of Hawa, Gaya, Neira and Aiva’s crusade, so we needed agents on our side.

Hoyia turned that faith into a weapon.

A tool to turn the masses into my subjects. She crafted a bloody war where thousands died, to convert those who survived into an army of true zealots.

***

“Can we reconcile this?” Centrally, on Treehome, my Lords and administrators wondered how to reconcile the different directions taken by various arms of the Order.

On Delvegard, we went through appealing to the dwarven pride, loyalty to their kind, and a desire for war. On Magisar, we inadvertently used fear and overwhelming power. On Landas, we rescued the people and won their loyalty. Now, on Twinspace, Hoyia’s direction took them towards religious fervor.

These were all different ways of creating loyalty, and my followers from each of this world would view me differently.

The strength we need to take the war back to the demons will need all kinds of strength, from all over the multiple worlds. A part of me suspects that this cobbled order will fracture when the demons are finally destroyed. At least, at the lower parts of society.

But another part of me found it beautiful.

It is the part that found beauty in chaos. That it is only normal for loyalty and faith to take many different forms.

This messy, incompatible nature of everything is perfectly natural.