Black Sail
Chapter 170: CLXX. Desecration of God

Chapter 170: CLXX. Desecration of God

Miracle of Suffering.

One of the oldest religions on the Western Continent.

Their beliefs, of course, were also supported by a meticulous logic.

That was Soul Alchemy.

The flesh has limits.

But thought does not.

Through ascetic practice, one must attain the resilience of the soul, the recognition of the Supreme Will, thus rendering the flesh incorruptible.

By today’s times, the Miracle of Suffering’s followers were scarce, having become a Cult regarded as an enemy by all.

Eighteen hundred years ago, this wasn’t the case; it was the most flourishing religion, the undisputed leader.

Around two thousand years ago, the famous Overlord unified the Western Continent.

But the dynasty he established lasted no more than three generations.

Because of a horrific plague, nearly ninety percent of the Western Continent’s population was wiped out, and nearly all animals became extinct; at least, that is what the ancient texts record.

With the dynasty’s collapse, descendants of the royal family struggled to establish their own nations, facing both war and highly contagious diseases that could kill within a week, as well as natural disasters. The ancient texts describe rivers stained with the blood of the dead and bodies covered in pustules, flowing into the ocean, turning the sea a vivid red.

The Western Continent, indeed the entire world, fell into history’s most chaotic era, marking the beginning of the darkest century.

Religions often possess a strong social service nature, no matter how mysterious their facade; but in reality, their doctrines serve the political ecosystem.

It was during this period that the Miracle of Suffering took the stage.

But to be precise, it was the precursor to the Miracle of Suffering, known as the Holy Principle Church, a church from the Ancient Era.

The world was still enveloped in war, disease, and disaster; farming lands lay barren, livestock perished, and people were forced to cook their dead for food.

This church established a military force, called the Holy Anointing Army, helping survivors resist the plundering of armies without asking for anything in return. They used ointments, blessed through prayer, to treat those infected with the plague.

Just as their beliefs dictated.

Through ascetic practice, one must attain the resilience of the soul.

And the methods of ascetic practices were diverse.

The nuns of the Axiom Church would apply ointments to the sick and kiss their wounds, with devout hearts, hoping for the birth of a miracle, the revelation of the Supreme Will, descending grace.

The god worshipped by the Holy Principle Church was incredibly ancient, more a concept than a deity, the one and only Supreme Will.

And a miracle really did occur.

One night, a young man infected with the plague, his wounds festered and deepened, his suffering immense.

A nun, seeing his agony, approached and took him in her arms, tears streaming down as she kissed his forehead.

In an instant, his pain vanished.

The Supreme Will had manifested a miracle.

This later became known as the "miracle" followed by all sects of the Western Continent. What was once narrowly defined had now become broadly accepted.

This led the Axiom Church to believe their teachings were correct.

If one undertook ascetic practices until their soul was resilient enough to confront the final entity directly, their wishes could be conveyed, and a miracle could descend.

The high priestess of the Axiom Church stepped forward, a woman.

With miracles descending across the lands, she believed the suffering of the world was finite, simply requiring alternative means of compensation.

To end this epidemic.

She consumed a secret medicine, sacrificing her remaining lifespan for a powerful body.

Then she placed herself upon a pyre, her followers and the sick gathered around, tears falling as they piled up the wood.

The fire burned for a full three days.

The ashes alone piled up like a mountain.

Finally.

A miracle was born.

She transformed into a stone statue that continuously shed white petals, and all the ashes of the burnt wood also turned into petals, carried by the wind to all corners of the continent.

Under this wind of revival, scattering petals, the plague was subdued.

It seemed as if all had ended.

However, this was only the beginning of the tragedy.

For a time, the Axiom Church’s power had reached its zenith, with every believer in total fanaticism.

They were not satisfied with being the most formidable religious force on the entire continent, but sought to become the actual rulers of this land.

During this era, the Western Continent had no states, only religions.

The Judgement Court was established, beginning the persecution of other religious forces, rebranding the Holy Principle Church into the Divine Mother Sect, proclaiming the former church head as the Mother of All Mothers, and constructing an opulently extravagant Temple, worshipping a stone sculpture.

Power, desire, greed.

Everyone longed to, through asceticism, invite the highest Will to bestow a Miracle upon them, thus becoming a Saint venerated by thousands.

The continent now faced its darkest century.

Miracles no longer descended in the way people imagined, instead, they transformed people into grotesque monsters, suffering became the truth, faith, signpost.

Slave to the illusionary Abyss.

The sky was locked in a miserable twilight.

Amidst such squalor.

Besides... pain, there was no other thing left.

And during this period, so many events took place—bizarre, mysterious, even dreamlike, akin to the most terrifying nightmare—that even the most erudite Historians of today dare not claim an intimate knowledge of this epoch.

Too many details from one thousand eight hundred years ago have become impossible to validate.

Only one thing can be asserted with certainty.

At the end of the darkest century, a man emerged—like a fierce man sent from the heavens—to slay all the Saints, obliterate the Pope of the Divine Mother Sect, and severed on that distant shore, the so-called "highest Will" from its connection with this world, desecrating God, cutting off heaven and earth.

But the Divine Mother Sect did not simply vanish, nearly two thousand years later, remnants still lingered due to its once resplendent zenith.

Two factions emerged.

One was the originalist Axiom Church, which had to return to the name of the Ancient Era because the reputation of the Divine Mother Sect was thoroughly tarnished; nowadays, they had almost withered into obscurity, small in scale if they existed at all.

The other was the infamous Miracle of Suffering of today’s Western Continent, the true ultimate madmen, attempting to invite the "highest Will" to return and become Saints.

Because this is the only divinization path known to mankind.

At this very moment.

Forty miles outside Yunxi City, in a town, within the grounds of a farmhouse, on the first floor of a villa.

Fen’s arcane missile, imbued with terrifying power and released by a former member of the Magic Energy Industrial Committee, a true master distinct from mere adventurers.

The air in the room was turbulent, the gray prism-like object shot through the air, piercing directly through the stomach of the dancing lady, instantly splattering blood, her organs rupturing and leaving a ghastly hole, through which one could see the scenery behind her.

"What a pity for such a pair..."

Mika’s expression was melancholic. General Fen was truly wasteful, indulging in momentary pleasures; a woman of such beauty, with infinite potential, how could one destroy such natural gifts?

"My hundred Golden Dragons!"

Liszt beat his chest and stamped his feet, nearly having a heart attack. Just great, now all his hundred Golden Dragons had gone down the drain.

Not to mention using her as a tool for matrimonial alliances, I could first marry her off to a magnate from Heaven Port, then offer her to another tycoon, wouldn’t that be like the snipe and the clam fighting, with Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu benefiting—a perfect scheme!

"You now owe me a hundred Golden Dragons."

Liszt said to Fen with utmost seriousness, even giving him a friend’s price; other incidental losses weren’t even accounted for yet.

Meredith was marveling at the Magician’s power, this was an arcane missile? It was more like an Arcane Bomb, really.

"What hundred Golden Dragons? You guys brought back a Cult member and didn’t even know?"

Fen’s brow furrowed, Liszt did have a penchant for collecting junk, even his Captain’s quarters had amassed many tricksters’ "Magic Props," and now they had even brought back someone from the Miracle of Suffering.

"If she isn’t dead, then that would be like finding a treasure."

Fen, who had previously held high status with networks reaching the heavens, was well aware of some secrets of the Western Continent.

Liszt saw Fen’s look of trying to wriggle out of the debt and was dumbfounded.

"How can one revived from death? You have cleaved open my head with an axe, truly ingenious."

Just as Liszt was about to accept his losses,

An unexpected twist occurred.

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