In the innermost chamber of the Holy Cathedral in the sacred capital of The Slane Theocracy, a large round table was placed in the center, surrounded by twelve ordinary chairs. Behind the main chair, six statues of gods—representations of the Six Great Gods who appeared human—stood majestically.
Creak!
The door to the chamber was pushed open from outside, and twelve individuals entered one by one. With practiced movements, they retrieved the cleaning equipment in the room and began to clean. Everyone seemed to work with great seriousness, even the venerable white-haired elders.
After cleaning the entire room until it was spotless, everyone approached the six statues without wiping the sweat from their bodies. The elder leading them stood at the front, and the others lined up neatly behind him.
"Thank God, praise be to God that we humans can still survive to this day!"
"Grateful!"
Everyone bowed deeply and reverently to the statues, then used [Purification] magic to remove the lingering sweat from the cleaning and dust from their clothes, and neatly returned the cleaning equipment to its place. Only then did everyone proceed to their respective seats and sit down, signaling that today's important meeting was about to begin.
The Supreme Council of The Slane Theocracy held full authority to decide how to handle all major events within the theocracy and determine the nation's future actions. This was the most authoritative group in the entire country. A total of twelve members were present at the meeting, including the chairman of the meeting, the Head Priest, the six Head Priests who managed the faiths of the Six Great Gods, the three heads of the nation's judicial, legislative, and administrative bodies, the head of the body responsible for magic development and research, and the highest-ranking individual responsible for the military body, the Grand Marshal.
"Alright, let's begin the discussion for today's meeting." The Head Priest announced, then looked at the initiator of this meeting, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the former 3rd Seat who also served as the High Priest in charge of the Faith of the Earth God, and said, "Raymond, please state the matter you wish to discuss."
"Yes!" Raymond was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes. He appeared to be about forty years old and was the youngest among all the meeting members. He was once a member of the Black Scripture and was a hero who had fought on the battlefield for over fifteen years to protect his country. Currently, in addition to managing the faith of the Earth God, he was also the direct superior of the Theocracy's special forces, the Six-Colored Scripture.
"Everyone, first of all, allow me to report the basic situation. Recently, missions undertaken by the Sunlight Scripture, Windflower Scripture, and Black Scripture of the Six-Colored Scripture all failed due to unexpected circumstances."
Eh? Upon hearing Raymond's words, except for the Head Priest who was already aware of the situation, the other ten individuals were all startled. The Six-Colored Scripture was the Theocracy's elite force, where each team could be considered an elite among elites. It was difficult for people to imagine that they had all failed their missions.
Raymond had anticipated this and stood to distribute the documents in his hand to all members one by one. "All the details are recorded above. Please pay close attention. This is very important for the issue we will discuss later."
Everyone took the documents hesitantly and scrutinized them. Gradually, expressions of gravity and concern appeared on each person's face as they read.
The reports laid bare a series of startling incidents:
Sunlight Scripture attempted to assassinate Gazef Stronoff, but encountered a mysterious figure, the God of Destiny, and the entire team was captured. Black Scripture attempted to subdue the Catastrophe Dragon Lord, but was attacked by a mysterious force, the Dark Alliance, and four team members died. Karie was abducted, and [Downfall of Castle and Country] was lost.
The Undead Ainz Ooal Gown disguised himself as an adventurer and infiltrated E-Rantel. After his identity was exposed, he fought against the God of Destiny. It is suspected that a powerful Heteromorphic race organization is behind him. Members of the
Anggota Dark Alliance were hiding in the E-Rantel Cemetery. For unknown reasons, they fought with the God of Destiny. It is suspected that the main member was killed, and the original artifact fell into the hands of the God of Destiny. In this battle, the God of Destiny used Super-Tier Magic. It has been confirmed that he is a true god, and it is suspected that an organization is behind him.
And the most shocking was the detailed report section about the God of Destiny...
"Raymond, is this true?" An old man who looked like an ancient tree and withered wood placed the document in his hand and asked Raymond. He was the High Priest of Water, one of the six high priests - Xinedine Delan Guelfi. Although old, he was very knowledgeable and wise, and could be described as a mature and capable individual. The reason Xinedine asked this question was not because he didn't believe Raymond, but the news was too shocking and he had to confirm it again.
Raymond nodded solemnly. "The seven members of the Black Scripture team, including the captain, were killed after the battle between Ainz Ooal Gown and the God of Destiny. That must be the special skill of the God of Death, Surshana. When the God of Destiny performed Super-Tier Magic, many people in E-Rantel witnessed it, and there were traces left at the scene. I believe the information is correct."
"Everyone, it is time for the Gods to descend again."
When everyone heard the words, "The Gods are coming," they all fell silent. For the Six Great Gods, every generation of high-ranking officials of The Slane Theocracy would pass down the secret of Players from Yggdrasil crossing over from "another world." This was the nation with the deepest understanding of the existence of Players among all human nations.
"The God of Destiny, Ainz Ooal Gown, and the Dark Alliance, what is the attitude of these three parties towards humans, will they pose a threat to us?" After accepting the reality that other Players had traveled through time, everyone was very concerned about this question, and asked Raymond who was gathering intelligence.
Raymond replied: "Based on current information, the Dark Alliance subdued our nation's traitor, the former 9th Seat of the Black Scripture, Clementine, and attacked the Black Scripture and seized the original artifact. Their hostile stance is very clear."
"Ainz Ooal Gown and his forces haven't made many moves yet, but judging from his behavior of impersonating an adventurer and infiltrating human cities, as well as his organization secretly sending people to contact the Dark Alliance and expressing their desire for cooperation, it is best to remain vigilant towards him."
"The current God of Destiny is planning to spread his faith in the Re-Estize Kingdom. Besides his own strength, he also possesses magical abilities such as allowing ordinary people to quickly grow into high-level professionals and easily resurrecting believers. In addition, he seems quite intolerant towards Heteromorphic races and once directly rejected an alliance invitation from the Undead Ainz Ooal Gown. I think we can try to establish a more friendly relationship with him, which would greatly benefit the strengthening of the human race."
After listening to Raymond's opinion, everyone fell into deep thought. The room was silent, filled only with the rustling of robes and the slow sighs of breath. This decision would shape the future of The Slane Theocracy.
A few minutes later, the Head Priest looked around at everyone and thought the time was right, so he said, "We will only vote on one item in this meeting, which is whether or not to continue contact with the God of Destiny. Let us begin now."
"I agree," as the proposer of the opinion, Raymond immediately stated his position.
Next, the other ten meeting members also began to express their views.
"If it's just an attempt to make contact, I have no objection."
"It's still too risky, I think we should monitor it a bit more."
...
After everyone raised their hands to vote, seven people agreed with Raymond's proposal, three people were hesitant, and one person opposed it. The final conclusion was made by the Head Priest.
"In that case, let Raymond handle the subsequent contact with the God of Destiny. Remember not to be too impatient, and at the same time, carefully observe the other party's movements and report any abnormalities immediately."
The latter half of the sentence was a subtle reminder to Raymond. Knowing this, he nodded solemnly to the Head Priest and said, "Yes, I will be careful."
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