Only God

Decades ago,

Xilan left the Royal City and did not continue to stay in Kaelonde.

He had roughly guessed at the plans the Divine, headed by the Dream God Laren, had for the Kingdom, and he was well aware that the Kingdom had fallen into tumultuous times. Every inch of land was saturated with a combustive tension, always on the brink of erupting into a large-scale civil war.

Because of this, he understood more clearly that the Kingdom needed a massive force, a force large enough to suppress all parties, only then could the Kingdom avoid disintegrating in a short time.

And Xilan knew what that force was.

"Hiris, the creator of the Dwarves."

Xilan muttered to himself,

"He has enough power to quell this warfare."

The death of the King had plunged Kaelonde into unprecedented chaos, not only were various factions within the country stirring, but other Dwarf nations were also covetously watching, attempting to tear a piece of flesh from this nation.

Under such circumstances, a massive external force was necessary, which was powerful enough and had sufficient reasons to make everyone put down their swords.

Many Divine had the power to quell wars, but among these Divine, only Hiris had a compelling reason.

Xilan was unclear why Hiris let Kaelonde fall into chaos; perhaps for these eternally living Divine, the rise and fall of a Kingdom were mundane.

But Xilan would not sit by and watch, nor was he willing to do so, as quelling wars was not only his mission but also his intrinsic compassion.

Thus, Xilan resolved to find traces of Hiris and the means to communicate with him.

In the Dwarves' religion, just like in other religious beliefs, there are many Holy Lands across the world, and just as in other religions, these Holy Lands are often lost.

These Holy Lands could be sites of significant historical events, places where the Divine Power was manifest, or the burial sites of great figures, and among the Dwarves' Holy Lands, there was one particularly special place.

That was the Pasofilo Sixfold Mountain, the creation site of Dwarves and Giants.

Legend had it that Hiris created Giants from massive rocks and Dwarves from tiny stones in those six-layered mountains, bestowing them with intellect and teaching them to build sanctuaries and Temples, and to use furnaces and hammers.

Dwarves often said that Pasofilo Sixfold Mountain was Hiris's favorite place, where He often appeared.

For this reason, Xilan planned to go to that place in search of an opportunity to meet Hiris.

He believed that once he reached there, the revered Hiris would notice him and meet him.

This place no longer lay within the borders of the Dwarves' Kingdom; it belonged to a Dwarf autonomous province under the rule of the Danschel Empire, which was nearly a semi-independent city-state due to the friendly relations between the Danschel Empire and the Dwarves. The Dwarves there maintained their traditional customs, lifestyle, and religious beliefs while at the same time, the culture of Danschel continuously nurtured this group of Dwarves. The state religion of Danschel also heavily influenced the lives of the Dwarves there.

Many Dwarves who often interacted with humans had become True Believers, and many churches, both large and small, were continually being built in the Dwarven cities there.

Naturally…

This also fostered numerous Priests and Monks.

.............

"If sin can bring greater happiness to people, then what is the use of virtue?"

After ending a day's mass, Bishop Denis whispered softly.

The surrounding Monks had not heard his whisper. They were merely packing up various types of sacred vessels, as usual, then conducted a brief pre-dinner prayer before enjoying their evening meal.

Bishop Denis plunged into a dark contemplation, standing silently there, with no one daring to disturb him.

Interestingly, the name Denis comes from "Daniel," a famous Martyr in history, "Denis" is actually another variant of "Daniel."

However, every Monk knew that Bishop Denis was not like the historical Daniel, just as if you found a person named Xilan on the streets, could you be sure he was a Disciple of the Prophet?

In some people's view, Bishop Denis was the complete opposite of that Daniel.

That Daniel lived a humble and simple life, his living conditions akin to those of a slave, thanks to various "offerings," Bishop Denis was quite wealthy despite his token weekly dinners with the poor. Yet everyone knew that his plates were made of silver.

That Daniel was charitable and often helped others; while Bishop Denis certainly did not lack charitable acts, what he gave away today, he would recoup double or more tomorrow, he was said to often repent for this, but he never changed.

That Daniel was knowledgeable and the most renowned disciple of Xilan, what about Bishop Denis? He always acted like he had a profound understanding, and when Monks asked him questions, he would impatiently say, "You have to comprehend this by yourself; you cannot understand this alone, you need to borrow the wisdom of God; when you reach my age, you will understand..."

Those who did not know him often were fooled by his facade and regarded him as a good bishop, but those who knew him could not help but silently criticize his corruption.