Only God

For thousands of years, a myriad of thoughts within the Church have been innumerable.

From grand claims that the Gods are but facets of the Lord to minor disputes over word choice in Scripture, debates about faith among the priests have always been endless, some wholeheartedly pursuing goodness, the Great Dukes being selfless, while others masquerade their malevolence under the guise of faith; some inadvertently do ill while intending well, while others with good intentions unwittingly do harm.

This all confirms the common saying: faith can drive people to madness and evil deeds, as well as elevate them above the mundane, turning them into Saints.

Veldor saw that a priest was loudly defending an idea that was suspected of being heretical or of heresy.

This suspected heretical or heretical idea claimed they had heard a Prophecy: the world would one day face an apocalypse again, destruction would return, just as the people of Logos had experienced, and like the sight before the night Heaven descends. At that time, a Savior would emerge, chosen by God, as God's Savior.

Ordinarily, such rumors would be considered alarmist, but since the arrival of Heaven, the world had not faced any apocalyptic calamities; the sun still set as usual, the sun rose as usual, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion. God's Kingdom had already arrived, and it seemed that people no longer needed a millennial Prophet to sound the trumpet of salvation.

Such is often the case, that once a lamb is sated, no matter how sweet the grass, it no longer desires to eat; likewise, once a world returns to peace, no matter how grand the salvation, it no longer feels urgent.

Only when the lamb is desperately hungry does it crave the grass to fill its stomach, only when the world faces the apocalypse again do the people fervently hope for God's salvation.

Therefore, within the Church, many doubt whether the world will face an apocalypse again.

For those who have never suffered, for those who have never fallen into apocalypse, whether God's salvation will come or when it will arrive is not urgent for them—even if the so-called Prophecy were true, at this Great Council, people are not eager for salvation's arrival, and do not even hope for the coming of the Savior.

Why? Because the Savior is meant to come because of the apocalypse. If there is an apocalypse, then there's a Savior. If the Savior is to come, does it not mean that the apocalypse is not far off?

Veldor sat in his seat, watching the priest passionately defend the Prophecy, enduring countless inquiries and doubts.

Regarding the topics of determining heretical or heretical ideas, except for the especially outrageous ones, Veldor usually cast an abstention vote.

This time was no different.

When it came to the final voting stage, Veldor cast an abstention vote because he was unsure of the Prophecy's authenticity and unsure whether he should agree or disagree.

For matters he did not understand, Veldor was accustomed to leaving the decision to others.

The results of the vote were out: since the number of votes to determine the idea did not exceed two-thirds, the idea was not branded as heresy or heresy, but since the number of votes to determine it exceeded half, the idea was still categorized as suspected heresy or heresy and would require a determination vote at the next Great Council.

Seeing such results, Veldor felt that this complex situation reflected, to a certain extent, the current predicament of the Church.

Facing God's created Path, facing the upcoming new era, no one questioned God's grace, but nearly everyone wavered to some extent, this wavering, leading to the Church's indecision.

Regardless, the first day of the Great Council ended, and in the coming month, hundreds upon hundreds of topics awaited determination.

Soon, more than a dozen days passed, facing hundreds of topics, Veldor cast a total of ten votes in favor, six against, and as for abstentions, they were too numerous to count, to the point that he dreamt of abstention ballots.

And today, the main event of the entire Great Council arrived.

The topic concerning the elevation of Pastor Danschel's status.

As the priest loudly read out the topic, the entire hall erupted in an instant, like a burst of chestnuts, the whole place filled with a choking haze.

The scene from before when determining heresies compared to the current scene was downright insignificant.

The clamor, the noise, was endless; Veldor himself trembled amid the din, feeling fortunate that he was a Dwarf—if he had been a tall human, he would have already been overwhelmed by the uproar.

It was unclear how many opposed the topic and how many supported it; both waves of voices collided in the hall, whether opponents or supporters, both exhibiting far greater force than before.

"What a choking haze."

Veldor lamented,

"They weren't this indignant when determining heresies before."

A Bishop beside him turned his head and said,

"Of course, this pertains to the vested interests of each Great Shepherd and every priest.

If there is something endangering God, endangering the Church's faith, then they would certainly be more indignant when determining heresies, but not now. Now it is the Emperor trying to elevate the status of the Great Shepherd, making him the 'Emperor' of the priests."

Veldor shrugged, indicating he understood.

This topic, from the moment it was raised, caused an uproar for three days, during which there were five votes, none achieving the conditions for passing or rejection; the entire Great Council seemed like a gear that had malfunctioned, stuck in place, immovable.