The Era of Gods

Chapter 378: Chapter 378: The Church Holy Knight Afonso

The statue of the god was delivered on the eighth day. Although Afonso wished it to be faster, the stone Lin Xiao requested was too large for an ordinary carriage to transport. Additionally, since Afonso wanted to send some other items along, the process was delayed.

Fortunately, there was no hurry; this descent had no time restriction. Considering the time flow between this world and the Main World, even staying for a hundred years would not be a problem.

Along with the carriage came a batch of living supplies and a small group of artisans.

In truth, Afonso would have liked the Church’s first temple to be built in Gibson Town, but since the town already had the Holy Church and was off-limits, he could only prepare some artisans to make the Temple as good as possible.

Lin Xiao met Afonso in the newly cleared wasteland outside the village, where he was conjuring a Fire Ring using The Book of Wisdom to incinerate the weeds on the surrounding barren land.

After all, this realm was sparsely populated with wilderness everywhere; he prepared to clear the land around Fu’er Village for farming or village expansion.

To the people of this world, even the most common spells from the Main World were like miraculous divine acts. Even having witnessed a true miracle like the Resurrection Technique, Afonso was still profoundly shocked each time, his faith growing even more devout.

After attending to his business, Lin Xiao turned to ask Afonso,

“What, did you just see?”

Afonso honestly answered,

“I saw flames flying from the hands of the Divine Envoy, consuming all things!”

Lin Xiao smiled and shook his head,

“Flames represent destruction, but they also signify rebirth. After destruction comes new life. My child, after experiencing the previous calamity, what did you think of?”

Afonso fell silent for a moment before speaking,

“I was thinking, if I had greater strength, I could protect my subjects.”

“Very good!”

Lin Xiao, leaning on his Scepter, walked forward, with Afonso closely following. They didn’t speak, but Afonso’s heart was pounding with anticipation, telling him that something that could change his Destiny was about to happen.

Lin Xiao, with the Staff of Life, casually walked around the entire perimeter of Fu’er Village. When he finally returned to the starting point, he turned to Afonso, his face glowing with a soft radiance, and an air of daunting authority sweeping towards him. Afonso instinctively, and as if moved by a blessing, knelt down.

“You are fortunate, for the great God of Wisdom and Life has chosen you.”

The Book of Wisdom began to rustle open, flipping swiftly to the last page, which depicted a finger formed of light descending from the skies to touch the forehead of a devoutly kneeling knight.

“In the name of the God of Wisdom and Life, tell me, my child, do you wish to become a guardian knight of my god, to guard the glory of our lord?”

Afonso looked up joyfully, suppressing his excitement, and said loudly,

“I am willing!”

“Very good!”

Lin Xiao nodded in satisfaction, clapped his right hand and The Book of Wisdom closed, with a ball of light flying out and transforming into a hand of light to touch Afonso’s forehead.

At the same time, he waved his hand, and an exquisitely crafted chest of pure gold appeared in his hand.

When Afonso opened his eyes again, streams of the Light of Life flowed through his pupils.

He opened the pure gold chest, inside which lay a stunningly exquisite set of white Armor and a sword with a handguard shaped like an Angel with open wings – the Light of Life Sword, along with a Book of Wisdom almost identical in size to that held by Lin Xiao, slowly floated up and settled in front of Afonso.

The complete set of Holy Knight Armor, the Life Holy Sword, and a Book of Wisdom Holy Scripture.

This was the set of Holy Knight gear Lin Xiao had prepared, which included various pieces like helmet, chest plate, leg guards, belt, and so on, each containing several defensive Divine Arts.

The Life Holy Sword comprised many offensive Divine Arts.

The Book of Wisdom Holy Scripture, on the other hand, contained many functional Divine Arts.

All together, this comprised the full set of a Holy Knight’s equipment.

In Lin Xiao’s design, the lowest rank within the Church were the Church knights, which were the fourteen villagers from Fu’er Village he had trained earlier. Each of them possessed physical attributes and Strength comparable to typical knights, along with a set of elite weapons and Armor not found in this realm, ensuring that each one had Combat power on par with a formal knight.

The second rank were to be Paladins, which the Church did not yet have. In his vision, they would have a scaled-down set of Paladin gear and would also serve as Priests to preach.

The third rank were the Holy Knights, the high echelon of the Church, possessing transcendent Combat power far beyond that of this realm. Their Book of Wisdom had similar functions to the one Lin Xiao held, which also included a Mass Resurrection Spell.

The Church’s framework has been set; it only awaits implementation.

The first Holy Knight of the Church has been born, and soon he will promote several Holy Warriors. After that, he can free up his hands, leaving the evangelism to his subordinates.

In the past few days, Lin Xiao has already formulated a five-year development plan.

The first order of business is to have the Church’s first Holy Knight become the Clan Leader of the Gibson Family to formally implement the development plan.

Although Baron Herman is currently middle-aged and not considered old, he is a believer in the Holy Church and does not share their ideals.

Of course, if he wished, Lin Xiao could invest effort in winning over the Baron, but Lin Xiao had no interest in that; he preferred younger Holy Knights or Holy Warriors.

This issue was easy to resolve. Currently, Gurda in the neighboring territory was rapidly developing, and that Descender, whether from the Nightmare World or the Spirit Realm, originally planned to seize Gibson Family mines to make a name for themselves. Having suddenly lost half of their strength, especially the half of the weapons and armor they had brought down, they would definitely investigate, inevitably leading to a conflict with Baron Gibson.

Although Gurda’s power had nearly halved, Baron Gibson would not stand a chance if Gurda personally stepped in. If the Baron were injured or killed in the conflict, Afonso could quickly take over the territory.

Whether it’s managing the territory in the Baron’s stead or inheriting the title, it’s all the same—as long as the power is in his hands, he will not let it go.

After revealing the plan to Afonso, he didn’t hesitate to agree, but hoped that his father, Baron Herman, could be saved when the time came.

Lin Xiao agreed to this and was even more satisfied with this first Holy Knight.

A few days later, a rumor emerged in the Baron’s Territory, suggesting that two groups of bandits had foolishly attempted to rob a convoy from the Lord’s mansion. A conflict ensued, ending with both sides suffering heavy losses, and the Lord’s mansion capturing several wounded soldiers and a large amount of elite weapons and armor.

The rumor spread quickly throughout the territory and also seeped into the surrounding lands.

This was a rumor deliberately spread by Afonso, with the primary aim of allaying Gurda’s vigilance.

If things were not explained this way, Afonso, who had suddenly lost so many troops, would remain cautious for a long time, not daring to come over, and might even change his plans.

Spreading the rumor this way would make Gurda believe there was another Descender nearby. Although equally cautious, Gurda would dare to come over since everyone had suffered substantial losses and would likely accelerate their plans to strike.

During this time, Lin Xiao began to strengthen the second batch of Church Knights and the first batch of Holy Warriors.

The Church Knights were employing the twenty elite soldiers captured from Gurda. These soldiers, carefully selected by Gurda, were now all devoted believers in Lin Xiao, each having undergone the miracle of the Mass Resurrection Spell with devout faith, making them worth careful cultivation.

In addition to these, another thirty militiamen accompanied them, who will be retrained as full-time warriors, serving as reserves for the Church Knights.

As for the first batch of Holy Warriors, they were naturally selected from the fourteen Church Knights, with six of the best picked out, including the four who had escorted him and two others who had remained in the village with the most devout faith.

In the beginning, unless their combat Talent was extraordinarily good, only the most devout believers would be chosen as core members.

After being infused with Divine Power for enhancement, the six Holy Warriors, each equipped with a set of Holy Warrior armor, saw their combat power skyrocket instantaneously.

It is worth mentioning that Lin Xiao, taking into account the situation of this world, has outlined a simple classification for individual combat power.

Personal combat power, from low to high, is as follows:

Militiamen—adult men who usually tend to their normal activities but receive some training periodically and can be given basic weapons to join the battlefield when needed. They constitute the largest and lowest rank of Cannon Fodder in the military hierarchy of the lords.

Full-time soldiers—professional soldiers who no longer need to work, focusing their daily activities on training their combat skills, are equipped with standardized metal weapons and, depending on the lord’s finances, wear either Leather Armour or chain mail. They form the core combat power of various territories.

Elite soldiers—stronger than professional soldiers yet weaker than Knights, these elite soldiers also serve as reserves for Knights. In the aristocratic system, they are also known as Knight Apprentices.

Knight—possessing several times the strength and physique of an adult man along with exquisite combat skills, similar to Generals on the battlefield, with very formidable combat power.

Great Knight—advanced knights, typically not in the service of small Aristocrats or Small Lords, these battle-hardened fighters are rare, with no more than five dwelling within the vast region ruled by Count Dyson, according to Afonso.

Based on Afonso’s description, the combat power of the Great Knights varies widely, with the stronger significantly outmatching the weaker. Even the weakest Great Knight is somewhat stronger than a Church Knight equipped with elite weapons, about on par with a Holy Warrior.

However, if a Holy Warrior uses Divine Arts that come with the Holy Warrior set, they will certainly be stronger than a Great Knight since Superhuman Power is quite formidable.

It is said that above the Great Knights are the legendary Holy Knights, but this is merely a legend; there have been no such reports throughout the entire Kingdom.

Legend has it that a Holy Knight possesses strength beyond common imagination, capable of cleaving through thick city gates with a single sword strike.

According to this assessment, such a Holy Knight possesses the physique and strength corresponding to the Transcendent Level of Rank 6, making them staggeringly powerful in this world.

Comparing this Holy Knight to the Church Holy Knights he has enhanced, according to Lin Xiao’s envisioned strength level for the Holy Knights, they should be fairly comparable. In his vision, a complete Church Holy Knight will possess a Transcendent Level physique and strength, and with the Holy Knight set, should be able to defeat the Holy Knights of this world.