Work Prophet
Chapter 387 - 5 Hirodod Returns

Chapter 387: Chapter 5 Hirodod Returns

"Revenge?" Li Yu frowned, "Did the Treles Family have any feud with someone before?"

"When Priest Martina called the nobles of the western territories to honor the oath made thousands of years ago and form the Church Protection Army, the Treles Family was one of the first few nobles to respond. Kamzi sent his brother, the White Eagle Knight Dorosel, with three hundred elite troops to Lake City.

"But subsequently, a tragedy occurred in Duolin City. Priest Martina and the nobles present were poisoned to death, and Dorosel was among them. When the news returned to Red Tower City, Kamzi was furious. He had always been close to Dorosel; the two had been inseparable since childhood.

"In order to avenge his brother, Kamzi ordered a search throughout Red Tower City for Hirodod and his accomplices. In the following days, the guards of the Treles Family arrested many followers of the Silver Moon Church, approximately two to three hundred people, including two priests.

"To extract Hirodod’s whereabouts, they tortured those poor souls, resulting in the death of about fifty to sixty people, including one priest, but in the end they got nothing. The few who were lucky enough to survive were thrown into the dungeon by Kamzi."

"Does the Silver Moon Church know about this?" Li Yu asked.

"They know, but it’s of little use. Similar incidents have occurred on the lands of many noble families recently. After all, Kamzi isn’t the only one who lost relatives in Duolin City. The Silver Moon Church is at fault to begin with, and they have just declared a non-armed stance, needing the support of the noble families. Now they can only turn a blind eye."

"So it was Hirodod who launched the attack on the Treles Family?"

"Exactly," Ireya nodded, "That group calls themselves the Blood Moon Association, distinguishing themselves from the previous Silver Moon Church. They still worship Pisya but advocate uniting all believers to form an army, to violently defend their faith and restore the goddess’s glory.

"Hirodod is their leader, and outwardly, he proclaims to be acting on the goddess’s commands, completely loyal to the goddess. In reality, however, the Blood Moon Association is essentially Hirodod’s dictatorship. He calls himself the Divine Chosen One who can communicate with the goddess, issuing orders on her behalf regularly."

"Your previous concerns were correct, even though he has been expelled by the Church, Hirodod’s prestige among the followers of the Silver Moon Church has only grown.

"Considering the various difficulties the Silver Moon Church has faced over the past six months, the followers of Pisya are desperate for a more powerful leader to emerge within the Church. And moreover..."

"And moreover what?"

"Moreover, Hirodod has performed quite a few miracles in front of the believers, such as igniting cotton in a jar without producing fire, so his followers are even more devoted to him.

"Although many noble families have sent quite a few people to capture him, almost all the people in the western region are followers of Pisya; someone always tips him off in advance, and until now, no one has been able to catch him."

"???"

Li Yu hadn’t expected Hirodod to learn so quickly, taking the adiabatic compression experiment and using it to deceive the followers below; it seems that his indoctrination by Clara wasn’t without some gains.

At least there has been some progress in natural science.

As for the schism within the Silver Moon Church, it didn’t quite come as a surprise to Li Yu, since there had already been disagreements within the Church about whether to establish an armed force.

Since there’s a demand among the believers for this, of course, a new sectarian movement would emerge to fill this void, but Hirodod’s decisiveness still earned a second look from Li Yu.

He first killed Priest Reves, then imprisoned Priest Hesiod, expelled Priest Martina, and, after coercing the remaining three High Priests with military force, effectively took control of the entire Silver Moon Church.

Still, he risked enmity with all the nobles of the western territories to form a new army and push the Silver Moon Church towards militarization.

And now, it seemed that Hirodod had never placed his hopes on those disorganized compatriots, harboring the idea of treating these people as expendable from the start.

The reason he assembled such a motley troop was merely to lure Priest Martina and her Church Protection Army to Duolin City and then carry out their poisoning.

At the same time, he clearly understood the nature of the new Family Head of the Raimondi family, anticipating that Shapiro would conduct a bloody purge on the new army left in the city, further exacerbating the conflict between the nobles of the western territories and the ordinary followers of the Silver Moon Church.

This provided a more suitable breeding ground for the Blood Moon Association’s growth, and, after eliminating the other six High Priests, Hirodod, who had previously been a fringe figure among the seven, suddenly became the sole veteran, further boosting his prestige among the populace.

The seven newly elected members of the Silver Moon Church currently couldn’t stand against him, even though the Silver Moon Church had expelled Hirodod, but in the hearts of the vast majority of followers, Hirodod was still the Church’s High Priest, and many didn’t believe he did anything wrong, sympathizing with his predicament.

In short, while Hirodod appeared to be insane on the surface, every action he took actually had a strong purpose and logic behind it, consistently laying the groundwork for the emergence of the Blood Moon Association behind the scenes.

Li Yu looked back and reconsidered the events in Duolin City, realizing that Hirodod had recognized the limitations of the Silver Moon Church from early on and made the decision to start afresh.

From a personal standpoint, this was not a wise decision, as it meant Hirodod had to give up everything he had, including but not limited to his status, reputation, and wealth... while also becoming enemies with all the nobles of the western territories.

But it was also for this reason that Li Yu concluded that the man must be a true zealot.

An extremist sect promoting violence, created by a zealot, did not sound like a very pleasant combination.

Though the Blood Moon Association was still weak, even less so than the Double Rest Sect, it possessed an advantage unmatched by others.

That was its attachment to the Silver Moon Church, a towering presence from which it could directly draw sustenance.

Furthermore, it was foreseeable that Hirodod and his Blood Moon Association would continue to create disturbances in the western territories, intensifying the conflict between ordinary believers and the western nobility.

The Treles Family of Red Tower City was the first victim, but they certainly wouldn’t be the last.

And as a pagan religion, the Double Rest Sect was, of course, also within the Blood Moon Association’s target for elimination.

"The western territories are not going to be peaceful anymore," said Li Yu.

Miss Rabbit also sighed upon hearing this, but felt somewhat relieved that she had joined Saturday early on; now, with Li Yu and the other Sabbaths’ relentless efforts, over ninety-nine percent of Green Field’s people were followers of the Double Rest Sect.

At least they avoided the fate of the Treles Family, who was caught off guard in their own home without any knowledge.