Mu Xuan gazed out the window at the sky, now dotted only with starlight, and sighed at the simulated effects of the power of faith.
This power of faith could mimic the alternation of day and night—he had to admit, it was incredibly useful.
He closed the window.
Mu Xuan walked slowly to the bedside and took off the heavy, ornate robes that belonged to the Pope alone.
For a moment, the tension that had been coiled in his mind finally relaxed.
Exhaustion flooded his brain, making Mu Xuan drowsy.
He glanced absentmindedly at the somewhat unfamiliar body, then collapsed directly onto the bed.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but just before sleep claimed him, it seemed there was a faint swelling on his chest…
“Devout believers! Now, here, I shall hold a sacred appointment ceremony!”
Standing atop the platform, Mu Xuan first scattered a handful of points of light, then announced loudly.
“Beckerze! In the name of the Pope, I formally appoint you as Cardinal Archbishop. Until I issue further commands, you are responsible for maintaining church order, compiling the Holy Codex, and spreading the doctrine! In times of emergency, you may mobilize a portion of the Knight Order! Be sure to remember your duties and maintain your own piety! Now, the Goddess’s blessing will once again descend upon you!”
As soon as Mu Xuan finished, Beckerze stepped forward and knelt on one knee.
Four streams of faith power slowly flowed from the scepter into Beckerze.
When Beckerze’s faith power doubled to ten strands, a faint radiance appeared over him, and the heavy Holy Codex in his hands gained an added sense of solemnity, sanctity, and inviolability.
“Thank you for your trust, Your Eminence.” Beckerze saluted Mu Xuan with calm dignity, then withdrew to the side.
“Gryffind! In the name of the Pope, I formally appoint you as the first Captain of the Order of Dawn! Whether it is to safeguard the faithful, coordinate order, defend the church, or confront darkness, I hope you will fulfill your duties to the utmost! Likewise, the Order of Dawn belongs to the church; as its Captain, you can only be mobilized by papal command—never forget! May the Goddess’s glory be with you!”
Gryffind was not as steady as Beckerze.
Upon hearing Mu Xuan’s formal appointment, his excitement overflowed.
“Praise the Goddess! Praise Your Eminence!” Gryffind knelt on one knee, his voice resounding, and many were shocked by his presence.
Mu Xuan nodded in satisfaction and waved his scepter.
Five strands of faith power streamed out, and upon entering Gryffind’s body, instantly doubled to ten, bringing Gryffind’s total faith power to twenty strands!
Apart from his armor becoming even more dazzling, Gryffind seemed to have grasped many new skills.
But Mu Xuan had no intention to inquire further.
These were their own opportunities; he had no need to understand everything.
So long as they used them well and remained obedient, that was enough.
Afterward, Mu Xuan appointed Buzachi as leader of the intelligence group.
Seeing Buzachi looking after the girl named Na’er so carefully, Mu Xuan simply bestowed two strands of faith power upon the girl and assigned her to the intelligence group as well.
For now, the intelligence group didn’t need to expand—Buzachi and the girl were enough.
But the Order of Dawn was the church’s face.
Now that the church was finally seeing some improvement, Mu Xuan had to form the knight order.
He chose the ten most devout believers to join, granting each a strand of faith power to form their armor, then announced:
“Kamani! Your devout faith has been recognized by the Light! Considering you have served as Captain of the City Defense Forces, possess organizational abilities, and are sincerely faithful, now, in the name of the Pope, I appoint you as Vice-Captain of the Order of Dawn!”
Originally, Kamani had thought the Pope had no intention of letting him join the knights, and felt somewhat disheartened.
He never expected that, at the last moment, the Pope would suddenly appoint him as Vice-Captain!
The overwhelming joy left Kamani doubting his own ears.
But when he saw the envious looks from the crowd, Kamani knew he hadn’t heard wrong!
He immediately straightened his back, walking forward proudly, unable to suppress the beaming smile on his face.
Mu Xuan watched as the three strands of faith power that entered Kamani’s body transformed into nine, just one short of ten, and knew his decision had been correct!
After pondering for a moment, Mu Xuan added another strand, bringing Kamani’s faith power to a breakthrough—twelve strands.
At this moment, Kamani’s armor enveloped his entire body, surprising Mu Xuan.
It was even heavier than Gryffind’s!
And in Kamani’s hand, rather than a longsword like Gryffind, there appeared a gigantic greatsword!
The broad blade, combined with the extremely heavy armor, made for a formidable sight.
Goodness, is he aiming to become a moving fortress…
With a silent grumble, Mu Xuan said a few more words of encouragement, then dismissed the ceremony.
Kamani really had given him a surprise this time.
A zealot really couldn’t be compared to a merely devout believer!
The knight order would need time for proper training and discipline—all entrusted to Kamani.
As for Buzachi…Mu Xuan had planned to let Buzachi rest, but the girl kept pestering him to go out on a search and rescue.
Mu Xuan didn’t stop them and let them go.
Of course, he handed Buzachi a stone imbued with his own power.
This time, if thrown, the stone could unleash a strike equivalent to the full power of someone with twenty strands of faith.
So long as they didn’t encounter an aberrant with a formed core, Buzachi wouldn’t be in real danger.
Even a newly formed core aberrant would suffer serious damage from such a strike.
As for Rule Terrors…they would have to rely on their own luck…
Without external interference, it was nearly impossible to break through a Rule Core.
Yet, the levels of power in this world were extremely vague, which had troubled Mu Xuan for a long time.
No one had been able to handle this catastrophe, so no one had studied the power differences between aberrants—let alone established ranks.
As a result, Mu Xuan had to classify the levels himself and had Beckerze record them.
In short, from weakest to strongest: aberrants without cores were divided into Ashen and Deep Black grades.
Aberrants with formed cores were divided into Shallows, Depths, and Moho grades.
The Shallows referred to aberrants that had just formed a core, which Mu Xuan already found tricky—let alone those Depths that existed only in memory.
That Angel, meanwhile, was classified as a Moho grade aberrant.
As for anything stronger…Mu Xuan had no desire to know, simply assigning them all to the Gutenberg grade.
Mu Xuan also separated out Rule Terrors as a distinct category, specifying that Rule Terrors always had cores, and that, at the same level, Rule Terrors were far more dangerous than other aberrants!
He thought of Buzachi’s last encounter—if not for his intervention from outside the rules, even if Buzachi solved the terror inside the rules, without finding the proper way out or the location of the core, he would have been worn down by the endlessly regenerating aberrant.
However, the Rule Core in a Rule Terror was a truly precious thing—provided, of course, it wasn’t damaged.
Based on Mu Xuan’s calculations and the Goddess’s insights into the Light, roughly ten strands of faith power could handle Ashen grade aberrants, while twenty strands could contend with Deep Black.
At fifty, one could condense a Light Core—equivalent to Shallows grade; five hundred matched Depths grade.
To rival the Moho grade, one would need a terrifying ten thousand strands of faith power.
Such massive gaps made Mu Xuan all the more aware of the Angel’s terror…
As for whether there might be other unknown types of aberrants—Mu Xuan had no idea.
He would cross that bridge when he came to it, assuming he survived…