And in the next moment, he was roughly tied to one of the stakes by the Judgement Knights.

More than twenty players were tied up, and the same number of Judgement Knights arrived in front of them.

Each Judgement Knight held a torch in hand, and in front of them was a barrel of semi-transparent liquid.

A pungent smell wafted over, and Cyber recognized it. The liquid was an extremely flammable high-energy magic material called Magic Fuel, refined by Alchemists from the "Elf Kingdom."

Soon, amidst curses, one civilian after another was brought to the square by the Judgement Knights.

Cyber’s gaze narrowed because he saw many impoverished people he had preached to among them.

However, the Judgement Knights did not harm them but merely forced them to the execution ground to watch.

Quickly, more and more civilians gathered here, filling the square.

They glared at the Judgement Knights with angry eyes, daring to be angry but not speak out.

At the same time, Cyber also noticed many familiar gazes cast upon him.

"Lord Cyber!"

In the crowd, the anxious cries of believers came through.

Meeting their eager gazes, Cyber sighed softly and gave them a warm smile.

At this time, the Black Robed Priest stepped onto the wooden platform of the square. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He scanned the crowd coldly, then took out a piece of parchment and read in an icy voice:

"By the holy decree of His Holiness the Pope: Life believers have seduced the world, disrupted society, and spread heretical evil..."

"In the name of the Eternal, desecration is not tolerated, the majesty of our Lord cannot be challenged; with the holy seat’s decree, the life believers, heretical sinners shall be judged—death!"

As soon as the words fell, he waved to the Judgement Knights, who poured the Magic Fuel from the barrels onto the players.

The onlooking crowd exclaimed again, shouting out the players’ names.

The scene’s order suddenly became somewhat chaotic.

Facing those familiar gazes, Cyber mustered courage, thickened his skin, and like the other players, lifted his head and puffed his chest, ready to face death resolutely...

But soon, he found his skin was still too thin.

He saw that a few players beside him suddenly lifted their heads high, proudly shouting:

"Death is not terrifying, as long as the faith is true, kill the preacher, and there will be successors!"

"Everyone dies, but some deaths are lighter than a feather, while others are heavier than Mount Taishan!"

"I die, the faith lives, I die gloriously!"

"Though the body dies, the belief endures! For justice, for freedom, for a better future!"

"Praise nature, praise life, praise the great Eve Goddess!"

"Hooray——!"

Listening to their passionate and furious shouts, the onlookers stirred, many shedding tears of emotion.

They clenched their fists, gritted their teeth, their expressions sorrowful.

Cyber: ...

Ah...

Listening to the surrounding players’ words, he only wanted to die quickly now.

It seemed as if he would once again see himself in the opening cinematics...

The flames ignited, and amidst the fiery light and strong embarrassment, Cyber’s vision was swallowed by darkness...

...

Autumn, in the year 1072 of the Eternal Era.

The Eternal Church launched a large-scale hunt for the life believers preaching in the territories, burning all the captured Life Church preachers at the stake.

For a time, a large number of players doing priest tasks in the Holy Mania Empire and Aries Kingdom experienced the taste of fire...

During the hunt, the Judgement Knights met with significant resistance from the Life believers, mostly converted impoverished people.

However, after a few bloody suppressions, the resistance gradually subsided.

Yet, while the rebellion of heretics was suppressed, undercurrents began to surge faintly in various cities of the Human Kingdom...

In those cities that revered the Eternal Lord, the number of believers entering the Eternal Church to pray daily not only did not increase but even became fewer.

Meanwhile, in Larona, the capital of the Northern Aries Territory, a group of unfamiliar figures also arrived.

"This is Larona, one of the few cities in the empire that allows followers of other religions to preach freely."

"John, the Divine Favored of the Life Church, is preaching here, and many believers visit him every day..."

"Especially since the Eternal Church began persecuting the life preachers, more and more life believers are fleeing here."

"You don’t know Lord John yet, do you? Many people call him Saint John. He came here a few months ago, has been helping the poor, healing wounds, and preaching the faith of the Life Church, gaining high prestige in Larona..."

The guiding youth said.

Riding on a white horse, Frank gently nodded and curiously asked:

"I’ve somewhat heard of him. It seems many people here respect him. Perhaps...I’ll pay him a visit in a few days."

"But...is it really acceptable to proselytize here freely? If I recall correctly, the Divine Favored Adam resides here in seclusion, and this place is still under the jurisdiction of the Empire..."

After speaking, he tossed another silver coin to the other person.

"Thank you, Knight!"

The young man excitedly accepted the silver coin while explaining:

"Knight, you come from the north, so you might not be aware of the history here. Larona was once a city jointly built by Dwarves and humans, and in the past, the main belief here was that of the Dwarf Church."

"Although it later came under the Empire’s rule, the main belief remained with the Dwarf Church until the Dwarves’ influence waned... and the Eternal Church took over as the mainstream faith."

"However, because this place is nominally still within the Dwarf Church’s faith domain, the Eternal Church hasn’t interfered with the beliefs here, and the Dwarf Church has always been very open, indifferent to other churches preaching here..."

Upon hearing the young man’s words, Frank was lost in thought.

When they entered Larona and found the Eternal Church’s cathedral, the young man left.

Looking at the sparsely populated Eternal Church before him, Frank’s eyes held a touch of melancholy.

Along the way, even without purposely observing, he noticed that every place’s Eternal Church seemed increasingly desolate.

Dismounting his horse, he entered the church accompanied by Personal Guard Roland and presented a written request for a visit.

However, when the priest in charge of reception saw his name and profile, his originally enthusiastic expression quickly turned cold:

"Frank? Are you that forsaken member of the Rosen family?"

Frank slightly furrowed his brows.

Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, he gently nodded:

"That’s correct, but I’m no longer associated with the Rosen family."

The priest shook his head:

"You should leave. Lord Adam is very busy and not in the church at the moment."

"Can I wait here? Or perhaps, when will Lord Adam return? I could visit on another day..."

Frank inquired.

The priest’s expression grew more impatient. He glanced at Frank and sneered:

"Do I really need to spell it out? A criminal stripped of his noble status, and you still wish to see Lord Adam?"

"You!"

Personal Guard Roland glared angrily at the priest.

However, he was quickly stopped by Frank.

Frank’s original smile faded a bit as he took a deep breath and said:

"I’m not here as a noble visitor but as a mercenary, or rather, a citizen of the Empire."

"That makes it even more impossible. Lord Adam is very busy. He doesn’t meet with anyone other than the nobles with prior appointments, much less a mere commoner. You should leave."

The priest shook his head.

Frank’s brow furrowed slightly but quickly concealed it.

"Really...can’t I pay a visit?"

He raised his head, earnestly looking at the priest.

The priest chuckled mockingly:

"You were once a noble. You’ve been told that he won’t meet with you, yet you repeatedly ask here. Where’s your dignity?"

Frank remained silent.

A moment later, he sighed deeply and nodded:

"I understand."

"Roland, let’s go."

Saying so, he turned and headed back the way they came.

But he had barely taken a few steps when he heard the priest snicker contemptuously:

"A criminal deprived of his title still wishes to meet Lord Adam? Tsk...what a pipe dream..."

Frank’s body paused slightly.

Then, he continued to move forward.

However, the hands that clenched and released showed he wasn’t as calm as he appeared...

Personal Guard Roland turned back, glaring fiercely at the priest, who quickly covered his mouth, pouting and turning away.

Then Roland looked at Frank and couldn’t help but ask:

"Lord Frank, should we still try to find an opportunity to visit the Divine Favored Adam?"

Frank was silent for a moment, then sighed:

"Let’s first go and see the legendary Divine Favored John..."