No one knew what happened inside the Dorolia Castle Prison.

However, as the incident of John the Divine Favored from the Life Church being ambushed by the Eternal Church continued to escalate, the conflict between the two churches in Segis World was becoming increasingly intense.

Two months after Old John went missing, cities across the Human Kingdom saw gatherings and protests by Life Church followers, frequent clashes, and even incidents where Eternal Churches were stormed and set ablaze by disgruntled citizens.

It was said that Benedict II, the then Pope of the Eternal Church, flew into a rage and ordered the arrest and execution of all those involved in the church burning as "thugs."

The relationship between the Eternal Church and the empire’s poor, and with the Life Church, was growing increasingly strained.

However, with the Life Church’s covert support, the uprisings across the empire were like autumn grassland fires; extinguish it here, and it flares up there.

At this moment, whether it was the empire’s nobles or clergy from other factions, they were all moved by the energy the Life Church displayed in this storm.

Unconsciously, the once-weak church had somehow acquired the ability to shake the Eternal Church’s foundation, the largest church in Segis!

Of course, when those in the know thought about the true identity of the Life Goddess, about the relationship between the World Tree, the Eternal Lord, and the former True Gods, they felt it was only natural.

Some weaker Divine Beings, who had been oppressed for millennia by the human gods and had their living spaces constantly squeezed, found great relief seeing the Eternal Church in such distress. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

However, compared to the strong response of the Eternal Church, the Life Church showed a calm that was slightly eerie.

Whether it was the Life Church itself or the life deities led by the World Tree behind it, they seemed to be restraining themselves, or rather, waiting for something.

"Waiting? It’s obvious, the Goddess is just stalling for time. After all, as time goes by, the number of us players is increasing, and our strength is growing. The more nails we bury in the Human World, the greater the advantage we have."

Outside Maniya City, wearing a hooded cloak and transformed into a human appearance through shapeshifting, Demacia swaggered as he proudly looked at the new players behind him discussing the continental situation.

These players were mostly new to the Heart of Nature, their average strength barely reaching silver. This time, they were disguised as a merchant convoy, following Demacia to the Holy Mania Empire.

For the task of spreading the word assigned by the Goddess, as the leader of the Shoe Cult (not), Demacia naturally refused to stay behind the scenes.

Back when he returned from Dragon Island, after causing havoc in several great noble gold mines with some players and dragons, he brought some newcomers to join this evangelizing frenzy.

Of course, the reason for bringing newcomers instead of veterans was simply because of Demacia’s internal guild boss team.

Fair and honest, with a guarantee for the position of Priest.

"No wonder he’s Lord Dema!"

"Straight to the point!"

"Impressive, impressive!"

"Lord, please take us under your wing!"

Behind him, the players’ voices rose and fell, showering Demacia with flattery, making him quite comfortable.

As a beta player and at the bottom of the NPC contempt chain, although he was the vice president of Heart of Nature and CEO of the Amway Chamber of Commerce, Demacia rarely enjoyed the treatment of a lord.

Even though his overall strength had long surpassed others, placing him among the top tier of all players...

Of course, things were different now.

With the widening gap between new and old player levels and the increasing number of players, he could finally unabashedly display his high stature in front of newcomers.

In his own words, it’s "only those who have pretended to be grand know how joyful it is to pretend."

"Lord Dema, so... why did we come all this way to evangelize in Mania? Isn’t it good to be in the border cities of the empire? This is the central area of the Eternal Church."

While Demacia was swaggering, a player asked.

Demacia heard this and gave a slight smile:

"I brought you here not just to preach, but to rescue someone."

"Rescue someone?"

The other players were curious.

Demacia chuckled and said:

"You’ve heard of John the Divine Favored, haven’t you?"

"Of course, the NPC who has been famous in the game for the past few months!"

"Yes, I remember Lord Dema used his story to create many magic projections, inciting the empire’s poor to revolt."

The players spoke all at once.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough..."

Hearing their words, Demacia, who was drinking water, couldn’t help but choke and coughed violently, then glared at them:

"What do you mean by inciting? I called it enlightening the people!"

"Yes, enlightening the people!"

"No wonder Lord Dema has such eloquence when speaking!"

"Lord Dema, say more! I need to take good notes!"

Demacia:...

These guys, aren’t they covertly teasing him?

Seeing his increasingly darkening expression, the players stopped fooling around, quickly changing the topic back to their original question:

"By the way... Lord Dema, how did you determine that John the Divine Favored is in Mania? Besides, even if he’s in Mania, where exactly is he?"

Looking at the players watching him, Demacia both internally sighed about the chaotic mix of players he recruited this time and patiently began to explain to them: