Vol 3 Chapter 59 – A Small Religion

A magnificent grand cathedral.

In the great hall where believers gathered to offer their prayers, only a handful of figures were now present.

The light pouring in through the stunning stained-glass windows was brilliant.

In this almost fantastical space, they spoke in hushed tones of matters not meant for public ears.

“What is the status of our believer acquisition?”

“It is proceeding smoothly. As it stands, our momentum is unstoppable. As long as there is no interference, our numbers will surely continue to grow.”

“Excellent. The number of believers is what makes our foundation firm. The strength of their faith is what pleases our god. Expanding our influence is truly our mission.”

These were the executives of a certain religion.

For them, acquiring believers was their most important work.

One could not deny that their progress was going exceptionally well.

Their religion was showing what could only be described as an unparalleled growth rate.

This was the result of their continued, zealous recruitment of people who followed no god.

But this method was also becoming more difficult.

“However, that momentum will likely slow. After all, there is almost no pie left.”

Simply put, the number of non-religious people had dwindled.

What occurred to them had, of course, also occurred to the followers of other religions.

As they also recruited zealously, the number of people with no faith naturally decreased.

“What do we do, then?”

“We should continue our steady recruitment, but having an influential spokesperson would lead to more large-scale results.”

“In that case, a Hero, I suppose. In the human territories, their influence and popularity likely surpass that of any country’s royalty.”

When thinking of a top-tier spokesperson, the Heroes were the first to come to mind.

There were plenty of national heroes and celebrities.

But their fame was generally limited to their own country.

The Heroes, however, were different.

Chosen by the Holy Sword, they were truly the heroes of all human territories.

People of all nations and ethnicities would surely know of them.

If such individuals were to loudly declare their faith in this religion, what kind of effect could one expect?

The mere thought of it was thrilling.

But there was a reason things wouldn’t go so smoothly.

“However, this generation’s Heroes are…”

“Ah… all of them are far too headstrong…”

They slumped their shoulders, fed up.

Indeed, the current generation of Heroes were all far too individualistic.

Generally, to win someone over, you must give them what they desire.

And while that differs from person to person, the common denominators are often money and romance.

So, the question was whether the Heroes would be swayed by such things…

“Lois is an enigma, and while Alan appears greedy and easy to approach, he never moves the way we want him to.”

“Ruru seems to be the easiest to bring into the fold… but she is a Hero, after all. She’s no pushover.”

“Now that Melia has gone missing, further recruitment is likely impossible.”

“And Antares is absolutely out of the question.”

“Well, it’s unlikely a Hero more dangerous than her will ever appear…”

They discussed their evaluations of each Hero.

They were all so intensely unique it made one wonder if you couldn’t wield the Holy Sword without such a strong personality.

On the other hand, it meant they didn’t have to worry about another religion snatching them up, so at least there was that…

“What is the plan, then? With the pie of atheists gone, that means…”

“We have no choice but to bring in those who now believe in other gods.”

In the end, it had come to this.

If they were to aim for further expansion, their only option was to make those already following other religions convert.

However, while this would be a small problem if it happened on an individual basis, attempting to do it systematically was to cross a very dangerous bridge.

If other religions discovered they were systematically trying to poach their members, it could easily escalate into war.

But it was because they had already considered this that they had expanded their influence this far.

Thanks to their steady activities up to now, their organization had grown to a massive scale.

They had armed their believers, organized them, and even come to possess their own military force.

In other words, they were prepared for war.

At this point, they possessed a military power that could easily overwhelm the army of a small nation.

“In the first place, two gods are not necessary. So long as we have our god, Arias, that is all that is needed.”

That’s what it all came down to.

Not just them—the Church of Arias—but all extremist religions operated on this same creed.

They could not acknowledge any god other than the one they revered.

Ultimately, one side would have to fight until the other fell.

“Then, where shall we strike? Attacking a major religion would surely result in heavy losses for us as well… and there would be interference from the nations.”

Choosing a target was rather difficult.

If they were to start a fight with a religion of a certain size, a battle would naturally break out in some country, and that country would not be able to simply overlook it.

Furthermore, major, large-scale religions, not just the Church of Arias, often possessed their own military forces.

If they were to clash, the scale of the damages would have to be considered.

“I have no intention of rushing things. We will take our time and proceed carefully.”

“For now, let us begin by crushing the small religions with very few believers.”

That was their conclusion.

Not the high-risk, high-return option of crushing a large religion, but the low-risk, low-return option of crushing small ones to acquire their believers.

One of them muttered the name of a religion they had their eye on.

“—For example, the Church of Shannon.”

The malice of the Church of Arias was about to descend upon a small religion.

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“By the way, Al, do you believe in any religion?”

“The Church of Shannon.”

And so, not a single soul in this world yet knew that they were about to attack a religion that had an unbelievably dangerous believer.