Douglas patted the armrest of the sofa and said, "From the very beginning of the Council's founding, since the 'Heart of Faith' must be built upon genuine, heartfelt devotion and belief in the 'God of Truth'—with no room for wavering—only mages could secretly believe in the God of Truth or be bribed by the Church with money and materials. There had never been a bishop-level clergyman serving as a spy for the Council. But now, when it comes to intelligence, we're finally no longer on the defensive. Vican would never have imagined that even Cardinals would secretly serve the Council."
He spoke with considerable emotion about this. For centuries, the Council had been riddled with spies loyal to the Church of Truth. Sometimes, even when High Council members knew full well who was colluding with the Church, they would neither expose nor try them—instead using them to feed false intelligence that would counterbalance the impact of other undiscovered spies. Although the Soul Sovereign had the "authority" to invade minds and sift through memories, the Council had so many members and the vast majority of mages had their own secrets, making it impossible to screen every last one.
Of course, one revolutionary theory after another—subversive theories targeting the Holy Scriptures and the Church Canon—had also, to some degree, purged those spies who believed in the God of Truth. But it wasn't until after the Battle of Runtat, when the Southern Church was expelled and its influence over the four nations across the strait and the northern coastal corridor reduced to a minimum, that the number of spies within the Council truly dwindled to a level that no longer affected the situation.
Correspondingly, no matter how many clergymen lived debased and corrupt lives, no matter whether they harbored deep hatred toward their "superiors" or "colleagues," the moment they cooperated with mages it meant betraying the God of Truth. Their Heart of Faith would inevitably waver, and they would be devoured by Holy Light. For this reason, the Arcane Council could only plant spies at the priest level, and these spies—tainted by impure faith—had no hope of ever advancing to bishop rank. More often than not, they had to rely on magic like "mind invasion" to gather intelligence in a single sweep.
"I always found it rather strange—why could Saer de, the Pope of the Northern Church, and their saints cooperate with us without being affected? Why did they like to swear oaths upon the Heart of Faith?" Lucian had roughly guessed the situation upon learning that faith power could be stolen, but it wasn't until he obtained the actual method that he fully understood. Their "Heart of Faith" connection to "Heavenly Mountain" was partially under their own control with the aid of "divinity," allowing them to bend certain rules within a defined range—as long as they "believed" they were not betraying their faith in the Lord, they weren't!
Douglas nodded gently. "We'll need to plant some Cardinal-level spies within the Northern Church as well."
He paused thoughtfully. "Although directly publishing the method of stealing and utilizing faith power to them without demanding equivalent concessions will diminish our control over them, if we don't do this, they will never trust us. Only when they see tangible proof and gain real benefits will they sink deeper and deeper along this path with no way back. That is precisely what we hope to see."
"As for controlling them—the first method is threat. At least until they reach the Legendary level, they are not qualified to steal and utilize faith power. If exposed, they will absolutely be sent to the stake by the College of Cardinals on charges of heretical corruption. Although the members of the College are generally pragmatic and consider the bigger picture, when it comes to their own power, they certainly won't want one more person sharing the faith power."
If someone honestly and step by step became a Holy Spirit Priest or a Holy Knight, the College of Cardinals members wouldn't cause them any trouble—they would even share the methods. After all, the danger posed by the Arcane Council's rapid rise had made them keenly aware of the need to strengthen their Legendary-level power and restore the number of Legends.
Douglas paused here and glanced at Lucian. "The second method of control is enticement. We control the four nations across the strait and the northern coastal corridor; we control a vast pool of believers. As long as they're willing to cooperate with us, we can help them steal faith power from sects like the Holm National Church. It's safe and lucrative—how could they resist? After all, when they steal internally they must tread extremely carefully; even the slightest overreach risks detection by the College of Cardinals."
The Holm National Church was tightly bound to the Holm Kingdom, so when Douglas made this suggestion he didn't use a definitive tone—he was soliciting Lucian's opinion instead.
"That's no problem. The Holm National Church is merely a tool for stabilizing our believers. If they grow too strong, it would be detrimental to both us and the Holm Kingdom. Maintaining one or two Holy Spirit Priests or Holy Knights is about right. Besides, I suspect Vican has already secretly shared the quasi-god method with the archbishops of these splinter sects." Lucian gave a slight nod. The Holm Kingdom currently had only two Epic Knights; if the Holm National Church's Legendary members outnumbered theirs, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
Douglas strongly agreed with Lucian's assessment. "Vican may worry about the Northern Church overtaking him, but he certainly isn't afraid of the Holm National Church and the other splinter sects that don't even have a single Legend. In fact, we can do more than just exploit faith sources from sects like the Holm National Church—your Steam Church's faith power can also be converted and supplied to those Cardinals. Ha, this 'research project' of yours is remarkably versatile. Don't tell me you planned this from the very beginning?"
He suddenly brought up the Steam Church, seeming to have grasped yet another purpose behind Lucian's research.
"I did have that thought, but at the time there was no data, so I could only explore on my own. It was actually Vican's actions that gave me the inspiration to muddy the waters." Lucian chuckled. He wasn't some infallible strategist—many things came from drawing parallels and seizing on inspiration. Otherwise, he would have exchanged "data" with the Northern Church long ago.
No sooner had his words fallen than Lucian's expression froze. He produced a dark green, non-Legendary puppet he had crafted himself and noticed a splash of vivid crimson had appeared on it.
"A Cardinal is contacting me? So soon?" Lucian said, somewhat surprised.
Douglas's expression remained unchanged. "Perhaps there's important intelligence."
"Mm, I'll project over and take a look." Lucian said to Douglas. This was his demiplane, and projecting himself near the Holy City of Lans required his permission.
…………
A carriage traveled steadily along the packed-earth highway on the outskirts of the Holy City of Lans, coming to a stop only when it reached an estate at the edge of the forest.