Chapter 120
Chapter 120: The Church's Story
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Patrick was the first person to receive a divine blessing and possess the power of faith, and the deity who blessed him, a god who possessed immense power over nature, was reverently called the "Bountiful Mother Goddess" by later generations.
The great Bountiful Mother Goddess was the first deity to grant blessings to humanity. She bestowed upon Patrick the miraculous power to perform "nature miracles" and had him teach it to his fellow humans. The most notable characteristic of nature miracles was the ability to make plants grow instantly, so that the vast majority of people no longer had to worry about starving to death from failed harvests.
Patrick, humanity's first hero, along with the companions he chose, became a beacon of hope for mankind. Using the Mother Goddess's reputation and power, they began spreading blessings everywhere, gaining a large following and building a true home for humanity — the holy city of Abedoria, located in the central region of the Western Continent.
Patrick used miracles to create vast fields of grain and fruit trees across the mountains and plains, immersing people in the joy of abundant harvests. He also ordered the construction of high walls around the holy city, making this first true city-state in human history a place where people's hearts belonged.
Patrick naturally became humanity's leader, and to them, the deities were savior-like existences.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. One year, a massive plague broke out in the holy city.
People fell in droves like harvested wheat. Patrick was extremely anxious, but he discovered that while nature miracles could ensure his people wouldn't starve, they were completely helpless against disease.
Burning with anxiety, Patrick resolved to pray to the deities again, hoping to receive a blessing that would save his people from the terrible plague.
Patrick knelt in prayer for over ten days without eating or drinking. Fortunately, the God of Healing responded to him and bestowed upon him a new seed of faith. From then on, humanity possessed another great miracle — healing miracles.
Before the powerful healing miracles, the terrible plague was nothing to fear. The moment golden light bathed the holy city, people miraculously recovered, and their faith became even more devout.
The wheel of history rolled forward. After Patrick's death, the youngest yet most devout believer at the time became the holy city's new leader, and human territory began expanding rapidly during this period, gradually gaining a second city, a third city...
When there were many cities, there were nations.
After that, new deities began paying attention to humanity. Gradually, the gods were delighted to discover that although humans were quite weak, they possessed infinite creative ability.
Though they had no claws, they would use clay to make strange furnaces, melt hard stone, then hammer it into sharp blade-like objects to replace claws.
They also had no hard scales, but could likewise use stone-fired clothing as substitutes, wrapping even their heads tightly so beasts could no longer bite them.
They would also build beautiful and comfortable houses, use certain trees to create items called "ships," and sail across the seas on them to explore new continents...
Humanity showed the deities that they were the most intelligent and adaptable race in this world, and thus received even more blessings. At the same time, more and more believers began receiving divine blessings, and "those favored by the gods" increased daily. They were supported by the people and respectfully called "the most loyal followers of the deities."
These people led their compatriots toward prosperity, establishing countless cities and nations across the Eastern and Western Continents.
That period was called the "Age of Divine Presence" by later historians.
After that, war began.
At first, it was only those strong trolls living in caves. Their chieftain believed humans were like foul-smelling rats, breeding everywhere, and it was their existence that made the world riddled with holes. He concluded that this momentum would inevitably affect their homeland before long, so he led his tribe's brave and warlike people southward, breaking through the first city gate while we were completely unprepared.
The city massacre took only one night. When dawn came, the trolls went to the second city, then the third...
They were like savage beasts. Any male human would be torn to shreds without hesitation, and their heads would be stuck on sharpened wooden stakes, left to rot and stink, to celebrate the victory of battle — though it couldn't really be called a battle.
Female humans would be temporarily kept by the trolls for their amusement until they were played with to death.
That was the largest massacre on record in human history. The trolls wielded wooden clubs wrapped in thorns, easily crushing the skulls of those poor people. Those believers who could only heal the sick and relieve disasters were utterly unable to resist. The large-scale massacre also sent a signal to other restless foreign races: humans were still as fragile as ever.
So more powerful foreign races joined the war.
Countless cities were completely destroyed, tens of thousands of compatriots were brutally killed, blood flowed like rivers, and the stench of rotting corpses was everywhere. Hatred between races spread, and before long, humanity — targeted by almost half the world — once again received the gods' mercy. Those blessed by the deities prayed for and received the blessing of the Goddess of Sin, obtaining powerful punishment miracles.
Humanity could finally use miracles to defend their homeland.
Resistance began.
The tide of war was almost instantly reversed. Those previously unstoppable foreign races became fragile and weak under the powerful offensive of punishment miracles, retreating step by step. The winged race returned to the sky, the mermaid race retreated to the sea, and the fairy race also hid in the forests.
The war seemed to be over, and humanity began rebuilding those destroyed cities. However, the brief peace was fleeting. An even more powerful foreign race set their sights on humanity, considering us highly threatening existences — the invincible dragons.
They spread their sky-blocking wings, spewing flames as they descended from above. War began again...
In the following time, Teacher Morgan used vivid and colorful language to earnestly describe to the students how powerful the dragons were, and how they cruelly treated humans as food, swallowing them whole without even chewing.
Hearing this, I frowned.
Something felt strange, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what.
The content Teacher Morgan had spoken about earlier, only a very small part of it was something I'd seen before in the 《World History》. As for the wars he mentioned later, the book didn't mention a single word about them, and regarding those foreign races, it only glossed over them with a few brief sentences.
Yet I still vaguely remembered how the book depicted the foreign races and the beauty they possessed. Maidens who could brew wine, sing songs, and bloom flowers... Those wondrous lives that I had found so fascinating, I had even wondered whether I might one day see them with my own eyes. So why now... when listening to Teacher Morgan talk about them, did they sound so detestable...
I couldn't help but think of Dabai again.
It's also a dragon... but would such a creature really eat people... Would its kind really start a war just because of such a short-sighted argument as "highly threatening"?
No, these weren't even the most suspicious points.
The most suspicious thing was, those dragons, if they were all like Dabai and couldn't even speak... such beasts could actually judge that humans were "highly threatening"? Wasn't that ridiculous...
There was more than one thing that didn't make sense, but the story Teacher Morgan was telling...
I turned to look at Sarah.
She seemed to be listening with great interest, and the other students were much the same. Of course, no one would question it. Besides me, who else had seen a living dragon?
This story should be from the Church, the most official version, right?
But it's really hard for me to believe...
However, there's no way to verify it. After all, it's history, and history has always been written by the victors... Obviously, humanity are the victors.
Or rather, the Church is the victor.
So whatever you say goes, I guess... Forget it, this all happened a thousand years ago. There's no use overthinking it. I might as well keep listening.
Teacher Morgan continued, saying that even with punishment miracles, humanity was still at an overwhelming disadvantage against the powerful dragons, until later when the deities dispatched their messengers, the "angels," to provide aid. That same year, God Danarsis used divine power to change the rules of the world, granting humanity the same power as those foreign races — the power of Order.
This way, humanity finally had the strength to fight the dragons. In just a few short years, heroic knights possessing the power of Order emerged one after another, joining forces with the angels to slay dozens of dragons, slowing their offensive. What followed was a long war of attrition.
Later, the ongoing war destroyed pristine lands and burned countless forests. The endlessly violent dragons finally made the deities impatient, so they opened up another space and named it the "Land of Dragons."
The dragons were ultimately exiled from this world, never to return. Thus, the conflict between humanity and dragons came to an end.
However, this didn't mean the war was over. The invasions by foreign races continued for hundreds of years afterward, but as time passed, they gradually became weak and feeble — the fairies' ears were no longer keen, the winged race began shedding their feathers, and even the flower race, who had never participated in war, stopped blooming.
They gradually disappeared.
The believers attributed this to the gods' blessing upon humanity.
Next came the official establishment of the Holy Church.
Common Era Day 1, this was the most significant day in human history. On this day, the deities entrusted the heavy responsibility of governing the world to their believers.
Those "favored by the gods."
"Alright, my story ends here." Teacher Morgan clapped his hands, waking up those students who had been listening in rapt attention. "Actually, there's a lot more content in this history. The Church also spent decades consulting countless books and documents before finally being able to reconstruct it. The wars of the Age of Divine Presence were far more complex than what I described. During that period, many people would even choose to side with the foreign races out of fear, opening the city gates wide for them, then watching helplessly as their compatriots were slaughtered by the foreign races... They are humanity's shame. Even now, their names are still carved on the Monument of Sin in the holy city, to be scorned for all eternity."