52 Chapter 52 - Foundation
A dark shade took over the lives of many people.
The once good news on the frontlines turned into much more dire ones.
Although the so-called high human that managed to injure a saint disappeared and never appeared since the battle.
A religion sprouted up.
Suppressed by both the mysterious organisation and the church itself. It managed to thrive quite a lot.
Everyone knew about it and its one purpose.
Bring humans to the so-called enlightenment and bring them to a higher place. A true utopia.
Immortality, no suffering and many enticing offers.
They just had to switch their religion and undergo the ascension that needed contributions.
Some desperate people and even old awakened elder joined the enemy faction.
They have kept such news under the wraps, if it weren't for the news that followed right after.
The elder ascended. What came out didn't resemble the old shell of a dying man, but a vibrant middle aged man with many years before him.
Worst of all.
He didn't seem to be brainwashed whatsoever or controlled at all.
Even a saint didn't see anything wrong with him. Man, at the end of his ropes, with no hopes of attaining the saint realm, managed to get there just after one ascension.
It shook the underworld the most.
People, outlaws, and those that didn't get along with the church found their new stronghold.
Liam watched as dozens of older mana refiners with no future prospects leave the city one by one, with everyone knowing their destination.
At first, he wanted to keep them in. Nevertheless, order from the church came down.
They couldn't break off the feeling of freedom for a new coming enemy.
That would undermine the entire reputation the church had built over the thousands of years.
People live in the moment and not in the past.
Time changes humans the most, especially the mortal ones.
So, it became common at one point for a traitor to appear every once in a while and in three years that number reached three digits.
Then another piece of news shook the world.
The church proclaimed that they would be holding a mass ascension. They would baptise anyone willing to come.
Even safety they guaranteed to anyone who managed to come.
Such a statement ignored the prestige of the main church and the power it held.
To the astonishment of many. Quite a lot of powerhouses arrived that day to side with the enemy.
No matter how much evidence pointed at them being potentially from the alien world using alien technology.
The allure of living and regaining their lost or nonexistent potential overpowered the sense of unity.
After all, they just had to return and contribute to humanity after they ascended.
So simple and yet not one that had ascended had done it.
Any kind of measures to prove mind reading, alternation or possession had been used never came out positive.
To lie to the public without concrete evidence. The church would be playing with a fire that might light up and turn into a demon.
Dozens of awakened elders at the end of their ropes and those at unawakened realm not daring to go to the battlefield appeared on an unassuming mountain.
There, green would be fated to never grow.
Encased in eternal ice, as it had been for an unknown number of years. The Great North, a natural barrier that no enemy crossed yet.
Difficulty of travelling through it, much less mapping it out, fell to the hands of Saints and higher ranked personnel.
An awakened elder of the ice attribute might die in a few days alone.
Without any support or higher realm of power. No one can survive.
And now the new upcoming church filled with mysterious means brought out such power.
Constructed base deep inside that somehow gave power to travel through the cold desolate mountains without any problems.
No one knew how it worked.
They travelled deep inside without feeling cold or being exhausted. Their mana at full power, all except a person they identified as a spy.
Quarter way through, he lost the last bits of mana and died in this unforgiving place.
Without a grave and surrounded by people who mocked him.
They might have been panicking, but a feminine voice told them that only those that believe in ascension and are willing to undergo it would have the qualifications to see the place.
Somehow, despite no one leaving the Great North. People learned that even mortals below the unawakened realm had the chance of ascending.
Tides of hopeful people arrived.
Everyone who did saw this as an opportunity. Their gods that they believed in for so long and even their creator never managed bless humans with immediate power.
Instead, hearsays of the so-called blessing. Crystals that gave everyone power to cultivate a spirit that didn't belong to them.
This, however, promised immediate benefits. Free of charge without any kind of burden.
Anyone could leave or choose to stay after experiencing this hospitality.
Their one request upon leaving became simple. Spread the good word of ascension in order to bring all ignorant and weak humans to a higher realm.
To become high humans an epitome of perfection. State where beauty didn't mean anything for everyone possessed divine beauty.
Talent eclipsing the greatest geniuses. And a future unbound by fate, controlled by only them.
The promise and those examples became like a snowball rolling down a mountain.
Its power and potential kept growing at a rapid pace.
Although the church that ruled the world didn't react slow and several saints descended.
They never managed to find the ascension point. The Great North became the perfect hiding place.
Enemy might be hiding just below the surface or deep inside the planet's crust. No one could tell.
People that got released didn't know the way. Because a simple voice kept guiding them and at one point, their memories became hazy.
No matter which direction. Once they arrived and wished to undergo the ascension, god would bless them to complete it.
Some kind of barriers protected them and only saints managed to break through.
This kind of power, humanity couldn't understand. Contrary to the aliens that kept invading.
Elite awakened elders could deal with almost anything. However, this newcomer already held power than both of them.
The location must have played a role, nevertheless the losses accumulated at a rapid pace.
Moreover, anyone who had undergone an ascension had only one purpose in mind.
To bring everyone else upon the so called beautiful enlightenment.
They wanted them to open their eyes and accept the real reality where no one had to suffer.
Everyone who got confronted dismissed the idea of going to the frontlines.
It already brought the idea of the newcomer church being independent to a near flatline zero.
Rules became tighter. Curfew became a thing in big cities.
People saw the change and their trust in the church wavered. And yet when the church did nothing or supported their own endeavours.
The effect couldn't be compared.
Simple brainwashing, where the second side has all the benefits that the first promises after an unknown amount of years.
One day, the main church shed all of its decorum. Although joining the new religion in the past, the law codex considered as a crime.
The amount of influential people playing in the background made it hard to enforce.
Now, another kind of power came from the main church.
Hundreds of humans arrived on the planet, accompanied by a beam the size of a football stadium shooting into the sky.
Enforcers and with them came a new kind of reality.
Almost at the level of a saint.
Every single represented power that only those in the top five of the awakened elder realm leaderboard could muster at their best capacity.
With the blessing of the church. They took over major interest points, like cities and strongholds.
A defense line sprouted up in days and surrounded the entire Great North.
Week later, another beam shot up, and another batch of enforcers appeared with one common characteristic.
Third eye on their heads kept looking around.
Impartial, but cruel. Any kind of real violation of the law codex would result in a punishment.
No more court or some kind of power to defend oneself.
Those drastic measures surprised Liam, and he couldn't escape them. Three enforcers took over the city.
Akand lost almost all of his power except a few businesses and almost lost his life when trying to bargain with those enforcers.
In just a month. People returned to their basic lives.
With a watcher above their heads. Crime rate became an effective zero and while some people liked it that way.
Many grew discontent.
Right now, they saw it as the church stripping their rights of freedom. The one that they promised in the holy book.
The legend about the creation of the church revolved all around freedom and the power to make a choice once a sufficient amount of power one attained.
And over the years. Many people watered it down to just freedom.
Some enforcers appeared on the frontlines as well, though their presence warranted a very dangerous moment in certain regions.
The most important thing became a question.
How would the new upcoming church respond?
