Chapter 24: Gifts from the Holy Spirit
Chapter 24: Gifts from the Holy Spirit
Alex certainly understood why Stone asked this question.
In fact, on the first day he arrived here, after summoning an angel through the effect of breaking through space, both Stone and the old bishop had asked Alex whether he had received the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
Alex neither confirmed nor denied this; he simply feigned ignorance. Indeed, this wasn't information an ordinary person could easily know.
Alex had only found some clues about the protection of the Holy Spirit after entering the temple and searching through the records.
Not too long ago, there was a group of people on this continent. They were either born with or later acquired the protection of holy angels due to certain reasons.
These holy angels would guard their lives and pass on knowledge and power belonging to the angels.
People referred to this as the "gifts from the Holy Spirit."
In the temple, these individuals were regarded as messengers of the Goddess of Order in the mortal world. They used this power to eliminate chaos, maintain order, and combat evil.
The Holy Spirit Knights were once prominent figures in the temple, and each one was a beloved hero.
But as the saying goes, "the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled."
The prominence of the Holy Spirit Knights also drew the attention of chaotic monsters and cultists.
Demons coveted the power of angels, while cultists sought to undermine the foundation of order. Eventually, a disaster struck as both sides conspired against the Holy Spirit Knights.
They incited the public and tempted those in the temple who were dissatisfied with the power of the Holy Spirit Knights to suppress them.
They even lured several young Holy Spirit Knights into corruption, along with their guardian angels, turning them into pawns of chaos. Using this as an excuse, they began to scrutinize the Holy Spirit Knights.
At first, the Holy Spirit Knights tolerated this scrutiny, but soon the demands from the temple became more excessive.
Perhaps it was rare to see the once high-and-mighty Holy Spirit Knights so "obedient," but the actions of the temple's authorities became increasingly aggressive.
They even fabricated reasons to take the Holy Spirit Knights away for interrogation. Eventually, some even attempted to coerce confessions from the Holy Spirit Knights, forcing them to admit to being cultists.
As time passed, the rift between the two sides grew. The Holy Spirit Knights had enough of being treated like cultists, while the temple authorities, confident in the temple's backing, became increasingly reckless.
The conflicts escalated, causing the then high priest to become uneasy. He attempted to order a halt to the spread of this situation and to reduce the intensity of the scrutiny.
However, the high priest's order turned out to be the final straw.
When the high priest decided to end the scrutiny, the lower-ranking bishops refused to comply. Driven by desire and power, they made a crazed decision: they accused the leader of the Holy Spirit Knights, Antonio, of being a cultist and imprisoned his wife and children, torturing them to extract "evidence" to force Antonio to confess.
But Antonio would not surrender easily. He led his subordinates to storm the high tribunal to rescue his family.
Unfortunately, he arrived too late. When he got there, he only found the corpses of his wife and children.
Overcome with grief and rage, Antonio publicly declared his break from the temple and, in the name of the Holy Spirit Knights, declared war on the entire temple!
Those were dark days. The Holy Spirit Knights, who were supposed to uphold order, raised their blades against the temple.
The temple, under the assault of the Holy Spirit Knights, fell into disarray. They tried to stop it, but it was too late.
The Holy Spirit Knights were not saints. During the prior scrutiny, many had already harbored deep resentment. There was no way they would easily admit defeat.
Moreover, by then, the Holy Spirit Knights had started to suspect that the temple had deviated from the goddess's guidance, succumbing to worldly desires and power.
The conflict had escalated from a clash of egos to a battle of ideals.
Negotiations broke down, and Antonio led the Holy Spirit Knights in an assault on the High Temple, intending to end the temple's rule once and for all.
However, at the gates of the High Temple, the Holy Spirit Knights finally encountered an obstacle—the goddess's protection surrounding the High Temple prevented them from advancing any further.
At that time, the cardinals had lost their senses. They believed that with the goddess's protection, the Holy Spirit Knights couldn't touch them.
They immediately began to mock, even publicly claiming that the deaths of Antonio's wife and children were the will of the goddess and that they were merely carrying out her wishes!
No matter the era or place, having terrible teammates always has the same effect. Enraged by the cardinals' provocation, Antonio made a shocking decision.
He and his Holy Spirit chose to fall into chaos and become a Chaos Demons in front of everyone.
He then shattered the goddess's protection with one sword strike, completely wiping out the cardinals.
After this, Antonio left behind a single sentence, "If that's the case, then the existence of this world has no meaning," and departed with the Holy Spirit who had fallen with him.
After this, the Holy Spirit Knights split into two groups. One group resolutely chose to fall and followed Antonio to the Twilight Frontier.
The other group of Holy Spirit Knights chose to permanently sever ties with the temple, never to see them again.
The temple was severely weakened by this internal conflict and the departure of the Holy Spirit Knights.
At this point, the cultists and chaotic demons began to stir and launched frenzied attacks on the continent.
Without the Holy Spirit Knights, the temple's power diminished significantly. Although they eventually managed to drive away the demons and cultists and once again ensured the existence of order, they were gravely weakened and have yet to recover fully.
Moreover, since then, individuals blessed by the Holy Spirit have become rare on the continent.
Within the temple, there has been a vague saying that the goddess is disappointed with the temple's actions and no longer sends her messengers to this world.
Only when the temple realizes its mistakes might they receive the goddess's forgiveness.
This is why the old bishop wanted to immediately report to the central bishop council upon seeing the guardian angel behind Alex.
However, Stone was clearly not interested in this. He was more curious about how Alex had become so powerful overnight. Could this also be due to the Holy Spirit's legacy?
After all, those events happened many years ago, and information about the Holy Spirit Knights is now rare, either destroyed or sealed away, and even as a great knight, he couldn't access it. Therefore, Stone was very interested in Alex's "inheritance."
"I don't know if this is some kind of inheritance."
As before, Alex did not confirm Stone's speculation. After learning about the history of the Holy Spirit Knights, he knew that this identity had advantages but also many disadvantages. So he never acknowledged others' guesses, only selectively sharing his thoughts.
"After I went back last night, I thought about how to improve my swordsmanship. I discussed it with her, and then she made me have a dream..."
Facing Stone's inquiry, Alex did not hide much. He described the system as the guardian angel summoned by his space-breaking sword and narrated his experiences in the dungeon as a dream.
Alex chose to speak out not only to gain Stone's trust but also because he had planned to do so before coming here.
Therefore, he didn't mind showcasing his peculiarities. Even if Stone didn't ask, he would have found an opportunity to consult Stone.
The reason is simple: "Two heads are better than one."
Although Alex could accumulate experience through battles in that world, it would be faster if he could get guidance from someone experienced. Why take the long way when there's a shortcut?
Moreover, being resurrected doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to be killed! He wasn't a masochist who enjoyed being killed.
"There's actually such a world..."
After listening to Alex's description, Stone couldn't help but marvel. With his broader experience, he quickly understood how desperate the world Alex described was.
A world where survival depended on the burning of flames, and when the flames extinguished, everything faced death... Just imagining it, Stone could feel the sorrow of that world.
Fortunately, it was just a dream.
"Haha, thank goodness it was a dream. Otherwise, with your skills and without using power, relying solely on swordsmanship to fight those enemies, you'd have died a hundred or eighty times already."
Hearing Stone's hearty laughter, Alex rolled his eyes helplessly but had nothing to say because he indeed had died a hundred to one hundred and fifty times! Maybe even more.
"Well... but it's not entirely hopeless. From your previous combat style, you've already grasped the essentials, just not the right methods..."
Stone didn't disappoint Alex in the end. After thinking for a moment, he began to guide Alex.
As a grand knight, Stone had much more experience in this area than Alex, who listened carefully to his advice.
After all, this was invaluable knowledge that couldn't be bought. The system currently had no exchange function, and even if it did, Alex doubted he could exchange for experience.
And now... having such a mentor was perfect for learning, wasn't it?