Chapter 71: Church of the Sanctuary
After the construction was completed, nearly eighty people sat in the main hall of the church, making it feel a bit crowded.
At the very front sat Nyx and his granddaughter Melia, followed by the devout believers who had helped build the church during this time, as well as the soldiers bought by Corleon.
Cicero, Agamemnon, Ando, and George—who had been called back—sat on either side.
Corleon had changed into his red bishop’s robe and stood at the center, behind him the Lord’s Throne, and atop it stood a large cross nearly two men tall.
He held the Holy Scriptures in his hands.
This was the first prayer after the completion of the church.
However, except for Corleon and George, everyone else seemed somewhat distracted.
They all knew that today the Lord’s Gospel would descend, and they all looked forward to it.
After finishing the prayer, Corleon closed the Holy Scriptures.
He glanced at the crowd, their eyes filled with anticipation.
He opened his mouth and said, “The Lord has given a revelation: to raise the tabernacle with bricks of ‘fire’ and ‘stone’, and this place shall become the sanctuary on earth. The Lord’s first Throne has descended here, eternal and everlasting, a sacred sanctuary.”
“It shall not be shaken by wind or rain, nor destroyed by sword or blade.”
“Pilgrims will worship here and listen to the Lord’s teachings.”
“The devout will hear the Gospel of the Heavenly Kingdom, their ailments will vanish, and they will taste sweetness like honey.”
“The sinners will face judgment, the purifying flame will burn their souls, and their sins shall dissipate through punishment.”
He recited this using the power of Divine Word.
As he chanted, the cross behind him began to glow faintly, and the light grew increasingly radiant.
By the time Corleon finished the final sentence, the holy light illuminated the entire main hall of the church, and everyone was bathed in it.
Tears flowed from George’s eyes.
Agamemnon quickly recorded with a feather pen in hand.
Ando felt strange changes within his body and was at a loss.
Cicero closed his eyes.
The poor, the sick, the crippled who had helped build the new church shed tears.
Their ailments faded away, and they felt as if they were soaking in warm water, enveloped in comfort.
They seemed to smell the blissful sweetness that overflowed from the Heavenly Kingdom.
The eyes of the warriors, once twisted in spirit, gradually became calm.
Smiles appeared on their faces, their tense bodies slowly relaxed, and their minds felt as if something had been extracted, leaving them with unprecedented clarity.
Nyx stared intently at Corleon.
He could see that Corleon’s eyes had turned into dazzling gold, and through those eyes, he felt as if he saw a great being, making his heart tremble.
He knew very well that in his youth, when exploring ancient ruins, he had been afflicted with malevolent curses, and had performed numerous rituals that damaged his body.
This had placed a great burden on him physically.
But now, he felt his body becoming lighter—the curses were being purified, and the damage to his body was being healed.
Was this the Gospel of the Lord?
His gaze shifted to the cross behind Corleon, then took in Corleon himself.
He felt as if the holy light emanating from the cross resembled the outstretched hands of the ‘Lord’, sprinkling the Gospel onto the earth.
…
After the Gospel was spread, under the guidance of Corleon and the monks, the believers gradually left the church.
Now that the church was complete, those from Daniels Village were to return, and the refugees needed to go register in a village.
Otherwise, once the registration concluded, if they were still considered refugees, their heads might end up displayed outside the town gates.
As they were being sent off, Agamemnon gave each of them a small wooden cross.
Corleon called out to George.
“Your chapel also needs a name,” said Corleon.
“Like the Flower Church?” George asked.
“Yes,” Corleon nodded.
“As the number of believers increases, small chapels will gradually multiply. Perhaps one day, in other towns, new churches will be built. At that time, each church will need its own name.”
“But wouldn’t that conflict with the Sanctuary?”
“This is the Lord’s Sanctuary, the Holy Church on earth,” Corleon said.
“And the Flower Church is the name of this new church. Just like your chapel, it is a place to spread the Lord’s teachings.”
“We are the Lord’s servants, so as a collective, we should not be named after any one church.”
“That would be discordant.”
“We should be known as the Lord’s servants under the Holy Church, thus the Lord has given me a revelation: we shall use ‘Church of the Sanctuary’ as our shared name.”
As Corleon spoke, Agamemnon returned and took out a piece of parchment to record their conversation.
Nyx, sitting on the bench, looked on with a complicated expression.
He and Melia had not been guided out by the monks, as signaled by Corleon.
“I shall take the name of the Church of the Sanctuary, listen to the Lord’s Words, and spread His teachings,” George declared without hesitation.
Corleon nodded, then took out a sealed book and handed it to George.
This book was nearly five times thicker than the Holy Scriptures.
“This is the Divine Word Manuscript, written by me under the Lord’s revelation. You are to recite it devoutly.”
George looked embarrassed—he was illiterate.
“I’ll ask the Daniels family to teach me to read,” he said.
“You should learn to read on your own, Brother George,” Corleon said with a smile. “You are the Lord’s monk, and should personally experience the Lord’s teachings.”
“But I don’t know how to read…” George confessed.
Learning results never lie.
Corleon had taught him for a while before, and he had tried learning at the chapel, but some simply could not learn.
From speaking with Yara, he had come to understand that literacy required enlightenment.
“With the Lord’s Gospel, your enlightenment has already been completed. From now on, you will be able to see this world more clearly.”
This time, the great Gospel cast through Divine Word was initiated by Corleon after ‘consuming’ some power of Faith—he needed a more powerful Divine Word.
Besides the Gospel itself, he had also granted enlightenment to those who had not received it.
“In that case, I shall sing of the Lord’s mercy,” George said joyfully, accepting the Divine Word Manuscript from Corleon.
After finishing with George, Corleon looked toward Nyx, whose eyes were filled with complex emotions.
“Mr. Nyx, how are you feeling?” Corleon asked.
“…I feel very well,” Nyx said after a brief pause.
He was a scholar who had managed the affairs of York Territory for over ten years.
Naturally, he understood Corleon’s intentions.
Corleon had told him that, as a servant of the Lord, he should be literate, and be able to interpret the Holy Scriptures himself.
When Nyx had first heard this, he was already deeply studied in the Scriptures, so he understood Corleon’s point.
But he had changed the topic at that time.
Not because a priest’s status was far below that of a scholar.
But because he didn’t believe the role of a priest was worthy of him.
As a scholar, he held lofty ideals of seeking truth for the future of humanity.
Even though now he was merely an old man who wanted to raise his granddaughter well, he had not forgotten those past ideals.
He thought back to the first time he had spoken with Corleon at the Flower Church, and the question he had asked then:
“Can truth exist in a lucid dream?”
At the time, Corleon had not answered directly.
But now, remembering the dispersal of curses, the enlightenment granted by the Gospel, and what he had ‘seen’—
Nyx’s body relaxed.
“The Lord’s Gospel has healed my body. I can feel that the curses I suffered in my youth have all been dispelled,” he said.
“This is the mercy the Lord has poured upon me, and I must be grateful.”
“Therefore, I humbly ask the priest to let me become a member of the Church of the Sanctuary, to serve the Lord devoutly.”
At the very least, as a scholar, he ought to try and see whether this was a path that could call forth truth.