Bab 114: Chapter 114: The Blessing of the God of Light
"Esteemed Silver Dragon, we are devout followers of the God of Light, from the Church of Light," the aging priest with wrinkles around his eyes replied, appearing to be over sixty years old.
Garon nodded, showing no intention of making things difficult for them but expressed his curiosity, "Followers of the God of Light, what brings you to these uninhabited and dangerous mountains?"
In his view, it was peculiar for these people to leave populated areas, where they could spread their faith and doctrines, and venture into such desolate mountains.
The Church of Light's followers, eager to alert everyone to the looming crisis, did not hesitate to explain, "We are following the trail of an evil artifact."
"Five months ago, the Pope received a revelation from the deity."
"The great God of Light, merciful and compassionate, manifested a miracle solely to warn mankind of the darkness lurking beneath the light."
"God declared that darkness stirs, ready to corrupt the land, and all things beautiful, light, and just would cease to exist."
Garon:
This guy keeps beating around the bush without getting to the point.
They always feel compelled to express their high regard for their deity, as if it's physically uncomfortable not to, and they enjoy using grandiose, almost chant-like language.
Dealing with such devout followers can easily try one's patience.
"So you mean to say, if this evil artifact is not found, the world will be destroyed?"
"What sort of evil artifact holds such power?"
Garon was skeptical of their claims.
Followers of deities often exaggerate to spread their faith, a common trait in both his past world and this one.
Endless doomsdays, dark descents, and world-ending floods—if every warning were true, the world would be a truly dreadful place.
Upon hearing Garon's question, the priest's expression turned grave, and he spoke solemnly, "A black sun."
A black sun?
Garon was momentarily taken aback.
The black sun you speak of, does it by any chance have tentacles and eyes?
"It resembles the sun but is covered with tentacles and eyes, filled with ominous and evil presences, a statue of a terrifying dark god."
"If not properly addressed, the dark god would use it to descend, bringing boundless darkness to this world."
Garon:
A black sun, a statue of a dark god, tentacles and eyes, ominous and evil presences—putting these together, he first thought of the dark god's statue he had found in the ogre tribe.
If nothing else, these priests and paladins from the Church of Light are probably searching for his Black Sun statue.
Although eerie and sinister, the Black Sun statue held significant value in Garon's eyes.
He liked collecting unusual things, and the Black Sun statue was certainly one of them.
Hmm. It's just sitting there under the glacier rift, causing world destruction?
Should he hand it over to the Church of Light?
Garon pondered silently, weighing his options.
The Church's claims were often inflated, and although they might deeply believe in them, that didn't make them accurate.
A dark god?
Its avatar might try to interfere with the prime material plane, but destroying a world isn't easy unless other deities remain indifferent and there are few legendary beings in that world.
Once a deity descends onto the prime material plane, they're no longer immortal "gods."
Moreover, unless extremely powerful, a dark god would still require worship.
No god plays games with world destruction lightly; moreover, the world isn't easily destroyed. At most, they destroy the life inhabiting that world.
The so-called darkness swallowing the light, in Garon's understanding, more likely meant it would diminish the status of the God of Light in this world.
Perhaps because the Black Sun dark god could cause significant trouble for the Church of Light and affect the source of faith for the God of Light, it intervened with a revelation.
The Black Sun... the God of Light also has an epithet as the Sun God; this dark deity might just have a grudge against Him.
However, these were just Garon's speculations, and he wasn't certain.
After a moment of contemplation and calming his feelings, Garon inquired, "If someone were to find the Black Sun statue and hand it over to your Church of Light, what would you do?"
The priest responded earnestly, "Of course, we would destroy it."
It seems the Church of Light is confident in their methods to destroy the Black Sun statue.
Garon thought to himself.
After a pause, he casually asked, "I'm curious, would the hero who 'saves' the world by surrendering the Black Sun statue receive a reward?"
The priest nodded, "Of course."
Then, with a look of longing, as if describing an immense benefit, he spoke in a voice filled with reverence and piety, "The exalted God
of Light would bestow His blessing upon them, allowing them to bask in divine grace for life, protected from evil under His watchful eye, and upon death, ascend to His divine realm to forever be by His side."
The surrounding paladins wore the same expression as the priest.
Some paladins knelt, looking up at the sky, praying fervently with a halo of holy light around them.
At first, Garon was quite excited about the promised reward, thinking it must be something substantial, ready to hand over the Black Sun statue.
But as the priest spoke each word of longing, Garon's anticipation slowly faded, his expression souring.
Blessings?
Watchful protection?
Eternal companionship?
None of these were what Garon needed. What was invaluable to the priest and the paladins was no more substantial to Garon than mere gold or silver.
He did not want his every move observed by a deity.
His followers would find this honorable, but Garon was not a follower of the God of Light; he only believed in himself.
After a brief consideration, Garon decided to give the Church's followers another chance, suggesting, "Perhaps not everyone accepts divine blessings as a reward. Have you considered offering substantial wealth instead? For instance, a mountain of magical gems?"
The priest looked stunned, laughed dryly, and shook his head, "How can these worldly possessions compare to the great blessings of the God of Light?"
"Believe me, no creature would refuse the blessings of a deity. For a hero who saves the world, it is the best gift."
Garon:
Well, sorry to say, but this 'hero' would refuse the deity's blessings.
The elderly priest of the Church of Light didn't realize that by overstating their case, they had just let their long-sought goal slip by.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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