Zinedine let out a soft sigh. In fact, after learning of the Holy Domain God Lord and the Sorcerer King, he had already begun his investigation.
Through the efforts of the Clearwater Scripture, he finally located this book within the collection of a reckless noble.
To be honest, he felt somewhat annoyed. Those greedy nobles had even kept knowledge recording such important history to themselves.
Fortunately, that noble possessed abundant assets, which allowed him, after ordering the household to be raided, to vent some of his anger.
He tapped the ancient book lightly, his thoughts returning once more to the Holy Domain God Lord.
"Heh, so the Holy Domain God Lord descended together with the Six Great Gods, but… because of the seal of a World Item, He only formally descended into the mortal realm recently…"
In the first draft of the Six Great Gods' quotations, there were references to calling True Divine Artifacts "World Items," and even mentions of the term "Puh-layer (Player)."
Combined with these hieroglyphs, which were identical to those used by the Six Great Gods and the Eight Greed Kings,
Zinedine fully believed that the one who recorded this history was a Puh-layer.
He used a quill to write a line on the parchment: "The Holy Domain God Lord favors humanity."
This Puh-layer had stated that under the command of the Holy Domain God Lord, almost all of His subordinates were humans, Elves, and Dwarves.
In the narrative, the Holy Domain God Lord appeared to be an idealist, and more than that, a protector of humanity.
This was simply… excellent!
The joy shining in Zinedine's eyes was beyond words. What a blessing it was to have a god who favored humanity!
Thinking back to the era of the Six Great Gods, when the six deities protected the Theocracy, humanity was able to grow rapidly and become the powerful race that now occupies most of the world's territory.
Dragon tribes, the undead, Demon Gods. Before the great Six Great Gods, they were all nothing more than clay chickens and pottery dogs.
Even today, within the Slane Theocracy, many people still reminisce about the glory of the era of the Six Great Gods.
"Then… how can we have this god preside over the Theocracy and safeguard humanity?"
Zinedine arrived at the answer almost instantly.
"Helant!"
During the battle between E-Rantel and the Lich King, it was this self-proclaimed Human Emissary of the Holy Domain God Lord who had summoned the god and saved more than a hundred thousand people in one fell swoop.
"Right!" Zinedine looked at the information he had transcribed onto the parchment and marked the final line. "The ancient book says that the first- and second-generation Human Emissaries already died in battle in the world of the Puh-layer…"
"So that's why Helant claims to be the third-generation Human Emissary!"
Zinedine recalled Helant's words when he had first appeared before the Sorcerer King, and the tightly furrowed lines between his brows could not help but relax.
The magnificent figure of the Holy Domain God Lord surfaced once more in his mind.
Back in E-Rantel, He had once said to Helant, "For choosing to sacrifice yourself for more than a hundred thousand people, as My Human Emissary, you are officially qualified.
From this moment onward, you may proclaim My name and protect the mortal realm."
Seen this way, everything finally made sense.
Why Helant, as the Human Emissary of the Holy Domain God Lord, had never seemed to proclaim his god's name or spread His faith.
All of this was because Helant was still under the observation of the Holy Domain God Lord!
That was a benevolent and righteous god. Before confirming that Helant was truly worthy of bearing the responsibility of a Human Emissary, He would not delegate authority to him.
"Praise be to You, great Holy Domain God Lord."
Zinedine could not help but voice his praise. He could feel that the Holy Domain God Lord genuinely loved the world.
He had officially acknowledged Helant when Helant chose to sacrifice himself for the lives of more than a hundred thousand people of E-Rantel.
"Whew." Zinedine let out a long breath, forcibly suppressing his surging emotions. "The Holy Domain God Lord is benevolent and majestic, and Helant is absolutely trustworthy…"
He imagined the Holy Domain God Lord's peerless and magnificent figure safeguarding humanity's progress after Helant joined the Theocracy.
With Helant's powerful potion-making abilities, supplying God's Blood to every member of the Scriptures. Humanity would surely usher in an entirely new golden age!
At that moment, a problem suddenly occurred to Zinedine.
"How do we get Helant to join the Theocracy?"
He had already sounded out the other old fogies, and their view of the Holy Domain God Lord was that He could be used, but never accepted.
The Slane Theocracy would never allow gods other than the Six Great Gods to appear.
Thinking of this, Zinedine kept tapping his finger on the desk, the look in his eyes shifting from hesitation to ruthlessness. "They're all old, and their thinking has grown stagnant and rotten."
"You've already forgotten the original intent behind the Six Great Gods protecting humanity. God loves humanity. Human supremacy."
"As long as this principle is upheld, the Six Great Gods could even be any gods at all!"
A dangerous idea took shape in his mind, and he quietly sentenced the other High Priests to death in his heart.
"However, I still need to plan this carefully… Let Zesshi Zetsumei make contact with Helant first. I believe she will like him very much."
With Helant's strength and appearance, he could definitely capture Zesshi Zetsumei's heart.
As long as she, the ultimate trump card, gave her heart to Helant, he believed everything within the Theocracy would become simple.
After eliminating the internal troubles of the Theocracy, he would have Zesshi Zetsumei play the emotional card and invite Helant to reside in the Theocracy permanently.
"And that crazy woman Clementine. With such a perfect opportunity before her, she didn't even think of staying by Helant's side. Instead, she went mad and ran off to the Holy Kingdom!"
Mentioning the Holy Kingdom, Zinedine recalled recent intelligence reports indicating large-scale demi-human invasions along its borders, with many cities already fallen. "Sigh, they're all such a handful…"
…
Haah.. He believed it too.
Demiurge's heart was now completely at ease, and joy burst forth like a breached floodgate, surging through his soul.
Zinedine was the person Demiurge considered the most difficult to deal with. He knew of the existence of Players and World Items and had been involved in intelligence work for many years.
Logically speaking, when someone like that saw a forged ancient book, he should have cautiously verified it before choosing to believe.
But instead, he accepted it without question and believed it outright.
Demiurge stood there, his tail wagging uncontrollably from side to side, and he involuntarily turned his head to look at Helant.
Lord Helant, from the very beginning, designated Zinedine as the 'audience' and used two 'plays' to reshape Zinedine's perception of the Holy Domain God Lord.
Therefore, Zinedine, as an intelligence operative, would so easily come to believe in Lord Helant's identity!
Ah... behold! It is truly a sight to bring tears to one's eyes!
Lord Helant's foresight is truly terrifying. Even now, Zinedine plots to sacrifice his own colleagues and offer up the Theocracy's 'Trump Card'—that half-elf girl—as a tribute. He is dismantling his own nation from within to pave a red carpet for Lord Helant's arrival!
My heart... it trembles! To serve a master of such unfathomable cruelty and grace..
SUBARASHII! SASUGA, HELANT-SAMA!!
Helant had no time to pay attention to Demiurge's inner excitement. His focus was on something else.
"Zinedine decided to have Zesshi Zetsumei make contact with me?"
He could not help rubbing his forehead as he sorted through his thoughts.
Judging from Zinedine's actions just now, he truly did want the Holy Domain God Lord and Helant himself to join the Theocracy, exactly as Helant had anticipated.
It was just that… by binding Zesshi Zetsumei, the Theocracy's trump card, to himself in order to secure military support, purge the others, and then welcome Helant to lead the Theocracy?
"Brilliant."
Helant could not help but admire it. This Zinedine had thought everything through with remarkable thoroughness.
It seemed that all he needed to do now was give a slight push from behind, and everything would naturally fall into place.
____
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