Chapter 1037: Origins of the Holy White Empire

Chapter 1037: Chapter 1037: Origins of the Holy White Empire

A strange silence lingered between everyone after Agar asked to hear about the truth surrounding the Church of Light.

Frost and Indra who’d started to become enthralled by the promise of a thrilling battle turned to face their younger brother, seeing him as brave and perhaps a little foolish before then turning to their father, their curiosity becoming no less than Agar’s.

Since their conception they had been repeatably warned about the Church of Light and their Holy White Empire. The most powerful being in existence spat in disgust when their name was brought up in conversation while their guardians released bloodlust so intense that their minds threatened to collapse.

Books would gloss over basic truths and never mention anything too concrete while others who resided in Nova would blanch at the mere mention of them. Long raised on their nightmares and the tales of their parents and their parents before them.

But so far the siblings had never had the chance to learn the true depths of their most feared enemy, only that they were immensely powerful and dangerous.

You can fear the unknown quite easily but if you wish to prepare yourself to fight against it then only by removing the veil of mystery can you hope to win.

Now was the perfect time to pull back the curtain and see the monster for what it truly was.

Dark and Izuna shared a look, their eyes shaking as if wondering whether they should or should not answer Agar’s question. Their strength while impressive amongst the average nation was not high enough to warrant them learning of such information, as to do so could very well stymie their growth, to plant a seed of fear and trepidation in their hearts.

But then again the three siblings were about to face off against them, charging into battle with little to no knowledge of their enemy could have the opposite effect thus after a shared deep breath both Dark and Izuna nodded their heads.

"Alright I’ll tell you about the Church of Light and their Holy White Empire, both their past and what I know of their current means." Dark being the most knowledgeable and the only one who was actually present during their reign of terror decided to take the lead, allowing Izuna to chime in every so often.

Thus like eager school children Frost, Indra and Agar kept their mouths tightly shut and their ears open, determined to hear every last word that left their father’s lips.

"Many centuries ago within the core lands of the Central continent the Holy White Empire or rather simply the White Empire as it was known back then was already a monolith of a nation, standing heads and shoulders above their neighbours. They were a nation of conquest, war like and aggressive. Propped up by powerful magics, ingenious artefacts and an immensely powerful military that was for the vast majority, human." As Dark spoke there was strange fondness present in his tone, before everything went to hell he actually admired the White Empire. Not their violence or innate nature to grow and consume but their industrial genius, their scientific and perhaps even to a lesser degree their cultural advancements.

"Even in the early days they were human supremacists, racist and antagonistic towards other races but for the most part it remained within their own lands....The Church of Light was their state religion from the onset and quite frankly the core foundation of such mindsets but such things are not all that uncommon across Nova especially when you consider how long people have dwelled upon it....Back then apart from being a little stronger than average I never really gave them a second thought nor did Light or the other Gods but...." The atmosphere around Dark shifted, becoming gloomy and heavy.

"Everything changed when they found Light’s relic, a fragment of his power that to this day I still don’t how they came across it. The relic blessed them with immense power, far beyond mortal limits, evolving their magic, their artifacts, their weapons and even their own bodies, forever changing them, turning them into something more. The power altered their bodies as well as their minds, radicalising them and turning their already aggressive and supremacist nature into something truly monstrous." From the viewpoint of a God like Dark the shift was sudden and unexpected but for mortals the process wasn’t quite so quick, taking place over a matter of years. But by the time others became aware of the situation it was already too late.

An entire Empire had been changed, transformed into something truly sickening because of a Godly relic. The Church of Light brimming with power and newfound purpose blessed the entire nation, the most pious ascending to sainthood, wielding power beyond S-rank and in turn galvanising an entire people. The White Empire became the Holy White Empire and their entire populace transformed into a singularly driven machine, destined to paint the world in their colours and in his great and holy image.

"Light’s power seeped into their souls, twisting them to the point that they could see nothing but a single colour and anything that did not fit into their image had to be eradicated or at the very least painfully subdued. Those not aligned with their new nature became their enemy and were looked on with innate disgust."

".....It sounds like you pity them." Said Frost who was listening quietly.

"I did....once." In the beginning he did look upon these poor souls with pity, what happened to them was not entirely their own fault after all. Yes they desired power and yes their nature was already abysmal, but they weren’t beyond salvation, at least not in the beginning.

"But after what they did to the Crusian Empire and how despite becoming aware of their infection they did not recoil from the power and instead leaned further into it, willingly becoming vessels of corruption, such emotions turned to dust." They had the chance to resist, to give up their path but instead they chose to double down and for that Dark lost any sense of pity he had for them. They made their choice and thus they had to live with the consequences.

"The Crusian Empire?" None of the siblings had heard of this nation, not even Agar who was present on the Central continent.

"I’ll tell you this part." Voiced Izuna who was doing her best to keep a level head.

"....Ahhh yes despite not being there yourself the celestial fox clan should have very detailed records of that event." Dark’s eyes opened wide in recognition as certain memories floated to the surface of his mind.

A branch of the celestial fox clan, Izuna’s relatives actually resided within territory that was once within the domain of the Crusian Empire. The relationship between the two of them being very much symbiotic with many of their members holding high stations in both the government and military.

So when the Holy White Empire marched upon their doorstep the foxes of the celestial fox clan met them with fire and steel.

"After the populace of the Holy White Empire underwent the change they isolated themselves for a period, locked down their borders even refused international trade....an unusual but rather welcome sight for their neighbours given their penchant for war and conquest but like all good things it soon came to an end."

"It began with small incursions, the devouring of local small tribes and territories nothing that could alert the other kingpins of the central continent as conquest was nothing new, borders were often rewritten but rumours quickly spread. The conquered had vanished, not just their soldiers but their civilians, everything seemed to... disappear as if they never existed in the first place. A strange situation but again not quite enough to draw the attention of the larger nations at least not all of them."

"The Crusian Empire?" Frost muttered assuming that this Empire was likely one of the few that found the strangeness worth looking into.

"Yes, they were closer to the Holy White Empire than others and at their core a nation of commerce and culture, it didn’t take them long to discover the disappearance of their trading partners...intelligence was quickly gathered but at great cost and not without alerting the Holy White Empire of their actions... War was declared within the week, preventing the Crusian Empire from gathering much needed support as compared to the Holy White Empire their military was sorely lacking." Izuna’s voice was suffused with pity, shame and pain.

The Crusian Empire was not a nation of war but rather peace, they welcomed all, focusing on cultural advancements such as art, literature and food as well as international commerce. They were wealthy but minimally defended, an Empire in name only and predominantly catering to beastmen, beastkin and even monsters....a demographic diametrically opposed to that of the Holy White Empire.

"Looking back, it was an obvious move, even without their spies being detected the Crusian Empire would have been targeted by the Holy White Empire eventually. Their values, location, populace and small military made them the perfect stepping stone, an announcement to the world that they were no longer the White Empire but the Holy White Empire, a nation who’s ethos was to paint the world in his so called Holy Light." Izuna spat in disgust after saying the notorious mantra that followed in their wake.