A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 34 Destiny

Jiang Shuzhou was engrossed in reading about alchemy on a deserted island near the Storm Sea, while on the other side of the world, a storm had already quietly begun.

The Alliance of Saints, the parish of Safras, the god of destiny.

"Our god is the god of destiny, and His divine power can help us see through the fog of fate. His divine name is Sulfuras..."

Inside the grand hall of a nobleman's castle.

In the not-so-spacious hall, hundreds of people knelt on the ground, huddled together, looking like lambs to the slaughter from a distance.

They didn't even dare to look up, not out of reverence for the gods, but out of fear of the priest.

On the high platform, two figures stood, one of them with a humble posture, clearly of lower status than the other.

The other one had an indifferent expression, looking down at the crowd with disdain.

"My God is merciful, Your Excellency. These lowly people are truly blessed to hear your sermons."

Another young man, clearly dressed as a priest, nodded and said nothing more.

Looking at the large group of farmers kneeling below, the pastor, who claimed to be spreading the gospel, smiled.

"I just saw a few lowly commoners who were distracted, daring to be diverted while I was preaching. Baron, you know what to do, don't you?"

The man standing nearby broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this. He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his brow. No, he should be addressed as Baron now.

"As you say, I naturally know. Ordinary methods are no longer effective against those who disrespect the divine messengers. We must take strong measures, and they will soon disappear forever."

The baron quickly smiled apologetically, not daring to refuse the priest's suggestion in the slightest.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang..."

Suddenly, a loud bell rang out. At first, the pastor didn't pay much attention, but as the bell rang more and more often, his expression became increasingly solemn.

"clang!"

As the thirteenth bell rang, the priest's expression changed drastically. He ignored the respectful baron standing to the side, and instead rushed out of the castle, mounted his horse, and galloped toward the place where the bell had rung.

At the same moment, countless priests and paladins of the god of fate put down everything they could after hearing the bell toll 13 times.

They all looked solemn. Those who were nearby rushed towards the sound of the bell, while those who were farther away rushed towards the nearest church.

St. Feth Abbey, the place where the god of fate descended, and He left the Bell of Destiny in the abbey.

Whenever the bell rings, it means something big is about to happen.

The more sounds there are, the greater the event. Since the bell was given by God, there has only been one instance where the bell rang 13 times.

That major event was the fall of the Goddess of Magic.

Pope Udosven was anxiously waiting at the entrance of the descent chamber, with Ulenment, the head of the Inquisition, who had just arrived, beside him.

"Old friend, what has happened? Why is the bell of fate tolling? Does our god have a divine decree?"

"Urenment asked."

"have no idea."

Pope Udosven shook his head, then spoke again.

"Our god remains silent."

"Perhaps mortals are unable to hear the voice of destiny."

"What should we do then?"

"I have arranged a ceremony, and if it goes well, our God will give us the answer."

Pope Udosven shook his head at Ulenment and gestured for the ceremony to end.

Then came a long silence. Both of them knew that the thirteen chimes, with the gods remaining silent, surely meant that a storm was coming.

Is another powerful god about to fall?

"Crunch."

The door opened, and an elderly nun stood in the doorway and spoke to the two of them.

"The ritual was successful, and our God responded."

"What was the response?"

"Please come in, gentlemen."

The old nun did not answer, but instead invited the two of them inside.

"this……"

Ulenment hesitated. According to custom, only nuns were allowed to enter the sanctuary, as a sign of respect for the nuns who had voluntarily sacrificed themselves.

"Alright, lead the way. Since this is your invitation, there must be a reason for it, Sister Martha."

Compared to Ulenment, Pope Udosven, due to his status as pope, did not mind being invited into the descent into the sanctuary.

"Of course, Your Holiness."

Sister Martha led the two into the room, where countless lit candles surrounded them. Looking at the large amount of solidified wax piled up on the ground, it was clear that these candles had been burning for a long time.

Although the Pope had never entered this room before, he was already fully aware of the situation inside. As the Pope, he naturally needed to be aware of everything that was happening within the Church.

On the contrary, Ulenment, the director of the Inquisition, was unaware of the intricacies of the room. After all, he knew that sometimes knowing too much was not a good thing.

All three appeared to be looking straight ahead, but only the senior monk and the head of the inquisition were truly looking straight ahead, while the Pope was glancing at the candles out of the corner of his eye.

Each candle symbolizes a devout believer whose soul ascends to the Kingdom of God, rendering the body useless; therefore, these candles...

Although the room was extremely dark, it was not damp and had no odor whatsoever; instead, it was filled with the scent of incense.

Finally, the senior monk stopped and addressed the two people behind him.

"It's just ahead. You two may come forward."

Without saying another word, the two walked towards the spacious platform ahead.

"A constellation of stars shines, yet the seeds of disaster lie buried deep."

"The stars will fall, but the silver flame will shine forever."

A young nun knelt in the center of the platform, bleeding from her seven orifices, her hands making a prayer gesture and her mouth repeating itself, seemingly oblivious to her plight.

"A constellation of stars shines, yet the seeds of disaster lie buried deep."

"The stars will fall, but the silver flame will shine forever."

"..."

As Pope Udosven ascended the platform, the nun suddenly opened her eyes, which were filled with bloody tears, and looked at Udosven, but the words she spoke had changed.

"Udoswin...fate...change...migration...plane..."

Despite the fragmented words, Udoswin, the legendary priest, still understood the will of the gods.

"Pass down the message: recall all those favored by God (clergy) who are currently out there. The situation has changed; we may have to withdraw from the primary plane and go to those secondary planes."

Although Udosven could not quite understand the god's meaning, he faithfully carried out the god's instructions.

However, given the current situation, it is absolutely impossible to withdraw from the main plane immediately. Putting aside the huge number of followers in the main plane, if they leave now, the Alliance of Saints will not let them go.

This vast kingdom, comprised of countless followers of gods, protects all believers from persecution by evil sorcerers.

A hasty withdrawal would inevitably result in retaliation from other divine servants.

The Church of Destiny will continue to fulfill its obligations within the Alliance of Saints for the time being, but it will gradually shift its focus to those sub-planes. Once the time is right, it will leave the Alliance of Saints and complete the mission of the gods.

"Yes, your instruction." ×2

The three people present held almost all the power in the Church of Destiny. They had heard the divine prophecy along with Pope Udosven and naturally understood that it was the will of God. Therefore, they readily complied with Udosven's arrangements.

"How will we explain this to the Alliance of Saints? The thirteen chimes of the bells signal that either my God's chosen ones are heading here or awaiting your command in the temple. Such a large-scale operation will surely be noticed."

"Release the first part of the prophecy."

Pope Udosven said.

Fate cannot be changed, or rather, once you observe fate, fate cannot be changed.

Because fate has already incorporated your actions into it, no matter how much you struggle, fate will eventually prevail.

Even the god of fate is like this; it is not the gods who control fate, but fate that controls the gods.

Perhaps it was because the Church of Destiny only told the Alliance of Saints half of the prophecy that the prophecy came true.

But what does this have to do with Udosven?

At this point, it's time to prepare to run away. The Church of Destiny isn't exactly known for its fighting prowess. If we don't run away while the stars are shining brightly, we might not be able to escape when the prophesied stars begin to fall.

"The church will remember your sacrifice."

Looking at the nun who had exhausted her life force and collapsed on the ground, Udoswen sighed and then gave an order to the senior monk behind him.

Give him a proper burial.