CHAPTER 1121: THE TEACHINGS OF THE GREAT PROPHET (PART TWO)

The Great Prophet could have claimed the Cerulean Throne for himself. He could have unfurled the banners of war and continued fighting until he sat atop the throne of a new empire... Perhaps an Empire of the Sun.

But he didn’t. Instead, he established the Church to ensure that the power of the divine was used for the betterment of the Holy Lord of Light’s chosen people, keeping them apart from the wars of men to prevent a return to the savagery and chaos of the world he’d been born into.

"Only when he reaches the Heavenly Shores in the west should the common man dream of making his own miracles," Diarmuid recited, stroking the short, neatly trimmed beard that covered his chin as he thought. It was one of the Prophet’s most famous teachings, inscribed above the doors of temples throughout the human kingdoms as a reminder that the common man was not meant to touch the power of the divine.

"Until then, he must trust in the Holy Lord of Light to guide him, and the kings and noblemen to rule over him, for they are the ones chosen by the Holy Lord of Light to bring order from chaos, and to keep His people from falling into chaos and darkness again," he murmured, completing the verse that generations of pious men had pointed to as proof that the Holy Lord of Light supported the rule of kings.

The Great Prophet hadn’t created an era without wars. The seven kingdoms he established found reason to war on each other, and sometimes on themselves, to this very day. Yet, without the presence of people creating miracles or unleashing the devastating power of witchcraft on each other, the devastation produced by those wars was much smaller than it had been in the years following the collapse of the Empire of Eternal Waves.

"Though we have great power," Diarmuid recited slowly as he tried to recall the specific words the Great Prophet had used. "We must be ever vigilant against those who would use that power callously, without regard for the good of mankind. We are the chosen people of the Holy Lord of Light, and we cannot allow the power of the divine to fall into the hands of the wicked and ambitious who would enslave us with their strength."

The Holy Lord of Light sent the Great Prophet to put an end to a world where people who usurped the power of the divine oppressed and slaughtered His chosen people. For Diarmuid’s entire life, he had been taught to regard that passage as one of many that justified humanity’s war against the Eldritch. The ’demons’ believed in enslaving those who were weaker than them, and the ’demon lords’ ruled by right of their strength, exactly as the Great Prophet had warned against.

It was only a matter of time before the ’demons’ attempted to impose their ways on humans, and so it had been necessary for the Church to unite the people of this new world into a single, new kingdom. Just as it had been necessary for the church to take up the fight against the ’demons.’

But when Diarmuid considered it carefully, it had only been later, hundreds of years after the death of the Great Prophet, long after his disciples ascended to the heavens to watch over the Holy Lord of Light’s chosen people from the stars above, that the word ’demon’ ever appeared in scripture.

"No, that’s not quite right," Diarmuid corrected himself as his eyes drifted once again to the antiquated outfit lying next to his robes. "The oldest versions of the sacred texts still used the word, but the Ascended Scribe always wrote about people who were driven mad by the power of the divine, who fought like they’d been possessed by demons, or were ruthless like demons..."

It was only later, after man reached the shores of what would eventually become the Kingdom of Gaal, that the scripture that was taught changed. It was a subtle thing. A single word removed, one that most people wouldn’t notice. In fact, Diarmuid himself might have overlooked it if not for the place he found himself now.

In the original texts, the Ascended Scribe said they struggled against those who ’fought like demons’, but in the copies that had been written out in the years since humanity met the Eldritch, the text simply read that they ’fought demons.’

But did they really?

It was clear that the Eldritch could wield the power of the divine in order to make their own miracles. No one, not even Diarmuid, questioned that. But did that make them the ’demons’ that the Great Prophet had struggled against?

Diarmuid didn’t know. If he traced back the footsteps that the Church had taken on this path, he could understand how the Church would arrive at the conclusion that they had to fight against the Eldritch in order to prevent common people from using the power of the divine and ushering in a new era of chaos and bloodshed like the one the Great Prophet had rescued mankind from.

Declaring that the Eldritch were ’demons’ and that they were the same forces that the Great Prophet struggled to free mankind from was a convenient way to gain the support of the seven kingdoms across the sea, and it provided the justification for forming a new kingdom in the new world in order to resist the demon threat...

"But that was a decision made by the Saints who followed after the Great Prophet," Diarmuid said, gently stroking the crimson and gold robes one last time before resolutely picking up the black and midnight blue outfit.

"And that decision is ushering in an era of chaos and bloodshed, where young men like Loman are sacrificing their own followers in order to create miracles and kill their enemies," he said as he finally found the answer he sought.

"The Church stopped seeking truth," he realized. "Because they believe that they already have the answers they need."

But Truth wasn’t something you could decide before you’d begun to investigate. The Inquisition had taught him long ago to open his eyes, to trust in the things he observed for himself, and to question words that served impure motives.

Until now, he’d never once thought that he’d turn those skills of questioning and investigation on the very Church that trained him to seek truth, but now that he had... Now that he’d seen proof with his own eyes that the teachings he’d grown up with might not be the truth, he had to leave the Inquisition behind.

"They already have their answers," he said as he settled the black, sleeveless tunic over the midnight blue undershirt. "Now, it’s time for me to find my own..."