Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 57 Apostles
“Now, let us observe a moment of silence.” Siren bowed his head. “For our colleagues and friends who died in the train accident.”

After the investiture ceremony, a moment of silence was observed.

For all those who died in that accident.

So they bowed their heads, mourned, and made the sign of the cross on their chests.

“They were called by the Lord to heaven, but not to a blissful paradise,” Siron said softly.

"They go up to heaven to do things: to drive away demons, to stop the wind and snow, to fight, and to shout."

"The dead do our work in heaven, and the living do our work on earth; we are never separate in the cause called mission."

"One day, we will all die."

"But we will meet again in the new world."

"Amen."

Everyone said in unison, "Amen."

Afterwards, they discussed some arrangements and plans for recycling train supplies. It was almost 3 a.m. when they quickly finalized the plan and then the discussion ended.

After the meeting, Xiren saw them off one by one, except for Kyle and Logan.

Xilun rubbed his hands together excitedly: "So, what is the Throne's ability?"

The Throne ability is a special skill of the Royal Knights. Generally speaking, all Royal Knights under a conferred title have the same Throne ability. Therefore, this is related to the situation of all the knights under Xilun's command in the future, so he couldn't help but be nervous.

In church history, there was a bishop whose throne power was "non-enemy," derived from the famous biblical verse, "Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek also... Give to those who ask you, and do not turn away from those who want to borrow from you."

The effect is just as described in the sentence: when the ability is activated, even if you are hit, others will continue to hit you, and you can give others whatever they want.

This outrageous ability to ascend the throne directly led to the bishop, who had military talent, being relegated to a civilian post. He then served as a clerk in the College of Cardinals and died in obscurity.

Logan fell into a coma after bestowing the title, and he is only barely conscious now, with little strength to speak. Therefore, Xiren stared at Kyle with burning eyes.

Holy light flashed in Kyle's hand, and suddenly, the sacred site of Xilun opened up involuntarily!

“This is…” Xilun felt the strange power and sensation, his face showing surprise.

He seems... capable of assigning a sacred relic to Kyle?

“Throne Ability [Apostle],” Kyle said. “You can temporarily authorize one of your sacred relics to me, making it your apostle.”

Xilun thought about it for a moment, but couldn't figure out whether the ability was strong or weak.

"Let's give it a try," he said, and then selected the image "Snowstorm Rescue."

In an instant, golden light filled the room, and a mist of light enveloped the two of them. A golden phantom that looked exactly like Xilun emerged from the sacred site and pointed towards Kyle.

The knight humbly lowered his head, his right hand resting on his chest. Golden light, carrying countless stars, fell down, and the sounds of prayer merged into a magnificent symphony. The people's tales, their holy will, their pain and gratitude, their salvation and being saved... all entered his body along with the water-like mist of light.

"This is a message to my knights: those who believe in me will do what I have done, and even more great things, for this pleases me." (Note 1)

Divine thought bridged the two, and a grand mission descended from the mouth of Siron, which the apostle was to carry out on earth.

A cross is branded on Kyle's back.

“This is…the Apostle?” Kyle clenched his fist, then chanted loudly, “May your authority be exercised on the earth, may your name be spread throughout the world.”

The Olympic flame was suddenly ignited!

Xilun felt as if a piece of his divine sense had been instantly lost.

Looking at Kyle's excited face, he couldn't bear to interrupt his joy.

How could this be spending my divine sense?!

After the speech that day, a large number of believers flooded into the church, which increased his total spiritual energy several times over. At least he wouldn't be depleted after a dozen or so Holy Healing spells, but he still couldn't withstand the burning of two people! Besides, the Holy Fire spell is particularly taxing on spiritual energy.

But it's understandable, since the knights of the church use divine power, not magic, and they can't increase their divine power through believers. They only have the little they produce themselves, and they are notoriously short on mana.

If Kyle relied solely on his own divine sense, he would probably collapse after only two or three uses.

Xilun reluctantly accepted the result, but his already slightly better mental state was once again worsened.

Kyle was still excitedly experimenting with the Holy Fire spell, sometimes turning it into a raging fire that rushed forward, and sometimes shrinking it into a flame that landed on his fingertips. For a church knight who could only master ordinary minor divine spells, this was a rare experience.

"Ahem!" Xilun coughed twice. "You used my divine sense."

"Ah... haha..." Kyle laughed awkwardly twice and withdrew the Holy Fire spell.

Xilun tried it out and also lit a sacred flame in his own hand.

Fortunately, the [Apostle] ability is only authorized, not given entirely, so he can use it himself.

“Alright, the authorization for the Sacred Fire Technique will remain with you for now. I'll also give you the [Stop] skill,” Xilun said.

Then, the [Apostle] was activated again, and Wintington's preaching was also authorized to Kyle - the Throne Ability Apostle can be activated by either side, but ultimately it must be approved by Siron.

As a ranged gunner with the talent of "Precision Shooting", Kyle's greatest need is not the offensive Holy Fire spell, but the defensive "Stop". However, Logan is not awake yet, so all the resources are focused on Kyle.

Kyle excitedly pulled Celen aside and discussed it for a long time. As the time slowly approached 3:30, Celen, who was already starting to doze off, finally managed to convince Kyle to talk about it tomorrow.

After seeing Kyle off, he rolled around in bed several times before struggling to get up—he hadn't even washed up yet.

Xilun walked to the first-floor bathroom almost with his eyes closed, picked up a horsehair toothbrush, and started brushing his teeth.

Toothpaste from that era was quite peculiar—it was made of coal ash. These tiny particles could easily scrub away dirt from teeth, and it could be easily rinsed away with water.

I also remember high-end toothpaste made with camphor, talcum powder, red wine, cuttlebone powder, blood lees, sandalwood, and charred alum. It had a healthy pink color that was similar to the color of my gums, but it was obviously not something that could be used under the current conditions.

Furthermore, Xilun is very skeptical about the health benefits of camphor and charred alum in this formula.

After a few moments of jumbled thoughts, he yawned, walked to the bedroom, lay down on the bed, and turned off the kerosene nozzle of the gas lamp with a knob, plunging the room into darkness.

The wind howled and pounded against the windowpanes, and a thick layer of snow piled up on the windowsill. For Xilun, who was already used to it, it was actually a kind of white noise that helped her sleep.

But the weather was getting colder and colder... The buildings on the ground were becoming increasingly unable to withstand the cold, and the warmth provided by the fireplace was already meager. He had to wrap himself in several layers of quilts to avoid waking up from the cold at night.

The firewood crackled and popped, the wind still howled outside the window, and Xilun gradually drifted off to sleep.
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Note 1: The original verse is “Very truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the things I have been doing, and even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12), which has been modified.

(End of this chapter)