Chapter 201 Arrogance
"Recent casualty reports."

In the Crusader camp outside the forest, a report was handed to the high priest.

This officiant is not on the church's list and has never received a real baptism from the church's officiant. The church is unaware of the existence of this officiant-level clergyman.

When he first joined the crusade and was teleported here, he was just an ordinary priest.

He survived battle after battle, and was granted more and more power by God. He gradually became a bishop-level clergyman from an ordinary priest.

Now, he has become the highest-ranking clergyman in this crusading army, the de facto leader. All reports must go through him, and the commander originally designated by the church has long been sidelined and placed under house arrest in the camp.
"Still no one was killed?"

After the Skitarii's stronghold in the forest was destroyed, they launched several attacks on the forest again. However, these attacks did not produce any effect. The power of the sun fell again with their call, but this time, another god's power protected the forest, and the power of the sun could not suppress the forest like before.

The Skitarii's reckless attacks should have resulted in huge casualties, but in these attacks, the forest simply threw them out. Although their methods were a bit rough, causing some Skitarii to fall and suffer bruises, no one from the Skitarii was killed in these assaults.

"Those alien races must be planning some evil plot."

The officiant paced the room anxiously.

"They are humiliating us and mocking us."

The chief priest had already fallen into a frenzy, believing in the distorted doctrines of the underground church. In his eyes, these alien races should be burned to ashes in the sun. Only humans can live freely in the sun.

"What should we do next time we attack?"

The high priest finally calmed down. The fanaticism had not completely taken away his ability to think. Even with his remaining sanity, he knew clearly that continuing such an attack would only lower the morale of the Crusaders.

"Prepare for sacrifice."

They need more power. As long as they have enough power, they can eliminate the forces protecting the forest, make the magic of the Sun God effective again, and invade the forest of the elves again.

"Sacrifice?"

"Yes, now we need Him to give us more strength."

The chief priests certainly would not attribute the loss of the effects of the magic in the previous attacks to their gods. They would only think that they were not pious enough and could not draw out more of the gods' power.

This means that they have disappointed the gods they believe in.

If one wants to channel more divine power, besides improving one's own rank as a clergyman, there is another way, which is large-scale sacrifice.

The Church of the Sun God does not encourage sacrifices. There is almost no content related to sacrifices in the holy scriptures circulating now, but in the earliest two versions of the holy scriptures, there are quite a few contents related to sacrifices.

"But we haven't received any new members for a long time. It seems..."

"He has been arrested by the church's lackeys."

They were referring to the selector, the high priest who joined the Skitarii.

"If we start the sacrifice like this, our number of people will decrease very quickly."

As a member of the underground church, most of the priests in the Crusades were familiar with the contents of the original version of the Holy Scripture. They knew what the sacrifice represented.

"There are enough people in the Principality. As a human being, it is their honor to dedicate their lives to the gods and great causes of mankind."

The officiant did not hesitate at all. "We will also go to His Kingdom like them later."

The priest below bowed his head, saluted, and then walked out of the small, makeshift church in the camp. The chief priest watched him leave, then turned around and continued his prayers to the statue in the church.

The whispers of chaos rang in his ears. He could not distinguish any meaningful syllables from these whispers. All he could feel was anger, hatred, and the desire to destroy the alien race.

"Yes, we will clear those alien races out of this world."

The whispers gradually faded away in the ears of the officiant, and the sunlight shone into the small temporary church, hot and dazzling.

"We only have one request, and that is a piece of land belonging to the God of Nature."

The elves are not a talkative race. After reiterating their demands, they sat in their seats and quietly looked at the other two parties at the negotiation table.

Morari narrowed his eyes, and Laming beside him could clearly feel his dissatisfaction.

"The church hopes to reach this agreement, and we are willing to give up some of our rights in the principality."

But even though he could sense Moralich's dissatisfaction, he still had to make demands on the church.

He had received reports that the casualties of the crusaders had recently been reduced to zero. These elves had obviously known the church's purpose and were now coming to demand compensation from the church.

In the past, the relationship between the church and the gods of nature has always been good. The elves, who have lived in the forest for a long time and have not paid attention to things in the outside world, also sent envoys to express congratulations when the previous Pope took office.

For them, this is already a symbol of friendship.

Now, the church wants to use them to eliminate the unstable factors within itself, and has caused a lot of damage to their forests. They did not respond too drastically, but only demanded corresponding compensation from the church.

This is reasonable, and even the most stubborn believers of the Sun God would find it difficult to refuse directly.

"Do you think this is appropriate?"

Morari didn't say much, and the conference room fell into silence.

If Lannia hadn't asked him to meet all of Laming's needs as much as possible, he would have driven the elves out of the meeting room long ago. As for the church, the agreement would still be implemented, but apart from the agreement, they couldn't expect to get even the slightest convenience.

"We just need a place to maintain our faith in the God of Nature."

The elves spoke again. Even they could sense from the silence that the negotiations were on the verge of bankruptcy. This made them want to make a little more effort to save the negotiations.

Some areas outside the forest where they can spread their faith in nature gods are of vital importance to them and they cannot give in. If negotiations fail, they can only resort to force.

The elves do not want to fight, they will try other methods to achieve their goals as much as possible.

"We will not interfere in anything in your human kingdom. If you have any conditions, you can put them forward. Naturally, we will not owe you anything."

The elves tried to show their sincerity, although their conversation skills made them look quite arrogant.

"Our goal will not change, and it will be achieved no matter what means are used."

(End of this chapter)