Cedric plunged Equilibrium into the ground, just as he did many times before.
His hands were clasped in prayer.
'Lord, grant me vision to see your mission and not to falter. Your Angels fulfill your missions by themselves, and yet you still choose me. I thank you, Lord, for such trust in a mere human such as I. Forgive me for the sins I commit, for I am merely a human despite your blessings. Amen. His eyes fluttered open.
He found himself frequently running around the Kingdom, basically mentally mapping its layout.
His lack of need for basic functions like sleep allowed him to easily keep exploring through the night.
From what he could gather, Valar was rather flat, with only some hills littering it.
However, the amount of farmland was staggering; the sheer amount of food this kingdom produced impressed him; it was more than any European kingdom he had worked with.
However, on the other hand, the forests were sparse. After days of exploration, Cedric was able to find 1 major forest and some sparse woodlands.
It was unnatural.
Why was there such a small amount of them?
The answer wasn't obvious at first.
But then, after a day of exploration, he found Paladins of Chrunus.
Another contingent.
'I must stay my blade...' His fingers itched to slaughter them, and yet he needed to learn what they were doing.
Cutting down one of the last major forests was not a good idea, even for Cedric, someone who did not care about forests, knew that it would cause an ecological catastrophe if done carelessly.
And yet these so-called Paladins were cutting down the forest without a care.
"Why?"Cedric murmured as he approached the Paladins.
Like all before them, they wore dark armor and the same tabard; the Only difference between them was their chosen weapon.
No matter what their plans were, and no matter how much he had to slaughter them.
They needed to explain themselves beforehand, and so he resisted the urge to slaughter the worst of Infidels.
"Cut it all down! In the name of Chrunus." A paladin shouted, his voice trembling from anger.
Cedric approached the man, his sudden presence prompting the man to jump forward.
His hand travelled to his sword, his eyes looked at Cedric from top to bottom." Who are you?!"
Cedric stared him down, his face covered by a helmet as usual, increasing his intimidation factor.
Paladin's eyes locked onto Cedric's cross.
"Is that..." Paladin's eyes widened.
It did not take long before he unsheathed his sword, "Heretic of the cross! You are under arrest in the name of Chrunus."
The moment the man shouted, other Paladins dropped what they were doing and readied for battle.
If anything, he could commend their discipline.
And yet just as they approached, they were gripped by an unimaginably powerful effect of [Divine Charm], their weapons fell to the ground as they were stunned in the presence of the God's Chosen.
"Heretic?" Cedric spoke with amusement.
"What... IS THIS?!" Man spoke, his voice barely escaping his lips.
He took a step forward, "Only heretics here would be you!"
His gauntlet wrapped around Paladin's neck before lifting him up effortlessly.
Man thrashed as the [Divine Charm] ended on him, "Put me down, heretic! Agh!"
"No. You called me a heretic of the cross. Why?" Cedric mocked him.
Man struggled, other Paladins were still stunned.
"You wear a symbol of the heresy backed by... AGH!" He clawed at Cedric's arm.
"Speak..."
"Backed by Princess of Fools!" He shouted.
'A heresy of the cross... backed by Aurelia.' He nodded in satisfaction.
First Christians already existed, it seemed, and in such a number for the largest pagan church to notice.
It was amazing information.
"Aurelia truly is deserving of praise... I was such a fool to dismiss her." He shook his head as he muttered.
However, while it truly was amazing that Christianity had made its first sprout, it did not change the fact that Pagans likely hunted them.
'This will not stand!' His grip tightened, crushing Paladin's throat before dropping him.
His presence seemed suffocating. Other Paladins stared in fear, "And why are you cutting this forest?"
Yet they did not speak.
"You are allowed to speak." He approached a smaller paladin before lifting him up by the throat like he did with the first.
The man was much weaker, his struggle not even fazing Cedric, "We are to destroy anything glorifying heresy of Natura..."
"Natura?" His grip tightened.
"AGH! False goddess of nature... Only true god is Chru..." His life was cut short as his neck was crushed.
"You seem to misunderstand. Chrunus is the wrong faith. But you will learn soon." His cold fury seeped through every word as he unsheathed Equilibrium.
In a single swipe, the Paladin's lives were ended, leaving only corpses in Cedric's wake.
'Natura... so-called goddess of nature.' He let out a small sigh, "And yet it seems she, too, is an enemy of Chrunus."
With a swift movement, he sheathed Equilibrium. "It seems that pagan 'gods' aren't as unified as I thought."
It was magnificent news, with false gods not being unified, it meant that they would all be weakened, including Chrunus.
Possibly weakened enough that even a single Angel could kill them all.
God's miracles never ceased to amaze him; No matter how many times he witnessed them, it was always wonderful.
It was due to God's benevolence that the pagan gods weren't unified and such much easier to dismantle.
All Cedric had to do was root out the Church of Chrunus.
Perhaps after the destruction of the false god's church, he would be granted access to invade his domain.
It was possible that he was not ready yet in the eyes of God, and if that was so, it was his duty to get himself ready by destroying the church of a false god.
He clasped his hands in prayer once again. God kept providing him guidance, and all he had to do was follow his holy light.