Chapter 682 (2/2)

Since they had come to an agreement on the conditions, the matter was settled. The Dahl family returned back to their castle with minds at ease—though it was almost daybreak, that did not prevent them from sleeping soundly now.

And on the other side, the clergymen of the Church of the Void Mask were getting busy.

Initially, the Dahl family was a hodgepodge of beliefs. There were some who believed in the God of Aristocracy and some who believed in the Goddess of Wealth. Now they wanted to collectively convert their beliefs to follow the Void Mask. And naturally, they would need a formal and grand ceremony.

Not only that, most people from the Dahl family were bad guys. To accept them as followers, the church would have to arrange redemption for them.

“Atonement” was not something that could be completed simply by buying a certificate of redemption. This was only possible in the mid-century period on Earth. It was also not like those with great power could go straight to heaven so long as they killed a few followers of another belief, regardless of any bad things they had done. In this world, redemption was something very solemn and serious. It involved quite a difficult process and a high price to pay.

First, the person who decided to redeem himself had to proceed with a period of fasting and ablution to allow his body and mind to enter a state of quiet and peace. Then, in this state, he would have to personally narrate his entire list of crimes and received punishment according to the crime committed. The punishments included, but were not limited to, beatings, burnings, as well as various pain inflicted either physically or by spells.

This agonizing and difficult process would, at times, last as long as a month. When the entire ritual had ended, they still had to accept a mission. Only when they had accomplished this mission with a good and solemn attitude could the entire redemption process truly be completed.

So long as they could complete the entire redemption process, they would not be considered bad guys who were unpardonably wicked and guilty of the most heinous crimes. They could also convert their camps from evil to neutral. Then, so long as they conscientiously did good, sooner or later, they could progress into becoming good people.

However… in this world, there were very few bad guys who could truly complete the entire redemption process.

On one hand, this process was indeed accompanied by acutely intense pain. The more severe the crime, the more severe the pain would be. Most of the bad guys were extremely stern towards others but went easy on themselves. There was no way they could bear such pain.

On the other hand, even if they were willing to bear such pain, there were very few churches willing to carry out the redemption rituals for bad guys. This was because after the ritual, the bad guys would become members of the church, so their actions would be closely associated to the church’s honor.

Even if they were willing to redeem themselves of their crimes, the clergymen were seldom willing to believe in these villains.

The only people keen on holding redemption rituals were from the Church of the God of Redemption. This group of people advocated that “no matter how bad a man could be, so long as he was willing to mend his ways, there would always be a day where he could repay his sins.” They were also eager to persuade the bad guys to atone for their sins and accept redemption—even if it was penitence at one’s deathbed.

But the bad guys were reluctant to do so because if they chose to accept “redemption” on their deathbed, it would mean that their souls would belong to the God of Redemption after death. They would then need to do all sorts of good things under his arrangement to redeem themselves for their sins.

This was something exceptionally difficult.

In the end, only a handful of the higher-ups of the Dahl family were willing to accept the redemption ritual and become core followers of the Church of the Void Mask. The rest simply bowed to salute and pay homage to the statue of His Majesty, the Void Mask, and accepted baptism by Bishop Kabbalah before leaving.

“It’s good this way too,” said Bishop Kabbalah as he watched them leave. He could not help feeling relieved, albeit his disappointment.

He was responsible for the redemption of these people. No matter what, so long as the number was smaller, the difficulty or trouble that might be involved in the future would be much smaller.

As for those people who left… they would be the ones treading on their paths. The choice would be theirs to make, so regardless of whatever might happen, the responsibility was all theirs.