The night was flowing by like water, but for this particular night, the water was frothing and bubbling violently.

The passion of the locals living in the eastern part of Finklan was always on full display at nighttime. It was at this time of day that all of the local residents came out to enjoy themselves, and their words and actions always gave off a sense of joy and relaxation. The strong aroma of alcohol was wafting through the air alongside the melodious music played using lutes, further contributing to the joyful nighttime ambiance.

Meanwhile, the Five Summits Meeting was unfolding in secret within the Holy Rosken Cathedral, and the five elders of the Universal Church were all present, locked in a heated argument.

The cathedral was like an elderly man who no longer had the energy to pay attention to his surroundings, sitting in silence amid the commotion ringing out around him, calmly watching and listening to the heated argument that was taking place in the room in a completely expressionless manner.

The elder in charge of the northeastern area was a man by the name of Frandevin, and he pointed a finger directly at Lia's nose as he yelled, "Have you gone insane, Lia? I didn't come all this way just to listen to your deranged ramblings! Do you know how much distance I had to travel the past two days to get here on the date you proposed? What a f*cking waste of time!"

Elder Frandevin was so enraged that he was already turning to profanities.

A bishop was acting as the recorder for the meeting, and he wore a conflicted expression, unsure of whether to record what had just been said.

"Don't worry about keeping up appearances, record every single word that is spoken in this meeting in full! Take extra care to write down everything that Lia says here so that our successors can see who was the main culprit that brought about the downfall of our Universal Church!" Even though Frandevin was looking at the bishop as he spoke, it was clear that his words were directed at Lia.

Elder Kandra of the southeastern area was also very much opposed to Lia's proposal, and he said, "Frandevin's right, Lia. Arranging an army for our church is far too aggressive a course of action. You've always been a calm and steadfast man, what's gotten into you this time? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

To his credit, Lia remained quite calm and collected as he said, "What do you classify as overly aggressive? If this is too aggressive a course of action, then what should we do instead? Just continue trudging on the spot for the rest of our lives without making any progress? That's supposed to be the right path forward? I'm only proposing this revolution, and you're already trying to stomp it into the ground. Why are you so opposed to change when change is the only thing that'll take our church to greater heights? What you are doing is killing the future of our Universal Church!"

"Ptui! So we should just send all of our clergymen into battle? Once everyone's dead on the battlefield, our Universal Church will have well and truly fallen!" Frandevin countered in a furious voice, slamming the table repeated with his fist as he spoke, such was his rage and vehemence.

"Alright, calm down, everyone," Elder Boten of the ruler's territory interjected in a cold voice. "This meeting is designed for us to discuss things, not a place for you to bicker and fight."

Boten was the eldest of the five elders, and both Lia and Fandevin calmed down slightly after hearing what he had to say. The two of them picked up their cups before taking a few sips of tea to soothe their parched throats.

"Lia, what I'm most curious about is why you've suddenly raised a proposal like this at a time like this. On top of that, you gathered everyone extremely urgently on very short notice as well. Did something happen leading up to this?" Boten asked as he turned to Lia. "This is completely unlike you, so there must be a reason for this. Can you tell us what happened?"

Everyone else present also had the same question in their hearts as Boten did.

"To tell you all the truth, I was compelled and deluded by someone," Lia said in a low voice as he looked into the cup of black tea in his hand.

Looking at the placid yet dejected expression on Lia's face, Fandevin and Kandra didn't display any derision or contempt toward him. Instead, they chose to maintain a respectful silence to hear what Lia had to say next.

"That man described a vision to me, and I couldn't help but become completely enamored with it," Lia sighed. "He told me that he wanted to establish a nation with universal freedom and equality, in which every single inch of soil is distributed among the people, not the nobility, but all of the common people living in that nation. I had never heard of such an idea before. Think about it, what an insane idea it is! He's proposing that we abolish the nobility system and create a nation where everyone is regarded as equals. It sounds insane at first, but if you think about it, isn't that what the Universal Lord had set out to achieve?"

This entire time, Lia had been talking into his cup of tea without looking at any of the other four elders. This was a process in which he was trying to persuade himself.

The room fell completely silent, so silent that even the slightest of pin drops would be clearly audible.

Even the bishop who was busy recording the contents of the meeting had set down his goose feather quill, and his brows were furrowed tightly in deep thought.

They were experiencing the exact same astonishment that Lia had gone through when he had first heard this idea.

"That man is extremely ambitious," Lia continued. "He also said that he wanted to completely destroy the Holy World Church and flip the world on its head. In order to do that, the only way would be to start a revolution."

"But have you considered how many people will die in a revolution like this?" Fandevin asked, but the tone of his voice was no longer in vehement opposition to Lia's idea. Instead, he seemed to be both intrigued and concerned.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Lia's face. He understood exactly where Fandevin's concern was coming from. "At the time, I asked the same question as you did just now."

"What did the madman say?" Elder Mutizen of the northwest, who had refrained from speaking this entire time, suddenly seemed to have been intrigued by the unfolding conversation.

Lia sighed, "He told me that all revolutions in history had been built upon mountains of human bodies."

Everyone was stunned into silence yet again upon hearing this.

"Where did you meet such a madman?" Kandra exclaimed in a stunned voice.

"A madman he is, indeed," Mutizen chuckled in agreement.

"So you gathered all of us here because you heard the ramblings of that madman?" This was a serious question from Fandevin, and there was no derision in his voice whatsoever.

"Now that I think about it, that person really was a madman," Lia sighed with a wry smile. "The more time I spent with him, the more deranged I became as well."

Fandevin's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "His vision is very grand and lofty, but he can't expect the entirety of our Universal Church to support a single man's ambitions."

"Are you saying that he's the only one who has ambition? Do you not share those very same ambitions?" Lia asked as he looked at the four elders gathered before him. "If not, then I don't believe you deserve to be sitting here in this room."

The other elders fell silent upon hearing this.

"Even though the Holy World Church has been on a steady decline for the past few centuries, it still sits above us like an untouchable entity. Meanwhile, those accursed nobles are constantly deriding and abusing our church's followers. Do you not feel anything when you think about that?" Lia asked in a low voice.

Even though the five elders were often in opposition against one another, that was simply because all of them possessed contrasting ideals. At their core, all of them wanted what was best for the Universal Church, and they couldn't help but be swayed by Lia's words.

During their lifetimes, the Universal Church had been steadily developing and growing stronger, but in reality, all of the hard work had been done by the previous set of elders, and they were doing nothing more than benefitting from the work of their predecessors.

Indeed, if they harbored no ambitions and were content for things to continue like this, then they weren't fit to act as elders of the Universal Church.

After some careful consideration, Fandevin turned to Lia with a serious expression as he said, "Your idea is very alluring, but I can't bring myself to put the lives of thousands of people at risk in order to chase this vision. Hence, I'm ultimately still going to oppose your proposal."

Lia nodded in response, expressing an understanding of Fandevin's stance.

"What do you think?" Fandevin then turned his gaze toward the other elders, and it seemed that he was no longer as resolute in his stance as before.

"If we go through with this, we'll be making the entire world our enemy. I don't have the confidence to follow through on such a plan, so I'm also going to oppose it," Kandra said in a straightforward manner.

"When it comes to revolutions like this, who can be absolutely confident that things will work out ahead of time?" Mutizen chuckled. "I agree to this proposal, just for the sake of that madman, if nothing else."

"I can't believe this! You've gone insane!" Kandra said with a furious expression, clearly very displeased with Mutizen's casual attitude.

"If it's just any rambling madman, Lia wouldn't be so easily swayed," Mutizen explained with a smile. "Hence, I'm sure that madman must be no ordinary person, right?"

He cast his gaze toward Lia as he spoke.

"His name is Erwin Friar," Lia said as a faint smile appeared on his face. "I'm guessing none of you have heard of him."

"Oh? Isn't that the artist from Zans?" Mutizen asked with an intrigued expression. "That's the madman we've been talking about this entire time?"

"You know of him?" Lia asked with a surprised expression.

"I've only heard some stories about him," Mutizen replied with a smile. "He's built up quite a reputation for himself over in the Boll Dukedom. I didn't think that an artist like him would be such an ambitious character."

The northwestern parish that Mutizen was overseeing wasn't far away from the Boll Dukedom and the Delair Dukedom, so it wasn't too much of a surprise that he had heard of Erwin.

"How can a mere artist have such a grand vision and such a broad view of the world? Boten asked as he turned to Lia with furrowed brows."

"He's definitely not just an artist," Lia replied. He refrained from mentioning the fact that Erwin was from the north as he didn't want to draw unnecessary peril to Erwin. After all, his relationship with the other elders wasn't so close that he could reveal all of his secrets to them.

Furthermore, he had thought carefully about this before arriving at the meeting. Even if he couldn't persuade the other elders to approve of his idea to assemble an army for the church, there were still opportunities to implement this plan in the future. However, if Erwin were to perish before that, then all of the radical ideas in his head would also be killed off along with him.

Overall, Lia was a man who appreciated talent.

"Let's not stray too far away from the main subject at hand, we're not assembled here to discuss some deranged artist," Fandevin said in a cold voice. "It's two vs two at the moment. What's your verdict, Boten? Your vote will decide the fate of our Universal Church."

"You sure know how to exert pressure on someone," Boten chuckled with an amused expression, then turned to Lia with a serious look on his face as he declared, "I'm also opposed to your proposal."

Both Fandevin and Kandra finally heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, while Mutizen remained silent with a faint smile on his face.

Lia didn't display much of a reaction to this, and it seemed that he had already anticipated this outcome. In fact, instead of feeling frustrated and disappointed, he was more relieved. The psychological burden that he had been carrying for the past few days had been significantly alleviated now that his proposal had been rejected.

"However, I propose a compromise," Boten said as he looked directly into Lia's eyes.

"Oh? And what's that?" Lia asked in a curious manner.

"You can assemble an army for the Universal Church in your northwestern parish. That is something I'm willing to approve of," Boten replied with a smile.

"That's absurd!" Fandevin and Kandra yelled in unison as they turned to Boten with alarmed expressions.