Liberation Theology

Chapter 129 Liberation Theology

Hextech did not directly attack the Tuttle family's last stronghold.

Ida drove the convertible, with Hex standing in the back seat, piercing Muller's head with the Deaththorn Spear and hoisting him high on its tip, as they cruised through the city of Newcastle.

Above the horizon, two airships captured by the United Front circled continuously, airdropping weapons and firearms to every corner of the city.

Factory areas, street outposts, city schools, the slums of District 5 —

The people who obtained weapons instantly split into countless factions.

Some people immediately took action against their cronies and henchmen.

Some people spontaneously gathered a group and headed towards Hextech.

Some people, harboring resentment for decades, stormed into a large commercial building and dragged out the once arrogant and domineering dignitaries, executing them on the spot and hanging them from streetlights.

Everywhere you look, you can see teru teru bozu (Japanese teru bozu dolls) hanging on both sides of the road.

Is it possible to kill the wrong person? Very likely.

But more than anything, it was an outlet for the pent-up resentment of the people.

This isn't a dinner party; it's a complete reckoning.

The ruling structure established by the nobles and merchants who occupy the first and second districts of this city is rapidly collapsing.

The once towering royal coat of arms was smashed down by the tide of the crowd, lying askew amidst pools of blood and rubble.

The noble mansion was breached, and the seemingly impregnable castle was finally swept away in a wave that swept through the entire city. Banners covered the long streets, replacing the noble family crests that used to hang there.

Tens of thousands of citizens carried makeshift iron bars, hammers, and knives and axes as they walked along Newcastle’s main thoroughfare.

There was no fear on their faces, only the fervor that followed the tearing away of numbness.

"For Hextech!" The roaring slogans echoed throughout Newcastle.

For many of them, this was their first time entering the Second District and the First District, and it was also the first time they had seen the lives of the nobles, how extravagant and frivolous they were.

The convoy moved slowly forward, the roar of the engines unable to drown out the shouts of the crowd.

A large crowd erupted in cheers upon seeing Hextech, chanting its name and joining its ranks.

The whole of Newcastle was engulfed in a frenzied revolutionary wave.

The flames of revolution have already spread like wildfire and are about to completely burn down the old order of this ancient city.

But just as the massive parade reached the city center intersection, their path was suddenly blocked.

A solemn procession of robes stood before a church, like a black wall, rigidly blocking the tide.

One hundred students from Newcastle Elementary Theological Seminary, holding Bibles and wearing crosses around their necks, stood there without any weapons. Some wore expressions of anger and pity, while many more looked terrified.

Because they were facing a crowd that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.

Banners fluttered in the wind, and the long street was packed with people.

At the very front stood a bearded seminary student, the only one who showed no fear.

"Dzhugashvili?" Hex spotted the theology student with the distinctive Russian beard at a glance.

Hex still had a deep impression of Carls' friend, who was arrested by the Newcastle Inspectorate.

He waved his hand, and the line behind him immediately stopped.

The procession gradually came to a halt, and the noise of the long street grew quieter. More and more people saw the church. Many of them had never been inside a church in the aristocratic district in their lives, but their faith was ingrained in their very bones. Many bowed their heads, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Will they offend the gods?

Of course, some bloodthirsty people also raised their pistols and aimed them at the seminary students who were trying to stop them. Having experienced bloody riots and personally overthrowing aristocratic rule, some people were no longer hesitant.

In their eyes, this group of seminary students who depended on the old order, upheld the privileges of the church, and were about to become clergy were no different from the corrupt nobles and were all obstacles.

However, no one made a move, nor did they leave rashly. They all looked at Hex at the front, wanting to see if the mentor would turn around and leave, letting the church go, or give an order and rush into the church.

With just a single command from Hex, these hundreds of unarmed seminary students and low-ranking clergy would surely be torn to pieces by the enraged mob.

After all, anger is contagious. If all humans were so devout, where would united fronts, cults, and even heresies come from?

"Should we kill them?" Ada asked Hex.

"No," Hex said.

"We need the support of the clergy."

"But you have just decided to wage war against the largest church family," Ada said.

"How could you possibly still have the support of the clergy?"

"They are your enemies."

"The Church and the nobility are enemies, but among the clergy, some are not," Hex said.

"They are people we can try to win over."

"And they are the ones we must win over."

Against the backdrop of Hell's invasion of the world, Hextech knows that its enemy has always been the Church Nobles.

The church nobility and clergy cannot be equated.

Hex raised his hand, pushed open the car door, stepped out, and walked alone into the street where the two sides were facing off.

He held a flag in one hand and a long spear with Tatter's head hanging on it in the other.

A strong wind swept through the long street, and tens of thousands of flags fluttered behind him.

"Dzhugashvili, you've got some nerve," Hex said coldly.

"He dared to offend Tuttle before."

"Now you dare to stop me."

"I need to stand up, or you will cause irreparable destruction to Newcastle," Djugashvili said.

"You want to stop me?" Hex said, looking directly at him.

"I only want to ask you three questions on behalf of my classmates and the clergy representatives behind me," Dzhugashvili said.

Hextech nodded slightly: "Okay."

"Since you dare to defy Tuttle, I'm willing to give you the patience to answer three questions."

A young, brown-haired theology student stepped forward and questioned, "Hex Adelia, you have overturned the order, slaughtered nobles, and broken the rules."

"You swept through Newcastle, bringing only war, slaughter, and destruction."

"What exactly do you want to do to this city?"

"Do you want to destroy Newcastle?!"

The students behind him all looked terrified, seemingly not expecting this classmate to be so ruthless.

Hextech didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Are you asking me as a future clergyman, or as a human being?"

He was taken aback, not expecting to be asked this question, but still stammered, "Clerics are just people, there's no difference between the two!"

After Hex said that, the poor workers behind him couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha! What did he say? Clergy are the same as ordinary people!"

"Then why do you never go into Districts Four and Five to preach?"

"Maybe you're afraid of getting your nice clothes dirty!"

Faced with Hextech's teasing, the young student's face turned pale and then red.

"The order of the city is maintained jointly by the church and the nobility." He forcefully changed the subject.

"Although I also despise corrupt clergy and nobles."

"But the chaos you've stirred up will only weaken the foundation of humanity and plunge the citizens into confusion."

"Instead, it gave hell an opportunity to invade Newcastle."

"Then can't you see the suffering brought about by the nobility and the church?" Hex asked calmly again.

"So, you think some people are born to suffer."

"So, you think that nobles are born with their own hardships."

"Therefore, killing a gentleman or lady is a tragedy."

"And for the ordinary poor people who died in the fifth and fourth districts, that was simply their fate."

The young man's mouth moved, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

In response to Hex's mockery, Dzhugashvili replied coldly, "The second question."

Another low-ranking clergyman, who appeared to be a faculty member, stepped forward.

"Mr. Edlia, whatever your excuse, I have seen the destruction."

"confusion."

"die."

"You saw all this," Hex said calmly, meeting the other's questioning gaze, "because you are a clergyman."

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"But I saw more than that!"

"I don't deny that these things will inevitably come about when the powerful are violently overthrown."

"I brought destruction not only to District 1 and District 2."

"I will also bring about the reshaping of Districts Three, Four, and Five!"

"I brought not only a period of chaos."

"I will also bring about a fairer and more vibrant order!"

"I brought not only the death of the old privileged class."

"I will also bring new life to all of Newcastle."

"It's not just a rebirth for Newcastle, but a rebirth for the entire British Isles."

"It is also a rebirth for humanity."

"It's not like gentlemen and ladies are writing epic poems about Greek and Roman heroes at a tea party!"

"It belongs to the people, to their epics and legends!"

This statement was like a heavy hammer blow, striking a point that contained many of theological students' preconceived notions.

They thought the rules, which had remained unchanged for millennia, were beginning to crack.

Everything before our eyes is the best proof!

At this moment, another theology student couldn't help but speak up.

"What epic!?"

"All I see are innocent people dying!"

"Order has collapsed, people are filled with fear, and chaos is imminent!"

"Your so-called rebirth is nothing but slaughter in disguise!"

"How is your behavior any different from that of a demon!"

"You're only making it easier for demons from hell to invade Newcastle!"

"That's the third question," Hextech said, slightly raising his eyes. "Slaughter?"

He pointed to the aristocratic merchant hanging on the streetlight like a teru teru bozu (a Japanese doll shaped like a sunny day).

"It was just killing a few thousand useless nobles."

"Yet you stand up and condemn sin, and lament destruction."

"But haven't you considered how many sins the Tuttle family has committed over the past hundred years?!"

"The people were killed and trampled."

"No one said a word for them!"

"You take the suffering and bloodshed of millions for granted!"

Hextech's voice suddenly rose, penetrating the entire venue and resounding throughout the long street.

"If the nobles are determined to fight the demons, then the people will accept it!"

"But where do you think they've used the wealth they've squeezed out?"

"Used for the Crusaders, for the procurement of weapons and equipment?"

"No, they built skyscrapers and held lavish banquets for a life of extravagance!"

"Used to bribe the Crusaders, turning them into servants and henchmen of the nobles!"

"True believers are ostracized and killed by them!"

"Do you really think those sycophants who remain can fight against hell?"

"They'll just take their possessions and flee to London, to Ireland, to Rome!"

"I admit that many clergy have fallen," said a clergyman who was also a teacher.

"But humanity needs the church, it needs the church to resist hell."

"Only the church can stop the demons of hell."

"You're wrong," Hex said. "It was never the church that blocked the demons."

"They are clergy, but clergy happen to be nobles."

"The church is different from the church nobility, and also different from the clergy."

"And clergy rely not only on unwavering faith, but also on sacred registers."

These words made Dzhugashvili's pupils shrink sharply.

"The church itself has no power to resist demons."

"It is merely an institution for the transmission and safekeeping of sacred talismans."

"It is the holy talisman that endows mankind with extraordinary abilities, enabling them to resist demons."

"Nonsense! The holy register is a gift from God!" The teacher's face changed drastically!

"It is a gift from God to all mankind, not to the church," Li Kan emphasized.

"Just as a saint can be a worker, a warrior, or a village girl."

"It has never been exclusive to the church."

After all that happened, Hex also realized that the Church that Hell invaded the world was not an institution for managing faith and deities as in traditional Western fantasy worlds, but rather a superpower development organization.

The clergy of the Church of Nobles are not fanatical believers who gain power through faith, but a group of nobles with superpowers.

The main storyline of Hell's invasion of the world is the process of the nobles, whose superpowers were severed by the Shore, resisting Hell.

They develop and pass on superpowers not through magic or faith, but purely through science and technology.

After all, the God of this world no longer protects believers, and Heaven doesn't care about the human world. At most, it will send down divine punishment when God is denied.

However, Hex never said he wanted to deny God; he only denied the church nobility within the church.

Thinking about it this way, many problems become much easier to solve.

"The church has been passed down through generations and has long since become corrupt and decayed," Hex said.

"They used the sacred registers as a privileged tool to maintain their status."

"If God saw this, what would He say?"

"As described in Genesis, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created him."

"All people possess equal divine dignity, without distinction based on race, sex, wealth or social status."

"In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus reads from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to set the captives free and the blind regain their sight, and to set the oppressed free.'"

After receiving training from the United Front, Hex had gained a basic understanding of the Bible.

"To carry out God's will is never to protect the powerful or condone injustice."

"It is not about making the people suffer in silence."

"God has never shown favoritism to the wealthy and powerful who indulge in luxury and pleasure."

"God favors the suffering and the oppressed underclass."

"The more crucial thing is faith, which is never about forgiveness and tolerance without punishment."

"Faith is salvation!"

"It allows people to break free from their shackles and be reborn."

"This is what it means for us to learn from God," Hexton paused, then added.

Of course, in this world, God represents fear, not pure good and order.

This statement is somewhat ambiguous.

But God cannot explain why other bishops can seize the right to interpret scriptures, and so can Hex!

"Now, humanity is bound by the three chains of punishment!"

"The shackles of the powerful and wealthy shackle humanity's possibility of pursuing fairness."

"The chains of the church are what bind humanity's path in the pursuit of truth."

"The shackles of hell bind humanity's pursuit of a future of survival."

"Evil will not disappear on its own, and injustice will not end on its own."

"Silence and forbearance are not doctrines; resistance is the mark of a true believer."

"Only by overthrowing the corrupt aristocracy can we save everyone."

"Only by defeating the false believers of the 'Frugality' sect can humanity have hope and a future!"

Shi Fan's words get straight to the heart of the matter.

Without obscure terminology or esoteric theories, it uses only the most straightforward principles to tear apart the falsehoods of the old church, interpret the justice of the revolution, and penetrate the core of theology.

This is what Hextech has seen and heard since coming to this world.

If humanity continues to rot and crawl like this, there is no hope left for humanity, after all, there is no emperor sitting on the throne.

Tianpi will no longer favor humanity.

The long street was eerily quiet.

The seminary students looked bewildered, but a few of them had a thoughtful look in their eyes. Their past knowledge, the doctrines they had learned, and the beliefs they held were being gradually washed away and reshaped by this new concept.

They cling to the church's name and insist on superficial order and peace, ignoring the blood, tears, and suffering of the lower classes. They blindly follow the corrupt and distorted tradition, mistaking shackles for protection and falsehoods for the holy way.

The Holy Way leads to liberation.

True salvation is not about enduring suffering, but about breaking free from it.

True protection of the world is not about maintaining the old order, but about reshaping a new life.

They looked at Hall Hex and didn't ask a fourth question for a long time.

No amount of questions can explain the tens of thousands of people who filled the long street.

They could not explain why all the disasters stemmed from the misdeeds of a spoiled young man.

The conflicts and doubts began to dissipate.

Dzhugashvili looked back at the hundreds of seminary students and low-ranking clergy in the hall.

"This is the future!"

"You have also suffered injustice!"

"You also have compassion for the poor!"

"That's why you didn't enter the Tuttle Manor, and that's why you're stuck here with me!"

"So don't hesitate! Join Shigang!"

Dzhugashvili removed the cross emblem symbolizing the Old Church from his chest and threw it to the ground.

"Hextech, I knew I hadn't misjudged you." His eyes burned, like a mouthful of boiling steel.

"You personally unveiled the celestial barrier!"

"You've been wanting to rebel for a long time!" Hextech now understood.

Dzhugashvili originally planned to bring a group of clergy and seminary students with him.

However, some of them still had doubts, so he stopped the procession and asked them for clarification on the street.

That's incredibly bold!

"Are you sure I won't do anything?" Hex asked curiously.

"A crow adorns itself with peacock feathers; a crow is just a crow," Dzhugashvili said.

"But a true eagle, even shackled with countless chains, is still an eagle!"

"Am I an eagle?" Hex asked.

"I didn't expect you to be able to flatter people."

"No," Dzhugashvili said.

"You are the sharp blade that can cut through the shackles on all the eagles in the world."

"This is something Shih-Chih wanted to do, but couldn't!"

He walked over to Hex, and the group of seminary students and clergy behind him joined the group.

The ranks of clergy and seminary students began to merge into the mainstream.

A prairie fire cannot be stopped.

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