Sacred Tree Empire

Sacred Tree Empire that was united by religion [7;17]

This was the only empire in a unique situation where the Church controlled all the epic beings. The royal family could only rely on the Church’s goodwill.

The Sacred Tree Empire currently had a total of four epic beings formally under their banner, but three of them were Archangel Michael, Archbishop Hendrick, and Saint Martin. The real Michael had returned to the heavens long ago after Richard defeated him, and there was no celestial in the Empire powerful enough to compare. Martin was away for the same reason, and with Hendrick’s decision the Pope was the only one left behind.

## Overview

### **Hall of Sacred Radiance**

meeting in the Hall of Sacred Radiance as always with such important topics. This hall wasn’t particularly large, but its fifteen metres of height made any occupants feel oppressed.

On the ceiling was the famed Radiance Over The World, a mural depicting the story of when the Radiant Lord first lit his godfire. The hall itself had fifteen pillars. The one in the centre was the founding emperor of the Sacred Tree Empire, while the seven on his left were the prototypical seven angels of the Celestial Plane. On the right were carvings of the original seven lords of the Empire.

Just one look at this hall could show just how convoluted the relationship between the nobility and church were in the Sacred Tree Empire. It was only kept together by the fact that the royal family had celestial blood flowing through them, giving their descendants a majority of the Heaven’s Armour sets. Angels like Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael had ended up becoming runes passed down from generation to generation.

The council meeting was supposed to be a secular matter, but in reality even the Prime Minister and the four Grand Dukes could only sit on the right of the Emperor; the left was reserved for members of the Church of Glory. The clergy could only vote on religious matters, but they could also offer their opinion on any topic they wanted to. Today, that left side was empty, with only the pope and Saint Martin occupying two of the seven seats. Others, like Archbishop Ruford and Saint Thomas, were entirely absent.

Emperor Louis XIII looked to be about 50 years of age. Although not as large as Philip, he was quite plump; the idea of appetite determining power had already started spreading amongst the nobility of Norland. He wasn’t a bad ruler at all, but his achievements weren’t particularly amazing either. With the Church of Glory hanging over them, it was difficult for any emperor to impress.

## **Members**

Archbishop Hendrick from the Church of Glory

Sixth Prince [angelic name: Uriel] - Heaven’s Armour

* Tall Young Man
* “I hear your mother once consorted with a devil. This is just a rumour of course, but anyone with such history will have a mark of the summoning left behind on their bodies. Within the Cathedral of Glory, all who have communicated with the Hells will be revealed [6;60]
* Duchess Romilda (mother)

Ninth Princess - [angelic name: Raphael]

* Elegant Young Lady
* Duchess Mandy summoned a devil far before Duchess Romilda! Where do you think the talent you pride yourself on comes from? It is the devil blood flowing in your veins! [6;60]
* Where do you think the talent you pride yourself on comes from? It is the devil blood flowing in your veins! The only reason you two haven’t been thrown into prison for all eternity is that your filthy body can still serve as a slave to the Lord. There will be no mercy if you disobey orders!

Duke Solam

## Plot

The Sacred Tree Emperor has sent his sixth and ninth children alongside the Archbishop to Klandor. They are to participate in the sacred ceremony and exchange the Heaven’s Armour set Uriel for the set Midren that they lost to Klandor some time ago. 6;46

Only the blood of the royal family of the Sacred Tree Empire can use Heaven’s Armour. The sixth prince is the descendant of the original Uriel, and he is to have a child with Princess Mountainsea to birth a mix of human and barbarian capable of using both totems and the most famous rune set in the world. When perfectly combined, it will lead to the presence of another peak expert in Klandor.

All I know is that Midren, the set lost to Klandor, is also known as the King of Angels. Awakening it requires more energy than any of the other six sets, and repairs require demigod blood to complete. Its power is said to be extraordinary.

### **Richard's Dominance**

Both other meetings in recent times had started like this as well. Two rounds of intense discussion and everyone agreed to punish Richard, but they just couldn’t agree on how. The two dukes from the south wanted to declare war and were backed up by the minister of war, but the dukes from the north and the minister of internal affairs disagreed. The latter were of the opinion that the Empire and Church should send troops out together; they could even use paladins as the main force.

The difference in opinions between both sides were obvious. The Minister of War came a great distance away from Richard in the south. If the Empire were to send troops, their main force would be private soldiers of the northern lords. The problem was that these northern lords had already been at war with the Archerons for many years. Alice had managed to seize a full earldom’s worth of territory from them years ago, and ever since Richard came to power she had left them all feeling miserable. Even Duke Solam himself was unable to do anything.

And then came the war for Archeron independence, followed by that for divine gold. Richard had dealt an enormous blow to the northern troops, killing over 400,000 soldiers in a short span of time. These nobles were quite scared of Richard; Alice could at least be beaten back for a while, but Richard just rolled over anything that he came across. Once the war effort wiped out the north’s military power, the south would almost certainly start internal wars.

Although the plan to ask the Church for troops had been brought up in the meeting, the pope just looked sleepy and said this would be an issue decided when the cardinals left. Everyone present knew that the cardinals had all died in the war over divine gold; just how long would they have to wait to get a decision?

It was thus decided that the Sacred Tree Empire would spend half a year training new troops. Once they had rebuilt, they would formally go after Richard for killing Marquess Brahms. The council meeting thus ended with a tenuous solution. Martin thought all of them were clowns to challenge Richard to a battle in time.

### **Pressure**

The disputes in the cabinet of the Sacred Tree Empire started to grow more intense. A motion had been brought up to test the waters against the Archerons who had suffered heavy losses, taking advantage of the moment to destroy Richard entirely. The two sides were already enemies, and many believed that this would be the only opportunity to snuff out the growing threat.
To these people, Richard’s status as a divine runemaster was more bad than good. He had completely broken the myth that only those with the blood of the dynasty could use Heaven’s Armour, and while this didn’t mean much to the Church of Glory itself the royal family was no longer irreplaceable. The voices seeking battle were now dominant, if for no other reason than to ensure that the threat to their lineage be wiped out.
The main reasoning of the warmongers was that Richard currently couldn’t get away from Faelor. Without him, the reapers would destroy the entire plane and cripple his forces. A sole epic being was not omnipotent, and they had their own ways to deal with that. Martin was the sole member of the cabinet that always opposed going to war against Richard, but he was currently participating in civil war in the heavens. The Pope was never someone to give his own opinion, so Archbishop Hendrick was the only one opposing the war.
Hendrick knew that war would be declared if things were brought to a vote. This was his last chance to take a meaningful action before Martin returned, and it would determine his standing with the divine child. While he had taken Martin as his master, this would be when he gambled as to whether he proved that he was serious.
The meeting hall went silent at the mere mention of Martin’s expedition. Everyone present was at the highest echelons of the Sacred Tree Empire, and that meant a certain level of knowledge about the situation in heaven. However, all of them viewed his decision as strange, even foolish. A mere mortal had decided to participate in a battle where even the Radiant Lord had fallen; there was simply no realistic chance of him returning.

Many actually rejoiced at his departure. Although he was an outstanding citizen of the Empire, his style was completely foreign to them. His actions were all predicated on his faith alone, a hard stance that meant he took many decisions that simply weren’t rational. This had garnered a number of quiet enemies who would rather he stay out of politics and war, but he refused to bow to political pressure and did things his own way.

Hendrick sighed deeply, pushing away from the table and standing up, “Since those present are so insistent, I have nothing to say. But I will not be participating once the war begins, nor will my clergy and knighthood. I shall also be withdrawing from future meetings of this cabinet… Take care.”

As the Archbishop turned around, the Pope’s eyes gleamed for a scant moment before returning to their normal gloom. A stunned Emperor and his aides did not know what to do; Hendrick was currently the only confirmed epic being in the Empire, and one of the few members of the Church of Glory who hadn’t significantly weakened in recent times. He was the first hope to face Richard in a true war against the Archerons, but that plan of action was clearly infeasible now.

## Military

22 dukes and over 60 planes

Knights in pure white capes. Interspersed amongst the escort were long flags of gold and white, containing the crest of the Paladins of Purity of the Sacred Tree Empire. 6;43

A full dozen of those at the back carried the golden lightning bolt that was the crest of the royal grand mages, while the one in the middle had a striking sword and wing emblem that signified an Angel. The Sacred Tree Empire loved to flaunt Heaven’s Armour whenever they could.

## Vassals

### **Kirk**

6;71 Kirk was in the Angor Viscounty, a place without much military importance that was quite the distance away from the Solam Castle. Viscount Angor’s heavy infantry truly was amongst the best-trained in the entire Sacred Tree Empire. There was hardly any other viscounty that could match his troops. However, there was one serious problem: they only numbered 500.

## Faith

### **Cathedral of Glory**

The Church of Glory already rivalled the royal family in terms of power and influence. 6;61

Archbishop, the girl immediately recalled a wrinkly old face with pockmarks and drooping eyes. Visibly recoiling in disgust, she shook the image out of her mind

The Saint Louis Cathedral was one of the eight great cathedrals of the Church of Glory. Outside of the central Cathedral of Glory, each one was dedicated to one of the saints who had followed the Radiant Lord before he lit his godfire and eventually become his seven holy spirits. Louis had personally held off ten thousand enemy soldiers to give the Radiant Lord a chance to escape a rival faith’s paladins, and his sacrifice was what allowed the Radiant Lord to survive long enough to light his godfire. He was revered by everyone in the Church. 6;72

City of Tobia, the township that surrounded the Saint Louis Cathedral. The land was owned by an earl and situation between two dukedoms, clearly demarcated from the secular powers. The earl did not have the authority to challenge the decisions of the Church of Glory; the same could not be said about a duke.

* Bishop Rizal

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Book 9, Chapter 63
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Book 8, Chapter 95
3. ↑ Book 9, Chapter 62