In the silence, what Leonardo Louis Button pulled from his breast pocket was none other than a book.
It was an incredibly old and worn book, frayed in many places.
It bore such distinct traces of age that the word "ancient manuscript" naturally ca to mind for anyone looking at it.
It felt like a sowhat abrupt action.
To suddenly pull a book out of his pocket while talking about the appearance of a Primordial Demon.
There was so little connection that no one could guess the reason behind it.
"This is a scripture that has been passed down through the Order since ancient tis."
Louis’s subsequent addition only deepened the people's confusion.
Naturally, it wasn't because they didn't understand the word "scripture."
Since the Guardian Cross Order was a religious organization, it was no exaggeration to say that it began and ended with its scriptures.
Scripture.
The totality of the concepts that bound the massive organization of the Guardian Cross Order together, and the divine book that served as the foundation for the modern Church Alliance.
To be precise, it was a docunt containing the teachings of the ssiah, the founder of the Guardian Cross Order, who sealed the ancient Primordial Demons and saved the continent.
It consisted of records from followers who had personally heard the ssiah’s teachings, supplented and edited over an eternity by later disciples designated as sages by the Order.
The importance of the scripture was so great that it didn't even need to be explained to the mbers of the Guardian Cross Order.
In the first place, not many among those who followed the Guardian Cross Order had seen him in person; the reason people across the continent were moved to join the Order was because of his teachings.
The scriptures containing the ssiah's teachings had exerted a massive influence over all regions of the continent reached by the Order's influence for a very long ti.
It wasn't sothing that could be explained by just one or two things.
The "Commandnts" and the code of laws used by the Order today.
The culture.
The standard of morality and the distinction between good and evil.
In addition to that, politics, economics, society, culture, technology, and ethics.
The traces of the ssiah's teachings were left in almost every field maintained by the forces of the Order in the modern Upper Plane.
In other words, the concept was so inseparable that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Guardian Cross Order was the scripture, and the scripture was the Guardian Cross Order.
In particular, those seated here, with the exception of U-jin, were all priests who had been involved in the Order's internal affairs for a long ti.
It was unthinkable that they wouldn't understand the word scripture.
It was just that they didn't understand the circumstances behind Leonardo Louis Button pulling it out so abruptly.
And since scriptures were sothing every priest carried, they were common enough, so they didn't understand why he had brought such a tattered, ancient one.
Of course, not everyone in the audience failed to understand Leonardo Louis Button's intentions.
Exactly one person among those seated.
Only U-jin could see through the context, which felt as if a connection was missing, and accurately guess the identity of that book.
‘...That is.’
The reason was simple.
In his past life, he clearly rembered Leonardo Louis Button pulling out a similar scripture in a similar situation.
If U-jin's mory was correct, the scripture he was looking at was one of the scriptures of the Guardian Cross Order, and it wasn't a copy, but the original manuscript.
That was why it looked so old.
However, whether it was the original or not wasn't the most important thing.
What was more important was "which" scripture it was.
"So of you seated here may not know, but this scripture falls under the 'Apocrypha'."
Apocrypha.
At that unfamiliar term, several of the people seated tilted their heads.
It was only natural.
It wasn't a commonly used word, and so were even hearing it for the first ti.
—Don't you an the Pseudepigrapha?
One person in the audience asked Leonardo Louis Button.
It was an understandable mistake.
The scriptures existing in the Guardian Cross Order were largely divided into two categories: the Canon and the Pseudepigrapha.
The "Canon" referred to the correct teachings of the ssiah that had been passed down from ancient tis and were recognized as orthodox.
And the "Pseudepigrapha" referred to the teachings created by self-proclaid Resurrected Ones who appeared after the ssiah's departure, claiming to be his successors.
Since the self-proclaid Resurrected Ones had appeared imdiately after the ssiah's ascension, the history of the Pseudepigrapha was as long as that of the Canon.
Because of this, quite a few people were misled by them.
In modern tis, however, the Canon and the Pseudepigrapha were quite clearly distinguished, and priests even read the Pseudepigrapha themselves during their training days, so it was sowhat understandable that they would mistake what Louis said for the "Pseudepigrapha."
However.
At the question from the audience, Louis imdiately shook his head.
"No. It is not the Pseudepigrapha, but the Apocrypha."
"......"
"Since the concept of the Apocrypha itself may be unfamiliar, I will explain briefly."
Nod.
"As you all know, the scriptures handled by the Order are largely divided into two. The Canon, which we believe in and follow as the ssiah's teachings, and the Pseudepigrapha ntioned just now."
"......"
"However, there exists a separate scripture that belongs to neither."
Hooo.
A low groan escaped as if it were only natural.
In fact, since everyone gathered here was at least at the level of a High Priest, they were all people who had risen quite high in their respective positions.
In terms of their level of authority within the Order and their accessibility, the experience of learning sothing they didn't already know was quite rare.
Yet, from the secrets of the Primordial Demons and the Exorcists to now the word "Apocrypha," which they were hearing for the first ti.
For soone who hadn't known even one of those three things, they had seen three secrets of the Order they were unaware of in a single day.
Moreover, since it was a glimpse into the deepest truths, it would have been stranger if a groan hadn't escaped.
Of course, Leonardo Louis Button didn't take each of those things into consideration.
"Unlike the Pseudepigrapha, the contents of the Apocrypha themselves do not deviate from the ssiah's teachings. Although the difference is slight, they have existed since even before the period when the Pseudepigrapha were mass-produced, so their legitimacy is also recognized."
"......"
"However, in the case of the Apocrypha, the sages of the Order set aside certain contents because they could cause a great upheaval if they beca known to many people."
Of course, the ssiah's prophecies regarding the Primordial Demons were not entirely absent from the Canon.
[...In the end tis, many false prophets will arise and deceive many; they will perform miracles and wonders to deceive, if possible, even you...]
[...But no one but I and those sent according to my will shall attain Resurrection. Even the stars in the sky are by no ans eternal; in the end, they are but a day's sparkle that will fade away.]
One of the most famous passages in the Canon was the ssiah's prophecy about the end tis, and since it was directly related to the Resurrector, just like the Saintess's prophecy, there was no one who didn't know it.
However, what was contained in the Apocrypha was not abstract content like "the abomination of desolation," but specific details about the Primordial Demons.
"The Apocrypha mainly contains the ssiah's ntions of the Primordial Demons and descriptions of their appearance. The na of this Primordial Demon, Leviathan, was also confird through this Apocrypha."
"......"
No more groans escaped.
Of course, that didn't an the content Louis spoke of wasn't shocking.
The actual dedicated mission of the "Exorcists," which had been kept secret, the appearance of the Primordial Demon, and even the existence of the Apocrypha were things most people here knew nothing about.
To put it simply, he was just laying out topics that would normally only be discussed in the Inverted Cross Council—where only the highest-ranking mbers of the Order gathered—in front of ordinary High Priests.
Furthermore, since specific details about the Primordial Demons were not even primary topics in the Inverted Cross Council and were handled independently by the Exorcists.
It was natural that the impact would be strong after hearing such shocking stories in succession.
And that was directly related to the reason Leonardo Louis Button had gathered them in one place.
"That is exactly why I have gathered you all here, despite your busy schedules."
"......"
"Everyone here is the head of a group or faction that is sohow involved with this Southern Invasion, and I need your cooperation regarding this Primordial Demon."
Cooperation was needed.
It was a vague statent, but no questions popped out.
It was because everyone present understood roughly what that ant from that short statent alone.
'...Hide the existence of the Primordial Demon.'
In fact, it was sothing they would have known even without it being said.
As Leonardo Louis Button had already ntioned earlier, the "Primordial Demons" were terrible monsters that used fear as their power source.
If the existence of the Primordial Demon, as well as its appearance, were to beco known to the soldiers or throughout the Church Alliance, sothing might happen that could no longer be dealt with.
The Exorcists had been moving until now specifically to prevent that.
Louis's intention was very clear.
"As most of you can probably guess, in order to stop the Primordial Demon with minimum damage, we must prepare a counterasure before Leviathan arrives at the Anti-Demon Front, where legion-level forces exist. That is, while its power is relatively weakened."
The most crucial point was that the Primordial Demon nad Leviathan must not set foot on the continent's soil.
A Primordial Demon appearing on the battlefield could inspire fear itself, and if it exerted greater power by swallowing that fear, fear would beco even more prevalent.
That was the very problem in the Prival Era.
Because it was virtually impossible to suppress fear once it had spread widely, the human forces at the ti, which had a fair amount of power in their own right, were helplessly defeated by the Primordial Demons without even being able to resist.
Of course, ti had not been aningless, so the Church Alliance, which had developed until now, might be able to respond much more effectively to a Primordial Demon, but everyone who had read the scriptures knew.
Primordial Demons were irregular existences that defied common sense.
The fact that their very existence was a paradox and that they moved in a way that was completely inconsistent with the laws of the world.
Preventing the return of that era of prevalent fear was the core of this mission.
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