The bearded man heard the wind behind his head and hurriedly dodged to the side, but was still stabbed in the shoulder's leather armor by a sword.

The leather armor had decent defense; in the past, most of the force from Landon's longsword would have been absorbed by the armor, and the bearded man would have suffered only a minor injury at most. However, at this moment, Landon's strength was nothing like before. The leather armor on the bearded man's shoulder was instantly pierced with a ripping sound, and the sharp refined iron longsword drove deep into his shoulder.

"Ah~"

The bearded man cried out in pain.

On his shoulder, hot blood flowed down from the tear in the leather armor, instantly dyeing half his shoulder red.

"Die~!"

Landon's expression was cold and stern. He suddenly kicked the bearded man's lower back, sending him flying forward. With a swift motion of his right hand, he pulled out the longsword and charged forward again.

He hated that bearded man to the core, and every strike aimed for his vital points. In just a few short exchanges, he beheaded him, blood spurting everywhere.

The remaining three soldiers, seeing that even the strongest among them—the bearded man—had been killed so easily, no longer dared to resist. They immediately fell to their knees with a thud, sobbing and begging for mercy.

"Catherine?"

Landon dared not make a decision on his own and turned to look at Catherine.

Now that Catherine was blessed by the gods and her strength had reached an awe-inspiring level, Landon's attitude toward her had unconsciously changed.

Catherine, draped in holy light, walked over slowly. Looking at the soldiers kneeling on the ground, her deep blue eyes showed a complex expression.

She held a silver cross in both hands and respectfully whispered, "My Lord, these soldiers have been deceived and misled. They have not spoken words insulting to You. Now that the chief culprit has been dealt with, may they be given a chance to atone?"

William Clark's thoughts stirred, and he immediately understood Catherine's intention.

These soldiers had witnessed a miracle with their own eyes, making them the best candidates for followers. As long as they were given a chance, they would surely be even more devout than ordinary believers.

Having ascended to fanatic, Catherine was now thinking and planning in every way for the God of Light, William Clark.

William Clark immediately nodded. "Granted!"

The majestic and mighty divine voice echoed in the air.

"My Lord is merciful."

Catherine's eyes lit up, and she immediately bowed her head in reverent prayer.

After praying, she looked down at the kneeling soldiers at her feet, her expression turning extremely stern. "My Lord is generous and spares your lives. Will you not quickly renounce darkness for the light and swear to serve Him for life?"

"We swear! We will serve the great Lord of Light all our lives and never betray Him."

The soldiers, having witnessed such a miracle and been personally pardoned by the God of Light, were both nervous and excited beyond words.

As they swore their faith and service to the God of Light, several channels of faith connected to William Clark's divinity, and these channels were very strong—clearly not at the level of shallow believers.

William Clark activated his divinity to check and was instantly delighted.

Devout followers—three at once! Devout followers are a level above true believers, and any one of them is worth more than a hundred shallow believers.

The power of faith offered daily by just these three devout followers was equivalent to that of several hundred shallow believers.

William Clark was overjoyed.

……

Chapter 6: Picked Up a Reliable Saintess

……

But thinking about it, this was normal. How could ordinary believers ever have the chance to witness a miracle with their own eyes? Since they had seen it, how could they remain mere shallow or true believers?

However, this did make the bearded man's death a bit of a pity. If he had been allowed to surrender, he might have become another devout follower. Honestly, being cursed at a few times didn't really matter to him—faith power was what truly counted.

But just because William Clark thought this way didn't mean other followers would. How could a despicable blasphemer not be punished by the gods? What would happen to divine majesty then!

While William Clark was lost in thought, on the other side, Catherine had already turned her gaze to her companion Landon: "Landon, our Lord has descended. Will you not return from your lost path?"

Return from his lost path?

Uh... William Clark understood. So this guy was originally a believer too, but his faith had collapsed and he had become a non-believer.

Landon's face was full of shame, turning bright red. He hurriedly knelt on one knee. "Sinner Landon does not dare hope for the Lord's forgiveness. I only ask to protect the Lord with this sword for the rest of my life, never regretting it until death."

As soon as he finished speaking, his channel of faith was reestablished, and it was thick and strong—even more powerful than the three devout followers, second only to Catherine.

William Clark was pleased—now this was more like it.

How satisfying! Another devout follower. This expenditure of divine power to descend was totally worth it!

Unfortunately, there was only 0.2 points of divine power left—not enough to raise him from level 1 to level 2, and it had to be kept in reserve.

Who knows, maybe if he got excited enough, he'd become a fanatic.

But as things stood, William Clark was already very satisfied. His voice thundered in everyone's minds: "My followers of the Light, from this day forth, Catherine shall be the saintess I have personally appointed. You are to follow her, serve her, protect her, walk the earth, and spread the glory of the Light."

"We shall obey the Lord's divine will."