Summary
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The Western Holy Church is the center of the faith of Luminism, the biggest religion in this fantasy world. They serve and worship the one true God, Luminus. Some people find the strength to go about their lives thanks to Luminism, while others go as far as devoting their lives in service of the Luminism faith.
What these people, and everybody else in the world for that matter, don’t realize is the fact that the Western Holy Church and the faith of Luminismwere built on lies and deceptions.Not only that, but it also has a secret purpose that is way more sinister than you might think. So from its inception to how it operated, this is all you need to know about the Western Holy Church inThat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
Veldora and the Nation of Vampires
To fully understand Luminism and the Holy Western Church, we need to go back to 2000 years ago. Under the leadership of its strong and charismatic leader, Luminous Valentine, the vampires thrived. This was undoubtedly the golden age of vampires. But everything fell into ruin when their nation became the target ofthe Storm Dragon Veldora’s wrath.In a matter of hours, the enigmatic vampire nation that had existed for thousands of years was reduced to rubble. Needless to say, countless vampires lost their lives that day.
“That annoying wicked dragon has been a constant nuisance to me.”
—Luminous Valentine, Chapter 87
A Rebuilding Effort That Looked Toward the Future
The Vampires are a resilient race,so it didn’t take long for them to begin rebuilding their nation. However, Luminous was traumatized by Veldora’s terrifying attack, so she came up with a plan that would ensure the safety and prosperity of her dwindling race.
This means the new nation has to satisfy two important requirements:
The solution that they came up with was rather ingenious. They built their real country deep beneath the ground and then created a human country right on top of it.
So in the event of another catastrophic incident like the one with Veldora, the humans will be the victim while the vampires are safe underground. Not only that but since they are so close to their source of nutrients, the vampires basically have an unlimited supply of blood. And that was the beginning of the Western Holy Church and the Holy Empire of Lubelius.
The Western Holy Church and the Holy Empire of Lubelius
The foundation of the Western Holy Church and the Holy Empire of Lubelius actually happened at around the same time. You see, Luminous realized that the most efficient wayfor a demi-human racelike vampires to control humans, which is their main source of nutrients, is through religion. So Luminous created the religion known as Luminism and the Western Holy Church as its spiritual center.
As Luminism grew and grew, there was a need for a centralized and administrative center, which was why the Holy Empire of Lubelius was eventually founded. You can even say that the Holy Empire of Lubelius is the extension of the Western Holy Church.
How the Western Holy Church Works
So how do Luminsm and the Western Holy Church manage to convince innocent civilians to come and essentially become the livestock for the vampires? Well, the answer is through a clever, elaborate, and arduous plan.
Providing Beneficial Service for Humanity
One of the fastest ways to gain a stranger’s trust is to help them solve their problems. For mostpeople in this magical world,the problems are monsters and illness. They lack the means to defend against powerful monsters and the knowledge to heal their sick and injured. The vampires are strong and some of them, interestingly enough, can use holy magic. So they dress as priests and warriors and scatter to help the people in need while spreading the faith of Luminism at the same time.
Becoming an Ally to Humanity
To make their influence grow even bigger, the vampires decided to create a doctrine that instantly caught the attention of every human in the Western world. According to Luminism, every non-human creature is an enemy of mankind. For those who are alwaysafraid of those terrifying monsters,this doctrine sounds like the words of a just and kind God. By positioning themselves as the ally of humanity and enemy of monsters, people from all over the world convert to Luminism and pledge their loyalty to the Western Holy Church.
Expansion and Human Integration
As the number of the Western Holy Church’s followers grows, so does the power and influence of the Holy Empire of Lubelius. At this stage,the vampires decide to slowly step backfrom their administrative roles and begin to integrate the clueless humans into their ranks. Some become priests, some become the Crusaders and the Paladins. They send these priests and crusaders to various Western countries, which increases their influence and followers even more. And now, 1000 years after its inception, the faith of Luminism has become the biggest religion in the world.
Absolute Secrecy
These ingenious plans undoubtedly play a massive role in growing and spreading the faith of Luminism and increasing the influence of the Western Holy Church. But the most crucial step that allows this farce to go on for so long is “absolute secrecy”. you may count on one hand the number of humans who know that the Holy Emperor is actually a vampire, that their biggest enemy—the Demon Lord Roy Valentine—is actually the twin brother of the Holy Emperor, and that their one true god, Luminus, is actually theDemon Lord Luminous Valentine,the leader of the vampires.
A Symbiotic Relationship
We can say all we want about the ethics and morality, or the lack thereof, of what the Western Holy Church has been doing for the past 1000 years. But the truth is one of the main reasons why nobody ever complains about the Church or even suspectsany foul play or deceptionis simply because everybody benefits from the existence of the Western Holy Church.
Vampires Get Their Nutrients
After the Veldora incident, the most important thing for Luminous is to ensure her people can have a sense of security and a steady supply of blood. Thanks to the Western Holy Church, people willingly come to meet the vampire priests—not knowing thatthey are vampires, of course—and basically give their blood for free.
They either give their blood as part of their offering to God Luminus or the priest hypnotizes them for a bit while he takes their blood. Since the vampires only take a small amount of blood, the victim never notices anything wrong with their body. So thanks to the Church, the vampires never have to worry about food anymore.
Humans Get Their Magic, Protection, and Influence
Even though the humans never know about the vampires behind the Western Holy Church, they still reap the benefits and privileges given by the Church and the Holy Empire, mostlyin the form of security and healing magic.Not only that, but some of the human priests also manage to climb to positions of power in other countries thanks to their connection with the Church.
So in exchange for their blood, the humans receive protection, healing magic, and influence. Not a bad deal at all, if you ask me. And as long as they don’t realize that they’ve been duped, then everything should be fine. As they say, ignorance is bliss.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slimeis available to stream onCrunchyroll.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
Based on Fuse’s novel and light novel series, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is an isekai anime that follows Rimuru, a guy who reincarnates in a fantasy world as its weakest monster. However, that soon changes.
