Holy Church

The Holy Church is the largest sect of religion in Tortus.

Ideology
The Holy Church followed a doctrine that stated humans were above all other beings, and preached that humanity should reign supreme. Those who were discovered to have the power to use Ancient Magic from the age of the gods, or special magic that only monsters could use, were once considered to be god’s descendants and taken under its protection. Anyone caught insulting the Holy Church would be tabled a heretic and immediately be executed. In addition, anyone that would protect them would also be considered a heretic.

The main purpose of the Holy Church was to manipulate the humans of Tortus for their god Ehit's twisted game. Because of this, most (if not all) conflicts in Tortus's history were caused by the Holy Church under Ehit's order. This includes the suffering and near extinguish of many races such as the beastmen, vampires and dragonmen. They would likewise enforce their control over everyone on Tortus, not allowing anyone who's extremely powerful to live outside of their dominance. This is shown when they declared Hajime Nagumo and his party as heretics.

Many of the high ranking members of the Holy Church were extremely devoted to Ehit and wouldn't hesitate to use the lives of many innocent people just for the sake of their own agenda.

After the revelation of Ehit as the sole reason for Tortus' war-induced history was revealed, many members of the church renounced their faith of Ehit. After the death of Ehit, the chuch still worshipped their god due to the rulers of Tortus falsely claiming that it had been a different god that was using Ehit's name while having committed such heinous acts. While the people still worshipped Ehit, they completely abandoned the church's original teachings in order to establish better relationships with beastmen. They eventually cleared Hajime Nagumo's name from his falsely accused heresy. In addition, many of the church's followers, including those that knew the truth of Ehit, now worshipped Aiko Hatayama as their "Goddess of Harvest & Victory" (as well as her mother Akiko as the "Holy Mother").

Structure
The Holy Church was the dominant authority throughout most of Tortus' northern hemisphere, which was primarily populated by humans. They would have a cathedral built in the major cities of every nation under their dominion.

The Templar Knights were the church’s regular army. They were split into four division during the age of the Liberators.

Members of the Templar Knights who showed exceptional promise were promoted to one of the orders that comprised the "Three Pillars of Radiance":

The first order was the Paladins. They were responsible for guarding the pope and other important religious figures. Though they were the smallest of the orders, each member of the Paladins possessed powerful special magic that could rival even ancient magic. They were the most secerative of the three orders, with the identities of its members unknown to even the rest of the church's knights.

The second order was the Paragons of Light. They were in charge of capturing, taming, and raising the powerful beasts that the other orders used as mounts. They were the weakest of the three pillars, but also the most versatile.

The third order was the Holy Templar Knights. They were the most powerful and had roughly 300 members. They were described as the "incarnation of God's will", and were only active whenever they would receive Ehit's decree. The Holy Templar Knights had a unique organization system separate from other armies. Because of how powerful each individual knight was, their groups were all smaller denominations. A platoon was around 4-6 people, a troop around 12 people, a squad about 25, a brigade around 50, and a division 100. Altogether there was a total of around 300 knights.

In order to mitigate the threat of possible deserters within their ranks, the Holy Church required each of its members to place a drop of their blood within a powerful Artifact called the "Heretic’s Stained Goblet", which then enabled their soul to be tracked at all times. The only way to stop the goblet from tracking someone was either for that person to die, or to use spirit magic to hide one's soul.

History
It is unknown how the Holy Church came into existence, but they eventually became to dominant religious and political entity among the humans of Tortus. During its early history, it had been known as the "Church of Light".

As the Holy Church was charged with enacting Ehit's will, they had orchestrated the rise and fall of many nations throughout history, and have committed many heinous acts of murder to achieve their goals. During the age of the Liberators, they even had their own nation called the Elbard Theocracy, where the pope also served as its monarch, though it too would eventually fall in accordance with Ehit's will.

Over the next thousands of years, the church still remained the dominant authority, with over 90% of humans worshiping them and Ehit. It had still maintained its power and influence when the heroes of Earth were summoned to Tortus by Ehit.

During the demon invasion on Heiligh Kingdom, the high ranking members of the church chose to abandoned the kingdom because of Ehit's role in supporting it. In the end, the church's main cathedral was destroyed by Tio Klarus and Aiko Hatayama, with the pope and his bishops having been killed as a result.

Positions

 * Pope - The leader of the Holy Church.
 * Divine Priestess/Oracle - A person who had received a revelation directly from Ehit. They were among the highest ranked members of the Holy Church. They held no direct political power, but their influence was as great as the pope’s.
 * Cardinal - A high-ranking position that was held by four people at any given time.
 * Archbishop - A high-ranking position that was held by seven people at any given time.
 * Bishop - A high-ranking position that was held by thirty people at any given time.
 * Templar Knight - The elite group of soldiers who swore loyalty to the Holy Church.
 * Inquisitor - A position that involved the investigating and interrogation of suspected heretics.
 * Nun - A common position that is held by women. Many nuns were actually Ehit's apostles in disguise.

Known Members

 * -|"Main Series" Timeline=


 * Ishtar Langbard (Former Pope)†
 * Simon Levellair (Pope)
 * Forbin (Bishop)
 * David Zahler (Templar Knights Commander)
 * Chase Domino (Templar Knights Vice Commander)
 * Sibyl Levellair (Deacon)
 * Firim Zahler (Former Nun)
 * Noint (Former Nun)


 * -|"Zero" Timeline=


 * Lucifer Slaine Elbard (Pope)
 * Belta Lievre (Former Divine Priestess/Oracle)†
 * Ainz Arsalk (Divine Priestess/Oracle)
 * Baran Distark (Cardinal Leader)†
 * Kimaris Simtail (Archbishop Leader)
 * Forneus Abyssion (Bishop)†
 * Agares Myurie (Bishop)†
 * Lilith Arkind (Templar Knights First Division Commander)
 * Strauss Malkyrion (Templar Knights Second Division Commander)
 * Zebal Igan (Templar Knights Third Division Commander)†
 * Morcus Greant (Templar Knights Fourth Division Commander)

Holy Templar Knights

 * Laus Barn (Former Holy Templar Knights Commander)
 * Araym Orcman (Holy Templar Knights Division Commander)
 * Lelaie Argeson (Holy Templar Knights Brigade Commander)
 * Boutice Vaan (Holy Templar Knights Brigade Commander)†
 * Apri Erobos (Holy Templar Knights Squad Captain)
 * Saleos Holt (Holy Templar Knights Squad Captain)†
 * Pell Allby (Holy Templar Knights Squad Captain)†
 * Baltos Goldy (Holy Templar Knights Troop Sergeant)†

Paragons of Light

 * Mulm Allridge (Paragons of Light Commander)
 * Godel Goth (Paragons of Light Vice Commander)†

Paladins

 * Darrion Kaus (Former Commander of the Paladins)†
 * Darrion Kaus II (Commander of the Paladins)
 * Kaime Barn
 * Selm Barn
 * Ajeen†
 * Seys
 * Fira
 * Besshu
 * Sone
 * Torres
 * Hearst (Nun)
 * Ahat (Nun)†

Note: †; deceased

Trivia

 * The Holy Church is currently the only known organization that has existed in both the Main and Zero series timelines.
 * The Holy Church has employed necromancers to act as spiritual mediums. They use their powers to converse with the dead and relay their final moments to their families and friends.
 * Many members of the church from the "Zero" series are named after various and other evil supernatural beings from Earth mythology.