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 species, and preached that Humans 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. Even worse, during the demon invasion on Heiligh Kingdom, all the high ranking members of the church chose to abandoned the kingdom during the invasion because Ehit supported it. While there have been some who spoke out against the Church's teaching among it ranks (such as Simon), they are usually banished under the church's authority. During the war, the Church's temple was destroyed by both Tio and Aiko purposely killing the pope and his bishops within the destruction of the temple.

However, when they learned from both Aiko and Lilliana of being pawns in the "God's" game, the redeemed Holy Church lost all of their faiths and respects for Ehit leaving Tortus as a godless world. While no longer worshiping Ehit anymore, they completely abandoned their decree and teachings hoping to reconcile their relationship with Beastmen. Instead of seeking a god or goddess, they now worships Aiko as their "Goddess of Victory".

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.

In order to mitigate the threat of possible deserters within their ranks, every member of the Holy Church had to place a drop of ther blood into a powerful Artifact called the "Heretic’s Stained Goblet". It was able to track the soul of each person whose blood was poured into it, and the only was to stop it from tracking someone was for either that person to die or use to Spirit Magic to hide one's soul.

The Templar Knights were the church’s regular army. They were split into four divisions 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.

History
It is unknown how to Holy Church came in existence, but they eventually became to dominant religious and political entity among the Humans of Tortus. As they enacted Ehit's will, they had orchestrated the rise and fall of many nations throughout history. They even had their own nation called the Elbard Theocracy where the pope also served as its king, though it too would eventually fall.

By the time the Heroes of Earth were summoned to Tortus by Ehit, the church still remained the dominant authority, with over 90% of Humans worshiping them and Ehit.

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 (Current 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)†
 * Laus Barn (Former Holy Templar Knights Commander)
 * 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)
 * Araym Orcman (Templar Knights Division Commander)
 * Lelaie Argeson (Templar Knights Brigade Commander)
 * Boutice Vaan (Templar Knights Brigade Commander)†
 * Apri Erobos (Templar Knights Squad Captain)
 * Saleos Holt (Templar Knights Squad Captain)†
 * Pell Allby (Templar Knights Squad Captain)†
 * Baltos Goldy (Templar Knights Troop Sergeant)†
 * Mulm Allridge (Paragons of Light Commander)
 * Godel Goth (Paragons of Light Vice Commander)†
 * 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 employs 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.