Inside the Radiance Church…
The Liege of Death, having turned into a shadow, did not attack immediately. After finding out Francois’ location, he backed off to a dark corner outside of the room while waiting for the shift of night to day and the moment when the gate of the cathedral was opened. That would be the moment when Francois was most relaxed and careless.
If he were to cast a spell right now, Francois could possibly sense danger and defense in time.
Since they were going to fight in a cathedral, he was not confident that he could defeat Francois when he hadn’t recovered to his peak status yet.
Even though the cathedral was protected by the God of Truth, and lights were on all night, there was still darkness where the lights could not reach. The Liege of Death stood in it as if it had been melted into the darkness.
In the hall where the transmission circle was deployed, Francois stood up and waited for the message impatiently. Other people might be unaware of it, but he knew very clearly that a result concerning his future, if not the situation of the world, would take place tonight!
Holy light suddenly surged and glowed in the circle, illuminating the whole room and making it as bright as day. The air of divine power covered everything.
“Is there a result?” Francois immediately stared at the circle.
At this moment, two red spots suddenly emerged in the darkness. The Liege of Death had sensed the best opportunity to attack. The waves created by the transmission circle could cover all the traces before a spell was cast, particularly when Francois’ attention was fixed on the message.
He raised his right hand, and the black long sleeve of his magic robe moved backward naturally, revealing a pale hand that was completely dry. Every inch of skin and every streak on the hand was different and brimming with death. As they gathered into the runes of immortality, vague black air popped up, and intense desolation was manifested. It seemed that the realm of the dead had been recreated by the palm.
Tannanois curled four fingers and left only the index finger. The withered fingernail glittered in the mysterious black and gray.
As he let out the rough sounds that other people could not hear, spiritual faces appeared around him, writhing and raging, but they were all thrown into the desolate darkness at the tip of the index finger, dying it pale.
The Liege of Death’s body gradually turned transparent and was no different from the spiritual faces. Then, he was absorbed by his own index finger, leaving nothing but a pale and gray finger on the spot.
“Ahh!!!”
A miserable cry suddenly burst out, and a fuzzy face flew out of the tip of the finger with its mouth wide open. It covered the distance instantly and lunged at Francois’ back!
“Assassination?” Francois looked at the transmission circle in confusion. He did not understand why he would suffer an assassination in the heavily-guarded Radiance Church.
Brilliant light burst out of his body. Extraordinary items were triggered and tried to stop the face from leaking in.
However, the finger, which had already turned black, white, and gray, suddenly emerged before Francois. Passing through the defense that was almost broken, it tapped his forehead softly.
The initial attack was the Liege of Death’s most powerful and unique spell that he had named “Death Resonance”. The other sorcerers had given it a nickname—God of Death’s Call. His “finger” in the second wave of attack was the only legendary item the Liege of Death had—”Hades’ Right Hand”—which could only be used once!
Francois’ confused and shocked face was frozen, and his body quickly turned black and gray.
…
Fernando quietly flew to midair, only to discover that the cathedral in the city trembled violently as if it had an earthquake. After only one moment, the earth cracked, and a gap where red magma was flowing consumed the cathedral like the mouth of a monster.
The air of a legendary divine power burst out in the cathedral, and a holy light rose to the sky. However, it was enshrouded in a black ball and pulled downward. Flying more and more slowly, it began to descend instead of rising after only three seconds, falling right into the boiling magma.
Then, the crack of the earth closed, and there was no sign of an earthquake except for the missing cathedral as well as the clerics inside.
“The earth control of such an extent…” Fernando felt that it was the most unbelievable superpower of the earth class he had seen. Of course, the best he had seen was only the similar spells of the ninth-circle sorcerers. “Also, the attack is directed at the Church…”
From that, he concluded that it was done by a friend instead of an enemy. So, he slowly landed and waited for dawn so that he could sneak into the city and find out what happened.
…
In the Bright Hall in Lance, the Holy City…
The old pope’s beard and hair were entirely white, and his wrinkles seemed to be falling from his face. He was too old to be a living human being. Wearing a sacred crown and holding the platinum staff, he looked at the grand cardinals and the divine knights down below with eyes that were as clear as before. “Except for the members who are obliged to watch over the fortresses, all the grand cardinals are here.”
His voice was solemn but benevolent. After a pause, he raised the platinum staff and announced seriously, “The Lord has appointed a new pope in an oracle. As for me, I will return to the Lord’s arms in Mountain Paradise tonight.”
All the grand cardinals lowered their head and said respectfully, “That is the Lord’s grace. Your contributions to the Church are as vast as the Boundless Ocean.”
The old pope nodded softly. “Our contributions are exactly our gains. I hereby announce the Lord’s oracle. The new pope will be…”
His eyes passed on the faces of a few grand cardinals. Satisfied with their tranquility and devotion, he raised his voice and said, “Griffith!”
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” A middle-aged man in a clean robe walked out and fell on his knees piously. His skin was dark, and his face was plain. The only thing that differed him from peasants was that he did not have as many wrinkles, and his every movement was full of charm.
“Only Truth lives forever!” All the other grand cardinals fell on their knees and drew crosses on their chests.
Then, everybody stood up and watched Griffith walk on the seven stairs.
As Griffith took each step, the holy and everlasting songs, the ivory and sacred light, and the sand-like angels appeared one after another, making Griffith seem to be walking in the realm of the God of Truth.
Lance was covered in overwhelming holy light. All the clerics and believers knelt and prayed.
The projection of Mountain Paradise appeared in midair, casting a streak of holy light on Griffith, which looked like a halo.
Griffith walked up to the last stair and took over the platinum staff from the old pope solemnly and respectfully. Then, he turned around to the grand cardinals and raised the staff high.
At this moment, a sacred and intimidating voice descended from the infinite heights.
“Your holy name will be ‘Gregory’!”
The old pope smiled. His body suddenly turned transparent, as if he were the purest holy spirit. Then, he crumbled into countless holy spots of light that flew into the projection of Mountain Paradise.
Griffith drew a cross on his chest and declared with a voice that echoed throughout Lance as all popes did when they were crowned, “From today on, I will be Gregory!”
All the grand cardinals fell on their knees again. “Only Truth lives forever!”
At the front of the grand cardinals was a golden-haired man in a white robe. His face was chiseled, and he was tall and handsome, except that his rising nose was a bit intimidating.
At this moment, he was more focused and devoted than any other grand cardinals on the spot.
Behind him, some of the grand cardinals further lowered their heads, preventing other people from seeing their faces.
…
“What? This place has been taken over by the Mother God of the Earth?” Fernando had pictured a new scenario where he might run into some powerful sorcerers, or someone had summoned a Devil Duke, or the primordial gold dragon attacked unexpectedly. Little did he expect that the place would become the territory of the Church of the Mother God of the Earth!
He did not need to investigate at all. After he snuck into the city, many priests of the Mother God of the Earth were delivering the fact to the believers.
“It was the Mother God of the Earth who killed the grand cardinal last time? That makes sense. Only the top legend who is best at spells of the earth class could’ve killed a grand cardinal who was under the protection of the cathedral so easily…” Fernando was greatly enlightened.
As a matter of fact, Douglas, Arnold, and he had all speculated that the heretic religion, which rose against the Magic Empire with the Saint Truth since the War of Dawn began, would eventually turn against them after the Saint Truth grew too powerful. The previous cases had proved that, like the Sun God who was killed by God’s Arrival. However, he did not expect the Mother God of the Earth to revolt so suddenly!
“The outcome might’ve been different if the Mother God of the Earth betrayed during the attack of Lance…” Fernando soon accepted the fact that the Mother God of the Earth had betrayed the Saint Truth, but he did feel sorry that it happened too late. He thought to himself, Maybe because of the suppression of the Saint Truth without the pope, the coalition army finally decided to make significant compromises to the Mother God of the Earth.
Standing outside of the church of the Mother God of the Earth that had just been established, Fernando hesitated for a moment but decided not to come in. After all, there were many sorcerers among the night watchers, and the priests of the Mother God of the Earth must be too sensitive right now to trust him. He might as well go to Aalto as soon as possible and look for friends he was familiar with.
“Antec always told me that his classmate Stanis had remarkable talents and was about to become a legendary sorcerer. Hehe. I’d better meet him in person.” Fernando tried to get out of the city when he remembered his correspondences with his friend.
When he passed by two priests, he suddenly heard one of them speaking to the other in a low voice.
“Griffith has succeeded as the pope. His holy name is Gregory.”
“The new pope has been born?” Fernando was briefly stunned. “What does Ivan think?”
He had to go to Aalto immediately to find out!
