The candlelight flickered in the darkness; it was a very expansive hall.
The glimmer of the candlelight flickered slightly. In the place where the light gathered, a new Deity statue stood there. It was bathing in the subtle light and staring at the darkness around with a face of sorrow.
An old man in a White Robe knelt in front of the divine statue and prayed devoutly.
The darkness was deep, the candlelight was weak, and the prayer was silent. All of the palace seemed to have been completely frozen.
The window of the hall was open.
The clear but extremely strange sound of waves came, with the sound of countless pieces of ice crashing together. The icy wind in the depths of the Arctic Ocean whistled into the hall. The candlelight began to tremble, and the light and shadows in the hall constantly fluctuated. The entire hall seemed to be filled with an uneasy atmosphere.
The divine statue was still compassionate.
The old man remained silent.
Mellad looked at the old man in front of the statue, and the expression on his face was calm. Yet his heart was beating faster and faster.
Another gust of ice-cold wind whistled and passed by, as piercing as a knife.
The curtains within the hall were blown up, and in the shrill wind, the candlelight in the hall began to spread.
The faint flames seemed to be burning for no reason. Speckles of light fell on every corner of the hall and looked very soft.
The elder opened his eyes, and his voice was exceptionally gentle and deep. “Deity’s gaze is currently focused on this place. Light is about to descend as well.”
He raised his hand slightly.
The candles in the entire hall burned brighter and brighter. The dim yellow light of countless candle remnants gradually turned white, pure, and almost dazzling.
“But these are all fake,” Mellad looked at the old man in front of him and said with calm eyes.
“The creations created by the Deity are naturally real,” the old man said with a smile.
Mellad began to tense up his body, as though he was facing a formidable foe.
In all of the Vatican, only one person had the right to wear a White Robe, and only one had the right to wear a white dress.
The latter was the Holy Virgin.
The former was the Pope.
Only the Pope.
No one could have imagined that after helplessly retreating from Recchi City, the Vatican hadn’t followed the trend to leave Eastern Europe. Instead, the Pope himself had arrived. Clearly, as far as the interests of Eastern Europe were concerned, the Pope wasn’t willing to give up.
“Who the hell are you?”
The Pope walked about in the wide hall, and his voice sounded rather casual. “Mellad, I need an explanation for all of this. If nothing unexpected happens, then after the Eastern Europe chaos, you’ll have many choices. For example, you can continue to stay in the Holy Disarmament Corps. I’ll give you more freedom to act as you please. I even want you to go to the Knights Templars and become the new Chief Horsewoman. Or perhaps you can stay in Eastern Europe and become the spokesperson for the Vatican in Eastern Europe.”
The Pope’s tone was calm. “I’ve thought of many possibilities, all about you. I dared to use you, but I didn’t expect that you would give me such a big surprise.”
He paused and continued, “Who are you?”
“Your Majesty Pope, does it really matter who I am? What matters is that I saved Aresis’s life,” Mellad said calmly.
That night of the Trial Day, he had saved Aresis in the most unlikely occasion, and his hidden power had been completely revealed. He couldn’t hide this information at all. But in the end, he had still brought Aresis back to the secret headquarters of the Vatican. To him, the exposure of his identity was no longer a major issue. Most importantly of all, with the exposure of his identity, some plans that had been secretly changed had to be carried out by him.
For example, persuading the Pope.
“In fact, if you don’t hide your strength and join hands with Aresis, the situation may not be like this.”
The Pope said warmly, “You betrayed the glory of the Deity and caused tremendous damage to the Vatican. Why?”
After a moment of silence, Mellad shook his head with a bitter smile on his face.
“Betrayal is a sin.”
The Pope said slowly, “But the Deity is benevolent. He will pardon you, and will also permit you to enter the Divine Kingdom. Go confess, Mellad.”
In the flickering candlelight, he snapped his fingers.
An incomparably huge sense of danger suddenly enveloped Mellad.
Fatal dangers came to him from all directions.
He subconsciously began to retreat.
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”
An almost crazy roar suddenly cut through the night.
The whole hall suddenly shook violently in the roar.
All the lights in the hall suddenly went out.
Mellad suddenly opened his eyes.
The Pope was standing close to him.
The candlelight was still there, but it was much fainter.
He had knelt in front of the Deity statue with a steel knife in his hand, and the skin on his chest had been cut open.
Fresh blood flowed down.
As long as he added a bit of strength, he would be able to personally pierce through his heart.
In the blink of an eye, cold sweat appeared on Mellad’s forehead.
After the Trial Day, Mellad and Aresis immediately entered the secret base of the Vatican in Recchi City.
The first thing the Pope did was to pray.
This prayer didn’t take an hour or a day, but a few full days and nights. Even when the other members of the Vatican had left Recchi City, the Pope hadn’t moved.
The prayer had lasted all the way until now.
The Pope, who had finished the prayer, was not weak. On the contrary, his energy and vigor had reached their Peak. In his spiritual field, as long as he wanted, it was impossible for Mellad to fight back under the crisis.
Was this the Transcendent Realm?
Mellad’s breathing was ragged, and in the blink of an eye, the terror he’d felt as though his life was on the brink of death had transformed into extreme anger.
He suddenly raised his head to look at the Pope and said in a fierce voice, “Your Majesty Pope, you want to kill me? How dare you kill me?!”
“You need to confess.”
The Pope’s voice was gentle and calm.
“Well, confess. With my own life?”
Mellad began to laugh loudly. “How is it now? I’m still alive. You weren’t able to kill me.”
“This is the Deity’s order.”
The Pope said slowly, “The Deity bestows you with life. You should thank it.”
Mellad stared fixedly at the Pope.
Sweat and blood kept flowing from his body.
The Pope quietly looked at Mellad. His eyes were so deep that he couldn’t see the bottom of them.
After an unknown amount of time, Mellad finally took a deep breath, stretched out his hand, and drew a cross in front of his chest.
The Pope smiled with satisfaction.
“I like your current attitude.”
He poured himself a glass of water and took a sip. “The Deity creates everything. Before the great glory, everyone must maintain awe and veneration.”
He poured another cup of water and handed it to Mellad. “So, who exactly are you?”
Mellad looked at the cup of water. For a moment, he didn’t dare to take it.
In the Pope’s spiritual domain, even if he was an expert who was infinitely close to the Peak of the Invincible Realm, he could not be sure of his current state and could not believe his own perception.
He saw the water passed by the Pope, but he did not know what it truly was.
He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and said, “It doesn’t matter who I am.”
“I want to know your identity, but you refuse to answer. This is arrogance,” the Pope said gently.
Arrogance was a sin.
Mellad hesitated for a moment and said slowly, “I’m a follower.”
The Pope’s body stiffened for a moment.
The candlelight around seemed to be slightly turbulent as well.
“Follower?”
“Whose follower?” he asked in a surprised tone.
“Naturally, I’m His Majesty’s follower.”
Mellad said calmly, “Your Majesty Pope, this time, I’ve returned and brought back His Highness Aresis. This is a demonstration of our sincerity. Our Majesty wishes to work together with the Vatican in order to plot the overall situation of Eastern Europe.”
“His Majesty? His Majesty.”
The Pope repeated these words and took a deep look at Mellad. “Which Majesty is it?”
There were only two recognized Majesties in the Dark World.
The Sword Emperor Wang Tianzong.
The other was the Pope.
Now, His Majesty behind Mellad was obviously not Wang Tianzong.
“I don’t know,” the follower replied with a calm tone.
The Pope narrowed his eyes, and then let out a sudden laugh, “Can I put it this way? You betrayed the Vatican. As for your true master who made you do it, don’t tell me you don’t even know who he is?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mellad said calmly, “I don’t care what his status is, but he can give me what I want.”
“What do you want?” the Pope suddenly asked earnestly.
Mellad laughed self-mockingly, “The Vatican won’t be able to give me what I want.”
The Pope fell silent.
“I don’t believe in such cooperation.”
The Pope was silent for a long time before he said calmly, “But I don’t mind you telling me what I can get from the cooperation with His Majesty.”
“As for what you can get, the key is to see what you want, and what you can pay for.”
Mellad’s words were very meaningful.
The Pope laughed and said calmly, “I’m not willing to pay anything before I have a complete plan, but you can try to convince me with your life.”
The meaning of these words was obvious.
Mellad was in the Pope’s territory, and so he was at the mercy of the Pope. If the collaboration didn’t succeed today, naturally Mellad wouldn’t be able to survive.
Mellad pondered for a moment, and then said calmly, “His Majesty can bestow upon you the Deity’s authority which the Vatican has always desired.”
He said calmly, “The Deity right of all of Eastern Europe, the Eastern Church, has been destroyed. The faith of Snow Country and even of the people of the five states of Eastern Europe can be bestowed upon you.”
“Bestowed upon me?”
The Pope laughed, and his laughter sounded incomparably cold, “You’re really arrogant. No one but the great Deity in this world is qualified to bestow me anything.”
“Then let’s change the world.”
Mellad said casually, “A deal. His Majesty is willing to give you the Deity’s authority which you desire the most.”
The Pope leaned on the couch and said slowly, “How can His Majesty think that he can give me these things?”
He looked at Mellad and said meaningfully, “The five countries in Eastern Europe are Li Tianlan’s world.”
“So far, no one has been able to deny this point.”
Mellad nodded. “The five countries in Eastern Europe really belong to Li Tianlan. But sometimes, in sensitive times, the direction of the five countries in Eastern Europe is decided by Zhongzhou State.”
“Zhongzhou State…” the Pope mumbled to himself, deep in thought.
“As for Snow Country, the Vatican has quite a bit of influence within Snow Country. By the time the situation is set, His Majesty will naturally put in effort from behind and allow all of the Vatican to be unimpeded in Snow Country,” Mellad continued to say.
The Pope looked at Mellad, and the look in his eyes grew calmer and calmer.
Mellad hesitated for a moment and said slowly, “Your Majesty Pope, if you are willing to cooperate with us, then we can show sufficient sincerity now.”
“Sincerity?”
The Pope’s lips curled up into a smile. “For example?”
“The Polar Ground Alliance.”
Mellad said calmly, “If you agree, we can give all of the Polar Ground Alliance to the Vatican as a show of sincerity.”
The Pope’s body shook violently for a moment.
“If you are willing, we should move to another place now,” Mellad said calmly.
“Where is it?”
The Pope finally narrowed his eyes and became serious.
“Mormans.”
The Pope lowered his head and pondered for a long time before slowly saying, “If we can cooperate, what do you want?”
In the darkness, Mellad laughed as if he was baring his fangs and brandishing his claws. He looked at the Pope and calmly made his own request, “We want the Knights Templars.”
