Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Clement floated in the darkness outside of the cave and observed the situation inside emotionlessly. Both the strange patterns and the intense hate and desperation were gone. Had it not been for the supernatural vibe that was still lingering in the place, nobody could have guessed that a minor magic ritual had been held in this place. Even so, nobody could speculate the specific content of the ritual and whether or not it was part of another greater ritual.
After an hour, after the supernatural air was dissolved in nature, everything that happened would be completely buried in the river of history.
Clement performed prophecy with divine powers, hoping to be inspired by the god. However, he did not learn anything that he had not already known.
“The guy is no weaker than me, and he was well-prepared in advance. Therefore, it’s impossible for me to predict the real situation. Even the Lord of Hell cannot do that…” Clement frowned. If the Lord of Hell had been in this place when it happened, he must have been able to tell the truth. However, he was in the distant Boundless Ocean and the ninth level of hell that was even more distant. When he sensed the abnormal power of feelings, the opportunity was already gone.
Clement disrupted his divine powers and analyzed the possible suspects on his own. “He’s no weaker than me… There are only a few people in San Ivansburg who meet that requirement, unless they come from outside. However, in that case, they couldn’t have made such full preparations in San Ivansburg that’s strictly under our watch… Right, the power of negative feelings needs a ‘container’ that is only one rank lower at most. I have to check who has gone missing…”
Now that the suspect had finished the status transformation, Clement was not in too much a hurry to determine the life and death of the saint cardinals and divine knights in the major churches. Instead, he waited patiently until the morning and visited the Grand Cardinals one by one.
“Your opinions are very important. I’ll certainly take them into account…” Outside of the Saint Felix Church, Clement bid farewell to another saint who had inherited his power. He was full of confusion.
None of the seven saints including himself had gone missing. They were either in the main churches in Saint Ivan Church or in the critical areas that they were defending. After he reached out to them, he also confirmed it with divine powers. It was also the case for the other saint cardinals, divine knights, and legendary knights of the empire too. Only a few of them who were out on secret missions were out of touch, but there was no sign that they had perished.
In such a case, there would be no “containers” available. Had the suspect who completed the status transformation captured a legend of other forces or one who lived in isolation? Before he realized it, he found himself stopping before the Saint Ivan Church.
The pontiff has not been occupied as a container, hasn’t he? Such an idea suddenly popped up in Clement’s head. No normal people could have been so bold, but what if it were a lunatic who did the job?
With that in mind, Clement walked into the Saint Ivan Church and asked to meet Pontiff Belkovsky.
Several minutes later, he met Belkovsky who was as brawny as a bear in the library. His voice was still loud, his eyes were yellow, and his nose was high.
“Clement, do you have any thoughts?” Belkovsky hinted that he already knew that Clement had visited a lot of Grand Cardinals and legendary knights of the empire today.
Clement was rather shocked. He had been too anxious and should’ve finished it in a few days. Had it not been for the Lord of Hell’s perception of the primeval devils and the power of feelings, he wouldn’t have known what happened at all, and his frequent visits might have betrayed him.
Therefore, he said in a panic, “The monsters in the Dark Congress swallowed the few countries on the north side of the Dark Mountain Range and threatened the Mother God of the Earth. I fear that the Mother God of the Earth will join them and have been trying to stop it in secret. So, I talked with the Grand Cardinals and the legendary knights, hoping to propose a suggestion after we reach a consensus.”
“You should talk to me first if you have any questions.” Belkovsky did not say anything else, because they were the North Church, unlike the South Church where the pope had absolute authority, and such massive, private communication would’ve been regarded as disrespect for the spokesperson of the Lord on the ground.
In the North Church, the power belonged to all the Grand Cardinals, and the pontiff only had the power to convene meetings. His voice was only louder than others’ because he was stronger.
Of course, no saints would challenge the authority of the pontiff under normal circumstances either.
Relieved, Clement said respectfully, “I’m here to ask for your advice.”
After they discussed the current situation, Clement returned to the Saint Geno Church and looked for where he had neglected. However, he couldn’t figure out what the mysterious status transform used as “container” at all. After all, there was only a fixed number of legends!
He then thought to himself, I’m still in need of several special materials to build my container. Should I borrow some from the Lord of Hell… No, he doesn’t know that I am not using the power of negative feelings but relying on the Book of Virtues… If only Saint Geno’s body can be used. A divine body and the power accumulated for hundreds of years will be enough for me to reach the peak of legendary and make a breakthrough. Body! The saints’ bodies!
Clement suddenly thought of a possibility. His facial muscles were somewhat twisted under the shock. Was it really one of them?
He kneeled on the ground and drew the horizontal cross on his chest. Closing his eyes, the brilliance of godhood appeared on his body, gathering into a cluster of light and turning into a light angel with a gold eye. Then, the silent, freezing, and monotonous black, white, and gray filled the area.
In the Temple of Spirits inside the World of Souls…
Five black iron coffins were placed with a cluster of erratic, intangible balls of godhood before or above them. Suddenly, something seemed to have flown into one of the balls, making it grow longer and bigger into an angel of light with six wings on the back.
Clement’s consciousness was attached to the radiance of godhood, and he observed the Room of the Holy Spirit, which was as quiet as a grave, sensing the passage of time in it.
“Who could it have been?” Looking at the other four coffins, Clement hesitated. If he opened the wrong one, the corresponding saint would definitely sense it, and it would be hard for him to explain why he did that. Although he wouldn’t be executed, he would certainly be regarded as an ambitious schemer by his fellows and ostracized.
He performed divine powers, hoping to give himself some hints, but the results of his prophecies varied and included every coffin.
Shaking his head, Clement remembered that the Lord of Hell was behind him and therefore made up his mind, ready to check the target that he was most suspicious about!
He walked to the front and stopped before the coffin of Saint Ivan, which was standing vertically. With the angelic wings flapping, he extended his right hand and moved away from the cover of the coffin.
Creak.
The coarse, heavy friction interrupted the dead silence in the Room of the Holy Spirit. The coffin behind the cover was empty, showing nothing but the cold reflection from the iron.
Clement’s gold eye was immediately frozen. It was indeed empty!
Saint Ivan, who betrayed the Holy City and established the North Church, was gone! His divine body and his generations of power were all gone!
“It’s indeed Belkovsky. He has completed the status transformation!” Clement could barely hold back his fury. He was angry at Belkovsky’s betrayal of their ideal.
It was not until this moment that he finally realized why Pope Viken never considered the saints in the North Church when he secretly released the ways to become a demigod, because he must’ve known that, with the divine bodies of the few saints and the power that they accumulated, all they needed for status transformation was to collect the power of feelings, which was relatively easy. Together with the power of faith that the North Church stole, the preparations to become a demigod were already done. The resources were enough to support a demigod.
If this path did not involve the understanding of divinity and faith, and the odds of failure were not as high, Belkovsky might have already tried to make the advancement… Clement thought angrily and enviously. He hadn’t even completed status transformation yet. However, he did not know that Belkovsky was unaware of the secret to combine them to break into the demigod level.
Suddenly, he frowned. “Belkovsky couldn’t have fooled everyone when he collected the power of feelings in San Ivansburg. It’s normal that I didn’t know it, but it’s rather strange that none of the saints sensed anything. Does he have any special ways?”
Thinking about that, he suddenly came to a horrible conclusion, which forced him to turn around and open another coffin without any concerns.
In squeaks, the cover of the coffin was opened, revealing the empty hollow. Felix’s divine body was also gone!
The coffins were opened one after another. The divine bodies of Uriel and Aleksey had disappeared too!
Belkovsky was not the only one who had completed the status transformation!
“So, I was the only one who did not know it…” Clement laughed in his utmost fury. As it turned out, he had been exiled from the central circle since a long time ago.
After cleaning up the Room of the Holy Spirit, his consciousness returned to the Saint Geno Church, and he reached out to Maltimus.
“Belkovsky and the other three saints have all completed the status transformation with the divine bodies as ‘containers’… Where did they learn the mysteries of negative feelings and primeval devils? Viken couldn’t have leaked it to them. The other legends who learned it certainly wouldn’t want to disseminate it either…” Maltimus considered.
He once had a plan to reveal the secret to Belkovsky at a critical moment to disrupt the situation, but he dropped the plan after he successfully arrived.
Before Clement proposed any speculation, Maltimus suddenly laughed mockingly. “I’m afraid that it was done by the guys from the Congress of Magic. They only have the secrets about negative feelings and primeval devils, and they need the way to steal and utilize the power of faith that you know. You guys are perfect partners. Hehe. To think that Douglas and Lucien Evans still insist that they will walk on the path of arcana…”
“What do we do now?” Clement asked thoughtfully.
Maltimus chuckled. “Release the message. Make sure that Viken learns it.”
……
A few days later, in the Holy City…
Benedict III looked unusually awful as he read the intelligence before him. He gnashed his teeth as he hissed, “Lucien Evans…”
