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Chapter 732: Misfortunes Never Come Singly

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In Rentato, on a dark street.

Carrying something heavy, two small men were moving stealthily on the street. Suddenly, a couple of people jumped out and fiercely pushed them down to the ground.

Bang!

That heavy thing fell to the ground.

"Black dogs on Granlin Street!" the small man blurted out.

Then he got a crispy slap on his face because of what he just said. A man in uniform walked out of the darkness and squatted down in front of the man.

"I prefer policeman or sir."

Since the headquarters of the Holm Police Agency was located on Granlin Street, the gangsters had been used to calling the agency Granlin Street.

The slap made the small man afraid. "Yes, sir…"

He was told that the black dogs on Granlin Street had some kind of special alchemical item that could torture them with horrible paralysis and pain. So never be reckless in front of a cop.

"Caught right on spot… stealing the lid. You'll be sent to the court for your sentence and you will face the charge of endangering public security. If nothing else, you two will be spending the rest of your lives in the mines. Of course, if you two are willing to become some experiment subjects, you might be able to come back to Rentato after a year," said the senior policeman while smacking the small man's face.

The small man was totally shocked. "En… endangering public security…? Sir, we didn't mean it! We were… We did it just for money!"

The charge sounded very serious to him.

"I've told you jerks multiple times to listen to the radio to know the rules and laws. You don't know laws, you don't know rules, you're not even qualified to be a thief!" The senior officer stood up.

The charge of endangering public security came from the Parliament of Nobles and was suggested by Natasha. When they were discussing the regulations on aircraft and road safety, Natasha suggested that there should be a law preventing people from using aircraft or cars for murder.

"It was a lid! Only a lid!" The two thieves almost burst into tears. They could not imagine how it would be like laboring in the mines.

As for becoming a sorcerer's experiment subject, this option would never happen! That would be even more horrible than death!

The senior officer sneered, "You stole the lid. You would make other people fall into the sewers. That's how you two endangered public security. Repent when you're in the mines!"

"No, please, sir! This is the last time! We wouldn't have done it if we knew it!" they two hurriedly begged.

"Sir! I've got… big information. Big!" one of them cried out loud.

They would do whatever they could do to save their lives!

The senior officer nodded with satisfaction and said to the other cop, "Take them back for interrogation. Give me the confession first before submitting it."

The two thieves were now in tears. After they left following the cop, one of his subordinates flattered him, "Sir, good for you. They were scared to death! It was so easy for you to get a big piece of information!"

"It was their fault for not listening to the radio. Honestly speaking, I wish I could make them face the charge! Damn it! Lots of people this morning saw how I was tripped over!" said the senior angrily.

No wonder the leader was hobbling earlier today…

The senior officer had given the order, "Put the lid back to where it was and lock it tight."

And he could not help complaining, "It's such a pain in the a*s… Why are we doing all these? We've got plenty of stuff to do. We shouldn't be the one doing it!"

After the rest of the several policemen put back the sewer lid, one of them said to the others, "I wonder if anyone's down there… The lid went missing for at least a couple of minutes…"

"Impossible! It's already very late, and it was only a few minutes," said his colleague lightheartedly. Then he pulled out a tube of apprentice-level alchemical potion and poured it into the edge between the lid and the ground. The potion would glue the lid tight in the cold night and gradually melt in the daytime.

Some sorcerers helped them with this potion.

The policemen then hurriedly went back to the office on Granlin Street. They needed some hot tea.

After a while, someone started knocking at the lid from below. However, the lid would not move because of the special glue.

In the dark sewer, the veins in Nasdell's head were pounding. He was furious, and he could not figure out why there was such a big hole in the middle of the street. What was wrong with this city? When he fell in the sewer, he still wasn't able to control his body very well from the paralysis. Now he was covered with blood down here, and somehow he could not even get out!

Fury, annoyance, and confusion were mixing in his guts. He wished that he could return to his werewolf form and punch the sewer lid away with a single strike!

However, he had to force himself to calm down. Once someone saw him as a werewolf, he would have great trouble in carrying out the task given by the prince.

He tried to take a deep breath, but the stink under here almost made him throw up.

"Nasdell, you gotta calm down. You shall never let the prince down. Don't act like those reckless idiots," he said to himself while hobbling along the sewers.

After a while, an angry roar burst out again from down in the sewers, "Damn it! It won't open!"

Nasdell totally had no idea why people in Rentato would do so.

After walking for a long distance, when Nasdell had reached his limit, he finally found a lid that was not glued.

He pushed open the lid and climbed out. The cold, fresh air never tasted so sweet to him in his life.

Even as an adult werewolf, Nasdell felt very exhausted after all these. So he walked to an old, abandoned house and sat down against the wall. He needed some time to heal and take a rest.

The wounds from falling into the sewers had healed, but the deep pain left in his bones by the electric shock was still there. He could do nothing else but to wait.

Nasdell murmured to himself, "There are good things about Rentato, but also very dangerous things. How could they dig such a huge hole in the middle of the street and place lightning magic circles right on the square without any protection?"

He would not admit that he did not know how to use electricity safely, as he believed that those sorcerers were too reckless.

The night was quiet. Nasdell gradually calmed down. He comforted himself that things would get better soon.

However, as soon as the thought emerged, his sharp intuition made him sense the great danger. Without a second thought, he jumped forward with all his strength.

However, his body had yet to fully recover from the electric shock, so his movement was a bit slower.

Boom!

The abandoned house suddenly exploded and then completely collapsed!

"Are you guys nuts?! You even f**king blow your own house?!" Nasdell was totally clueless about what was going on.

What just happened was totally beyond his expectation. And obviously, the explosion wasn't coming for him. Nasdell would have sensed it way earlier if it had been.

BOOM!

The explosion blast hit Nasdell fiercely, and he was instantly buried by bricks and dust.

"Wh… Why…" murmured the werewolf.

On the other side of the street, the crowd was watching the explosion.

"Sir, the new explosive offered by the sorcerers worked very well!" said a brown-haired man excitedly. A few houses had been torn down within seconds!

"Good. This will save us lots of work and time. Soon, we'll be able to widen the pavement so that this whole area in Rentato would become much more comfortable." The director nodded with satisfaction.

To get the new explosive, their boss had paid a special visit to Allyn to have a specialist come over to guide the work.

One of his workers asked, "Why are we here at midnight though? People are sleeping…"

"So you mean we should block the street during the daytime? This street connects the market zone to the city gate! You know how much money would be wasted if we did so? Get those lazy workers to move. The street has to be cleaned by dawn!" said the director aloud.

The workers started their work. One of them said apprehensively, "Sir, we didn't check before the explosion to make sure no one was in it…"

"There was no one in it! We've blocked the street in all directions and used magic crystal lamps as signs. We've been watching all the time, unless someone just popped out from the ground!" the director yelled at him.

…

In the early morning, Ali walked out of his rented place and headed for the noble district along a busy street.

He wasn't in his best spirit since the explosions last night deprived him of his sleep.

Fortunately, the team which did the demolition had informed the residents well ahead with notifications. He could read, so he was not scared last night at all.

Beside the entrance of the noble district, there was once an abbey that had now been turned into a school. Students were reading aloud in the classrooms. Fine coaches kept driving to the school gate successively to send the noble kids here.

Mills Generic School on Kining Street in Noble district, Rentato… That was where his pen pal friend studied.

Jane from class one grade two. Ali thought to himself.

The second year after generic schools came into being, those nobles had decided to set up a noble school to make sure that only the privileged kids could study here. After seeing how those generic schools worked, the nobles had to admit that putting their kids in the school environment could better spark off the kids' passions to study and help them build up their social circles at a young age.

Ali watched the fine coaches and cars driving into the school, as well as the different aircraft including airships and aircars in the sky, and he felt that there was an invisible wall in front of him.

He sighed. Like the past few days, he turned around and left. His mind was full of all kinds of thoughts—depression, inferiority, and desires.

Now he had come back to the street where a couple of houses got torn down last night. He then heard some strange whimpering.

Ali followed the whimpering and was surprised to see that there was a big dog lying in the tall grass. Its eyes were tightly shut, and its silver fur was covered with blood and dust.

To Ali, the dog resembled a wolf very much. From the books, he knew that there was a kind of dog that looked like wolves very much.

Out of kindness, Ali walked to it and noticed that there were many wounds on the dog.

"You got lucky, pal." Ali grinned.

He learned how to bind up wounds from working temporarily in the Congress of Magic's hospital recently. He dragged the big dog home and wrapped it like a mummy.

After a while, he saw that the big dog had woken. Somehow, two lines of tears fell down from its dull eyes.

It was the first time that Ali saw something like this. He hurriedly comforted the big dog like he was talking to a human being, "It will get better. There's no need to be this emotional. I just did what I should. Don't cry. Our lives will get better in Rentato."

Hearing the word Rentato, the big dog cried even harder.

Chapter 733: Rentato, Such a Dangerous Place!

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the early morning, the cold wind kept thudding the windows. Anyone would feel very lucky if he or she was now in their warm beds.

But Ali could not fall asleep. He had a night shift in the hospital and just came back home an hour ago. His head was full of all kinds of thoughts. How could he make his life better? What would be the best way to make achievements? Would he ever have a chance to own his own aircraft? He could not stop these thoughts.

Ali released a long sigh and sat up on his bed. Putting on his coat, he walked to the small table in his narrow room and pulled himself a couple of tasteless ale. Ali would not call the liquor good, but that was still the only enjoyment he had in life.

Holding the cup, Ali walked to the window and sat right down on the floor—the table was the only piece of furniture he had in his room except for the bed.

Watching the leaves shivering in the wind outside of the window, Ali's heart also felt cold.

His rented place faced a quiet street. Rarely was there a coach or a car passing by, and the sound of wheels grinding the road made the atmosphere even colder. There was no garden, as this place was located in the worst area in the district.

But Ali knew it well that the owners of these buildings were in fact quite wealthy, and their lives were much more leisure than most people. They had good insight into investment. So when more and more people flowed into Rentato for job opportunities in those alchemical workshops, they had altered their houses by cutting them into more rooms. Even though they were renting out the many rooms at a relatively low price, they were still making a lot.

After the alchemical workshops made lots of achievements, the textile industry finally felt the crisis and started inviting sorcerers who were good at using golems to improve their spinners. After two to three years, the productivity of the spinners had been greatly improved and more jobs were created. Meanwhile, people in Holm could finally afford more clothes as the prices of fabrics had become much lower!

Gulping down the ale, Ali pushed the window open. The freezing cold wind made him feel the chill down his spine, but he also felt better because of the refreshing wind.

The beautiful, cold moon was still in the sky. At this time, Ali saw that the big dog he saved was also attentively staring at something out of the window in the direction of the city gate. He was amused and said, "You also feel lost? Do you know which way to go in the future?"

He was talking to himself. He never expected that a dog could understand.

The dog gave him a cold glance but then kept staring at the city gate. The dog had its own plan. It would leave this dangerous city as soon as it recovered!

Ali also turned to look in the same direction. He could see the tall city wall, which appeared white under the moonlight. He released a sigh, "That wall's indeed tall, but not as tall as the wall between nobles and ordinary people. The latter was so cold and formidable. No one could climb over…"

His listener was just a dog, but he did not care.

"Why ordinary people could never step into the world of nobles? Everyone's got eyes, nose, and brain, but they're born to be noble and privileged. So one's birth should determine his entire life… Is that right?" Ali murmured to himself. Despite the many thoughts, he still had to accept the truth that he belonged to the inferior social status. However, obviously, he did not want to be like this for his whole life.

The dog whimpered and took a glance at Ali. How childish he was!

The social status of nobles came from the power they mastered, like those powerful leaders among werewolves. That was a fact, and no one could change it until he or she gained enough power. At that time, those nobles would welcome the person to join their circle, and thus one would wish to retain the power forever.

"You agree with me?" Ali grinned upon seeing that the big dog had finally given him some reaction. He continued, "I do understand that to overcome this invisible wall I have to make great enough achievement, but with so many options in Rentato, I can't make up my mind cause I'm afraid of missing the true opportunity. When I saw the fancy vehicles in front of the school, I felt that I probably could never break the wall, you know?"

He confessed to himself in front of the big dog, and his spirit had been lifted once again. He was not even twenty, so energy resumed very quickly.

"I've made my decision. I know how to read, but I don't know much. Maybe I can still study in the hospital or an alchemical workshop while working. I wouldn't be having a solid foundation for what I want to learn. So… I'm going to save money to go to a generic school!" Ali stood up and announced to the silver moon.

"I do know it's hard, very hard, but it doesn't mean I can't do it. Mr. Evans was so poor that he could barely feed himself, but he's the top arcanist now. It was all because of his own hard work! I am better off with the several queen coins given by my parents, and it wouldn't take long for me to save enough money!" Ali clenched his fists and encouraged himself.

Lucien Evans' story was like a legend that had been turned into a variety of stories by the bards and was popular among both nobles and common citizens.

"Although I am not as talented as Mr. Evans, and I cannot become a musician or a great sorcerer, as long as I work hard, I'll definitely make some achievement in my own field!" Ali's chest was full of hope.

From Jane's letter, Ali knew that the society was looking forward to being more well-educated as there was still a very small percentage of people who could read, not to mention those who know well about a certain field. As long as one was willing to and had the chance to learn, his or her future would be bright.

If Ali could learn well, perhaps he could become a sorcerer, a knight, or enter other professions that could share the same high social status with the nobles.

In this age, knowledge would never become useless. Although the process of learning would take up lots of time, every second would be worth it!

After making the decision, Ali was now in a good mood. Staring at the silver moon, Ali said to the big dog, "If I am also to be the main character in the bards' stories in the future, I would get a chance to study in the generic school and have my talent in magic and arcana wakened. I would know lots of friends and become a legendary sorcerer to change the world! I would also defeat devils and demons planning on destroying the world! In that case, you'd be remembered by history as well! You'd be the early friend of a great person!"

Then he took a glance at the big dog. "In most cases, in a bard's story, you should be a magical creature. You know, a dog with a mysterious background and very powerful. The moment when we met would change both our lives…"

As he was saying, he checked the big dog enthusiastically, but in the end, he sighed. "Nop, you're nothing special."

At this time, he saw upset in the big dog's eyes. But why?

The second day was Ali's day off. He took the big dog with him and was seeking some odd jobs in the city to save more money. Somehow, the big dog's recovery was much faster than he expected.

"A new alchemical workshop? Producing vacuum tubes?" Ali saw the notice on the wall.

Out of curiosity, as he had no idea what a vacuum tube was, he and the big dog headed for the workshop.

When they almost arrived at the workshop that was located close to the city gate, the big dog lowered its head and stayed closer to Ali.

"What is it?" Ali asked casually, "Are there too many people for you?"

Nasdell was seeking every possible chance to escape from Rentato, but his reaction came from something else.

He just saw a nasty vampire in Rentato! He looked back and believed that the filthy vampire would have himself killed in this dangerous city!

They walked further, and Nasdell's eyes suddenly lit up. The city gate was just over there!

As long as he could go through the gate, he would be safe!

Nasdell thought that he should give this young man some recompense for his help, if there was a chance.

The desire for freedom had filled up Nasdell's heart. Although he had yet to fully recover, he suddenly jumped out and started making a dash for the city gate like a fish trying to jump back to water!

Fifty meters, twenty meters, ten meters, five… Nasdell's heart was beating faster and faster as he was getting closer to the city gate.

Bang!

A car that was speeding ran right into Nasdell. When the car stopped, the owner of the car got off and asked purposefully, "Whose dog is it?! It suddenly jumped out! For what? Murder?!"

When Ali realized what happened, blood had gushed out from the big dog's mouth. After several twitches, the big dog then completely stopped moving.

Ali hurriedly went up and apologized. The car owner was, in fact, the one at fault, so he just asked Ali to pull the dog away after a short complaint.

Seeing the body of the big dog, Ali sighed. "It looks like we're not partners who can change each other's life. But thank you. Because of your company in the past two days, I've regained my confidence. I shall bury you well."

He dragged the body of the big dog to the wood outside of the city and buried it very carefully. He stayed there for a while to adjust his mood and then left.

After a while, the tomb suddenly split open, and a half-dead dog climbed out.

"Luckily I know how to play dead…" Nasdell murmured in low voice. He looked back at Rentato at a distance. It was such a dangerous place!

He was going to report these all to the prince!

…

In Lance, the Holy City, Benedict III said to Philip, "There's no response from the Angel King?"

Chapter 734: The Pope's Senses

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Yes, we tried to summon the Angel King through a ritual to ensure that the artificial planets of the Congress of Magic could be captured, but he gave absolutely no response, not even the symbolic light of refusal in the past. Your Holiness, did anything happen to the Angel King?" Philip told everything that had happened. He couldn't have sounded more worried.

After the battle of Rentato, the strength of the South Church had greatly declined. As a result, the influence of the Angel King became of paramount importance for them, helping them to stabilize the panicked and suspicious clerics. Also, an expert at the peak of legendary who could command three level-three legendary seraphs of Mountain Paradise was himself a great weight that could change the balance of the situation.

Of course, for Philip, the most important question was whether or not the Angel King's lack of response had anything to do with His Holiness. Was it because of the secret dissemination of the way to gather the power of faith? Did an accident happen when the Angel King tried it?

After hearing Philip's reply, Benedict III did not show any emotional change. He slowly closed his eyes, and the holy light emerged behind him. The ivory light spread out, building up the sacredness and vastness.

Then, embraced by the light, a gate seemed to have been opened in midair leading to Mountain Paradise. The hollow and unpredictable hymns echoed, and infinite brilliance surged out, constituting a projection of "Mountain Paradise" that was almost concrete.

The angels and holy spirits inside the projection seemed to have sensed something. They all bowed at Benedict III solemnly with respect.

He was the Lord's spokesperson and embodiment on earth. Until he returned to Mountain Paradise, he was even more honorable and closer to the Lord than the Angel King was!

After he returned to Mountain Paradise, he would be directly melted into the light of the Lord as part of the Lord!

After the greeting, the angels and holy spirits began to pray, praise, and sing. The projection of the seventh floor was clearer than at any time in the past.

The seventh floor of Mountain Paradise was the infinite, transcendental pure light that was devoid of impurities. It gave so much pressure that the god inside seemed truly capable of destroying the entire world!

Even Benedict III could see exactly what was inside as a demigod. He could only vaguely notice that a lofty angel with thirty-six wings on the back crouched at the periphery of the light with a vintage and divine book in his hands.

"Nothing is wrong with the Angel King. He has simply fallen asleep for some reason." Benedict III smiled at Philip. "Although his God's Guard is very suitable for such operations, can't we achieve our goal without him?"

He looked peaceful, but his eyes squinted. How could Mecantron have been so weak? What terrible wounds had he suffered? What was he doing exactly? Had his ambitions sprouted yet again after the Sard incident? Who caused it?

Even though the Angel King was surrounded by the power of the God of Truth, Benedict III, as an unquestionable demigod, keenly sensed the weakness of Mecantron, since Mecantron only dared to crouch at the edge without pressing any deeper. He felt anomalies from the uncanny status.

If the Congress of Magic hadn't demonstrated the importance of artificial planets through live stream, the Church certainly wouldn't try to summon the Angel King when the situation was relatively peaceful, like the hundred years in the past. In such a case, he wouldn't have noticed the Angel King's weakness at all. In half a year at most, Mecantron would regain a part of his strength and cover his weakness. Because of his relationship with the God of Truth, it would be impossible for him to detect any problem.

"I have to thank the Congress of Magic, Lucien Evans, and Natasha Violet…" Benedict III looked rather gloomy.

After hearing the pope's question, Philip replied respectfully, "Your Holiness, summoning the Angel King is only meant to increase the odds of success and eliminate the unexpected factors. It's not true that we cannot achieve our purpose without him. If you are willing to take action in person, things will be much easier."

"Although I cannot use God's Arrival yet because it's only been several years since I was crowned, I am still the embodiment of the Lord and a demigod who stands on the top of the mortal world. Why dare I not go out of the Holy City and take action in person?" Viken, who appeared as Benedict III right now, spoke in such a casual tone as if he were discussing what would be suitable as the dinner tonight. "If the evil fake god Alterna weren't staring at the ground from the sky all the time, I could've stopped all the top legends of the Congress on my own."

It was a sublimation of life advancing from top legends to demigods. Even though it was barely possible for Benedict III to eliminate any top legend when he was unable to use "God's Arrival", his enemy still couldn't defeat him no matter how many top legends they had.

Philip said in delight, "If Your Holiness takes action in person, our plan is already 90% successful."

"However, I can only attack once. The Silver Moon, the Lord of Hell, the Will of Abyss, and the other evil fake gods must be waiting for an opportunity to heavily wound me before I could perform God's Arrival. For that purpose, the enemies might even let go of their grudge and detestation against each other and collaborate," said Benedict III peacefully.

He was not sure if Lucien and the other sorcerers detected the real secrets of the monster and Mountain Paradise in the Realm of Gates, but there was no doubt that they must have found something. While the story in "Arcana Voice" was exaggerated, it was still partly true. If they looked through the phenomena on the surface, they would vaguely notice the connection between him and the monster and realize that God's Arrival could not be used frequently not only because it was too much for the physical body.

Therefore, he set up his plans on the premise that Douglas, Fernando, Lucien, the God of Silver Moon, and the Lord of Hell already knew the two big secrets.

"Once will be enough." Philip was delighted. "As a matter of fact, we could've captured it through our method to destroy artificial planets in the past, but since the Congress of Magic revealed it actively, we have to be careful that they may have set up traps. Therefore, we have to revise our plan."

A few years back, since the Church was unable to establish similar items on the orbit, their attacks had always been conducted through the legendary experts alone. The measures through which the artificial planets protected themselves, such as hiding and orbit-changing, were barely useful for the well-prepared legends. The main concern was that magic circles had been established on the artificial planets to facilitate legendary sorcerers' reinforcement and to feed the situation back to Allyn.

Therefore, their plan had always been simple. They would confirm that the legends of the Congress of Magic were out on missions first and wait for an opportunity to outnumber the enemy. Even though the surveillance magic circles delivered the intelligence back to Allyn, and the legendary sorcerers in Allyn could reach the artificial planets to join the battle, they still wouldn't be able to stop the destruction. By the time the other legendary sorcerers of the Congress of Magic came to aid, the artificial planet would've been destroyed.

The plan seemed simple, but there were actually a lot of difficulties. First of all, they needed to make sure that the legendary sorcerers were really out. Their lives would be at risk if they gave a wrong estimation about the enemy's number and strength. When legendary sorcerers were prepared, it was difficult for the non-legendary night watchers to determine their whereabouts. That was why the Church had only destroyed two artificial planets so far.

It was also the reason why Philip was worried that they might fall into the Congress of Magic's trap in their operation. After all, it certainly wouldn't be the most pleasant experience if they reached the orbit through the preinstalled transmission circles only to discover that Douglas, Brook, Fernando, Hathaway, Lucien Evans, and other people were waiting for them. Plus, there were no divine defense circles on the orbit, and the legendary sorcerers could block the space easily to prevent the reinforcements from being teleported. Then, things would be the most dreadful.

"The legendary sorcerers who focus on the microscopic domain are less and less interested in the outside world. They are dedicated to the collision of particles…" When he heard Philip mention the plan in the past, Benedict III shook his head and sighed.

In the microscopic domain, magic experiments were more important than field explorations. Therefore, the legendary sorcerers had been going out much less frequently. Thankfully, they needed to conduct microscopic experiments in different environments and explore if there were any particles that hadn't been discovered, such as positrons, in the weird environments. That was why they did not stay in Allyn all the time, in which case they could've established a terrifying legendary squad at any moment.

Of course, the legendary sorcerers were not only focused on the microscopic domain. They also needed to watch over the alternate dimensions, the four countries on this side of the strait, and the north coastline.

"They disagree with each other so hard in the microscopic domain that they are almost fighting among themselves…" Philip mocked and continued, "To prevent the evil gods from seizing a chance to attack you, we do not need you to capture the artificial planets on the orbit directly. Instead…"

He introduced his whole plan.

Listening without showing any emotion, Benedict III replied in the same tone, "Alright."

After Philip bid farewell, Benedict III walked to the window and looked at the blooming flowers outside that did not seem to be living in winter at all. He nodded, "We have to be more careful."

…

On the Silver Moon Wasteland…

Nasdell, who had returned in a haste, stood before Dubenal, his head lowered, not having the courage to look at the prince in the eyes.

"So, Rentato is already such a dangerous place…" said Dubenal in a rough voice.

Nasdell immediately felt like bursting into tears. Everything that happened to him was not entirely worthless. It helped the prince to see the dangerousness of the Congress of Magic and Rentato. Those guys who laughed at him the moment they saw his wounds couldn't understand his enormous contributions at all!

"Therefore, working with the Congress of Magic is an option that is worth considering." Among the werewolves, some princes were close to the Congress of Magic, and some, including Dubenal, were hostile. Therefore, Nasdell thought that he could change the prince's attitude with his investigation.

"No," said Dubenal firmly.

Huh? Nasdell looked at his prince in surprise.

"We should attack the Congress of Magic. Since they are already so powerful and dangerous, working with them will only result in a new Saint Truth," declared Dubenal confidently and proudly.

Stunned for a moment, Nasdell said with much admiration, "Your Highness, you are truly the smartest expert among the werewolves. Your wise eyes have seen through the nature of things. I didn't realize that at all."

"Hahaha." Dubenal laughed aloud in a great mood. He had always thought highly of Nasdell because the guy was very honest and not clever enough, which made the guy a good contrast for himself.

Chapter 735: Arrival of Chaos

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The north of the north coastline was a bleak land. The hardy trees and the bizarre terrains had turned the place into a paradise for werewolves and ice bears. There were even powerful magic creatures that wandered in the depths of the vast land, such as silver dragons, white dragons, or frost giants.

Therefore, although the path to the East Haven had been built bit by bit by the adventurers of many generations who avoided the most dangerous areas, the business teams and passersby who walked on the roads suffered all kinds of attacks now and then, which dyed the northland in bloody, chaotic colors. It had been known as a heaven of desperadoes.

In the Month of Ice, the area had already been covered in white. Even the evergreens had been donned in pure gauzes. One could not see any color as far as their eyes could reach. If they stared at the snow all the time, they might not be able to open their eyes again.

However, on the road where tracks had been covered by the snowflakes, devastating blood was spreading out. The randomly-thrown swords, spears, hammers, and other weapons indicated a fierce battle in this place.

Leaving the main road and heading north along with the footprints on the road, one would see a boundless old-growth forest. In the center of the forest, there was an inconspicuous gap that led to a rather spacious underground cave.

The torches on the wall of the underground cave illuminated the place. However, the fire on those torches was in the most bizarre, pale color as if it did not carry any heat at all. There was nothing but dead silence.

Pale light emanated from the torches and sprayed on the black-robed guys who were crouching inside the cave, making them look even more creepy.

Those black-robed guys stuck their foreheads to the ground. Judging from their bodies and their faces, it was obvious that they were not entirely humans. Some were werewolves with hair on their cheeks, some had the distinctive marks of beasts, and some were frost giants who occupied a large area…

They were absolutely still as if they were dead, and they were praying toward an altar that was piled with bones. One black-robed priest, in whose eyes pale fire seemed to be bouncing, stared at the mysterious patterns that were emitting the intense air of death, as well as the enormous scythe on the altar that represented life reap.

"Birth is the beginning of death, our unavoidable destiny…"

The black-robed priest suddenly raised his hands and chanted the obscure prayer. A cluster of pale fire suddenly rose on the altar in quietness.

"Birth is the beginning of death…"

The black-robed followers who were like corpses that finally moved. Their bodies were shivering under their coarse voices.

The priest up ahead couldn't have sounded more creepy. His zeal appeared as the most extreme coldness. "Compared to the eternity after death, life is too short to mean anything. Darkness, coldness, and death are the everlasting themes of life…

"We will eventually decay. Only if our soul enters the realm of death and sleep will it never decline gradually…"

The priest's eyes became hollow. "Today, we offer sacrifices, as well as our lives, to our Lord, so that our souls will have a place to rest in for all eternity!"

"We would like to offer our lives to the Lord for a shelter of our souls…" Those black-robed guys seemed to have been hypnotized and simply replied numbly.

Hearing their reply, the priest was greatly relieved. He had delivered yet another batch of devout believers to the Lord after preaching on the true meaning of death. According to the "Soul Rite" that the Lord gave to him, he would be closer and closer to the Lord in such a way, and he would get rid of the body and soul of a mortal and grow into a real bringer of death.

By then, his life and his soul would soar. He would be as magnificent as legendary knights and sorcerers!

Thinking about that, he felt that the pale fire of death in his heart was burning even more intensely and weirdly. It seemed to be creating a vague world of death inside his brain and around, a world of extreme peace that was brimming with undead creatures.

"This is truly a sign that I'm closer to the Lord. I can already sense the great and sacred paradise of death. By the time I can sense it clearly, it will be the time for my ultimate advancement!"

At this moment, the human beings who were in a coma around the altar were back to themselves. Some of them were in fancy clothes, and some were wearing leather armor. They looked no different from any merchant team on the northland.

"What… What are you doing?" somebody accused in panic.

"Damn you, bandits. You'll pay for your assault today!" Somebody was still enraged.

"Please, let us go. You can have all the goods and money. Killing us is useless for you." Somebody else was shaking in fear after sensing the anomaly in the environment.

The priest raised his head. From his gloomy and dark eyes, a really pale fire jumped out. The moment they saw the fire, those human beings were paralyzed and could not utter a word anymore.

"Go to the center of the altar and off your life to the Lord," the priest let out a dull, unemotional command.

The merchants and mercenaries looked pale and terrified, but they could not resist the priest's order at all. They stood up as if they were possessed, and they walked to the center of the altar beyond their control.

The man who walked to the pale fire first picked up the black scythe, his hands shivering. His eyes were brimming with fear, desperation, and madness, but his hands still cut his own throat firmly with the scythe that did not seem to carry any weight.

A scary wound appeared on his throat, but not a single drop of blood spurted out. His whole body withered into a dry corpse very soon. Something transparent seemed to be floating out of his body into the pale fire.

The pale fire immediately rose higher, and a mark, which was so red that it was almost black, could be found on the edge of the black scythe.

The priest felt the delight from the bottom of his heart. It was an experience that was beyond any entertainment. Even without the improvement of his strength or the reward from the Lord, the delight alone was enough to motivate him to proceed with the ritual.

The world of death in his head and around himself was clearer.

"My sublimation is higher, and I'm closer to the Lord…" the priest moaned, but nobody noticed his lack of self-control.

The sacrificial offerings reaped their own lives one after another. The pale fire was more and more exuberant, until it was almost jumping out of the altar.

"Come on. Show your devotion. Life is short, and death is eternal!" the priest turned around and announced most sacredly.

The black-robed believers all changed their voices and shouted zealously, "We would like to offer our lives to the Lord for a shelter of our souls…"

The scythe of death seemed to have sensed the zealous atmosphere. Humming, it rose from the shelter and hovered at the ceiling of the underground cave.

"We would like to offer our lives to the Lord for a shelter of our souls!"

The black-robed believers echoed their prayer again, but it was no longer a response but a sincere request.

The gigantic scythe whose edge was in deep red absorbed all the light and reduced the whole underground cave into darkness. Only the pale fire at the center remained unaffected.

The gigantic scythe suddenly fell into the pale fire. At this moment, all the black-robed believers shook hard, their eyes losing all the colors, as if something important was absorbed from them into the fire.

The pale fire expanded and drowned the whole underground cave again. The skin of those black-robed believers began to decay, and dark red fire leaped out of their eyes. They had turned into undead creatures all of a sudden!

The priest was even more delighted. He could no longer tell the material world from the paradise of death and simply felt that his soul had been greatly purified.

"Great Lord of Death, please enjoy your sacrifices!" he shouted in a high voice. The undead creatures in the cave also raised their arms, which made the cave look like a dense forest.

The pale fire was reduced and condensed into the size of one person, but an illusionary gate appeared at the center.

The gate was opened, and a monster in black cape showed up in the fire. Behind the monster was a plain where countless specters wandered, and below its feet were the temples made of bones.

The monster seemed to be an embodiment of death that nobody could look at, because whoever saw it would immediately lose their life. Thankfully, it could not step out of the pale fire and enshroud the world with death.

The priest felt that his soul was weightless. He was even more addicted to it.

"My strength has been increased again! My soul has been further sublimed!"

The black-caped monster looked out; its hollow eyes suddenly emitting unusual waves. Then, its body split into two identical selves as if it were looking at a mirror, although the strength of the two halves were both halved.

A pale fire arose on the new self of the monster of death, which consumed it and connected it to the fire and altar around it.

Then, as the other self of the monster chanted weird spells, the fire rolled fiercely and gathered into what appeared to be a gate. Then, the gate was gradually dyed in red.

Boom!

When the gate gradually took shape, an unimaginable air of chaos and slaughter spread out. As a result, unusual winter thunders burst out in the sky, and the cave began to shake so hard that the whole northland was trembling.

The priest suddenly realized that his soul had been improved to the highest point, and the world of death around him and that in his head were fully integrated.

"Have I succeeded?"

In ecstasy, he was ready to melt himself into the world of death to acquire the legendary power. However, the world of death disappeared all of a sudden, and a meatball that was jumbled by countless eyes, heads, and limbs showed up before him.

After he saw the meatball, the priest felt that his soul had completely mutated, and his thinking ability vanished rapidly.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

He let out a scream of surprise and fear in the end, before his body was twisted, with black, thick tentacles popping up.

In Kasvig, the capital of the north coastline, the Burning Lady stood up abruptly and looked far away. She sensed the extreme foulness and chaos were surging out from there!

"Hull-Chulia, what happened?" She hurried to contact Hull-Chulia, the Monarch of Fate.

Hull-Chulia, who was floating on the top of the magic tower, said solemnly, "The Will of Abyss is attempting to arrive. We must stop him immediately. I've already informed the Congress of Magic."

Such a thing could only be handled by at least one grand arcanist, and Hellen, from the Cabin of Palmeira, was now watching over Allyn. If the Will of Abyss did arrive, even though he hadn't entirely recovered from his wounds yet, it would still be most terrifying. There was no God's Arrival to beat him back this time! Besides, nobody could tell if he would suddenly decide to blow himself up and destroy the whole northland.

Chapter 736: Meteor Shower

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the City in the Sky, on the thirty-third floor of the Allyn magic tower…

After receiving the report of Hull-Chulia, the Monarch of Fate, Hellen directly activated the dark red magic circle in a corner of her desk. The lines on the circle zigzagged like earthworms.

Dark red glowed out, and the usual merry and delightful voice of Prospell, the tower guard of the Allyn magic tower, became low and solemn. "Emergence Plan C has been activated. Contacting all demiplanes…"

Two seconds later, a dark red curtain of light was unfolded around Hellen into fifteen pictures. There was a land that was different from the real world, a kingdom where electricity and magnetism raged, a garden that was glowing and dimming like a human's heart, and a vast and bright universe.

"Not counting the few Excellencies who are out on missions, fifteen demiplanes have opened and responded," Prospell said in an equally solemn voice.

Her face in peace, Hellen said briefly, "The Will of Abyss attempts to arrive at the northland. There's still time to stop. I suggest that at least three grand arcanists come with me."

Such a suggestion was to avoid accidents. Even if they were trapped or could not stop the arrival of the Will of Abyss, they would still be strong enough to flee. It had to be noted that the Will of Abyss remained a demigod however wounded he was. He could kill anyone below level three of legendary instantly.

If he were in perfect condition, Hellen wouldn't have suggested for the grand arcanists to go but simply asked the top legends to go. With unusual spells or equipment, there was still hope for level-three legends to escape from a demigod. However, it was still rather risky. Who would ever try that unless it was absolutely necessary?

Furthermore, as the legend behind the Cabin of Palmeira, Hellen Paris did not back off but announced that she was willing to handle it in person. After all, if the de facto ruler of the northland was unwilling to take the risks, the other grand arcanists would certainly have to consider if they should go.

Hellen's decisiveness prevented the possible debate of responsibility in the emergency meeting of the Highest Council. Douglas said peacefully, "Since the enemy is the Will of Abyss, we need at least two top legends. Also, I fear that there are schemes behind the abrupt incident. So, Fernando, Hathaway, Hellen, and I will go to the northland to stop him, Brook and Hathaway will replace Hellen to watch over Allyn, and the rest of you will stay where you are on alert. Keep in touch with each other."

"Alright." Lucien did not hesitate, and Fernando had already reached Hellen's library. He had always been impatient.

Because the north coastline was far away from Allyn, the transmission magic circle was faster than space jump. Therefore, Douglas, Lucien, and the other reinforcements were directly teleported to the branch of the Congress of Magic in Kasvig.

On the top of the Tower…

Bergner looked at the darkening sky and thought to himself, Does the meteor shower tonight indicate anything?

The meteor shower landed into the depths of the Boundless Ocean, so Bergner did not pay much attention to the horoscope at the beginning. He threw it away after interpreting the symbolic meaning behind it for a while. However, now that he recalled it again, he felt that his heart was somewhat uneasy.

...

The Burning Lady had a very female name, "Elaine". She looked as gorgeous as a rose, but after she put on the armor that seemed to be made of rose petals and picked up the fiery short swords, all her frailty and femininity were gone. She was like a bouncing fire that released the scorch that could keep anybody away. Nobody could look at him in the eyes.

"The air of chaos is still increasing. It means that the Will of Abyss hasn't really arrived. There's still time for us to stop him. We cannot wait for and depend on the reinforcements from Allyn. Perhaps the opportunities will be gone while we wait. I do not wish to see my hometown turning into an abyss of chaos and blood." She and Hull-Chulia had already approached the old-growth forest.

Since the distance was not long, the space transfer and rapid travel that the legendary knights' talents brought were as fast as the legendary sorcerers' demiplane jumps.

She made the speech mainly to express her determination. In terms of protecting their homeland, legendary knights were much firmer than legendary sorcerers, because it was their creed.

The Monarch of Fate had a hairstyle that looked like the rolling clouds in the sky. He was slightly fat and looked rather friendly. Smiling, he said, "It's been a long time, but he hasn't entirely arrived yet. It seems that the Will of Abyss has chosen a not-so-brilliant way that is a major contrast to his attempt in Rentato."

In the battle of Rentato, thanks to the blood sacrifice after Paradise on Earth was destroyed, the Will of Abyss was able to arrive completely in a very short time, not giving Benedict II any opportunity to react. His arrival this time, on the other hand, had taken almost three times longer than last time, and it seemed that he hadn't finished half of the process yet. It was clear that he had chosen a relatively underdeveloped and unpowerful approach.

Hull-Chulia was not very suspicious about that. If the Will of Abyss knew how to weigh the pros and cons, choose the timing cautiously, and take action only after he had recovered, he would be no "Will of Abyss" but "Lord of Hell"!

Hull-Chulia did not bother to consider why he would take such an approach at all. If he could guess it, he would've suspected that he had been contaminated by the air of abyss and lost the wisdom and rationality that he had always been proud of. It was impossible for a normal person to understand the abyss.

At the center of the forest, a cluster of darkness that was as black as ink covered the land. All the trees in the range had been contaminated by the disgusting and unbelievable blackness. Red eyes were opened on the trunks, and the branches were as active as tentacles.

"A forest of monsters…" the Burning Lady remarked with her impression. Then, she noticed a bloody gate at the darkest place. On the gate was the patterns that were enough to dizzy even a legend.

Around the bloody gate, a pale and crimson fire was rising unpredictably and could not fully take shape.

"Not bad. We can avoid the tragedy if we can destroy the Portal to Alternate Realm that can allow the demigod to arrive while it hasn't been built yet." Hardly had the Monarch of Fate's voice died down when an evil and chaotic roar burst out behind the gate.

Hooooooo!

Crack, crack, crack.

Hull-Chulia's passive spells were triggered. Clouds with flashing lightning surrounded him and stabilized him who almost fell from the sky.

The Burning Lady dropped almost ten meters before she managed to stop. So much fire bounced out of her body that she looked like a real flame element.

Drops of fire landed from her body onto the ground, igniting the darkness and the trees. She had obviously been hurt.

Hull-Chulia and she looked at each other in shock. Was it the power of demigods? They had been wounded by a chaotic roar even though the enemy had not completely arrived? If he did arrive, would they lose their mind and become Demon Lords?

Having been through many battles, the two of them held back their fear. One of them began to cast legendary spells, and the other turned into a fire that burnt everything around them. The fire enveloped the bloody gate and made it burn in cracking noises.

A few thick black tentacles suddenly extended from the underground world and whipped at the fire. They were surrounded by the corrupt and chaotic black air.

However, Hull-Chulia's esoteric spell echoed at the best moment. A wind rose in the forest. The air masses in both high and low pressure created a tempest and resulted in glittering bolts of lightning.

Crack.

The tentacles were destroyed, and the soil was plucked, revealing the monster inside the cave. He had absolutely no sign of a human being right now. There was nothing but protruding lumps, wriggling tentacles, and countless eyes on his body.

BOOM!

The clouds were tightened, and the monster whose soul and life had been "sublimed" was obliterated in the lightning.

Hooooooo!

The extremely chaotic and foul roar echoed like a spell behind the bloody gate. Fire immediately surged out, blowing the Burning Lady back to midair and reducing her to her original appearance. She couldn't have looked paler.

Right when she gnashed her teeth and was ready to charge forward again, she heard a gentle voice.

"Paradise of Stars!"

A weirdly-shaped celestial globe flew to the top of the bloody gate. Brilliant and pure light drifted out like the dust of stars, and a deep and dark cosmos arrived, enshrouding the whole area.

In the infinite coldness, the bright stars were joined into different magic circles according to the horoscope. The wriggling darkness stopped, and the trees full of eyes and lumps withered. The roars that came from behind the bloody gate were suppressed to the minimum.

"The Emperor of Arcana has come…" The Burning Lady was greatly relieved. She knew that Douglas and the reinforcements of the Congress of Magic had arrived. It was certainly impossible for the Will of Abyss, who hadn't completely arrived, to fight a top legend who was closest to a demigod from a different realm. Whatever his purpose was, he was destined to fail.

When her concerns were gone, she heard another gentle voice.

"Snow Goddess' Forgiveness!"

A transparent pillar of light brushed past her eyes. Thanks to the help of "Paradise of Stars", it hit the bloody gate that was mired in pale and crimson flames.

Electric currents and lasers that were barely visible for the naked eye appeared, constructing a web of snow and ice whose grids were too dense to be seen. The air within the web was frozen, the trees were frozen, the burning pale and crimson fire was frozen, and so was the bloody gate. Everything was reduced to the lifeless coldness and darkness.

Witnessing the scene, the Burning Lady and the Monarch of Fate felt that their eyes were frozen, too. The extreme, unparalleled coldness made them shiver from the bottom of their hearts.

"Lucien Evans has such a terrifying snow spell?"

Hellen slowed down the casting of her spell. She looked at the area that had been caught in a frighteningly low temperature with the passion that she only had when she studied arcana and magic.

...

Outside of the orbit of the planet, an ivory holy light slowly glowed, and Benedict III appeared in the dark vacuum.

He raised his platinum staff high. Looking at the enormous remnants that were running at him, he spoke mercifully and pitifully, "When the world is dirty and filthy, you will cleanse everything with your fury!"

In the airless universe, his voice spread out in weird ways.

Those meteorites came to a halt miraculously. Then, they turned their direction and left a burning, bright path in the atmosphere. Their remains collapsed toward Allyn like a torrential storm!

Chapter 737: Punishment of the God

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The burning furnace in the hall drove the freezing coldness of the Month of Ice away. Heidi and her friends leaned against their chairs lazily with different books in their hands. They read the books while they enjoyed the special sweet food.

Although magic air conditioners had been installed in their rooms, making the winter warm and the summer cool, Heidi preferred furnaces, because the fire in the furnace brought warmth to her heart. It was the symbol of a real family for her.

"Magic is truly great. I don't worry about getting fat no matter how much sweet food I take…" Heidi patted her stomach in satisfaction. "Fat Burning" did not only work on the enemy. It was rather popular among the sorceresses when it was controlled well.

Sensing something, she blinked to the side of the window and looked at the high sky, only to discover that shooting stars were passing the sky and falling like rain. It was truly beautiful.

"Look, a meteor shower!" Heidi could never resist such a wonderful view. She exclaimed at her companions.

However, her eyes were suddenly frozen at this moment. According to her knowledge in the horoscope and force field, the landing spot of the meteor shower would be…

"Allyn!" she blurted out.

The sorcerers who observed the stars on the Tower also opened their mouths. Shouldn't the meteor shower land in the Boundless Ocean according to the previous observation and prophecy? After that, a lot of sorcerers would go out and search for the meteorites as materials for their studies and alchemy. Why had the trajectory of the shooting stars been changed, making them attack Allyn like a storm?

"Allyn…" Brook and Hathaway, who watched over the City in the Sky in replacement of Hellen, noticed it earlier than they did.

Brook intended to fly over and shatter the meteorites while they were still in the sky, but the meteor shower was unimaginably huge. Also, since the landing point of the meteor shower had been weirdly changed, he had a terrible feeling and did not recklessly go out to block it.

"Level-one alarm. The defense of Allyn is fully activated." Hathaway activated the corresponding magic circles calmly. "We will focus on defense and destroy any shooting stars that might hit Rentato or any populated areas nearby with rays and lasers."

The weirdness of the matter prompted her to increase the level of alarm. Otherwise, such a natural accident only deserved a level-two alarm at most.

Brook, on the other hand, spoke to his demiplane that remained connected. "Fully activate the defense circles of the magic towers in the local branches. The supervising legends will expand the range of alarm. The other legends will return to Allyn immediately and be prepared for attack and reinforcement."

"Try to notify the legends who are out on missions and gather all our forces…" Hathaway added.

The two of them calmly carried out the countermeasures and informed Douglas, Lucien, and the other sorcerers in the northland of the matter.

Gigantic "raindrops", in glowing light and leaving a bright trail behind, rushed and smashed at Allyn.

At the same time, an intense fog spread throughout Allyn, making the City in the Sky appear to be in a dream instead of reality.

Glimmering stars rose from the fog and connected each other into a vast starry sky around Allyn. Each of them took up a certain spot and circulated according to specific trajectories, forming different magic circles. Those magic circles then overlapped and integrated into a greater magic circle which boasted terrifying power.

That was the ultimate form of the defense of Allyn.

The "raindrops" were brighter and brighter as the burning, gigantic meteorites hit the foggy, starry sky brutally.

The stars were even more brilliant, and ripples spread out in the fog, but the meteorite was nowhere to be found.

The raindrops of stars fell nonstop with the world-destroying air. The fog in the defense of Allyn fluctuated, and part of the stars even died out!

Faced with such a pure natural accident, Brook and Hathaway could've adopted another magic effect—anti-gravity and deviation. In such a way, the meteor shower wouldn't be able to cause any harm to Allyn at all. However, such a way of processing would transfer the harm of the meteor shower to the ground, and since the populated Rentato was not far away, they decided to resist it the hard way.

At the edge of the torrential storm, the meteors flew past the defense of Allyn, falling on the villages around and Rentato!

At this moment, in the foggy starry sky around Allyn, a pillar of crimson, thick light suddenly darted out and hit one of the meteors precisely.

Without a sound, the meteor was nowhere to be seen as if it had been burnt up.

Crimson lasers and greenish rays shot out of the defense, destroying all the meteors that might hit the ground.

At this moment, the citizens in Rentato had already discovered that the defense circles of the city had been activated. They looked at the sky in astonishment, only to catch the scene where shooting stars were falling and lasers were darting at them. They were too astounded to say anything. That was ten thousand times more spectacular than the magic battles as described by the bards and the plays!

Even the greatest number of meteors could not power a long-lasting storm. After the first wave, the meteors became sparser. Right when the sorcerers in Allyn were slightly relieved, a shooting star that seemed to be burning its life passed through the atmosphere. The ivory, holy light on the shooting star illuminated more than half of the sky.

The power contained in the shooting star was greater than all the shooting stars before combined. It was like a punishment of heaven and the god!

"Benedict III!"

"Viken…"

Brook, Hathaway, Brook, and Oliver called out different names. Such a powerful attack could have only been launched by a demigod. Even the pontiff of the North Church, who was capable of God's Grace, couldn't have achieved that!

"Elemental Protection!"

"Magnetic Collapse!"

"Annihilation Ball!"

"Anti-gravity Field!"

…

Shocked as they might have been, their reactions were not slowed at all. They performed their legendary spells and activated the defensive magic circles, focusing everything available in Allyn to resist Demigod Viken's "Punishment of God"!

Suddenly, a magic circle before Brook and Hathaway was triggered and manifested a screen. Inside the screen was the scene on the planetary orbit. Points of ivory light appeared and turned into Melmax, Philip, and the other Grand Cardinals. They were flying toward Brook and Hathaway quickly!

That was the perspective of the artificial planet. Therefore, their target was not "Brook and Hathaway" but the artificial planet!

Create chaos to distract and disperse the enemy's forces, and then attack the enemy quickly so that there would be no time for reinforcement when they realized what was going on. That was exactly Philip's plan, simple but effective. Nobody could ignore a demigod's attack!

Of course, the emergency of the Will of Abyss in the northland made him even more delighted and confident of his victory.

The shooting star seemed to be carrying the will of the god. It arrived unstoppably, swearing to destroy everything. Brook and Hathaway were completely occupied and could not get out of the defense at all.

Boom!

The shooting star hit Allyn, raising an enormous explosion. The colorful layer of Elemental Protection was immediately shattered, and Anti-Gravity Field vanished into thin air under the ivory holy light.

The dark, twisting magnetic field was broken; so were the brilliant stars and magic circles. Even the fog had been separated into several parts.

Although no significant damage was caused to the defense of Allyn and the two top legends, their reactions were indeed limited. Brook looked at the sky, as if he could see the pope who was standing at the periphery of the planet through the atmosphere and the darkness. The man walked slowly with the platinum staff in his hands, disappearing before the silver moon glowed.

"Inform Douglas and the legendary sorcerers who are watching over the branches…" As indifferent as before, Hathaway asked Prospell without the slightest frustration.

Inside the old-growth forest in the northland…

After Lucien cast the super-freezing ice spell and consolidated the bloody gate, the whole forest fell quiet, as if even the sturdy northland creatures had also sensed the coldness that did not belong to the normal world. They dare not act recklessly at all, fearing that the coldness might spread out.

It was difficult to maintain such an extremely low temperature. The frozen darkness gradually thawed and vaporized into a pure mist.

The mutated trees, the underground cave, and the pale and crimson fire near the bloody gate all became mist and disappeared, and the bloody gate was so narrow that it was barely visible. It was about to completely disappear, too.

At this moment, the most evil and chaotic roar echoed behind the gate again, turning the snow into a bloody mist. The bloody gate, on the other hand, was contaminated by the disgusting, wriggling blackness. It expanded quickly and exploded all of a sudden!

Boom!

As if a whole abyss collapsed in this place, the rolling chaos and blood buried the surroundings. The gate was completely obliterated, but it still created a daunting attack in the end.

"This lunatic!" Lucien and the other sorcerers cursed. The Will of Abyss was truly unreasonable. He had truly "detonated" a layer of abyss, not considering how much power it had left after crossing the realm and how much damage there was left!

"Space Staff!" Ripples of light gathered next to Lucien's hand into ripples, placing himself and the Monarch of Fate next to him in many universes away.

Chaotic evilness devoured the place, announcing the arrival of the most dreadful silence.

...

On the orbit, the few Grand Cardinals dispersed and stayed on alert, in case anybody blocked the space and attacked them, while Philip and Saint Melmax flew toward a silver artificial planet.

The artificial planet was fully engraved with complicated, obscure magic patterns, which seemed to have reached the central part.

"Let's bring it away." Delighted as Philip was, he still took out a Truth Cross prudently.

The cross did not glitter, and it looked as unattractive as if it were made of random stones. The emblem of the Saint Truth and the stars that represented angels had been carved on it.

"Elimination!" Philip raised the cross. Vague blackness glittered on it with a certain air of sacredness.

The darkness, which was entirely different from the darkness around, sprayed on the artificial planet, immediately eliminating the magic waves and putting out the silver magic circles.

It was a legendary item that corresponded with the blood power of "Elimination"! Philip feared that other traps were installed on the artificial planet and decided to get rid of them all at once.

However, as the last magic circle died out, something seemed to have been activated. Its core was not affected by "Elimination" at all and began to react on its own, resulting in an instant explosion.

Boom!

Dazzling light that felt like the sun glowed, and a storm of energy consumed the environment!

"Well…" Philip had no time to react at all when he saw Melmax blinked to his front to resist the attack.

...

In the forest of the northland, Lucien and the sorcerers finally cleansed the chaotic power of the abyss. At this moment, something glittered in the night sky.

Looking at the unusual light, Lucien smiled at Fernando. "A nuclear reactor that loses control every time it is activated has its own usage. The only problem is that the artificial planet was not large enough…"

With his expression remaining graceful, Fernando did not offer any remark.

Chapter 738: In Vain

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In San Ivansburg…

When the shooting stars passed the sky and hit Allyn like a storm, Belkovsky, the pontiff of the North Church who was inside the cathedral, sensed something although he did not see anything. Looking at the ceiling, which had beautiful embossments, he said to himself in shock, "Has Viken taken action? They're planning to capture an artificial planet?"

He and the Grand Cardinals of the North Church had already made a plan to "claim" one of the artificial planets when the South Church was capturing them. They were even scheming to bolster the progress behind the curtain in case the South Church procrastinated and gave the artificial planets a better opportunity of performance. However, when it really happened, he remained absolutely still and did not even summon the saints and the other Grand Cardinals.

That was because the South Church took action too fast for the Congress of Magic to react. Naturally, the huge battle that they envisaged did not take place at all. If they were to jump to the orbit through the preinstalled transmission circles at this moment, they would see nothing but the back of the Grand Cardinals of the South Church who were leaving, encounter the reinforcements of the Congress of Magic who had come late, and bear the fury of the Congress of Magic instead of the South Church!

Who would ever take somebody else's blame without earning any benefits from it?

"The Congress of Magic cannot so inert, can they? However strong Viken is, he cannot stay out of Lance for long, or how can he suppress so many top legends and grand arcanists?" Belkovsky frowned as he sensed the anomaly in the matter.

Under normal circumstances, Viken should've attacked Allyn to stall a few top legends and most grand arcanists, but since he could not block all of them, the remaining arcanists would lead the other legendary sorcerers into the orbit and fight the Grand Cardinals such as Melmax. Although they could not stop the South Church from taking away the artificial planet because they had been slowed, a huge battle that the North Church looked forward to would inevitably break out. However, as it turned out, the sky was absolutely quiet at this moment! Where were the grand arcanists of the Congress of Magic?

Without the navigation of grand arcanists, it was impossible for the other legends to arrive at the orbit through projections because they were two levels away from Melmax and would be crushed. If Melmax had "Purge Cross" with him, they would probably be killed!

A prophecy divine power was performed immediately. Since the thing was happening, and nobody tried to interfere with or cover the trajectory of fate, Belkovsky immediately understood what was going on. The Will of Abyss had arrived at the northland without a sign!

"He's working with Viken?" Belkovsky felt as hilarious as if he had seen his own death notification. Not believing it at all, he knew that there was only one way to cooperate with the Will of Abyss, which was to establish a ritual that could summon him and open the barrier of planes, and if the ritual happened to be near the enemies that needed to be dealt with, the Will of Abyss would not hesitate to kill them.

Therefore, Belkovsky would rather believe that Viken took advantage of the brainlessness of the Will of Abyss, but how exactly did he summon him? Allowing a demigod that did not belong to the main material world to arrive had a great cost. However, there was no sign before the incident, and there were no disguises such as "Paradise on Earth" on the surface…

Belkovsky considered Viken's approach in case he was dealt with in the same way in the future. Suddenly, his heart of faith rippled again. The strange feeling prompted him to blink to the window and look at the sky.

In the gloomy afternoon of a winter day, a glittering light seemed to have flashed in the high sky.

It might've escaped everybody else's attention, but Belkovsky, as the strongest top legend, certainly had no trouble distinguishing it. He squinted and said, "Has the artificial planet exploded?

"Also, the explosion is as powerful as legendary!

"Those heretics of the South Church did not even cast any divine power to eliminate the effects? They couldn't have been that dumb, could they?"

He suddenly felt lucky that they did not take action just now. Otherwise, not only would their effort have been in vain, but they would have also exposed their intention and pissed of the Congress of Magic.

Although other interests would still maintain their cooperation, it was possible that the Congress of Magic would return the "favor" someday.

...

On the empty orbit, Saint Kati, Astira, and the other people, who stayed on alert far away, sensed the anomaly of the artificial planet when they sensed the overwhelming heat coming at them. The surging energy storm swept out like a torrent.

"Damn it!"

"How could this happen?"

Their divine items were triggered as they exclaimed to themselves, before they were all drowned by the storm of energy.

Fernando and Hathaway's fission reactor was mostly based on reverse engineering on "Atomic Fission" and their own studies on the fission reaction. They had a rough idea about the role that neutrons played, but they were still far away from utilizing it steadily. To quote Lucien, the core of their fission reactor was essentially an atomic bomb, whose energy was slowly released by magic. That was why accidents happened all the time and legendary explosions were generated.

When the Purge Cross eliminated the magic circles outside and stopped magic from blocking the reactions, the "failed reactor" inside the artificial planet began to function. At this moment, the elimination effect hadn't reached the core and could not eliminate the reactor magic circle inside.

By the time the fission reaction began, it was already a natural course and therefore could not be eliminated. The magic circles that could be eliminated, on the other hand, were the parts that eased the release of energy so that it could be utilized. Therefore, the explosion after the loss of control was even greater and more powerful!

Dazzling light swept across everything around them with overwhelming energy. The artificial planet at the center was completely vaporized, and the area was savaged by the trickiest "curses".

When the light died down, Melmax, Philip, and the other Grand Cardinals reappeared. Some of them were fully enshrouded in the Blessed Realm, and some had six white wings covering their back.

Melmax, who stood at the front, held the longsword, "Holy Avenger", with both hands and nullified the invisible curses covered in light.

"Thankfully, it is not Eternal Blaze…" he said to Philip and the rest of them in a low voice. It was hard to tell how he felt. "Beware of the curse. Don't be careless. Although they seem not too harmful, their consequences may be dire."

Although "Atomic Fission" could reach level three of legendary if the caster and the materials were good enough, the previous explosion was only level-one legendary because the artificial planet could only accommodate limited magic circles and materials. It could not hurt Melmax, a top legendary knight, at all.

However, it did not mean that Melmax was not scared. If it were "Eternal Blaze" that happened in the explosion accident just now, he would've been heavily wounded again after having just recovered from the harm. It was even possible that irrecoverable diseases could be caused due to the consecutive injuries.

Behind him, Philip had messy hair and looked rather frustrated. If Melmax hadn't blocked it for him, he probably would've been heavily wounded. He said in fury and disbelief, "Why did the magic circles detonate themselves after they were eliminated by the Purge Cross?"

He could not think through it at all!

If they hadn't eliminated the effects with the Purge Cross, it would've taken a long time to suppress the peripheral magic circles of the artificial planet and haul it back, and the odds of encountering legendary sorcerers would've been higher. However, little did they foresee such an unbelievable situation after they used the Purge Cross!

"Perhaps, a legendary spell that had been cast earlier was sealed inside. After you eliminated the seal, it naturally burst out," Melmax speculated based on his experience.

"That's impossible. We're talking about a legendary spell. The artificial planet is not a legendary item. Also, under the elimination, whether or not it has started, all the legendary powers should've been removed." Philip shook his head in confusion and fear.

"Stop!" In the channel of communication that was similar to the telepathic bond, Saint Kati spoke solemnly, "Let's not bother why it happened for now. The most important thing at present is what to do next. Are you going to capture the other artificial planet nearby, or should we simply evacuate? We don't have much time. I do not want to fight the grand arcanists!"

They had chosen this artificial planet because there was another candidate not far away.

Philip calmed down. He puckered for a while before shaking his head and said, "Let's evacuate. The time that the Congress of Magic cannot react has passed, unless His Holiness is willing to continue his suppression. However, that will give the Silver Moon and the Lord of Hell an opportunity to attack His Holiness. If His Holiness is heavily wounded because of that, we will be caught in a subtle situation since the Angle King does not respond to us now."

It was obvious that the pope was more important than the artificial planet!

Frustration and anger consumed the Grand Cardinals, but there was little they could do. Such operations verged on failure once the abruptness and the time gap were broken, unless they were willing to turn a temporary operation into a total war.

Ivory light glittered, and the Grand Cardinals disappeared from the orbit as fast as they came but with additional helplessness.

On the other artificial planet not far away, silver lines glowed and constructed a weird magic circle, which blurred the surroundings as if it was connected to different worlds. Some of the worlds had furious storms, and some were the harmonious nature.

Through the magic circle, Douglas, Fernando, and the rest of them arrived with their projections. Then, connecting their own demiplanes, they transformed the projections into their real bodies.

"They did not come here. What a bunch of fast runners." Seeing that the artificial planet was as quiet as before, Fernando did not hesitate to mock the enemies.

Douglas smiled. "They are not possessed by the devil of greed. How could they not have reached the conclusion that it was dangerous to come here? If they did come, at least one of them would be killed."

"I, for one, wished that they had come. We can let them 'loot' the remains of the artificial planet after a huge battle," said Lucien, not without regrets.

"Why?" It was impossible for Hellen to be devoted to her arcana and magic studies right now, so she showed an unusual interest in Lucien's remark.

Chapter 739: The Future Is Bright

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Without the blockage of air, it was even easier for a sorcerer to spread out their spiritual power. Therefore, the range of the force field of their spiritual power was dozens of times wider than on the ground. However, in such a huge range, Lucien and the other sorcerers couldn't feel anything except for a lone artificial planet that was operating in a fixed pattern. The whole environment was bleak and gloomy. That was exactly the feeling of the real universe beyond the atmosphere.

On such an orbit, Lucien, Douglas, Fernando, and Hellen were so small compared to the artificial planets, but they were filled with such intimidating air that they looked like small suns. They were the natural land, the hell of thunder, the universe inside the atom, and the illusion built with snow.

When a legendary sorcerer fully spread out their spiritual power, their half-solidified cognitive world would interfere with the reality together with their demiplane!

In such a quiet and gloomy environment, Lucien replied to Hellen's question with a smile, "Because I prefer the Church to imitate us, chase us, and compete with us in the domain that we are good at, than to focus their attention on their theological studies, in which case they might find a way to fully apply 'Mountain Paradise' at some point."

Hellen nodded her head. She was deep in thought. "Therefore, you demonstrated the importance of artificial planets in order to distract the Church from their strong suit, so that they would compete with us in a domain that they know nothing at all but we are very good at?"

"That's right. Although they might be unable to unravel the mysteries of Mountain Paradise, we'd better avoid accidents as best as we can until we have overwhelming advantages." Lucien nodded.

"Are you not worried that the situation would escalate quickly after the Church grasps the secrets of artificial planets? They play an important role. As strategic weapons, they have turned the common commanding heights into a planetary-level orbit control," asked Douglas with a gentle smile.

"Commanding height" was not a difficult term for the Congress of Magic to understand. The City in the Sky was a product to command the height, except that nobody summarized it in such a way before.

Lucien said unhurriedly, "It's true that artificial planets are very important, but we have only developed part of their possible usages. Until the power problem is addressed, they can only help with signal transmission, surveillance, and prospecting. They are not the key to victory. The most important of their usages is the signal transmission.

"For the Church, since image transmission circles have been widely established, the middle-level clerics can already achieve the effect that is similar to what artificial planets can present in the territory on the opposite side of the Storm Strait. In the places that are occupied by us and the North Church, they could in the past but not now. As for the live stream and other media, how could they let ordinary people enjoy that? For them, the less the people know, the better.

"What they value is the potential value behind the signal transmission of artificial planets. However, the parts that are currently usable can help them recover to the status before the battle of Rentato at best. For us, that is not too bad a change. Also, knowing the mechanisms and details of artificial planets so well, do we not have ways to restrain the artificial planets of the Church? Can we not hack them and steal the secret communications? That is the domain that we are familiar with and good at!"

Talking about that, Lucien suddenly remembered something. He smiled and said, "To put it simply, we are dragging the enemy into the field that we are familiar with before we beat them with our abundant experience and profound studies."

"Divine power is based on the power of Thanos and more convenient on the orbit. If they successfully duplicate artificial planets, their attack and defense will be much better than ours. Are you not afraid that they will surpass us?" Fernando had been looking awful ever since Lucien made fun of his "uncontrollable reactor".

Lucien chuckled. "If the Church were another Congress that has its own arcana system, its own arcana credits, arcana points, etc. to encourage studies, its own hundreds of years of knowledge, its own profound studies in the macroscopic and microscopic domains, I wouldn't have proposed the suggestion at all."

Of course, that was not absolute. If they had similar arcana foundations, such a "planetary war" could also transform their battle into a competition of the overall economics. The bottom line was that they should compete with the enemy in whichever aspect they were better at, and not the opposite.

"As for right now, considering the foundations I said, I'm not worried at all that the Church will surpass us regarding artificial planets, not in ten years, not in a hundred years, and not in a thousand years," Lucien added. "Unless the Church starts to build its own arcana system. But in that case, there will be no irreconcilable conflicts between them and us when they stop relying on belief entirely. We can be combined.

"Their artificial planets may be more aggressive, but until 'Mountain Paradise' can really play a role, those planets cannot serve as orbit cannons to bombard the ground. Our nuclear reactors, on the other hand, will probably succeed in a year or two. After they are minimized, they will be as good as the artificial planets."

"You are talking as if the Church can do nothing but wait for its death, and our future is nothing but bright." Douglas chuckled.

Lucien replied, "Our future is bright, but the road ahead of us is difficult. As a matter of fact, I'm sure you must have similar ideas, Mr. President, except that you have never proposed them specifically. For example, all the papers on arcana studies are publicly published, and the Church and the other countries can read them as long as they want to. As for magic, there are only principles and guidelines, and the specific structures can only be read and exchanged with enough permissions. As a result, they feel that they know arcana and can catch up with us, but they will never be able to do so."

"I didn't think as much at that time and simply made the system under the impression that they wouldn't understand it at all," Douglas admitted frankly with a self-mocking smile. "In my eyes, without their own research and exploration, and without a long-time accumulation, it was pointless to directly read the papers, so most of the clerics and experts in other countries couldn't have obtained much from our public arcana papers. I didn't know that the pope was Viken, and he maintained a vigorous attitude in learning."

Hellen suddenly interjected, "Evans, you've set up 'uncontrollable reactors' on every artificial planet at enormous costs, just so that the Church cannot acquire them easily?"

"Yes. You will cherish the things that you can't get easily. They would've suspected our real purpose if it were too easy. Therefore, we have to put them through difficulties and force them to pay a high price. Only in such a way will they spend more time on imitation and modification." Lucien shook his head as if he were greatly disappointed. "I did not know that they had no spirits to fight at all. I was hoping that they would exchange the life of a saint cardinal for the secrets of artificial planets."

Douglas also sighed. "It seems that we have to figure out a way to give such an 'opportunity' to the Church again…"

It seemed that he agreed with Lucien's idea.

"How can we ensure that the Church is willing to obtain the artificial planets despite the risks and that they will dedicate themselves to imitating and modifying it?" asked Fernando cautiously.

"If they do not capture the artificial planets and study their secrets, there will be nothing they can do when we carry out all the usages of the artificial planets and control the orbit and the planet. Then, they will be eliminated by time. However, such a process will take longer and may have unexpected changes. If they choose such an option, everything will be exactly the same as before," said Lucien solemnly.

Douglas smiled again. "Our future is indeed bright. Whatever the Church chooses, its failure is inevitable. That is the choice of our era. However…"

He suddenly sighed, and so did Lucien. They exhaled a mouthful of nonexistent air in the airless space and said almost at the same time with mixed feelings, "Demigods."

Yes. If the demigods who were in possession of the mysteries of the undead were no more, the Congress wouldn't need to plot against the Church at all. It could develop as fast as possible to eliminate the Church!

"That is why the road ahead of us is difficult. Chances are that the Congress may be destroyed by a few demigods when they collaborate. Chances are that some of us will be killed by the demigods before we can see the final victory," Lucien said gravely but without fear.

Looking at the stars, Douglas remarked, "Although it is important for us to have our own demigods, the development of the Congress of Magic has to be focused on arcana studies and magic applications, because our path of demigod must and can only be built on them."

Agreeing with Douglas' point of view, Fernando and Hellen nodded at the same time.

"Alright, what's the next plan then?" Douglas looked at Lucien and asked for his opinion.

Thinking for a moment, Lucien said, "Perhaps, we can troll for the insidious problems within the Congress in our plan. Before the South Church retreated from the four countries on this side of the strait and the north coastline, there were plenty of spies of the Church in the Congress. Later, the situation was better, and a few new spies came. However, after Viken secretly released the secrets to becoming a demigod, I suspect that somebody within the Congress is working tacitly with the Church."

Some of the phrases were "invented" by Lucien in Arcana Voice before. It was not difficult for Fernando and the other sorcerers to understand him. Furthermore, Hellen and Brook had been included in Douglas, Fernando, Hathaway, and Lucien's studies on the path of a demigod and the secrets of immortality.

"That's great." Fernando hated spies more than anything else. He only hated that he could not bathe them with his storms.

Chapter 740: The Original Meeting of the Grand Cardinals

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In Lance, the Holy City.

The whole Bright Hall was caught in awkward silence as if it had been frozen. Whether or not they were involved in the operation to capture artificial planets, all the Grand Cardinals lowered their proud heads, ready to embrace the fury of His Holiness.

The operation this time was too great a fiasco. It had been destined to be a failure since the very beginning. The risks that His Holiness took were pointless. Somebody had to be held responsible for that!

Compared to the legendary sorcerers of the Congress of Magic, the saint cardinals and divine knights of the Church enjoyed less immunity. Their positions and the powers under their control restrained the increase of their strength. The higher their position was and the greater power they had, the closer they would be to the Lord and the faster their strength would grow. The dependency was fundamental. Therefore, the punishment that they suffered was not insignificant and simply symbolic.

Also, before they grasped the mysteries of faith, the previous popes had the "divine method" to cut off the connection between the punished saint cardinals and Mountain Paradise. They could only use their own heart of faith without being able to replenish it. Very soon, they would turn into the legends who were in a high level but lacked the corresponding strength.

The legendary sorcerers, on the other hand, were purely based on their own strength. Even if they lost their identity as a member of the Highest Council, nothing would be changed. They relied on the Congress of Magic for the combination of resources and an environment of arcana and magic studies. Therefore, they enjoyed much more impunity, and their punishment wouldn't really hurt them.

That was also one of the reasons why the Congress had been divided into many factions, and the internal conflicts could never be completely ignored. The supremacy of legends had both advantages and drawbacks.

Of all the Grand Cardinals, Philip was the most uneasy one. He was the one who came up with the plan. Benedict III gave him the greatest freedom and even personally took part in it, but he had screwed it up!

The intense explosion when the artificial planet detonated itself sounded like the mocking and malicious laughter of the Congress of Magic, which echoed on in Philip's heart, making it impossible for him to relax.

Even though he was a newly-promoted saint cardinal and a "young man" who had the potentials to be a Saint, he had to consider how he should bear the fury of the pope and avoid "losses" as much as possible.

After Pope Viken had united and stabilized the Church by introducing the ways to transform the body status via the feelings of believers and the ways to make use of the power of faith, they had all achieved a thing or two. They were able to steal the power of faith on their own, and their strength had been greatly increased. They no longer feared the disconnection from Mountain Paradise. However, it also meant that they were more dependent on the Church right now!

With the Saint Truth behind them, they were much happier than the experts who had to gather the power of feelings and disseminate faith on their own stealthily and arduously. They could openly steal the power of faith from the parish under their control according to a certain ratio without doing any extra things. If they were punished and dispatched to a remote parish, it would be a severe loss for them!

With the holy crown on his gray head and a platinum staff in his hands, Benedict III looked at the Grand Cardinals indifferently and did not say anything for five minutes.

He did not release the intimidation of a demigod, but the invisible pressure from him still froze the hall. None of the Grand Cardinals dared to speak.

Suddenly, he heaved a sigh. "The accident this time had nothing to do with you. It was not your fault. Your plan was almost perfect, and the grand arcanists were distracted and stalled. Our only mistake was that we did not foresee that the evil sorcerers were so cunning that they set up such weird self-detonation devices on the artificial planet."

His peaceful tone and his interpretation of the matter immediately thawed the grave atmosphere. Philip heaved a long sigh of relief from the bottom of his heart in sincere gratitude. His Holiness was indeed broadminded, farsighted, and reasonable.

"Your Holiness, what are we going to do now then? Plan a similar operation?" Philip intentionally asked a question with an answer he knew in order to shift the focus of the discussion from the previous failure.

As if he did not know what was on Philip's mind, Benedict III said with an equally peaceful voice, "Until we figure out the weirdness of the self-detonation device, no similar plans will ever work out."

"His Holiness is right. When the magic effect is eliminated, it may result in such a powerful explosion. That's not something to be underestimated. If we cannot figure out the reason, it's possible that somebody will be killed next time," Astira, the Angel of Wind, said somewhat in fear. If the power of the explosion was close to "Eternal Blaze", they probably wouldn't be obliterated. Since an artificial planet, which was not a legendary item, could generate an explosion on the same level of "Atomic Fission", there was certainly a small chance that it could give an "Eternal Blaze".

Melmax also nodded his head. "Unless the Godly Eye arrives in person and controls it with the divine power such as 'Sacred Hourglass', I cannot think of another way to capture it by brute force. Also, capturing them by force will take too long, and the operation will escalate into a total battle."

"Godly Eye" Arvin, one of the six seraphs, was one of the only two experts who were capable of time-stop divine powers in the Saint Truth. The other expert was, naturally, Pope Viken.

His ability to control time and space seemed to be a gift from the God of Truth. Therefore, even the knights who inherited his blood power and Astira, who had the power of the Angel of Wind, could not create the real Time Stop. The best they could do was to slow down or accelerate time.

"We can choose ways that are more indirect and inconspicuous." Philip looked at Benedict III. "Your Holiness, the ways to become a demigod that you released in secret must've shaken some of the high-level sorcerers, right? We can make use of them…"

He did not finish, but every Grand Cardinal on the spot knew what he meant. It was no different from stealing secrets and carrying out assassinations through spies as they did in the past.

In the emergency meeting at the beginning, Benedict III "informed" them of the origin of the Saint Truth. He described Thanos, the Sun King, as the holy son of the God of Truth on earth. He was a holy son who was in trinity with the God of Truth and the pope and a holy son who tried to eliminate the evil Magic Empire and save the people. Thanos' studies on the mysteries of gods were described as an experience where his memories were awakened after being summoned by the God of Truth. The failure of his experiment in the end, his integration with Mountain Paradise, and his loss of self-awareness were described as a self-sacrifice to save the world by opening the Chamber of Immortality and awaken human beings.

Such a "story" could only half convince the Grand Cardinals, but Viken's key point was not the story itself but to make them realize that the God of Truth was truly a real god who mastered the supreme power although he was asleep. That was evident from the overwhelming power of Mountain Paradise that they perceived. Also, since Viken released the mysteries of demigods and faith voluntarily, they were naturally "fully convinced".

Viken did not keep it a secret that he had been secretly disseminating the ways to become a demigod, and the Grand Cardinals were not too reluctant about that. After all, they had a huge territory of faith that was under their control, and they did not have to compete with anybody else. They could watch other people fight each other as bystanders and even intensify the competitions by aiding different forces that would be in their favor. If other people joined their hands, they still had a pope who could perform God's Arrival on their side!

Benedict III shook his head. "I did not propose any demand when I offered the ways to become a demigod to them, and they would not do anything that is against their own interests for us. As a matter of fact, I'm more glad to see this. When they are close to success, it will be the fragrant bloom of flowers. Things will become very interesting, and we will have greater trophies. Therefore, I don't want their 'endeavors' to be sensed just for artificial planets."

"Are we going to give up just like that?" Philip was a bit disappointed.

Benedict III smiled. "It will be a different matter if they reveal the secrets on their way in exchange for other things. I know that the Bird of Death is in desperate need of some power of faith. Also, he has been hiding very well. Even if he is exposed, there will be scapegoats who will die for him. On the other hand, I need to meet another person. It's possible that we can obtain the secrets of artificial planets directly from him…"

He paused there and announced the end of the meeting of the Grand Cardinals.

Melmax, Maria, Kati, Astira, and the other Grand Cardinals were very confused, wondering who the person that the Bird of Death and His Holiness were trying to meet was, but they had to drop all their thoughts and left the Bright Hall without a sound.