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"Ivan, do you still want to assassinate the pope?"

Constrained by the spell, Esmond could only watch Su Shi's movements, his eyes fixed on him.

Su Shi didn't deny what he said. He put the crystal around his neck. With cold sarcasm in his eyes, he said, "Do you still believe in my innocence, Your Excellency Es?"

Seeing such a cold look on that face, Esmond's heart tightened, his gaze dropped, and he fell silent.

His gaze was still calm, but his eyebrows couldn't help pressing lightly together. His forehead faintly exuded some cold sweat. There were sparks of electricity leaping across his taut muscles.

Seeing the protagonist's response, Su Shi could not help but step back half a step.

There was nothing to use in this cave as a seal, only this spell circle, which purportedly could comprehensively improve a person's all-around fitness, and it had the effect of trapping a person within for a short period of time.

Translations are by vmnovels [dot] com, if you're reading this anywhere else, then it was stolen.

Su Shi only had a little over a day's worth of time left. If he calculated correctly, he could still make it in time, so he misled the protagonist and had him step inside the spell circle, but he did not expect that the transformation process would be so painful.

Fortunately, he didn't go in himself.

Looking at the highlighted button on the selection menu, Su Shi could not help but rejoice.

This process would continue for at least one day. The protagonist could still upgrade smoothly, and by the time the protagonist improved his strength and escaped the cave, Su Shi would have already self-destructed with the pope.

The plotline was joining together smoothly. Maybe the protagonist would misunderstand Su Shi's actions as wanting to harm him, and nab Su Shi another S-grade rating.

Sighing with satisfaction, Su Shi turned to leave, but the person behind him suddenly made a noise.

"I still believe in you, Ivan."

Su Shi's footsteps faltered. His expression could not help sinking.

"Your actions are indeed causing me pain, but I believe that you must have your own reasons."

Esmond raised his gaze and fixed his eyes on Su Shi. His eyes were quiet and deep, as if he could see right through to the thoughts in Su Shi's heart directly through his eyes.

"'If you fight with the dragon for too long, you will become a dragon yourself.' You are the Holy Paladin who guards at the pope's side. Something that can make you act so unscrupulously could only be because the pope himself has committed some irreparable sin that cannot be known…"

"You think too much."

If he kept letting the other person think along this line, he might be able to reason out the truth from nothing.

Su Shi quickly interrupted Esmond in a deep voice. He walked in front of Esmond. His eyes held a mocking cold chill and they relentlessly pierced the other party.

"The nature of the Fallen is destruction, and the high-level Fallen also knows how to pretend. Lord Bishop, not all corruption and demonization can be seen at a glance—I was just acting to deceive you, to gain your trust, and then to steal your crystal…"

Hearing his words, Esmond narrowed his eyes and finally lowered his gaze in silence. His body was bound by the spell, but his hands still clenched into tight fists.

Unfortunately the target person of this mission was the protagonist, so Su Shi could not cause Esmond harm, otherwise Su Shi would take advantage of this situation to knock the protagonist unconscious and stabilize his experience points.

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Su Shi regretted this point deep in his heart. He walked quickly to the corner where the stack of wooden boxes was and rummaged for the dangerous ancient book. Tucking the book into his arms, he finally left the cave with confident ease.

The young Holy Paladin walked away without looking back. His thin figure gradually disappeared into the darkness, and his stumbling footsteps slowly faded away.

The pain on Esmond's body became more and more intense, but it still could not cover the bitterness in his heart.

Imprisoned by the spell circle, Esmond's chest heaved up and down, and his dark pupils were burning with intense flames.

He should find himself ridiculous, but what was even more ridiculous was that he has been trapped here but he still did not want to believe that it was all a scam.

The glimpse that he saw at that time still remained in his mind. In the dark cave, the firelight flickered quietly in those eyes, like the only light in the infinite dark night, making one's heart feel warm.

Clearly, those eyes were bright and unclouded, but then it was polluted by a dark chilliness. Whatever the case, it made people feel out of sorts.

The spell suddenly began to change, and the pain became more intense, crushing almost every inch of his body. Esmond gasped sharply, his body shook, and he could not stop the trembling. Black mist clouded his vision.

He gasped and lowered his head, his eyes finally dimmed.

"The first phase of physical fitness upgrade is about to be completed, coming up next is the upgrading of your original innate skill level, please continue to stay awake…"

From the silent stone room came an unfamiliarly cool and steady voice.

The tone was very rigid. It was evidently a pre-recorded line that was only triggered under certain specific conditions.

There were shocked speculations in his heart, as if a sharp bolt of lightning had cut through the thick fog, and Esmond suddenly looked up.

In his eyes, a bright light lit up again.