Chapter 158: Archbishop Emilia

On April 24th, 7845 of the March Calendar, six days after the Bayne City incident, the main aid force from the Church of Holy Blood arrived.

As the most severe religious incident in the Bellandt Empire in nearly fifty years, this event resulted in a total of 35,126 deaths, accounting for about one-ninth of Bayne City's total population. One-third of the entire urban area was destroyed, with comprehensive losses exceeding 160 million Lanks.

Due to the period around the Blood Moon Festival, the entire matter did not spread. After receiving the telegram, the Church activated the highest level of aid within an hour. Over six days, a large amount of supplies and a total of three hundred clergymen were transported by train to maintain order and carry out confidentiality work.

Among them, five bishop-level, master-level priests arrived successively to appease the populace. And on this sixth day, the main aid force fully arrived.

When people looked up that morning, the first thing they saw were two enormous airships that blotted out the sky.

These two airships were at least a hundred meters long, shaped like an elliptical shuttle.

Both airships were entirely constructed from pitch-black steel, constantly emitting large amounts of white steam from their tops and sides.

Onboard, Church soldiers stood in neat formations, holding weapons, their postures upright, their expressions solemn.

As they looked down from the ships at Bayne City's dilapidated urban area and buildings, they were shocked and filled with sympathy.

"Goddess above!" At the edge of the airship, a woman in a light pink cassock, with a relatively slender figure, clasped her hands together. Her hooded head was lowered in a quiet prayer.

Two strands of silver hair flowed down from under her hood onto her chest. Combined with her pure aura, it gave people a sense of inner peace upon seeing her.

"Archbishop, we are about to land. Please go inside and rest for a moment," a robust woman walked over from the side.

This woman was at least 1.8 meters tall, with a sturdy build, clad entirely in silver-white close-fitting leather armor, exuding an aura of unyielding strength.

However, what was most striking was her silver-white greatsword.

The greatsword was immense, almost as tall as her. Incredibly complex patterns and runes were inscribed on its silver-grey blade. The hilt had several switches that could be twisted and pressed. Through the openwork relief of the sword guard, one could see tiny, intricate gears within.

The woman in the pink cassock nodded slightly, her clear voice carrying a faint nasal tone, "May the departed souls return to the Goddess's embrace."

With that, she returned to the cabin escorted by the sturdy woman.

The engines of the two airships were extremely loud.

The roaring sound from the sky reverberated throughout the entire urban area, and everyone's gaze was drawn to these two steel flying ships.

Subsequently, guided by the clergymen on the ground, the two airships docked at a corner of the ruins where the Holy Blood Cathedral had been leveled.

After the twenty-meter-high airships stopped, a dozen hatches opened around them. Under the watchful eyes of the surrounding people, fully armed clergymen and Church personnel in ordinary cassocks emerged, carrying large quantities of supplies.

The bishops in charge of reception hurried forward to handle the relevant handovers and report the situation, while also preparing to welcome the impending arrival of Archbishop Emilia, known as the "Pure White Lamb".

While a grand ceremony was underway here, Silas was currently in the northern suburbs of the city.

Shaking the blood from his hand, Silas bent down to look at the dead ghoul and sighed, "It's not the ghouls that were originally lurking here. The remnants of this summoning are quite severe; the surrounding magical beasts and hidden familiars are restless."

"Fortunately, the Church's reinforcements have arrived," Sister Marlene said beside him, wiping her short knife.

Silas stood up, turned to look towards the city center, and said, "I heard a new Archbishop has come to preside over matters here. Why isn't it Archbishop Jeros?"

Sister Marlene pondered for a moment. "I heard that Archbishop Jeros seems to be a figurehead now, without any real power."

"The evils of politics," Silas grumbled.

Marlene smiled and then asked, "Well, Silas, are you ready to accept great honor?"

Silas chuckled and rubbed his hands. "I'm still a bit nervous."

Six days ago, after careful planning by Adeline and the others, Silas was found and rescued from the ruins when the search party discovered him two hours later.

Amidst the joyful tears of Evan's family, Silas was quickly sent to a temporary hospital for a simple examination.

After an examination by Father Hank confirmed that he had no injuries other than some abrasions, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Silas thought the plan was proceeding perfectly, Logan rushed over with a group of people, surrounded Silas, and told him something important.

At that time, Silas was stunned for a long while after hearing it, unable to come back to his senses.

After weighing the pros and cons, Silas readily agreed.

Once everyone's stories were aligned, they quickly divided the work and began post-disaster relief efforts.

While Silas was assisting, he also dismissed Adeline, Helles, and the others.

For a long time to come, the entire city would attract the full attention of the Church. No matter how well hidden, some flaws would inevitably be exposed under such circumstances.

After bringing those ten people onto the warship and letting them confirm that a true god did exist, Silas felt very relieved to let them leave with Adeline and the others.

At the same time, he had Adeline arrange new identities for them so they could return to normal life.

Luke, that old fox, had verbally agreed to join the Evening Bell Church but ended up shirking at the last moment.

After mysteriously confirming certain unspeakable situations with those ten people separately, Luke formed a duo with Clausen and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Virginia seemed to have a very good relationship and common ground with Helles. After everything settled down, she had no intention of returning to the Radiant Church, so she followed Helles back to the Land of Night's Curtain to begin her new training.

Roland, who had become Luke's student, did not leave. She possessed Luke's familiar and could receive her teacher's instruction at any time.

She had now firmed up her path. She first secretly joined the Evening Bell Church and then planned to join the Holy Blood Church, saying she wanted to help Adeline and the others monitor the Church's situation.

Well, unintentionally, she became a double agent similar to Silas.

The situation afterward became somewhat comical. Due to the need to keep secrets, but also because of her good relationship with Silas, Roland, unaware of Silas's true identity, awkwardly told Silas some clumsy lies, clumsily concealing her true intentions and identity.

Her acting almost made Silas cringe with embarrassment.

Of course, Silas wouldn't be foolish enough to expose her. Instead, he acted as if he hadn't thought much about it, expressed his understanding, and recommended Roland to the Church.

The short-staffed group readily agreed. Roland was now considered an intern clergyman, working and learning alongside Father Anthony.

In the following days, Silas and Sister Marlene were grouped together, responsible for the daytime defense of the northern part of the city, eliminating all approaching aggressive magical beasts and familiars.

During idle conversations, Silas discovered that Sister Marlene had forgotten everything about Ada. She only vaguely remembered such a person, but her memory of Ada was like that of a passerby on the street – unclear and not arousing any suspicion.

Faced with this phenomenon, Silas was secretly astonished, because he found that Ada's strange ability had far exceeded his imagination, even far exceeding the human realm.