Following the stone steps down into the earth pit, Taiferun felt an inexplicable chill. []
Hidden beneath this quiet and profound church was the most crucial secret of the church – the Hermes Device.
It was his first time setting foot in this place.
"Did His Majesty Mayne really ask me to come here to see him?" As a rule, only the archbishop who was seen as the Pope's successor was qualified to enter the Secret Office. He was already old, so it was impossible for him to succeed Mayne's position.
"You've served the church for so many years, and we've worked together. His Majesty trusts you very much," Isabella smiled. "Besides, the old rules are not suitable for the upcoming war. God's will shouldn't be buried underground. It needs to be revealed to all confused believers and lead us together to meet the final challenge."
"Is this... His Majesty's intention?"
"That's right," she said softly.
After entering the Device, two Judges came up to him. "Your Excellency, the Bishop, His Majesty is presiding over the magic stone experiment. If you're carrying God's Stone of Retribution, please hand it over for temporary safekeeping—it may affect the operation of magic power."
Taiferun nodded and handed over a string of God's Stone necklaces to the other party.
"His Majesty is here, please follow me."
Isabella turned into a long passage and pushed open the iron door. With a piercing creak, Taiferun saw another veiled Pure. She blocked the door like a ghost. Under the black gauze that wrapped her whole body, he could vaguely see her fair skin, as if she had nothing else on her body except for this thin veil. The most striking thing was the witch's eyes. Unlike the pupils of ordinary people, her eyeballs were a dull silver-gray, with what looked like a vortex swirling inside. Staring at them for too long felt as if you were about to be sucked in.
Taiferun subconsciously lowered his head. []
It was then that he noticed that she was not wearing shoes, but was barefoot, with a touch of bright red covering each of her shapely toes.
The bishop couldn't help but recall the saying that the taste of a witch was incomparable to that of an ordinary woman.
Damn it, are these witches all fairies?
The slender feet quickly moved out of the way, and Isabella's reminder came from his ear, "Your Excellency?"
"Ahem," Taiferun gathered his thoughts and walked into the room.
The room was not large, and the pine resin torches hanging on the four walls were burning vigorously, but he did not smell the familiar sweet and greasy scent.
Four Pures were sitting around a stone table, fiddling with a pile of crystal clear stones, and standing beside the stone table was the current Pope, His Majesty Mayne.
Taiferun was about to kneel down to salute, but Mayne had already supported his arm.
"There are no outsiders here, so there's no need to be so formal," he smiled. "We're old acquaintances, Your Excellency Taiferun."
It had only been two months since they last met, but Mayne already had a few more wrinkles on his forehead, and a few silver strands had emerged in his hair. However, his tone was still as familiar as before, without the slightest hint of aloofness.
"You can't do this..." Taiferun immediately felt a warm current surge in his heart. "Even if there are no other believers, the order of the church must be observed."
"What I say is the order," the Pope smiled dismissively. "Let's not talk about that... How is the situation above? Originally, I planned to have Isabella convey the news to you, but since you're here, tell me about it."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Taiferun nodded. After recounting the recent situation of the church, he mentioned the order that Isabella had mentioned last. "The resources we are now preparing are all aimed at the Kingdom of Dawn. Re-mobilizing them would probably take a lot of effort. Why did you suddenly decide to attack Graycastle first?"
"The main reason I summoned you here is also because of this," Mayne sighed. "Graycastle is now showing signs of decline. The King's Decree and Frenzy Pill have achieved the expected effect, and the Kingdom of Dawn is even more plagued by internal strife. Their destruction is only a matter of time, so there is not much difference between who goes first."
"I think so too, but... Graycastle is still a huge opponent."
"There are two main reasons why I decided to adjust the attack plan," the Pope said slowly with his hands behind his back. "The first point is basically the same as what you are worried about: the Kingdom of Graycastle has the widest territory and the richest resources. It is not only a huge enemy, but also means a high return. If it can be transformed into a church territory sooner, the benefits it brings will be much greater than occupying the Kingdom of Dawn. If there were still ten years, I would definitely implement the plan set by Lord Oberlain, but we don't have much time left. The appearance of the hellbeasts means that the Red Moon may appear much closer to the date mentioned in the Holy Book. In this case, it is worth taking some risks and paying more sacrifices."
Taiferun nodded slightly. This reason was indeed very sufficient, but the problem was... it didn't seem like Mayne's style. "Then your second reason is..."
"Roland Wimbledon of the Western Territory," the Pope said decisively.
"You mean... the Fourth Prince of Graycastle?" He couldn't help but be taken aback.
"Combining the intelligence from the past year, I discovered an incredible thing," Mayne patted the bishop's shoulder. "Whether it was the church's actions against him, or the Kingdom of Graycastle's actions against him, they all failed without exception. The initial failure can be traced back to the Duke of the Western Territory's attack on his territory. What did Roland have at that time? Just a dilapidated town. Outsiders thought that he defeated the Duke's knights by relying on the devil, but we all know that except for transcendents, one or two witches can't pose any threat to knights who are fully armed and equipped with God's Stone of Retribution."
"And the subsequent intelligence became more and more bizarre. For example, the secret letter sent to the Holy City two months ago mentioned that the new king, Tiffeau, sent nearly two thousand Frenzied troops to attack the Western Territory. However, they were defeated in one encounter. What does this mean?"
Taiferun couldn't help but gasp. Two thousand Frenzied troops! Even in Hermes, it was a force to be reckoned with.
"If the news is separated, you may not notice anything, but when integrated, it is very amazing—Roland Wimbledon has never lost a war!" The Pope said in a deep voice, "And from the intelligence, it can be seen that his strength is growing at an astonishing speed, and there is a trend of expanding outwards. If we delay for another year, the entire Graycastle may fall into his hands. At that time, the price to swallow this vast land may be much greater than it is now." He paused and looked at Taiferun. "There are many things that need to be dealt with in the Device. I don't have time to take care of the operation and expansion of the upper echelons of the church. These can only be entrusted to you to implement."
*******************
After the archbishop left, the appearance of the room also changed.
The torches on the walls disappeared, and the Pures studying the magic stones and the stone table were also gone. The Pope's figure gradually faded away, and in the end, only Isabella, JieLuo, and the black-veiled woman remained.
"I wouldn't have known if you hadn't said it, the Fourth Prince of Graycastle is such an interesting person," Isabella clicked her tongue. "Why do I feel that he has a better chance of defeating the demons than the church?"
"What does that mean?" the black-veiled woman frowned. "Do you want to betray the church?"
"Betray? Don't put it so harshly," Isabella shrugged. "Isn't the purpose of the church to ensure that humans can survive the Battle of Divine Will? If someone else can do this, I don't mind who I serve."
"You...!"
"Don't argue," JieLuo stopped them. "Isabella is right. In the so-called Battle of Divine Will, only the ultimate winner is the darling of the gods." She looked at the two of them expressionlessly. "As for who the gods will smile upon—whether it's the Union or a prince of Graycastle, I think this war will give us the answer."(。)