"Hahaha..." Heather laughed, "It's unlikely to expect chess pieces to obey completely. As long as they're aligned with our ultimate goal. No matter where he's fighting, just keep depleting the warriors. Anyway, Graycastle is the last kingdom to be attacked in the plan, and there's still time for them to fight. Didn't Roland Wimbledon refuse our pills last time? Maybe Tiffko can put more pressure on the Western Region, and he might accept them."
Despite saying that, Queen of Clearwater's open betrayal still made Mayne somewhat unhappy. After all, he personally selected this chess piece. If Tiffko occupies other territories of Graycastle and still doesn't fight Garcia decisively, but instead keeps troops in a standoff, the Royal Decree will not achieve its intended effect. It seems that some other measures must be taken.
"Let's wait for the news from the delegation in the Western Region before making a decision there," he decided. "That's all for today. You two may proceed according to the plan. I still need to go to the Hermes Chamber."
"Oh, right," Heather seemed to realize something, "Isn't today Conversion Day? How many people have applied to participate in the Conversion Ritual?"
"This is a chamber secret." Mayne stood up and walked out of the secret room without looking back.
……
After descending the long suspended staircase to the bottom of the cave, the Archbishop stepped over the mirror-smooth white millstone and walked towards the depths of the chamber.
Unlike the usual quiet, the chamber was quite lively today. A group of Judgment Army soldiers who had passed the review were standing outside the chamber waiting. Most of them were entering this place for the first time and were curiously looking around. Seeing Mayne, everyone straightened their chests and saluted with a clenched fist, "Your Excellency Archbishop!"
He smiled and nodded in return. These Judgment Army soldiers were all elite warriors of the church, devout to God and willing to sacrifice themselves—the God's Punishment Conversion was not a guaranteed successful ritual. They understood this before submitting their applications, and even so, they were still willing to dedicate their lives for this great honor.
Under the warriors' admiring gaze, he passed through the third checkpoint and arrived in front of the Secret Zone. The Pope's guards were already waiting here. They bowed and then opened the metal door behind them.
Mayne followed the guards into the door. From here on, it was the heart of the Hermes Chamber, where all the church's research and inventions were carried out.
There were no torches in the Secret Zone, and his vision suddenly turned dark. After he had adapted a little, a narrow passage appeared before him. The walls and ceiling of the passage were cast in iron, and both sides were inlaid with fluorescent stones—this peculiar stone was a type of God's Punishment Stone, which emitted a green glow after being contaminated with demonic beast blood.
At the end of the passage was a suspended cage. Walking into the cage, the guards pulled the lever. The chains above made a creaking sound, which seemed particularly harsh in the silent passage. Along with this sound, the cage slowly sank into the underground cavity, and then Mayne's eyes suddenly lit up.
An extremely spacious underground space was presented before him.
No matter how many times he saw such a shocking sight, it would make him feel insignificant.
According to common sense, the cave buried underground should be pitch black, with no light visible, but here, the entire cave was illuminated by the light emitted by the God's Punishment Stones—the huge God's Punishment Stones were like countless prisms rising from the ground, forming clusters of crystal flowers. The smallest prism was as thick as a body, and the largest required more than ten people to embrace. The heights varied, and the tallest one almost went straight to the top of the cave, even higher than the Sky Tower of the Hermes Cathedral.
Their colors were also different. The densest cluster of God's Punishment Stones was light purple, and the adjacent clusters ranged from dark blue to light green. The smaller ones were white, and some of the prisms that had just emerged from the ground were almost transparent. The luster emitted by the purple God's Punishment Stones was the most conspicuous, especially the one that surpassed the Sky Tower, whose brightness was close to a full moon, allowing the bottom of the cave to faintly see the ground without the aid of torches.
Under the influence of such dense and huge God's Punishment Stones, the interior of the mountain was in a region where magic could not take effect. The God's Punishment Stones sold by the church were all mined from here.
The cave space was large enough to accommodate five or six Hermes Cathedrals, and they had indeed built a building that looked exactly like the cathedral here, which was named the Secret Sanctuary. However, compared to the cathedral on the mountain, this one looked much older. Mayne could see from mid-air that there was a black iron gate on the mountain wall behind the sanctuary, which was the entrance and exit to the foot of Hermes Mountain, connecting the old holy city. Therefore, this ancient building was, in a sense, the main body of the chamber. It existed here long before the new holy city was established.
It took the cage half an hour to reach the ground. Mayne walked out of the cage, straightened his robes, and followed the receiving messenger to the sanctuary.
The Conversion Ritual was held in the hall on the first floor.
After entering the hall, the Archbishop felt that the surroundings had returned to light—no longer the cold blue-purple light, but the orange light emitted by thousands of burning candles. Above his head were three-tiered candle chandeliers, and many candlesticks were also placed around the hall, looking like countless stars swaying at a glance. Thanks to the open flame, the coldness in the cave was dispelled a lot.
Standing between the two conversion platforms was the supreme leader of the church, Pope Oberlian. He was wearing a striking red and gold robe, with a glittering jeweled crown on his head, and was carefully inspecting the conversion equipment, making the final preparations for the ritual.
"Your Holiness," he stepped forward and knelt before Oberlian, kissing his fingers.
"Get up, my child," the Pope's voice was hoarse and slow, "There is no one here but the guards, so there is no need to be particular about cumbersome etiquette."
"Yes," Mayne stood up, unable to help but be stunned. His Holiness looked much older than the last time he saw him. His face was covered with deep wrinkles, his skin was unhealthy white, loose and dull, and dense brown spots were extremely conspicuous. The Archbishop's eyes warmed, "You...have worked hard."
"This is the trace of time," Oberlian said calmly, "No one can fight against time. I have little time left, and I'm afraid I won't see the day when humans defeat the demons, so I don't have to endure that unknown pain. But you have to continue fighting until you finally defeat the enemy or be defeated by them."
And if we fail again, we will be completely destroyed, Mayne nodded, "I will do my duty to the last moment."
"Very good," the old man smiled, "You have done a good job recently, adding more than a thousand Judgment Army soldiers to the church. There are also sixty-two applicants for conversion this time, which can be regarded as the most in history."
"Your Holiness, can you tell me, how many God's Punishment Warriors do we need to defeat the demons?" Mayne hesitated for a moment and asked, "All the information I know about the demons comes from the Holy Book. But the records on the Holy Book are not complete, without their origins, without records of their numbers and combat methods. I know that these secrets must wait until I become Pope to be qualified to know, but..."
Oberlian raised his hand to stop him, "You are too anxious, my child, be patient. Before long, you will be able to take over this crown and become the next Pope, and then all the questions can be found in the archives at the top of the Secret Sanctuary. Now I can only tell you, the more the better." He gasped for breath, "Also, although I didn't ask you to come for the Conversion Ritual, but since we've met, you can try to preside over this conversion, with me watching, it can be regarded as accumulating some...cough cough...experience for the future."
Mayne quickly patted the Pope on the back, and after his breathing was slightly smoother, he lowered his head and said, "Yes, Your Holiness."(。)