"Three hours before the bishop's voting meeting."
Rosa angrily crushed the secret letter in his hand and smashed it on the ground. The secret letter had been sent by Richelieu through a secret channel. The seal and handwriting on it were all written by Richelieu himself. However, the contents of the letter made him furious. This old thing actually wanted him to fully support the new pope? How could a mere apprentice knight be worthy of being pope? Was Richelieu out of his mind?!
He wished he could find Richelieu right now and question him to his face. However, what made him even angrier was that he could not see Richelieu right now. Furthermore, such an important piece of news had been announced to the public without him knowing!
This way, even if he joined forces with the other bishops to oppose this matter, the Vatican would still be humiliated. After all, this was a matter as important as the succession of the pope. If they were to repeatedly reverse it, not only would the people talk about it, they would also become a laughing stock.
However, now that things had come to this, he could not care less.
"Contact the other bishops immediately. I suspect there's something fishy about this. Before we meet the pope, we cannot elect a new pope so easily." Rosa's eyes were dark as he said to the butler beside him.
The butler looked at his gloomy expression and did not dare to say anything else. He nodded and agreed softly.
I don't believe that the other bishops will tolerate a nameless brat as pope! Rosa thought to himself. As one of the eight cardinals, he was already in his early seventies. In terms of seniority, he could be considered one of the most senior bishops. He had thought that when Richelieu abdicated, he would be one of the strongest contenders, but now, all his hopes had been buried.
In order to wait for the day of Richelieu's abdication, he had secretly planted his chess pieces for the past twenty years, preparing for that moment to come. However, this moment had come too quickly and caught him off guard. Furthermore, it had skipped the voting round and swept him out of the race!
He could not swallow this anger. After twenty years of careful planning, he was now faced with a situation where he would lose everything.
"Old man, what are you planning? Damn it!" Rosa clenched his fist and hammered it on the table, causing a crack to appear on the wooden table.
Just then, footsteps came from outside the door again. Rosa turned his head and saw that the butler who had retreated earlier had returned. A flash of anger flashed across his face as he scolded, "Why are you back? Hurry up and go. If you miss the time, I'll have your head!"
"Aiyaya …"
A mocking voice came from behind the butler. In the next moment, the butler's body fell to the ground. He was dead.
Rosa's pupils shrank as he looked at the black-robed figure behind the butler. His expression changed slightly as he said: "Dark Church? How dare you come here? Are you here to die? "
Although he said that, his palm quietly moved to his back and touched the warning wire under the table.
After all, the fact that the latter was able to barge into his ancient castle and act so fearlessly meant that he most likely didn't come with good intentions.
The black-robed man smiled and said, "Let me introduce myself first. I am an elder of the fifth district. You guys have given me a pretty good title, Ghost. I quite like it."
Rosa said with a cold expression, "I recognize you. You were lucky enough to escape the battle of Crimson Castle eight years ago. To think that you would dare to appear before me today. You're quite bold!"
"That time I was bullied by you. Today I want to experience what it feels like to be bullied by numbers." The black-robed man smiled and clapped his hands. Suddenly, the sound of the wind surged from several broken glass windows in the room. With several bangs, the glass windows were smashed, and a few figures jumped in and landed in the room. They formed a triangle and surrounded Rosa.
Rosa's expression changed slightly. His finger hooked under the table but found that the hidden wire was loose. It meant that the wire had been cut short!
His expression was ugly. He didn't expect that the other party would unknowingly infiltrate his heavily guarded home. This could only mean that there must be pawns of the dark church lurking around him. Otherwise, it was impossible for these people to appear here without a sound!
"You want to assassinate me with just a few of you? You're too naive!" Rosa's eyes were gloomy. He didn't act rashly. Instead, he was stalling for time. He hoped that his confidants and the knights stationed around the castle would be aware of the situation here. "If you really want to fight, my people will immediately rush over. Since you have walked into the trap, don't even think about leaving!"
Although he knew that he was at a disadvantage but he couldn't lose his momentum.
The black-robed man chuckled: "Bishop, we came to find you not to kill you."
"Huh?" Rosa's eyes slightly moved but his heart was still vigilant.
The black-robed man leisurely said: "My Lord sent me to communicate with you. I presume you have heard about the succession of the Pope. My Lord hopes that you can fully support the new Pope."
Rosa's expression changed. These words were too familiar. He had just read the contents of the secret letter, and this was the meaning behind it. Could it be …
"Your Lord? You are Richelieu's man? "Rosa's eyes were gloomy as he looked at the black-robed man.
"No no no." The black-robed man shook his head: "Richelieu has pledged allegiance to my Lord. So as his subordinates I hope that you can cooperate with him."
Rosa was startled: "His Highness the Pope will pledge allegiance to your Lord? Who is your Lord? "
"You wouldn't know but my Lord is a big shot from the inner wall." The black-robed man smiled. He didn't know much about Dean. He deliberately said that Dean was from the inner wall in order to deter Rosa. After all, Dean had given him the task of asking Bishop Rosa to support the new Pope.
The word "invite" was very particular, so it was up to him how he wanted to invite.
"Inner wall?" Rosa was shocked. He felt the pressure in his heart. There was a great possibility that the person who was able to kidnap Richelieu was from the inner wall. After all, Richelieu's strength wasn't simple. At least as far as Rosa knew, the old man's strength was above the Light king.
"Bishop Rosa, have you thought about it?" The black-robed man wasn't in a hurry.
Rosa stared at him for a moment then gritted his teeth: "The new Pope is a member of your dark church. Letting him take the throne is tantamount to handing over the Holy Church to you dark believers. Don't even think about it! I won't agree even if I die! "
"Then die!" The black-robed man shrugged and waved his hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The surrounding figures suddenly leaped up and pounced towards Rosa.
Rosa was shocked but he didn't panic. He retreated and hit the glass window behind him.
Puff!
A cold light suddenly pierced through the window at an incredible speed. Rosa turned pale with fright. He did not expect that there would be another person hiding outside the window without making a sound. Although his perception was not strong, it was not so weak that he could not detect someone at such a close distance. This could only mean that the other party was a terrifying assassin who was extremely good at hiding!
The sharp blade pierced through his back, and pain instantly spread throughout his body. Rosa growled in pain and struck out with a backhand palm.
With a bang, the withered old palm struck the black shadow outside the window. The black shadow let out a muffled groan, and his body flew out of the window, falling more than ten meters down the stairs. Just as he was about to fall, he quickly grabbed the wall with his palm. There seemed to be a suction force in his palm, and he actually stuck to the wall like a spider.
On the other side, when Rosa repelled the ambushers behind him, his body was obstructed, and he was immediately surrounded by several people around him. He glared angrily, and with a low growl, he slapped at one of the slender figures, trying to find a way to break through.
This slender figure held a soft sword in her hand. As she moved, it was like countless silver snake heads swaying, pouncing towards Rosa's face.
Rosa was unarmed and didn't dare to face the attack. He immediately retracted his hand. At the same time, he felt his strength rapidly draining. The pain in his back spread to his whole body in a short moment. He was just about to change his hand to defend when the pain surged to his arm. In an instant, like a cramp, his body stiffened.
In this brief moment of stalemate, the pincer attack instantly hit Rosa.
With a loud bang, Rosa's body flew out like a rag bag, smashing into the wall of the room. The huge oil painting hanging on the wall was also shaken off, and the dust fell on Rosa's face and hair, making him look extremely wretched.
Rosa struggled to get up from the ground. His chest surged up, and he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering it on the expensive carpet. His face was red, and he looked up at the approaching black-robed man and the others. He was so angry that his beard and hair stood on end, but he couldn't exert any strength. He could only lie on the ground, trembling!
"You're a human. Why do you have to fight with your life?" The black-robed man said with a smile.
Rosa's eyes were about to split open as he stared at him. "If you want to kill me, then kill me. Pui!" He spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering it on the black-robed man's face.
The surrounding people immediately drew their weapons and prepared to attack.
The black-robed man immediately stopped them, and then raised his hand to slowly wipe the blood off his face. He ordered, "Go get a pen and paper."
The person beside him immediately fetched it from the desk and handed it to him.
Seeing this, Rosa immediately knew what they were going to do. He said angrily, "Even if I die, I won't let you do as you please. Don't even think about touching the Vatican!!"
The black-robed man kicked his arm, and with a crack, his arm was instantly broken. He screamed in pain, but his body was still numb. Clearly, the blade that attacked earlier was highly toxic.
"Cut off this arm," the black-robed man ordered.
"Yes." The person beside him immediately drew his sword. Before Rosa could react, he felt a chill on his arm. His arm had been cut off!
The black-robed man picked up the severed arm and said softly, "Even if you didn't come to the banquet, it's the same as sending your will. Lord Bishop, I'll send you to the embrace of your Light God."
Rosa glared angrily and cursed.
The black-robed man turned around and slightly raised his hand.
Pu pu!
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. Rosa, who was lying on the ground, had four swords stabbed into his body, nailing his body to the luxurious carpet. Blood flowed along the sharp blades.
Carly was one of the two females among the eight Cardinals. She was 38 years old this year, and to be able to become a Cardinal at this age was extremely impressive. She was the youngest among all the Cardinals. Of course, this also had to do with the help of her family. After all, her grandfather was the fourth Pope!
"Madam Carly, have you finished writing?" On the sofa in the study sat a short old man. He carried a broadsword on his back and was wrapped in black cloth. In other places in the study stood four figures in black robes. Their auras were grave and stern, like four ghosts.
At the feet of the short old man, there were two corpses. One had its head cut off, and the other had its chest pierced through. The wound was extremely large. Many nobles recognized these two people. They were the personal attendants of Cardinal Carly. Although they were only attendants, in the eyes of many nobles they were still important figures.
In front of the desk, Carly's hair was disheveled, and she sat on the chair with an ugly expression. She held a pen and struggled to write down the short old man's words. There was a bright red palm print on her beautiful cheek, and it was the short old man's hand.
In the hands of the famous Sword King of the Dark Church, she had no power to fight back and could only obey!
After a moment, Carly finally finished writing the letter. The pressure on her body seemed to have been lifted. She bit her lips. She knew that doing this meant that she had betrayed her faith, betrayed the Dark Church, and betrayed the great God of Light! But if she didn't do this, not only would she die, she would also implicate her family. She only hoped that the other Cardinals could escape this calamity. As long as there was opposition, this puppet Pope controlled by the Dark Church would not be able to ascend!
"Let me see." The Sword King stretched out his hand.
Carly picked up the written letter and slowly handed it to him.
The Sword King glanced at it. His eyes narrowed and smiled: "The handwriting is very beautiful." Then he put away the letter.
Carly's face was ugly: "I have done as you said, don't hurt the innocent!"
"Innocent?" The Sword King looked up at her, "When you killed my followers, didn't you think that they were also innocent? It's just that their preferences are a little different from yours."
Carly knew that she was not qualified to reason with him. She gritted her teeth and bowed her head, not saying a word.
"Now, we still need you to come with us." The King of Swords stood up, patted the invisible dust off his body, and said, "How can there not be a bishop to support the new Pope's ascension? At that time, you will also be able to see the Pope Richelieu that you have always been thinking about. He will give you an answer. I hope you won't be stupid. I can kill you at any time.
Carly clenched her hands, her nails digging deep into her palms. She knew that she had no choice but to see Richelieu, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope!
In another castle, Rados was sweating profusely. He quickly wrote the letter and handed it to the black-robed man in front of him. He squeezed out a smile and said: "Do you think this is okay?"
The black-robed man glanced at the letter and put it away. He looked up at him mockingly and said: "I didn't expect that there would be such a weak existence among the cardinals. If the other cardinals were like you, it would save us a lot of trouble."
Rados smiled and said: "You are right. What else do you need me to cooperate with? Just say it."
"Come with us." The black-robed man was too lazy to say more. He snorted and turned to walk outside. He lifted his feet and stepped over the several bleeding corpses on the ground.
[Two hours after the end of the voting meeting]
Barton followed Elnorin through St. Mark's Square and arrived in front of the Pope's Basilica. Barton looked up at the magnificent Basilica, his face full of shock. It was the first time he had seen such a magnificent building. A solemn and sacred aura hit him in the face, making him feel deep veneration. All the distracting thoughts were instantly thrown to the back of his mind, and his heart was filled with devotion.
"Come in." Elnorin led the way.
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