The radiant barrier that had shrouded the Cathedral of Holy Light for several days began to gradually disintegrate. Countless pale golden particles escaped from the constantly melting energy barrier and dissipated into the depths of the night. Inside the gradually disintegrating barrier, the melodious sound of the bell continued to ring.
The bell was melodious, like an invitation.
Gwen and the two guardian dukes stood in the square in front of the church area. Looking at the scene in the direction of the church, Duke Bodwin frowned slightly. "Strange … The clergy should have come out of the cathedral to meet the believers … Why is the church area so quiet?"
Gwen looked up and saw that in the floating holy light dust, the church area maintained a strange silence. He could not see the bishops and high-ranking clergy, only some ordinary clergy and attendants running between the buildings in a hurry. There were also some panic-stricken figures in the upper corridors of the cathedral. The situation was really unusual.
Just as the three of them were guessing what was going on in the church, the solemn and heavy door with many miracles and runes was finally opened.
However, it was not the clergy composed of bishops and high-ranking clergy who came out, nor was it the Pope?? Not Ivan the Third, but Veronica in a plain white robe??? She slowly walked out of the church and walked towards Gwen and others, holding the platinum scepter that originally belonged to the Pope in her hand.
Not sure if it was an illusion, but the moment he saw the "Saintess Princess", Gwen felt a faint sense of disharmony. Although Veronica looked the same as the last time they met, he always felt that there was a trace of disharmony in her.
This feeling was inexplicable and was quickly swept away by a shocking piece of news —
"His Holiness the Pope has been summoned by the Lord. The bishops have died in the God's Advent ceremony." Veronica said in a calm and gentle tone with her usual gentle expression.
Gwen and others were stunned for a moment.
Some people were indeed shocked, but the people outside the church were shocked. When the door opened, the Pope was gone …
"All … martyred?" Bodwin seemed to be unable to believe his ears. He stepped forward and asked, "Was it God's Advent? Did something happen? "
"The power of God's Descent is not something that mortals can bear. His Holiness the Pope is too old to hold on until the end of the ceremony. In order to prevent the ceremony from getting out of control, the bishops sacrificed themselves as vessels," Veronica said as she moved slightly to the side. "The cathedral has been opened, and the Great Bright Hall is still maintaining the scene."
This was an invitation for the three of them to enter and take a look.
Bai Dewen and Victoria looked at each other. After a moment of hesitation, they stepped toward the main entrance of the church. Gwen woke up from his momentary shock and pondering. Countless guesses and ideas appeared in his mind in an instant, but in the end, they all converged into a deep look at Veronica.
The Holy Maiden Princess only maintained an indifferent expression and calmly responded.
Before she turned around and walked back to the church, she noticed some changes outside the church area.
The streets were full of soldiers of the Cecil Legion. The Ansu flag above the Silver Fortress in the distance had disappeared. Above the main tower, where only the Royal Family flag was allowed to be displayed, the Cecil Sword and Plough flag was illuminated by a beam of light and was fluttering in the night wind.
She thought of Gwen who appeared here? Cecil herself, the Holy Maiden Princess' expression finally changed a little. She raised her eyebrows slightly and asked, "What happened in the city?"
"A lot has changed. The Ansu monarchy has ended, but it is a peaceful evolution," Victoria said in a cold voice. "The current owner here is Gwen? His Majesty Cecil. "
"I will explain to you in detail," Gwen said to Veronica. "A lot has happened. We need to sort it out slowly."
Veronica lowered her head and drew the emblem of the Holy Light on her chest. "I have converted to the Holy Light and am no longer the Ansu princess. The succession of the monarchy has nothing to do with me. This city has survived. This is the most important thing."
Gwen looked at her for two seconds, but said nothing. He stepped into the church not far away.
In the Great Bright Hall, the power of the Holy Light had calmed down. The hazy Holy Light had once again condensed into a sea of clouds, floating slowly above the hall. The Pope's Holy See was now empty. Not even a trace of him could be seen. All that could be found in the entire hall was a dozen piles of ashes surrounding the Holy See. Those ashes were the remains of the Bishops of the past, scattered on the key nodes where the God's Descent was performed.
It did look like a human body had been burned by the surging Holy Light, and there were no signs of fighting or invasion in the Great Bright Hall.
However, Duke Bai Dewen and Duke Victoria, who were about to begin the restoration of order in the city and bear the responsibility of maintaining the stability of the core region of the Empire, felt a headache coming on.
At this time, they could not help but feel a little envious of Wales who had left in time. They even could not help but speculate. Could it be that His Majesty had already known about the shocking changes that had happened in the cathedral? Was that why he was so determined to leave?
"Oh gods …" Bai Dewen's face was extremely gloomy. "I would rather deal with those crystal monsters …"
Victoria looked at him quietly and said indifferently, "Do you want to guard the city again?"
"That's not what I meant …" Bai Dewen immediately waved his hand and then looked up and down at Victoria. "Why didn't I know that you are sarcastic before?"
"I'm just curious," Victoria said casually. She then looked at Veronica. "That means, there are no bishops in the cathedral now? How many high-ranking priests are left? "
"The Bishops have indeed all died, but the high-level priests are not damaged, and the church functions can still operate normally," Veronica said. At the same time, she slightly raised the platinum scepter in her hand. "I have already received the recognition of the platinum scepter and can temporarily manage the cathedral. However, the royal power has changed, and the order of Saint Sunil needs to be reorganized. The believers also need to find peace in a new environment. There are many things that Gawain and I will need to do. Cecil … His Majesty can only make a decision after a discussion. "
"We can talk now," Gwen immediately said. "If you have no objections."
"Alright." Veronica nodded slightly and looked at the two guardian dukes. "The two grand dukes can wait in the lounge for now."
Gwen could see that this' Saintess Princess' seemed to have something to discuss with him privately, so he said to Bai Dewen and Victoria, "Why don't you two go back to the castle and rest first? We can talk tomorrow."
"Okay." Victoria nodded and said briefly. Then, she took Duke Bai Dewen, who seemed to have a lot on his mind, and left the cathedral together.
It was not until they were outside the cathedral where the holy light could not reach that Bai Dewen could not help but look back. He said to Victoria, "Don't you think this is very strange? Saint? Although Ivan III is indeed old, it is not to the extent that he can't support God's Descent … And the bishops were all martyred? Although I believe that their faith is indeed devout to the extent that they can be martyred at any time, for no one to survive a God's Descent … it's too much of a coincidence. "
"It is indeed strange," Victoria said, "but there are no clues."
"Her Highness Veronica must know more …" Bai Dewen hesitated. "But she doesn't seem to intend to say it, at least not in front of us."
Victoria was silent for a moment, then turned and looked in the direction of the cathedral.
Fine snowflakes escaped from her hair, and her voice came in the breeze. "But overall, this is a good thing."
Bai Dewen was startled, and his expression became subtle. After a few seconds of silence, he showed an expression that was hard to tell whether to laugh or cry. "Yes, it's a good thing … but there are too many things happening at the same time, and it's really hard to relax."
"The turning point of the era … probably this."
Inside the cathedral, Gwen and Veronica stood in the Great Bright Hall. Gwen looked around a little uncomfortably. "Are we going to talk here?"
"Don't worry, there are no extra eyes here," Veronica said gently. "Including the eyes of the God of Holy Light."
Gwen looked at Veronica deeply. "This sentence … doesn't sound very pious."
Veronica just smiled and gently raised the platinum scepter in her hand. "The platinum scepter, which represents the bridge of the will of the God of Holy Light, is under my control. No one who believes in him will question my piety."
"But I don't believe in him," Gwen said. "Holy? Did Ivan III really die from the descent of God? Did the bishops really become martyrs? "
"They sacrificed their lives for their beliefs. By definition, they are martyrs," Veronica said very calmly. "Do you still feel sorry for their death? As a ruler who is about to restore the order of the country, the sudden decline of the church should be a good thing for you. "
In everyone's normal impression, such words would never come from Veronica, the devout "Holy Princess"!
Gwen stared into the eyes of the Holy Princess. He could finally confirm that the sense of dissonance he felt in Veronica was not an illusion, but the sense of dissonance did not just emerge today. It had always existed in the Holy Princess and had always been hidden by her.
It was just that for some reason, the special aura in Veronica was particularly obvious today, and Gwen happened to be sensitive to certain 'inhuman' things, so he noticed it.
He looked into Veronica's eyes and felt as if he was looking at a doll. Her strange aura was very similar to a human's, but upon closer inspection, it was different from a human's. And this doll-like quality … he vaguely felt that he had felt this aura from Veronica before.
"I don't want to talk in riddles. Who are you — you know what I mean — and what do you want to do?"
"Have you ever heard of this saying …" Veronica smiled and said word by word, "— human beings will exist forever, even if they disobey God."
"The Disobedient Plan!" Gawain blurted out. He finally felt astonished, and this astonishment somewhat broke the indifference he had maintained until now. "You … how do you know this sentence?!"
The pious Holy Princess was actually an insider of the Disobedient Plan? How did she know? Did she get the ancient knowledge? Was there a heritage of the Disobedient Plan within the Moen Royal Family? Or could it be that … there were ancient survivors like Kamal?
Questions exploded in Gwen's mind one after another, and what confused him most was that a disobedient (if Veronica was a disobedient) had become a 'pious' believer of the God of Holy Light and even became a high-ranking member of the church. But when he thought about it carefully, he suddenly felt that this development was more in line with the meaning of a 'disobedient'.
An organization that could dissect God for research and extend its power to the most pious church, there was indeed a high degree of disobedience in it …
"The Disobedient Plan has never ended. As long as human beings continue to exist, we will not stop," Veronica said under Gwen's gaze. "You don't have to be so surprised. Don't you already have a living disobedient beside you?"
"Kamel …" Gwen frowned. "Then who are you?"
"This question is not really important, but if you are curious, I can tell you a name," Veronica said softly. "'We' used to be called Ophelia. Norton. You may not know this name, but you must know this surname. "
"Norton? The surname of the Gondor royal family? " Gwen's eyes widened. He suddenly felt that he had been exposed to too much information today. "Ophelia … I really don't know much about it … but what do you mean by 'we' just now?"
"This involves the division and reorganization of souls and some secrets. I'm not sure if I should let you know now. As for Ophelia? As for the name Norton … You can ask Kamel when you get back. He should be able to give you a satisfactory answer. "
Gwen could tell that the girl in front of him was wearing the "Veronica" sign. The traitor with the identity of Moen did not fully trust him, so he did not intend to reveal all the secrets. However, he did not force him to ask. Instead, he asked, "What do you want to do by telling me these?"
"Do something that goes against the gods." Veronica smiled and gently raised the platinum scepter in her hand. "For example … let the Holy Light return to the mortals."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
