Radiance Cathedral.
The Liege of Death that the shadow turned into did not attack immediately. After confirming the location of the Angel of Grace, he retreated to a dark place outside of the room, waiting for the moment when the gate of the church was opened. That would be the moment when Francois would be most relaxed and careless.
If he cast a spell now, Francois might sense danger and defend himself in time.
If they fought in the church, he wouldn't be able to defeat Francois at all.
Even in the cathedral blessed by the God of Truth, there was still a lot of darkness that the light couldn't reach. The Liege of Death, Tannanois, was standing in the middle of them, as if he was one with them.
In the hall where teleportation circles had been deployed, Francois stood up and waited for the news anxiously. Other people might not know it, but he knew very well that a result that concerned his future would be born tonight. No, it would also affect the situation of the entire world!
The holy light surging in the teleportation circle suddenly shone brightly, illuminating the entire room as if it were daytime. The aura of the divine spell covered everything.
"Is there a result?" Francois stared at the teleportation array.
At this moment, two red spots of light jumped out of the darkness. The Liege of Death keenly sensed a perfect opportunity for an assault. The waves created by the transmission circle could cover all the traces before the spell was cast, especially when Francois was fully focused on receiving the message.
He raised his right hand, and the black sleeves of his magic robe naturally retracted, revealing a dry, pale hand that seemed to have lost all the water. Every inch of his skin and every line was different from that of ordinary people. They were mottled with the traces of death, which converged into the runes of immortality. Faint black smoke popped up, and the intense stillness appeared, as if the kingdom of the dead had been reborn under this hand.
Tannanois bent four fingers, leaving only his index finger. The withered fingernail was the first to light up with a mysterious black-gray color.
A rough voice that was hard for others to hear came out of his mouth. Faces of souls appeared around him. They were distorted and ferocious, but they were all gloomy and silent. They threw themselves into the black ash at the tip of his index finger, dyeing it with a layer of pale color.
The body of the Liege of Death was gradually transparent, becoming no different from the face of the soul. Then, it was absorbed by Lucien's index finger, leaving a pale, black, and gray finger on the spot.
Ah!
A miserable shriek suddenly echoed, and a fuzzy face flew out of the tip of his index finger with its mouth wide open. It crossed the time and space in the blink of an eye and lunged at Francois' back.
"Assassination?" Francois looked at the teleportation array before him in confusion, not understanding why he had been assassinated in the heavily guarded Radiance Church!
Streaks of light erupted from his body as the supernatural items that were triggered did their best to stop the face from entering his body.
However, at this moment, the finger that had turned into weird black, white, and gray suddenly appeared before Francois and touched his forehead softly through the defense that was about to be broken.
The first attack was the most powerful and weirdest unique legendary spell of the Liege of Death, which he himself named 'Death Resonance'. The other sorcerers gave the spell a nickname — 'Death's Call'. The 'finger' of the second wave, on the other hand, was one of the remaining legendary items of the Liege of Death. It was a one-time legendary item, 'Nether Lord's Right Hand'!
Francois' shock and confusion was frozen, and his body quickly turned black and gray.
… …
Fernando quietly flew to the midair and saw that the cathedral in the city was shaking violently as if it had suffered an earthquake. After only one moment, the earth split apart, and a gap where red magma was rolling out swallowed the cathedral like the mouth of a monster.
The air of legendary divine power burst out of the cathedral, and a streak of holy light soared to the sky. However, "it" was enshrouded by a dark ball and dragged downward. It flew slower and slower, and after only a couple of seconds, it fell into the scorching magma instead of rising.
Then, the gap on the ground was closed, and nothing was left except for the disappearance of the cathedral and the clerics inside.
"Such a manipulation of the power of the earth …" Fernando felt that it was the best and most unbelievable supernatural power of the earth class that he had ever seen. Of course, he had only seen similar spells from ninth-circle archmages. "Also, the attack was aimed at the Church …"
Judging from that, he concluded that the enemy was a friend and not a foe. So, he slowly landed and waited for dawn to sneak into the city and ask for information.
… …
In the Bright Hall in Lance, the Holy City …
The old pope's hair and beard were all white, and his wrinkles seemed to be falling from his face. He was so old that he did not seem to be a living human being. Wearing the holy crown and holding the platinum staff, he looked at the Grand Cardinals and the Holy Knight down below without the slightest turbidity. "Except for those who are guarding the fortress and cannot return, the Grand Cardinals are all here."
His voice was both solemn and loving. After a pause, he raised the platinum staff and said solemnly, "The Lord has given me an oracle and appointed a new pope. I will return to Mountain Paradise tonight and return to the arms of the Lord."
"This is the Lord's gift. Your contributions to the Church are as boundless as the ocean." All the Grand Cardinals lowered their heads and said respectfully.
The old pope nodded. "Our contributions are our gains. I now announce the Lord's oracle. The new pope is …"
He glanced at the few Grand Cardinals and was satisfied by their calmness and piety. Then, he raised his voice and said solemnly,
"Griffith!"
"May your path be on earth as it is in your kingdom." A middle-aged man in a plain white robe walked out and kneeled on the ground devoutly. His skin was dark, and his facial organs were plain. He did not have as many wrinkles as the farmers in the field, but his every movement was full of charm.
"Only Truth lives forever!" The other Grand Cardinals also kneeled and drew crosses in front of their chests.
Then, everybody stood up and watched Griffith walk to the stairs of the seventh floor step by step.
As Griffith took the stairs one after another, hollow and meaningful singing, ivory and sacred light, and countless angels that looked like gravel appeared one after another, making Griffith feel that he was walking in the kingdom of the God of Truth.
The overwhelming holy light enshrouded Lance. All the clerics and believers were kneeling and praying.
The projection of Mountain Paradise appeared in midair and cast a sacred light on Griffith, as if he were added with a halo.
Griffith walked to the last step and took the platinum staff from the old pope solemnly and respectfully. Then, he turned around and faced the Grand Cardinals, raising the staff high.
At this moment, a sacred and majestic voice came from the infinite heights.
"I hereby grant you the holy name 'Gregory'!"
The old pope put on a smile. His body suddenly became transparent like the purest holy spirit. Then, he collapsed into countless spots of holy light and flew into the projection of Mountain Paradise in midair.
Griffith drew crosses in front of his chest and announced in the same way that all the popes did when they took over the throne.
"From today on, I am Gregory!"
The Grand Cardinals kneeled again. "Only Truth lives forever!"
At the front of the Grand Cardinals was a blond man in a white robe. He was handsome and tall, but his nose was slightly curled, making him look rather gloomy.
At this moment, he was so focused and pious that he was praying more devoutly than any of the Grand Cardinals on the spot.
Behind him, some of the Grand Cardinals lowered their heads so that nobody could see their faces.
… …
"What? This place has been taken over by the Church of the Mother God of the Earth?" Fernando had envisioned a few scenarios, such as encountering powerful sorcerers of the school of elements, force fields, or astrology who might be adept at earth-class spells, or someone summoning a devil duke, or the primordial gold dragon's assault. However, he did not know that this place had already become the territory of the Church of the Mother God of the Earth!
He did not need to ask about it, because many priests of the Church of the Mother God of the Earth had been communicating the fact to the believers after he snuck into the city.
"It was the Mother God of the Earth who killed a Grand Cardinal last night? That makes sense. Only a top legend who is best at earth-class spells could've killed a Grand Cardinal who was under the protection of a cathedral so easily … "Fernando thought to himself.
As a matter of fact, he, Arnold, and Douglas had all speculated that the heretical churches that had resisted the Magic Empire with the Church of Truth since the beginning of the War of Dawn would turn against them sooner or later because of the Saint Truth's expansion and dominance. The previous cases had all proved it. For example, the "Sun God" who was killed by God's Arrival. However, he did not foresee that the Mother God of the Earth would rebel so suddenly!
"If the Mother God of the Earth had rebelled during the siege of Lance, the outcome might've been different …" Fernando did not hesitate and soon accepted the fact that the Mother God of the Earth had betrayed the Saint Truth. However, he sighed that it was too late. Thinking to himself, he said, "Perhaps it was because the Saint Truth had been suppressing them without a pope that the coalition army made important concessions to the Mother God of the Earth."
Standing outside of the newly-built church of the Mother God of the Earth, Fernando hesitated for a while and decided not to take the risk to enter. After all, there were a lot of sorcerers among the night watchers, and the priests of the Church of the Mother God of the Earth must've been too sensitive to trust him. He might as well go to Aalto day and night and find his acquaintances to introduce him.
"Antec always told me that his classmate Stanis had amazing talents and was about to become a legendary sorcerer. Hehe. I have to meet him in person." Fernando accelerated and tried to sneak out of the city, recalling the letters of his friends in the past.
At this moment, when he passed by two priests, he suddenly heard one of them say to the other in a low voice, "Griffith has taken over as the pope. His holy name is Gregory."
"A new pope has been born?" Fernando was briefly stunned. "What does Ivan think right now?"
He had to go to Aalto and ask about it immediately!
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