Chapter 541: Advanced Divine Arts and Blood Curse

This time when Aiwas came to the Central Observation Bureau, he obtained unexpected information.

I didn't find out where the troll's grandfather, "Old Rabbih", was...but I did find out the origin of the corpse that fell out of the closet.

……perhaps.

Although Aiwass believed this statement to be half-true, considering Pure White's unstable mental state, it seemed to make sense. At least in her opinion, the candidate saint named "Gloria Blue Rose" did have the potential to kill Bishop Mercedes.

"...Your Highness, are you alright?"

Aiwass looked at Chunbai's unhappy expression and asked softly.

Pure White just covered his forehead and shook his head slightly: "It's not a big problem, just a slight headache. It's not getting worse."

Her bandaged eyes showed no emotion.

"Excuse me, Gloria..."

Sherlock asked, "Who is it? Is he your friend too?"

He is not a person without emotional intelligence - on the contrary, Sherlock has a very accurate grasp of psychology.

The main thing is, someone has to ask these questions. Aiwass is not suitable for such unemotional tasks, so he can only be handed over to him.

"...No, Gloria was one of Mercedes' childhood friends. She didn't know Janice... She was closer to Mercedes, and her relationship with me was... just average.

"She might be a little jealous of me, perhaps because I became a saint, or because I have a good relationship with Mercedes. But I always thought she was a good kid..."

Pure White's expression was complex. "In this regard, Cardinal Loki is right. The chances of a Saint candidate achieving amber are indeed very high. There are many children like her who have achieved amber. I talk with them every week. The children I grew up with have all achieved amber now... Gloria and Mercedes are the last two of my generation."

"Wait, this means..."

Lily, who had been watching for a long time, suddenly reacted when she heard this: "Master Janice, were you also a candidate for Saint?"

"No."

The Pure White Saint shook her head. "That's right. A Saint needs to resonate with the Nine Pillars, and therefore must learn the skills of the nine great paths simultaneously. That's when Mercedes and I first met Janice... The person who taught us girls the art of beauty was Janice's mentor, Betinatia Blossom.

"...Gloria wasn't even at this stage yet because she was eliminated so early."

"That is to say."

Hearing this, Aiwass slowly said: "Has she been in amber for more than two hundred years..."

"Yes, Gloria is probably the person who has been in the amber state for the longest time in the Church."

Pure White nodded and said, "Gloria Ningpo has been here for almost two hundred years, and Mercedes and I have been taking care of her all these years.

"From the moment the ambering began, Gloria's mind and age remained frozen in that moment. From that point on, she could no longer do any other work—because any job would be repetitive and potentially boring. And generally speaking, once ambering occurs, it will completely settle within a few months.

"Therefore, exempting the Amber Condenser from all duties is also a humanitarian concern for the dying. Not to mention, there are always people who worry that spending too much time with the Amber Condenser might cause them to become amber themselves.

"Unlike Mercedes, Gloria's devotion wasn't strong enough to become a bishop. So, she ended up becoming a poet and writer. The mentor I found for her is Shidel Blue Rose."

"Eighty Selections from Shidel's Poems?"

Sherlock thought of his Elvish textbook and blurted out, "Is that Shidel? So she's still alive?"

Her poetry cleverly utilizes every rhyme in Elvish, boasting complex yet standard grammar, making it easy to recite. Even after translation, it retains its beauty and is easy to memorize. Today, many countries use Shidel's poetry as Elvish language teaching materials.

Not even just the Avalonians... She's probably the most recognized elf in human circles.

"Of course she's still alive," Aiwass grumbled. "Master Shidel isn't even four hundred years old. For an elf, she's probably barely even middle-aged."

Hearing this, the saint nodded slightly.

"Yes. I have some friendship with Master Shidel. In fact, if Agnese hadn't left, I might have introduced Agnese to her.

"Perhaps it's precisely because she still has work to do that she hasn't completely solidified into amber. However, her pessimism hasn't been released, so the amber on her body is very clear and hasn't improved... It can only be said to be slowly deteriorating."

Chunbai lowered her head, looking somewhat lost, but not overly sad. "It seems she might not appreciate our guidance. We forced her to stay in the human world, and this only brought her greater pain."

"...So," Lily began, "she decided to kill Bishop Mercedes, who was guarding her, because she had been tortured by Ningpo for too long?"

"In that case, why would she put her body in my closet?"

Aiwass asked in return: "And why did he use such a sacrificial gesture when he killed her?"

——Intuitively, Aiwass still felt that Bishop Mercedes was being sacrificed to something.

Because her death posture was so strange, it didn't seem like an act of loss of control due to emotional excitement.

He just felt that the person who took action had a very clear will and purpose.

...But this was all just speculation; no one had any definitive proof. All they knew was that Gloria had confessed to killing Bishop Mercedes and then committed suicide by jumping from a building. She had rapidly solidified into amber in mid-air and shattered into a pile of gemstones upon landing.

So after Aiwass asked back, he could only get silence from several people in response.

“…Uh, uh uh…”

But at this moment.

The troll who had been carefully keeping silent nearby suddenly made a sound as if he was enduring something.

Because that sound was like a difficult-to-pull shit, making people frown. But it also made everyone stop discussing the conspiracy and turn their heads away.

At this moment, the troll ritual master named "Zumadi", which means "bone paste", suddenly broke out in a sweat.

His skin was red as if it had been soaked in hot water for a long time and was like an inflamed boil. Clear beads of sweat were oozing out at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In an instant, Zumaidi began to sweat profusely, and the sweat quickly turned turbid and dark yellow.

At the entrance to the Central Observation Bureau, Zumaidi suddenly exuded a strong, fishy odor—the smell was like rotting shark. The pungent smell of urine mixed with the stench of decaying meat and the fishy smell of a seafood market.

He finally couldn't bear it anymore and fell to his knees.

As the troll's massive body collapsed to its knees, Aiwass felt the ground shake. Yellow beads of sweat splattered from his body, staining the pristine, high-tech ground like mud.

The troll wizard Rabbih was suddenly startled, as if he recognized something.

He said something loudly, then looked at Aiwass and Pure White and shouted in Elvish, which was much more fluent than Avalonian: "It's a curse, he's cursed! Save him!"

In fact, there was no need for him to ask for help.

Because just as Zumaidi knelt on the ground and the muddy yellow sweat beads oozing from his skin gradually turned into drops of blood, Aiwass and Saint Pure White had already reacted.

"I call upon the Candle Master, the god whose sacred number is three..."

Aiwass gripped the Corona Scepter tightly in his hand and chanted in a low voice.

At the same time, the saint stretched out her right hand and spread out her five fingers.

Her aura suddenly became ethereal and tranquil, and a cool breeze like a summer evening breeze blew around her.

The next moment, black wind blew out from beside her.

Before Aiwas finished chanting, the wind blew Zumaidi coldly.

A ball of black and red blood mist was blown out from his body by the wind, condensing into a rough black mist human figure behind him and then dissipating.

At this time, Zumaidi had stopped crying out in pain.

The Saint's aura once again became brilliant and sacred, like the scorching sun that could not be looked at directly—

With a casual wave of her hand, Zumaidi erupted in golden flames. The flames ignited instantly and dissipated in an instant, like the flames in a stir-fry pan.

Zumaidi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately looked healthier.

At this time, Aiwass had not even finished the first line of his chant.

He had to stop chanting, and the crown of fire on his head gradually went out.

It's not that Aiwass's chanting is slow... there's no way he could catch up with this speed.

——Because it is not a prayer, but a "descent of spirits".

"See, Aiwass?"

Saint Grey also obviously realized that this was a good teaching.

She turned to look at Aiwass and said, "This is the 'higher divine arts' you will learn later.

"It's not about praying, asking the gods to listen, and then waiting for a miracle to be bestowed. Rather, it's about connecting oneself with the gods capable of performing miracles, using oneself as a medium to influence the material world. Once a specific relationship is established, divine power can be unleashed without chanting. Whether it's an apostle, a celestial minister, or a pillar deity, one can communicate with them and learn the corresponding advanced divine arts.

"—If you want to become a cardinal, you must resonate with at least one pillar god."

The saint spoke very seriously and meaningfully.

It was as if Gray was convinced that Aiwass could master advanced divine arts and would become a cardinal.

She turned around and looked at the three frightened trolls who were hugging each other to comfort each other, frowned slightly, and said softly to Aiwass, "You don't have anything else to do today, right?

"If not, bring them with me... This is the Blood Curse."

"...blood curse?"

Sherlock heard a familiar term: "No, that's only for women..."

He still remembered that Lulu had been cursed during the first promotion ceremony of Fox and Lulu. Sherlock was deeply impressed by the viciousness of the curse.

"This is a modified curse. The definition of the cursed 'poisonous blood' has spread from menstrual blood to the venous blood throughout the body. Therefore, once the curse is activated, it will immediately cause organ failure. This is a curse that is capable of rapid death. The one who unleashed it is at least a fourth-level great wizard, and the purpose is not torture but assassination... If Aiwass and I hadn't been here, he would be in danger."

Pure White said seriously, "It was Aiwass who was cursed before, and now it's the troll who brought him here to find someone... Maybe they've been discovered. But this troll who can speak Elvish seems to have some clues about the current situation."

It's not that she's gotten over her friend's death, nor has she recovered from Gloria's violent suicide after becoming a murderer out of fear of the crime - but there are more important things for her to deal with right now.

Even if they were just three trolls who had illegally entered the country, even if they were strangers to her... one of them was to be killed or murdered in front of her - Pure White still could not allow such a thing to happen.

"No matter what, as long as I'm here and as long as I'm alive, I won't let anyone suffer in front of me."

Her Highness the Saint took Aiwas's wrist and said word by word, "Come with me, let's trace the curse. With this gentleman as a probe, there's no need to ask Cardinal Loki for enlightenment... I can find that person myself."

"—This is the Theocracy. Anyone who murders will pay the price."

Aiwass was pulled forward by her and looked at Chunbai's back without hesitation.

Compared to his best friend whose cause of death remains a mystery, Junbai decided to rescue the living strangers first... and do his best to help them without asking for anything in return.

She didn't even ask the names of the three trolls, nor did she know what they were doing there.

For the sake of people who are more distantly related, Chunbai voluntarily gave up people who are closer to her and who "belong to her" more... This is undoubtedly an act of pure dedication, and Chunbai is worthy of the name of Chunbai and the reality of a saint.

...And this is exactly why Bishop Mathers does not want to continue climbing.

Update completed!

(End of this chapter)