Chapter 673 The Eve of the Election Ceremony

Although the Candlemas are on January 1st, it is a holy day that Hengwo has given up. Since Hengwo has no intention of celebrating the festival, this day is given to the Candlemas.

"The number three" is the sacred number for candlelight.

Therefore, March 3rd of each year is the time when the candlelight's power is at its strongest. If you want to perform a ritual that requires the candlelight's power, you can do so on January 1st or March 3rd.

The day of the change of Pope is always on this day.

...But normally, this year is not the regular papal election day.

Generally speaking, the Pope prefers to leave office in an even number of years. The best case scenario is 300 years, and the next best is 333 years. If a holy number cannot be chosen, then another even number of years will be chosen.

It is now 1899, and next year will be 1900 - from "one" to "nine", these are very auspicious numbers in the eyes of the elves. And next year will also be the 300th anniversary of the current generation of the Eternal Pope.

Stacking so many BUFFs but ignoring them...this is not just a problem that drives people with obsessive-compulsive disorder crazy.

Even passers-by would speculate that this generation of eternal popes most likely left office early due to force majeure.

Because of this...the night before, passers-by on the street were talking about it with some worry.

Preparations for the papal election ceremony will begin at 1 a.m. on March 3rd and officially begin at 9 a.m. on March 3rd. The results will be announced three hours later at noon.

At ten o'clock in the evening on March 2nd, Aiwass changed into his new clothes and took Isabel and Lily to the "elevator" to move up.

Normally, short-lived people would be quite rare at this height as the Fifth Ring Road. But tonight, it was like a New Year's Eve celebration, with short-lived people running around the streets and alleys with cameras in hand.

It’s not that the elves are still being reserved—instead, they’re taking out equipment that’s far more portable and expensive than cameras.

It was a recording stone capable of recording and broadcasting, a culmination of divine arts and ritual, a specialty of the elves. Through divine arts directed toward the Song Celestial Master, it preserved sound, while through divine arts directed toward the Amber Celestial Master, it solidified images, and then, through ritual techniques, sealed them within a white crystal.

If there is still a need, the data can even be transmitted remotely during a ceremony. If it is set up on a ceremony platform, a similar "live broadcast" effect can be achieved through this device.

In the second circle filled with various advanced entertainment facilities, people use this equipment to watch various music performances and sports games remotely.

By tomorrow morning, the election ceremony will be transmitted to each level of the ring through the live broadcast crystal.

Originally, this technology wasn't needed, as it was sufficient to transcribe the "multi-camera real-time monitoring" from Cardinal Loki's location. However, the monitoring system on that floor was damaged by Aiwass, and although it was quickly repaired, it still occasionally had some glitches—for example, the monitoring mirror pointing to a certain location would suddenly freeze for a period of time, requiring a restart to restore normal operation.

Although in principle, Aiwass, who also contracted the Lord of Scales and Feathers, should have succeeded to the throne and completed the work of "directing"... but for some reason, the Pure White Saint personally changed the details of the ceremony - directly sending a group of "cameramen" to assist in completing the broadcast.

In other words… this year alone, people other than the Cardinals were allowed direct access to the ceremony. This meant they could capture far more than just the fixed cameras could capture, and unlike in the past, the ceremony wouldn't be screened by the Cardinals before being shown to the public.

Fresh exceptions often mean fun.

And all this started when Aiwass got on the elevator——

Anyone could see that he was wearing a black robe of a unique texture, with a strange diamond-shaped slit on his chest. The edge of the slit was decorated with a golden thorn pattern. Black sinthorns spread out, entwining with the golden thorn pattern.

And in the center of that winding sinthorn lay an emerald of exceptional quality. Within it lay layers of inward-leaning cracks, the darker they got the further inward they went... looking like the iris and pupil of an eye.

The black robe was also adorned with sparse golden patterns that resembled feathers or fish scales. A long chasuble draped over Aiwass's shoulders was the opposite of the robe's, with a golden base and a black thorn pattern.

There is no doubt that this low-key yet luxurious cardinal robe also has attributes.

But what’s counterintuitive is that…it’s not in the “top” category, but in the “accessories” category.

【Cardinal's Testimony: Aiwass】

【Extraordinary Accessories (Dark Purple)】

【Cardinal's Robe】

[Feature: Automatic cleaning (triggered only on the Dedication Path)]

[Feature: Automatic Repair (Triggered only on the Dedication Path)]

[Mythic Trait: Scaled Feathers (Triggered only on the Path of Devotion)]

[Scaled Feathers: All spell priorities of "Adaptation - Lord of Scales and Feathers" +1]

[“——Hello? Can you see this?”]

This robe, worn by Aiwass, exerts immense power—it's specifically designed to amplify the high-level divine arts he's mastered. No wonder the other cardinals wear it every day...

But the last line of words surprised Aiwass greatly.

Who wrote this? Why does this "equipment introduction" pop up on my dashboard?

...Is it the elven craftsman who made this garment, or...the Lord of Scales and Feathers himself?

But Aiwass felt that neither seemed similar.

The Lord of Scales and Feathers possessed the most powerful prophetic abilities. Even if he didn't know Aiwass had a system, he could certainly see his past and future behavior and deduce this matter. And the Elf Craftsman, who had only dealt with Aiwass once, had no need to resort to such methods to communicate with him remotely...

The most important thing is that the other party did not leave his identity and contact information at all!

Even if Aiwass wanted to respond, he couldn't!

So Aiwass could only pretend not to see it.

Anyway, the attributes of this coat really pleased Aiwass - not only did it have a powerful priority bonus, but it also had a very practical self-cleaning function!

Anyway, wear it first!

This kind of clothing, with a veil, a hole in it, revealing the sinthorn and gems... and it is neither red nor white, looks too familiar.

At first, not many people noticed Aiwass, but later, more and more people were alerted by those around them who were more observant. The number of people who noticed Aiwass's attire spread rapidly throughout the small elevator.

"...Is that the cardinal's clothes?"

"—Wait, is that really the Cardinal? He's human."

"What? I'm face-blind, don't lie to me. Isn't this an elf?"

"Don't look at his face, look at his height and ears—he's clearly human!"

"A human can become a cardinal? It must be an imitation..."

"Who says humans can't be cardinals? Do you discriminate against humans?"

"Do you have any brains? Who dares to imitate the cardinal's clothes?"

The noise, the whispers, the quarrels, the arguments... from the moment Aiwass appeared, it was incessant. Lily's presence was like nothingness, melting into the crowd. Even Aiwass had a hard time finding her.

Isabel, on the other hand, wore virtually no disguise, yet despite her elven beauty, no one discussed her, or even glanced at her. All eyes simply passed by her before focusing on Aiwass.

This made Isabel, who was initially worried that her identity would be exposed, feel relieved.

But no one really noticed her, which made her feel a little weird.

——Never mind, it’s pretty good.

Thinking of this, Isabel took two more steps away from the crowd without being noticed.

Finally, someone couldn't bear it any longer and squeezed through the crowd to get in front of Aiwass.

"This esteemed... Cardinal?"

She spoke half respectfully, half hesitantly, and tentatively asked, "Excuse me, can I take a picture of you?"

(End of this chapter)