Chapter 748: Dispersal
The central area of the main continent, Shenglin Mountain.
Above the boundless grassland, the Holy Mountain, like a pillar in the sky, towers into the clouds like a sword. On the top of the Holy Mountain, in the Holy Cathedral, an emergency meeting of the Cardinals' Council is in progress. The four cardinals who hold high positions in the Glorious Church are making key decisions when they are interrupted by an uninvited guest. When they look at the intruder, they all show a trace of surprise.
"Vanya, this is not the place for you!"
In the grand and holy chapel, Amanda stood in front of her seat, looking at the nun in white who had just broken in and was now kneeling on the ground, and spoke in an unprecedentedly serious tone. Kramer on the other side also stood up and spoke in a stern voice.
"Vanya Chafilon is so bold and reckless as to trespass here without any regard for religious rules. Take her away and detain her for punishment later!" Kramar said this, and then seemed ready to do it himself. However, Vanya, who was kneeling on the ground, immediately raised her head and looked at the four cardinals in front of her, and said seriously.
"My dear cardinals, Vanya is guilty of trespassing into the cardinals' meeting. I will accept whatever punishment you give me later. However, I had a reason to trespass this time. I have learned some important information. My dear cardinals, please do not use the holy staff now, otherwise it will lead to serious consequences!"
Vanya said this. Listening to her words, Kramar at the side snorted coldly, patted the armrest of the seat, and then spoke.
"Humph, I need you to deliver this important intelligence. You are a heretic who has repeatedly challenged church rules. Now let me..."
"Wait a moment, Judge..."
Just when Kramar was about to do something, Hilbert on the other side suddenly spoke, then looked at Vanya with a serious look and said.
"Where did you get this information? What is it? Tell me clearly."
"Yes! The source of my information is the Secret Supervisor, Her Excellency Saint Atticelli. She just told me through a special channel that... the fog covering Tivian is produced by the dream world that protects a certain powerful divine being. The evil cult and the Black Dream Hunter Group are eager to obtain the powerful divinity protected by the fog, so they use a large-scale ceremony to blur the barrier between Tivian's real world and the dream world, and bring the fog into the real world.
"The purpose of the Black Dream Hunters is to lure the cardinals to use the Holy Staff left behind by the Holy See to dispel and illuminate the fog shrouding Tivian. Now the barrier between Tivian's reality and dreams is becoming increasingly blurred. At that time, the divine light created by the Holy Staff will inevitably shine into the dream world, opening the way to divinity for the Black Dream Hunters. Please do not fall into their trap!"
Vanya spoke respectfully and eagerly to the adults in front of her. After listening to Vanya's words, several people paused slightly, and then Kramar spoke first.
"The Privy Council? The Privy Council will naturally pass on the news to the Privy Council. How could it be passed on to you? Now that there is no movement in the Privy Council, you come here. What a ridiculous reason."
Kramar said this, and his words seemed to make sense. Vanya's reasons just now were indeed not sufficient, which made Hilbert nodded silently. At this time, Vanya responded again.
"The Secret Supervisor did not use ordinary means to contact me. Now Pritt is shrouded in the fog created by the divinity, and ordinary means of communication are completely unable to contact the outside world. The Secret Supervisor used special methods to convey information to the outside world." Vanya said slowly, and then after a slight pause, she swallowed silently and then continued to speak.
"To put it simply, the Secret Supervisory Office cooperated with a mysterious cult called 'Revelation', the Rosicrucian, and relied on the divine power they possessed to pass the information out of the fog. This Rosicrucian has a deep connection with the Judge Cult active in the Northern Crow Sky. I have also had contact with the Judge Cult of the Sky before, and they have my contact information. They passed the information to me through this relationship... That's why only I know this information, and the Secret Supervisory Office doesn't know the reason..."
Vanya explained seriously to the people in front of her. Hearing Vanya's words, Amanda's face sank, while Kramar's eyes lit up, he slapped the armrest, stood up from his seat and spoke loudly to Vanya.
"Okay... I've always suspected that you had some secret dealings with the pagans, and now you admit it! Do you know what the consequences of this are? Vanya Chafilon!" Kramar said sternly to Vanya, not forgetting to glance at Amanda who had a sullen expression, and Vanya continued to respond.
"Of course I know the consequences, but I cooperated with the pagans in the first place for the necessary salvation, and I have no regrets... But now these are unnecessary. The only thing I want you to do is to trust me and not move the holy staff at will! As for the punishment for violating church rules, I will bear it myself later!" Vanya raised her head and continued to look at the cardinals in front of her with a firm look. Her words obviously angered Kramar.
"I can't believe a sinner's words! Now let me first..."
"Wait a minute!"
Just when Kramer was about to use some power on Vanya, Amanda at the side finally spoke again, and she spoke in a serious tone.
"Although Sister Vanya does not have a church post now, she has a church rank. Given Sister Vanya's current church rank, the Inquisition no longer has the power to deal with her alone. It requires a Council of Cardinals of at least six people to determine her crime and the disposal plan. So now you, the Inquisition, have no power to convict Sister Vanya and cannot do anything to her..."
Amanda said to Kramar that the Inquisition's power of trial and arrest only applies to Radiant Church members below the rank of Archbishop. It only has the power of investigation for people at the rank of Archbishop. People at the rank of Archbishop are under the jurisdiction of the Council of Cardinals and the Holy See in a sense. If a person at the Archbishop level makes a mistake, either the Pope directly convicts him, or the Council of Cardinals collectively discusses and convicts him, or the Pope or the Council of Cardinals authorizes the Inquisition to try and convict him.
Now Vanya is already a decapitation, and although she does not have a clerical position, she is already a member of the archbishop rank, and the Inquisition does not have the power to deal with her alone.
Listening to Amanda's words, Kramar paused slightly, then he couldn't help but look at Amanda, stared at her for two seconds and then smiled slightly.
"Even now, you still want to protect her and save Eshu. Haha... This is the first time I see you doing such a stupid thing..."
Kramar said this to Amanda, with a hint of pride in his tone. Now the situation is very clear. Vanya has admitted that she has had an improper connection with the pagan religion, which is completely irrefutable. Under the right circumstances, Amanda should take the initiative to cut off ties. If she still wants to protect it now, she will only get herself more and more involved.
Although Amanda also has clues about Kramer's collusion with the pagans on the issue of Farajo, they are just clues. Amanda has not produced any actual evidence. It is far from enough to rely on the one-sided statement of a consul. Amanda only has clues to hold Kramer's handle, and Vanya has just taken the initiative to admit it. The weight between the two is not comparable, so Kramer is now absolutely at the upper hand against Amanda.
Listening to Kramer's words, Amanda paused slightly, then took a deep breath in silence, and then continued in a deep voice.
"I've said before that any question about Vanya's guilt cannot be discussed now. Everything needs to wait for the Council of Six Cardinals to decide. Before that, you, the Cardinal Judge, have no right to take any measures that cross the line against Vanya. The most urgent thing now is whether to believe Vanya's words? Whether to use the holy staff? Other issues can be discussed later..."
Amanda said this, then slowly looked at Vanya and continued speaking.
"Vanya, you said that the Secret Service passed the message to you. Do you have any evidence?"
"Yes...please go with me to the Secret Court now. I can point out many secrets unique to the Secret Court, including many confidential codes and mechanisms that are unknown to the Secret Privy Council. Oh, and there are also several sets of verification procedures that can verify that what I convey is really the words of the Secret Privy Council. These are all told to me by the Secret Privy Council himself..."
Vanya said while looking at the cardinals in front of her. After hearing what she said, Amanda spoke first.
"I think what Sister Vanya said makes sense. Let's go to the prison chamber now and see how the actual verification works." Amanda said this to her three colleagues. However, in the eyes of the three of them, Amanda didn't seem to recognize her intention.
"Let's go to the prison together... Impossible... Under the Holy Light of the Lord, there is now a capital city of a country, hundreds of people have been infected by the cult, and even the evil god's agent has personally come out. The situation can be said to be extremely urgent. The situation in Tivian is changing rapidly. There is no time to conduct this verification! I suggest not to listen to this sinner. She may be sent by the cult to delay our action! Wasting time to verify will cause them to blame!"
Kramar said this in a low voice, then glanced at Vanya who was still kneeling on the ground and expressed her position. On the other side, Marco, who was skinny and didn't talk much, also nodded.
"According to the data left over from the Great Holy War... once the cult's grand ritual is launched, if it is not stopped in time, the entire city will be wiped out very quickly... Every time it is a moment, we should act decisively and not procrastinate.
"I have heard of the various secret codes and verification procedures of the Secret Court. In order to ensure accuracy, they are designed to be extremely complicated and cumbersome, and it takes a long time to complete the verification. According to the experience in the previous Great Holy War, time is extremely tight under the current circumstances. We should not waste our efforts on these matters."
Marco continued to express his opinion in a steady tone. Seeing that Kramar and Marco were both against the verification, Amanda's expression became more and more gloomy. Finally, she couldn't help but shift her gaze to Hilbert, who had not expressed his opinion yet.
At this moment, Hilbert was frowning and thinking about something. After pausing silently for a long while, he seemed to have made up his mind and spoke.
"I think there is really no time to go to the Secret Court now. Sister Vanya's words are not very convincing. I can't believe that the Secret Court will not easily seek help from pagans..."
Hilbert said this with a serious look. Not long ago, he had personally heard an urgent call from his subordinate Samuel, saying that the situation in Tivian was extremely urgent and required immediate reinforcement. Compared to Vanya, Hilbert believed Samuel's words more. He was also very eager to reinforce Tivian in his heart. After all, the parish there belonged to his sphere of influence.
Although Vanya said that using the staff would have serious consequences, delaying the use of the staff in this emergency situation might also have serious consequences. After weighing the two sides, Hilbert chose to trust Samuel, whose information source was not too far away and could be clear and accurate, rather than Vanya, whose information source was unclear and required complicated verification. If Samuel had not broken the agreement at the last minute and asked Hilbert to send an emergency message, perhaps Hilbert's decision would be a little different now.
Now the situation on the field is very clear. Among the four cardinals in the Emergency Council of Cardinals, only Amanda supports Vanya. The decision to wield the holy staff will inevitably be passed. Such a situation made Vanya's face become extremely ugly. She stood up from the ground in a panic and said.
"Cardinals... please listen to me, you must not move the holy staff now! Otherwise, something terrible will happen..." Just as Vanya was about to get up, Amanda, who had a sullen face and remained silent, stretched out her hand, pressed on Vanya's shoulder, and forced her to kneel on the spot.
"Stop talking Vanya, now be quiet."
"But Your Excellency..."
Amanda spoke solemnly to the translator. Vanya was about to continue listening to Amanda's explanation, but at this moment, a passage of words suddenly echoed in her mind.
"At this point, don't force Vanya, and don't confront any cardinals head-on. Find a way to stay where you are and wait for the opportunity. We still have a chance..."
Hearing the voice in her mind, Vanya was slightly startled, and then she seemed to have given up. She lowered her head and knelt on the spot again, not continuing to struggle for anything. Seeing Vanya's look, Kramar couldn't help but smile coldly.
"Without further delay, let's use the Holy Staff to dispel the evil fog from Tivian. Since the Holy War Center is the initiator of this emergency meeting, you will be the one to control the Holy Staff."
At this time, Kramar spoke, and after Hilbert nodded in response, he gently waved his hand, and the original was summoned down. A white wooden scepter with dense carvings and inlaid with a huge golden gem that was hovering in the center of the chapel fluttered naturally and quickly floated into Hilbert's hand, and Hilbert held it tightly.
Then Hilbert stomped the ground slightly with the scepter in his hand, and then, a brilliant light appeared all around. The scenery suddenly changed, and above the chapel, a series of hazy illusions rose up. If you look closely, you can see that these illusions are the sea, sky, mountains and land. A picture similar to a satellite cloud map, viewed from an extremely high altitude, appeared on the floor of the chapel at this moment, making the entire floor of the chapel seem to have turned into a giant display screen.
From this bird's-eye view, everyone in the chapel can see a huge island with a winding coastline on the east side. The most eye-catching thing in this image is a huge swirling spiral cloud disk above the eastern waters of the coastline. There is a clearly visible hurricane eye in the center of the cloud disk. This swirling cloud disk is madly absorbing the surrounding cloud systems. Except for a piece of cloud on the eastern coast, almost all the cloud systems in the entire area have been absorbed at this moment.
That area was where Tivian was. In the eyes of the cardinals, there was a vast expanse of white fog spreading there at the moment. The entire city was almost shrouded in fog. This fog completely ignored the huge typhoon above the eastern ocean, and hovered over the city as if it was not disturbed by anything, completely covering it.
Looking at this unusual and strange scene above the cloud map, Hilbert frowned slightly. Then he temporarily ignored the typhoon that was raging on the sea and focused his eyes on the fog covering the city. Then he slightly raised his hand holding the scepter and murmured softly.
"O Sun... the Lord's first expedition, the Supreme Court... I will perform the duties of the Lord's shepherd, guiding the purest light to penetrate all obstacles..."
As Hilbert muttered, the scepter in his hand emitted a subtle glow. This divine light shone on the faces of every person in the cathedral and on the huge cloud map on the ground.
At this moment, on the distant east coast of Prit, over the city shrouded in thick fog, the scorching sun hanging high in the sky above the clouds suddenly burst out with a brighter light than ever before, and then an unusually brighter white light shot down from the sun, illuminating the fog over the city. The illuminated fog instantly churned up, and even the typhoon could not affect them, and they actually dispersed at this moment.
…
Going forward a little in time, on the east coast of Plitvice, in the misty Tivian,
In the thick fog, in the northern city of Tivian, in the church district that had been destroyed by a destructive force not long ago and almost nothing was left, in a large pit in the thick fog, a fierce battle was going on. Both sides of the battle possessed unparalleled speed.
Under the big pit at the ruins of the church area, in the relatively thinner fog than other places, an invisible battlefield unfolded because of the influence of the majestic power of faith that still lingered here. Almost no figures could be seen in the space, but the crisp and piercing sounds of fighting rose and fell one after another in all directions, shaking the entire space. On the desolate ground, gravel kept exploding inexplicably, and sharp marks as if chopped by swords kept appearing out of thin air. Moreover, the sound became more and more frequent, and the marks became more and more.
Fierce battles were taking place in the invisible space. Both sides were fighting at super high speeds that broke the limit of human vision, so that ordinary people could not see clearly what was happening in this battle, and could not feel the sounds of constant explosions and the terrain being destroyed. Now only the two sides involved in the battle could clearly know what they were fighting against.
After the meeting, Atchery and Gaskina started a fierce battle on this limited battlefield. When Atchery had just successfully escaped from the maze in the woods and returned to Divian, she immediately encountered Gaskina, who had just dealt with Archbishop Samuel of Pritt and was about to ask her ally to release the agreed contact and ask her to help her cross the fog for support. However, without saying a word, she encountered Gaskina and fought fiercely, restraining her and preventing her from supporting her allies.
As two of the fastest people with golden-speed "shadows", their battle was carried out at an incomparable super high speed from the very beginning. Both sides fought fiercely, hitting each other with weapons, dodging each other, and their figures turned into invisible shadows that constantly shuttled on the battlefield, leaving only sounds, sparks and the constantly destroyed venue. This battle lasted for a while like this.
In the rapid confrontation, Geskina saw an opportunity, and her whole body spun and swung, with the six blood-red weapons on her six arms turning into a whirlwind, pressing down on Atcheri's petite body and slashing at her.
After seeing this, Atcherie dodged the attack with agility, then blocked the attack with her sword. After being flung into the air by the monstrous force from Guskina, she used the prepared Wind Control Talisman at high speed to turn around and dive down, chopping off Guskina's ugly head from top to bottom. Guskina immediately used all four arms to fight back in the air, but Atcherie twisted her body nimbly again, adjusting her falling direction by stepping on Guskina's blade, and fell from Guskina's side. Finally, she slashed Guskina's side with a sword, leaving a deep bloody mark on Guskina's body, accompanied by a tragic scream.
Similar scenes were not uncommon in previous battles. In the continuous fighting, Atcheri gained a certain advantage. Her sword had cut Guskina's huge body many times, and even cut off one of Guskina's six arms at a tricky angle several times, allowing Guskina to launch a crazy counterattack while recovering at a high speed. However, none of these crazy counterattacks have succeeded in hurting Atcheri.
Logically speaking, now that Gaskina is not only gold, but also has a divine bonus, her speed should be faster than Atcheri. She should not be at such a disadvantage in this close combat and be continuously consumed by Atcheri who has the advantage. However, the battle between them is not just about speed.
Speed is only one aspect of close combat. The speed and extremely high agility brought by high-level "shadows" are certainly important, but they are not everything. Atcheri is not a completely orthodox Beyonder. Her power is composed of two parts. One is the "lamp" power of Atcheri herself as a church clergyman, and the other is the "shadow" power brought by the name of Saint Atcheri.
Yes, Atcheri is essentially an Extraordinary of "Light", a special kind of being who does not possess auxiliary spirituality, nor any branch special abilities. She is a degraded pure "Light" Extraordinary. When she was a high-level pure "Light" Extraordinary cultivated by the church with secret methods, she inherited the power of "Shadow" contained in the name of Saint Atcheri, and thus became a saint of the church with the dual opposing spiritualities of "Light" and "Shadow". This is the case with all previous Archbishops.
Among the seven saints of the church, except for the Pope, six saints achieved the power of gold by inheriting the ancient holy name. The power of gold is contained in the holy name, and it is not necessarily the power of "lamp". The power of the holy name used by the secret court of the saints since ancient times is a powerful power of "shadow". However, due to the opposition between "lamp" and "shadow", Atcheri also paid a price when she inherited the holy name. The extraordinary path she had walked in the past was abnormal, deformed and degraded.
Now Atcheri not only has the agility and speed inherited from the golden "Shadow" of the Holy Name, but also has a perception that has been greatly enhanced after her own status has been raised, far exceeding that of an ordinary red adult and close to that of an ordinary golden "Lamp".
In combat... especially in close combat, it's not just speed that matters. Speed can only make it difficult for others to capture you, but speed won't help you if you want to capture others. On the contrary, too high a speed will affect your own search for the enemy... For example, now there is Gaskina, she is very fast, faster than Atchery, but because both of them are too fast, Gaskina is very difficult to search for the enemy. Even if she is faster than Atchery, it is useless if she can't lock on Atchery.
On the contrary, Atcheri has a perception close to that of a golden "lamp". Although it is still difficult for her to lock onto Geskina, it is much easier for her to lock onto her than for Geskina to lock onto herself. Therefore, after stunning Geskina, she can occasionally launch a successful sneak attack and cause damage to her.
Atchery, who has great speed and strong detection, is very strong in hand-to-hand combat. In the previous battle with Igwinter, facing Atchery who did not use her full strength, Anna also needed Dorothy's powerful "inspiration" power to constantly calculate and simulate Atchery's attacks for her to barely parry. Now facing Atchery who does not hold back, even if Guskina has a faster speed, it is useless.
"You... damned little brat!!"
Facing Atchery who was constantly causing harm to her, Guskina had to start adjusting her strategy. She began to prepare to transform into blood mist, spread it around, and prepared to attack Atchery in the form of blood mist, and then use environmental damage. However, Atchery was well prepared for this.
Just when Guskina was about to turn into blood mist, Atcheri used the pistol in her other hand to fire a light bullet, which did not hit the target and then detonated in the air, causing a dazzling and hot explosion. The intensity even exceeded the fireball of the Scarlet Skyfire Saint. The intense heat caused the part of Guskina that had just turned into blood mist to be at risk of being evaporated.
Atcherie is a powerful "Shadow" Extraordinary. After assisting with precious props and providing an outlet for her valuable "Lamp" spirituality, she is also a powerful "Lamp" Extraordinary. In front of the "Lamp" Extraordinary who manipulates the fiery power, blood mist can be said to be an extremely dangerous decision.
"cut……"
Facing Atcherie's pressing, Guskina further changed her strategy. She began to gather a bright red blood mist armor on her body, sacrificing a little speed in exchange for defense. When the strange blood armor was equipped on the six-armed monster, Atcherie's attacks began to be less effective. The slashes and bullets that hit the blood armor were blocked, and any attack had little effect. Not long ago, it was this blood armor that helped Guskina defend against Samuel's last attack without suffering any damage.
Compared with Atchery, Gelsina also has an advantage. The powerful "cup" power ensures her survival. It is difficult for Gelsina to kill with one blow, and she can only consume it slowly. Compared with Atchery, Gelsina, who has the pain divine enchantment on her weapon, only needs to cause a little damage to Atchery. Even if it causes damage to Atchery's body or related moves, it will directly make Atchery lose her combat effectiveness. Atchery only has one blood compared to Gelsina. Atchery must be completely unharmed when fighting Gelsina. Atchery will be directly gone even if she is touched a little.
But fortunately, given Guskina's currently worrying ability to search for enemies, it is not a big problem for Atchery to kill without taking any damage.
Because of the reduced mobility of wearing the blood-colored armor, Atcheri was able to search for the enemy better and find more opportunities. After dodging the attack of Guskina, who was obviously slower in movement, Atcheri immediately launched a counterattack when he saw the right opportunity. He fired a light bullet at Guskina, but before it exploded, Guskina immediately used a blade to cut it. After the light bullet was attached with pain, it trembled out of control, deviated from the track, and exploded in the distance.
As the light bullet exploded and emitted a bright light, Atcherie took the opportunity to focus on the shadow of Guskina, which was more obvious than before. In an instant, a large hole appeared in the armor at the corresponding position on Guskina's body, and blood gushed out, causing Guskina to scream in pain again.
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