Seeing the two men's wary looks, Yi Laizhe snorted and decided not to make a fool of himself. He went upstairs and disappeared from their sight.
The two breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the street.
“Looks like this guy is determined to stay with us.” Elimo stroked his chin. “What do you think he’s up to? Why is he sticking to us like this? Could it be that he’s discovered something…?”
“I don’t know either, let’s see how things go.” Phil Gray shook his head.
"I never thought we'd be neighbors. By the way, are you living with that annoying guy, or in the building next door?"
“This is a special time for the Church of the Dead to select a pope, so I think it would be best if the two of us didn’t live in separate buildings,” Phil Gray said after thinking for a moment.
"You mean, those Holy Sons might target us?"
"That's not necessarily true. Even if they are upright individuals, their families might be different. If they assassinate us, we might have to thank them for sending us to the abyss."
"That's scary, let's be careful."
"So, let's change our clothes first, then have a meal and find a secluded hotel."
"You mean...we're not going back here? Oh, right, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. If we keep changing locations, trouble won't find us. Good idea! It just makes things easier for that guy." Eli was a little unwilling, but the thought of not being bothered by him anymore made him feel better.
…………
The next morning, the crowd surged toward the entrance of the Cathedral of Death like a tidal wave, craning their necks to peer inside.
The church bells rang precisely on time, like heavenly music, invigorating the sleepy believers.
The six papal candidates stood in a neat row, smiling, and greeted the believers in a friendly manner.
The archbishop presided over the second round of selection. Pointing to the altar that had just been erected in the center of the church, he said with certainty, "This is the altar that we carefully arranged last night. It can increase your success rate in summoning the dead. In a moment, you will take turns summoning the dead through this altar. I will judge the dead you summon, and of course, the elders will also give some opinions."
Then, he smiled slightly and turned to the Third Elder to explain, "In order to leave enough space for the spirits summoned by the Holy Sons, only twenty believers are allowed to enter the church to watch today. These twenty are all core members of our church. The rest of the believers can watch from the square through the magic array set up by the Third Elder."
The Third Elder nodded to him, indicating that he was fully prepared and that all the images would be perfectly received by the prepared magic array through his sacred object, just like yesterday.
Phil Gray examined the altar. It looked ordinary, but it was covered with complex runes, clearly indicating that it had undergone special treatment.
Eli gently nudged his shoulder and said with some distress, "Boss, I might embarrass myself in this round. You'd better make it up to me."
He tried his skill "Visitor from the Abyss" a few more times last night. Although this skill can be used many times a day as long as you have enough divine power, most of the undead creatures he summoned were below the Blessing level, and some were even in a daze and had no independent consciousness.
“Perhaps we can win by sheer numbers?” Phil Gray said in a low voice.
"Winning by numbers? Do you think I can compare to that guy who brings thousands of undead with him?" Eli glanced at the guy who had taken over their new mansion. The guy had dark circles under his eyes and kept yawning. Who knows what he did last night.
“That’s true,” Phil Gray agreed wholeheartedly.
Although the undead behind Yilai Zhe were not high-level, their numbers were considerable, and he was really curious as to why they were doing this.
If he hadn't been so busy with the selection process these past few days, he would have liked to put on the "Shadow Grip" gloves and hide in the other person's shadow to find out what was going on.
Their whispers did not affect the other children around them. Marshall seemed to have shaken off the gloomy mood he had been feeling yesterday because of his low score, and instead looked a little happy.
It seems the other party might also be quite skilled at summoning the undead.
Saint Jasmine maintained her smile, brimming with confidence for this round of selection.
On the other hand, the Holy Son Yilai Zhe had a slumped face, looking like he hadn't slept enough. However, he was clearly not worried about summoning the undead and was thinking about other things.
Only Bishop Rodney and Eli frowned, and Phil Gray speculated that Bishop Rodney might also be somewhat lacking in the art of summoning the undead.
However, he had discussed this with Eli during dinner last night. These scions of powerful families, who have family support behind them, might summon undead through other means if their own summoning skills are not outstanding. For example, they might use some external tools or something else. This is because they discovered that the rules announced yesterday did not require the use of their own summoning skills.
At this moment, the archbishop announced the first name to enter: "Marshall".
Marshall was surprised that he was the first to go up. He was stunned for a moment, but then walked confidently onto the altar.
"Shall we begin?" The archbishop gestured for them to begin, then stepped aside to stand beside the council of elders.
The elders sat on chairs not far from the altar, staring intently at it.
Marshall took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to mutter incantations.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, and a ball of black light emerged from his hand.
The black light gradually coalesced into a human shape, and then a ghost dressed in ancient armor appeared on the altar.
The undead's empty eyes stared ahead, holding a worn-out longsword in its hand.
The archbishop carefully observed the undead, nodded, and said, "Not bad, it's the soul of a fallen warrior, at the 'Attention' level, and its combat power is not weak."
“It has no independent will and will faithfully carry out all my orders,” Marshall said with a smirk. “My guard, give everyone a dance.”
Upon receiving the order, the undead stiffly brandished its longsword and began to perform a strange dance.
The believers present couldn't help but laugh, and the originally quiet and solemn atmosphere immediately relaxed.
The archbishop laughed heartily: "Shall we continue the summoning?"
“Yes, I can still do it.” Marshall continued chanting the incantation, and more black light poured out of his hands.
This time, the black light transformed into a flock of rotting birds, swirling around the undead. Each bird had sharp claws and a pointed beak, and they emitted eerie yet clear cries, as if they were cheering.
The archbishop praised, "This is a flock of carrion crows. Although each one is only at the Blessing level, together they are definitely no weaker than the Attention level and have a certain ability to fight in groups. Marshall, you did a great job. Can you summon more?"
“Of course.” Next, Marshall summoned several more undead with special abilities, such as zombies that could release poison mist and ghosts with mental attack capabilities. Although they were all of the highest caliber, they were quite powerful together.
His demonstrated summoning power drew nods of approval from the elders.
“I am currently at the Divine Prophecy level, and can only summon undead lower than my own level. But as long as my divine power recovers, I can keep summoning.” Marshall’s forehead was covered in sweat, and he seemed to be somewhat exhausted, but a smug smile remained on his face. Under the admiring gazes of the believers, he slowly retreated to his original position.
As for the spirits he summoned, they remained in the church, because the length of time a spirit can exist in the human world is also an important criterion for judgment.
The archbishop then announced the next candidate to come up: "Jaslin!"
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