Chapter 540: Death of Blue Rose
The atmosphere between Loki and Pure White became visibly tense.
No one else dared to speak, and the only one who could interrupt was Aiwass.
"In fact, Cardinal Loki."
Aiwass tapped his chest three times with his right hand and said, "I am personally involved in this matter - because the bishop named Mercedes died in the cabinet in my room.
"And if Her Highness the Saint hadn't been otherwise occupied, she would have been the first person to see her friend's body. I would have witnessed it all as a witness."
"So what?"
Loki asked back.
He looked calm and composed, as if he knew nothing about the pure white amber.
Aiwass raised his eyebrows slightly.
——Could this be Loki in disguise?
Is he pretending that he doesn't know about this so that he can get away with being a suspect?
But at this moment, Chunbai suddenly spoke, saying something that surprised Aiwass: "Cardinal Loki, Aiwass knew about that matter."
……Um?
Aiwass looked at Chunbai in surprise.
What does this mean?
And Loki's expression was also slightly moved.
He frowned slightly, looked into the pure white eyes, and said sternly: "You should know that this kind of thing cannot be told to outsiders. Especially not to the short-lived species."
"I didn't tell him everything, just like I didn't tell him the secrets about you."
Pure White looked at Cardinal Loki with the same seriousness and earnestness: "This matter only concerns me."
"That's not the case. Our cause concerns the Theocracy itself. It concerns you, me, and all of us."
"But at the end of the day, this is still my business."
The two high-ranking members of the Theocracy transformed into Riddle Men, arguing in a language that outsiders could not understand.
——But Aiwass could understand it.
It is precisely because of this that he can easily discern information that others cannot perceive.
...From the sound of it, it seems that Cardinal Loki has known about Pure White Amber for a long time?
No, according to what they said, the entire group of cardinals should know about this.
That made sense. Given Chunbai's honest and trouble-averse personality, she probably wouldn't be the type to deliberately hide something like this... Since someone could still use this to plot against her, it meant that this secret was no longer a secret in some sense. It was Loki, on the other hand, who didn't want more people to know about this... What was going on?
Also, what Pure White said about Loki's secret...
...Could it be that Cardinal Loki also has a secret that can even be compared to the matter of pure white amber?
Was this incident related to the controlled fire? And was it related to his sudden death?
While Aiwass was thinking in his heart, Cardinal Loki looked at Aiwass again.
"I'm not one to repeat myself, so I'll just say it here once. If you don't want to hear it, I won't say it to you again."
Cardinal Loki said sternly, "The Theocracy will soon be in chaos—your timing for coming here is not very good. If I were you, I would leave the Theocracy and return at the end of the year."
Pure White on the side simply interrupted: "I will protect him."
But Aiwass noted that she did not deny that Congress was in chaos.
Cardinal Loki shook his head: "You can't protect him.
"—You can't even protect Bishop Mercedes, and you still want to protect Aiwass? The troubles he's entangled in are much greater than Bishop Mercedes's."
When he heard the first half, Junbai frowned slightly - for Junbai, who had a calm personality, this was already considered anger.
But when she heard the second half, she was stunned.
The White Saint temporarily put aside her anger over her friend's murder, frowned, and asked Cardinal Loki seriously, "What do you know about Aiwass?"
"My past is chasing me."
Cardinal Loki replied, "I will be forced to do what I want."
Pure White frowned slightly: "When?"
"yesterday."
"Have you prayed to the candlelight?"
"I prayed to Him three times last night."
Cardinal Loki raised the corners of his mouth slightly, showing no fear: "Now it seems that the time has come for my soul to return to the heavens."
Chunbai narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at him: "Then...won't you come with me? I can also protect the witnesses and the criminals."
"I've already said that, that matter has nothing to do with me."
Loki shook his head slightly and turned back to answer.
"Was it someone from Controlled Fire who did this?"
"That's right."
Unexpectedly, Loki replied.
"Who is it?" Chunbai asked.
When Loki heard this, he turned around and looked at her, then uttered a name.
"Gloria Blue Rose."
Chunbai's face, which was always calm and expressionless, suddenly showed obvious hesitation.
Hearing this, Aiwass, who had been very quiet nearby, suddenly raised his eyebrows.
Because he had heard this name too.
This is not a good thing.
"…So, where is Gloria?"
Pure White took a deep breath.
Loki glanced at her and looked back at the mirrors.
He pointed to a mirror, and a girl suddenly appeared in the mirror.
His flaxen hair was very short, even shorter than Aiwas's.
The next moment, her image suddenly expanded, spreading from the mirror to the entire wall, and the image that originally only showed her face now showed her entire body.
Gloria was wearing a thin, airy white gown. She was short and looked like a girl of about fourteen or fifteen.
And under her clothes, one can clearly see lines of gem crystals that look like scars.
Her palms, backs of her hands, shoulder blades, collarbones, neck... were all densely packed with gemstone crystals. She even seemed very stiff when she moved.
What attracts the most attention is her right eye.
Her right eye had transformed into a deep blue gemstone as beautiful as the starry sky, seemingly filled with stars. However, it lacked a pupil or an eyeball.
She was holding a thick stack of letters in her hands.
It was a confession written in slightly distorted handwriting.
It can be vaguely seen that what is written above is the act of murdering Bishop Mercedes.
She walked to the edge of the earth, which was near the edge of a certain circle.
Then, a golden glow ignited in her hands - perhaps it was also a particularly bright amber.
Under the catalysis of the light, the letters came alive one by one, transforming into paper cranes, flying in all directions at the same time. And when the paper cranes dispersed, she fell forward, arms outstretched, and fell.
“…Gloria!”
Pure White exclaimed.
She subconsciously took a half step forward and stretched out her right hand as if to grab something. But just as she was about to stretch it out, she slowly lowered it.
“…When did this happen?”
"This morning."
Cardinal Loki replied.
The next moment, he waved his hand.
The scene suddenly changed.
It was a leafless tree, twisted by horticultural techniques. Originally used as a seat, it was now littered with fragments of gemstones: blue, green, yellow, red... The entire tree shimmered under the embellishment of these broken gemstones.
Only a jeweled face with its eyes tightly closed fell before the tree. It was also shattered into two halves, with only the part above the chin remaining intact.
"Alternate Saint Gloria."
Cardinal Loki replied, "Her amber disease has long since reached the advanced stage, and she is only able to survive thanks to your heartfelt talks. But she has been tired of this state for too long... Maintaining the status quo is also a twilight act. 'Stopping the amber itself cannot stop the amber' is a paradox of the elves."
"But it's clear that she would rather have a short and brilliant death than to have her soul frozen in those sculptures after a period of slow condensation.
"How can you define her actions against Mercedes as murder... rather than rescue?"
Loki turned around and looked at Pure White again. "As far as I know, Bishop Mercedes didn't resist when she died. Are you so sure she wanted to survive and be with you...waiting for the future Ningpo?"
But this time, Chunbai subconsciously turned his eyes away.
"Your Highness the Saint."
Loki said softly, "Among dozens of candidates, only one can be the best. They are all your substitutes. If something unexpected happens to you, they may become the Saint."
"If you don't die, the others will be Saint Maiden Candidates for their entire lives. They'll spend their lives cultivating the art of resonating with the Nine Pillars, surviving in a high ring isolated from the world. You should know the probability of a Saint Maiden Candidate achieving amber.
"You said that it's because elves who are less likely to condense amber have become professionals, so professionals are less likely to condense amber. Then let me ask you, does the inheritance itself really not affect the probability of amber disease? The high amber condensation rate of candidate saints, the almost life-and-death relationship between each group of Pope's guards, if one person dies, the other will also condense amber... And your former mentor, Betinatia Fanhua - are the deaths of these people really unrelated to the inheritance itself?
"—You are a winner, you are a survivor, Your Highness. Just like me. We are all lucky. But there are always some unfortunate ones. Some cannot become successors, and some successors die. Among those who follow me, not all are professionals—there are also some successors who have encountered the Amber Crisis and are seeking change, healing, and liberation. They are also elves.
"Now I ask you, Your Highness the Saint—
"Controlled fire, is there really anything wrong with that?"
Facing the Saint and the four Pope's guards, Cardinal Loki's words did not waver in the slightest.
His eyes were as blazing as fire, and the crimson glow burning in his pupils was like the setting sun.
The sunset is at dusk.
(End of this chapter)
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