Chapter 660 Siegfried
After hearing Aiwass's words, the cardinals in the room had different expressions.
Some people looked shocked, some were lost in thought, some were hesitant to speak, and some frowned.
The first person to speak up to smooth things over was the host here, Cardinal Cyril.
"—As expected, you are recognized by His Holiness the Pope and the Candle Master. Even I didn't expect that you would actually pass the Lord of Scales and Feathers' assessment in just one week."
This old cardinal, half of whose body was tree and half of whose body was amber, used only two sentences to nonchalantly protect Aiwass.
As the leader of the "Market Supervisor" faction, Cardinal Cyril obviously still has some face.
His moderate and conservative character always makes him tend to eliminate the conflicts that are about to arise - before an argument occurs, raising Aiwass's concerns in advance will obviously help people be more patient.
Clearly, his words were effective.
The middle-aged elf with short brown curly hair and a frown glanced back at Cardinal Cyril and finally chose to remain silent.
Aiwass could clearly sense the undisguised hostility from him - a hostility that was not mixed with the slightest bit of turbid desire, extremely clear and burning, as intoxicating as refreshing liquor.
So Aiwass turned around and asked directly without any hesitation: "Excuse me...what is your name?"
"Belisarius."
The other party answered so briefly.
He was dressed in the white robes favored by Parthians, with only the left side of his chest exposed. His entire left side was transparent, like a carefully crafted diamond. Through that "diamond shell," one could even clearly see his snow-white ribs and the heart beating powerfully within.
Aiwass thought for a moment and realized that he really didn't remember this cardinal. But he couldn't rule out the possibility that he was one of the facial expressions group.
At this time, the other party asked back: "Don't you know what you have done?"
"What?"
Aiwass raised his eyebrows and asked back.
"—Let me tell you, Bailey."
The person who answered was not Belisarius, but the Paladin "Topa" whom Aiwass had met at the promotion ceremony.
The young cardinal, whose path crystallized behind him, nodded slightly. Like a knight, he placed his right hand on his chest and introduced himself enthusiastically, "I remember who you are... I'm 'Topa.' You might remember me, Aiwass! You once enthusiastically helped me during the ascension ceremony..."
"Oh, sorry! I haven't introduced myself yet—you don't have to call me Toppa here. You can call me Siegfried. Guardian of the Second Circle, a member of the 'Mediators'. I have contracts with the Silver Crown Dragon and the Sand Clock."
He even spoke openly about the direction of his contract with advanced divine arts.
However, rather than saying that he is like a knight, it is more accurate to say that the concept of "knight" is like him.
When he heard the name, Aiwas knew the other person's true identity.
Any college student in Avalon should know his name.
If Aiwass remembered correctly, the first knights were those who admired and imitated "Knight Siegfried" in the Herasil Empire. Like Helechin, Siegfried, acting as a mediator, also traveled across the world. However, his ultimate fate was completely different from Helechin's.
Siegfried does not have followers like Helechin, nor does he place as much emphasis on absolute justice.
He always travels alone around the world, preventing unnecessary disputes wherever he sees them and helping those he likes to fulfill their wishes.
Those words that could morally blackmail Helechin had no meaning to Siegfried - because Siegfried's beliefs were "only help those you can see", "there is no point in paying attention to distant tragedies", "it is meaningful even if you only help one person to be happy", and "good deeds are not divided into big and small."
Later, when he traveled to the Hellas Empire, he met a group of young people who were admirers of Siegfried and longed for his "freedom to do whatever he wanted."
Siegfried was very happy and stayed for several decades, teaching them martial arts carefully.
But he also warned them that even free and righteous actions must be bound by constraints. He therefore established a creed for his disciples: helping the weak, being loyal to their lord, having firm beliefs, and being warm and polite. These later evolved into the professional code of conduct for the Knights of Hellas.
In a sense, he could even be called the father of the Kingdom of Knights, the original knight, the "zeroth" knight.
But in the game, Aiwass has no memory of the other party.
The reason is simple.
Because as early as the early stage of the 2.0 plot, when the Theocracy was divided, Siegfried had already died - he died in the infighting among the cardinals.
From another perspective, Siegfried died as a result of Cardinal Loki's conspiracy.
"I remember you."
Aiwass looked at Siegfried, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his tone became gentle and friendly: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Siegfried."
Although he had guessed it a long time ago... but now that it was confirmed, Aiwas still had to sigh: in the absent promotion ceremony presided over by Merlin, the companions brought by the Pure White Saint were indeed cardinals.
"It's only been a few months... less than half a year, I think? I remember you were still at the second level back then, and now you've mastered advanced divine arts and become a cardinal. What a remarkable talent," Siegfried exclaimed in admiration from the bottom of his heart. "You're worthy of being singled out by His Holiness the Pope! This is pure devotion!"
Hearing this, the expressions of several other cardinals who did not know Aiwass suddenly changed, and they all looked at Aiwass with respect.
Compared to the true identity of "Xingchen", this news is indeed more frightening.
...Are you kidding me, the second energy level?
Just half a year... didn't that just pass in the blink of an eye?
In just the blink of an eye, he jumped from the second energy level to the fourth energy level, and even mastered advanced divine arts that humans had never mastered before...
Could this person be the reincarnation of an apostle who dedicated himself to the path of Tao?
Aiwass was somewhat curious about what Siegfried meant by "the Pope's name," and asked, "May I ask what His Holiness the Pope thinks of me?"
"Your Majesty..."
"—Siegfried."
Fafna reminded him lightly from the side.
After hearing Fafner's reminder, Siegfried suddenly came to his senses.
He explained to Aiwass seriously, "Just last night, the Theocracy suffered an unprecedented catastrophe."
"...The Cataclysm?"
For a moment, Aiwass thought that the disaster of trees and amber had finally arrived.
But the other party's next words made Aiwass stunned for a moment:
"We currently refer to this catastrophe as the 'Stellar Disaster'.
"Because just last night, approximately 5% of the elves were implanted with the 'Warrior' class by 'Star'.
"The vast majority of them are inheritors, which is not a big deal. But some are professionals from other paths, which has forced their original paths to be reversed. Among those currently counted, there is an archbishop.
"So far, among the extraordinary people affected, the one with the highest Dao Energy Level...
"It's just me and Cardinal Valrhona."
Siegfried said seriously.
(End of this chapter)
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