Today, the sun is shining brightly and the weather is fine.
The Church of Light, a branch church of the Xisha Empire.
The cardinal slowly put down his pen, looking at the sunlight outside the window. He was in an unexpectedly good mood today: "Heh, they actually want to borrow my church's light element magic circle, what a joke."
"Hmm...it feels so good to reject Dolores!"
The cardinal clicked his tongue in amazement, feeling a surge of satisfaction.
Dolores is the youngest archmage in the entire continent of Hilar. Even His Holiness the Pope of the Church of Light has praised her highly and has tried many times to recruit her into the church's faction.
If it weren't for the last time at the magicians' exchange meeting in the Lycas Empire, where Dolores not only refused the invitation but also slapped the branch church hard, causing the Church of Light to lose face, Dolores's status in the Church of Light would probably be even lower than his.
Thinking of this, the cardinal shook his head, feigning regret.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and the nun's voice came from outside: "Your Excellency, it is time for prayer. We ask that you step forward to take charge. By the God of Light."
“I’m coming right away. Please be patient, believers.”
At this moment, the cardinal finally snapped out of his reverie, cleared his throat, and spoke in a serious and solemn manner.
He quickly stood up, straightened his bishop's robes from the Church of Light, then opened the door and went out, but unexpectedly did not see the nun who had spoken to him earlier.
The bishop couldn't help but frown, but he didn't pay attention to it. Instead, he hurried to the prayer room to prepare to preside over the prayer ceremony.
The prayer room is located in the center of the branch church and is extremely important because it is not only a place for everyone to pray, but also where the statue of the God of Light is placed and revered by everyone.
"Honestly, why didn't you tell me sooner..."
The cardinal muttered to himself, unable to suppress his resentment towards the nun who had just come to deliver the message but had unexpectedly disappeared. But just as he passed the corner outside the prayer room, he suddenly saw the knight on the ground.
These knights were all warriors who, after being selected into the Church of Light, believed in the God of Light, served the church, and were known as paladins.
But at that moment, the paladin actually fell asleep on the ground.
The cardinal's expression suddenly changed, and he stomped his staff on the ground: "Get up right now! What are you doing? As a paladin, how can you sleep at the entrance to the prayer room?"
"Snoring..."
But the only response to the cardinal was heavy breathing. The paladin lay on the ground, his face flushed, as if he were drunk, and remained motionless.
Seeing this, the cardinal's expression turned even more unpleasant.
But when he crouched down behind him, the simple disguise spell was broken, and the cardinal realized that he could no longer hear the heavy breathing. The paladin was not drunk at all, but had been knocked unconscious and had not yet woken up.
'How is this possible?!'
'This is a branch church of the Church of Light, how could anyone dare to cause trouble here? What on earth is going on?!'
The cardinal was completely stunned.
He didn't notice anything amiss because so many years had passed, and the Church of Light was now an entity that no power in the entire continent of Hilar was willing to offend. How could anyone possibly... cause trouble here, unless they were courting death!
Just as the cardinal stood up, preparing to alert everyone in the branch church, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, you have to lend it to me whether you like it or not."
A girl's soft voice, tinged with malice, rang out from behind.
Upon hearing this, the cardinal's eyes widened in astonishment, as if he hadn't expected it: "It's you—"
But before he could finish speaking, he was knocked unconscious.
It wasn't until the cardinal's body slumped to the ground that the tall figure standing behind him was revealed.
Aldridge was covered by a layer of eerie black power, which Nguyen Thanh An had drawn out by stimulating his seal, but Aldridge was now using it skillfully.
Because this power can repel or eliminate other elements, it will destroy the light element even when it is not overwhelmingly stronger than the black power. In addition, the Church of Light has been high above for many years and has begun to relax its defenses, making it easy for them to take advantage of the situation.
"Master, he has fainted."
"The biggest risk has been resolved. Great, our infiltration was a great success. No one detected us."
037: ...Of course, weren't they all knocked unconscious?
Ruan Qingan leaned against the wall at the corner, looking down at the cardinal on the ground, and then led Aldrich across the corridor openly, even stepping over him.
At the end of the corridor, there was a prayer room.
When Nguyen Thanh An pushed open the door to the prayer room, there was no one inside, because the nun from earlier was just her in disguise.
"Master, what are we doing here?"
"It's very simple. The most important place for the entire Church of Light is the prayer room. Most believers gather here, and the elements converge during their prayer time, which makes them more likely to believe."
Ruan Qingan paused: "Therefore, in order for the miracle to occur, there must be a magic circle here where the light element converges."
After all, not everyone can receive the power and blessing of the God of Light. The doctrines of the Church of Light are wrong because the God of Light only needs the faith of ordinary people, but will not give them any power.
Upon hearing this, Aldrich instinctively looked toward the prayer room. In the deepest part, the walls were carved with the history of the Church of Light and the portraits of the popes. In the very center was a statue carved from extremely precious stone.
The statue was none other than the God of Light, worshipped by the Church of Light.
Presented as a man, with long hair and a tall, imposing figure, his middle-aged face is full of benevolence and compassion for the world.
037: [Is this the God of Light?]
"Who knows? The idols are just the image of the gods in the minds of believers. How could the gods in the divine realm show their true faces to people?"
As Ruan Qing'an was speaking, she turned to give Aldrich instructions, only to find him staring blankly at the statue, seemingly lost in thought. She raised her hand and waved it in front of his eyes.
"Aldrich?"
"Owner."
Aldridge finally came to his senses and turned to look at Ruan Qing'an: "What should I do next, Master?"
"Move that statue away. If nothing unexpected happens, the location of the statue of the God of Light should be the place with the most concentrated light element. Just stand there and try it."
After listening to Ruan Qing'an's explanation, Aldrich nodded, but when he was about to move the statue of the God of Light away, the statue shattered instantly upon contact, turning into fragments that fell to the ground.
Seeing this, Aldridge turned his head away, at a loss for what to do.
"Master, are you sure everything is alright?"
"...It's possible that the power sealed within you is incompatible with the light element, which caused the statue with residual light element to break. There shouldn't be any problem, you can just stand on it."
Ruan Qingan frowned, and after carefully checking and confirming that there were no problems, she allowed Aldrich to stand on it.
Just as Aldrich stepped onto the platform, Nguyen Thanh An raised his hand and summoned the dark gold rose scepter. After twirling it in his hand, he pressed it straight to the ground, and rings of golden light patterns continuously appeared.
At this moment, she maximized her elemental perception and finally sensed, beyond the fire element, the dense, almost liquid-like power of the light element in the air, and the enormous magic circle carved into the floor of the prayer room—
"rise."
She lowered her eyes and spoke softly, using her own power to violently activate the magic array on the ground.
The once lifeless light elemental convergence magic circle immediately began to operate under the impact. The light elements, which previously required magical vision to see, could now be seen with the naked eye, and even condensed into drops of golden liquid in the air.
The next moment—countless golden liquids, all flowing at the same time, converged in the direction where Aldrich was!
And he stood where the statue used to be.
Enveloped in light, like a deity.
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