Chapter 313: 313. Void Anomaly

Sylvester opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He realised that he was on a bed in some extremely minimalistic room with nothing but a bed.

'I feel surprisingly fresh after that beating.'

"You woke up? Good, I was wondering what I should tell your mother about your absence." The Pope's voice came from the side as he sat by the study table and wrote something. The man was still shirtless.

Sylvester looked down, and he, too, was shirtless. 'This Pope would have been in so much trouble if this were to happen in my previous world.'

"How long was I unconscious, your holiness?" He asked and stood up to stretch.

"Address me as mentor for you in private, and you've been asleep for an hour. It's nearly morning now, so you should head home. Take a nap, do your personal work by evening tomorrow, and then return here. This will be your schedule from now on. We shall train from evening to sunrise." The Pope instructed him before he left.

Sylvester truly needed some rest, though he felt it was somewhat of a waste of time. Sleep was overrated, and he was jealous that beings like the Pope and Guardians were strong enough to avoid sleeping for days at a stretch.

He put on his robes and prepared to leave. Thankfully, he had decided not to bring Chonky along, fearing the Pope might easily sense him.

"Understood, mentor. I will report back in the evening." He saluted and proceeded towards the door.

The Pope didn't even acknowledge his leaving and just kept writing something on the parchment while keeping multiple books open on his side.

'He reeks of anxiety and doubt. It seems the demon has brought a lot of trouble to his mind. But what could that demon be trying to show me?' Sylvester wondered as he walked out.

Bam!

"Ugh..." Sylvester groaned as he bumped into someone just outside.

He looked up and apologised as he recognised the man from the Sanctum Council. It was likely one of the Guardians that he didn't know about. The man was as tall as him and had broad shoulders and a muscular body hidden under oversized yet neat-looking black robes with white outlines. The man was also wearing a lot of silver ornaments over himself, and a hood covered his head. From his face, he seemed to be a stoic person.

[A/N: See here]

But Sylvester smelled something more. 'Ah, sweet old jealousy.'

"Watch where you're going... Bard!"

He shoved Sylvester to the side, walked into the Pope's room, and shut the door loudly. Sylvester was just left in wonder and confusion as to why there was so much anger.

"Old enough to be a grandfather and act like a toddler. Great, the Church is in good hands." Sylvester mocked and walked away.

But another Guardian was standing there, an old man that Sylvester knew very well. "Headmaster, it's a pleasure to see you again. Congratulations on your promotion to Grand Wizard rank."

The old man was as incredible as he was years ago. Lost beard and long white hair, smoking a pipe in his red wizard's robes. The man oozed the aurora of a relaxed but wise old man. "Good to see you again, Lord Bard. I've kept an eye on your career, and I must say you have exceeded my highest expectations. I suggest you go to the school from time to time and give a few lectures—Boost the kids' morals. The new generation is growing too soft otherwise."

Sylvester bowed his head with respect. "I will, headmaster. But are you still the ruling headmaster of the School?"

"Of course! Headmasters of the School of Dawn serve for life. I may have become a Guardian, but my duties remain the same. Ah, I should go now. His Holiness wishes to learn about some demons. You know about it, I presume?"

'This old fox, he's trying to interrogate me without interrogating me.' Sylvester caught the man's intentions without even smelling them.

"I do, but it's not much different from any other demon. Although, perhaps, this one seemed too ordinary to the eyes. But in the circumstances it was found, it is certainly a topic of debate. Who was that man, though?" He asked nonchalantly.

The headmaster chuckled and patted Sylvester's shoulder. "Don't mind him, Lord Bard. He's just a bit... Jealous. You see, he's the first student of his Holiness. He's the Eighth Guardian of Light, codenamed Faithwalker. So he's slightly jealous of you since you became the priority of his Holiness."

'It's fine if his jealousy only remains limited to this petty arrogance and not outright heresy, an attack on me.' Sylvester thought and glanced at the door.

"I will take my leave now, headmaster. It was nice meeting you again. Perhaps I will come to the school next week." Sylvester bowed his head and paid respect.

"Come anytime, Lord Bard. My office will always welcome you with open doors."

Sylvester didn't hurry while leaving the building. Instead, he kept an eye on every room, every pathway and intricate detail to see what security measures were installed in there. He wasn't planning anything for now, but his occupation had taught him to be ready for anything.

The living quarters of the Pope were on the first floor of the Pope's Palace, overlooking the sea. So, he had to traverse long corridors and find his way down to leave. Finally, outside, he got his horse from the stables and headed home.

It was still early morning. The sun had barely started to rise. So, he silently entered the house without making a noise. Miraj was sleeping near Xavia's feet, like a good guarding son, so he went to his room and dropped dead as well.

'What a long and tiresome day.'

He muttered and, within minutes, drifted off into sleep.

...

However, while Sylvester slept, the entire Pope's Palace and the higher clergy were finding it hard to smile. The Pope had downplayed the importance of finding a demon inside the Pope's Palace, but in reality, it was perilous and troubling.

"I want to know which Pope in the past dared put a demon right in the home of the Lord? This is blasphemy of the highest level!" The Pope roared at the group of old chief historians from the Library.

Nobody could tell anything about how and when the statue was put there or who put it there; since the story of the woman and her lover was so famous, it was hard to believe anything from just words.

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The Headmaster of the School of Dawn spoke respectfully. "Your Holiness, I'm afraid there was only one man who could have answered us, but sadly, he has passed away. The fifth Guardian was the oldest Grand Wizard in the Holy Land and had served under multiple Popes—The word of mouth that he must have known..."

"The old man is gone, and we're left with this mess. I want answers. Saint Medico, where is the report of the autopsy?" The Pope demanded.

Saint Medico frowned, as he didn't have the report ready. "It will take some more time, your Holiness. But I have some news, the demon's body is completely natural. Meaning it did not possess any humans. It's one hundred per cent demonic. What's worse is that it's made of elements we don't even know about."

The Pope sighed and clenched his fist. "So you mean this demon didn't just arrive in our world through its consciousness, but rather its whole body was transferred."

"Perhaps, it's rumoured and theorised Void Anomaly." Spoke the First Guardian of Light, the Silver Mist. "I think that's a strong possibility, as history says the demonic activity increases during the appearance of Void Anomaly."

"It's just a rumour." Saint Wazir exclaimed. "Nobody has ever seen it, nor has anyone ever ventured into it. The records define it as nothing but 'The day the sun turns dark like a bottomless well in the sea of sky.' Most of us here are older than two hundred years, and we remember no such event."

The Pope remained silent, however. He couldn't afford to dismiss a threat just based on absurdity. "If the rumour exists, then some truth must be there. Perhaps, this demon was caught by the Pope of some era when this Void Anomaly did occur. However, the anomaly has only been mentioned twice in the recorded church history of five thousand years. Once in the rule of the first Pope, the second never mentioned the date."

"But why keep it inside the Holy Land?" Saint Seer wondered.

"A message!" The Inquisitor High Lord spoke. "You sow the seed today so your children can eat the fruit. The Pope in the past likely could not do anything about the demon, so he kept it here—To warn the future."

"What now?" Saint Wazir asked, looking at the Pope, looking for instructions.

"Scour the libraries of the world. We need to find any information we can about this Void Anomaly. Search the ancient records of the sky and the stars. Find me clues, anything. If there is a world out there somewhere trying to take over us. Then we better prepare ourselves. Lest they attack us at our lowest." The Pope's voice rang firmly and loudly. The words were absolute, and incompetence was not welcome.

Pat!

Everyone crossed their arms at the chest and saluted the Pope. "May the Holy Light enlighten us!"

With that, all left the Pope's chambers, leaving him alone to ponder what just transpired. 'This is not good. The Demons know more about us than we know about them. Oh Lord Solis, guide me to the righteous path—Bless me, so those heathens kneel to my wrath.'

...

Pa!

Pa!

"Maxy!"

"W-What? Where am I?" Sylvester's eyes slowly opened. His sleep was more like deep unconsciousness for the whole six hours he slept. He didn't even move in his bed and remained in the same position.

The first thing he saw was Miraj slapping him while sitting on his chest. "Maxy! I'm hungry. Where is my banana."

"Hmm? I gave you two dozen bananas to keep in that belly. Where are they?"

"I ate them. Gimme more now, please."

Sylvester groaned and slowly got up from the bed. He glanced out the window and noticed the sun was at its peak. 'With this sleep, I should be able to function for two or three days without needing rest.'

Knock Knock!

"Sylvester, are you there?"

Sylvester recognised that voice and opened the door. "Felix? What brings you here?"

"Hehe, look at this!" Felix threw a few parchments at Sylvester. "My first assignment. It's about investigating heresy in the northern Duchy of Iceling."

Sylvester's face turned into a frown, however. "North? You do know that the Masan Empire is still likely doing something coercive there? This could be dangerous, my brother."

"I know. That's why I came to you. I am leaving next week, and I was hoping you could guide me with ways to get out of certain situations. I will have the team with me, but it can still be dangerous. Gabriel is useless, Elyon is helpful in natural instincts-related work, and Bishop Lazark is not as strong in face-to-face battles." Felix requested.

Sylvester rubbed his chin and turned around. He walked to his study table and opened the drawer. "Hmm... I did plan all possible events and outcomes I could imagine a while ago—Just in case I had to go north. Here, these fifty pages hold all the possible problems, solutions and alternate outcomes."

"..."

"What? This many?" Felix was flabbergasted.

Sylvester just shrugged and donned his clothes. "Of course, there are sixty thousand unique situations, with two hundred thousand varied branches. I spent eight nights working on this."

"..."

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