Chapter 558: Diplomacy

Blinded by greed, and corrupted by devils, Sard, you have betrayed the teaching of the Lord, and you shall suffer for all eternity because of it.” Said Benedict II solemnly. There was an amazing pace in his rhythm, as if his voice could wake up one’s conscience and make them repent in tears.

He was just as peaceful and calm as before, as if he would baptize and pardon Sard again as long as Sard lowered his head in regret.

Sard, however, knew very well that the attitude was normal in other times, but right now, it suggested that the pope had made up his mind. Rebels were ten thousand times more terrible than heretics, and the rebels who intended to steal his power and murder him were a million times so. Such people must be crushed without any mercy!

There was absolutely no possibility for peace. The reason why the pope spoke with a mixture of language and divine power was to ease his wariness. He had yet to figure out Sard’s secrets and supporters yet.

Sard raised his head, his panic a moment ago entirely gone. His beard and his hair stretched out, making him look like a real saint who was going to be sacrificed for the glory of the Lord. He berated, “The popes have stolen the power and honor of the Lord and falsely claimed to be the spokespersons and embodiments of the Lord on earth, whose rank is closest to the Lord! They are the greatest heretics! I’ve heard the teaching of the Lord and won the support of the Angel King, and I’m going to eliminate the greatest devil that is you today!”

“It seems that your mind has truly been blinded by your so-called secrets.” Benedict II raised his staff.

While they were talking, Natasha had seized every moment to conceal the supernatural abilities in her, leaving Paradise on Earth quietly and solemnly. Although she had ‘Sword of Truth’, a level-three legendary item, she did not have any confidence to survive the battle between the pope and Sard. She only wished that Paradise on Earth could resist their first wave of attacks.

Sard did not say anything else. His vibe changed, and something else hallowed and supreme appeared in his body, allowing him to get rid of Benedict II’s lock and blink to the sky.

That performance was definitely the peak of legendary!

“The devil who steals the power of the Lord, accept your trial!”

Holding his staff, Benedict II tore apart the space and followed Sard to the clouds on his opposite side.

“You are one, and everyone.”

“you are the moment, and forever.”

“You are the creator, and master.”

As he chanted the quotes from the Cannon, Sard seemed to be in a different world. Overwhelming, sacred brilliance flowed out of his body while he eyed everything from the high sky.

All the believers in Rentato were somehow moved to tears of joy at the same time. They followed him to pray:

“You are one, and everyone.”

“you are the moment, and forever.”

…

The ocean of light in Paradise on Earth settled, and the tides that were shaking in the battle of legends calmed down. Gentle, pacifying hymns spread out:

“You are one, and everyone.”

“you are the moment, and forever.”

…

On Sard’s face, wrinkles appeared at a visible speed. His skin became lackluster, making him look like a dry corpse. He raised his right hand, and the projection of the seven-floored Mountain Paradise appeared in the sky, eclipsing the sun with its holy brilliance. The wonderful, pleasant songs and praises echoed at the same time, and infinite light began to gather on the infinite cluster of light on the seventh floor.

The familiar scene undoubtedly suggested one thing, which was that Sard was also capable of…

“God’s Arrival!”

As a qualified schemer, his own strength was always the foundation of all plans!

“So, you accepted his strength and got in touch with that secret, too. You took even one more step further than the heretic in the north. No wonder you are bold enough to try to claim the throne. But are you not worried that you will run out of your lifeforce and die?” The pope suddenly said in the most primitive way, both somewhat surprised and feeling that it was within his expectations. “Did you enchant the Angel King, or were you enchanted by him? What did you run into in the World of Souls?”

Sard looked at Benedict II with his eyes that had turned dirty again. “I may not necessarily die if I use God’s Arrival, but I’ll be dead for sure if I am captured by you. There can only be one person in this world who can know the secret. As for what I ran into, you can interrogate me after you catch me.”

Their communication was on the mental level, and it was accomplished in only one moment.

Benedict II smiled and raised the staff in his hand again. The sacred brilliance that was even more overwhelming, supreme and majestic spread out and enshrouded him, while he chanted piously and quickly:

“You are one, and everyone.”

“you are the moment, and forever.”

“You are the creator, and master.”

The believers in Rentato, in the entire Holm parish and in the Holy City, as well as all of the clerics in the few places, were even more moved and delighted. They joined the prayer:

“You are one, and everyone.”

“you are the moment, and forever.”

…

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Benedict II’s deep eyes seemed to contain countless brilliant stars that were connected into a cross. Behind him, the projection of Mountain Paradise arrived in hymns and light. It was even clearer than Sard’s. Also, it severely disrupted Sard’s God’s Arrival. It took Sard a long time to stabilize it again.

“You…” Sard was slightly stunned that Benedict II did not have any worries that he was about to die after his vitality was consumed in the spell. Also, this God’s Arrival seemed no different from usual.

Benedict II’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Do you think I haven’t studied the secret at all after grasping it for so many years?”

“As for death, it is actually not that horrible.”

He was also rapidly aging, but much less severely than Sard did.

“Heretic, accept the trial of the Lord!” Holy light gathered and surged into the seventh floor on Mountain Paradise above Benedict II. In the next, infinite ivory brilliance drowned the sky.

Sard, on the other hand, also cast his God’s Arrival:

“The devil who steals the power of the Lord, accept your trial!”

In the sky, there was absolutely nothing except for the ivory holy light.

It was God’s Arrival against God’s Arrival!

……

Outside of Rentato, in the backup contact squad of the Congress of Magic that was not covered by Paradise on Earth…

They activated electromagnetism messaging, connected the artificial planets, and sent intelligence to faraway.

Deep inside the Dark Mountain Range, Stanis, under the cooperation of Grand Duke of Orvarit, brought him away from Aalto and threw him into the magic tower successfully. Then, he opened the Portal to Alternate Realm that was prepared in advance and reached a place that was crammed with volcanoes.

He walked straightforwardly into a palace among the volcanoes. Danisos, the ancient dragon of time who guarded the place, spoke solemnly, “Stanis, where are you doing here? Do you want to join us?”

“Danisos, we can talk about that later. I’m here to inform you of a piece of intelligence. The Church and the Congress of Magic are now at war. The pope, Melmax and the other twelve Grand Cardinals are fighting above Rentato. The Angel King has arrived in person, too.”

After a brief silence, Danisos said with deep hatred, “Has he?”

His wife was Aflora, who was killed by the pope with God’s Arrival. Through the connections with the werewolf prince, the Demogorgon of Eyes and the sorcerers of ancient heritage, the Congress of Magic had ‘adjusted’ the order of the guards of the headquarters of the Dark Congress, so that he would ‘happen’ to be here.

If they had asked for the Dark Congress’ help in advance, since many legendary experts in it were also hostile to the Congress of Magic, they might have achieved the opposite of what they sought. Therefore, they might as well attract a top legendary ancient dragon of time first without giving him much time to consider!

“But I think Dracula and the rest of them would rather wait until both the Church and the Congress of Magic suffer heavy losses in their battle.” That was exactly the consequence of the lack of chain of command in the Dark Congress. God’s Arrival was the gravest deterrence.

Stanis smiled. “That’s an excellent idea, but why don’t you have some desserts before the main course? Many places of the Church are now undefended. You will have substantial achievements if you kill one or two saint cardinals or legendary knights.”

Holding back his hatred, Danisos said, “I’ll inform Dracula and Rhine.”

After a while, he said confusedly, “Rhine is gone again…”

……

Looking at the high sky beyond ‘Paradise on Earth’, and watching the light which seemed to be an ocean that had assumed the sky’s palace, Lucien was rather intimidated. Sard was capable of God’s Arrival, too?

That was beyond all of his expectations!

In the next moment, Lucien stopped worrying about anything but went to Natasha’s palace straightforwardly after passing the external defense of divine power. He didn’t enter a moment ago exactly because he was worried that the pope would wipe him out casually during his arrival.

Since he modified it in person, Lucien was well aware of the weaknesses of the external defense. He saw Natasha, who just withdrew from ‘Paradise on Earth’, rather easily.

Despite her bravery and determination, her right hand that was holding the Sword of Truth was still shivering. She had taken the greatest risks in Plan C!

If the pope was not convinced, she would’ve lost the best opportunity to escape after Sard arrived. If the pope were suspicious that there was something wrong with her, he could’ve killed her easily. If nothing went wrong at the beginning, but the blast of their battle was stronger than estimated, making it impossible for her to resist or escape with the Sword of Truth, she would’ve been killed, too. It was simply too dangerous.

However, how could one cherish one’s life in a great cause? Victories without risks could only happen when there were overwhelming advantages. Also, Lucien had wasted a legendary item for her. In that case, why shouldn’t she confront the danger like a real knight?

Calming herself down, Natasha said, “I’m fine. Now, I’ll summon the nobles for a meeting and influence the decision of the legendary knights, and you will go and control the pivot of the divine barrier of Rentato. Winston will stop Kritonia. He won’t help me but also won’t resist you, or it will be a sign that he is completely inclined to the Church.”

Because of the legendary battle, the nobles who had come were too scared to leave. The Nekso Palace, with the defense of divine power, was the safest spot in the whole Rentato city. Of course, they had been trying to escape out of the city. However, unaware of the mysteries of ‘Paradise on Earth’, the harder they worked, the more impossible it was for them to achieve their purpose.

“Alright.” Lucien did not waste any time in talking. Now was not the best opportunity for romance. He turned around and nodded at a silver-haired man who roamed out of a palace nearby. “Thank you in advance, Mr. Rhine.”

The handsome man in a black shirt and a red coat was exactly Rhine, the Silver-eyed Count. He chuckled, “According to my promise, I’ll let you pick a legendary item after I’m freed. Now that you are willing to abandon the opportunity in exchange for my protection to keep Natasha safe for a while, I certainly don’t have a problem with that. I don’t have many legendary items.”

He could use the power of the Silver Moon. Unless the pope was determined to kill him at the cost of his own life, there was a great chance that he could bring Natasha away.

“However, you didn’t tell me the details earlier. If I had known that the enemy would be Sard…”

Rhine raised his head. Looking at the terrible God’s Arrivals in the sky, he chuckled:

“I have always been a petty man.”