Chapter 395: Checking Off The List

The Pope and the Supreme Chief Justice were at a loss for words, overwhelmed by a plethora of emotions. What they felt at the moment could no longer be classified as paranoia; if asked to express how they felt, the Pope and the Supreme Chief Justice would slam their heads at the feet of the statue of their god. Anything that could rid them of the confusion they felt was welcomed.

Saint Joel was the only one who fulfilled the sacred duty — Ascension; his feats, which were praised by the Church, were exemplary, and his faith remained steadfast. However, that figure was an imaginary one. The real Saint Joel, for all this time, had been in the Void — a dark space which the Church and many others had deemed an abode for the most filthy beings.

Before finding out the truth, the Pope and the Supreme Chief Justice would consider the notion of beings living in the Void as the figment of a crazy person’s imagination. There was no denying the truth now, though. Not only had its harbinger, Hope, escaped from the Void, but he looked no less alive than everyone else. Furthermore, he commandeered that invincible Forbidden Power.

For a person like this to be friends with their Apostle Joel… This discovery was a conundrum that was nigh unresolvable. At the moment, the Poper and the Supreme Chief Justice — old-timers who had been through countless battles for prestige and self-interest — no longer knew what stand to take.

“That Hope! Everything he has done after escaping from that place… It’s so confusing, but he just doesn’t seem like a bad person,” the Pope mumbled in embarrassment. He had harbored this notion for some time, but he had not dared to reflect on it. According to the Scripture, only the most wretched heathens — people who get instantly condemned during judgment — wield the Forbidden Power — the power of pure darkness.

If one dared to say that a person who the Scripture had deemed evil was actually good, then that person would not heed anything else the Scripture denotes.

“Now, the only explanation we can give for this is,” the Supreme Chief Justice began, “that Saint Joel did, in fact, ascend, but upon his arrival, the Lord assigned him a new sacred mission: change the ways of the evildoers residing in the Void. What we have seen so far is nothing but a testament to Apostle Joel’s success; the good that Hope has been doing is a testament to Apostle Joel’s success.”

“What?! How many people do you think will accept such an explanation? The fate for those devout to the path of Ascension is to be imprisoned in that abysmal dark space with those sinners…” The Pope rebutted.

“This is the only explanation that can address these discrepancies! The words you speak only highlight your doubt of the words written in the Scripture. Do you doubt the truth of Ascension?” The Supreme Chief Justice retorted. A moment later, he sighed.

“Anyway, it is just as you say. An explanation that stretches too thin will only raise more doubts and suspicions. The best thing we can do is to keep our discovery a secret. If Hope ever exposes this secret to the public, then we can refute his claim with this explanation,” said the Supreme Chief Justice.

“So, you’re saying… that we let that Hope off the hook?” The Pope asked, a little disgruntled.

“Just look at everything he has done since he fled the Void! Is that not clear to you?” The Supreme Chief Justice said, trying to convince himself as well as the Pope; after all, people like him were supposed to be sworn enemies with people like Hope. “Think back to everything he has done so far. In fact, he recently scored a major victory for the side of good! If it were not for him, Godsfall’s diabolical plan would have been successful. If that had happened, what would have happened to the Church?

“Now, even if we remain silent about Hope’s identity and friendship with Saint Joel, he will remain untouchable. Think of the reputation and support he has garnered so far! You must already know that he has ardent followers; some of those are also members of the Church, and others are within the public.”

Justice would always shine, even when it was at odds with the teachings. Although this could pose a dilemma for the devout, the Supreme Chief Justice had no choice but to side with justice this one time.

The Pope was speechless. Before he discovered Hope’s true identity, he had always considered the Soul Armature a true defender of good and justice, as well as a hero of impeccable character. The harsh truth only complicated everything.

Under these circumstances, the Pope could only dismiss his previous notion. “It seems this is all we can come up with for now. Nevertheless, even if we are in no position to arrest him, my concern compels me to increase our surveillance on him. I think that we also need to examine the relationship we, the Church, have with him. Despite these thoughts, I still feel distressed. What do you suppose is his opinion of us?” The Pope asked, feeling helpless.

“Seeing how close his friendship with Joel the Apostle is, I would dare say that he is fairly respectful, if not fearful, of the Church. This may be the reason why he did not dare to reveal his identity in the past,” the Supreme Chief Justice said, hypothesizing.

“If that is true, it would be best,” the Pope quietly replied.

Silence fell. They had nothing more to say to each other.

Meanwhile, back in Arfin City, Baiyi was blissfully oblivious to the Church’s amusing change of attitude towards him. He had never cared about their opinions of him in the first place. When Baiyi realized that word of his involvement in Marle’s latest incident was being contained, he was happy, for he would get to enjoy some peace, which was something he rarely enjoyed. Although Baiyi could not use this event to boost his fame, he was content with the free time he now had, as he could focus better on the construction of his academy.

His students were enjoying their holiday. The showed great interest in their new academy; even Little Mia kept asking after its progress. Her face brimmed with honest anticipation as she wondered out loud. “When the school finally opens, there will be so much activity! It will be like a festiv—mmff! Hey, why did you place your hand over my mouth like that, Mr. Hope?”

‘My dearest, fair lady, will this nonsense where you call every event a ‘festival’ ever end? I have poured my heart into this Academy! Did you think it was easy for me to get here?’ Baiyi grumbled in his mind.

Mia’s wish to have much more friends did not seem like it would happen anytime soon. After a series of discussions, Baiyi and the other Voidwalkers decided to make the academy a school for the elite.

Not only would the entrance exam be incredibly difficult, but the tuition would cost as much as 1000 gold coins every year; this fee did not include feeding, accommodation, and some other necessities.

Enrollment into elite schools was expensive. Only the middle class and high class could afford it, and most families did not fall into this class.

However, naysayers would first have to look at the quality of instructors that would teaching at Baiyi’s academy! Magic, one of the most important courses in most academies, would be thought by the First Voidwalker — the Sage-Emperor of the Magi, and the Great Unbending Sage from the Doors of Conundrum, Baiyi!

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Martial arts would be taught by the Sacred Knight, who became a legend after breaking through a million soldiers with just one sword. This legendary existence did not let his entrapment in the Void result in decadence; instead, he continued to train, merging his martial art techniques with the techniques used by swordsmen on Earth. The second-in-command for the martial arts class was the best berserker that humans has ever seen — someone who called himself ‘The Flawless Hitman’!

Soul Armature summoning class would be led by the Soul Armature Practionioner, who was the inventor of the art, and also a kindhearted animal-lover. Alchemy course was to be taught by the Alchemist Walker, whose experimentation had once created a rip in the border between realms. Theurgy class was to be taught by a hentai, the Paladin Walker, and an Apostle who had walked through the depths of the abyss, Saint Joel. A celebrated prodigy, the Engineer Walker, would be in charge of the Engineering course.

The Charlatan Walker; the prosperous Merchant Walker; the Caveman Walker — a gastronomer who became a savage; the ethereally-beautiful ‘Maiden of Martial Arts’— the Warrior Walker, and the adorable Lady Assassin Walker would also teach at the academy.

This transcendental staff team was to be lead by one man — the Fifth Voidwalker, the new Rohlserlian Emperor, a good friend of the Church, a protector of the weak, a mentor of fair maidens, and the sage who saved the world — Sir Hope!

Other than the young head instructor of archery, Nydore, the instructors were peerless existences in their respective fields. Despite being young, Nydore was the current Zephyr, who had long since been acknowledged by the Caudillo Butterfly Bow.

For a staff team as incredible as this, 1000 gold coins per year seemed really cheap; in fact, it could very be the fee paid by applicants who enrolled on Black Friday. Even Baiyi was surprised by his own generosity.

Unfortunately, despite the Academy being worth its fees, only a few people could benefit from this school. Achieving Baiyi’s goal was the reason why the Voidwalkers had chosen to aim for those at the top of the socioeconomic strata. They also planned to use this chance to disseminate their view of the Void’s inhabitants to the students who would enroll in their academy. After all, these elite students from high-class families held more influence than commoners, and their beliefs were easier to accept than those of commoners. This was a strategy that could change the public consensus on almost anything.

However, Baiyi had not completely neglected low-class citizens. Those who surpassed the benchmark he had set would enjoy a full tuition waiver. They would even enjoy an eye-watering monthly allowance. This offer was created to attract students who are unusually gifted and talented.

There were other methods that Baiyi could use to draw in citizens of the middle-class, but he would not have time to perfect these plans until after his Academy had opened.

As Zakum the fox, Potter the owl, Sunny the sunflower, and Modred turned out to be exceptional students, Baiyi decided to allow non-human students into his Academy should they prove apt. Although students like these may have no money to pay for tuition, keeping them regardless may end up paying off in other ways.

The Academy’s future seemed bright already. The only thing left was to finish its construction.

“But, first, shouldn’t we decide on what to name the Academy?” the Archmage asked. “We have discussed this for months, haven’t we? But, alas, my protege, you are incapable of reproducing my brilliant art of skillfully naming things, so, this time, you should listen to me, and use the name I have carefully crafted!”

The Archmage had come up with two names: ‘Atlas Academy’— a name fit for an organization based on the moon — and ‘Royal Rohlserlian Academy’.

Neither name supported the Archmage’s claim of being brilliant at naming things, so Baiyi decided not to use either of them.

The names that the other Voidwalkers came up with were just as terrible. In the end, Baiyi had thought it best to just name it ‘Hope Academy’.

Unfortunately, the issue of a name kept coming up. When summer and fall had both passed, the construction of the academy had reached its last few stages. A grand nameplate had to be commissioned, but this was put on hold because the issue of a name for the academy had not been fully resolved.

Baiyi had spent the past few months in relative peace. He had not taken his students on any adventures, neither had he joined them to celebrate festivities. Whenever a festival was close, Baiyi would find an excuse to open up a micro dimension using the Book of Servitude and lock himself in it. These dimensions contained nothing but darkness, but this was no problem for Baiyi, who used the time to create games for the Voidwalkers to play.

This way, he had managed to avoid three festivals so far. The fact that nothing untoward happened during these festivals made Baiyi pleased with his decision to avoid them. He was grateful that only a small amount of festivals happened annually, else he would have long since gone insane.

In the past few months, other than conducting lessons, monitoring the academy’s construction, and helping to the displaced fairies, Baiyi spent his time conducting research and carrying out all sorts of experiments. He dedicated a lot of time towards the Pseudo-Descent Spell, which was needed to facilitate the descent of multiple Voidwalkers into the real world in the future.

During his battle with Molocchus the Abyss Lord, the War God had temporarily removed the limiter on Baiyi’s power; in that time, Baiyi was able to smuggle a great deal of his consciousness into the real world. The Lich Walker’s research and experimentation in rebuilding soul components had also produced positive results. After many trials, Baiyi finally had enough consciousness to support the descent of ten Voidwalkers simultaneously.

However, the Voidwalkers who would descend may need to fight at some point. After giving this a lot of thought, Baiyi finally figured out a better way to use the energy core orb he had obtained from Molocchus’s corpse. After creating several sets of armor for the Voidwalkers, Baiyi established a link between the energy core orb and the armor sets. The orb, which Baiyi had infused a lot of energy into, would act as a battery to supply the armor sets the energy they needed to battle.

Soon, the need to acquire more high-level souls, which would act as soul containers for the consciousness of the descending Voidwalkers, increased, so Baiyi decided to soften his stance, accepting the Lich Walker’s suggestion. He captured many notorious convicts wanted by the authorities for their vile crimes. Using a special method created by the Lich Walker, Baiyi wiped away their consciousness from their souls, leaving empty soul containers behind. [1]

Baiyi was careful not to overdo it, though. First, these contemptible sinners were hard to track, and Baiyi did not have much time to spare on finding them. Second, the Lich Walker’s spells were all forbidden spells; using them too frequently would create trouble for him.

Hence, after obtaining enough soul containers for two Voidwalkers to fight at full power, Baiyi moved on to other things. If these two Voidwalkers sought to use more powerful spells or techniques, he would have to get more soul containers.

Nevertheless, he believed that he had done enough. How many people in existence could pose a threat to himself and two Voidwalkers? To him, there were enough to provide adequate security for his academy; after all, any team containing three Voidwalkers at their peak would be too terrifying to behold.

Baiyi and his family spent their winter in peace. The girls enjoyed wearing their winter skirts while they waited for the academy’s construction to be completed.

Finally, on the first day of December, they received the news they had long been waiting for. While Baiyi was having breakfast with his students, they received news that the academy’s construction was almost completed.

[1] For those who are confused, a complete soul contains consciousness and a soul container. This is mentioned in chapter 312.