"I haven't drunk any. Look, my cup is right here."
In Li En's hand, another cup had appeared at some point. Only a third of the wine remained in the cup, proving that it was indeed the one he had been using.
Ophelia was stunned for a moment. "You're already this fast?"
Li En smiled. His current speed, within the Holy Empire, was unmatched by almost anyone.
Even the eight-star War Knight Grand Duke Moria and Earl Hallberd might not be able to keep up with him.
Only then did Ophelia feel relieved enough to pick up her glass, take a sip, and slowly say,
"Everyone on the list you provided, including High Priest Uller, is dead. Now, apart from the witches, no one can prove that Randell was involved in the assassination attempt on you."
"Yes, I should have expected this outcome."
Li En picked up his glass and took a small sip.
"Ashley and the others have indeed lost their memories, but they don't remember being killed. This is a tricky problem. We can't prove that Randell actually killed them, can't prove the existence of the Hand of God,
and therefore can't prove that Randell plundered the divinity of others to revive and control the witches, unless we can find other cases of resurrection by the Hand of God."
Ophelia rubbed her temples.
"Why not think about the problem from a different angle? We clearly know the result, so there's no need to insist on finding a breakthrough from the witches."
Li En said.
"I'm sorry, although I am the Director of the Guardian Bureau, I am only the Director of the Guardian Bureau. I can only investigate from the witch perspective and cannot delve into the Holy See."
Ophelia took out a document from her coat pocket and handed it to Li En.
"What is this?"
Li En picked up the document.
"A list of believers who have received the Holy See's Divine Award Medal. Except for special wild believers like you, all believers who advance through formal channels must register with the Holy See and receive the Holy See's medal after entering the realm of Special Believers.
This is public information, and even people outside the church can access it. At most, I've just supplemented the archival information of these people, hoping it will be helpful to you."
Ophelia looked at the golden-haired youth.
She was actually very happy that he had returned alive, but the road ahead for Li En was destined to be full of thorns.
Investigating the highest authority in the Holy See, or rather, the entire empire—a person whose power and status even surpassed the emperor—required absolute courage.
Even with the Moria family, one of the seven creed families, backing Li En, his safety could not be guaranteed.
Li En, of course, knew that it would not be easy to bring down Randell, but compared to him, there was another person who wanted Randell to fall even more, and that person was Augulas.
Mary's great victory in the Eastern Border minimized the losses of the Frank family, but at the same time, she also gained prestige and honor in the Eastern Border and gained the friendship of the Edward family. For Augulas, Mary was a thorn that had to be removed.
And Randell was Mary's last backer. Without overthrowing this mountain, Augulas would never be able to remove Mary's thorn, and his emperor's throne would always be questioned.
Therefore, before Li En came to see Ophelia, he had actually met with Emperor Augulas and obtained Augulas's support.
With the support of the emperor, Li En didn't have to worry about gathering evidence, or the awkward situation where the Supreme Tribunal had no right to judge the Pope.
Above the Supreme Tribunal, there was also a Council of Sages.
The Sages were people who truly dedicated their lives to the gods, apart from the church.
They possessed extremely high intelligence but lacked human emotions. They spent their lives studying theology and science and were the empire's strongest think tank and most impartial tribunal.
The Council of Sages possessed the highest judicial power. Even if the emperor committed a crime, he had to accept their judgment.
Previously, when Li En was sent to the Supreme Tribunal, he had invited a Sage to participate. This time, the ones judging Randell were all Sages.
The Sages would not favor or protect anyone.
Li En flipped through the document. It contained a list of believers who had received the Holy See's Divine Award Medal in the past 100 years, a total of 274, of which 207 had already died. Only 67 Special Believers were still alive.
It could be said that the number of Special Believers was even rarer than that of witches. For the Holy See and the empire, Special Believers were already national treasures.
For Randell to tamper with them was to shake the foundation of the Holy See. Even divine punishment would be justified.
However, Tiger turned a blind eye to this.
This made Li En even more convinced of his view that Tiger was in trouble.
"Ophelia, thank you, this list carries a lot of weight."
"I will continue to look for breakthroughs with the problem witches. What do you plan to do about the Holy See?"
Ophelia asked Li En.
The dim light shone on his handsome face, making Ophelia subconsciously unable to look away.
"There will be people willing to help me."
Li En raised an eyebrow. "Randell has done something blasphemous this time."
"Mm."
Ophelia nodded slightly. Li En clinked glasses with her. "I have something to do. I'll leave first. Let's get together next time. Be careful."
Ophelia was somewhat surprised when she said those words.
Li En turned back and glanced at Ophelia.
The ice-cold female superior seemed to have changed.
Ophelia had become a little more feminine.
"I know. You too. Get some rest."
Li En slightly raised the corners of his mouth and walked out of the dimly lit tavern.
His shadow merged into the street and soon disappeared without a trace.
St. Luas Cathedral.
This was the largest cathedral in the royal capital. Besides the Pope's residence, it also housed the residences of the major archbishops.
Archbishop Damir lived in one of them.
Because Randell had not yet returned to St. Luas Cathedral, Li En dared to go to the cathedral alone to find his teacher, Archbishop Damir.
Archbishop Damir's face was filled with a loving smile when he saw Li En again.
"Li En, it's great that you're okay. I thought you'd be back in at least three months."
Although Li En really wanted to spend a honeymoon with Dolores in the Azure Dragon Court, it would be too late if he came back in three months.
To deal with Randell, he could only return early.
In addition, Dolores had been in a bad mood recently because of Emma's matter and was not in the mood to be affectionate with him.
Only when this matter was over could he take Dolores out to relax.
"Teacher, I'm sorry for making you worry."
"Where's Dolores? Didn't she come back with you?"
Damir asked.
"She's back and is resting in the tower."
"That's good. I was really worried that you wouldn't be able to withstand the monsters of the Azure Dragon Court. I didn't expect there to be so many true dragons in this world."
As the principal of the seminary, Damir had read many historical books and knew some of the hidden historical truths. He also knew that the dragon race was the ruler of the ancient era, but he was not obsessed with archeology and instead spent his time studying theoretical magic arrays.
"Teacher, in reality, there are only two true dragons. The others are all wyverns."
Li En explained.
"Whether they are true dragons or wyverns, they shouldn't appear in this world."
Damir walked to the bookshelf and took out an ancient book. "I've been studying recently how to completely eliminate these remnants of the era. Their era has long passed, and they shouldn't be left here."
"Teacher Damir, can you suspend this research? We have more important things to do at the moment."
Li En placed the information that Ophelia had collected for him on Damir's desk.
Damir looked at the lists and was slightly stunned.
"Bradley Burke, Sol Adebayo, Leonidas Brooke, Clifford Rogers, these are all your predecessors. They were once the most shining stars of the Holy See. It's a pity that they have all entered the embrace of God. What do you want to do by collecting this information?"
"Teacher, I want to know where the Special Believers are buried after they die."
Li En said.
"After the Special Believers die, they will be buried by the Holy See in the Ruins Shrine."
Damir said.
"Where is the Ruins Shrine?"
Li En asked again.
Damir looked at Li En and said slowly, "Inside St. Luas Cathedral."
"Right here?"
"Yes. You still haven't told me what exactly you want to do."
Damir asked.
"Teacher, do you know about the Sequence 2 Blessed Item, the Hand of God?"
"This is the Holy See's relic, always held by His Holiness the Pope. I naturally know about it. But what does this have to do with these Special Believers?"
"The Hand of God can bring the dead back to life, but it must consume divinity."
Li En explained, "And not long ago, Randell revived 10 witches at the same time. Where do you think his divinity came from?"
"What? Revived 10 witches at the same time?!"
Damir looked at Li En in disbelief.
"Perhaps there will be more. These 10 are just the ones we know about so far. There are still others we don't know about."
Li En said.
Hearing these words, the smile on Damir's face completely disappeared, replaced by deep anxiety.
"If what you say is true, Randell is now the biggest heretic in the church."
"Teacher, I swear on the path of a believer, everything I said is true."
Li En rarely showed a serious expression.
"Randell is already the Pope, the human closest to God, possessing supreme power. I can't understand why he would do this?"
Damir said.
"Do you know about the Immaculate Order?"
Li En asked.
Damir nodded. "That was decades ago. Back then, a priest said that the Immaculate Ones could get closer to God, so he turned a group of pitiful children into Immaculate Ones, but later people discovered that his words were baseless,
so the Immaculate Order was abolished."
"What about those children?"
"It is said that they all died in an accident."
"No, there is still one person alive. He is Pope Randell."
Li En simply narrated Randell's past. After Damir listened, he was silent for a long time before saying,
"I didn't expect Pope Randell to have such an unbearable past. He deceived everyone. I already know, he hates this world, so it is impossible for him to piously serve the God Tiger. He has indeed become a heretic. We must expose his true face as soon as possible and not continue to let him persecute the Holy See."
Damir got up and took Li En to the Ruins Shrine.
Deep within St. Luas Cathedral, there was an inconspicuous gray church.
The erosion of time had carved mottled marks on the stone walls, with moss and vines entwined among them, as if nature and human history were intertwined. The interior of the shrine was dim and solemn, with only a few beams of sunlight passing through the high-hanging stained-glass windows,
casting dappled light and shadows.
The air was filled with the fragrance of aged wood and the faint scent of candles. The eternal lamps beside the pews flickered weakly,
guarding the sleeping spirits. Rows of carved wooden coffins were quietly placed, each coffin engraved with the glorious deeds of the deceased during their lifetime. The years had made these words blurred.
The bodies of the believers were smeared with special holy oil, in the hope that their flesh would not decay. Their expressions were serene, as if they had only entered a deep sleep. Occasionally, a breeze blew through, stirring the heavy curtains, bringing the distant roar of wild beasts, but it could not cover the solemnity and silence of the shrine.
At the end of the shrine, a solemn statue stared at everything, its eyes seeming to see through the mists of time, watching every visitor.
When Li En stepped into the Ruins Shrine, he seemed to feel the gaze of the statue.
But it had neither a heartbeat nor a special aura. Li En judged that the stone sculpture should be an inanimate object, so he turned his gaze to the coffins.
"Archbishop Damir."
The clergy greeted the red-robed Archbishop Damir.
Damir waved his hand. "You may leave first. Let me and my student stay here for a while."
"Yes, Your Grace."
The clergy all withdrew from the shrine, their footsteps gradually fading away until they retreated to the gray church door.
"In the Holy Scriptures, there are stories of resurrected people, so the bodies of many Special Believers are not buried in the ground but are stored in the Ruins Shrine, waiting to awaken. Of course, none of them have ever truly awakened."
Damir said to Li En.
Li En nodded. "Will their divinity remain in their bodies?"
"Divinity is the most important factor in ensuring that the flesh does not decay, but not every Special Believer possesses divinity. Only about one-third of the Special Believers can obtain Tiger's favor and receive divinity."
Damir said slowly.
"Teacher, do you know which of them have divinity and which do not?"
Li En asked.
"The Special Believers who can stay in the Ruins Shrine all possess divinity. Special Believers without divinity cannot be resurrected. This is everyone's consensus."
Damir said.
Only then did Li En notice that there were more than two hundred Special Believers on the list, but there were only 36 coffins here.
In other words, only 36 Special Believers had truly awakened divinity.
"Can I push open these coffins to inspect them?"
Li En asked Damir.
Damir frowned slightly, "Although it's quite disrespectful to do this, we don't have a better option right now."
Li En walked to the first coffin and slowly pushed the lid open.
A peculiar scent, mixed with the stench of decay, assaulted his nostrils. What came into view was a corpse in a highly advanced state of decomposition, its facial features and body characteristics unrecognizable. The elaborate robe was covered in thick fluid.
"How could this be?"
Damir was utterly shocked.
Li En promptly covered Archbishop Damir's nose.
"Just as I suspected, Randall didn't plunder the divinity of the living, but of the dead. Only by doing so could he avoid detection. There's something wrong with this scent, Teacher. You should leave here first; I'll continue to investigate on my own."
Damir saw red blotches appearing on Li En's skin, his eyes widening.
Li En safely escorted him out of the temple and remained behind to investigate.
The corpses were treated with a special poison, which had a unique, strong fragrance. It could not only mask the stench of the corpses but also deliver a fatal blow when someone opened the coffin.
Unfortunately, Li En was completely immune to this poison. The red blotches on his face quickly faded, his only discomfort being the complex odor.
Li En examined all 36 coffins and discovered that the people inside had all decayed, proving that their divinity had been stripped away.
But how could he make the dead speak and testify that their divinity had been plundered by Randall when they were already dead?
Li En rubbed his temples, looking at the rows of corpses, and decided to use his [Time Traveler] ability to go back in time and see how Randall was plundering divinity from the dead.
Merely traveling through time without making any changes would cost Li En virtually nothing.
Li En activated the term ability, and the scene of the relic temple began to change rapidly.
Countless shadows came and went, forming unreal, illusory images.
Li En stopped moving time forward until that familiar figure appeared.
Randall, dressed in a simple white robe, entered the relic temple.
He came to the coffin in front of which Li En was currently standing, and opened the lid. Inside lay an old priest, who looked to be about fifty years old. He looked as if he were asleep, his skin rosy and free of any age spots or decay.
Until Randall's left hand touched him.
Li En keenly sensed that it was the Hand of God.
This hand touched the corpse, not to revive it, but to absorb the divinity stored within it.
The old priest's body rapidly decayed, eventually turning into a pool of thick liquid and bones.
"So, it's the Hand of God."
Li En narrowed his eyes. It seemed that the function of an Endowment wasn't necessarily singular.
The Hand of God could consume divinity to revive the dead, and it could also plunder divinity from the dead.
Randall turned his head and looked at Li En. For a moment, Li En felt a daze, as if Randall was looking directly at him.
Could the intuition of a Seven-Star Blood Shadow Knight be wrong?
He was using [Time Traveler] to travel through time. How could Randall see him?
Unless, he also had a corresponding Endowment.
The Hourglass of Time?
At the recent Witch Council meeting, Fia mentioned that among the 20 item cards she had successfully created was a card that replicated the effect of the Hourglass of Time.
Could it be that this Endowment had also been found by Randall?
He wondered if Randall could attack him in this space-time without him paying any price.
Just as Li En was preparing to defend himself, Randall brushed past him.
Li En breathed a sigh of relief. It was just an illusion.
No, how could the intuition of a Seven-Star Knight be an illusion?
It wasn't Randall in this space-time looking at him. There was only one possibility: Randall had returned to the church in the real timeline.
Li En immediately stopped traveling through time, and his consciousness returned to his body.
He opened his eyes and saw Randall's familiar face.
"This is a trap, can't you tell?
Randall's lips curled into a slight smile.
"You didn't kill those witches, you were waiting for me to come, weren't you?"
Li En asked.
"If those witches were dead, you wouldn't have any leads to investigate, how would you find the relic temple?"
Randall said calmly.
"Teacher Damir has nothing to do with this. Don't hurt him."
Li En sensed Damir's aura and found that he was still standing at the entrance of the Gray Church. He probably didn't even know that Randall had entered.
But as long as he was still alive, that was enough.
Li En didn't want to implicate his old headmaster.
"Hmph, he's just a minor character, not worth my time."
Randall's gaze remained fixed on Li En, as if he wanted to see through him. His eyes revealed a hint of jealousy and admiration.
"It's quite a surprise that you could come back alive, and even walk into my trap. Achilles couldn't hold you back, and Constantine seems to have failed as well."
"Achilles is your dragon. Since he died, you should be the first to know."
Li En said calmly.
"I didn't expect that you had also made a deal with that one. Dorothy's dragon was originally yours, and you even got together with Dorothy. It seems that Hall has also betrayed me. You took away my only close friend, truly unforgivable."
Randall's expression became incredibly gloomy, his eyes filled with madness and unwillingness.
"This has nothing to do with Uncle Hall, but you and Uncle Hall are indeed not suitable to be friends. You have long since embarked on different paths."
A circle of red mist appeared in Li En's palm, and the blood mist quickly covered his entire body.
Randall snapped his fingers, and the entire Endowment Temple was enveloped in black shadows, entering a lightless environment.
One after another, the gates of hell opened from the coffins, pushing open the corpses that were originally stored within them.
What Randall didn't know was that in the darkness, Li En could still see, and his abilities would be multiplied.
At the same time, the witches of the Guardian Bureau seemed to receive an epiphany and headed towards the Red Tower.
They had been given the task of killing ten problematic witches.
Dozens of witches surrounded the Red Tower.
Secretary Syndra immediately received the news, while Director Ophelia happened to be away from the Guardian Bureau.
"What exactly is going on with the witches?"
Syndra asked the witch captain, Fula.
Fula shook her head. "I don't know either. They say they received orders to resolve the problematic witches ahead of schedule."
"The Director would never issue such an order. We must stop them."
Fula was already an Awakened, so she wouldn't be affected, but the other witches were different. Once they received an order, they would carry it out without hesitation.
