"Cough cough."
A low cough clearing the throat came from the top of the long table, followed by a majestic male voice:
"Everyone, everyone who can come is here."
Following the sound, I saw that the person speaking was a man who looked very young.
He sat in the first seat on the left side of the top throne, and seemed to be the person with the highest status among those present.
And if you move your gaze upwards...
You will find that the lofty throne at the top... is vacant.
The man was wearing a white monk's robe with gold patterns, and a seven-cornered priest's hat embroidered with "The Left Hand of the Law". He had his hands on the table, and each of his index fingers had an exquisite ring, one gold, one white, which emitted a faint glow and did not look like an ordinary item.
"Then..." He looked around at the people present and announced solemnly:
“The Sixth Temporary Emergency Holy See Council now officially begins.”
Chapter 157: Ceremony of Ascension to God?
The rotunda does not have a conventional ceiling, but a hollow dome several dozen meters high, with large pieces of stained glass inlaid in the gaps, allowing brilliant sunlight to pour down.
The afternoon sunlight penetrated through these light-collecting hollows and splashed onto the hall, long table, high-backed chairs, and lofty throne, illuminating the entire place.
In this holy and solemn atmosphere, the young man closest to the top looked at Saint Cosman, spread out one hand, and gestured:
"Bishop Cosman, you may begin your statement."
Saint Cosman nodded calmly, cleared his throat, and said slowly:
"Your Excellency Cardinal, we have concluded our preliminary investigation of Stio, and we can confirm that a divine event of a large scale has occurred."
Divine Events...
Hearing this word, several members sitting on the high-backed chairs raised their eyebrows in surprise and looked at each other.
They all wore white monastic robes embroidered with the "Left Hand of the Law" in gold and five-pointed priest hats on their heads - this is the standard uniform for the position of "bishop" in the Church of Grace.
Those who can serve as "bishops" must be clergymen at least at the level of "saints".
In other words, all the seven or eight people present are “saints”!
News that can make the "saints" look surprised should never be underestimated.
"Can you confirm what kind of divine event this is?" The old man who had a good relationship with Saint Cosman asked with a frown. His seat was diagonally opposite Saint Cosman. "Is it the appearance of a divine messenger, or... the descent of God?"
For the participants in the round room, the divine incident itself was not something of particular concern, because the definition of a "divine incident" was simply "an illegal incident involving divinity."
All divine arts involve divinity to some extent. Regular divine events are nothing more than a clergyman using his power to break the law.
The nature of this matter is indeed serious, but it is far from causing a group of "saints" to urgently convene a temporary "Holy See Conference". At most, it will be reported to the local cathedral and let the bishop lead the handling of it.
What is of concern to the "saints" is that Saint Cosman used the word "huge" to describe the divine events that took place in Stio.
That means... this matter is definitely not "normal", it at least involves the level of "God's messenger", or even is related to gods!
Saint Cosman took a deep look at his friend across from him, shook his head and said, "No, I am incompetent and cannot be sure."
He paused, looked at the young man on the left at the top, and asked in a deep voice:
"Your Excellency Cardinal, please allow me to perform divine magic in front of the Holy See so that I can express myself more easily."
The young-looking cardinal wearing a seven-pointed priest's hat nodded slightly:
"Yes, please continue."
"Regarding this matter, the results of our current investigation show that... the one who caused all this is almost certainly a noble of Stio." Saint Cosman stood up and explained the cause and effect of the matter:
"Baron Augustus Lionsmith."
After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and a shimmering golden light appeared in front of him. Countless bright and scattered points of light rippled in the waves, converging into a colorful image, presenting an illusory yet clear texture:
This is a devastated ruin, with a large number of building debris collapsed and scattered. In the center of the picture, a huge pit is clearly visible. The closer you get to the pit, the more completely the building is damaged.
Even so, the original magnificence and luxury of this complex can still be seen through the villas and buildings on the edge that are less damaged.
"This is the scene at the heart of the incident, the residence of Baron Lionsmith." Saint Cosman put down his arms and said:
"My students and I have been to the scene and have discovered extremely dense residues of unknown divinity, so much so that the spirits of the deceased were completely annihilated, making it impossible to communicate with the spirits."
"Unknown divinity?"
One of the "saints" keenly caught St. Cosman's description, frowned and asked a question.
“Yes,” Saint Cosman said, looking at the “saint”. “Its aura… is very special. It doesn’t belong to any god I know. Moreover, it is very… messy.”
"Messy?" The other party raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean...?"
"Yes, I suspect it is the result of a mixture of divinities from many different realms," Saint Cosman said solemnly, "and none of them are familiar to us."
"Describe the characteristics of the divine aura you sensed." The young-looking cardinal instructed in a calm tone.
Saint Cosman closed his eyes, frowned slightly, and seemed to be lost in thought:
“Balanced, peaceful, natural, hopeful, brilliant, ethereal, containing billions of brilliances, like the night, like the stars…very smart, very peaceful, very contradictory.”
"Balance, nature...hiss." After hearing his description, another "saint" seemed to have thought of something. "Could it be 'that one' of the Eldar?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the spacious and bright round hall fell into an eerie silence, as if someone suddenly told a very embarrassing joke at a lively dinner table.
After several seconds, someone asked suspiciously:
"That one... is going to be resurrected?"
"Ahem, everyone, I have one piece of news to share." Saint Cosman coughed a few times to draw everyone's attention to himself:
"This was reported to me by my disciples. I didn't see it with my own eyes, so... it's hard to guarantee its authenticity or whether it's some kind of high-level, large-scale illusion."
After he finished speaking, he gently waved his arm again, causing the pattern in front of him to change rapidly, turning into a distant view overlooking a vast plain:
On the green grassland, the tiny silhouette of the small border town of Stio stands far away on the horizon. The sky above is dark and hazy, as if it is shrouded by a gloomy cloud.
The next second, bright and deep colors suddenly burst out from the "dark clouds" like an overturned palette, extending rapidly in all directions, instantly covering almost the entire sky.
These rich colors flow and rotate, and soon condense into a magnificent picture of the Milky Way!
"hiss……"
Upon seeing this, all the "saints" present gasped, leaned back instinctively, and widened their eyes in disbelief. The first term that popped into their minds was a symbol of gods and gods' messengers:
"The Ashes of Connection"!
Before they could react further, the "starry sky" in the image suddenly shrank, and in the blink of an eye it was gathered above Stio, and disappeared completely along with the dark cloud-like shadow, as fast as a burst bubble.
"By the grace of God..." The "saint" who mentioned "that one" of the Eldar before clasped his hands together and speculated in a low voice:
"If the 'Ashes of Connection' is involved, it means that a 'divine messenger' has taken action... Bishop Cosman said before that there is more than one kind of divine aura remaining at the scene... Could it be that two 'divine beings' had a conflict in Stio?"
The so-called "divine beings" is a general term for extraordinary beings who possess divinity. The fifth level of "priests" - "God's messengers" and the fifth level of "mages" - "miracle workers" - all belong to the category of "divine beings".
This title represents the pinnacle of all living beings and the limit of extraordinary beings. It is a great realm that none of the "saints" present here can reach.
"Not only that," Saint Cosman's friend said solemnly, "If it were just an ordinary 'divine being', no matter if it was an 'angel', 'apostle' or a 'miracle worker', they would not be able to cause such a large-scale 'connected ash'."
"Wheeler, do you have your own judgment?" Saint Cosman removed the virtual projection in front of him and looked at his friend diagonally opposite.
"I think you can guess it by yourselves." Bishop Wheeler sighed, looked around, and slowly uttered a string of nouns:
"Apotheosis Ceremony."
Chapter 158 How can we guard against thieves for a thousand days?
"Da da da, da da da..."
The sound of horse hooves hitting the ground sounded rhythmically, echoing in the gradually cooling air and in the gradually dimming sunlight.
"Miss Yaoliuliu, we are so high-profile, will we really not be noticed by those guys?..."
Mrs. Gary, who was sitting opposite Qi Ji, pursed her lips, as if she had broken through some psychological barrier, and asked weakly with a little difficulty.
Qi Ji sat on the bench in the carriage, her knees together, her back leaning back in a relaxed manner, the red agate staff left by Rice placed across her thighs, held down by her hand.
With his other hand, he was holding the "invisibility bracelet" that originally belonged to the killer in black, playing with it aimlessly, looking extremely rogue.
She was sitting on the far right side of the bench. On her left was Daisy, who was staring down at her toes, wondering what she was thinking. A little further to her left was Youer.
Faced with the couple's worries, she did not hesitate, but directly chose to take a carriage and travel to Sunset Port thousands of miles away in a similar way to a "self-driving tour".
The couple did not express dissatisfaction or objection to her decision on the spot. They just accepted it silently and ran to a business in the city center to rent the carriage they were riding now.
However, no matter whether they say it or not, they must still have some worries deep down in their hearts. Even though they believe in Miss Yao Liuliu's ability, they can't help but worry about their own and their family's safety.
Finally, after struggling for a while, Mrs. Gary expressed the doubts that had been accumulating in her heart.
Hearing her question, Qi Ji nodded slightly as expected, put down the invisibility bracelet in his hand, raised his head and looked at the other party:
"You're right."
"Ah?" Mrs. Gary was stunned, as if she didn't expect such an answer.
"Think about it," Qi Ji chuckled and slowly explained his intentions without any impatience. "For you, if you want to leave Loen City and return to your hometown, there are only two choices, right?"
One is the "horse-drawn carriage tour" that she has chosen at the moment, and the other is to take the magic train, which requires a travel agency to issue a certificate as a prerequisite.
Mrs. Gary thought about it, then nodded slowly to show her agreement. She said nothing, but just signaled Qi Ji to continue with her eyes.
"Then let's analyze the risks of these two." Qi Ji smiled and said:
"The former - which is what I have chosen now. The risk is that it will give the Church of Life enough time to prepare. In addition, the journey does not have nearly perfect security like the magic train. All precautions will be taken by me alone."
"Yes, that's right." Mrs. Gary agreed.
"The latter is the option of the magic train." Qi Ji continued:
“I won’t talk about the advantages, the risks are obvious, that is, there is a high probability that you will not be able to buy a ticket at all, because as long as the people in the Life Church are not stupid, they will definitely think that you may buy a ticket.
"So, they will almost certainly have spies in various travel agencies in Loen City, waiting for you to take the bait."
Daisy sat next to Qi Ji and listened to her analysis quietly. She suddenly showed an expression of enlightenment:
"That is to say, if you go to a travel agency to get a voucher, you will almost certainly fall into their trap. In this case... renting a carriage in another way will make it easier to avoid their sight?"
"Ah."
Qi Ji turned his head slightly and gave her an approving look: "Of course, this also has great risks, but... In my hometown, there is a proverb that goes, 'If you encounter two bad things, you should choose the less bad one after weighing them.'"
"I understand..." Daisy nodded, lowered her head and continued to stare at her toes.
——She was deliberately avoiding the gaze of her parents who were sitting opposite her.
"Oh, yes, there is one thing I forgot to mention." At this moment, Qi Ji seemed to suddenly remember something. He slowly turned his neck and looked at the slightly confused faces of Mrs. Gary, Gary, Daisy and others one by one. "There is a proverb in my hometown..."
Then, under the confused gaze of the family, she said word by word:
"Only a thousand days to be a thief, not a thousand days to guard against a thief."
"Forehead?"
As soon as looks of astonishment and confusion appeared on the faces of several people, a blood-red light suddenly burst out from the outside world, illuminating the small compartment brightly even with the thick light-blocking curtains!
"Hmph," Qi Ji laughed coldly a few times, looking forward. Through the small window at the front of the carriage, she seemed to only see a red glow as bright as blood and as thick as ink. "It looks like they're serious..."
"Boom!——"
As soon as he finished speaking, unimaginable huge force came from all directions, and the wooden structure of the carriage suddenly let out a mournful cry as if it could not bear the heavy burden.
A large number of cracks spread rapidly, and the entire car body instantly deformed inward, like a collapsed cave, and it would completely collapse in the next second!
"Oh no... they are coming!"
Apart from Qi Ji, the person who reacted the fastest was Daisy, who had a certain amount of experience and whose mind had been blessed by the "divine blood". Her face darkened, and she raised her right hand, and a colorful and distant "map of stars" appeared in her palm.
"Don't worry yet."
Qi Ji didn't look at her, but seemed to know her movements. He quickly stretched out his left hand and pressed down her right hand that had lit up the "Star Map".
"Well?"
Daisy hurriedly looked at Qi Ji's profile, her eyes full of confusion. She wanted to ask, but the carriage was on the verge of collapse and she didn't have time to speak.
"boom!"
With just this delay of less than a second, the carriage, which was not particularly sturdy to begin with, could no longer withstand the huge force that came from nowhere, and it exploded and shattered in an instant!
