Chapter 555: Paradise On Earth
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After the Lord of Storm sent the signal, a black storm that seemed to be the end of the world suddenly burst out with the massive transmission magic circles as the center, collapsing the pillars and the dome of the Radiance Church that had been strengthened by the divine power.
The buildings on the left were melted like glass, and those on the right were frozen into ice. They were translucent and emitting brilliant colors. Then, coldness and heat were switched, turning all of them into powder or gas.
In the meantime, silver lightning struck the massive transmission magic circles in ear splitting sounds like giant serpents. Every lightning strike carried the terrifying air of destruction. The magnificent electromagnetic power twisted everything around. The wind and the thunder let out roars that astounded the mind.
It was 'Furious Storm', the fundamental magic of Fernando's legendary class!
However, 'God's Guard' that Mecantron had cast with the projection of Mountain Paradise seemed to have kept himself and the massive transmission magic circles in the dream land that only the holy spirits and angels could reach. It was the sanctuary where the God of Truth was going to save the world!
The destructive storm, lightning, heat and frigidness, when imposed on 'God's Guard', penetrated through it without causing any interferences. The ripples that did not belong to this world were still spreading out in blur.
It was indeed as expected of 'God's Guard' and 'The Angel King', the highest angel that had ever arrived and the being at the peak of legendary!
Also, he seemed to have arrived in person this time!
The Congress of Magic and Lucien had thought that Sard had been manipulating the extremists, who were claimed to be enchanted by the great prophet and the reincarnation of the Angel King. Therefore, they had been most cautious of him. It never occurred to them that the Angel King, known as 'God of Truth Jr.', was indeed involved.
Perhaps, he was the big shot behind Sard?
Then, what was their relationship with the pope and the other Grand Cardinals? Was it a trap that they set up together, or was it meant to take advantage of both sides?
Fernando thought quickly while continuing his legendary magic. He pondered over Mecantron and Sard's purpose and was prepared to change the plan.
Without the protection of the barrier of divine power, the Radiance Church was reduced into remains under 'Furious Storm'. Donald, Thompson and the other archmages and senior-rank sorcerers, as well as part of the clerics who were inclined to the Congress, hurried to withdraw. This was a battlefield that belonged to the legendary. They could not participate at all.
Such a change turned the worries in their heart into actual anxiety. At this moment, a peaceful and steady voice echoed from midair. "Fall back to Allyn. The other people will attack with me. While God's Guard is the ultimate of defensive spells and claims to be immune to all damage, it does have an upper bound that it can bear. We can easily break it if we join our hands!"
The man who stood and supported the Congress for hundreds of years came. His familiar and gentle voice pacified Thompson and other sorcerers, who were assured that everything was still under control. The Congress would never suffer a destructive strike as long as Mr. President was alive!
In the sky, Douglas floated on one side, with light glowing in his hands as if a new sun was about to rise, while the other legendary sorcerers stood separately on other directions, in case God's Arrival killed them all at once.
The Element Designator, the Hand of Annihilation, the Witch of Iceland, the Prophet, the Eye of Curse, the Light of Stars, the Sun King, the Alchemy Master… Seeing that the eleven legendary sorcerers of the Congress of Magic had been gathered here, Donald and the rest of them were even more reassured. They flew into Allyn whose locks had been opened.
Allyn had been surrounded by brilliant 'stars'. The City in the Sky that had one of the best locks could be used as an level-three legendary expert at the critical moment. However, its power was not enough to support it for long, unless the 'perpetual furnace', the magnetic-restrained nuclear fusion reactor that Lucien designed, could become a reality.
...
In the Rentato abbey…
Arthur, tough and aggressive, stood before the radical cardinals, bishops and reverends and declared piously and zealously, "It's time for us to sacrifice ourselves!"
"Only Truth lives forever!" Those cardinals, bishops and reverends kneeled before the cross and began to pray.
Arthur turned around and crossed his arms before his chest. He then lay down on the ground and chanted:
"You are one, and everyone."
"You are the beginning, and the end."
"You are the creator, and master."
"… Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
The other cardinals recited after him:
"… Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Holy light spread out from their bodies gently, dyeing them with bright and clean colors, as if wings were surfacing on their backs. The holy light was connected and expanded into an ocean that surged towards the east of Rentato.
Stone was both surprised and confused at the situation of the Knights of Grail. He asked gravely: "Paradise on Earth?"
It was a divine barrier that was only second to God's Guard and was on par with God's Guard. It could transform the land within a certain range into a 'paradise on earth'. However, it could only be used at a horrifying price. More than twenty cardinals, an equal number of angels, a hundred cardinals and a thousand reverends had to be sacrificed. The ritual also had to be hosted by the experts in the level of seraph.
With the Rentato abbey as the starting point, the ocean of holy light flowed towards the district of nobles on the east of the city quickly. In the next moment, the churches where the radical clerics gathered also yielded holy light. One node after another, the whole area was illuminated.
If somebody were to observe the ground from Allyn in the sky, they would discover that the most massive spots of light were on the east of Rentato, as if many holy spirits and reverends were singing and praying. The more it was to the east, the fewer such light spots there were but the brighter they were. It could be seen with the naked eye that they were divided into six floors.
When the holy light was gathered, it reverberated with the overall divine power array of Rentato. The light was more and more dazzling, until it was connected to the Angel King who performed God's Guard.
"You are one, and everyone…"
"… Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
The enormous, hallowed prayers echoed in the entire Rentato, and the holy light began to twist.
In the sky, Thompson discovered, to his shock, that from the west to the east of the city, the projection of the first floor of Mountain Paradise, the projection of the second floor and so on had appeared. It seemed that paradise had arrived on earth!
Douglas, Fernando and the rest of them felt that they were immersed in the ocean of holy light, and that their spiritual power became inert. Also, they seemed to be separated from the real world. Until they broke 'Paradise on Earth', Rentato could not be damaged at all.
However, 'Paradise on Earth' could only weaken the legendary experts to some extent. The higher level they were in, the less affected they would be. Douglas was soon back to himself and was ready to launch his magic.
At this moment, the massive transmission magic circles suddenly glowed, and thirteen shadows appeared inside.
"Melmax, Anasta, Maria, Augusta, Anthony, Varantine, Arzaro, Astira, Vaharall…"
Five saints, eight saint cardinals or divine knights, and the Angel King, the number and strength of the Church's side immediately surpassed those of the Congress of Magic.
Fernando, however, slightly sighed in relief and dropped the idea of activating 'Plan D'. The fact that only thirteen Grand Cardinals came meant that the pope was caught unprepared, too, and failed to mobilize even more forces in the emergency. It suggested that Sard and the Angel King were not on the same boat as the pope. Even the pope was one of their targets in their scheme.
Therefore, as long as the sorcerers suppressed the attack before more reinforcements came, they would still be able to turn things around. Then, everything would be much easier!
...
When 'Plan C' entered his ear from his monocle, Lucien immediately dropped his previous fear and worries, not considering the danger of this plan anymore.
After activating Advanced Acceleration, he turned into a blurred shadow and rushed towards the Nekso Palace to help Nekso Palace control the overall barrier of divine power of Rentato city. However, Lucien was not in too much of a hurry, as if he were waiting for something before he entered the Nekso Palace.
Hardly had he run for a few steps when the holy light of 'Paradise on Earth' drowned Lucien. The suffocatingly dense brilliance slowed down his spiritual power, and his magic strength seemed to be lowered by one level.
Not far away, a coachman observed everything in bewilderment. He extended his hands and tried to touch the ocean of holy light, only to pass through it directly.
It gave both him and his horse a shock. His horse began to rush at Lucien.
Subconsciously, Lucien cast a 'Deferment' to stop it, but the coachman and the dragon scale horse were not influenced at all. They passed through Lucien's body as if he were nothing more than an illusion, without causing the slightest collision!
"This is…" Looking at the twisted buildings and trees around, Lucien suddenly had the feeling that the World of Souls had arrived. They overlapped with the real world without affecting the people and objects in the real world in exactly the same way, except that one of them was silent and frozen, and the other was pure and fervent.
But why was he trapped in it when the coachman was still in the 'original Rentato'?
"Because only the people who wields supernatural abilities will be pulled into 'Paradise on Earth'. If you dispel your magic, you will return to reality slowly." A hoarse voice came from the front, and a woman whose face was full of hatred walked out from the back of a building twisted in the holy light. "But I won't give you the opportunity to return. The blood of four captains and more than twenty partners will be paid off today."
"Captains, do you see this?"
Four pure wings grow from her back and perfectly coexisted with the holy light around. However, her strength was highly unstable. It seemed that it would be beyond her control very soon.
"Juliana?" Asked Lucien in a low voice.
"There's also me, Mr. Professor, your old friend." On the other side, Minsk, the 'Red Dragon' wearing a white tuxedo, also walked out, with the same four angelic wings on the back.
He chuckled. "In the glory of Paradise on Earth, your magic strength is suppressed, and your legendary ring is no longer usable. We will serve you well and make you regret everything you have done."
"Right, Grand Cardinal Sard wants your Sun's Corona, the badge that contains the final coordinates of Maskelyne and his fellows."
Juliana also smiled and said, "After we kill you, your beloved queen won't live long, and we will send your Uncle Joel and Aunt Alisa to hell to join your company soon. They will tell you how they were killed in tears. Minsk, be wary of his left hand, which can nullify curses. Do not use the divine powers in the curse category."
"Nullify curses?" Lucien looked at high left hand. Where did they obtain their intelligence?
Chapter 556: Target
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Not caring whether they were intentionally easing his wariness or they were fooled by false intelligence, Lucien simply cast 'Baler's Transformation'. His muscles slightly bulged, and his body was covered in vague moonlight, further highlighting the shimmers on his silvery and grey left hand.
Before they went missing, they were only night watchers in the level of bishop and knight. They could not bear the arrival of a supreme angel in any case, whose enormous strength would've torn them apart. Therefore, the angels from whom they borrowed strength should be the medium ones, which could be proved by the number of wings on their back. In such a way, their current strength was in the senior rank at best. Even though they were enhanced by the barrier of 'Paradise on Earth', they couldn't be in level nine.
Turning to vague moonlight, Lucien lunged at them in countless shadows. He was so fast that they couldn't tell which of the shadows was his real self.
The wings on Minsk's back glittered, and he was covered in crimson scales. Both his eyes emitted gold brilliance, releasing the intimidation of a top creature. He spurted out a thick red pillar that consumed all the shadows. The high temperature even slightly twisted the holy light.
From Juliana's body, silver longswords with sacred eyes on them suddenly popped up.
They swirled around Juliana, protecting her in the center. Anything that attempted to pass them would be minced into pieces.
It was 'Edge Barrier', the most effective defense against knights in level-six divine powers. The blurred moonlight was cut into pieces by them.
Right then, Juliana's angelic wings were unfolded beyond her control, summoning a pillar of holy light that struck one of the shadows.
Juliana's eyes were suddenly widened, as she discovered that Lucien raised his left and resisted the light outburst that was thicker than his body. What was most unbelievable was that the pillar of light was shattered and melted into 'Paradise on Earth' around.
What's with his left hand?
Hardly had such shock appeared in Juliana's head when she saw Lucien punch the barrier of swords with his left fist.
The silver longswords were revolving and cutting, but they collapsed the moment they touched Lucien's left hand.
Without meeting any hindrance, the left hand punched Juliana's face when she did not have the time to cast any other divine powers.
Crack, crack, crack. Juliana's right face collapsed deeply, spurting out red and white stuff that stained the ground. The defenses and enhancements she cast on herself were utterly useless.
A cluster of pure brilliance dashed out of Juliana's body, trying to flee, only to be extinguished by another punch from his left hand.
Juliana fell backwards, with fear, panic and unresolvable hatred in her widened, frozen eyes.
It was only at this moment that 'Red Dragon' Minsk approached Lucien's back.
Seeing Juliana's miserable outcome, he was grabbed by both hatred and fear, wondering whether he should continue attacking or flee with 'Paradise on Earth'.
After a brief hesitation, he chose to retreat. He would always have opportunities of revenge after the great Angel King and Grand Cardinal Sard succeeded. Only if he kept himself alive could he torture the professor's wife, students, friends and family so that the professor would ask to be killed!
When he turned around, he found that a long, powerful hand pressed at him, so he opened his mouth and spurted out the dragon breath again.
The fire with a horrifying temperature burnt everything, but it died out like a regular candle under Lucien's left hand.
The left hand grasped Minsk's head quickly, and the solid crimson scales seemed to have encountered the most dreadful enemy and ebbed on their own.
Without any hesitation, Lucien exerted his strength. After a crack, Minsk's neck was twisted into two parts.
While his consciousness was fading, Minsk was filled with regrets:
"His left hand does not just nullify curses!"
After the light in Minsk's body was also destroyed, Lucien searched their bodies but found nothing useful.
"Under the enhancement of 'Paradise on Earth', two level-five night watchers carried out the strength of level eights. That's terrifying. However, if the pivot in the Nekso Palace that controls the city barrier is on our side, the influence should be weakened." Lucien drew a conclusion.
The Nekso Palace had two cores of divine powers. One was for internal defense, so that the queen would not be instantly killed by legendary experts. The other was for external defense, which controls the barrier of divine power citywide. If the core in the Radiance Church had been destroyed, this would be the only pivot that could affect the barrier. It was his mission to grasp the pivot with Natasha and Morris.
When he was about to approach the Nekso Palace, Lucien suddenly stopped, as if he was waiting for something. Because his magic ceased, he gradually exited from Paradise on Earth and returned to the normal Rentato.
...
In the Grand Church of Brewston in Salyvaor, capital of Brianne…
Since there were only two praying believers, the preaching cardinal was more or less sloppy. Suddenly, he saw a gentleman standing up and walking to the back of the church with his black staff.
"You can't…" The cardinal tried to stop him, only to discover that his fingers were abnormally twisted, and that his guts, muscles, veins and brains were stretched to different directions by the black, terrible magnetic field.
Without a sound, he was split into countless pieces, where tiny light of electricity was glittering.
After one step, Brook passed the atrium, and the projection of the 'Kingdom of Electromagnetism' appeared around him, enshrouding Beaver's residence.
In shock, Beaver blurted out, "Brook?"
It was beyond his expectation that the Emperor of Control would ambush him. Was the man not scared of a total war?
Inside a palace, a stout knight floated in midair and looked at the Grand Church of Brewston far away, only to discover that devils seemed to be arising inside the building that was defended by divine power. Now and then, silver lightning burst out and struck the sky, as if the sky and the earth had been reversed.
"Brook still has other magics. Beaver can't survive long. Are we not going to rescue him, Bedrenka?" A muscular knight who looked like a giant bear asked.
Bedrenka, 'Hammer of the Void', chuckled. "If Brook does not restrain the range of his magic, we can only turn on the divine barrier of the whole city to prevent Salyvaor from being demolished. Beaver is not even a saint, and he is unprepared. How can he deal with the man? Not to mention that Holt is helping Brook. We should wait and see what happens in Rentato. I do not want to face Brook."
"Things are already happening. Poor Beaver. Even if he turns on the transmission magic circle, there won't be any reinforcements. If I were him, I would start running as fast and far away as possible." Basor, 'Knight of Disasters', said coldly, "I'll suppress the nobles and other clerics until the thing that Fernando talked about begins. If it is unconvincing, we'll…"
Bedrenka was about to answer, when his pupils constricted violently. He turned on the divine barrier, covering the city in pure holy light.
After a boom, the Grand Church of Brewston exploded, and the surging flames and light swept across the whole city.
The divine barrier was shattered after a few seconds. The empty land near the church became giant pits.
"The district of nobles would've been destroyed if I were one second late…" Said Bedrenka, feeling lucky. "It's good that we didn't try to stop Brook."
A man at the peak of legendary and on the top ten of the Cleansing List was definitely not a joke.
...
Yourcenar, 'Song of Dusk', stopped after forcing Erica and Torrens to move their battlefield out of Cocus, helping neither the Church nor the Congress.
After years of persuasion from the Congress, and under the promise that his life would be extended by three hundred years, he made the decision to wait until further changes.
Watching Erica, who had turned into a rainbow dragon, and Torrens, who revealed his image as the Angel of Wisdom, Yourcenar sighed, "It would've been great to just keep the previous situation. Fernando, let's see how you are going to convince me."
Similar things happened in the Kingdom of Colette and the northern coastline. The only difference was that 'Burning Lady' had been waiting on the north coastline, and Colette's 'Life Reaper' was awed by Vicente, the Lord of the Undead. After all, he was not a saint, and the legendary sorcerers of necromancy was best known for their many 'helpers'.
...
Outside of the Nekso Palace, Sard gradually showed up.
He was still at first while he watched the Radiance Church. It was not until the massive transmission magic circles glowed that he walked out of the holy light of 'Paradise on Earth'. He couldn't help but put on a smile as he walked to the Nekso Palace:
"It's time!"
"His Holiness should've arrived with the Grand Cardinals. Faced with Douglas and the 'helpful' Angel King, he would either fail or perform God's Arrival at the cost of all his remaining life."
He had only one purpose since the beginning, which was to make the total war burst out before the pope's God's Arrival was restored, and to make the pope die in advance with the help of the Congress of Magic. He was not worried that the Congress of Magic would not cooperate with him, because starting the war early was in their favor, too.
"After the pope perishes and the enemy is slain, it will be the time for me to save the Church with the seven legendary knights. With such contributions and what I have grasped, I will ascend to the throne of pope without any question and truly grasp that secret." Sard walked to the gate of the Nekso Palace. He was not hoping that the Congress of Magic would be destroyed, but he was certain that some of the legendary sorcerers would be killed, which would help the situation to arrive at a new balance.
He smiled, "So, Douglas, Brook and Fernando, work hard and kill Anasta, Maria, Beaver and the rest of them who are loyal to His Holiness. You will have my thanks."
When the day comes, without the few Grand Cardinals that the pope groomed as his heirs, and without the radical red robes and night watchers, it was impossible for his scheme to be exposed. Who would believe the rumor from the surviving legendary sorcerers?
"Lucien's left hand does not just nullify curses. It is rather strange. However, Juliana and Minsk should be able to stall him for a while in Paradise on Earth. After I have the time, I'll take over Maskelyne's Sun's Corona." He did not seem to think that Juliana and Minsk could return alive. Or rather, he did not want them to survive.
"Until then, let's start gathering the seven legendary knights from the Nekso Palace."
"Also, I have to find a 'culprit' for the easy conquest of the Radiance Church. After I kill her and get the Sword of Truth, everything will be safe."
Sard knew very well that the legendary sorcerers were exceptional when it came to how to keep themselves alive. For the clerics, they only had few divine powers, including God's Arrival and Light of Judgment, that could eliminate the sorcerers' souls and phylacteries. Things would be much easier after he got the Sword of Truth.
"It is time to butcher the livestock that has been fattened."
While talking, he extended his right hand and pressed the divine defense of the Nekso Palace. The six angelic wings on his back were unfolded slowly.
Different from the common clerics, his wings of light were stretched and graceful, and the light was sacred and boundless.
In the next, he seemed to be melted into the holy light. He walked through the divine defense without any trouble.
Chapter 557: Nonsense?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In Paradise on Earth, not far away from the projection of the Radiance Church…
Led by Saint Melmax, captain of the Temple Knights, the thirteen Grand Cardinals reached Rentato through the massive transmission magic circles.
Because of the supernal attraction in the transmission magic circles, they had been pulled into Paradise on Earth together and felt that their strength had more or less increased. The level-one legendary saint cardinals were improved by about sixty percent.
When the massive transmission magic circles were activated, Mecantron, the Angel King, reported the general situation, claiming that Natasha tricked Sard away and Richard, as a spy, turned off the defense in the Radiance Church. As the fundamental point that supported the Church's control in the area, the church was always guarded by divine power. No enemy could've approached it without causing alarm.
Losing the defense of divine power, the Radiance Church naturally fell into the control of the Congress of Magic quickly. Thankfully, a certain pious cardinal summoned 'Angel King' at the cost of his life. Seeing the emergency, the Angel King preserved the massive transmission magic circles with his unique 'God's Guard'. Therefore, Melmax and his fellows were not entirely unclear of the situation after they were teleported.
The ripples and blurs that did not seem to belong to this world soon vanished. Mecantron and the Grand Cardinals quickly dispersed in case the legendary sorcerers fired upon them.
A natural and harmonious scenery appeared when Douglas' 'Land of Truth' arrived. The brilliant and magnificent stars shone in the sky, twisting the whole space with the enormous gravity.
The thirty-six wings behind Mecantron stretched out, and the projection of Mountain Paradise behind him suppressed 'Gravity Cage'.
Mecantron spoke in a low voice, "Light of Judgment."
On his wings and from the projection of Mountain Paradise, orderly and solemn brilliance burst out at the same time as if everything was being weighed.
Sinners, accept the fairest trial!
The darkness was gone. The chaos and extraordinary forces were gone. The Light of Judgment ruled everything like a sharp sword. With the assistance of 'Paradise on Earth', even Fernando who was far away felt deeply remorseful.
Douglas did not fear Mecantron at all. Unless he ran into the enemy on Mountain Paradise, the guy would only be at the peak of legendary even if he arrived in person. As a sorcerer, he was confident to deal with any enemy at such a level.
"Spacial Providence."
The space was twisted, and Mecantron's 'Light of Judgment' was diminished.
The dispersing force raised a furious storm on the ocean of holy light. It seemed that it was going to be destroyed before long!
Seeing that they had advantage both in number and strength, Melmax did not help the Angel King to fight the Emperor of Arcana. Instead, he prepared to concentrate the forces and eliminate the evil sorcerers one by one!
At this moment, Fernando stood before him. Half of the ocean of holy light in Rentato was suddenly darkened, like an ocean with an imminent storm. The terrifying magnetic field had covered everything.
In the sky, the dark, lead clouds gathered, and world-destroying lightning struck Melmax. The terrible heat and the coldness that was close to absolute zero replaced each other around him, shaking everything.
"He has advanced into the peak of legendary?"
Faced with such dominance, Melmax became solemn and dropped the idea of helping anybody else.
Entirely covered in the silver sacred armor, he raised the longsword in his hand.
The longsword that was glowing in sacred brilliant seemed to be suppressing all evils. Under the sword, any unholy creature would be completely eliminated.
The longsword, named after Melmax, was one of the only thirteen level-four legendary items!
The heat and the coldness disappeared around Melmax, but the ice and the burns on his armor implied that it was not as easy as it seemed.
"Die now, evil!"
With the blood power of 'Morning', a sun rose behind him, driving away the depression of the upcoming storm and eclipsing the lightning.
The Church had twelve Grand Cardinals left, four of whom were saints: Anasta, Maria, Augusta and Anthony. However, the Congress of Magic only had three grand arcanists, six legendary sorcerers and one city in the sky. It seemed to be losing.
Oliver, the Hand of Annihilation, was fighting Saint Anthony, the 'Night Watcher'. Hellen, the Witch of Iceland, blocked Saint Maria. The Eye of Curse, the Prophet, the Light of Stars, the Sun King, Absolute Defense and Alchemy Master were fighting six saint cardinals and divine knights in different directions. They were far away from each other for fear that the pope would come and kill them all at the cost of his own life.
The legendary battle shook 'Paradise on Earth' violently, which seemed to be collapsing.
The other two saints, Anasta and Augusta, after communicating with Varantine, decided that Saint Anasta would keep Hathaway occupied and Astira would resist Allyn, while Augusta joined hands with Varantine to deal with the Light of Stars who was the weakest of all, ensuring that the final attack was one of the divine powers like 'Light of Judgment'.
Suddenly, an indifferent voice echoed: "Luxury Cracking."
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. The divine items and effects on the four Grand Cardinals were broken and gone, the energy barriers splitting.
After a bam, the charm of 'Wind King' on Astira, the weakest saint cardinal of all, was blown into pieces, and tremendous wind gushed out.
His eyes were immediately bloodshot. It was the only legendary item he had!
Cracking (Advanced), the ninth-circle magic, had a one percent possibility of shattering legendary items, and Luxury Cracking, its advanced version, had the odds of ten percent at most. How could he be so unlucky?
Anasta grew solemn:
"She has also advanced into the peak of legendary!"
"Her strength overpowers yours. That's how it happened. No wonder the Congress of Magic was bold enough to start a war!"
Hathaway's 'Element Paradise' arrived and stalled the two saints. However, she had only just advanced, and it was still troublesome for her to deal with two level-three saint cardinals.
Varantine, who was not attacked, was about to join the battle against the Light of Stars, when he discovered that he was caught in a foggy world. Raventi and other archmages had controlled Allyn to descend and increase the range of the fog, locking him inside.
Astira and Arzaro worked together to deal with the Light of Stars, but the sorcerer had many amazing spells. They couldn't finish him any time soon.
Raventi and the rest of them waited for Brook, the Emperor of Control, to return anxiously. As an expert at the peak of legendary for years, he would be an important leverage to crush the Church's troops.
Melmax, who had forced the Lord of Storm to the defensive, was protecting the massive transmission magic circles from being sabotaged. By the time the pope mobilized other available Grand Cardinals and legendary knights, the Congress' plan would fail. Also, it was possible that the pope would arrive in advance instead of waiting for everybody else.
Because they were not used for now, the massive transmission magic circles gradually exited from the ocean of holy light. Nobody could hit it before 'Paradise on Earth' was broken, which disrupted Hathaway's plan to suppress the two saints with weird spells first before she found an opportunity to break the transmission magic circles.
...
After Sard entered the Nekso Palace, his seraphic wings flapped and supported him to pass the barriers, allowing him to reach the central area of the Nekso Palace that was protected by the internal defense.
In the next moment, he changed without any hesitation: "Light of Judgment!"
Different from what Mecantron performed, a seven-floored Mountain Paradise surfaced in his eyes, congregating into a decisive, unquestionable light.
You are guilty when I say you are guilty!
Under the light, the internal defense cracked and did not seem able to last. Also, Sard's faith senses had blocked the surroundings. Once Natasha attempted to flee, he would immediately notice it. Besides, he had blocked outbound teleportation with space anchors, in case Natasha had the scrolls such as 'Chaos Teleportation' or 'Portal to Alternate Realm' from the Congress of Magic.
Outside of the Nekso Palace, a thirty-year-old man who had a mustache was shocked and about to stop Sard.
But right then, a tall old man appeared before him. His hair seemed even greyer than before.
"Winston, let's observe for a while longer before we decide whether to follow the Church or the Congress." Said Kritonia briefly.
Winston frowned, "What about Her Majesty?"
"Without Her Majesty, there will still be other kings. There's no need to take the risk recklessly." Said Kritonia indifferently. "You should know her relationship with the Congress of Magic very well. If you save her, it will mean that you have taken the side of the Congress. Are you sure about that?"
Winston was silent.
Boom. The internal defense finally started collapsing after enduring for more than ten seconds. Sard stepped into Natasha's palace.
Natasha had already put on the Armor of Holm, whose silver color added to the air of slaughter in her. A silver grey longsword was placed before her, with no decorations on it at all.
The moment she saw Sard, she shouted angrily, "Grand Cardinal Sard, you…"
Sard did not waste any time in talking. He launched another Light of Judgment, not giving her any hope of resurrection.
Under the Light of Judgment, the first half of the palace was obliterated, but Natasha suddenly picked the sword and raised it before her. With determination in her eyes, she slashed it at the Light of Judgment without backing off.
After a crack, the Light of Judgment was dispersed, and the longsword glowed dazzlingly.
Level eight? No, a level-nine gold knight!
Sard was told before that the Sword of Truth contained the secrets for this bloodline to advance into legendary. Whoever grasped it and understood how it worked would have the hope to be a legendary knight. It was obvious that Natasha had reached level eight at least a year ago and grasped the Sword of Truth, which upgraded her to level nine!
"Sard, this is all part of your scheme! You want His Holiness to fight the Congress of Magic in advance, so that he will die of exhaustion after performing God's Arrival, right? You want to be the next pope!" Natasha stared at Sard, her back slightly hunched like a leopard that was about to lunge forward.
Sard snorted. "What can you do even if you know that? Don't presume that you can block a real legendary expert with the Sword of Truth. How is your useless speech going to help you?"
While talking, he split into four shadows and cast different divine powers from different directions, including 'Light of Judgment', 'Vengeful Storm', 'Energy Drain' and 'Earthquake', trying to kill Natasha as quickly as possible.
"Is it useless?" Natasha chuckled.
"Is it useless?"
At the same time, a gentle voice echoed, and a white-haired old man, with a holy crown, slowly appeared with a gold staff. He seemed to have directly torn the space.
Sard's divine powers, on the other hand, collapsed on their own under his voice.
Sard's pupils constricted violently: "Your Holiness!"
According to Plan C, if Sard circumvented his promise in other ways, Natasha would contact Benedict II through her secret channel immediately!
If they were complicit, Plan D would be adopted. They would play all the trump cards they prepared and see if they could turn things around. If the pope had been tricked but did not trust Natasha, Plan D would also be adopted. If the pope chose to wait, they would determine Sard's whereabouts as soon as possible and reveal the teleportation point that Lucien modified for Natasha's escape to the pope, so that the demigod could observe the situation or even arrive in person through the point!
It was like a Portal to Alternate Realm that had been long deployed, except that it could not break Sard's space anchors without enough power!
Chapter 558: Diplomacy
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
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."
…
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."
Chapter 559: Dilemma
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the Nekso Palace, at the periphery of the Parliament of Nobles, Richard was waiting with a hundred main supporters for the religious reform.
When two God's Arrivals appeared in the sky and attacked each other, those cardinals and bishops were more confused than ever. They mumbled similar exclamations: "How is this possible?"
"Which of them is the heretic?"
"One of them has to be a heretic, right? Then, why can a heretic use God's Arrival, too?"
"My Lord, is this your test for us?"
God's Arrival, a unique, supreme divine power that solely belong to the pope, proved his identity as the spokesperson of the God of Truth on earth. It was the firmest confidence for the clerics. Even the heretic reverends and cardinals in the north would fall silent when talking about the problem. although the pontiffs had God's Grace, it was not nearly as good as God's Arrival, which could injure and defeat the Silver Moon and the Lord of Hell.
But today, Sard, a saint who had betrayed His Holiness, was also using God's Arrival. Did it mean that it was not the Lord's special grace but a regular divine power that everybody could grasp?
If Sard was capable of 'God's Arrival' because of the Lord's grace, then which of them was the Lord's spokesperson on earth? When two of blessed believers destroyed each other with God's Arrival, which of them was the heretic? Why would the Lord allow that?
Chaos and confusion surged in their hearts, and their faith seemed to be shaking. If they were swallowed by the holy light, the Congress of Magic would definitely grant a prize of special contribution to the pope and Sard for their remarkable work in destroying the faith of the clerics.
At this moment, Lucien questions echoed in Richard's head.
"God loves the people but loves the shepard more? God loves the people but is unwilling to communicate with everybody's mind directly? When you pray, God's solemnity is different in your home and in the church? You can only receive divine powers under the guidance of the clerics?"
"If the pope is indeed the only speaker of God, why did he keep misreading Cannon? Why did he make so many changes to the Doctrines?"
"Both the pop and the Church are the barriers between the believers and God. Whether or not you have the divine power, you should be equal in front of the Lord."
At some point, he spoke what was in his mind by quoting the Cannon.
The neutral clerics looked at him in confusion at first, but as they listened on, they recalled the doctrines that Richard introduced – to return the right of interpreting the Cannon to every believer!
"Is this the purpose of the Lord's test?"
"This is the real Paradise on Earth that the Lord wants to create! A heaven where everybody can be saved with a devout mind regardless of their age, gender and wealth!"
Their faces became peaceful. In the end, they all shouted after Richard:
"We should make those get out of the way who keep talking about faith and belief but are in fact blaspheming God's will."
"Say farewell to those monopolists who are sucking power and wealth from common people's pure faith!"
"Between Lord and believers, there should be no barriers made by any; there should only be faith, and the faithful demeanor!"
As they shouted out, ivory, gentle holy light spread out from countless clerics. The God of Truth seemed delighted that they finally understood the true meaning of 'Paradise on Earth'!
Having thrown the mental burden, Richard delightfully felt that he was closer to the Lord. His divine power finally surpassed the threshold that advanced into level nine.
Around him, many clerics had been improved by one level, too.
"This is the Lord's grace. He's happy about our choice." Said Richard joyfully.
Another cardinal smiled, "Bishop Richard, after your religious reform is achieved, you may become a saint cardinal."
"Our work is not for reward but because of our faith." Richard waved his hands.
Then, he saw Natasha, with a silver armor and a gold crown, striding in magnificently when the legendary battle outside was shaking the Nekso Palace now and then.
When she passed Richard, Natasha nodded slowly and drew a cross on her chest. "The Lord will always be in our hearts."
Her tied purple hair moved with her hair, making other people worry that her crown might fall.
"Only Truth lives forever." Richard understood that they had Natasha's support and bowed back at her with the clerics.
Natasha did not say anything else. The nobles in the Parliament of Nobles must've seen the clergy's shift. Their faith would be shaken, too!
Inside the Parliament of Nobles, Duke James, Duke Russell and Count Henson looked at the high sky gloomily. The ocean of light and the world-destroying vibe could compare to the shock of 'God's Arrival versus God's Arrival'.
Even though they were inclined to the Congress, their faith had been melted into their blood and their heart. The God of Truth was the unquestionable one true god, except that God created and tolerated everything and did not discriminate against the normal sorcerers.
But now, the self-consistency shook their faith violently. Perhaps, the Lord simply granted the divine powers according to certain rules without caring about anything else like the sorcerers described. Even the schism and the battle of 'God's Arrival versus God's Arrival' were nothing!
The shift of the clerics including Richard gave them another explanation to the phenomenon. They calmed down and were deep in thought.
"I didn't know that Sard was capable of God's Arrival, too…" Duke James spoke to his partner.
Russell replied in a bitter smile, "His Holiness didn't, either. That's why he had to use God's Arrival to resist."
Without any redundant words and analysis, they understood what each other meant.
Rex, Solefen and other conservatives were even more befuddled, not even knowing what was the Lord, the Pope or the Church.
They were mumbling the same as the clerics, dazzled and overwhelmed.
At this moment, Natasha walked in, followed with Camil. It was the first time she had entered the Parliament of Nobles with the silver Armor of Holm and the crown of Holm. The nobles found someone they could count on and were gradually relaxed.
The Sword of Truth in her right hand made Rex, Solefen, James and other nobles surprised that the queen hid her capabilities!
Now that the Sword of Truth had arrived, the last concerns in their heart were gone.
Ignoring the terrible scene outside where magic and divine powers were flying, Natasha said in a low voice: "The emergency meeting of nobles commences now."
Thank you, Pope and Sard. You have added more leverage to my persuasion!
A strange magic item was placed on the podium. It recorded Natasha's voice and let the sound spread beyond 'Paradise on Earth' through a metal tube. Since such a transmission was not supernatural, it left 'Paradise on Earth' and reached a manor in the suburbs.
The sorcerers hurried to broadcast the 'live meeting' to the Parliaments of Nobles in the Kingdom of Colette, the Kingdom of Brianne, the Duchy of Calais and the north coastline.
...
After the legendary battle began, everybody flew to the sky. Had it not been for the restraint of 'Paradise on Earth', they would have flown to ten thousand meters high like Benedict II and Sard did.
After the air of God's Arrival against God's Arrival came, Saint Melmax was more than puzzled and shocked. Then, he felt great pressure.
"Sard is a traitor? He's capable of God's Arrival?"
"His His Holiness burnt the remainder of his life to use God's Arrival…"
"What exactly happened?"
"Sard is indeed brutal. He intentionally fought His Holiness in the high sky. This is to shake the foundation of the Church's faith! Even if he dies, the Church will be mired in a swamp."
Of course, Melmax also knew that Sard's other purpose was to prevent Rentato and Paradise on Earth from being destroyed.
He used 'Paradise on Earth' to block the legendary battle partly to protect the believers of Rentato. Otherwise, the whole Rentato would've been destroyed just now.
The competition of God's Arrivals twisted time and space. Benedict II and Sard were briefly gone.
Melmax, prepared that His Holiness could not join the battle for now, began to observe the battlefield:
Douglas was on the winning side in the battle against the Angel King. Even the regular magics were as good as legendary magics in his hands. However, the Angel King, with 'God's Guard', had the best defense and kept the enemy occupied. The Emperor of Arcana was unable to prepare more powerful legendary magics.
Hathaway was gradually familiarized with the strength of the peak of legendary. She began to suppress the two saints. As for Oliver and Hellen, they were on par with the enemies.
However, in other places, due to the suppression of 'Paradise on Earth', the saint cardinals and the divine knights of the Church were on the winning side. The Light of Stars, in particular, only survived under Astira and Arzaro's attacks with his legendary items and weird magics, but his death seemed already underway.
The Lord of Storm was also suppressed by him. Although he couldn't finish the guy for the time being, he could still protect the massive transmission magic circles.
They still had the advantage in the battle!
Thinking about that, Melmax looked at the massive transmission magic circles. As long as a few saints or legendary knights came, the seven legendary knights on this side of the Storm Straits would know what to do!
As long as the sign of failure showed up, it would be as unstoppable as a flood!
If Brook returned in advance, it would be more troublesome. More reinforcements would be needed, which would give the Dark Congress and the northern heretics a chance. Of course, if His Holiness returned first, chances were that half of the legendary sorcerers would be wiped out first!
"But why has Fernando never used his 'Eye of Storm'?" Thought Melmax in confusion.
The Church knew very well that the Lord of Storm had two legendary items, one being 'Robe of Dominance' and the other being 'Eye of Storm'. Since his life was not in danger, it was hard to tell if he was wearing the former, but the latter was a marvelous weapon for attacking. Why did he not use it when he was obviously suppressed?
...
Inside the Nekso Palace…
When he walked to the control pivot, Lucien did not encounter Kritonia. It seemed that Winston had indeed stopped him. Otherwise, he would have to ask for Rhine's help. While Rhine was already nowhere to be seen, Lucien believed that he was around waiting for an opportunity. If Sard had left any other plans, he wouldn't mind sabotaging them by the way. Or rather, it was what he desired to do right now.
The control pivot was right before his eyes, when a silver sword with the terrifying gaps of void emerged out of nowhere and slashed at Lucien.
Under the sword, Lucien's body was torn in half directly, but they vanished like foam.
"Gordon, the Torn Sword…" Not far away, Lucien popped up and saw the man with silver eyes who attacked him just now.
Gordon also said in a low voice, "Seventh-circle magic, Simulacrum…"
The magic could create a real illusion that was half the level of the caster. The illusion had senses, voice, smell, overlapping fate and could perform magic.
Chapter 560: Livestream
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Hardly had Gordon finished his remark when Lucien performed 'Simulacrum' and suddenly split into two halves. Then, another two shadows emerged from the two Luciens. Four Luciens surrounded him, far away from each other. That was Lucien's real self and 'simulation' both casting 'Mirror Shadow'.
It was truly difficult to fight a sorcerer. Not having any item to cast magic or divine powers, Gordon could only grit his teeth and attack with the intuitions of a knight. Also, a radiant knight of his level had plenty of methods and area attacks.
But before he lunged out, he suddenly heard Lucien talking in a low voice:
"I need reinforcement."
As he talked, his monocle glimmered.
Reinforcement?
Gordon's heart was heavy. Were there other archmages or senior-rank sorcerers around? He was suspicious that Lucien was only bluffing, but he was in Rentato, and Allyn was nearby. This place had the highest density of sorcerers in the entire world. The Congress of Magic couldn't be short of hands in their operation.
Recalling Grand Cardinal Sard who was confronting the pope, Gordon suddenly lost his fighting will. He subtly changed the direction of his attack and flew sideways.
The moment he flew out, the colors around him faded away, leaving only the lifeless black and grey. He was frozen in midair like a bug inside amber.
It was 'Time Stop', a ninth-circle magic!
Morris appeared from the midair. Since things were going rather well, and there was even a splendid scene of 'God's Arrival against God's Arrival' – which could be appreciated as a classic opera since he was not part of it after all – Morris was in a rather good. He smiled at Lucien and asked, "How did you know that I was around?"
"The pope and Sard were high in the sky, so I figured that the members of the royal family of Holm were probably around." Lucien certainly wouldn't confess that he was just bluffing Gordon.
Although Lucien had no doubt that Morris and other senior-rank sorcerers would come to help him in thirty seconds after he called for reinforcement, he did not think that they could come immediately. However, if Gordon could be scared away, thirty seconds of his time could be saved. If Gordon was not scared away, he still had the strength of the seventh circle after being suppressed, and he could still last half a minute with his left hand.
Even though Gordon reached level-nine gold knight because of 'Angel Arrival' and 'Paradise on Earth', Lucien believed that his magic could help him resist for at least one minute. It was needless to say that he had 'Orb of Ultimate Destruction', a ninth-circle scroll, and two tubes of 'solidified helium' that could perform Snow Goddess' Whip.
He did not expect that Morris would come so fast. It seemed that his primary target was the control pivot of the divine barrier, too.
Seeing that light was blooming inside Gordon's body and weakening the effect of 'Time Stop', Morris spoke to Lucien, "You will go to the control pivot. Let me take care of him. He's a member of the royal family of Holm after all. It will be more acceptable if he dies in my hands."
Without any hesitation, four Luciens rushed at the control pivot, appreciating the thoroughness of the plan. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been as easy for him to supress Gordon.
Of course, Lucien also knew that Sard couldn't have arranged for Gordon to defend the control pivot. Instead, Gordon should be a candidate to be the new king after he killed Natasha. It should've been Kritonia, 'Heart of Time', who appeared here!
However, now that Sard was confronting the pope, how 'loyal' was Kritonia to him? Not to mention that Winston, 'Night Walker', would stop him.
In a palace not far away, Winston stood next to the window and seemed relaxed. He spoke to Kritonia, "Sard is confronting the pope. Even though he has God's Arrival as his trump card, the best outcome for him is to die together with the enemy. Your Excellency Kritonia, are you going to attack me?" Since Kritonia was the legendary hero who contributed to the establishment of the Kingdom of Holm, Winston, who only became a legend in recent hundred years, was quite respectful.
"Even if you want to change sides and clear your suspicion as a heretic by contributions, you should wait and see how capable His Holiness is after exhausting himself to perform God's Arrival."
It was about the same as what Kritonia said to Winston earlier. He looked outside in silence, watching Lucien crack the defense outside of the control pivot. The modification in this place involved the legendary knights who defended it. Fearing that it might alarm Sard, Lucien did not work on it, but thankfully, Natasha gave him the structure of the entire divine power circle. It would only take him less than one minute to finish the work.
In the next moment, Kritonia sighed and turned around, walking into the room.
Smiling, Winston looked at Lucien again, thinking if he should give him a hand to save each other time.
Suddenly, he found everything around him slowed down, as if he had fallen into a swamp.
A sword slashed by, but it did not hit Winston, who emerged from the darkness nearby, like the shadow of the night.
"Mr. Kritonia, you…" Looking at Kritonia, Winston hesitated. Thankfully, he kept his usual wariness.
Kritonia sighed. "There's no turning back after certain things are started."
"Although I haven't found a way to advance into the third rank, I should still be able to resist you for a fairly long time. Are you sure you don't want to wait?" Winston believed that the situation outside would be beyond control even if Kritonia could defeat himself, so he tried the last persuasion.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, he was unwilling to fight 'Heart of Time' who was much stronger than himself.
Kritonia shook his head. "You and I are both knights. We understand each other's determination well. I know that hope is slim, but I have to try to seize it instead of waiting for an outcome. Even if I die, I will die on a battlefield!"
An intense battle began between them, and both of them were pulled into 'Paradise on Earth'.
Because the battle of legendary knights required more space, they soon broke the defense of divine powers and fought in midair.
...
Wearing the silver armor and the gold crown, Natasha stabbed the Sword of Truth on the dais before her and glanced around the hall, before she announced solemnly and loudly:
"A war has broken out between the Church and the Congress of Magic. It's time to make a decision."
"Are we going to follow the Church to eradicate the evils, or are we going to help the Congress of Magic to banish the radical believers and return the faith to the Lord?"
"If we choose the former, the Congress of Magic will probably escape into the ocean after suffering certain losses. By then, we will be the frontline that confronts the Congress of Magic. I believe that the Church will have to count on us. Together with the northern heretics, a new balance will be reached."
"If we choose the latter, the Congress of Magic will also have to depend on us and the neutral believers to resist the Church. There will also be a new balance. We don't need to worry about the assassinations of night watchers anymore. Peace will be restored."
"The key to victory is in our hands. What's your decision?"
Natasha halted, and all the nobles understood what the queen meant. The terrible battle outside also reminded them that everything was real.
Also, they knew that, whichever side they chose, their interests would be ensured as long as the side won. So, all they needed to do was not to stand on the losing side.
At this moment, Duke Rex stood and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, we are all the subjects of the Lord, and our faith is unquestionable. If a new balance is going to be restored and our interests can be ensured either way, why do we not choose the Church, and why do we have to hang around with the evil sorcerers?"
More than half of the conservative nodded. It was exactly what was on their mind. Even many of the liberals would abandon the sorcerers without any hesitation in emergencies, although they could cooperate with the sorcerers to make money.
The hall immediately fell quiet. Duke James clenched his fists and stood up, "Objection! If we follow the Church, will you not be scared of the assassinations from the radical night watchers? Will they tolerate alchemical workshops, telephones, magic crystal maps or radios? Do you want to live as the bumpkins you used to be?"
Although Natasha didn't talk to him before, Duke James' cooperation with the Congress of Magic was too deep for him to get away with it. Also, he knew the queen's real tendency. Therefore, he made a decision rather quickly.
Natasha nodded in satisfaction. It was as expected of the hardcore liberal, who was thought to be trustworthy by both the Congress of Magic and Lucien.
After Duke James' announcement, many liberals expressed their stance. However, they also cleverly implied that they would respect and accept the final decision.
To save time, Natasha pressed his right hand and ended the argument:
"Let me say a few words."
...
Yourcenar, 'Song of Dusk', stood inside the Parliament of Nobles and listened to the 'livestream' of the meeting in Holm with the king and the nobles. He listened to Natasha's introduction and analyzed the two choices.
"If this is all, we still can't be convinced, and we have to keep observing." Yourcenar spoke to other nobles.
Any noble with a regular head could've come up with the two new balances. For the nobles who were already used to balance, the most important thing was to stand on the victors' side.
A noble nearby nodded and said, "I find clerics more trustworthy than sorcerers. Those sorcerers of ancient heritage have left too horrible an impression on me. I won't choose them unless there are irresistible returns.
In Brianne, Colette, and the north coastline, the Hammer of the Void, the Knight of Disasters, the Burning Lady and the Life Reaper expressed similar opinions.
The Hammer of the Void and the Knight of Disasters, on the other hand, were also observing the situation outside. Brook had finished Beaver and returned to the magic tower of the Moonsong League with Holt, going back to Allyn via the Portal to Alternate Realm deployed earlier.
They were important leverage that could affect the situation!
"Cannot localize Allyn…" Brook frowned. Through prophetic magic, he understood that Allyn was enshrouded by some kind of barrier and therefore decided to return to the suburb of Rentato through Space Jump.
Because Brianne and Holm were not far away from each other, and it would take Brook only several minutes if he were to fly in full speed, Space Jump would only take less than twenty seconds.
...
Above the remains of the Radiance Church, Fernando, who was suppressed, and Hathaway and Douglas, who were suppressing the enemy, communicated. It was time! They had to seize the opportunity before the pope returned!
Chapter 561: Shameless Sorcerers
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The one who was fighting against Oliver, the Hand of Annihilation, was a third rank divine knight named Saint Anthony who owned the bloodline called Light. He noticed that, under the increasing power of Paradise on Earth, the grand arcanist's legendary spells, including Annihilation Ball and Cage of Destruction, were becoming weaker and weaker as the oppressive power on Oliver had increased. Therefore, Oliver was slowly moving towards Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, who had gained an edge fighting the two saints.
Saint Anthony knew that, through the power of Paradise on Earth, Saint Anasta and Saint Augusta were by no means Hathaway's rivals, as most of their divine items, except those top ones, and even parts of their bodies had all been completely destroyed or at least severely damaged by Luxury Cracking and Elements Resolve – The fight had cost them an arm and a leg. If it had not been for the holy light covering them, they would be shamefully fighting naked right now in front of the followers in Rentato.
Saint Anthony knew that once Oliver went to Hathaway, his edge would be gone.
Anthony had to stop Oliver, but he was afraid of the power of Luxury Cracking and Elements Resolve. It was true that once the grand arcanists gathered together, the Pope could perhaps be able to kill all of them with one strike, however, Anthony knew that he was totally unable to bear the cracking spells. Facing those spells, only few divine spells could resist the power, including the legendary one called Blessed Realm, but he was a divine knight, and he was not able to use it.
Comparatively speaking, Oliver was obviously much more "adorable" as an enemy as he could not cast Luxury Cracking. Anthony was able to barely bear the power of the ninth circle spell, Cracking (Advanced), on his own with his magic resistance.
At this time, Anthony had noticed that, on the other side, Hellen, the Witch of Iceland, was also approaching Hathaway. Meanwhile, Saint Melmax was pushing the Lord of Storm to move towards Hathaway as well to make the sorcerers gather together.
Anthony thought to himself that since Saint Melmax had been a top legendary for many years. Although he might not yet be as powerful as Douglas, defeating Fernando should just be a matter of time. If he could stay closer to Melmax, Melmax will be able to help them defeat the sorcerers earlier than expected. Also, as all of the sorcerers were now getting closer to each other, Hathaway might be prevented from using Luxury Cracking, as it was a range spell unable to tell enemies. Even if they could not defeat the sorceres instantly, they would be able to control the situation and wait for the Pope's arrival.
His plan changed, Anthony slowed down his attack and let Oliver get closer to Hathaway.
Four grand arcanists against five saints, the wild war started.
Anthony got the blessing power from Saint Anasta and Saint Maria, so his strength, speed, force, and defence level had been further improved.
Although magic spells were much more spontaneous and unpredictable than divine power, when it came to giving blessing effects, magic spells were nowhere close to divine power. Therefore, the side with a saint cardinal always benefited greatly in a team fight. Both Anthony and Melmax were exerting their power, Light and Morning, to the extreme. The whole area had been lit up. The four grand arcanists were badly disadvantaged.
To Oliver and Hellen, however, the situation had been temporarily eased thanks to the support from Hathaway. However, this had increased the burden on Fernando and Hathaway who were now controlling the situation with great effort.
Fernando's eyes lit up with bolts of lightning and storm. He shouted,
"Storm Barrier!"
The area of the thunder hell suddenly expanded. It sucked the five saints in where there was devastating black storms, thick bolts of lightning, extreme high temperatures and freezing ice and snow.
Under the storm, meanwhile, the space suddenly fell into utter darkness. The horrible power of strong magnetic field had made the space distorted and the fierce wind was blowing like bitter howling – all to prevent the five saints from leaving. Meanwhile, Oliver, Hellen, and Hathaway were flying upwards.
This legendary spell was one of the two most fundamental spells derived from his demiplane!
"What are they doing? Is Fernando trying to kill himself?" Melmax was slightly shocked. Within ten seconds, he and the five saints would be able to kill Fernando completely as he had been left alone using Light of Judgment!
Out of the battlefield, Oliver and Hellen were standing in the air opposite towards each other, casting the short spell,
"Space Shackle."
Silently, out of the darkness distorted by the great magnetic field, the space started freezing like transparent crystal.
Hathaway was standing a bit higher than Oliver and Hellen. Her cold, silver-grey eyes looked down upon the darkness below without any emotions.
"You break the barrier! Anasta help me kill Fernando!" Melmax sensed something dangerous, and he made the decision immediately.
...
Inside the Parliament of Nobles in the Nekso Palace.
All the nobles had stopped talking, waiting for Her Majesty's speech.
Natasha's clear voice now sounded deeper, delivering the dignity and prestige of a queen.
"I, Natasha Violet, the queen of Holm Kingdom, the Lord of the Sword of Truth's Knights, the Lord of Verdict Knights, the Lord of Saint Cross Knights, have decided to cooperate with the Congress of Magic to abandon the radical Church and respect the moderates as the belief of the kingdom!"
Leaving no space for negotiation, Natasha's decisive tone made many noble members start to feel hesitant. They habitually followed the majesty, and leaning towards the Congress of Magic would do them no harm. A new balance would be able to take shape.
By now, many of the liberals had made their decision: They would follow Natasha.
Meanwhile, Natasha kept going on,
"I don't want my people to worry day and night that they might be killed by a radical night watcher at any time!"
"I don't want my people to lose their energy and wealth because their mind is trapped by the Church. Each one of us has the right to interpret Cannon on our own, and each of us shall be able to directly connect to Lord when we pray!"
"I don't want the Kingdom of Holm to return to the most uncultured, primitive, and darkest period of time. We human beings should, and are totally entitled to enjoy a better life, by illuminating the places we live using magic crystal lights, by making the kingdom smaller when we call each other, when we listen to the radio. Look around, we're using alchemical items, and the path in front of us has already joined that of the congress!"
"What is your choice, my people?"
All of the nobles remained silent. They were struggling, deep in their minds.
Meanwhile, those nobles who were listening to Natasha's speech in Colette, Brianne, Colette, and the rest of the kingdoms were still having difficulty making their decision. They had indeed benefited a lot from the alchemical items in their much more luxurious life, and it was absolutely horrible for them to go back to their previous life. On the other hand, they had never been through the fear of an assassination given by a night watcher, nor were they worrying about offending the majesty – they all had their own king or queen or a lord.
Bedrenka, Hammer of the Void, and Basor, Knight of Disasters, exchanged a look between each other and both slightly shook their heads. Something was still missing in Natasha's speech, something that was powerful enough to persuade most nobles.
In Nekso Palace, Duke Rex, the president of the parliament, first stepped out and said it out loud, "I am against it!"
"Before all nobles reached their agreement, Your Majesty should not make the final decision first!"
"At this moment, the decision is a matter of life and death. A lord who goes against the will of most nobles is a betrayer, and is thus no longer suitable for being a lord!"
Rex was denying the decision-making power of the queen. And he wouldn't stop here,
"The Pope might be coming back very soon. Are we gonna rush so bad to make our decision?"
"You want to fall into hell and forever look up at Mountain Paradise?"
His words instantly won the support of at least one third of the nobles present, while the rest of them remained silent as they were still waiting for the offer.
Duke James stood up to defend, "Look at the outside world, look at Richard. They are still able to use divine power. This means that this is the will of God!"
Seeing that the liberals and the conservatives were starting to argue again, Natasha lifted her arm and stopped the noise,
"I'm not finished yet."
...
After casting Storm Barrier, Fernando started casting again,
"Simulacrum."
Instantly, he divided himself into six and stopped the five saints from chasing the rest of the grand arcanists.
"Light of Judgment!"
"Miracle!"
"Expel Evil!"
It did not cost the saints much effort to eliminate three of them and then they started breaking the barrier. Meanwhile, Melmax and Anasta got rid of the rest three. Fernando was now completely disadvantaged.
In the sky, the bottom of Allyn suddenly split and a huge, dazzling energy ball fell from it. The light covered something watery inside, but the power coming out of it was beyond dreadful.
Once losing the light ball, the mythal of Allyn suddenly became much dimmer, and it was now even having a difficult time flying.
Varantine seized the chance and set himself free, however, a cold female voice came at this time,
"Silent Blue."
The air and the holy light he was in got frozen, even including time. Everything had fallen into the cold, silent color of blue.
It was Hellen, Witch of Iceland, who used her legendary spell and trapped Varantine, and she then returned to focus on the barrier. She knew that it would not take Varantine long to get out, and also that she could not hurt Varantine in the trap by any chance, but all she needed was that bit of time!
As the watery ball fell, Hathaway's face, which was glamorously-featured but hardly had any facial expressions, rarely put on the look showing some slight thrill. She started casting the long spell,
"The secret from inside of atoms…"
It sounded like the ethereal voice was hymning, but in Melmax's ears, the voice was more than horrific than anything. He hurriedly turned himself into a flash of morning light and rushed at Fernando together with the sword in his hand.
He had to finish the fight as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Anasta did the same thing by casting Light of Judgment.
The three saints finally broke the distorted magnetic field outside of the barrier, but not yet with the space shackle. At this time, two voices came,
"Annihilation Ball."
"Snow Goddess's Anger!"
The black magic ball and the freezing snow and ice stopped them from reaching Fernando.
On the other side, facing Melmax's attack, Fernando did not do anything to defend himself, but keep casting the spell,
"Abrupt Magic Reverse!"
A mirror drawn with sophisticated patterns suddenly appeared in front of him. Behind the mirror, it seemed that there was another world. The spell, Light of Judgment, hit on the mirror but directly reflected back, which almost hit Anasta himself.
Abrupt Magic Reverse was the legendary version of the seventh circle spell, Magic Reverse, which could reflect a single-target spell five times.
However, the mirror could not stop Melmax. The divine power fiercely hacked at Fernando from the other side.
Magic Order, Spell Sequencer, Spell Trigger… A series of defense spells were activated. Fernando disappeared from where he was and then showed up on the opposite side.
It was never easy to kill a sorcerer!
Hathaway's casting had come to the end. The light ball was now very close to the storm barrier and the destructive power within was growing stronger and stronger.
Seventeen legendary sorcerers had been contributing to this light ball in the past entire year! The ball was their material for casting this ultimate spell!
They had reduced the quantity of the material as the full power of the spell would have been too intense for time and space to bear! If that was the case, the entire causal chain in this dimension would be messed with!
This was a strike powerful enough to be compared to that of a demigod!
Somehow Fernando had integrated himself into the storm barrier. He made the barrier burst out the great magnetic power and sucked the saints back in again!
Now the five saints and Melmax were all targeting Fernando. Killing Fernando would be their last chance to break through the barrier.
At this time, a horrible storm formed again in Fernando's red eyes.
What were the advantages that a sorcerer had over a priest?
Long life, unpredictable spells, countless triggers, and well-prepared methods for resurrection!
Before the fight, they had been well-prepared. They were going to defeat their enemies using their greatest strength against their enemies' weaknesses!
"Eternal Blaze was coming. ARE YOU PREPARED?"
"I've got my appendix at home. Do you?"
Chapter 562: The New Era
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Outside of the city of Rentato, the scenic view was still picturesque in this scorching July.
The space above the Thousand-lake place swirled and formed a gate. Behind the gate there was a kingdom of powerful magnetic field and electric currents.
Brook, wearing a white wig, walked out of the gate with Chelsea Holt, the Moon Scholar. When they saw that the entire city was still covered in the divine light, which meant that the fight among the legendaries was still going on, they released a sigh of relief, as they finally caught up to them.
At this time, as if he just felt something, Brook looked up and was shocked to find that there was a man in the sunlight in the air, wearing the divine crown and holding the platinum staff.
"Benedict II? God's Arrival?"
Brook's eyes opened big, but he still decided to go there.
He did not know where the strong, bright light came from, but he knew that it wasn't supposed to be God's Arrival. Benedict II had already used it before!
...
The energy ball was being pulled to the magnetic field, and it was getting faster and faster. Melmax and the rest of the saints started to sense this extreme danger, as if there was a heavy rock sitting on their hearts, preventing them from breathing.
They did not talk to each other, but together they were all targeting at Fernando. They had to kill him to get out of the barrier before the insane energy ball fell on them!
They were all pushing themselves to their limit. All of them had decided to use Light of Judgment. They were furious. If they were going to die, they needed Fernando to die with them!
Majestic and vast, serious and bright, the three beams of light shot across the sky at Fernando, with the power stirring the holy light like surges and waves.
At this time, no one bothered defending. The remaining divine power was all they had protecting them from being torn apart in the barrier. But killing Fernando was all the hope they had.
Melmax and Anthony had put their power into their swords, ready to wield the legendary-power hack.
However, Fernando was not even slightly deterred. Instead, he flew towards the light!
The mirror with sophisticated patterns appeared again, connecting the two worlds to each other.
Bang, bang, bang!
Three beams of light hit the mirror and then reflected off of it.
The power of Abrupt Magic Reverse still existed!
After Fernando flew towards the light of judgment, the power of the hacking quickly got him.
Blood and flesh spurting, the Lord of Storm was cut into three chunks. Somehow, the magic robe he was wearing was not working at all.
He was not wearing the Robe of Dominance? Melmax realized something. He realized why Fernando never used Eye of Storm.
However, it was too late!
Fine electric currents lit up the three chunks, and they started wriggling! Within a second, they had turned into Fernando again, but three!
Even that could not kill Fernando completely?
Melmax and Anthony had given up the hope that they could finish Fernando within seconds by using Light of Judgment, but killing Fernando was the only way out!
Staring into the distance, Mecantron, the Angel King, looked rather serious. He folded his arms in front of his chest and was about to kneel down to cast God's Guard. Although in this case, he would not be able to launch attacks against the legendaries, he should be able to be safe facing that formidable energy ball – the divine spell would put him into a different dimension temporarily!
However, Douglas, the Emperor of Arcana, would not leave him the chance to escape. The stars pulled the great gravity strong enough for tearing him into pieces. Mecantron therefore had to cast other spells for defense. There was no time at all for him to cast God's Guard.
"I'm not your God. Don't kneel down in front of me." said Douglas.
According to the plan, Douglas's target should have been Benedict II, the Pope, but now it was the Angel King, therefore, it turned out to be quite an easy job for Douglas. In their original plan no. 4, if the pope had been here, and even if the pope was still somehow able to cast God's Arrival one more time, in the current situation, the pope's target of casting must have been the energy ball, or all of them, including the sorcerers and priests, would be killed all together.
In the plan, Douglas's only concern was that he did not know how long he could keep the pope occupied. Ten seconds, twenty seconds, or a minute?
But fortunately, Douglas's concern had now completely disappeared when the saints' wasted their chance casting God's Arrival.
The holy light burst out from Varantine's body, and the light melted down the dark blue ice which kept him frozen. It was smart of him deciding not to approach the storm barrier. Instead, he chose to cast Light of Judgment towards Hathaway to try to distract her from the chanting.
"Aurora Wall!" said a cold, female voice.
A transparent wall instantly rose in front of Hathaway. The wall was covered in colorful aurora, beautiful like a dream.
The light hit on the aurora wall, and both of them disappeared at the same time.
Hellen, Witch of Iceland, was maintaining the space shackle and, meanwhile, also keeping Varantine fully occupied. That was how far an ordinary saint cardinal was away from a grand arcanist.
The five saints were trying their best, and they indeed had obtained the edge. Within seconds, a series of divine spells hit Fernando directly in sequence. Despite all the defense spells that Fernando cast on himself, the last division of him had been devoured by the holy light.
Was Fernando… dead?
The moment when the five saints started to feel the joy, they realized that the barrier was still there.
A puppet with a strange smile on its face suddenly appeared behind their back, and it then turned into Fernando!
At this time, the energy ball had gone into the barrier, and the devastating power had reached the limit of control!
Fernando's body suddenly exploded and then integrated into the storm barrier. The black magnetic field kept compressing the space, encasing the five saints in all directions.
They were out of time!
Melmax had activated God's Shield and held tight Holy Avenger. He believed that he could survive as long as the spell was not as powerful as God's Arrival.
Then the rest of the four saints did the same thing. Although they were more or less panicking, they had all turned on all the protections they knew to face the horrible impact.
By now, Hathaway had finally finished her long, long spell. She sighed the words like it was a piece of tune,
"Eternal Blaze!"
Instantly, Fernando saw the faces of the five saints lighting up under the power of the energy ball. The five faces were as pale as the finest paper sheet. Somehow, he recalled Lucien's joke,
"Cry, and yell, and then, go to hell!"
The energy ball then exploded, bursting out the brightest light ever that was much more dazzling than anything else in the world.
...
Inside the Parliament of Nobles in the Nekso Palace.
The nobles, both the Liberal and the Conservative, had all quieted down, waiting for Her Majesty to continue.
Natasha took a deep breath and resumed her determination as a knight. She then pulled out her Sword of Truth and raised it high,
"Here I swear by my soul and my destiny to the Lord of Hell,"
"I'll return my power to those who follow me. The only things I will keep to myself are the direct royal manors and the power over arranging personnel."
The nobles were totally shocked.
"I'll return my legislation and law enforcement power to the Parliament of Nobles, and only retain the power to veto. I'll never take it back, nor will my offspring!"
"I'll give the nobles my executive power. The Parliament of Nobles will be able to choose a prime minister every ten years, and the prime minister will form a cabinet to exert the power. I will only, again, retain the power to veto!"
"I'll give the cabinet the leadership of Verdict Knights and Sword of Truth's Knights, and only keep the lord titles!"
"The taxation revenue that you gain and the administrative institutes will remain the same, but you'll be able to decide how to spend the tax revenue!"
"Any one of you who leads the knights as frontiers to extend the kingdom's territory will be given one third of the new territory as your own manor, and then, one third for the knights, and one third goes to the kingdom!"
…
"All my words and promises will be written in the Code. I, along with the future kings, and queens will abide by the law just as all you nobles! The Congress of Magic will be the supervisor!"
Natasha's determined words were like strokes to the nobles.
In the past, because of the power of the Church and the Congress of Magic, the nobles had no choice but to unite around the majesty to survive. However, the kingship or queenship had been growing so fast and powerful that the nobles could barely see their own positions. In that circumstance, the nobles could only make constant compromises to keep the balance and to wait for the future change. They never dared to say no.
However, Her Majesty today took the initiative to compromise by greatly reducing the queenship, to the extent that they could never have expected!
Duke James, Duke Solefen, and many of the rest nobles became very excited. The muscles in their faces slightly twitched. The offer was too good for them to reject!
In the noise of electric currents, Natasha's passionate speech got widespread to Colette, Brianne, Calais, and the Northland,
"Here I swear by my soul and my destiny to the Lord of Hell,"
"I'll return my power to those who follow me. The only things I will keep to myself are the direct royal manors and the power over arranging personnel."
…
Yourcenar, Song of Dusk, sprang up from his seat out of great excitement, which was shared by all the nobles around him. What a bright future it would be!
The Grand Duke of the Duchy of Calais put on a bitter smile seeing how thrilled the nobles were.
Hammer of the Void, Knight of Disasters, Life Reaper, and Burning Lady also had similar responses as Yourcenar.
...
While Duke Solefen, Duke James and most of the nobles had all stood up to support Natasha, there were still a few extreme conservatives being quite hesitant, as Duke Rex had not showed his attitude.
"His Holiness?!" Rex suddenly saw the figure high above in the sky through the window.
However, before he could say one more word, the horribly loud explosion overwhelmed his voice, like countless bolts of lightning striking the earth.
A new sun had risen. It was so hot and bright that anyone who saw it would feel intimidated. The sun represented a brand new life, and its power was driving away the holy light!
Boom!
That explosion just completely wakened the nobles in their mind!
"This is Eternal Blaze, from the Congress of Magic!" Natasha stared at the nobles and then burst out the cry,
"In front of us is the new era. Everything old will be abandoned!"
"My decision. Who agrees? Who opposes?"
The imperatorial aura of the queen made the nobles have to kneel, and also because of the great lures she offered. Seeing that Paradise on Earth was rapidly collapsing and the huge mushroom cloud, the leading dukes started kneeling down one by one, and finally, only Duke Rex remained in his seat.
In the end, Rex released a sigh as he took a glance at the sword in Natasha's hand. He kneeled down and said together with the rest of the nobles,
"We pledge our lifelong allegiance to Your Majesty!"
...
With the structure drawing, Lucien easily broke the core defense of the divine circle. As soon as he stepped in, he heard the loud, horn-like explosion. Knowing that the plan just worked out, he had now felt much relieved. He pushed the divine power barrier to its limit to make sure that those ordinary people in Rentato would not suffer from the fight. And he started humming a merry little tune,
"The east gets red, and the sun rises…"