(City of Lunarian- Varion Temple)
(The Inner Sanctum)
"We see your holiness."
"We see your holiness."
Two masculine voices called out respectfully as a frail old man dressed in a plain white robe with golden threads walked towards them.
Pope Emmanuel's body trembled and shook as he walked and the jovial smile on his face made him seem like a harmless grandpa.
"Is the saintess inside?" Pope Emmanuel asked politely as he approached the doors of the inner sanctum.
Two heavily armoured holy knights blocked the entrance to the door.
Each wore the white armour of a Paladin Commander and held a longsword in the palm of their hands.
The saintess' personal guard had all been granted the rank of commander despite none of them crossing the barrier to become a tier one knight.
There had been a few whispers of discontent about the pope's decision, but those voices of rebellion held no sway among the upper rank members of the church.
"Of course… our lady has been waiting patiently for your arrival," the knight on the left spoke quietly.
He gave a respectful bow towards the pope and then opened the door.
Pope Emmanuel smiled warmly at the knights and entered inside the Sanctum with slow purposeful steps.
The door slammed shut with a resounding thump and the smile on the pope's face gradually disappeared.
The Inner Sanctum was a wide-open space with several rooms connected to the main hall.
This was the residence of the current saintess who had been appointed as the next successor to the Varion Church.
Pope Emmanuel saw a thinly dressed figure kneeling before the statue of a sun and whispering words of prayer.
"Our father… deliver us from evil… give us the guidance to travel through a path of untold darkness and despair," Saintess Marie whispered solemnly.
"For it is in your name… that I have received the strength to carry out your will…
Pope Emmanuel approached the young girl who did not seem to pay him any attention.
Despite the saintess' rude attitude, the pope did not get angry but rather he had to keep his lustful emotions under control as he got closer to the otherworldly beauty.
Saintess Marie was a blossoming rose whose charm could affect both men and women alike.
Her lips were full and kissable, and her golden eyes were soft and shone with purity and righteousness.
Her facial features were in one word… perfection.
A cute button nose, thin eyebrows, high cheekbones… it was as though she stepped right out of a painting.
The thin brown robe that was draped around her body did little to conceal her plump voluptuous figure with curves in all the right places.
Of course, her most noticeable feature was her shoulder length hair that was completely silver.
Saintess Maire continued to pray for thirty minutes as she worshipped the Lord of Light with every fibre of her being.
Yellow holy runes floated in the air above her body.
The spiritual energy in the sanctum increased as though Lord Varion himself was personally blessing his chosen vessel.
Finally, Saintess Marie stopped praying and she slowly got up from the ground.
The saintess turned around to face the pope with a complicated expression on her face.
"The detection ritual has failed… none of the paladins in the capitol have proven to be worthy," Saintess Marie hesitantly spoke.
"What? That's impossible!" Pope Emmanuel retorted in shock.
"What about your personal guard? They were the brightest among the younger generation…"
"None were qualified to become the blade of Lord Varion," Saintess Marie replied with a tired smile.
"And if that were not bad enough… all of them are faintly showing signs of regression. The only reason why they have not been visibly weakened is due to my healing light…."
"But I can only slow down the regression… not stop it."
It was hard to see at first glance but there were heavy bags under Marie's eyes and lines of exhaustion on her forehead.
The stress of being unable to find the blade of the Lord of Light was taking its toll.
Saintess Marie let out a heavy sigh as a certain scene flashed across her mind.
She had been arrogant, and others were now unknowingly paying the price for her hubris.
None of the knights who served on her personal guard would ever increase their strength.
Paladins received strength from the Lord of Light, but that strength was connected to their faith and their vows.
Those who broke their oaths would be punished far more severely than an ordinary believer.
The pope may not have known that transferring the former saintess' personal guards to Marie would have resulted in them gradually losing their strength.
But she knew.
It was just that Saintess Marie assumed that her aura as the saintess would have protected them from Lord Varion's wrath.
Truthfully… it was hubris. Her need to prove herself better than the former saintess led to her lapse in judgement.
"We need to conceal this matter from your guards," Pope Emmanuel muttered quietly as his voice dropped to a whisper.
"I will send out a few of the high priests to scout out the academy for any potential seedlings."
"How long can you roughly maintain their strength?"
"A few years at best," Saintess Marie replied seriously.
"Okay… I will secretly train a batch of replacements and then we can deal with your original personal guards," Pope Emmanuel promised.
"Now going back to the more important matter at hand… the blade needs to be found. We cannot have that kind of power outside of the church's grasp."
Saintess Marie listened carefully as the pope kept emphasising how dangerous it was to have a vessel of Lord Varion unassociated with the church.
The saintess plastered a respectful expression on her face but was inwardly disdainful of the greed hidden in the pope's heart.
The Varion Church was rotten.
Decades of being the number one power on the continent had left them complacent.
Many had forgotten the true purpose of serving the Lord of Light and lost themselves in mundane pursuits of wealth, power and lust.
There was even a small part of Saintess Marie that wished that the foreign races were a bit stronger and actually posed a threat.
Perhaps then she would be able to justify the extreme measures needed to clean up the church.
For now, all she could do was keep searching for the blade.