"Your Excellency is being too self-deprecating," Callum smiled faintly.
"With the evil army eyeing us covetously, the Church is also facing imnse pressure. An Archbishop like you will certainly have opportunities to display your talents."
Hearing this, Jolan suddenly burst into laughter.
"Isn't the very reason I'm here because I did display my talents?" He specifically emphasized the word "talents".
Callum narrowed his eyes slightly, then glanced to the side. The surrounding black-robed n imdiately retreated, leaving him alone in front of the cell.
Callum approached the iron bars, deliberately lowering his voice: "Your Excellency Jolan, I have heard a bit about your initiatives in the Vatican. Your intentions were good, but..."
"Oh?" Jolan raised an eyebrow.
"But they were simply too rushed," Callum said with profound earnestness. "If you had negotiated with the other lords beforehand, these misunderstandings wouldn't have happened."
"Misunderstandings?" Jolan looked the man up and down. "What could the Lord Warden possibly teach ?"
"I am but an ordinary mber of the Holy Clergy. How could I have the ability to teach you?" Callum smiled and shook his head. "However, so lords do indeed value you highly."
Jolan waited quietly for him to continue.
"As long as Your Excellency is willing to make slight alterations to your previously established initiatives, I believe you will be able to leave here very soon," Callum said with rich emotion. "At that ti, you will still be a respected Candidate Cardinal, free to contribute to the Church exactly as you wish..."
"Exactly as I wish?" Jolan interrupted him. "If it's exactly as I wish, then why the need for 'slight alterations'?"
"I think Your Excellency Jolan knows exactly what I an."
"Compared to that, I'm more curious about whose lobbyist you are. Zadok? Saul?"
"Heh, that is not important. We are all working for the interests of the Church."
"Hah," Jolan sneered. "Ever since history was recorded, the interests of the Church have solely served those called the Holy Clans."
"Your Excellency," Callum's tone suddenly turned icy, "Please watch your words."
Jolan remained unmoved. "Take this food, for example." He pointed to the wooden bowl on the ground.
"You euphemistically claim it's for the daily needs of those seeking redemption. After all, the Place of Suffering suppresses the power of Holy Clergy mbers, so those locked up here will feel hunger."
"But in reality, this stuff is the true culprit dissolving our Holy Power. It's just ignored because of the influence of the Place of Suffering's magic array."
"Once consud long-term, a Holy Clergy mber's body will never be able to use Holy Arts again. The Holy Power they've cultivated will stagnate here, becoming the precious materials the Church bestows upon its favored clergy."
Jolan stared at him calmly. "Am I right, Lord Warden?"
Callum's eyes narrowed slightly. "Your Excellency Jolan, I've said all that needs to be said."
"If you remain unrepentant, you will truly spend the rest of your life here."
"Your reputation, as well as your past achievents, will be completely annulled. Many years from now, history books will only record your cri of betraying the Church."
"Such consequences... you'd best think them through carefully."
Jolan walked up to the iron bars, picked up the wooden bowl from the floor, and downed it in one gulp.
Callum raised an eyebrow.
"Your mission is complete. You can roll out of here now," Jolan said.
Having said this, he returned to the pile of weeds and sat down facing the wall. Seeing this, Callum clenched his fists.
He didn't linger any longer, continuing toward the next cell while waving his hand. "What are your orders?" A black-robed man quickly scurried over.
"Find so ti to persuade that guy again. The higher-ups don't have much patience left."
"Does milord an..." The black-robed man quietly flashed the silver dagger hidden beneath his clothes.
"This is soone specifically requested by the higher-ups! Doing that would just be handing them leverage against us!" Callum slapped the back of the black-robed man's head.
"S-sorry."
"However..." Callum's tone shifted. "The Place of Suffering is a place for redemption, after all. If the prisoners live too comfortably, that would be a dereliction of our duty."
"I understand." The black-robed man imdiately bowed low.
On the other side, inside a dark, narrow tunnel. A black shadow flashed past, instantly kicking up a flurry of salt grains from the ground.
"I've been walking for so long, and it's still not at the end..." William pondered, holding the Book of the World.
Not long ago, after entering the salt mine shaft, he quickly found the path indicated in the book. It was a secluded, winding, and complex tunnel. Judging from the surrounding traces, it was ford long before the salt mine shaft itself.
The tunnel was pitch-black. An ordinary person would feel claustrophobic after staying here for even a short while, but William naturally didn't have such troubles. However, walking all this way without seeing an end made him hesitate about whether to press on.
"From the surface to here... it must be over a hundred ters deep..." Just as he was deep in thought, a small door suddenly appeared ahead. William stopped imdiately.
The door's surface looked incredibly ancient, but it was completely undamaged. Off to the side in the middle was a brass padlock, sealing the door tightly. Such a thing naturally couldn't stump William. After a quick inspection, he effortlessly snapped the brass lock.
Creak—
Behind the door was a small space with several boxes placed on the floor. On the opposite wall, there was another small door leading to who-knows-where. The boxes didn't have any latches, so William opened them easily.
"This is..." Inside were so thin iron plates, engraved with text. He didn't recognize most of it, but a short passage explained the item's purpose.
"Indulgences..." William raised an eyebrow. This was sothing the Church manufactured in the past to peddle to believers of that era. Fundantally, it was a tool for hoarding wealth.
"It seems this is the place." The contents of the other boxes were largely the sa. William also found a wooden crucifix inside. Its end was sharp, and it looked like an antique overall. However, a faint fragrance wafted from the wood's surface, making it appear quite extraordinary. He stowed only the crucifix away, then walked up to the wooden door on the other side.
The door here wasn't locked. Just as William placed his hand on the handle, his ears twitched. He vaguely heard human voices. He quietly pushed the door open, revealing a vast underground expanse outside. The ceiling was dozens of ters high from the ground, and the small door was situated on a rock wall right near the top.
The voices ca from below. William peeked out and spotted many figures on the ground. They all wore white long-sleeved shirts, their hands and feet bound by iron chains. Nearby stood several black-robed individuals holding long whips.
"A prison?" William quickly made the connection. Before long, a whistle blew from below. A group of people imdiately gathered in one spot and were led away through a small door by the black-robed n.
Just as William was about to head down, another black-robed man walked out from inside. He carried an earthenware jar and headed toward a secluded corner. In that corner was another figure, entirely bound to a wooden stake, resembling a statue of the Son of God.
Upon seeing the person's face clearly, William narrowed his eyes. "Jolan..."
The black-robed man walked up to the wooden stake, placed the earthenware jar on the ground, and looked Jolan up and down.
"I don't have any strange fetishes," the latter said calmly.
"Heh, you misunderstand," the black-robed man chuckled. "I've long heard of your deeds in the Land of the Holy War and have always revered you inwardly. That's why I specifically applied to the higher-ups to give you a bit more 'relaxation' ti."
"If your definition of 'relaxation' takes this form..." Jolan gestured to the bindings on his hands and feet, "Then I'd much rather stay in my cell. Besides, the Land of the Holy War wasn't my accomplishnt alone."
The black-robed man remained unfazed. "I heard you repelled the Fallen Angel single-handedly. Your Holy Power must be incredibly formidable!" He then sighed. "My talents are ager; I've never witnessed the mighty power of true Holy Clergy. I wonder if you could broaden my horizons?"
Jolan narrowed his eyes, guessing the other's intentions.
"Of course, I know it's inconvenient for you right now, so I brought the 'material' right to you..." the black-robed man said as he pulled out a crucifix, then unsealed the earthenware jar. The next mont, a dense evil aura surged from within, and the surrounding ground instantly decayed and withered.
"Reality corruption." Jolan furrowed his brow tightly.
"With your abilities, you can surely handle this with ease. Unlike , who can only rely on holy artifacts," the black-robed man shook his head. Seeing no reaction from Jolan, he spoke again: "Ah, I almost forgot!" He slapped his forehead.
"It's been so long since you used your power, you must need to 'prepare'. I won't disturb you for now. Make sure to call once you are 'prepared'!" The black-robed man emphasized the word "prepare," then headed toward the distant small door, locking it behind him.
Jolan's brow furrowed tightly; he knew this was the Warden's thod of forcing his hand. If it were the past, he naturally wouldn't fear such evil material. But right now, having spent a long ti in the Place of Suffering, his Holy Power was extrely suppressed. His current strength was no different from a novice who had just stepped into theological cultivation.
After rely a mont, Jolan's face turned deathly pale, and dark blood vessels bulged on his skin. This was precisely the sign of an evil invasion. "Huff..." He gritted his teeth, trying his best to mobilize the Holy Power within his body. But the power inside him felt as if it were locked away; he couldn't harness it at all.
anwhile, a chorus of ghostly wails and wolfish howls erupted from the earthenware jar. A cloud of black smoke drifted out, filled with nurous grotesque faces. The smoke drifted to Jolan and quickly engulfed him.
Hiss... Hiss...
Accompanied by the dense sound of gnawing, droplets of fresh blood splattered onto the ground.
Jolan's entire body trembled, instantly turning into a bloody ss. He tried desperately to suppress the agony, but his current physical resilience was far from what it used to be. Finally, he reached his limit.
"Ahhhhh—"
A miserable scream echoed through the underground space.
Just as Jolan's consciousness began to blur, the pain ravaging his body suddenly vanished. He forced his eyes open, only to find a familiar figure standing before him. "It's you..."
Three rings of golden patterns surfaced in William's eyes. The ghostly faces within the black mist imdiately froze in mid-air. He then pulled out a bottle of Holy Water and splashed it over them. The ghostly faces contorted in terror before the surrounding black mist quickly dissipated.
Having done this, William channeled his Holy Power through his eyes and projected it onto Jolan. The next mont, the latter's body glowed faintly. A dense cluster of spirit particles converged around his wounds, nding them at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"To think you already possess such strength," astonishnt flashed across Jolan's eyes.
"I rely guided the innate power within your body to perform the repairs. It's nothing," William said calmly. Even so, Jolan knew this wasn't easily accomplished, especially with the nurous suppressive forces currently residing in his body.
"Are you... here to rescue ?" he asked after a mont.
William shook his head. "Just a coincidence. The Church hasn't publicly announced the outco of your sentence."
"Heh... that's their usual style," Jolan smiled bitterly. He then looked up at William. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I was too naive."
"You were indeed too naive," William's words were unexpectedly blunt. Jolan opened his mouth but ultimately lowered his head. But William wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.
"For an organization to stand in this world for a millennium, its internal factions have long beco intricately intertwined, the conflicts of interest between them virtually impossible to untangle. Yet you sought to completely upend all of this using only your own power."
Jolan clenched his fists and looked up. "The Church has long been riddled with gaping wounds. The vast majority of its people are parasites draining our resources, you've seen this yourself!"
"Of course I've seen it. And I also know your reforms were destined to fail," William said.
"Why?"
"You wanted to slice away the interests of the Holy Clans to distribute them among the ordinary Holy Clergy. While certainly a noble aspiration..."
"I didn't do it for fa," Jolan narrowed his eyes.
William didn't respond to that, continuing, "But don't forget, the true power and authority of the Church are all firmly held in the hands of those Holy Clans. If you had read more history, you would know that such reforms rarely succeed. Perhaps you would have chosen another path—completely overthrowing the Church and establishing a new order upon its ruins." William shook his head.
"But that is equally difficult to achieve. After all, the factions that help you overthrow the Church will also be waiting to carve up the leftover treasures. The best-case scenario is rely that the new Church remains incorruptible during your tenure, but decades later, everything will revert back to exactly how it was."
Jolan's eyes flickered, staring fixedly at William. A mont later, as if drained of all his strength, his entire body slumped. "You manage to surprise every single ti," he laughed helplessly. "Then, if it were you... what would you do?"
William remained silent for a mont. "Before my life ends, the world still hasn't provided the answer to this question." Jolan frowned slightly, failing to grasp the aning behind his words.
"To accomplish this, the efforts of one person alone are far from enough. It involves nurous aspects and will encounter all sorts of hardships..." A look of reminiscence crossed William's face. "Perhaps soone achieved it after I'm gone... but unfortunately, I didn't get to see that outco, so I cannot answer you."
Jolan understood the last sentence. "Then what are your plans now?" he stared at the other man.
"Returning North Arica to North Arica."
"You joined the North Arican governnt?" Having been an Archbishop, Jolan quickly caught on.
"For the ti being," William stroked his chin.
"Evil is not rely limited to evil spirits and demons. There are many other unknowable existences," Jolan narrowed his eyes. "The reason They haven't invaded the human realm is, apart from the restrictions of the world itself, because They are wary of the Church's legendary holy artifacts. If you overlook this, you will make the exact sa mistake I did."
"Ah, I'm well aware of that, of course," William nodded. "That's why I said, for the ti being." Jolan's eyes filled with confusion, feeling that this forr subordinate of his was becoming increasingly mysterious.
"I don't intend to completely change this world. I only want to guide it toward a certain kind of future. Perhaps many years from now, soone else will find the answer to that question within the environnt I create." Saying this, William looked at Jolan. "Are you willing to help accomplish this?"
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