Chapter 217
Ding.
[‘Imnse Power’ observes the ‘Boundary’.]
[The user of Authority maintains the ‘Boundary’.]
[The Authority of ‘Boundary’ deepens.]
***
The Emperor clearly crossed a wall as a knight by refining a Mana Heart.
Why is he using Divine Power, and specifically red Divine Power like Chief Priest Lokia?
Colin put aside the thoughts rising in his mind for a mont.
“Tell
if there is anything you want.”
Right now, at this mont.
Only the proposal the Emperor spat out seed important.
“It is fortunate that Your Majesty did not fall into reflux.”
“A priest whose words and actions are different.”
“…….”
At the Emperor's words, Colin touched his face.
He was smiling.
He seed happy that the man called the Sun of the Empire spoke as if acknowledging him.
He had rely synchronized with the Divine Object and showed his power, but he got excited when the Emperor discussed a reward as if he had realized sothing on his own.
‘Subsidy, Saintess……. In the end, was I the sa?’
Priests coveting power, which is becoming a problem in the Holy Nation.
He felt embarrassed as he seed to be seen as such a person by the Emperor.
“Since you have worked hard, you will receive a reward.”
The Emperor waved his hand.
“Leave.”
The mont Colin tried to say sothing at the sudden order to leave.
Whir.
Suddenly, white mana manifested beneath his feet.
Before he could even react, the engraved formula activated, and the surrounding space changed in an instant.
“…….”
There was a man holding a pure white staff in front of him.
A cloak with silver embroidery on a pure white robe.
White hair neatly slicked back.
A space connected to the Emperor's room by magic.
A few giants supporting the Sun of the Empire ca to mind.
It wasn't difficult to guess who the old mage in front of him was.
“Rastian Arken…….”
“It's been a while since I was called that.”
The White Duke calmly affird.
“Sit.”
He sat at a round table prepared behind him.
Colin took a seat opposite him with a bewildered face.
Having lived in the frontier, he t people who rank within the top five in power in the Empire consecutively.
Maintaining composure would be the difficult task.
“Seeing you look fine on the outside, it seems His Majesty's plan worked. It is truly fortunate.”
He said quietly as if talking to himself, that if it had failed this ti too, it would have been hard to handle the Emperor's displeasure.
“In that sense, I owe you a debt.”
“What on earth are you talking about? Where is this place, and what is this plan…….”
“What do you an what am I talking about.”
The old mage's smile deepened.
“I an you survived a life-risking gamble and gained a precious reward.”
He took out the docunts that were on the table.
“You ca to the Imperial Palace for the annual subsidy fundraising project. And you beca a First Class Priest just before coming here.”
“…….”
“The Vice-Priest and First Class Priests of the Styx Temple are dispatched all over the continent to carry out missions? Even using Warp Gates, traversing the vast continent from the northern frontier is no easy task.”
Every single thing coming out of the White Duke's mouth showed he was thoroughly aware of the movents of him and the temple.
“No need to make that face. Are there only one or two Walkers anxious to sell information to the Empire?”
“I will ask one thing.”
A slight anger tinged Colin's voice.
“Speak. Anything.”
“What is the aning of this?”
“As you can see, I am relieving your suspicions.”
“That is not relieving suspicions, but an action that aggravates them.”
The White Duke pushed the docunts aside and rested his chin on his hand.
An attitude as if interviewing a subordinate.
The unpleasantness he felt was probably due to the arrogance stemming from Rastian Arken's blatant attitude.
Like this, he would only be dragged around by the opponent.
He needed to take the initiative.
“Why was it ?”
He knows the Emperor achieved so desire through him.
“Like the Walkers you ntioned, there must have been more than one or two priests anxious if they could create a tie with the Emperor of the Empire.”
“Unlike how you look, you are quick to admit things.”
The White Duke gave a good-natured smile.
He wasn't so naive as to not know that smile wasn't purely innocent.
“There are two reasons I chose you among the priests who visited the Imperial Capital.”
“I'm listening.”
“First. Because you are not close to Saintess ‘Lan de Styx’ yet are ‘a priest possessing Styx's Divine Object’.”
‘Her again.’
Lan de Styx.
Even when trying to move separately from her, she continues to be ntioned.
“And the second?”
“Because I was certain you would not refuse the Empire's proposal.”
“…….”
It was rude, but also a remark that accurately pierced through him.
Regardless of his mood, the White Duke continued his explanation.
“So what did you want, and what did you obtain?”
“Thanks to you, it was done more easily than I thought.”
“So what is it?”
“Perhaps the current Pope foresaw the present situation.”
The White Duke muttered, avoiding the answer.
He wasn't unaware that he was talking about the Authority of ‘Ti’.
“The Papal Office will not help the Styx Temple. It is a fact grasped through trustworthy people.”
He implicitly emphasized that nurous priests are cooperating with the Empire, and among them, there are quite a few Chief Priests and Cardinals.
Colin realized anew that he was sitting in the middle of a political wave.
It was no longer in the realm of subsidies or rewards.
If he made a wrong move, the temple's survival could be threatened by both the Papal Office and the Empire.
‘I must stay sharp.’
He coldly cald his dizzy mind.
He looked at the powerful figure in front of him, dressed as a mage, with a cool gaze.
The White Duke seed satisfied with his changed attitude.
“Since you are a priest, you must know well about the Authorities of Gods, but have you ever heard about Grotesqueries?”
He had read about them in books while being educated during his apprenticeship.
Although not ntioned in detail, it was said to be a grotesque creature made of hundreds of curses that appeared about 200 years ago.
“I know that the King of Eurasia, who was the center of the Kingdom Alliance at the ti, subjugated it.”
“Yes, now it is treated like a legend or myth.”
“Why suddenly bring up that existence?”
“History is fact.”
“…….”
It was surprising to hear unexpected words.
“However, the Grotesquery was not completely annihilated. The Empire is researching the ‘Curse of Grotesquery’ and ‘Authority of Gods’ in preparation for the day it will arrive soday.”
“……!!”
Research is a natural word for a mage, but if the subject of research is where he belongs, the story changes.
He didn't even have a clue what the Curse of Grotesquery was, so it was none of his business.
“Exercising the Authority of Gods is like a blessing allowed only to those who have received a revelation…….”
Sssss.
Before he could finish speaking, pure white Divine Power blood from the White Duke's body.
“If you saw His Majesty, you should know. Divine Power is no longer your exclusive property.”
Facing incomprehensible events repeatedly, he felt as if his ability to think had stopped.
Divine Power is a power that can only be used by those who have received a revelation and refined a Hollyheart.
It is a power that stands on the opposite point of mana, which is classified as natural energy.
‘Not just one, but two……. How…….’
“Didn't I tell you. Nurous priests are cooperating.”
“…….”
Anger surged against those who ignored the duty they should naturally possess as Apostles of God and coveted personal gain.
“No need to be so indignant. Since you are not different either.”
“What do you an……?”
“Didn't His Majesty the Emperor's precious body touch your body?”
It touched.
It didn't stop at just touching. They even contended with power.
At those words, the White Duke burst into hearty laughter.
“You should consider it a miracle that you are still alive after that. Others were not so lucky.”
“Don't tell …….”
“Yes. The number of priests who lost their lives after having an audience with His Majesty the Emperor before you is roughly over fifty. We had to pay a considerable amount of compensation to the temples as a price for silence.”
Rumors that the number of soldiers and priests going missing during missions had increased recently ca to mind.
He thought they were simply accidents.
“You……! What on earth……. What are you doing?!!”
Having lost his cool, Colin shouted without realizing it.
“No need to be so excited. Since unlike them, you have co to obtain everything.”
He said he intends to pay massive support funds to the temple in return for coming here, and that he will periodically sponsor Colin in the future as well.
The White Duke emphasized once again as if hamring it in.
“What the Imperial Family is sponsoring is not the Styx Temple, but you.”
“…….”
He emphasized that it is sothing no priest on the continent has achieved so far.
On top of that, he said it is not a short-term sponsorship but a long-term one.
“You will likely want things from
in the future. But you have seen the wrong person.”
He wanted to return to the temple right away and tell Chief Priest Lokia what he saw and heard here.
That the Emperor and the White Duke are heretics who use not only mana but also Divine Power.
Also, he wanted to reveal the corruption of the Holy Nation and prepare so counterasures.
“Look for soone else to act as a spy.”
“A spy. That's a grandiose expression.”
The White Duke held up the index fingers of both hands in front of his eyes.
Pure white mana lingered on one hand, and pure white Divine Power on the other.
Colors are the sa, but properties are different powers.
Two powers manifested through one body are stabilized.
It was a phenonon still unbelievable even seeing it with his own eyes.
“You will beco a saint who saves the world from the calamity of humanity.”
“…….”
“Do you know where the Grotesquery ca from?”
How could he know the origin of a grotesque creature he only read a few lines about in text?
“The boundary of the northern frontier you guys are guarding. beyond that.”
Colin's face hardened.
“It seems you didn't know what lies beyond the boundary.”
The White Duke clicked his tongue as if understanding.
“Understandable. Lokia de Styx is a person whose thoughts are unknowable.”
The Papal Office and the Empire. A priest among priests who doesn't form relationships with either side and focuses only on the mission of guarding the boundary.
The White Duke praised Chief Priest Lokia.
It was from then that his words began to sound sweet.
“Receiving a Divine Object must an you are acknowledged by him. Shouldn't you at least lighten his burden?”
Slide.
The White Duke pushed another docunt that was on the table toward Colin.
“It is the corruption cases of the Holy Nation and the Papal Office investigated by the Empire.
The Holy Nation and the Papal Office have already lost their self-purification ability.”
Reading it, the extent was indeed severe.
“When the Grotesquery appears again, who can stop it? Where would be the first place to suffer damage?”
The northern frontier.
It would be the Styx Temple, which is like his ho.
“What…… should I do?”
At his reaction, the White Duke gave a gentle smile and extended his hand.
Colin grasped the extended hand.
“Welco to being with us. First Class Priest Colin.”
He returned to the temple, and not long after, the Imperial Family supported the Styx Temple with considerable gold coins.
Colin remained silent, and Chief Priest Lokia did not ask any particular questions.
Ti passed, and Saintess Lan de Styx obtained the title of Saintess.
During that ti, the Papal Office did not provide any financial support to the Styx Temple, and there was no visit from the Saintess either.
A considerable amount of ti passed again since then.
An 8-star knight was born in the eastern frontier.
Amidst Simon Eurasia's na being ntioned as a mber of the Continent's 10 Swords, Killian Eurasia's stopped ti began to flow.
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