Under the Warden's questioning, the atmosphere in the conference imdiately beca oppressive.
Until the representative from the Netherworld spoke: "Can't we input them all?"
The Warden looked at the representative from the Netherworld and said, "The Heavenly Voice Obedience will erase all existence in this world that recognizes the inputter's na. A single na can take away the lives of thousands, which is why its activation requires the consensus of the Eight Great Churches... and you want to input three at once?"
"Is there a problem?" The Netherworld representative scratched his head, "Isn't it a good thing to let more people embrace death?"
Everyone fell silent.
Finally, the Warden spoke: "You're a bit too extre. We don't intend to send so many people to et the Lord of the Netherworld, and Heavenly Voice Obedience cannot input that many nas; it requires energy."
"But..." The Netherworld representative wanted to speak again.
"Enough," the Warden interrupted him, "As far as I know, the Netherworld has no intersection with those two people, so just listen for now."
The Netherworld representative finally fell silent.
The Warden's attitude towards the Netherworld representative made Rocky sowhat puzzled.
The Warden was extrely oppressive to representatives of other churches, like a superior looking down on subordinates, yet there was no such dominance when facing the Netherworld representative.
Why is that?
Rocky was puzzled but didn't show it, only recording it silently in his mind.
After a round of questioning, the Warden, perhaps realizing that only Rhein could provide valuable information, again turned his gaze to Rocky.
"What corpse fragnts does the Seven-Tone Player possess?" the Warden asked.
"Tongue, ear, teeth."
"Three corpse fragnts?"
"Yes."
The Warden gazed at Rocky: "How did you know? Did he use these rules against you in the battle... all of them?"
No, he actually didn't use any of them. Rocky had seen those three corpse fragnts in Taoyuan Village.
Rocky knew that directly pointing out those three corpse fragnts would seem suspicious, but if he didn't, how could he make the Warden realize the severity of the issue?
So he said calmly, "No, he told himself."
"Told you himself?" the Warden asked, "Why would he reveal his secrets like that?"
"Because he's an arrogant person," Rocky had already thought of a reason, "And he wanted to psychologically break , telling about the three corpse fragnts during the heat of our battle, and said no matter what I couldn't defeat him, urging to give up early."
"And what was the result of the battle?"
"It was fifty-fifty."
"He used corpse fragnts, yet it was fifty-fifty with you?"
"...Alright, a narrow defeat."
The Warden ignored Rocky and turned to Fenris, present at the scene, for confirmation.
Fenris nodded: "I can attest that Bishop Rocky indeed lost narrowly. Had he held out a little longer, we could have gone to help him."
Rocky's eyelid twitched.
Damn it, that's not what a narrow defeat ans, you fool!
Rocky held back the urge to curse.
"In other words, the detailed information you have on that Seven-Tone Player cos from his own words?" the Warden asked flatly, "Assuming what he said is true, no one has ever acquired more than four corpse fragnts. This Seven-Tone Player has three, and Ulu has two?"
Rocky heard the Warden's satirical tone; he knew why.
Over the past millennium, multiple corpse fragnt holders had indeed erged, but most were dealt with internally by the major churches.
There were cases of holders with two fragnts, and even three, but none stirred up much trouble. This is why Rhein, knowing Ulu likely had three fragnts, still thought of handling it alone—it had worked in history, never escalating to the point of requiring the Contract Land's involvent.
The current situation, which alard the Contract Land, was unprecedented—holders of four corpse fragnts appeared and caused such a stir that Rhein's solo attempts failed repeatedly, necessitating a report to the Contract Land.
Now, it seems there was no holder of four fragnts—one had three, the other two—giving the Warden reason to question how the major churches managed to ss up so much.
Though in retrospect, two people—Hand Eye and Tongue—causing such chaos among the churches was indeed absurd, the Warden's condescending tone still made Rocky uncomfortable. Thus he spoke up, "There's no use dwelling on reasons now; it's better to consider what to do next."
"Of course, that's the purpose of this gathering," the Warden said calmly, "Now we only need the final piece: a na. Originally, I thought it would be Hewinia or Cesar, but now it seems the situation has changed again?"
...The key mont had arrived.
Everyone looked at the Warden, and as expected, he spoke slowly.
"Tell , what's the matter with the Star Relic's Isaiah?"
...
Bai Wei, standing behind Ina, was also quietly observing the Warden.
This was a character who didn't exist in the ga's main story, so it was Bai Wei's first ti seeing him.
And he felt strange to Bai Wei, not human at all, exuding a sense of chaos. The chains on him carried sealing power, partially blocking Bai Wei's observation. Though Bai Wei could further exert his gaze's power to forcefully see through, that might alert the Warden, so he refrained.
In truth, the Warden wasn't the only one giving Bai Wei this chaotic feeling; the Envoy from the Netherworld and the Knight from Shuangyi did as well.
Bai Wei understood the nature of the Netherworld and Shuangyi; they indeed strayed from humanity to so extent.
But what about this Warden? What exactly was he? In the realm of the Contract Land, the Warden was viewed as the equivalent of the Pope— even Ringfinger Diana was his subordinate. What was his strength, and how did it compare to Isaiah?
It seed necessary to find a way to test him out, as Bai Wei inevitably had to deal with him to reclaim his body.
Hmm, perhaps find a way to have him and Isaiah clash?
While Bai Wei pondered, the explanation of Isaiah concluded, and he returned his focus to being a low-profile henchman.
"You say Isaiah killed the Seven-Tone Player," the Warden said slowly, "but you have no evidence; you haven't even seen the body, so how can you convince ?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Rocky said, "Who else but the Seven-Tone Player could fight him to that extent? Claiming it was an unknown Black rchant—don't you think that excuse is too clumsy? Also, last night wasn't the Innocent Night; theoretically, without relying on the Starry Sky powers, no Star Relic Mage could display such might, yet Isaiah did."
"You think he used the power of the corpse fragnts?"
"It's evident," Rocky said, "Knowing the power of the fragnts, he dared to cut in, fabricating such a flimsy excuse."
Before coming, Rocky had rehearsed his argunts against Isaiah in his mind to ensure success, presenting them logically and leaving no room for rebuttal.
The Warden didn't refute him either. After a brief silence, he looked up at the Envoy from the Netherworld.
"Envoy from the Netherworld, I wish to hear your opinion."
Hearing his opinion?
Rocky's brows furrowed imdiately.
What does this have to do with him?
Just as Rocky wanted to ask, the Warden's next words left him stunned.
"After all, you have personally seen Visas."
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