Chapter 85: From now on, there were All Gods (Seeking first subscription!)
Rhein, Rhein City.
Clad in a sumptuous robe, Pope Lango of Rhein was sitting at a large circular table with his eyes closed in repose.
Aside from the high-backed chair he occupied, there were four other empty seats at the table. At the center of the table stood a two-ter-tall Magic Crystal, its semi-transparent body pulsing with arcs of lightning.
Several priests stood in front of the crystal inspecting it. After a while, they stepped back one by one, leaving one to report to Lango, “Under the crown, the Communication Crystal is ready. We can contact the Four Great Churches at any ti.”
Lango did not open his eyes but nodded, “Then let’s begin.”
“As you command.”
...
With that, the crystal was activated, and the lightning within beca increasingly brilliant, as if it would explode at any second. The spectacle continued for five full minutes before the arcs converged at the top of the crystal and then shot toward the four vacant seats. Shortly after, four ethereal silhouettes slowly appeared in the seats. Three of them were dressed in identical robes, signifying their status and position, while the fourth wore a far simpler robe, naturally drawing the attention of the other three.
However, they did not imdiately inquire but instead first offered a chest salute to Lango at the main seat.
“Under the crown.”
After receiving a nod from Lango, the other three turned their attention to the one who was different.
“Herry?” the Eastern Bishop asked first, “Why are you here?”
“What about the Cyclops?” added the North Bishop. “It’s been years since he last boasted about that eye in my presence.”
The South Bishop remained silent, but his gaze toward Herry was also filled with curiosity.
“This…” Herry hesitated, looking toward Lango at the main seat.
Lango spoke indifferently, “Just say it. Isn’t that the reason we summoned them?”
With these words, the three bishops imdiately realized sothing had happened to Corey, and their expressions turned solemn.
“Yes, under the crown.” After receiving Lango’s affirmation, Herry addressed the three archbishops, “Lord Bishops, I bring regrettable news. West Bishop Corey Obot passed away last night.”
The three bishops did not respond imdiately. Though they had guessed as much from Herry’s earlier reactions, hearing it spoken aloud still evoked shock.
“This is truly… a surprising piece of news,” the North Bishop broke the silence first.
The previously silent South Bishop also spoke up, “I suspect his was not a natural death.”
“Yes.” Herry nodded before speaking with so difficulty, “Bishop Corey has passed away, and his eye… has been lost as well.”
Silence fell again.
The Eastern Bishop gently massaged his temple, “I suggest you’d better explain everything at once; otherwise, I might not be able to restrain myself from slaughtering you.”
Herry shivered, well aware of the Eastern Bishop’s style, and hurriedly recounted the events, as concisely as possible.
Learning that it was very likely another Corpse Fragnt Holder who killed Corey and took the eye, the three archbishops exchanged glances, understanding why Pope Lango was so eager to convene this eting.
If this was all true,
that fellow nad Ulu now possessed two Corpse Fragnts.
“I won’t bother asking whether you’ve captured that Ulu or found any leads on him. That would be pointless,” the Eastern Bishop’s tone had grown heavy, “I’ll ask only this: Ulu returned to Somo City, you and Corey both knew this, so why didn’t you report it? Did Corey hope to monopolize both Corpse Fragnts?”
Faced with the Eastern Bishop’s questioning, Herry did not dare retort, his entire body breaking out in cold sweat.
At that mont, Lango, who had kept his eyes closed, finally opened his gray-white eyes. In a voice as empty as if it did not belong to this world, he declared, “Arguing over what’s already past is pointless. The focus now is that we’ve lost the eye. Moreover, we very likely have gained another enemy who possesses two Corpse Fragnts.”
He paused.
“How to find him and deal with him, and recover those two Corpse Fragnts, is the key issue ahead.”
Seeing that the Pope had set the tone for the discussion, the Eastern Bishop refrained from pressing further. After saluting Lango again, the North Bishop couldn’t help but ask, “But I still can’t understand. That priest nad Ulu only had a finger, right? According to the ‘Taboo Book,’ no finger holds as much power as that eye, not to ntion that the Cyclops—I an, Bishop Corey—should have been far superior in strength. So how on earth did he manage to kill Corey?”
“This is the real crux,” Lango said, his gray-white eyes looking toward the North Bishop, “All our current knowledge about the Corpse Fragnts cos from the records of the ‘Taboo Book.’ But, can we be certain that everything in the ‘Taboo Book’ is correct?”
While saying this, Lango lifted his finger slightly, and all except for him and the projections of the Four Great Churches withdrew, leaving a single person and four shadows in the room.
Bishops knew this ant the Pope under the crown was about to discuss matters that could not be recorded.
“A long ti ago, the higher echelons of the Four Great Orthodox Churches conducted a deduction by combining all recorded rules regarding Corpse Blocks from the Taboo Book to gauge Visas’s true strength,” Lango began slowly. “During that deduction, we concluded that Visas, with only the abilities recorded in the rules, was rely a powerful Pollutant filled with rules. He was still stronger than all of us here, but just this level is not enough to match the All Gods.”
The three Archbishops exchanged glances.
“Do you an to suggest that those Corpse Blocks contain abilities and rules not even recorded in the Taboo Book?” the North Bishop asked thoughtfully. “I rember Cyclops… Corey also once expressed this view. According to him, his eye could see much more and further than I can.”
“That’s still just speculation, isn’t it?” the Eastern Bishop said.
Herry really didn’t want to pick up at a ti like this, but he knew it was his turn.
“No… now, the speculation is being confird.”
Herry glanced at Lango, and after receiving a nod, he perford an operation. A new projection appeared on the Magic Crystal.
It showed Corey… to be precise, Corey who had passed away.
The sight was so grueso that even the three worldly Archbishops could not help but widen their eyes.
The South Bishop couldn’t help but murmur, “He really did die… unnaturally.”
The North Bishop turned to Herry and asked, “Is there a problem? There are no fewer than ten kinds of spells or Divine Arts I know of that could cause this kind of damage.”
“The problem is…” Herry said softly, “this is the body after we used the ‘Divine Arts: Miracle of Life’ to repair it.”
The three Bishops’ eyes widened.
Of course, they knew what the “Miracle of Life” was – it was the most powerful Life Series Divine Art in the world. No matter how severe the injury, healing would be completed upon receiving this Divine Art. Even a shattered corpse could be reset to its full form; although it couldn’t bring the dead back to life, it guaranteed that the deceased had an intact body for burial. Every Bishop of Rhein, every Pope after death, would undergo the ritual of this Divine Art.
It had never failed.
Until… today.
“What exactly happened?” the Eastern Bishop asked imdiately. “Where did the missing parts go? No, that’s not right, even if parts were truly missing, the ‘Miracle of Life’ could regrow them.”
“That’s just it,” said Herry. “We’ve used every ans, but can’t find where Bishop Corey’s missing flesh has gone. The ‘Miracle of Life’ is also unable to grow new flesh for him. It’s as if that missing flesh no longer exists in this world, and at the sa ti, this world… does not permit it to regrow.”
Once again, the spacious conference room fell into a deathly Silence.
Everyone understood Herry’s description.
Undoubtedly, these were Rules, moreover Rules not recorded in the Taboo Book.
“Why would this happen?” asked the Eastern Bishop. “Was it that finger? But shouldn’t it be ‘Termination’ or ‘Disturbance’?”
Lango said lightly, “That is why I said what is recorded in the Taboo Book may not be everything.”
Then, North Bishop, who had been silent for a long ti, raised his head to look at Lango and slowly began to speak. “Your Holiness, I have a question. Although I don’t know if the question is offensive or inappropriate, now that things have beco so serious, I still want to know the answer.”
Lango looked at the North Bishop with his gray eyes, seemingly guessing what North Bishop was about to inquire, but he still nodded faintly, “Ask.”
“Visas… what exactly is he, and what exactly did he do?” North Bishop voiced the long-standing doubt that weighed on everyone present. “All we know is that he is the enemy of the All Gods, akin to an Evil God, but he differs from the true Evil Gods in Esoteric Buddhism, so…”
Lango raised his hand, interrupting North Bishop’s question.
He then closed his eyes as though rembering sothing.
The projections in attendance did not dare disturb, and they waited in silence.
After what seed like a long ti, Lango slowly opened his eyes with a hollow tone that did not seem of this world.
“I do not know exactly what Visas is, I only know what he did.”
“In ancient tis, there were the Divine Race in this world.”
“But after he appeared.”
“There were only All Gods.”
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