The radiant barrier that shrouded the Holy Light Cathedral for several days began to gradually decompose. Countless pale golden particles escaped from the melting energy barrier and dissipated flutteringly into the depths of the night. Within the gradually dissolving barrier, the melodious bells continued to ring.
The bell sounds melodious, like an invitation.
Gawain and the two guardian dukes stood in the square in front of the church area. Looking at the scene in the direction of the church, Duke Baldwin frowned slightly: "Strange... The priests should be cautious at this time. Walking out of the church to meet the believers... Why is the church area so quiet?"
Gawain looked up and saw that the church area maintained a strange silence amidst the scattered holy light dust. Solemnly, he could not see the appearance of the bishop or high-ranking priests. He only saw some hurried ordinary priests and attendants running between the buildings. Some panicked people could also be seen in the upper corridors of the cathedral. The situation is really abnormal.
Just as the three of them were speculating about what was going on in the church, the solemn and heavy door depicting many miracles and runes was finally opened.
However, what came out of it was not the clergy composed of the bishop and high-ranking priests, nor was it Pope St. Ivan III, but Veronica Moore, who was wearing a plain white dress. Well - she slowly walked out of the church and walked towards Gawain and others, holding the platinum scepter that belonged to the Pope in her hand.
I don’t know if it was an illusion, but the moment he saw the "Saint Princess", Gawain felt a faint sense of disobedience, although Veronica still looked the same as the last time they met. , but...he always felt that there was a trace of incompatibility in the other party.
This feeling was indescribable, and was soon completely shocked by an astonishing news -
"His Majesty the Pope has been called by the Lord, and the bishops are in God's presence. He was martyred during the surrender ceremony," Veronica said with her usual gentle expression and a calm tone.
Gawain and others were stunned for a moment.
…Some people were indeed surprised, but what surprised them was the people outside the church—when the door opened, the pope was gone…
“All… martyred?” Baldwin As if he couldn't believe his ears, he took a step forward and asked, "Was it a divine act on the spot? Was there an accident?"
"The power of the divine act is beyond the reach of a human being. The Pope is too old. , failed to persist until the end of the ceremony, in order to prevent the ceremony from getting out of control, the bishops sacrificed themselves as a container," Veronica said while turning slightly sideways, "The cathedral is already open, and the Great Hall of Light still maintains its original shape. On-site.”
This means inviting three people to visit.
Badwin and Victoria looked at each other in confusion. After a moment of hesitation, they walked towards the main entrance of the church. Gawain woke up from his brief moment of astonishment and thinking. Countless speculations and ideas popped up in his mind in an instant, but In the end, they all converged into a deep look towards Veronica.
The saintly princess just kept a calm expression and replied calmly.answer.
Before turning around and walking back to the church, Veronica noticed some changes outside the church area -
The streets were filled with soldiers of Cecil’s Legion, and in the distance The Anzu King's flag above Silver Castle has disappeared. Above the main tower where only the royal family's flag was originally allowed to be flown, the flag of Cecil's Sword and Plow was illuminated by a beam of light and was fluttering in the wind in the night.
Reminiscent of Gawain Cecil himself who appeared here, the expression of the saint princess finally changed a little. She raised her eyebrows slightly and asked aloud: "What happened in the city? "
"There have been great changes. The Anzu throne has ended, but it is a peaceful evolution," Victoria said in a cold voice, "The current owner here is His Majesty Gawain Cecil."
"I will explain it to you in detail," Gawain said to Veronica, "A lot of things have happened, and we all need to sort it out slowly."
Veronica lowered her head , drew the emblem of the Holy Light on his chest, and said softly: "I have converted to the Holy Light and am no longer the princess of Ansu. The change of kingship has nothing to do with me... The city has survived, and this matter is the most important thing. "
Gawain looked at her for two seconds, but said nothing and walked towards the church not far away.
In the Great Hall of Light, the power of the Holy Light has calmed down. The hazy Holy Light has re-condensed into a sea of clouds and slowly floated over the hall. However, the Pope’s Holy Seat is now empty, even a little bit. No remnants can be seen. All the traces that can be found in the entire hall are only a dozen piles of embers surrounding the Holy See - those gray-white ashes are distributed at the key nodes where the divine art is performed. They are all the remnants of the former bishopric. .
This does seem to be the traces left after the raging holy light burned the human body, and there is no sign of fighting or invasion by foreign enemies in the entire Great Light Hall.
However, the two Dukes, Baldwin and Victoria, who were about to start rebuilding order in the city and were responsible for maintaining the stability of the core area of the empire, only felt a headache at this moment.
At this time, they could not help but be a little envious of Wales, who had left in time, and even couldn't help but have wild speculations - His Majesty the King might have already known about the shocking changes that happened in the cathedral. That's why you left so resolutely?
"Gods..." Baldwin's face was extremely ugly, "I would rather deal with those crystal cluster monsters..."
Victoria glanced at him quietly, The voice was calm: "Do you want to defend the city again?"
"That's not what I meant..." Baldwin immediately waved his hand, then looked at Victoria up and down, "Why didn't I realize that you can do it before?" Sarcastic?"
"Just curious," Victoria said casually, then looked at Veronica, "In other words, there are no senior bishop-level clergy in the cathedral? How many priests are left?"
"It is true that all the bishops have been martyred, but the high-ranking priests have not been damaged, and the church functions can still be normal.Run," Veronica said, while slightly raising the platinum scepter in her hand, "I have been approved by the platinum scepter and can temporarily manage the cathedral, but now the royal power has changed, and the order of Saint Sunil needs to be restored. After all, the believers also need to seek peace in the new environment. Many things may require discussion between me and Gawain Cecil... His Majesty before they can be decided. "
"We can talk now," Gawain said immediately, "if you have no objection. "
"That's fine," Veronica nodded slightly and looked at the two guardian dukes, "the two archdukes can wait in the lounge temporarily. "
Gawain saw that this "Saint Princess" seemed to have something that she wanted to communicate with him privately, so he said to Baldwin and Victoria: "Why don't you go back to the castle to rest first? Let’s discuss the matter tomorrow. "
"Okay. "Victoria nodded and said briefly, and then took Duke Baldwin, who seemed to be worried, and left the cathedral together.
Until they came outside the cathedral, they came to a place where the holy light could not shine. At this place, Baldwin couldn't help but look back and said to Victoria: "Do you think this is strange? Although St. Ivan III is indeed old, he is not to the point where he cannot support the divine art... And the entire bishopric was martyred? Although I believe that their beliefs are indeed so pious that they can be martyred at any time, but no one survived a divine descending ceremony... It is too coincidental. "
"It is indeed strange," Victoria said, "but there are no clues. "
"Your Highness Veronica must know more..." Baldwin hesitated, "But she doesn't seem to want to say it, at least not in front of us. ”
Victoria was silent for a moment, then turned around and looked in the direction of the cathedral.
Fine snowflakes escaped from her hair, and her voice came from the breeze. Voice: “But overall, it’s a good thing. "
Bardwin was startled, and his expression became subtle. After a few seconds of silence, he showed an expression that didn't tell if he was crying or laughing: "Yeah, good things... they just happened at the same time. There are so many things going on that it’s really hard to relax. ”
“The turning point of the times... this is probably it. "
In the cathedral, Gawain and Veronica stood in the Great Light Hall. The former looked around slightly uncomfortably: "Are we going to talk here? "
"Don't worry, there are no extra eyes here," Veronica said gently, "including the eyes of the God of Light. "
Gawain took a deep look at Veronica: "This sentence doesn't sound very pious. "
Veronica just showed a smile and gently raised the platinum scepter in her hand: "The platinum scepter representing the bridge of the will of the God of Holy Light has accepted my control. Any faith None of His people will question my piety. "
"But I do not believe in Him," said Gawain. "Saint Ivan IIIDid Shi really die from a divine intervention? Is the Episcopal Conference really martyred? "
"They paid their lives for their beliefs. By definition, they are martyrs," Veronica said calmly, "Do you still regret their deaths? As a ruler on the verge of reshaping the order of the country, the Church's sudden decline should be a good thing for you. ”
In everyone’s normal impression, words like this would never come from Veronica, from this pious “Saint Princess”!
Gawain Staring into the eyes of the saintly princess, he could finally confirm that the sense of dissonance he felt in Veronica was not an illusion, but that sense of dissonance did not just appear today, but happened all the time. This kind of disobedience has always existed in this saintly princess and has always been hidden by her.
It’s just that I don’t know what happened. This special aura in Veronica is particularly obvious today. , and Gawain happened to be quite sensitive to something "inhuman", so he noticed it.
He looked into Veronica's eyes and felt like he was looking at someone. A doll, a kind of heterogeneous aura that is very similar to a human being, but is different from a human being upon closer inspection is so obvious at this moment, and this doll-like quality... He seemed to have vaguely felt it in the other person before.
"I'm not going to riddle you, but who are you - you know what I mean - and what do you want to do? "
"Have you ever heard such a sentence..." Veronica smiled slightly and said word by word, "-Human beings will survive forever, even if they disobey the gods. ”
“The disobedient plan! "Gawain blurted out, and he finally felt shocked. This shock even somewhat broke the indifference he had maintained so far, "How...how do you know this sentence? ! ”
The devout Holy Princess turned out to be an insider of the Disobedient Plan? Why did she know? Did she obtain ancient knowledge? Is there a legacy of the Disobedient Plan within the Moen royal family? Or...there is something like Ka An ancient survivor like Meier?
Questions exploded in Gawain’s mind, and what shocked and confused him the most was that a rebel (if Veronica was a rebel) turned out to be a rebel. He became a "devout" believer in the God of Holy Light and became a high-ranking member of the church - but if he imagined it carefully, he suddenly felt that this kind of development was quite consistent with the meaning of a "rebel"
A capable person. The organization that studies God in slices extends its power to the most devout church. The disobedient element in this is indeed not low...
"The disobedient plan has never ended. As long as mankind continues, we will not Will stop," Veronica said under Gawain's gaze, "You don't have to be so surprised - isn't there already a living rebel beside you? "
"Camel..." Gawain frowned, "Then who are you? "
"This question is actually not very important, but if you are curious, I can tell you a name," Veronica said softly, "'We', once called Ophelia Norton. You may not know this name, but you must know this surname. "
"Norton? The surname of the royal family of Gondor? ! Gawain opened his eyes wide, suddenly feeling that he had been exposed to too much information today, "Ophelia... I really don't understand it very well... but what did you mean by 'we' just now?" ! ”
“This involves the division and reorganization of souls, and involves some secrets. I’m not sure whether I should let you know it now. As for the name Ophelia Norton... you can tell her after you go back. Ask Kamel and he should give you an answer that will satisfy you. ”
Gawain could see that the disobedient person in front of him with the identity of “Veronica Morn” did not fully trust him and was not ready to tell all the secrets, but he did not force it. Instead of asking, “What do you want to do by telling me this? "
"Do something that disobeys the gods," Veronica smiled and gently raised the platinum scepter in her hand, "For example...let the Holy Light return to mortals. ”