After the light disappeared in spots, all the traces that suggested Octave's previous existence were gone, just like what had happened to Lend, captain of the night watchers.
"What is this?" Richard frowned, unable to stop Octave's death.
His hands inside the pockets of his long cloak, Lucien said gravely, "For them, 'Angels on the Ground' is not just a 'grace' that can increase their strength for a short while, but also an incurable 'poison' at critical moments. It should be a precaution in case they are captured and confess their secrets."
After knocking out Octave in one punch, Lucien did not feel anything yet, but the battle where Alferris teased with Lend on the other hand had great changes. Suddenly receiving the enhancement from 'Angels on the Ground', Lend had the overwhelming advantage. If Lucien hadn't finished his battle so quickly and offered help in time, Lend would've probably escaped. Even though the man failed to do so, Lucien could only watch him be swallowed by the power of angels without being able to do anything.
It was for that reason that Lucien did not try to move or wake up Octave, so that the guy could be brought back to Allyn for interrogation, but obtained his intelligence directly via Dream Casting while the power of angels was suppressed by the Silver Moon and the mysterious existence of the World of Souls. Otherwise, Lucien would have preferred to ask for the help of Atlant, the Eye of Curse, or Stanis, the King of Nightmares.
Richard found it unacceptable and shook his head. "How could the Lord's envoys do such things to the Lord's servant?"
It was almost the same as what demons and devils did to their wors.h.i.+pers. Also, since even he, a level-eight cardinal, was unable to do anything about, it was obvious that the enemy was no ordinary angel. The pure holy light just now convinced him of the source of the power.
"Angels are just G.o.d's messengers, but they do not necessarily represent G.o.d. The pope that Octave described as corrupt is still able to use G.o.d's Arrival. Perhaps, this is a test of the G.o.d of Truth." Taking advantage of Richard's bewilderment, Lucien directed him to what he wanted the man to think about.
Richard looked at the ground where Octave disappeared with the typical blue eyes of Holm and mumbled, "Was that 'prophet' really 'Angel King'? Could he really accomplish the religious reform through the pope and the Grand Cardinals?"
"At least based on Octave's subconsciousness, he was convinced that the Angel King had arrived through certain things." Lucien was more or less confused about that. When he first heard 'great prophet' from Octave in the dream, he thought that the Lord of h.e.l.l, his old friend, had come again, and was certain of G.o.d's relations.h.i.+p with Sard. However, Octave's unsuspicious att.i.tude towards the prophet made Lucien doubt himself, because the Lord of h.e.l.l could not steal the power of the G.o.d of Truth on his own but had to count on the senior-rank believers.
Therefore, the Angel King, who was only second to the G.o.d of Truth in Mountain Paradise and had arrived for real, while not as strong as the Lord of h.e.l.l, couldn't have been deceived by the Lord of h.e.l.l directly.
Perhaps, the great prophet was just a puppet that the Lord of h.e.l.l introduced, and there were other masterminds such as Sard?
While thinking about those things, Lucien went on, "Also, Bishop Richard, you have announced that the right to the interpretation of Cannon should be returned to the devout believers. Then, why do you have to rely on the pope and the Grand Cardinals to perform a top-down reform? You should encourage your believers, count on your believers, and use their overwhelming strength to crush the obstacles that stand in the way of faith. Perhaps, that is the purpose of the G.o.d of Truth's test, and the reason why he did not stop the schism of the Church."
Richard turned around and looked at Lucien, stunned. He had never considered why the two parts of the Church both had divine powers after their separation from that point of view. Thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, "The pope and the the Grand Cardinals are in possession of the extraordinary powers that the Lord grants. The reform will be pointless if I count on the weak believers alone, unless the Lord recalls the divine powers and grants every believer enough strength."
"Bishop Richard, you definition of believer is too narrow. Are n.o.bles believers? Are radiant knights, gold knights and legendary knights believers? As long as your reform meets their wish to communicate with the Lord directly, so that you can make them join your cause, plus part of the conscious members among the Grand Cardinals, it will be possible to experiment on your reform on a small scale." Lucien did not elaborate on it but offered a simple tip. "By then, you will be the unique saint in the history of the Church. Chances are that you will be favored by the G.o.d of Truth and become his real spokesperson on earth."
Lucien did not have any G.o.d-related faith and naturally could not understand a pious bishop like Richard. Therefore, he habitually allured the man with power, fame and a position on Mountain Paradise after death. In Lucien's eyes, it was hard to push forward Richard's reform without the boost of interests.
Hearing what Lucien said, Richard's eyes suddenly s.h.i.+ned. "Yes. I have to count on and activate the believers. They are the foundation of Mountain Paradise and the targets of the Lord's grace!"
Lucien couldn't help but wipe his cold sweat. As a non-professional who was mixed up with too many things, he found it impossible to imagine what the guiding principle and roadmap that Richard came up with in the end for his religious reform would be like.
They did not waste any more time. Fearing that the death of Octave and Lend would raise the wariness of the great prophet, Lucien and Alferris asked Richard to turn on the divine power circle and left the Salvation Church.
Alferris walked next to Lucien, grieved, with the translucent, amber eyes filled with sorrow. It repeated nonstop, "My trophies, my trophies…"
Lend was swallowed by the holy light without leaving anything, and most of the valuable items on Octave were destroyed by Lucien's Elemental Order. Therefore, Alferris caught no treasure at all.
Lucien patted it in a smile. "I'll keep the scroll of 'Orb of Ultimate Destruction'. The rest of Octave's items will be yours."
Alferris immediately turned around and lunged at Lucien. Extending the tongue, it licked his hands enthusiastically, "Boss, sign me up for another hundred years!"
Where else could it find such a rich, generous and prize-winning partner?
Alferris almost wanted to lock Lucien in its house and urge him to write papers every day!
Lucien was amused by the shameless crystal dragon. Tossing the last few items to him, he hurried to retreat his hand.
Alferris opened the storage bag that Lucien kept the items in temporarily. Its eyes glittering, it poured the treasures into its palm and licked them one after another, as if it were leaving its unique mark on them.
After licking, Alferris counted the treasures with great pa.s.sion while he asked obsequiously, "Lucien, I didn't know that you had such a profound understanding about dreams."
"It's part of my research, but most of the things I said were far-fetched." Replied Lucien unconcernedly.
Alferris looked at Lucien, finding it strange. "Are you not scared that you reached a wrong conclusion?"
"The few key points are alright. Octave's impression on them was too deep. His reactions could've been a.n.a.lyzed in the dream without any tricks. As for the rest, it doesn't matter whether or not I was right. Does his mental faculty have anything to do with me? Am I responsible for his psychological health?" Said Lucien with a smile.
Alferris did not pursue the question any longer. Counting the lovely treasures, it said angrily, "Lucien, it was outrageous of them to say that I was your pet. We are obviously partners!"
"Yes, partners." Replied Lucien casually.
Thinking for a moment, Alferris asked curiously, "Are pets more important for sorcerers? I can tell that most sorcerers have pets."
It only studied the theories that it was interested in. Pets, which might share its treasures, did not interest it at all.
"Sort of. Pets are the extension of a sorcerer's body. They are the eyes and ears of a sorcerer…" Lucien generally introduced the functions of a pet.
Alferris fell silent as he talked. Lucien looked at it in confusion, only to discover that it was eyeing himself with glowing eyes.
Alferris suddenly lunged at Lucien and licked his left hand intimately: "Boss, recruit me as your pet!"
......
After getting rid of Alferris with a lot of trouble, Lucien returned to his magic tower and turned on the communication with Natasha.
"… After Richard sorts through his ideas, I will summon him and talk to him. If his ideas are in the interest of us and the n.o.bles, I'll propose to Sard that he be appointed as the archbishop of the royal family." Natasha was in a good mood after hearing Lucien's voice, but she did not reach a decision recklessly.
After their test on Sard's reaction, almost everybody knew that she was still a 'friend' to Lucien. Therefore, Natasha was not afraid of communicating with Allyn anymore, as long as the frequency was not high.
Lucien was thrilled about it. A while back, he still needed to go to the royal magic tower of Holm cautiously, but the reality had changed much faster than he planned.
"Archbishop of the royal family?" Lucien did not quite understand what the job was about.
Natasha explained with a smile, "The archbishop is responsible for the religious problems within the royal family. The castles of the royal family and the private churches within the manors are under his authority, too. However, my grandfather had been in poor health for the longest time and relied on the treatment of the saint cardinal. Therefore, the Grand Cardinal of the parish was also the archbishop of the royal family. But as a matter of fact, the two posts are independent, and I have a say on the candidate of archbishop."
Lucien immediately realized that it should be a post that the Church set up to control the royal family before the Congress of Magic could compete with the Church, but it was something that Natasha could make use of now.
"Natasha, do you have any systematic ideas about the future of Holm? The Congress and I can only cooperate with you if you have a vision." Lucien asked gently.
Natasha chuckled. "I think we should discuss the question face to face. Lucien, I thought of you every time I saw the moonlight over the past few days."
She expressed her feelings boldly and straightforwardly.
While feeling happy and sweet, Lucien was more or less rendered speechless. Shouldn't he be the one doing the sweet talking?
