Chapter 602: Victory!

Chapter 602: Victory!

"Oh, thank you, that truly was a massive mosquito!"

Dunk did not even need Karen to bestow an amplification spell; he condensed one for himself.

Karen lightly shook his wrist, his palm stinging slightly.

This slap had carried full force, intended to send the man flying through the air; against anyone ordinary, they would be five or six meters away by now, yet the acting Chief Bishop before him merely looked as if he had been casually slapped.

He was very strong.

If one were to classify the combat capabilities of clergymen against each other, it was difficult to establish a clear standard; Karen used to benchmark inquisitors against Alfred, but that metric had become distorted due to his own grandfather being an inquisitor...

Now, another standard of measurement had emerged: to take a direct slap from him and remain standing unmoved meant their strength absolutely could not be underestimated.

Dunk reached out, touching his split lip, and continued speaking as he lowered his head to look at the blood on his fingertips:

"My wife looked at your photograph and said that if a younger version of myself stood beside you back then, all her attention would have been on you, haha."

Karen spoke, "Actually, I am quite curious, why do you still dare to stand so close to me?"

"Mainly, at first, I was considering a possibility: that if I approached you and brought you under control

"Is there such a possibility?"

"I do not think so."

"Heh," Voflen smiled, "before the current Grand Priest rose to power, he did not seem like it either; otherwise, the Holy Temple would never have sat idly by, watching him develop his influence within the Church step by step until he joined the Round Table.

As for the current Grand Priest's background, it only gradually began to circulate after he took his seat at the Round Table.

I even suspect that this was done intentionally by our Grand Priest.

Because once he sat at the Round Table bearing that identity, regardless of whether that identity was true or false, the candidate for the next Grand Priest was destined to be none other than him.

I imagine the great existences of the Holy Temple must have been in deep agony back then as well.

They knew very well that if he truly was the successor of that great lord, once he assumed the position of Grand Priest, the Holy Temple's control over the Church would inevitably be weakened.

Yet they dared not refuse him that seat, for if he truly were the divine son of that lord, his failure to ascend to the position of Grand Priest would be the greatest mockery in the history of the Sacred Church, hehehe."

Byrne bent down, looked at Voflen, and said:

"Chief, I originally thought you handed your grandson over to Karen because you wanted him to hitch a ride toward a bright future, but I truly never expected your ambition to be this grand.

This is no mere entrustment of an orphan; you clearly want your family to take a step forward—no, many, many steps forward."

"Ah, I am old, and I am close to death. To tell the truth, I am currently relying on a single breath to prop myself up. I want to see this matter conclude before I finally lay down in peace. I cannot even get a proper night's sleep; I can only manage a hazy, forced nap.

As for the family affairs, I dare not think of them anymore, so when I doze off, I must always pick some beautiful dreams for myself. I dream of what my grandson will look like in the future, what he will look like after he marries, what he will look like when he has children...

But all of this is intertwined with Karen, so it is only natural, isn't it, to think of Karen in the best possible light.

Without realizing it, I have placed him in a very, very high position. I grew greedy; yes, I grew greedy.

However,

Byrne,

do you believe it,

I have a faint premonition that this dream of mine might not entirely be a dream."

"Chief, our Sacred Church of Order is not known for divination."

"This is not divination. Although that assassin launched a sneak attack against me, even if we had fought face to face, I feel I still would not have been able to defeat him."

"That is because you are old, and both your body and soul have entered decay. Had it been the younger version of you, it would be different."

"Yet that assassin was killed by Karen."

"It might not have been Karen who killed him. There is a secret involved here, of an extremely high level, which I have no way of knowing, but I have a feeling that while the assassin is dead, the credit can only be attributed to Karen."

"Do you think I did not pull strings to investigate? Nearly my entire family is dead; how could I not care deeply about this matter?"

"And the result of your investigation?"

"Much the same as yours. Helplessly enough, even the lives of my entire family could not buy a true decryption. But have you ever considered this: even if the credit can only be recognized as Karen's, why must it be him who receives it?

Do you want to say it is a coincidence?

Byrne, you are not one to believe in such nonsense as coincidence."

"Let us change the subject, Chief. I am still looking forward to being the next Chief, and I have no desire to be mysteriously reassigned or exiled."

"In truth, I really do want to know where exactly that assassin fled to, but unfortunately, all traces of it have been erased."

"You still have the mind to..."

Bishop Byrne stopped speaking.

"What is it?"

"Someone has approached this place. Not of our Church, and in fact, not even resembling a member of any church, but they actively released their aura, as a way of giving me notice."

"Oh, then they are here to watch the play."

"You sit here, and I will go take a look."

"Go on."

...

Bishop Byrne's figure appeared before the window of a tall building. Inside the window stood a person dressed in a grey robe, whose face was completely concealed, as was their physique; it could be said that they had hidden themselves to the absolute limit.

Yet, strangely enough, they also appeared quite open about it. Having infiltrated to such a close distance, if they had not actively released their aura, Byrne felt he might not have noticed them at all.

Byrne spoke, "This play is not something just anyone is qualified to watch."

The grey-robed figure responded, "I could kill that dying old man right in front of your eyes, and you would not be able to stop me."

"And so?"

"And so, let me watch the play in peace, without bothering each other."

"That is inappropriate. You can try to kill him, and I will do my utmost to detain you, then mobilize forces to keep you here forever. Unless, you tell me your purpose for watching the play."

"To protect Karen."

"What are you to him?"

"Are you certain you want to know, Byrne?"

"Is it unspeakable?"

"I dare to speak it; do you dare to listen?"

"And what about afterward? I mean after this matter concludes."

"We likely shall not meet again."

"Very well."

Byrne's figure dissolved away.

Inside the window, the grey-robed figure sighed:

"I will settle scores with you when I get back. For a matter this big, you didn't even tell your grandmother beforehand."

The grey-robed figure looked down at their own palm, wondering in puzzlement:

"Ah, this child really is something. Why does he always refuse to treat his own grandmother like a proper bowl of wontons?"

...

Bishop Byrne's figure returned to Voflen's side.

"Who was it?"

"A spectator for the play."

"One of Karen's people?" Voflen smiled slightly, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have tolerated their presence and returned on your own."

"Yes."

"Of what level?"

"If they wished to come and kill you, I alone could not stop them."

"Tsk... is that how you all use me as an example? How unlucky!"

"However, I am confident I can investigate their identity. Though they spoke in a male voice, it was a woman, of a very advanced age. She has lived the life of an ordinary person for a long time, and has grown unfamiliar with many details. Not a believer, but in all probability, someone from within our Church."

"Family?"

"High probability, and her husband's family holds a position that is not low."

"If I didn't know better, I would have thought you had already interrogated her."

"I am in this line of work."

"Alright, professionals are indeed different. What next?"

"According to what you said, I won't investigate Cullen. I'll just pretend I didn't see anything."

"Your tone changed, oh."

"Because... I somewhat believe it."

...

Above the square, the falcon knights continued to circle, their spell-infused crossbows constantly aiming at the important targets below.

Though the undead warhorses beneath the knights maintained an absolute silence, their hooves constantly shimmered with light, a sign that they were perpetually building momentum, preparing to charge.

In truth, the scene on the square had already set a precedent; now it remained to be seen whether it would slide radically toward a direction that would shock the history of the Church.

And all of this depended on the three people present, among whom Dunk had already abstained.

The remaining two individuals began to lock eyes.

"Hurry and shoot, hurry up and shoot!"

In the corner, Monaxi desperately urged her assistant. This was a massive story, one large enough to cause a sensation throughout the entire ecclesiastical circle. Who could have imagined that such an event would occur within the Order of Divine Light, the number one great church.

"Boss, we are almost out of film."

"Out of film? Did you eat cow dung for breakfast!"

"We took a lot during the meeting earlier, so there isn't much left now..."

"Why did you waste so much film? Where am I going to find spell film for you now? Go and borrow it from those colleagues from the Order of Divine Light and its affiliated churches? Look at them, not a single one dares to lift their camera to shoot, because they know this cannot be filmed!"

"It was you, Boss, who told me to shoot there and shoot here earlier, saying that after finishing the film, we could return to get a reimbursement and pocket a kickback..."

"Shut up!"

"Shh, be quiet."

"! !" Monaxi’s spine went cold in an instant. This was the second time she had been frightened today, and furthermore, it was still a man.

"Even if you take this back, it's useless; the Gray Church wouldn't dare publish it," the man reminded her.

"I can sell it to the Orthodox Church."

"Oh, clever."

Neo continued to cast his gaze forward. Yes, he had escaped from prison.

After all, to a man holding the "key" to the cell in his hand, a prison break was not a matter of consequence at all. A few nights ago, when he felt hungry, he had even gone out for a late-night snack and come back, even bringing breakfast for the guards who were dozing off during the night.

In short, for an event this monumental, how could it possibly lack his presence? He didn't have to participate, but he absolutely had to watch from the sidelines!

Only,

Why did Cullen give him a feeling right now that carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity?

...

Cullen raised the black token and shouted to District Chief Harry, "This is a case for which I am responsible. The investigation is not yet over. I demand these