Heathcote was like traveling through mountains and rivers, crossing almost half of the Holy Empire, and came to the ancient castle of Archbishop Richelieu in the Ecclesiastical Province of Bouchanson.
Looking at this quaint castle in front of us, surrounded by countless luanwei flowers that represent purity and exude golden light, it appears to be extremely holy and peaceful. No one can see what is strange about this castle, and will only feel it is solemn.
, simple.
But Heathcote knew that this was the inheritance of Archbishop Richelieu's family, and it was also the home of the Holy Empire's most notorious religious inquisition.
The Inquisition under the leadership of Archbishop Richelieu is jointly run by three giants: Dark Arbitration, Twilight Judgment, and Doomsday Judgment. Archbishop Richelieu also serves as the Dark Arbiter of the three giants of the Inquisition.
But insiders all know that although Archbishop Richelieu is also one of the three giants, he is the only one who actually controls the Inquisition.
The remaining two giants, Twilight Judgment and Doomsday Judgment, also obeyed his orders, and whether they were appointed or dismissed was a matter of one word from Archbishop Richelieu.
As one of the twelve cardinals of the Holy Empire, Archbishop Richelieu was originally in charge of one of the ecclesiastical provinces, Bousançon. After taking charge of the Inquisition, his power overwhelmed the cardinals of other ecclesiastical provinces.
The Holy Empire has four top armed forces, namely the Holy Knights, the Holy Mage Order, the Holy Temple, and the Red Gloves.
Archbishop Richelieu mastered one of them.
In terms of power alone, in the Holy Empire, Archbishop Richelieu was second only to the pope and saints, and his status was even higher than Stuart, the leader of the Holy Knights.
As for the Son, before the Pope is chosen, the symbol is greater than the actual power.
Archbishop Richelieu and the current Pope were both sons of the Holy Spirit.
Unlike Wei Guangzheng, the other functional agencies of the Holy Empire, the Religious Judgment does the dirtiest work of the Holy Empire.
During the thousand-year conquest of the Holy Empire, it grew from a small, unknown church to a huge empire that encompassed almost half of the continent of Toril. During this period, countless heretics inevitably rose up to resist, and there was even disharmony within the early empire.
sound exists.
Often when dealing with powerful and strange heretics, Holy Knights and Templars are not so useful.
Holy Knights and Templars are proficient in battlefield assault and military strategy. They have no advantage when facing a small number of powerful heretics, so the Religious Inquisition was established.
When it was first established, the policy of the Inquisition was to use methods that were even more heretical than heretical to combat heresy, while at the same time cleaning up the corrupt elements within the Holy Empire.
Therefore, the people who accelerate the Inquisition are the best among the best, the best among the best.
Although the number of people was small, the efficiency was high and it quickly became famous.
However, because of its very brutal style of conduct, extremely ruthless methods in eradicating heretics, and the fact that almost all those arrested in the Inquisition never came out again, the name of the Inquisition was well-known to the world.
This is certainly a bad reputation. Even people within the Holy Empire feel both fear and disgust when it comes to the Religious Inquisition.
Looking at the red-gloved knight standing guard in front of the castle gate, Heathcote couldn't help but sigh secretly:
"I really didn't expect the armed force of the Inquisition to be so powerful. The bronze-level knights are just here to guard the gate! Are these the Red Gloves, an elite force dedicated to dealing with heretics?"
"Your Highness the Holy Son, I have kept you waiting for a long time."
A voice interrupted Heathcote's thoughts.
I saw Archbishop Richelieu's confidant, the middle-aged knight Victor, walking out of the castle and giving a knightly salute to Heathcote.
"The Bishop is waiting for His Royal Highness the Son in the study. Please come with me." After saying that, Victor led Heathcote into the castle.
Walking all the way through the castle, Heathcote was deeply attracted by the simple and unassuming decoration and style full of ancient art.
As someone with high artistic attainments, he likes this kind of architectural pattern that is naturally free of carvings but still reveals the atmosphere of history. He has always scorned the gorgeous style of the Holy Empire Cathedral of Light.
Victor knocked on Archbishop Richelieu's door. After receiving the answer, he opened the door and made a gesture of invitation to Heathcote.
As soon as he stepped into the room, Heathcote was attracted by the statue of light in the study.
It was so perfect that the whole statue seemed to be alive, interpreting the nobility and holiness of the God of Light, making people feel a sense of awe, and those with weak willpower would immediately kneel to the ground.
"How is it, Your Highness the Son of God? This statue is the proud work of my youth. In order to make this statue for my lord, I was promoted to legend two years later." An old and peaceful voice interrupted Xi
Scott's obsession.
Heathcote hurriedly saluted the old man and said sincerely: "Archbishop Richelieu, please forgive me for being rude. It is true that your statue of our Lord is too expressive. For a moment, I seemed to have really seen it.
My lord, your religious piety and artistic attainments are truly amazing!"
"Where is it? Your Highness the Son, please take a seat first." Richelieu waved his hand and asked: "I wonder if Your Highness the Son needs any help when you come to my place?"
Heathcote heard this and sat upright and said: "Yes, Archbishop Richelieu, I was ordered by the Pope to track down the heresy that swallowed the soul of Lord Tiamat, the golden dragon. I came here to borrow the golden compass to track the heresy.
"
"No problem." Archbishop Richelieu was very happy and threw the sacred golden compass into Heathcote's hands.
"Thank you so much, Archbishop Richelieu. I will definitely send it back intact."
Heathcote stood up. Since his goal had been achieved, he just wanted to leave immediately. Although the old man in front of him was extremely kind and gentle, he could not see through him.
"It doesn't matter, but His Royal Highness the Holy Son's understanding of power is becoming more and more sophisticated. It really opens the eyes of this useless old guy like me! Even if Joan of Arc steps into the legend, there is still a big gap. Look.
That girl is going to be frustrated again."
Archbishop Richelieu’s words made Heathcote somewhat happy:
"What, Sister Joan of Arc has also entered the legend. It seems that the title of the youngest legendary powerhouse in the Toril continent belongs to her. Hey, where is she? Is she on a mission?"
Heathcote swept his mind and found that Joan of Arc was not in the castle, so he asked.
"Yes, that girl is not here."
"Let me escape the disaster, otherwise that girl has just been promoted to legend and will definitely have to fight with me." Heathcote said with a smile.
"Well, Archbishop Richelieu, I will resign now. After completing my mission, I will come to visit you again."
After Heathcote said goodbye to Richelieu, he left the castle.
Heathcote weighed the slightly heavy golden compass in his hand, and found that it was not much different from other compasses, except that the material was made of pure gold, and the pattern of the God of Light was painted on it, which was extremely exquisite.
Heathcote understood that the Golden Compass was an artifact of destiny, and destiny was an ethereal, yet imminent and unpredictable quality. Therefore, when making the Golden Compass, the power of the rules of the plane must have been used.
The sacred golden compass is an artifact that can guide destiny. As long as the holder outputs his current strongest goals and thoughts, the golden compass will give prompts and show the general direction of people or things.
However, the Golden Compass is only effective against those with lower strength, and is ineffective against those who are above the legend, because those above the legend have mastered the rules of the plane and can effectively avoid being retrieved by others or items.
.
Moreover, the instructions given by the Golden Compass are relatively vague and need to be judged and verified.
But even so, it is an extremely useful tracking artifact. The Religious Inquisition often relies on the golden compass to solve many heresies that are good at hiding under the condition of incomplete information.
Therefore, although the Golden Compass is a sacred instrument, its value is no less than that of an artifact. After all, controlling destiny is something that only the Lord God has the strength to do.
Following the prompts of the golden compass, Heathcote walked along the path that Joan of Arc had traveled. This time, he still used walking instead of flying, which is common to legendary strong men.
He had a hunch: this trip would not go well.
[Author's digression]: Dear readers, I'm sorry, I'm busy at work today, so I only have one chapter to update, please forgive me.