A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, crackling thunder resounded in the mountains, and huge raindrops rushed to fall quickly, hitting the domes, eaves, windows, tree crowns, and the ground.
Heavy rain pours from the sky, and the thick raindrops are like a hard city wall.
Water splashed on the ground, and the dense sound covered everything. The soil splashed with the rain, and there was an earthy smell in the air.
Even though it was so noisy, it suddenly felt peaceful.
Headquarters of the Order of the Holy Lance.
It was raining heavily outside the window, and the raindrops splashed on the windowsill. The fine water droplets were blown into the room by the wind like mist, making people feel a little cool.
There were six people sitting at the table in the knight's hall at the moment, with Otis at the top, three people on each side, and Farella among them.
"Is there any news coming from the Palace of Ten Swords recently?" Otis asked.
"No, Sibis has always stayed in it, never going out, and never responding to what happened a few days ago." A Qianqi Commander replied.
"It seems that he is planning to leave this matter to air and wait for the heat to pass before dealing with it slowly." A knight analyzed this.
"But wouldn't this affect its reputation?" a certain Qianqi Commander said.
"Maybe people don't care. Sibis has been operating in the church for many years and has built a prosperous interest network based on relationships with students, colleagues, seniors, etc. These allies will not change just because of this small incident and damage to their reputation.
position. And those who actually vote in the general election are not ordinary monks and nuns, but the bishops and senior officials of the Zodiac who hold power."
"Then this would be a bit disadvantageous for us. We didn't expect him to make any moves." A certain Qianqi Commander sighed.
"Perhaps he himself realizes that no matter what he says or explains at this time, it is wrong."
There are many thousand knight commanders in the Knights of the Holy Lance, but the only ones who are really close to Otis are the few in front of him. If Sibis is the kind of business model that casts a wide net and has multiple layouts, then Otis
Just focus on a few but fine die-hard supporters.
These Qianqi Commanders and their subordinates were the kind of people who could really go through life and death for them, which made him feel particularly reassured.
The papal election will begin at the beginning of next month, and those with voting rights include the bishops of various churches, senior officials of the Zodiac, and the captains of the Thousands of the three major knights, etc.
It is also worth mentioning that the Adjudication Division does not have the right to vote. This is a constraint and a protection. They will supervise the election process and do not have to take sides for this.
In terms of the number of votes, the bishops of various churches accounted for about 70% of the votes, while the Zodiac held about 20%, and the three major knights accounted for 10%. Although the total number of bishops is large, the factions among them are very scattered, and
It's unclear. They are more or less connected with the Zodiac within the church and know the general situation, but their stance is not firm.
"However, it is not completely ineffective. At least recently, many bishops from other places have visited the leader to reconsider the future voting."
Several of them talked about the recent situation.
"What's going on over there with Beenice?" Otis suddenly asked.
"Archbishop Beenice has been staying in the Aquarius Palace as usual recently and has not taken any special actions. However, an interesting thing happened a few days ago."
"Oh, what's the matter?" Several other people also became interested.
"It is said that a new member of the Judgment Department wanted to enter the inner palace, but was stopped by the guards. Then she took out the badge of the Judgment Department."
"Haha, it's really interesting. I guess she is young and doesn't know what it means."
"People in the Adjudication Division generally don't show off their badges easily. Once they show off their badges, they must have solid evidence and prepare to kill."
"I guess those guards were also very angry and funny. Later, because she was young, they didn't pursue her specifically."
"What happened after that?"
"After? It seems that the nun was dragged into the inner palace and lectured a lot before being released."
"However, because of this incident, many people have been secretly speculating recently that there is something wrong with Beinis, and that the Adjudication Division will come to her. This is not a good sign."
"But it's a good sign for us. Originally, Beenice is just a junior. Although she has the strength of Sequence 9, she has only been promoted for a few years and is not yet stable. This way, it allows me to feel at ease and free up my hands to deal with Xi.
Bis."
"Compared to the simple Beenes, the cunning Sibys is much more difficult to deal with. He will be the biggest obstacle for Lord Otis to run for the Pope." Several knight captains analyzed the current primary goal.
"But recently he has been passive in dealing with it, leaving us with no good solution for the time being."
"So be it." A knight commander raised his hand. This person was Farella, the knight commander who recommended himself to Otis some time ago.
"If the fire is not big enough, then add another fire. When the public opinion is overwhelming, we will see which bishop dares to side with Sibes." He said slowly, and then clenched the palms covered with stainless steel gauntlets.
————
A few days later, more bad news about Sibis spread in the Holy Mountain. Some said that he cultivated lust, some said that he bullied orphans and widows, some said that he suppressed his former teacher, and some said that he cheated in the priest examination.
wait.
The vivid descriptions of these rumors have aroused all kinds of attention in ordinary churches. Even these clergymen who cultivate their minds can't help but discuss in a low voice sometimes after tea and dinner, and their scope is becoming more and more widespread.
It has spread widely and even started to spread from the headquarters to branches in various places.
"Hey, have you heard about the recent news about Archbishop Thebis?" After finishing their daily work, two young monks were sitting on the stone to rest, when one of them suddenly mentioned the recent news.
"Which one are you talking about? I've heard a lot of news recently. I didn't expect that the big shot above would be this kind of thing."
"Haha, who is not? But he has been exposed recently. In my opinion, there are probably a lot of bishops who behave like this."
Although these rumors describe many details, most of them are from the past, and the parties involved and their deeds have been lost in time. Even if Sibis defends himself, it will be very difficult. And the general public does not care about the truth or falsehood, they only care about being interesting.
or not.
————
The Palace of Ten Swords and the Inner Palace of Flowing Water.
Sibis was still sitting on the bench by the pool, eating sweet crisp berries and listening to the people below reporting on various recent rumors.
"Haha, it's really interesting." There was no angry expression on his fat and white face, but a bit of mockery.
"If Otis makes an armed raid and arrests me first and then interrogates me, I'm still a little worried. But now, it's really interesting that they want to bring me down based on these."
It's like a knight who is good at using a spear suddenly changes his career and wants to use words to make people collapse and surrender. He abandons his own strengths and uses his weaknesses to fight against an experienced opponent.
Sibbes summoned two attendants, spoke some instructions in their ears, and then let them leave the palace.
A few days later, there were more and more rumors and rumors about Sibyss, and they became more and more bizarre. From the beginning, he was messing around with men and women, to later, he coerced the queen of a certain family to let his own child take his place.
Prince. Later it was even reported that even his Sequence 8 extraordinary strength was fake, and he was pretending to be some extraordinary creation, etc.
Recently, there was another incident. It was said that he deliberately drove the same group of priest classmates who entered the Lanye Palace to a remote church in the mountains. They struggled to make a living for decades. The genius back then is still stuck in Sequence 3, which is very sad.
At the same time, more and more people began to chant, demanding that the Adjudication Division investigate Sibis thoroughly, suspend him from office, imprison him, and deprive him of all rights.
At this time, more people began to shout and march in the Holy Mountain, and their scale was even larger than before.
In the palace of Aquarius, the bedroom is illuminated by the setting sun.
The golden afterglow fell on the white sheets, covering half of the body of a silver-haired girl.
Lorraine Hill was sitting on the bedside, spreading out the clothes he had just brought in from outside, then slowly folding them and placing them neatly on the bedside.
Click——
After a while, the door suddenly opened.
"Rocher."
Bo Li ran in excitedly. She took the silver-haired girl's hand and said excitedly: "Don't fold the clothes now. Let's go out and take a look. Something big is going to happen in the Holy Mountain today."
"What's wrong?" Although Lorraine Hill replied, she still folded the nun's uniform in her hands before standing up.
"A big event has happened. Many people are heading towards the Palace of Ten Swords holding torches. It is said that they want to seek justice and overthrow the evil archbishop Sibis."
As she spoke, she pulled the girl outside and walked towards the mountain road.
It was getting late. The sun had already set, and only the blue-purple dusk was still faintly visible on the horizon.
The mountain road under the Aquarius Palace was crowded with people. They were noisy and excited. Many people held torches to light up the surroundings. Then they slowly moved forward with the flow of people. It seemed that there were at least several thousand people.
"Remove Thebys from his position!"
"He doesn't deserve it!"
“Villain!“
"The scum of the church!"
Some of them looked angry and shouted loudly, while others followed behind with eyes full of excitement and curiosity, ready to see how the matter would end.
"Let's follow." Bo Li is a typical theater person who is not afraid of the height of the stage.
"Don't get too close. We can just watch from a distance." Lorraine Hill shook her head. She felt that things were not simple tonight.
"Okay, I'll listen to the Chief."
"That's when I remembered that I am the chief of the college." Lorraine Hill touched Bo Li's head angrily. This school girl seemed to be a lot more lively recently.
After chatting with Bo Li for a while, she turned her gaze to the distance again, which was the direction of the Palace of Ten Swords. At this time, it was dark there, as usual.
----------
The crowds on the mountain road were like fire dragons, slowly swimming forward in the night, and they became thicker and longer.
During the period when a pope was not elected, the church seemed leaderless, and people from all parties became bolder. With their conscious or unconscious promotion, more and more people participated in this incident.
Hearing the noise outside, the bishops who came from various places to participate in the election meeting also walked out of their residences, overlooking the long flames from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside.
"Do you want to go down and have a look, sir?" an accompanying priest asked the elderly bishop in front of him.
"Let's go and have a look and see how Sibbes explains it." After saying that, the nearly 70-year-old bishop set foot on the path among the mountains with the support of the priest beside him.
Outside the Song Palace, several priests in white robes also looked at the lights in the distance.
"It's amazing, this time." said a woman with hair as red as the sunset.
"Made everyone laugh." Another blonde woman responded, holding a scepter with a pattern of feathers and musical notes in her hand.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, Elise, we definitely won't laugh at you because of this." The woman with red hair said, and then giggled again.
"Among the sisters we were together at the time, you are the one with the highest position and extraordinary level now. I am still at Sequence 7."
"Zhu Ya is begging for a beating again, how can you let us Sequence 6 people survive?" Several women nearby also followed suit.
Although they are not too young, these women once studied together in the Holy Mountain, and their relationship has always been very good. They come here to get together every two years. This time it also coincides with the papal election, and Elise is the current Psalmist.
Palace of Wands Priests.
"Is Zhu Ya still the bishop of Hopeland?" asked a black-haired woman next to him.
"Yes, life there has always been pretty stable, except for that time a few years ago." Zhu Ya responded.
"It was a big commotion that time. I heard that several big merchants in Hopeland had a shopping spree. Fires burned, ships bombed, and golems swept across the city. The whole city was almost destroyed. Later, Frost Rose also
An airship was sent to help."
"Yeah, but the right and wrong are also very complicated. Alas, I watched those children grow up, and then there was only one left." Zhu Ya seemed to be remembering something and sighed.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go over and have a look. Maybe things will change in the church this time." After Zhu Ya finished speaking, he pulled a few people behind him and jumped off the cliff, and then several golden
The ball of light rose from the dark night and floated directly in the direction of the Ten Swords Palace.
In the Palace of Ten Swords, in the Palace of Flowing Water.
At this moment, rows of gold-armored guards have gathered and stood in the courtyard of the palace. They are holding prismatic shields and dark gold spears, and there are long swords hanging from their waists. There are about 3,000 people in total.
"Lord Sibis, I have mobilized the guards. Please give me the order." A guard captain reported loudly with a solemn expression.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work. Let's first divide the 2,000 people into several teams to protect the Ten Swords Palace, and the other 1,000 people will stay in the courtyard to provide support at any time."
"Don't hurt those who are going up the mountain. I know this is difficult, but you have to do your best. If you are injured tonight, I will send people to treat and take care of you later, so you don't have to worry."
"I'm optimistic about you." After speaking, he read out the names of the captains, and then patted their shoulders to reassure them.
Several people responded loudly, then walked out quickly, leading groups of people to set up defenses in the Ten Swords Palace. There were also more than 300 priests participating, ready to treat these guards and even open the isolation barrier.
After seeing these people disperse, Sibis patted the huge seat under him, and then the four guards worked together to lift it up, like an oriental sedan, and sent the archbishop to the high platform inside the main entrance of the Palace of Ten Swords.
.
Xibis looked at the people below him and saw that everything was arranged properly. He nodded slightly, then sat on the chair, closed his eyes and rested, and said no more words.
He had already predicted what would happen tonight, and now it was the most critical moment.
Just let me see, I want to see Otis how you are going to defeat me. If you can't kill me today, then I will make you regret it and suffer torture for the rest of your life.
Under the Ten Swords Palace, the turbulent crowd moved forward slowly, and both sides of the mountain road were filled with people from all parties who had been waiting for a long time. They were waiting quietly, preparing to see how this farce would end tonight.