Two hundred and thirteen chapters theocracy and kingship
Two extremely tall bell towers surround a pure black building. The mottled surface of the bell tower does not look shabby, but reveals a sense of ancient tranquility. The pure black building is surrounded by tall towers inlaid with blue and red sparse patterns.
Windows allow outside light to enter.
This is St. Samuel's Church, the largest church of the Church of the Night Goddess in Backlund Diocese.
There were no candles lit in some dim rooms, and only the rare sunlight shone through the stained glass, preventing the room inside the church from completely falling into darkness. The light dyed by the stained glass hit the center of the room.
A long table forms a dark and far-reaching abstract painting.
Sitting at the head of the long table is an old man with a clean face, no beard, deep and quiet eyes, wearing a black and red clergy robe, but it does not give people a gloomy feeling. He is the archbishop of the Church of the Night Goddess, Baker.
The head of the Rand diocese, Anthony Stevenson, the "Bishop of Fear" of Sequence 3.
Sitting on his left hand is an old man wearing a white priest's robe and a clergy hat, with a kind face and a gentle expression. He is the Archbishop of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, a member of the Pre-God Council, and the "Alchemist" of Sequence 4.
"Horamick Haydn.
Horamik's gaze stayed forward, but his eyes were dull, as if he was thinking about something. This made the old man sitting opposite him, wearing a black soft hat and unusually serious silver eyes, frown.
The black robe wearing the symbol of the storm is none other than the Cardinal of the Church of Storms, the Archbishop of Backlund, and the "Singer of God" Ace Snake.
"Anthony, who are you waiting for?" Ace Snake's magnetic voice echoed in the room. It seemed that the moment he spoke, the dim room lit up instantly, like lightning flashing across the night sky.
"Selte." Anthony's voice seemed to come from the deepest darkness, and the darkness in the room seemed to be activated, conveying the power of fear.
"Selt?"
Ace Snake frowned, making his face that looked serious because of his silver eyes even more serious. Selt is a military demigod, the head of MI9, and the "Law Mage" of Sequence 4. Normal situation
, the three archbishops of the three major churches will not have much communication with that demigod.
Not only to avoid suspicion, but also because there is really no opportunity for communication. The three major churches are almost capable of handling most extraordinary affairs. If they join forces with MI9, it will probably be a big deal.
Not long after, a man with black hair and golden eyes, wearing a black tuxedo as if attending a banquet, walked in. His temperament seemed extremely mature and elegant, and he looked apologetic:
"Sorry, there are some matters that I need to deal with." He is the head of MI9 and has many things to deal with.
His eyes subconsciously looked at Horamik, who was still in a trance, and he looked doubtfully at Saint Anthony at the top of the long table.
Saint Anthony nodded, motioned for him to sit down, and then said:
"Wait until Horamik is finished."
Selt nodded and sat next to Ace Snake, the "Singer of Gods". His golden eyes stared at Horamik across from him. He is a Sequence 4 "Law Mage" and can judge the situation on the other side.
What came was not the alchemy doll, but Horamik himself.
And judging from his current state, it seems that he is actively controlling the alchemy doll. So what kind of situation would make a noble demigod behave in such a lack of etiquette?
After a while, Horamik came back to his senses and looked at Ace Snake, who was looking unkind across the way. A smile appeared on his gentle face, and he nodded towards Selt and said:
"Still not keeping her."
Ace Snake and Selt both looked at Horamik, their eyes full of doubts.
Horamik blinked mechanically like a controlled puppet. He had not recovered from the process of controlling the puppet. After a few seconds, he suddenly opened his mouth and explained:
"You should all know what happened in the Bridge District yesterday."
After seeing the three people nodding, Horamik paused for a few seconds and continued:
"Because of this incident, the 'Mechanical Heart' started patrolling the Hillston District, Bridge District, St. George District and other areas last night. Max Livermore, the captain of the 'Mechanical Heart' team patrolling the St. George District
I discovered the 'living corpse' that appeared in the bridge area, and when I was about to contain it, I was attacked by a Sequence 5 'Wraith Spirit'.
Fortunately, it was not far from St. Hilaryn's Church. With the arrival of follow-up support, it was certain that they would be caught. But a demigod suddenly appeared and blocked all the members of the 'Heart of Machinery' until I arrived.
Just left."
"You didn't keep her?" Although Selt and Horamik are both demigods, if they really want to fight, they can only escape with the help of his sealed artifact "Travel Ring", and they may not be able to escape.
After all, Horamik's alchemy doll also possesses the power of a demigod even if it is not controlled. In one against two, Selt has no hope of winning.
"No." Horamik shook his head, "Like you, she possesses a sealed object of the 'Gate' pathway, which should be a '1' level sealed object, so my astrological interference has no effect on her.
The ability to travel through the spirit world has its effects.”
"You should have left a mark on her, right?" Ace Snake didn't believe that Horamik didn't leave any back-up plan. Otherwise, did they let them come here to see how embarrassed he was?
"Yes." Horamik didn't care about the words of "Singer of God" and smiled warmly, "But that mark is not very useful. I can only lock her when she returns to the real world. After all, the power of the stars is difficult.
It affects the spiritual world.”
Horamik did not tell anyone about the Intis embassy’s encounter with this demigod, which would affect the relationship between the Church of Steam and Loen.
After that time, he made some changes to the mechanical doll. Since it can't be interfered with, it can be locked. Of course, his ability alone cannot do this. He used the ritual to destroy a "0" level sealed object.
After praying, the ability to temporarily lock the alchemy doll to the stars has been improved to a certain extent.
But it also has a negative effect, that is, Horamik's ability to control the doll is reduced, and he will be sluggish when he is out of control. Fortunately, the "law mage" does not seem to have a lot of combat experience, and Horamik
Gram's doll parts were diligently replaced so that it was not destroyed.
"Has she not left Backlund yet?" This is what the military demigod Selt is concerned about. A demigod wandering around Backlund is an extremely unstable factor.
Under normal circumstances, the three major churches, the royal family, and the military have a certain tacit understanding in this regard, that is, angels on the earth and "0" level sealed objects will not appear in Backlund.
Therefore, a demigod, a high-sequence strongman who is not under control, wanders around Backlund, which is enough to attract the attention of the kingdom's government and the three major churches.
Although the strong men in Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 may not be able to withstand the bombardment of giant ship cannons, there is no need for them to compete head-on. They have too many weird abilities.
What's more, this demigod has mastered a sealed artifact of the "Gate" path, which is almost as dangerous as an angel.
"Yes, she has been wandering around Backlund and has no intention of staying away. And..." Horamik looked at Selt with a strange expression, "She is a 'Law Mage'."
"How is that possible?" Selt retorted subconsciously.
The other two archbishops, Saint Anthony and Ace Snake, also looked at Selt. Not many could believe his words.
Demigods are high-end combat powers in the extraordinary world. After all, this is the fifth era. Gods do not walk on the earth, and angels are rarely active. Therefore, almost every demigod has a trace to follow, except for those big forces.
.
The major forces that control the "Judge" path include the Augustus family, and the other is the Feneport royal family and the Castile family. More importantly, the Augustus family has a female "Law Order"
"Master", that is Duchess Georgina Augustus.
After retorting, Selt spread his hands and said aggrievedly:
"Well, I can't guarantee anything."
Although he is the head of MI9, he has too many factions under his command. He himself is biased towards the military and does not know much about whether there are other female "Law Masters" in the royal family.
Seeing that the eyes of Saint Anthony and Ace Snake were still on him, Selt had no choice but to continue:
"So, you came to me because you want me to capture that demigod? You three, no, two of you, can do it together, right?"
In fact, Selt was afraid that the three people in front of him would let him take action, because he had no way to guarantee whether the demigod was from the royal family.
Horamik looked at the "Bishop of Fear" Anthony Stevenson sitting at the head of the long table. He actually came here just to get Anthony to take action. As an Extraordinary person of the "General Knowledge" path, he knew very well that he could
The only one fighting in the spirit world was Anthony, but he called Ace Snake and Salt from MI9.
"In addition to that strange demigod, didn't 'Vice Admiral Hurricane' also infiltrate Backlund? I have a hunch that Backlund may not be at peace."
The "Night Watch" in Sequence 4 can bring misfortune to the enemy and can also sense misfortune to a certain extent. The "Dread Bishop" in Sequence 3 can sense more.
Saint Anthony's voice was very soft, but it silenced the three demigods in the room.
"So, in the coming period, everyone should pay more attention."
After another silence, Horamik's right hand touched the long wooden table in front of him. A bright star-like light flashed through, and a portrait, no, it should be an engraving, appeared on the table.
It was a lady wearing an ordinary long skirt. She had a pretty face, a high nose bridge, and plump lips. She was about twenty to thirty years old. On the long table, her face looked extremely weird.
, not like real people.
"This is the appearance of the demigod. Her eyes are dark gray. To a normal person, her appearance is very strange, like a doll, and the workmanship is not very exquisite."
As an "alchemist", Horamik has unique insights in this regard. If he hadn't confirmed that the person facing him was a real person and a "Law Master", he would have doubted whether it was an "alchemist" or "ancient alchemist".
A doll made by a "master".
Horamik hesitated a little, but still said:
"Some time ago, you should have heard about the Intis embassy. The demigod once sneaked in there."
Selt's golden eyes stared at Horamik, and his tone was a little unkind:
"Your Excellency, Archbishop, do you know what you are talking about?"
Saint Anthony and Ace Snake didn't react at all. They just looked at Horamik and then looked away.
Unlike the Church of the Lord of Storms and the Church of the Goddess of Night, the Church of Steam and Machinery, which preaches in Intis and Loen at the same time, will always be involved in the political struggle between the two countries.
"So I think it's more likely that the 'law mage' comes from within Loen."
Selt was speechless for a moment. It seemed that this possibility was not impossible. Even he, the director of MI9 who had the intelligence, was not very clear about how much secret power the royal family had.
The Ambassador of Intis, Mr. Beclan Jean Madin, made many small moves in Loen, but unfortunately MI9 has been unable to grasp the clues. Therefore, it is possible that the royal family sent a demigod to sneak into the Intis Embassy.
Sexually, after all, the most powerful person in the embassy is only Sequence 5.
Seeing that Selt would no longer pursue the matter, Horamik was relieved. The Church of Steam was far more restricted in Loen than the Church of Storms and the Church of Night. If Selt, the director of MI9, had any concerns about the church,
If he is dissatisfied, even Horamik will have difficulty guaranteeing that he will not be criticized by the Holy See.
"I originally planned to ask Anthony to take action and work together to capture the demigod, but he thought that the possibility of this demigod coming from the royal family was very small."
St. Anthony Stevenson, the "Bishop of Fear" sitting at the top, looked at Horamik. Although he could fight in the spiritual world, compared to the "Law Mage" who mastered the sealed artifacts of the "Gate" pathway,
There is still a certain gap. Even if he and Horamik join forces, they may not be able to keep the demigod.
His purpose in letting Selt come here was not only to rule out the possibility that the "Law Mage" came from the royal family, but he also wanted to let Selt help, but it seemed unrealistic.
Horamik also knew what Anthony was thinking and knew that it was impossible for Selt to take action, so he stood up and said goodbye:
"She just hid in the spirit world, it will probably take a while."
Ace Snake and Selt also got up and left. The latter even borrowed the "travel ring" to quickly leave. He didn't want to get involved in this fight, but he also wanted to find out the origin of the demigod.
Soon, only Archbishop Saint Anthony was left in the room. His eyes stayed on the carved statue on the table, a trace of doubt flashed in his deep eyes, and he said to himself:
"Tamara?"
The surrounding light suddenly disappeared, as if being swallowed up by the darkness in the room. When the light disappeared, Saint Anthony had disappeared into the room.
…
An apartment somewhere in Jowood District.
A knock on the door sounded. Forsi, who was coming down the stairs, smoothed back his messy brown hair, yawned, and shouted to the person who was knocking:
"Hugh, didn't you bring the key? Or Alicia?"
"It's me, Meyer Bragg, Ms. Wall." A man's dull voice came from outside the door.
"Breg?"
Fors's footsteps suddenly stopped. Bragg was the police officer in charge of the neighborhood. This is the Jowood area, mostly middle-class people, and the police rarely come to disturb residents unless there is a case.
"Don't you think Xiu has sent someone to the hospital again?"
Forsi shook his head and continued to go downstairs. Now that Xio had to hide his identity in MI9, his personality had become much more restrained, and he would only show his strength occasionally.
"Click", the wooden door opened, and four policemen in black and white police uniforms stood in front of them. The leader was Meyer Bragg with a beard.
Forsi looked past the three policemen standing in front and looked at the senior inspector farthest away from her, who was wearing two silver six-pointed stars. He turned sideways and did not face Forsi, but he could just
Saw the knife marks on the side of his face.
As if sensing Forsi's gaze, the inspector turned to look at Forsi, revealing a pair of brown eyes like an eagle.
It was the policeman who was suspected of being a "nighthawk" at Philip's Department Store in the West End. Why did he come to the Jowood District?
In the northwest area of Backlund, which is the core area of this metropolis, Queens District and Jorwood District belong to the "Punishers", the West District and the North District belong to the "Nighthawks", Hillston District and Backlund Bridge
The area is managed by the "Machine Heart".
The policeman who was suspected of being a "Nighthawk" obviously recognized Forsi, but he did not speak, and just looked at Forsi with sharp eyes.
"Bragg, is something wrong?"
Forsi quickly reacted and said hello to Chief Bragg.
Bragg nodded, pointed to the two inspectors beside him and said:
"These police officers have something to ask you."
A senior inspector with a rough face stood up and said in a deep voice:
"Do you know Alicia?"
Forsi frowned slightly, nodded and said:
"I know her. She is a new neighbor who has moved in in the apartment next door." There is no need to hide this kind of thing. People nearby know that she and Alicia are often together.
How could an Extraordinary come to ask about Alicia? She was really an Extraordinary, Forsi had doubted it yesterday. But as a friend, it was better to be concerned.
"Did something happen to her?"
The sharp-eyed inspector standing at the end replied:
"She has committed crimes, including fraud, theft, and wounding. She is also related to the gas explosion in the former Tianqiao area."
As soon as he finished speaking, the rough-faced senior inspector looked back at him, then turned his head and continued to stare at Forsi.
"I don't know, she and I just met, and I haven't seen her in the past few days." Forsi shook his head, knowing that these may have nothing to do with Alicia. The final "gas explosion" may have
related.
Xio mentioned this matter to her yesterday, saying that several Extraordinaries had done something in the bridge area and caused a lot of damage. Alicia should be among them, so Extraordinaries from the church came to the door.
After the rough-faced senior inspector asked a few more questions, the sharp-eyed inspector spoke again:
"Okay, if you see her, just inform Bragg. She is in danger."
Forsi looked at the disappearing figures of the four policemen and frowned. This investigation was too simple. Although Alicia had only moved here for a month, she did have a good relationship with Forsi. Even according to that
The inspector's statement should at least be inquired in detail, but it is really strange to simply ask a few questions like this.
Forsi's eyes turned to the apartment next door, where Alicia lived. If she was an Extraordinary, what was her path?
Thinking that Alicia seemed to be very interested in "The Curse of the Witch" which he had just written at the beginning, Forsi shuddered. Could she be a "witch"?
Forsi and Xio unexpectedly encountered a "witch" from the Gnostic Society before, and had to hide for a while. They didn't dare to come out until the Church of the Night conducted a search.
Moreover, he secretly entered Alicia's home yesterday. Thinking of this, Forsi no longer dared to think about it. For the first time, she felt that her imagination was too rich, so rich that it made her feel scared.
Forsi closed the door. She wanted to wait for Xio to come back and ask if there was any news from MI9.
…
"Borgia, you have to give me an explanation!"
Far away from the apartment, the rough-faced senior inspector couldn't bear it anymore and stopped to look at the sharp-eyed Inspector Borgia.
Borgia's brown eyes looked at the apartment they came out of. After looking at it, he said in a low voice:
"That Ms. Forse Wall, I met her at Philip's Department Store on the West End."
The two inspectors turned around and looked at the apartment at the same time. They were not police officers, but members of the "Punishers" team. As a "Nighthawk", Borgia acted with the "Punishers"
, because he investigated and found out that Alicia had been to Philips Department Store.
"Then why give up asking?"
"That day, this lady was with Count Hall's young daughter." Borgia looked at the apartment, "Whether she has a relationship with that demigod or not, you need to be careful."
If there is, does that mean that the demigod is related to Earl Hall? If not, as friends of Earl Hall's youngest daughter, they need to pay special attention.
As a pole in the political arena, the Hall family is such a behemoth that even the three archbishops need to pay special attention.
Although he is the "Rageful People" of Sequence 8, it does not mean that this "Punisher" has no brains. Many things in Backlund are not just simple extraordinary affairs. Once they involve the nobility, politics and military, then
It's very tricky.
"I will report this matter when I get back and then consider how to deal with it."
The relationship between the two parties is not harmonious now. The eldest son of Earl Hall and the only son of Duke Negan are competing fiercely. If not handled properly, it is very likely to cause greater turmoil.
Borgia withdrew his gaze and said goodbye to the two "punishers":
"Okay, I will report it to His Excellency Saint Anthony when I get back." This was the only thing he could do.