Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 103 The Curtain Opens
"How is it possible ... that's, that's..."
Feeling that his will, which was previously filled with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, was now rapidly deflated like a deflated ball, Sigmund's sweat instantly flowed down his forehead.
Within the Holy Spirit Church, status is determined by the distance between a person and the Holy Spirit, and clergy of each level have absolute power over lower-level believers, including but not limited to weakening, deflecting, or even directly invalidating the opponent's abilities through decrees.
But the "Living Saint" is an exception. As an existence beyond the rank, the Living Saint is above the ten artificially divided ranks and is the right-hand man of the Holy Spirit to implement His "ideas".
Especially after he put on the ring of protection by the Holy Spirit, its power would never be affected by anything - even if the Patriarch of the Second Church was here, he could not shake the blessing Sigmund had received in the slightest.
According to common sense, this is how things should be...
However, something beyond common sense happened at this moment.
The ring on the magic chanter's hand made Sigmund forget to breathe for a moment.
"Holy...Holy Spirit Guardian Ring?"
The word was like a person trapped in a dry well, grabbing a shaky lifeline and dangling from Sigmund's throat.
This is what people sound like when they see something that is impossible but actually happened.
Legend has it that the Holy Spirit Guardian Ring, which was originally the supreme holy object of the Holy Spirit Church and was sealed in the "Eighth Holy Spirit Treasure" at the end of the world by William Kane, was now worn on the finger of a magic chanter.
He couldn't believe what he saw, but the blessing in his body, which had been greatly weakened, kept reminding him that this was the only possible explanation.
"Do you want to continue?"
The man asked himself in a calm tone.
Sigmund swallowed and did not dare to answer immediately.
At this moment, he was frantically thinking about a series of questions in his mind.
Why did the Holy Spirit Guardian Ring, which disappeared in the long river of history along with William Kane, appear in the hands of this unknown frost magic caster in front of him?
And what a coincidence that he appeared in front of me, a living saint who had just been canonized for his merits , as the absolute trump card to restrain me?
The coincidence was so great that he would not believe that it was not a trap specifically aimed at him, or even at the Second Cult.
Could it be that this was a trap set by the Silent Queen, the leaders of Ava, and other hostile forces?
More importantly, how did the other party obtain this ring?
Could it be that the person in front of me...
After looking at the man in front of him, Sigmund glanced back at the girl with white film in her eyes.
Could it be that the person in front of me has found a way to open the Eighth Holy Spirit Treasury with the help of the remnants of the Blind Sisterhood?
Having made up his mind, he immediately withdrew the shadow of the Holy Spirit behind him.
After the opponent took out the Holy Spirit Guardian Ring, there was no point in continuing this battle... There was no way I could defeat the opponent.
Unlike the fighting style of magic that can win big with a small effort, the essence of the battle between the divinely inspired ones is to see who can obtain more blessings from the Holy Spirit. If there is a clear difference in this regard, then the outcome will have been decided before the battle begins.
Although the opponent was not a divinely inspired one, relying on the suppression power of the ring, he was able to weaken his ability to less than 40% of his normal state. Even if he had fought him with all his strength before, he was only slightly superior. If his blessed state was weakened to less than 40%, he would be in danger even if he escaped from here.
Thinking of this, Sigmund gritted his teeth.
Obviously... obviously it’s just a little bit away.
It was certain that he would become a part of the "Mother" as a saint and achieve eternal immortality with a mortal body.
"Who on earth are you to hold that ring."
Sigmund asked.
"I'm a collector out of interest... so it's time to give me what you've been holding on to."
William waved his hand and Sigmund's shadow twisted instantly. The shadows clung to his hands and feet as if they had gained life, and then turned into dim chains that tied him up tightly.
Something that the other party had been holding in his hand rolled to the ground. William walked over slowly, bent down and picked it up.
It was an ordinary-looking acorn, with the faint symbol of the Holy Mother emerging on it.
With William's memory, there is no way he could have made a mistake. This thing is the core of the World Tree.
“So that’s how it is…”
Looking at the acorn lying quietly in his hand, William suddenly understood a lot of things.
The two timelines were intersecting, and he was currently in both timelines. On one side was the flesh and blood palace that he could observe, and on the other side that he could not observe was the secret room where the core of the World Tree was placed.
Due to the limitations of human cognition, even if two possibilities exist at the same time, he can only observe one result.
The logic is a bit like the famous cat-in-a-box thought experiment.
"It turns out that Ms. Hungry's Moon Source has already been in the game..."
There are a total of eight Moon Sources that William obtained through the console. Except for the "Seed of Hope", the remaining seven, judging from their names and descriptions, should correspond to the seven original kings.
Those are the seven “newborns”.
As the "reborn" reconciliation king, William did not know the name and nature of the other party's Moon Source.
William originally thought that the DLC that was cut off halfway was not going to include those "reborn" kings. But now it seems that their Moon Source may have been placed in the real world just like this acorn.
Looking at the holy emblem of "Mother" printed on the acorn, and thinking of the phantom of the Holy Spirit that the other party had just obtained, William seemed to understand where the other party's achievements that were enough to be promoted to a "living saint" came from.
William waved his hand to untie the shadow chain tied to the other person's mouth, and before the man could speak, he said sternly:
"Idiot, you are using the medium of the Moon Realm to collect the aspects of the Holy Spirit. Aren't you afraid that the essence of the Second Holy Spirit will be contaminated by the Moon Realm?"
Sigmund, who was about to say something, was stunned by William's aggressive tone. It took him a long time to reply:
"What Moon Realm medium?"
Seeing that the other party didn't seem to be lying, William felt a headache. He pressed his eyebrows and asked in a different way:
"The current situation is extremely urgent. If you don't want the things in the arms of the Second Holy Spirit statues worshipped in every household to turn from swaddling clothes into a pile of rotten meat, then please answer me clearly now. Did the Second Cult cooperate with the Void King during this visit to Ravenwood?"
When asking this question, his tone was serious and he also used the illusion [Words of Justice] to enhance his eloquence, making the other party feel from the bottom of his heart that what he said was the truth.
"That was the Whispering Queen fulfilling the ancient contract between her and the Holy Spirit Church. She also took the initiative to add an oath that even the Void King could hardly break... The Whispering Queen, Beatrice, must not interfere with the purity of this aspect of my mother."
Sigmund hesitated before answering.
William's heart sank when he heard this. Just because Beatrice couldn't interfere didn't mean that other Void Kings couldn't interfere. Haven't they even thought about this?
"Idiot who was sold but still helped others count money..."
William whispered, then looked at the man and said:
"There is still a chance to make amends. Next, I need you to convey a few words to me. First of all..."
Before William finished speaking, a cold and majestic female voice suddenly came from mid-air.
That was Floral's voice.
"Hello, all the forest elves, all the citizens of the Jade Province, and all the descendants of the conquerors of Ava Continent."
"I am Flora Cain. Today, in the name of the last queen of the ancient Holy Tree Kingdom, I will issue a reasonable order to all the people of the forest. I hereby ask everyone to quietly accept their destined death..."
At the same time as this voice echoed, the dead baby named "unborn fetus" not far from William suddenly turned around and looked at William.
To be precise, he looked at the iron heart in William's hand.