Chapter 573: The Hall under the Halo
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"The volunteer priest should have reached his destination, yes?"
In the cathedral of Havenwright, Kingdom of Helius, the Bishop put down the letter in his hands, turned around, and calmly watched the Holy Knight walking in through the door.
"Yes, news has arrived in the morning, he has successfully slipped into the Academy." The Holy Knight answered hastily, "If everything goes smoothly, he will cleanse and clear all the sinners when the mages are holding their school opening ceremony."
"Let us hope so." The Bishop said emotionlessly, "His Highness the Pope is still under seclusion. You should also understand, we are unable to pay this sort of a cost a second time."
The Holy Knight knelt down on one knee, nodding vigorously: "Of course. The will of God will protect us."
The Bishop shook his head and turned around. His sight fell on the giant mural in the cathedral. After a moment of silence, he said: "Since those people are sure to die, please prepare for the next phase of action. The King of Carretas and the master mages of Ferelden would have all fallen in that small academy. We cannot miss this chance."
The Holy Knight lifted his head, and tried to probe, saying: "Then we..."
The Bishop’s tone of voice was calm, but there was an unflinching certainty in the voice: "Send three thousand priests over, and while Icor has not yet responded, we will end everything."
Hearing that, the Holy Knight could not help but be stunned.
Three thousand priests.....
He had never dared to comment on whatever the Bishop had to say, but such a decision really made him feel fearful. Because of that, he gathered up his courage and asked another question, which he rarely did:
"But... What if the people in the academy survives?"
Hearing that, the corners of the Bishop’s lips curved into a rare, faint smile.
"Go. There is no such ‘what if’."
The Holy Knight wanted to ask more, but the Bishop’s intentions were already very clear. Thus, he did not dare to speak anymore, and only nodded vigorously, turning around and was about to leave hurriedly.
However, when he had just reached the door, the Bishop suddenly called out and stopped him.
"Keep all of this a secret, do not let Grant know."
The Holy Knight was stunned again, but he quickly came back to his senses and responded with a nod. He then turned around again, and left hurriedly along the corridor of the cathedral, off to do the Bishop’s bidding.
The Bishop watched the back of the leaving Holy Knight, and suddenly squinted, who knew what he was thinking about.
At the same time.
Thousands of miles again, on the other end of the land, in the small town of Academy.
The people in town were going about; it was unusually crowded. It was probably because today was the first day of school for the Academy of Magic, which had caused them to rejoice; everyone were all smiles.
However, at about ten o’clock in the morning, the merry atmosphere came to an end; various surprised shouts came from every street in the small town.
"Look... What is that thing?"
"It’s in the direction of the academy, what happened?"
A lot of the people were being alarmed, walking out their doors and looking towards the academy. They could only see that, within the high walls of the academy, there was a beam of light. That beam of light was about the size of a house, and went straight into the skies; it was unusually strong, and under the glare of the sun, it was shockingly dazzling.
Everyone was shocked by this scene; the undercover mages on patrol were even more surprised.
"It looks like a Divine Charm... How could it be, that’s the direction of the hall, right?"
Today was an exceptionally special day. They had kept watch around the small town, to ensure that no suspicious people could go near the academy. Because of that, the sudden change in the academy was something that they had never expected.
Was it an attack? Or was it Mage Benjamin demonstrating something again?
They did not hide their identities anymore. Using flying spells, they speedily flew towards the hall.
Very soon, the entire hall was in their sight.
"My heavens, what on earth is this?"
The patrol mages, more than ten of them, made a circle, looking down at the hall. At that time, the entire hall had been covered by a layer of a golden circle. They could already feel suffocated by some sort of spiritual energy, even though they were watching from afar; it pressed on them, causing them to be unable to catch a breath.
And that beam of light, was coming from the main entrance of the hall, and went straight up into the skies.
The mages did not know what happened at all.
"Something must have happened inside, we must rescue them and bring them out!"
Someone shouted that in a loud voice, and began to chant. The people inside were in some sort of danger, and they wanted to try and see if they could use magic to attack and break this gigantic layer of gold.
However, no matter what magic they used, once it flew near the circle of light, it was dispersed, bit by bit, by the bright light, and was soon disintegrated into elemental energy, disappearing without a trace.
The mages were shocked.
Someone, feeling anxious, wanted to fly in, but was immediately stopped by the people beside him. Whatever the magic they had used, had all been disintegrated when it got near; was a flying spell not magic too?
Also, the nearer they got, the more frightening the pressure of the spiritual energy became.
"This... Was this still the elemental energy of a human being?"
They had no way to get close; they could only land on the ground and gather together, watching the hall within the circle of light nervously, praying that the people inside would be fine.
Meanwhile, inside the hall...
"Mage Benjamin, quick, quickly think of a way, my head hurts... My, my brain feels like it’s being cooked!"
Golden halos were moving in and out, like waves. Screams of agony had filled the entire hall. The mages, the King, the wealthy merchants... Everyone had fallen on the floor, writhing and curving their bodies, their mouths emitting wretched roars.
They looked like they were in extreme pain; some people had even clawed at their heads so much, they had started to bleed.
And the culprit causing all this— the priest, with his bare torso, still stood at the entrance of the hall, his entire body bathed in Holy Light. He watched the suffering crowds coldly; in the depths of his emotionless eyes, a tiny rune was shining.
Very soon, he shifted his gaze onto Benjamin.
"Why, are, you, alright."
Following his robotic sounded words, in the hall, Benjamin stood in the middle of the fallen crowd; the expression on his face was one of surprise and uncertainty, but there was no pain, like the others.
"Why... Why am I alright?"
He did not understand everything that was happening before him.
From the moment this priest had taken off his cloak, and his entire body had shone, everything had progressed in a way that he had not imagined. Magic had been blocked, the crystal ball had been blocked, and when the priest had opened his eyes, golden halos had filled the entire hall.
After that, the people in the hall started to collapse, one by one.
—except for Benjamin.
The golden halos were like some sort of fatal poison; when ordinary people came into contact with one, they were like snails that touched salt, and lost all resistance. However, Benjamin did not feel any pain.
Of course, the pressure of the spiritual energy emitted from the body of the priest was still immense; it was so strong that he was unable to breathe. But this was all Benjamin could feel, the feeling of not being able to catch his breath.
He did not show any symptoms of being harmed.
"Mage Benjamin... Quick, quickly save us!"
Of course, with him being the only one who had not collapsed, it was no use. Now, the people in the hall who had fallen were all too important— the King, the rich merchants, the officers... If they all died here, the entire situation in the land would be overturned in just one night.
Benjamin could understand why the Church would do that— they wanted to get rid of everyone in a single swoop.
Everyone that the Church hated, had gathered here today because of the Academy of Magic. In other words, the Church could not be happier.
They had purposely waited until this day to make their biggest move.