Chapter 453 Archpriest Kolean
When the phrase "seen the truth" passed through the man's ears, his lips curled, as if he was resisting the urge to laugh out loud.
Taking a second to calm himself down, he said, "Directive acknowledged, your Holiness. I shall be waiting for the arrival of the Deacon."
As soon as he said this, the air around him started crackling, as if a thunderstorm was imminent right above his head.
Realizing what that meant, the man got an expression of panic on his face for the first time in a long time before running out of the tent, with a speed that made it look as if he had teleported.
Boom!
From the clear sky in the direction of the Endless Sea, a thunderbolt as thick as the waist of a man struck down at the tent, obliterating it and wiping it off the surface of Angaria.
The thunderbolt was so bright that it blinded the man, who hadn't been quick enough to close his eyes.
When he opened them after a few moments and blinked, he noticed that there was someone standing in front of him, where the tent had been, with an expression of peace on his face.
The heat of the thunderbolt had even melted the stones on the beach, turning it into a circular, solid mess that had strange designs etched on it.
Beside the man was the table with the three skulls, which seemed to have been unharmed, even though that thunderbolt had been strong enough to directly kill a Hero-level figure.
Taking a deep breath and immediately folding his hands in front of him near his stomach, the purple-frocked man bent low.
As his upper body became parallel to the ground, he bent one knee, lowering himself and placing both of his hands on the knee before placing his head on the hands.
This was the unique sign of respect in the Church, and it was said to have been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years.
"Archpriest Kolean greets the arrival of the Deacon. Praise be to the Almighty Saint Rectitude!"
"Praise be. Rise."
Hearing the calm voice of the man who was definitely not a day over 20, Kolean got up from the bow.
Still keeping his arms in front as a sign of respect, he observed this new Deacon that had been sent by the Church at such a great expense.
Teleportation over such a large distance was no ordinary matter, and it was said that it needed the will of those above Heroes for it to happen. Clearly, the new Bishop who had risen to power seemed to have quite a few connections, in order to make sure that her directive had been carried out as soon as she made it.
This new Deacon reminded him of someone he had seen before, in one of the briefings that he had had before attaining his post.
Right! He looked a lot like the previous King of Lanthanor, who had been killed recently!
So that meant that…
"I see you've made the connection. Yes, this body belonged to a sinner from this land who has seen the Truth. Haven't you?"
As soon as the last word left the lips of the newly arrived man, something very strange occurred.
Except for his face, the rest of his body seemed to freeze.
As for the face, it morphed into such an expression of fright and panic that it even made the hairs on the back of Kolean's hand stand up.
Looking around with confusion, the Deacon, or his face, at least, screamed in a voice filled with horror.
"NO! I LET YOU IN, I SAW YOUR DAMN TRUTH! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T PUT ME TO SLEEP AGAIN! NOOO! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT-"
"Ahem."
Suddenly, that scream was cut off, as the face of the Deacon once again relaxed into that peaceful expression.
Righting the collar of the red-colored cassock he was wearing, the Deacon spoke in an idle tone.
"I guess he needs more time. Time that we don't have, unfortunately, due to the new Bishop's orders. The original plan was to wait at least 5 more years before beginning full-scale deployment after looking for a way to weaken these heathen's defenses. Now, her Holiness wants it done in 3, or even 2 years."
Hearing this, Kolean raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
As the one posted here, he knew exactly how strong this continent was.
Hence, the best approach had been to take things slow, otherwise, their purge might end up bringing more loss to the Church than profit.
What reason could there be for the Bishop wanting to hurry along things?
Alas, he had no authority to ask, so he just nodded and took out a capsule-shaped trinket from his pocket.
"Stop. I brought my own arrangements."
Seeing him do this, the Deacon raised his hand and took out a similar capsule.
Only, where the Archpriest's capsule had been a dull bronze, his was golden.
As he threw it into the air, both of them watched as a 2 story villa made of shimmering stone appeared in front of them.
The Archpriest was trying hard not to drop his jaw. Just how rich was this damn Deacon!
Of course, people who continued to live for hundreds and hundreds of years while switching bodies really would accumulate a lot of wealth, but it was the first time he was seeing someone splurge like so.
"Isn't one of the directives of Saint Rectitude that one must be humble and satisfied with what they have?", he blurted out, unable to control himself.
The villa even had a balcony, a lawn and a rectangular box on the lawn meant for grilling food.
It was occupying an area of at least 500 sq.meters, which, when compared to his measly tent that used to occupy a mere 50 sq. meters, was quite gargantuan.
The specialty of his tent before, and the house in front of him now, was that they had the ability to shift around from time to time, avoiding detection, and even having defenses that would keep a Hero level individual out.
His tent, alone, would easily cost millions of Ker Gems, if judged in the general currency of this continent.
Hence, he couldn't even imagine how much this house would have cost.
"Those are the old rules. With the help of our new Bishop, the Church is preparing to cast off its old, conservative self to become an organization that will defeat all. Many great things are going to happen under this Bishop, Kolean, mark my words. You would be wise to throw your lot in with her. Anyway, come on. You don't need to salvage the tent that was destroyed. You can lodge with me."
C-casting off its old self?
Quite shocked by such momentous news, Kolean had to take a few moments to assemble his thoughts, and by the time he had done so, the Deacon had already entered the house, leaving the door ajar.
As Kolean followed and entered the door to see the spacious interiors that had all the amenities that he had only been able to dream of during his extended stay here, the house vanished from sight, erasing the marks left behind by the thunderbolt along with it.
Seeing the Deacon sitting on a sofa near the fireplace, Kolean walked forward, and sat down in front of him before asking respectfully, "What do you have planned, my Lord?"
"I see you still need time to make such a decision. Well, take all the time you need. The reason I was sent with this body is that it is a native of this continent, and as such, its original inhabitant will be instrumental in helping us look for more ways to break down their defenses. I've begun looking through his memories, and I've already found some interesting things. For instance,-"
As the two continued discussing the plans to bring Angaria to its heels before the appointed date, the one who had made it his mission to put a stop to them was currently pacing around in front of a bathroom in the Central Tower of the Sect of Hedon, as if he really had to go, but had no opportunity to do so as the bathroom was full.
His face even had an expression of constipation, but the truth was that he was trying hard to make a decision.
Finally, shrugging his shoulders, he asked the system to proceed.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, all the plumbing in the bathroom started to shoot out water explosively, badly scaring all of those who were relaxing inside.
The Central Tower had been on high alert ever since that incident before, so the moment something amiss was discovered, the alarm of the Central Tower started to ring.
Immediately, those in the bathroom ran out of the door with fear, with some even half-naked, as they had been instructed to gather at the safest core areas of the Sect as soon as they heard the alarm if they wanted to be safe.
Scrambling to pull their robes up, they ran to the Sect Meeting Place, which was the designated 'core area' of this floor.
Meanwhile, Daneel was shaking his head, cursing at the things he had to do in order to save this continent.
[Cloaking commencing.]
In the next moment, he found himself back in a corridor similar to the one which had contained the vault.
Only, this one contained more than one room, and the one he was looking for was coincidentally right in front of him.
"Records of Official Studies on Angaria."
As the room which was supposed to store all the journals of the high-level scholars of the sect who had undertaken extensive studies on the continent, this was the place with the highest possibility of containing clues on how to find a Ker Root.
So, tapping the one who had come to guard this area on the shoulder to initiate Mind Control, Daneel proceeded to infiltrate the room with the hope of finding a way to realize his dream to shooting forward to become a Peak Warrior.