CA - Chapter 239

Chapter 239

When the old Pope was in his twilight years, everyone in the Holy See was already speculating about how fierce the battle for the future papacy would be. At that time, the most powerful contenders were the Holy Son and Gabriel.

Later, the Holy Son died, and the Pope went into seclusion, citing poor health. The Holy Daughter began issuing orders on the Pope's behalf, Reese gathered all of the Holy Son's forces, and Gabriel started making his own moves. During that period, an undercurrent of turmoil flowed through the Holy See, and everyone was watching to see into whose hands the supreme position would ultimately fall.

However, to everyone's surprise, after the battle in the Shas Principality, a single person forcefully inserted herself into the lineup of papal candidates. And the ones who could have competed with her, Reese and the Holy Daughter, both voluntarily stepped aside.

A storm was thus silently quelled. As the people of the Holy See left Light Square, they were still a bit bewildered, but their hearts had unknowingly settled down.

Although the new Pope was young, her strength was not to be underestimated. As the master of the continent of Statu, perhaps only someone like her could lead the Holy See back to its former glory.

Although the new Pope had been established, her coronation was postponed because the old Pope's funeral had not yet been held.

In fact, even without the funeral, the Holy Daughter had intended to delay the coronation for some time. The people Gabriel had led away still needed to be screened by the Inquisition before they could be allowed to return to the Holy See.

Of the six Red-robed Archbishops, excluding Tang Qiu and Gabriel, only four remained. Appointing new Red-robed Archbishops also needed to be put on the agenda.

She did not want the new Pope's coronation to be too shabby.

Moreover, she wanted to use this opportunity to ease relations with the Wolf Race and the Elf Race. The old Pope's faction had been mostly purged. The Holy See owed the werewolves and elves too much, and it was time to make amends.

But as for how to compensate them... that would have to be decided by Tang Qiu. The Holy Daughter wrote ceaselessly on a sheet of parchment with a quill, often pausing as if in deep thought, yet her brow remained smooth and relaxed.

While the Holy Daughter was busy with Tang Qiu's coronation, Tang Qiu herself was not idle. Although her coronation had not yet taken place, she had already begun to handle church affairs. All the duties previously managed by the Holy Daughter were now transferred to her.

And her first official act after taking office was to clean up the mess Gabriel had left behind.

The Inquisition arrested Gabriel on charges of colluding with the Vampires and betraying the Holy See, and the very next day, they announced his execution. This caused dissatisfaction and panic among Gabriel's subordinates, who even began to refuse to return to the Holy See.

They held fast to a city, protesting and demanding that the Inquisition release Gabriel, insisting that as a Red-robed Archbishop, Gabriel must be sentenced by the Pope.

They also refused to believe that Gabriel would collude with the Vampires. Archbishop Gabriel was indeed guilty, but at most, it was for deserting his post during the war in the Shas Principality.

This crime was disgraceful, but not enough to warrant execution.

It was unknown how many of these people were genuinely concerned for Gabriel. They only knew that if Gabriel was executed, their backer would be gone.

At that point, they might lose not only their status and power but also their lives.

They were anxious and uneasy because they all knew that by following Gabriel and evading the battle in the Shas Principality, they had now placed themselves in opposition to the Holy See.

With a new Pope in power, it was unlikely she would start by executing a large number of the Holy See's incumbent bishops, especially when the Holy See needed time to recuperate. Abel knew what result Tang Qiu wanted. He and Audrey prepared for two days, then led a team from the Inquisition into the city to negotiate with those bishops.

The next day, a few of Gabriel's most loyal followers were secretly executed. The remaining hundred or so bishops returned to the Holy See with him, filled with apprehension.

Faced with the bishops, each one expressing sincere remorse and claiming they had been deceived by Gabriel into making such mistakes, the new Pope, Tang Qiu, only gave them a small scolding before magnanimously pardoning them and telling them to quickly return to their posts.

Among these people, some were grateful for Tang Qiu's tolerance, some speculated on the purpose of her actions, and others were outwardly respectful while inwardly sneering that Tang Qiu's move was merely to build her own prestige.

But no matter what, they had safely returned to the Holy See. As for what would happen in the future... the blade of the Inquisition had only just been unsheathed.

After the change in papacy, the manor behind the Central Church was quickly tidied up to welcome its new master. Abel looked around the Pope's study, sighing with emotion. Then, he turned to Tang Qiu, who was sitting opposite him, looking down at some documents, and said sincerely, "I've been to this place before, but it has never felt as sacred and dazzling as it does now..." He searched for a word. "It's as if it's bathed in God's Light."

He looked utterly sincere, as if speaking from the bottom of his heart.

Tang Qiu merely chuckled at his flattery, her eyes fixed on the paper. With her free hand, she picked up a nearby envelope and tossed it to Abel.

Abel caught it, opened it, and glanced inside. The smile on his face deepened. "Your Holiness the Pope is truly efficient in handling church affairs."

"The Holy See will surely return to its peak under your leadership. You are truly as great as Pope Cynthia."

Tang Qiu put down her quill, picked up the parchment, and blew on the wet ink. Then she looked up at the chattering Abel and said with a half-smile, "Is this the kind of flattery you used to gain Gabriel's trust?"

Abel smiled gracefully. "If Gabriel were the kind of person who could be won over by mere flattery, I wouldn't have chosen him in the first place."

Gabriel did have some ability; his ambition was just too great. But at that moment, he was a more suitable candidate for Pope than that idiot, the Holy Son.

Having gotten what he wanted, Abel didn't disturb Tang Qiu any longer. Just as he was about to stand up and leave, Tang Qiu, who had been watching him, suddenly called out, "Abel."

Abel paused his movement and looked up at her, puzzled.

Tang Qiu leaned back in her chair, observing Abel's expression as she asked with a smile, "The Blood Demon has been sealed. Isn't Wolf Fang going to avenge her?"

The smile on Abel's face faded slightly. He sat back down in his chair and answered deliberately, "As far as I know, the Boss's relationship with the Blood Demon wasn't that close."

He didn't know what Tang Qiu meant by bringing up Wolf Fang at this moment. Abel rested his arms on the table, his entire body entering a state of alert.

Tang Qiu was amused by his wary expression. Her tone softened. "Don't be nervous. I just have a few things to ask you."

She pondered for a moment before asking, "Where is Wolf Fang now?"

"The Boss is in seclusion. As you know, her soul form isn't very stable."

Abel met Tang Qiu's gaze calmly. Tang Qiu narrowed her eyes, her lips curling into a slight smile as she said slowly, "...Have you found Erin?"

A flicker of movement in Abel's eyes betrayed him, but he shook his head and denied it. "No." He paused for a moment, then sighed. "I have no idea where little Erin has run off to."

Abel subconsciously chose to hide the news that Wolf Fang, Rona, and the others had detected Erin's presence in the Dark World.

Tang Qiu studied him for a while, her tone gentle. "You'd better not lie to me, Abel. I know where Wolf Fang's seal is."

She could seal the Blood Demon, and she could seal Wolf Fang. Tang Qiu was confident of that.

Abel gave a wry smile. After a moment's hesitation, he sighed and said, "It's not exactly that we've found Erin." Seeing Tang Qiu frown, he added, "We just know that she's in the Dark World."

"The Dark World?"

Abel nodded. "Rona and the others are demons from the Dark World. That day the Blood Demon opened the gate to the Dark World, Rona smelled Erin's scent inside."

The Dark World... Tang Qiu thought of the monsters that had poured out of the Dark World that day, and her brow furrowed involuntarily. Erin wasn't skilled in powerful offensive dark magic. In an environment like the Dark World, could she safely wait for Wolf Fang and the others? And... Tang Qiu suddenly asked, "Why did she go to the Dark World?"

Abel was taken aback. He thought about it seriously, then shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps a spatial rift appeared when the teleportation array was activated, and she was unlucky enough to fall in."

Tang Qiu: "..."

After Abel left, Tang Qiu lost the mood to continue with church affairs. She stood up and walked to the window, watching the priests and clerics coming and going outside, lost in thought.

The door opened and closed again. A set of footsteps approached from a distance. Tang Qiu came back to her senses and turned, a slight smile gracing her lips as she saw the visitor.

Reese sat down in the chair Abel had just vacated. Her gaze swept across the desk and quickly found what she was looking for. She picked up an envelope held down by a corner of parchment, opened it, and glanced inside. "I'll deliver this to Monica for you," she said with a smile.

The envelope contained a letter of appointment for a Red-robed Archbishop. The envelope Abel had taken contained the same thing.

There could be no vacancies among the Red-robed Archbishops during the new Pope's coronation ceremony. There were currently only four. Of the two remaining vacancies, one was filled by Abel, as proposed by Tang Qiu, and the other was given to Monica by Reese.

"Have you mentioned it to Monica?" Tang Qiu noticed the joy in Reese's eyes and couldn't help but remind her, "If you just force it on her, she might not be happy."

Although the sisters' relationship had eased, they still lacked communication.

Reese glanced at Tang Qiu, her lips curling slightly. "Of course I've told her."

She just hadn't told Monica that it was she who wanted to give her the position of Red-robed Archbishop. Instead, she said that Tang Qiu was insisting on giving it to her because there weren't many trustworthy people available, so she had to be promoted.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Monica had agreed.

Besides, what Reese told Monica wasn't a lie. Of course, Tang Qiu would want to place trustworthy people in the two Red-robed Archbishop positions.

In Reese's view, Monica was very suitable. Her sister's excellence was more than enough to handle the position.

Reese put the envelope away. Her peripheral vision caught the neatly stacked invitations on the desk, and she raised an eyebrow. She picked one up and casually said while reading, "Are all the invitations written?"

She scanned the invitation quickly, then frowned and asked in confusion, "What country is Edry?"

Only invitations to the three great empires were personally written by Tang Qiu. Where was this Edry?

Reese thought carefully and had a vague recollection, but she still didn't understand why Tang Qiu would personally write an invitation for this country.

Tang Qiu walked over, took the invitation from Reese's hand, carefully folded it, and put it back in its envelope. Meeting Reese's curious expression, she said with a smile, "This invitation is for my knight."

A few days ago, some Vampires had gone to Edry to investigate Lucille. Upon learning this, Lucille had taken Lola back to deal with it.

Now, with the coronation date approaching, her knight had not yet returned. Of course, Tang Qiu had to solemnly write an invitation and send it over to summon her knight back.

Tang Qiu wanted to witness all important days with Lucille.

Previous Table of Contents Next