"Order of Rot? Parasites?"
On the exquisite small balcony, Amanda listened to Awei's words and couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly, then slowly spoke.
"The Taiyi Three Teachings have been in a state of severe division since the Turbid Current War, with almost no record of cooperation for hundreds of years... Now the Order of Rot is actually actively participating in the Wolf Blood Society's plan? And even sent a Chalk with a worm?"
Amanda's tone carried a hint of obvious surprise, and Awei, after hearing her words, continued to respond.
"Yes, judging from the reactions of Sister Vanya and many of the Saint Chant Church's faithful in the report, among the extraordinary abilities they encountered on the day of the attack, there were indeed traces of the Plague Path. The missing Chalk mentioned in the report might be the supporter from the Order of Rot. Judging from some of the Plague Path abilities shown by that Demonic Wolf, it is highly likely that he was swallowed by the Demonic Wolf and turned into material for mutated abilities."
"Was eaten... Heh, that really fits their style. Since the phenomenon of mutual devouring still exists, it might indicate that the current level of integration of Taiyi is not high, but... just the appearance of this trend of integration is enough to cause vigilance..."
Amanda said somewhat seriously. After hearing the news that the Tayi Sect intended to integrate, a hint of worry couldn't help but appear on her face.
"The trend of integration of the Taiyi Three Teachings requires the entire saint church to truly take it seriously, but the current state of the Cardinal Council... Alas..."
Rubbing her temples, Amanda seemed to have thought of something unpleasant and showed a worried expression, while Awei, seeing this, also spoke softly.
"Regarding the rumors that the disagreements and contradictions within the Cardinal Council are becoming increasingly prominent... I have also heard a little, Captain. Is the situation there really not optimistic now?"
"You could say so. At recent meetings, the opposition between Cardinals has become increasingly obvious. Even arguments, something that rarely happened in the past fifty or sixty years, have started occurring frequently recently. The conflicts that used to happen privately in various aspects are now slowly being brought into the open, and the methods are becoming more direct."
"This time, the struggle for the official candidate for the Archbishop of the Prit Church District... is an example. If the Archbishop of Prit had been replaced quickly through the normal process in the past, how could such a vicious attack have happened..."
Amanda said with a hint of helplessness in her tone. Clearly, the power struggle from the upper levels of the Church had obstructed the normal operation of this huge and bloated supra-national organization. Some of the original effectiveness was gradually lost, slowly giving the various cults secretly coveting opportunities a chance.
Listening to Amanda's words, Awei's expression gradually became solemn. After much deliberation, she then slowly spoke.
"Captain, the Holy See... has he not returned yet? The Holy See usually didn't take this long to ascend to heaven, right..."
Listening to Awei's words, Amanda paused slightly, then let out a long sigh and spoke slowly.
"As of now, there are no signs of the Holy See returning... The Holy See usually returns within a month after ascending to heaven, at most no more than a month and a half, but this ascent has already lasted for several months..."
"Several months? Have the other Cardinals tried to contact the Holy See? The Cardinal Council cannot continue to operate like this..." Awei said with a slightly anxious tone, while Amanda responded in a deep voice.
"After the Holy See was overdue for a long time, we had already contacted him through urgent channels. Although we received a reply, that reply was very simple; it was just for us to continue performing our duties, discussing and making decisions, and guarding and waiting. Many other pending issues that required his decision were not mentioned at all; the entire reply was extremely concise..."
Amanda continued speaking. Listening to her words, Awei's expression became even more solemn. She then spoke.
"The Holy See's response like this... feels a bit unusual, doesn't it? Haven't the Cardinals tried to confirm the Holy See's state?"
"Hoo... Although no one in the Cardinal Council explicitly mentioned this issue, in fact, there have been several discussions in private about the Holy See's current state. But unfortunately, to confirm the Holy See's state, we can only ascend to heaven, but the Cardinals throughout the history of the saint church have not had this permission." Amanda continued to say with some helplessness, her gaze silently looking into the distance in the darkness.
"From ancient times to the present, only the Holy See can ascend to heaven and face the Lord. Even for a Cardinal, attempting to ascend to heaven is a heinous crime, with no reason for forgiveness. It is the same both in the past and now. Although there might be a problem with the Holy See's situation now, none of us Cardinals are willing to commit that crime of usurpation. On this issue, we have neither the right nor the power."
Amanda said slowly like this. Listening to her words, Awei then spoke with a worried look.
"The Taiyi Three Teachings now have a trend of integration, while the Cardinal Council continues to split. For the first time in a hundred years, I feel so worried..."
"Yes... All of this just happens to converge at this time. I don't know what factors are causing the three of them to come closer again." Covering her forehead, Amanda said with a frown. As she spoke, she seemed to remember something else and asked.
"Oh, right, you said before that this cooperation between the Order of Rot and the Wolf Blood Society was all about obtaining a secret transmission? Where is the secret transmission now, and what is its general content?"
"That secret transmission has now been transported to the Holy Mountain and is being handed over to the Scripture Hall for analysis. I don't know the specific content, only that it is mainly written in encrypted empire language. It not only needs to be translated but also decrypted and deciphered, which will take some time to make progress. In addition, the Saint Chant Church has also begun to trace the origin of that secret transmission to find out through what channel it was included in the Saint Chant Church's forbidden book library."
"Another point worth noting is that according to the Tivian investigation team's report, that secret transmission was found in the stomach of the Fearful Demonic Wolf's corpse fragments and was wrapped by a living parasite. The battlefield cleanup personnel killed the parasite before taking out the secret transmission."
"Previously, in the confession of the captured Werewolf, he also stated that their elder had a parasite on him, which should be that one. That parasite did not seem to provide any help to the Demonic Wolf elder during the battle, but instead wrapped around the spoils of war in the stomach. It is speculated that this is a method used by the Order of Rot to obtain the content of the spoils of war in advance, and perhaps some of the secret transmission's content has already been obtained by the Taiyi side."
Awei continued to respectfully report to Amanda. Listening to her words, Amanda spoke thoughtfully.
"In other words... although they said there was a Scarlet here, their main goal was partially achieved? I really don't know what content is in that secret transmission that could make the Tayi Sect cooperate again, even at the cost of sacrificing a Scarlet..."
Amanda muttered like this. Although she was very curious about the content of the secret transmission now, she would only know the final content after the decryption was completed. The fact that the Order of Rot had obtained most of the secret transmission's content made her even more worried.
In this worry, a decision couldn't help but arise in Amanda's heart.
"Based on the current situation... some things might be able to be advanced."
"Advance some things? Captain, you mean..." Listening to Amanda's words, Awei then spoke in confusion, while Amanda continued calmly.
"It refers to the promotion of Vania Chafilun..."
"Sister Vanya's promotion... Captain... but Sister Vanya has only been a Relic Custodian for a few months. Even if her achievements and reputation are already enough for promotion to Scarlet, her seniority is still too shallow. She is only sixteen years old now, far too young. To be promoted to Crimson Tier, even just for seniority, she would need at least seven or eight years. Even if she were promoted to Scarlet at twenty-five, she would still be the youngest Scarlet in hundreds of years. Even then, it might cause dissatisfaction among other second-tier clergy and even Cardinals within the Saint Church. If Captain plans her promotion now, wouldn't it..."
Awei said with a frown, seeming worried about Amanda's plan to promote Vanya. Amanda slowly raised her hand, interrupting Awei's words.
"I had considered planning her promotion after she accumulated about ten years of seniority, but the situation is changing rapidly now, and things are different. The Holy See has been slow to return, and the ongoing division within the Saint Church shows no signs of stopping in the short term. In the future, the restless cults and Otherworld will only increase, especially the actions of the Placenta, which already indicate they might be planning something dangerous."
"In this environment, the Saint Church must further strengthen its power and prepare for more incidents similar to the Saint Chant Church attack. Having one more easily deployable Scarlet is also one more help. Sister Vanya is very famous; promoting her exceptionally is also a deterrent to those cults and Otherworld..."
"Aren't many people in the secret world around the globe spreading rumors that Vania Chafilun is a favored one of the Holy Mother, the Saint Church's secret weapon... carrying out the Saint Church's missions in secret under the guise of missionary work and relic pilgrimages, striking down powerful heretics and Otherworld in various places? Otherwise, how could she consecutively encounter so many major extraordinary events? And bring down quite a few Scarlet?"
Amanda said with a serious expression. When speaking of the rumors about Vanya at the end, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.
"Regarding the news that Sister Vanya is a special elite cultivated by the Saint Church... it is indeed currently rumored in various formal and informal secret organizations and gatherings, especially after the Black Dream high-level suffered damage in the Moncarlo incident and Edward openly showed great solicitude. If Captain promotes her in the near future, it might really deepen their misunderstanding and have a certain deterrent effect..." Listening to Amanda's words, Awei said thoughtfully, then continued to speak.
"However, promoting Sister Vanya exceptionally like this, in the eyes of other Cardinals, is an action where Captain disregards the rules to increase your faction's influence, isn't it? Will they agree? If Captain acts unilaterally, you might be isolated..."
"Hmph... I'm not the only one taking advantage of the Holy See's absence to strengthen my faction. Others have already started, they just don't have a suitable candidate with achievements like Vanya for now. If they did, they would definitely be eager to promote them too."
"This mess of the Saint Chant Church attack, if we want to assign responsibility, we can directly blame Klama and Hilbert. If they hadn't been vying for the appointment of Prit Archbishop, this situation wouldn't have occurred. I can use this handle to force them to concede and acknowledge Vanya's exceptional promotion. After all, no matter how you look at it, isn't she one of the main contributors to this incident?"
After a cold snort, Amanda spoke frankly to Awei. After listening, Awei also realized that Amanda was currently taking advantage of the Holy See's absence to expand the power she could control as much as possible. Although she also considered the overall interests of the Saint Church, this did not prevent her from using the current opportunity to compete for power.
After all, the atmosphere of the entire Cardinal Council has completely changed now. It has long since evolved into an arena where Cardinals compete for power and profit. In this situation, if Amanda continues to adhere to principles, she can only watch as the power of other Cardinals grows day by day, then encroach upon her base, and gradually lose her voice. By then, it will be difficult for her to even correct and suppress other Cardinals.
"Is this Captain's idea? I understand. Since the current Cardinal Council has led Captain to resort to such methods, the future of the Saint Church... and even the days of the entire world afterward, will not be peaceful." Listening to Amanda's words, Awei said slowly, and Amanda finally spoke with emotion.
"Yes, now we can only pray that the Lord blesses us, and the Holy See returns soon to give strict punishment to us insincere people who are blinded by greed..."
"Heh... A living Saint, standing at the pinnacle of hundreds of millions of followers, is actually so constrained by worldly affairs, intoxicated by power, and far from a pure and devout heart. How ironic..."
Amidst her emotions, Amanda looked towards the distant night, deep worry surfacing in her eyes.
...
East coast of Prit main island, Tivian.
During the daytime, at a certain intersection around the North Tivian Church District, people came and went, traffic flowed as usual, and many pedestrians walked along the side of the street. The entire scene was as peaceful as usual, if one ignored the occasional whispered secrets between pedestrians and the curious glances towards the closed gate of the Church District in the distance.
Inside a certain coffee shop by the intersection, Dorothy and Naifnis were currently sitting opposite each other in a private room. On the table between them was a steaming cup of coffee. Naifnis looked outside, gazing through the glass window towards the closed and guarded gate of the Church District in the distance. In front of Dorothy was an ordinary notebook, with a fountain pen placed beside it, while Dorothy herself was leisurely drinking a cup of coffee.
"The gate of the Church District... it hasn't opened yet. And the security is quite strict. I wonder when it will reopen. The small churches in other parts of the north city can't handle all the people now."
Looking at the scene outside the window, Naifnis asked curiously. Dorothy, who was in front of her, slowly replied while sipping her coffee.
"Many places inside were quite severely damaged. Before they are repaired, there's no possibility of opening the gate, unless you can hire some black-hearted craftsmen to work, otherwise it will take at least a few months."
"Quite severely damaged? Oh... If ordinary people could go in and see the scene inside now, the rumors about that terrifying roar might spread even more widely." Listening to Dorothy's words, Naifnis said with emotion. And Dorothy, hearing Neff's words, also had her eyes light up, setting down the coffee in her hand.
"Terrifying roar? Interesting... Tell me, what are people spreading rumors about now?"
While speaking, Dorothy picked up her pen and placed it on the small notebook on the table. Neff also turned her head and looked at Dorothy, responding with great interest.
"There are many legends about the terrifying roar now. I've already compiled several versions. One of the more well-known versions says that the Saint Chant Church is actually not a regular church, but a seal. Underground, there is an evil monster that was sealed by a living Saint for hundreds of years..."
"Oh..."
Neff began vividly recounting the new urban legend she had just heard a short while ago to Dorothy. While listening, Dorothy nodded and began to pick up her fountain pen, quickly sketching in the notebook. After two or three strokes, a fierce wolf head was outlined by her.