Chapter 27: Secrets of the Holy See
Sisler understood very well that a young man who had reached such heights at only twenty-one years of age would undoubtedly leave him far behind in the future.
“We’ve come to know each other’s affairs. You wanted to know about the Radiant Church, didn’t you?” A hint of confidence appeared on Sisler’s face. When it came to the secrets of the Radiant Church, Sisler probably knew no less than the Church’s high-ranking officials.
“Speak.” Linley immediately listened attentively.
Sisler nodded. “To put it simply, the military force of the Radiant Church, at the most superficial level, consists of missionaries, priests, regional bishops, white-robed deacons, red-robed archbishops, and the like. There are also the eight royal knight orders, along with many powerful temple knights—this can be considered the second tier of force. Then there are the forces of the Inquisition, and a large number of ascetics.”
Hearing this, Linley remained silent. He already knew all of this.
“Aside from these surface forces, there are two hidden powers.” This statement from Sisler immediately caught Linley’s attention.
The ascetics and the Inquisition were considered surface-level?
“These two hidden powers are both extremely terrifying, surpassing any other force. The first of these is the Fanatics!” Sisler frowned. “These Fanatics are very frightening. They possess a strange power, one that is not the power of light. I can’t quite explain it.”
Linley had heard of the ‘Fanatics’ for the first time.
“And the second?” Linley pressed on.
Sisler’s expression turned serious. “The second power is the most terrifying force of the entire Radiant Church. They will not use this power unless it’s the final moment. That is… the Descended Angels.”
“Angels?” Linley’s heart trembled.
Back when Linley was at the Ernst Institute of Magic, he had read a great deal about angels in books. The impression angels left on Linley was one of power—immense power.
“The Descended Angels, because they are bound by mortal bodies, have their strength reduced. But the weakest Descended Angels are all at the ninth rank. Many are at the saint-level. The Descended Angels are the most terrifying force of the Radiant Church,” Sisler said with a sigh.
Linley’s heart shuddered.
“Sisler, I’ve also read descriptions of angels in books, which mention that powerful angels possess strength like gods. If the Radiant Church had many powerful angels, they shouldn’t be in their current state, should they?” Linley inquired.
Sisler shook his head. “No, the rank of the angel that descends depends on the host body provided by the Radiant Church.”
“Host body?” Linley looked at Sisler in confusion.
“Yes. Angels cannot tear through space to descend directly; they must use a special method to descend into a human body. The strength of this human body determines the power the angel can exert,” Sisler explained.
“Linley, although there are ninth-rank warriors and saint-level warriors in this world… if they were stripped of their battle qi, their pure physical bodies would be much weaker. For a normal human, the pure physical body can at most reach the sixth rank.”
Linley agreed in his heart.
“And with a sixth-rank physical body, after an angel descends, it can probably only exert ninth-rank energy. Therefore, the Radiant Church needs seventh-rank physical bodies, or even stronger ones,” Sisler said with certainty.
“Stronger physical bodies?” Linley frowned.
“Although the limit of a normal human’s physical body is the sixth rank, there are still some geniuses. From a young age, they are incredibly strong, or naturally terrifyingly robust. These individuals with special talents can have physical bodies that reach the seventh rank. And a seventh-rank physical body should be enough to allow an angel to exert saint-level power.”
As Linley listened to Sisler’s words, he frowned.
Because Linley’s great-grandfather had once trained his pure physical body to the seventh rank, only to die later in war. Linley had never doubted it before, but now he began to suspect…
“Could my great-grandfather’s body have been taken by the Radiant Church?” Linley speculated in his heart.
In fact, the Four Ultimate Warriors were all highly talented. Their pure physical bodies could be trained to terrifying levels.
Sisler continued, “This leads the Radiant Church to search the entire continent for powerful bodies. The stronger the body, the more terrifying the Descended Angel. But it’s useless. The Yulan Continent now has four demigod-level experts. Against demigod-level experts, saint-level experts are nothing but lambs to the slaughter.”
“Four demigod-level experts?” Linley looked at Sisler in surprise. It seemed that Sisler also knew about the existence of the powerhouse in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
Seeing Linley’s surprise, Sisler laughed. “The four demigod-level experts are the human War God and High Priest, the king of the Dark Forest on the magical beast side, and the king of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts who appeared on the Day of Destruction.”
“Linley, during my necromantic inheritance, I learned that the physical bodies of demigod-level experts, in terms of pure physical toughness, have already reached the saint-level,” Sisler said with certainty.
The body of a demigod-level expert is essentially a divine body. With a divine spark, divine power, and a divine body combined, saint-level experts simply cannot harm them.
“So I think, to exert power like a god, the pure physical body must reach the saint-level. Therefore… the Radiant Church probably cannot make a demigod-level angel descend. Even if such a high-ranking angel did descend, bound by the body, they couldn’t exert demigod-level power,” Sisler said confidently.
The necromantic inheritance was very profound, and with Sisler being over eight hundred years old, he indeed knew a great deal.
“Demigod-level experts!” Linley sighed in admiration.
On the vast Yulan Continent, those four beings at the very peak, any one of them was enough to intimidate the world. When the Day of Destruction began, Dylin’s appearance forced both the Radiant Church and the Dark Church to avoid his sharp edge.
The Radiant Church had Descended Angels, but after countless years, how could the Dark Church, which was on par with the Radiant Church, be any weaker?
The two combined didn’t dare to provoke the king of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, ‘Dylin.’
The deterrent power of demigod-level experts was evident.
“I wonder when I can reach that level too.” Linley’s heart was filled with longing for demigod-level power.
*******
Sisler continued to tell Linley many pieces of information about the Radiant Church.
“The two things the Radiant Church values most are finding powerful bodies and finding pure souls.” When Sisler said this, Linley’s expression changed.
Pure souls?
His mother had died because of this.
“It is said that the ‘Lord of Light’ worshipped by the Radiant Church only needs two things: one is faith power, and the other is pure souls. The purer the soul sacrificed by the Church, the greater the reward from the Lord of Light.”
Linley now had a general understanding of the Radiant Church as an organization.
The Radiant Church wanted pure souls to sacrifice to the Lord of Light, and powerful bodies to obtain powerful Descended Angels.
“Linley, the Radiant Church has hidden forces everywhere on the Yulan Continent. After all, the influence of religion is terrifying,” Sisler sighed. “However, in the four empires, the Radiant Church’s influence is weaker. But in the Chaos Territory, their influence is relatively strong.”
“Chaos Territory?”
A map immediately appeared in Linley’s mind.
To the east of the O’Brien Empire, there was a territory larger than the O’Brien Empire itself. In the center of this territory was a vast forest—the Dark Forest.
The Dark Forest was thousands of miles long and thousands of miles wide. Such a vast area already occupied half of this territory.
To the north of the Dark Forest were the Eighteen Northern Duchies, roughly the size of a province of the O’Brien Empire.
To the south of the Dark Forest was the Chaos Territory, consisting of 48 duchies. This Chaos Territory was about half the size of the O’Brien Empire’s territory. It could be considered the most chaotic place on the entire Yulan Continent, with the 48 duchies constantly at war.
“The Radiant Church and the Dark Church are the two most powerful religions in the Chaos Territory,” Sisler said.
Linley could imagine it.
In the war-torn Chaos Territory, people wandering between life and death indeed needed a faith.
“Alright, my mouth is dry. Let’s have some breakfast.” Sisler laughed heartily.
…
Both Linley and Sisler had space rings, which contained fine wine. They drank the wine, ate some picked fruits, and discussed how to deal with the Radiant Church.
“Oh, I just remembered something.” Sisler suddenly spoke.
“What is it?” Linley looked at Sisler.
Sisler laughed. “During my escort, I once encountered another group of the Radiant Church. That group was also escorting people.”
“What people? Experts like you?” Linley pressed.
If they were experts, he and Sisler could go rescue them. After all, everyone had a grudge against the Radiant Church, and gathering together would make their strength greater.
“No. Two very cute girls.” Sisler shook his head. “When Lampo’s group converged with that group, I also saw those two girls. I have to say, they were as pure as angels. With my familiarity with souls, I am very certain that their souls were extremely pure.”
Necromancers, in terms of souls, should be the most knowledgeable among all mages.
“But obviously, in the eyes of the Radiant Church, my importance far exceeded those two girls. Lampo and his men took me and moved quickly. Those two girls were escorted by another team, moving much slower,” Sisler said.
“What’s your point?” Linley looked at Sisler in confusion.
Sisler laughed. “My point is, we go rescue those two girls. After all, there were no experts in that team. There was only one eighth-rank warrior.”
Eighth-rank—in the eyes of Sisler and Linley, it was indeed nothing.
“You, a necromantic grand magus, are so kind-hearted as to rescue those two girls?” Linley looked at Sisler.
Sisler smiled. “I’m most happy to ruin the Radiant Church’s good deeds. Besides, with souls so pure, those sisters might be able to undergo necromantic inheritance.”
The requirements for necromantic inheritance were terrifyingly high.
This was also why the number of necromancers on the entire Yulan Continent was astonishingly small. The soul was the most fundamental part of a person. Even the Lord of Light needed pure souls, which showed the importance of pure souls. And necromantic inheritance also required such pure souls.
“You should know their route, right?” Linley asked.
Sisler nodded. “Their forward route should be exactly the same as the route I was escorted on. Unless the news of Lampo and his men’s death reaches that small team, they might temporarily change course.”
“Then let’s go.” Linley stood up directly.
“Roar~~” Bebe and Hei Lu, who were lying on the grass, also stood up. Both magical beasts were somewhat excited. The nature of magical beasts contained violence, and they loved days of battle the most.
“Go now?” Sisler was a bit stunned. “We’ve completely destroyed the evidence of Lampo and his men. Even if the Radiant Church finds the courtyard empty, they’ll probably just think Lampo and his men left. It won’t be that quick for them to discover Lampo and his men are dead. Even if they do, it won’t be that fast for the news to reach that escort team.”
“Don’t rely on luck. We’ll go now, following the route you were escorted on, but in reverse.” Linley said directly.
Sisler really had no way to deal with Linley. He could only shake his head with a bitter sigh and immediately follow.