Chapter 53: The Sage's Secret Talk
"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope."
Lowering his head slightly, Joshua placed his right fist over his chest and performed a salute to the old man composed of light with platinum-white eyes. He looked somewhat shocked and resigned: "To meet you in the Northern Lands is my honor."
"Young man, meeting you also brings me great joy."
The old man, whose identity had been seen through at a glance, spoke with a smile. It was clear that his words of joy were not false. Then, His Holiness the Pope raised his right hand, placed it over his chest, and actually returned a salute to Joshua.
This nearly stunned the warrior into losing his ability to think.
He was certainly not the type to feel awkward when someone saluted him, nor did he find the act of saluting strange, but how should he put it? Standing before him was the current Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods on the Mycroft Continent!
Saint Eagle, the wielder of divine authority, a legendary peak-level powerhouse, one of the strongest humans in the entire world. Even in Joshua's previous life, he couldn't claim a sure victory against such a formidable opponent. His power was so vast that it could make even his enemies bow in respect. At the very end of the Dragon Calamity, when the Church of the Seven Gods was besieged by ten thousand dragons and faced its greatest danger, he used a torrential curtain of holy light to sweep away the sea beasts and mad dragons that covered the entire Southern Sea. The scene at that time was as if the world had been returned to a blank slate—anything that did not conform to his will was simply erased.
Furthermore, this Pope was also one of the rare populist leaders. Countless paladins traveled across the lands, eradicating evil and protecting the people—this was the policy he implemented during his tenure. He also developed the Divine Resonance Technique, allowing the power of multiple priests and paladins to converge into one, which players from the previous life called the Fusion Technique. Whether in strength, character, or wisdom, Eagle was flawless, truly worthy of being called a living saint of the era.
Such a man deserved Joshua's respect.
Of course, he was also Loranda's adoptive father. If nothing unexpected happened, he might die at the hands of his adopted son before the Abyss War.
Pulling his somewhat wandering thoughts back, Joshua initially wanted to reach out and support the Pope, but the other man shook his head and spoke with a slightly ethereal, echoing voice: "Joshua van Radcliffe—that's too long."
He laughed easily, not like an old man at all: "May I call you Joshua?"
"Of course, Your Holiness the Pope."
The body that composed Eagle was made of clusters of drifting light. At first, this light was somewhat ethereal, but now it was growing increasingly solid. The warrior knew this was a method similar to a deity descending as an avatar, yet this Pope could use it so effortlessly, which was truly astonishing.
But Eagle still seemed somewhat dissatisfied. He glanced at Loranda behind him, then used holy light to send him aside to rest properly. Then, the old man spoke seriously to Joshua: "Young man, don't be constrained by my identity. There is no distinction between high and low between us. You may call me Eagle, just as I wish to call you Joshua."
After speaking, without waiting for the warrior's reply, a spark of white light flickered before him. The spark grew larger, and a ball of light appeared in front of Eagle. Moments later, accompanied by a faint spatial-temporal fluctuation, a pure white scepter materialized in his hand.
The moment this scepter appeared, Joshua's heart jolted violently—not only because the Azure Orb on his chest vibrated frantically like a madman, emitting intense heat, but also because he recognized the top of the scepter, the faint spark surrounded by countless pure white holy halos.
The residual light of the First Flame.
His built-in system began to vibrate before his eyes with rainbow-colored, thick-font text, indicating the rarity of the item before him. But that wasn't all—the scepter itself was also something that astonished him greatly.
The Pure White Scepter of the Sage's Legacy.
The Sage's Legacy... After the Azure Orb fully awakened, it seemed to be called the Sage's Legacy Azure Orb?
Was there some connection between the two?
Doubts surged in his heart. Joshua looked up at the old Pope, who was quietly watching him.
"Seeing this, have you sensed something?"
As if he could see through Joshua's thoughts—though in reality, the warrior hadn't bothered to hide his shock and expression—Eagle gripped the scepter in his hand, causing its flickering light to flash for a moment. He spoke softly: "This is passed down from the Sage, a proof that the Pope is the earthly representative of the Seven Gods, and also..."
"Also a spark."
Gazing at the flame that made him feel an unprecedented closeness, Joshua murmured: "At least one of the sparks. This is truly surprising, Lord Pope Eagle."
Blinking, Eagle seemed somewhat surprised that Joshua knew this. He muttered happily under his breath: "You know quite a bit, my junior. What else do you know?"
"Actually, not much."
Shaking his head, Joshua averted his gaze from the light, his expression showing some reluctance. He turned and waved at the city guards far behind him, signaling them not to approach. Then, with a puzzled look, he continued speaking with the old Pope: "Although I have always heard of the Sage's name, I don't know who he truly is. The Azure Orb he left behind contains the power of a spark capable of reshaping the world... There are too many doubts; I don't even know where to begin."
"This is normal. Even the Church of the Seven Gods, with its thousand-year legacy, has lost quite a bit of information. The Azure Orb in your hand changed hands several times after the Third Saint, eventually reaching your family, and then you awakened it..." At this point, Eagle shook his head and laughed at himself: "I'm old; I can't help but ramble. Joshua, do you mind if this elder continues to prattle on?"
"Of course not."
Shrugging, Joshua was waiting for the other party to explain the whole sequence of events in detail. This information was something he had never heard in his previous life, hidden in the deepest parts of the world, known only to a few. His curiosity was burning fiercely.
"The name of the Sage originates from before the Era of Falling Stars, in an era called the Era of Radiance."
The old Pope gazed at the spark on his scepter and spoke slowly with an echoing, ethereal voice: "At that time, humans and other races had no gods, and he was the strongest of that era. The Sage's power surpassed the legendary realm, even exceeding what later generations called gods, reaching an inconceivable level. He could even trace back the past, see through the future, and know everything happening in the present... But it seems precisely because of this that subsequent events occurred."
At this point, Eagle fell silent for a moment, then spoke heavily, word by word: "The Sage's Prophecy."
"The Sage saw through everything and prophesied that a great disaster would come in the future. This disaster would topple the First Flame, so scorching heat and fierce winds would burn the seas, fire clouds and ashes would shroud the sky, stars would fall from above, the dark abyss would open, mountain ridges would collapse into basins, and canyons would rise into mountains."
"If others' prophecies would be questioned and disbelieved, then every word the Sage spoke was truth, an undeniable fact. Since he said it, such a disaster was bound to happen in the future. For this reason, the humans of that era began to prepare fully for the calamity. The Sage's legacy in your hands and mine was created precisely for this purpose."
Hearing this, Joshua gained a general understanding of the Azure Orb in his hand, but doubts still lingered in his heart, and the old Pope continued.
"Although the Sage was powerful, he was not omniscient. He could see the disaster's occurrence but couldn't determine its exact era. However, not long after, the prophecy seemed to come true, and the terrifying disaster followed."
"The Lost Three Hundred Years."
Joshua murmured thoughtfully.
"Perhaps a different name would be better."
Eagle nodded slightly, gazing at the warrior and speaking softly.
"The Evil God Invasion." (To be continued.)