Chapter 3: The Detected Divinity
With the retreat of the flying dragons from the western part of Ash Island, the other dragon groups, having lost their flank cover, began to show signs of withdrawal. They reduced their attack frequency, and their offensive gradually slowed down.
A dozen minutes later, accompanied by a few scattered, long roars from the dragons, the numerous flying dragons scattered across the island fled back into the clouds in a sorry state. Today's fifth assault by the mad dragons came to a hasty end, and the sky cleared.
At this moment, the priests who had originally been conducting the summoning ritual were treating the many injured crew members inside the Time Vessel, which was docked beside the Ark.
Due to the charge into the Abyss and the subsequent battle with the Crystal Magic Dragon, the Ark had endured several violent impacts. Many crew members who weren't very strong had fallen into a coma and had yet to wake up. Furthermore, some particularly unlucky crew members had been caught in the aftermath of the exploration team's fight and were parasitized by the brain-eating worms spread by Nolan.
Unlike the powerful exploration team, these crew members lacked the strength to resist the destruction caused by the brain-eating worms. Even with the timely treatment from the three church members, many were still in critical condition.
But all of this had nothing to do with Joshua and his group, who were already in the central Grand Temple district. After driving away large swathes of flying dragons with their own pressure, the warrior and the others quickly received a message from the church.
Pope Eagle was currently at the Holy Mountain. He might not be able to identify the exact nature of these auras, but now, he knew they were all traces of Divinity contained within the sacred relics.
Although Joshua didn't believe in the Seven Gods, he held a shred of respect for these beings who protected human civilization. Based on the information obtained from the Father of Nature and Ogana, the warrior knew that the Seven Gods of Humanity had continuously guarded the development of civilization for over a thousand years after the apocalypse, without any slack. Faced with such achievements, anyone would pause slightly to show respect.
Not long after, having passed all the sacred relics of the Seven Gods, the warrior and his group traversed the clouds, mist, and lightning, arriving at the summit of the Holy Mountain. Before them stood the Grand Temple, eternally bathed in the light of the sun, the twin moons, and the stars, regardless of the time.
"Bang!"
At the entrance of the temple stood many guards clad in white robes with gold patterns. Upon seeing Joshua, they were momentarily stunned, then saluted solemnly with a dull thud, and stepped aside to reveal the path leading into the Grand Temple.
For these steadfast clergy, the difference in charm between individuals was as meaningless as the difference between one stone and another. Joshua nodded slightly in return, acknowledging their salute, and then entered the temple.
*'The Lone Sun, the Twin Moons, the Endless Stars; on the Millennial Plain, only Light endures forever.'*
Passing through the majestic archway of the Grand Temple, the warrior glanced at the holy inscription engraved upon it. Then, without any hesitation, he followed the corridor straight to the end of the arcade.
In the Celestial Sanctuary at the very heart of the Grand Temple, he saw an old man wearing a crown of sacred silver and holding a pure white scepter.
Pope Eagle, who had been looking up at the skylight in the temple's dome, lowered his head. He gazed directly at Joshua, his eyes sweeping over the warrior's entire body before focusing on the area over his heart.
"Joshua van Radcliffe, Count."
The old man spoke kindly, "Greetings. We meet again."
"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope."
Facing the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods in his true body, not an avatar, Joshua nodded, performed a simple salute, and then asked bluntly, "May I ask why you have summoned me here?"
This was a habit formed from taking on too many missions in the past; the warrior rarely wasted words on such matters.
But Pope Eagle did not directly answer Joshua's question. The old man smiled and said slowly, "The design and construction of the Time Vessel were all my work. Every single array on it was inscribed by my own hand."
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Joshua found it a bit strange that the Pope, as the head of the church, would personally inscribe arrays for a temple ark. But when he remembered the ark's destination was the Abyss, he suddenly understood a lot.
However, the warrior didn't know why the old man was bringing up this topic. Was he trying to express how hard he had worked? Although the ark had been severely damaged during the expedition... surely he wasn't called here just for that?
Eagle continued, "The Radiant Spark Array is the culmination of my decades of research. Its purpose is to convert Holy Light and positive energy, forming the purest barrier of Order Force, used to resist the erosion of Abyss and Chaos energy. It is the core of the church's plans for the coming decades."
Saying this, the old Pope revealed a strange smile. "Though it's a bit embarrassing to admit, I embedded an Observation Array within it. So, when the ark left the Abyss and returned to Ash Island, I already knew everything that happened during your expedition."
"Perfectly normal." Joshua nodded. He had no particular feelings about this; in fact, it would have been abnormal if it weren't the case. "Saves me or Robzek and the others the trouble of having to report it."
Realizing this was the warrior's genuine thought, Pope Eagle's expression involuntarily froze for a moment. He frowned with some distress, then tentatively asked, "Joshua... don't you have any reaction at all?"
Sensing the seriousness in the old man's tone, the warrior also became serious. He furrowed his brow and asked solemnly, "What reaction?"
"Divinity."
Sighing, Pope Eagle finally said it directly. "Although it's quite surprising, you actually possess a fully formed Divinity within you."
"Joshua, this is a matter of immense importance."