Chapter 15 Meanwhile, on the Other Side

Unlike the bustling commercial district, the area surrounding the Silent Knights Temple in the imperial capital, Helrom, remained desolate, with biting winds sweeping through the streets.

The spire of this building pierced the sky, having weathered centuries of wind and frost. Generations of artisans had carved ancient legends into its hard, unadorned surface. These tales of heroes battling demons were frozen in time within each stone.

But now, the Protoss Empire had designated it for the Revival Church.

Deep within the temple, in the main council hall, the most important and secret place in the Silent Knights architecture, hazy beams of light scattered through the high windows, creating a solemn and sacred atmosphere.

A young man sat at one end of the round table. He wore a well-tailored dark gray suit, making him look different from the other clerics. He wasn't even wearing a Silent Holy Seal, as if he were just passing through on official business. Yet, his calm and profound gaze, every movement, exuded composure and authority. Clearly, he was the one in charge.

The three Archpriests originally stationed here, responsible for logistics and coordination with other provincial branches, now had Caius dismissed from his post. The remaining two sat beside him, trembling as they awaited his words.

After hearing about the final assessment, the Silent Bishop in the north did not blame them. Instead, he was slightly intrigued and sent a direct subordinate to replace Archpriest Caius.

At this moment, the council hall was filled with a busy yet orderly atmosphere.

Special Envoy Sandel, recently arrived, had a stack of neatly arranged documents in front of him, each containing detailed information about the candidates who participated in the final assessment the day before.

He looked at the documents from time to time, a smile on his face.

"Luo Qi McCarthy has undoubtedly demonstrated excellent abilities in both the written test and the final assessment. He is the most outstanding talent we have gained this time."

Special Envoy Sandel said with satisfaction,

"As long as this young man named Luo Qi establishes a few merits, he will likely be promoted to Archpriest or a direct subordinate. At that time, he will personally meet the Silent Bishop."

Hearing Sandel's words, the other two Archpriests secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

They had narrowly escaped being implicated in the incident and suffering along with Caius. But it seemed that their merits and demerits had canceled each other out, and the Silent Bishop did not intend to punish them.

And Luo Qi, whom they had discovered, might even be able to compete with the Silent Holy Son in a few years, based on his talent.

After all, the Silent Holy Son had proven his position with his unique talent and blood-stained hands.

If this young man named Luo Qi were younger and had even more outstanding skills, even if he was still far from the Silent Holy Son, as long as he was given time to hone himself, he would pose a great threat to the Silent Holy Son.

Correspondingly, the Silent Holy Son probably wouldn't let him grow wildly.

Special Envoy Sandel continued to review the final assessment information that the two Archpriests had given him. More than a dozen people had passed the written and re-examination, but the number of those who passed the final assessment was halved.

Most of the villains who successfully passed the final assessment had harmed an elite cleric of a Silent branch in a way that was unknown and unnoticed within a day, either alone or in cooperation.

So their ratings all started at the elite cleric level.

Luo Qi McCarthy was equivalent to the Archpriest level, but the purple or higher [Token of Rebirth] needed to be personally granted by the Bishop, so it could not be given to him in the imperial capital, Helrom, for the time being.

After reading Luo Qi's information, Special Envoy Sandel spent much less time on the other documents, almost skimming through them like flowing water.

He placed Luo Qi's separately, and quickly put the rest aside.

Until he picked up the last one, his wrist stopped.

He read it completely.

"How is there another talent, you didn't tell me?"

Sandel looked at the two Archpriests beside him and asked.

"We are very sorry, Lord Sandel, because it is difficult for us to evaluate her... and she herself has relatively large suspicions. Caius passed her re-examination precisely because of this consideration."

The Archpriest beside him quickly said with sincerity and trepidation.

Sandel's attitude would directly determine their fate. If he could say a few good words for them to the Silent Bishop, they would not only have no fault this time, but they would also have merit, and vice versa.

"I see."

After listening, Sandel looked at the document with even more interest, and finally placed it with Luo Qi's initial document.

The clerk in charge of recording on the opposite side couldn't help but glance at the contents of the document.

It turned out that Xi De's choice was also an Archpriest—

When Archpriest Caius was taken away by the Imperial Police for investigation after being accused, Xi De went and demolished Caius's house.

And not secretly, she demolished it openly.

In the public's view, everyone believed that she was helping Caius cover up his crimes under his instructions.

When asked by the Imperial Guard Hall if Caius had instructed her to demolish it, she answered "That's right," and was identified as the truth by the ancient relic of truth identification.

Because the internal intelligence of the Silent branch could not be exposed, Caius almost bit his teeth to pieces during the confrontation, but he couldn't refute her.

This house demolition was proven to be a self-directed farce. Xi De was not held responsible, but Caius was subjected to greater doubts, as well as accusations of spreading heresy, destroying evidence, and espionage. Some things were no longer clear.

"..."

The clerk with a pen in his hand twitched the corner of his eye and quickly lowered his head to focus on the work in front of him again.

Although Caius was not dead, he was suspended from work, his house was demolished, and he had to continue to pay the mortgage. It seemed that it would be better to die.

"Could these two be sent by the Batian branch to mess with us?"

Seeing Special Envoy Sandel so fond of these two, the Archpriest next to him also showed a worried expression.

The greater the talent, the greater the harm if it is not controlled. It would be fine if it was just one Luo Qi or Xi De, but if there were two at the same time, they would not know how to use these two people. Even though they were superiors, they would not dare to speak loudly to these two.

Archpriest Caius was a lesson from the past. The damage he suffered was beyond words.

"To be honest, the Batian Bishop does not have such talents under his command. Even if he does, the Batian Bishop would not be willing to let them do lurking work."

Sandel glanced at them lightly,

"Do you know about the death of the Batian Holy Maiden by the Silent Holy Son?"

Although the Batian Bishop has always been a mysterious existence, he, a direct subordinate of the Silent Bishop, still knows a little about the Batian Bishop.

"We've heard about it."

Both of them knew that the Batian Bishop often fought with the Silent Bishop at the drop of a hat. Only that time, the Batian Bishop did not go to the Silent Bishop to fight to the death and settle the score.

"So the Batian Bishop doesn't care about the lives of his subordinates?"

The Archpriest asked again.

"How should I put it... The Batian Bishop is actually the Cardinal Bishop who cares most about his 'property,' so this reaction of being extremely angry but completely holding back is actually very terrible. Due to that mistake, the Batian Bishop should not let his subordinates do such dangerous things again."

Sandel lightly raised his index finger, correcting some of the other two Archpriests' statements. For the Cardinal Bishops who were close to the gods, their subordinates were not considered people, at most they were only considered the property they owned.

Because even all the subordinates combined, their combat power was far less than that of one Cardinal Bishop.

The reputation of any branch is based on the deterrent of its top Cardinal Bishop on the entire continent.

Hearing this, the two Archpriests nodded.

If the Batian branch also recruited new people, these two guys probably wouldn't choose the Batian branch.

These two newborns looked open and honest, but in reality, what they did was even worse than what their Silent branch did.

"Pay a little attention to Xi De, she is still highly suspected of being a priest of the Goddess of Fate Church."

Sandel knocked on Xi De's document and said to the other two Archpriests.

"What about Luo Qi?"

The Archpriest asked.

They were sure that Sandel was not without vigilance. In fact, he saw it very clearly.

"There is no need to doubt this guy. He is thoroughly black. He is born to be one of us, and he is clearly distinct from the Goddess of Fate Church."

Sandel commented, then he thought for a while, and showed a smile with interest,

"Just right, according to our informant's intelligence in Iseteran, many spies from the Kingdom of Iseteran have sneaked into the Northwest Province recently. There are even key figures who have been in contact with the Ice Witch this time. Next month, send these two and other newcomers to the inspection team in the Northwest Province, where Lord Silent Holy Son is, to show the working ability of the hounds."

If these two had any uncontrollability, they would not cause trouble in the imperial capital. He would let the Silent Holy Son handle the troublesome things.

"Luo Qi and Xi De... what if they fight among themselves?"

The Archpriest asked with some worry.

These two people were both the type to act on their own.

It was estimated that no one would obey anyone. Sending them to a distant place would be even more uncontrollable.

"Hmph, I would like to see them fight each other to the finish. Anyway, no matter what, our merits outweigh our faults, don't they?"

Sandel stopped talking after saying this. This was also a filtering and screening job.

If Xi De was a spy, then it would be best if Luo Qi could see through her and kill her.

If he couldn't kill her, she would also reveal her flaws, and Luo Qi's ability would be nothing more than that. It would be fine if he died.

(End of this chapter)