North of the Coristel Human Continent, the Nation of Knights, Octavia Empire’s St. Michael’s Plains. In the Pope’s hall at the headquarters of the Radiant Church, Holy City of Slyvia, where the daily routine prayer presided over by the current generation Radiant Pope was being conducted.
The current generation Radiant Pope of the Radiant Church, Croft the Sixth, was seated on the papal throne with a special curtain set in front of him that was just opaque enough to hide his appearance, creating a hazy and mysterious atmosphere for the Radiant believers here to see him.
In the generations of the Radiant Pope, there was an agreed rule that each generation would only hold divine right for a hundred years. After the pope is over a hundred years old, that divine right will be passed onto their successor. Croft inherited the papacy relatively early, when he was only in his thirties. Currently, it had been more than thirty years since he became the Radiant Pope and is considered one of the longest reigning popes in the faith.
On the contrary, the expression on Croft the Sixth’s face was very casual as he looked at the Radiant believers piously reciting hymns in praise of the Goddess of Light outside. The gods have perished since the invasion of the Twelve Ancient Demon Kings ten thousand years ago, and the generations of Radiant Popes and the highest-ranking members of the Radiant Church are well aware of this fact.
However, in order to maintain the spiritual faith of the Radiant Church, whether it be the Radiant Pope, the leaders of the three main factions (Salo, Micah, Ellen), or the Red priests, none of them mentioned to the public that the gods are no longer in existence. So, the fact that the God Race has not been sheltering the humans was kept secret for more than ten thousand years until now.
The absence of the gods was something even the church’s rivals who knew much of the little details, the Darkness Church’s Dark Pope and the Black Priests, did not dare to reveal. This relates to the faith of humans, so they were unwilling to bear the evil consequences of the great collapse of their faith. So, there was a joint agreement between the two churches to keep that fact a secret to this date.
The Goddess of Light was probably no longer, but the Radiant Church had no idea for sure. Fortunately, the surviving Goddess of Light and several goddesses of the God Race were basically hidden in a church somewhere that is under the control of Demon King Bella and are alive to this date. Only, for security reasons, they can only temporarily hide in the other faction’s Demon King’s territory in order to avoid attracting the attention of the Ancient Twelve Demon Kings.
Since most of the God Race has already perished, the reincarnation passage which was supposed to be managed by several gods like the Death God was now in a semi-paralyzed state. After the physical bodies of many of the human race’s strong elites could no longer hold up, their souls remained in the world and did not get reincarnated.
The Radiant Church was the same. Other than the previous few generations of Radiant Popes who disappeared because of their personal grudges, the newer generation Radiant Popes will also disappear from sight in the name of seclusion once they have lived a hundred years, but none of them were dead. Their souls have turned into Holy Spirits and were hidden somewhere in the Holy City to cultivate.
First Generation Pope Goldsmith and Fifth Generation Radiant Pope Roxanne who are in Bella’s posse both had unexpected situations. Due to special reasons, they preserved their bodies to this day just to have Bella take advantage of them. There were very few female popes in the Radiant Church’s history. There were only the first and fifth generations, as well as the current Pope Croft’s predecessor, who were female.
The successor to the current generation’s Radiant Pope is President Maria, handpicked by the previous female pope herself. If she can inherit the papacy of Croft the Sixth, then she will become the fourth female pope in the Radiant Church’s history.
Croft the Sixth had complicated feelings when he thought about the previous generation’s female pope. The last pope was known as an existence whose strength was beyond that of the first generation pope, Goldsmith. This caused the higher-ranking members of the church to mistakenly think that she was the reincarnation of the first generation Pope Goldsmith.
The previous generation female pope was too strong. She was also good at prophecies and astrology. When she appointed President Maria as a successor, President Maria hadn’t even been born. Ten years before President Maria’s birth, the female pope had already predicted the future through astrology and named a successor in advance through a secret decree.
However, when the previous generation pope led the church’s elites to explore Victor Prairie, a super blizzard appeared, and because of that they discovered a mysterious city there. However, what happened after was not recorded in the church’s annals.
As one of the deputies of the previous female pope, Pope Croft the Sixth succeeded the papal throne before President Maria’s birth when the previous pope mysteriously disappeared in Victor Prairie. Maria’s succession to the papacy had been set by the previous generation pope, and Croft the Sixth had never been able to find a suitable reason to remove President Maria from her position as heir.
Besides the Radiant Church’s papal heir, President Maria, even Holy Sword Cynthia had been selected before her birth by the previous pope. The secret decree that was written that time states that a girl born there many years later will be named heir of the Holy Sword.
Both President Maria and Holy Sword Cynthia were given their positions by Pope Croft the Sixth following the secret decree left behind by the former pope. If the prophecy was inaccurate, then Croft the Sixth would be able to find a reason not to carry out the previous pope’s orders. But who knew that the prophecy would be accurate. So, Croft the Sixth can only carry out the arrangements of the previous pope as written in the secret decree.
The disappearance of the previous Radiant Pope is also one of the greatest secrets of the Radiant Church. The truth seems to be known only to a few people, such as Croft the Sixth. What made the current pope feel uneasy is the fact that someone would actually be able to enter that mysterious city successfully thirty years later. If they had discovered anything, then things would be difficult to deal with.
The Radiant Pope who received the secret report from his trusted aides found an excuse to leave without even finishing the early morning hymns, pushing the rest of the ceremony to the papal successor, President Maria, instead.
“Exactly who was it that broke into that city, and is there any detailed information?”
“Your Holiness, there is no information on this. They seem to be a group of female knights, but we aren’t sure of their strength or their background. Their equipment seems quite ordinary.”
“Wake that guy up and have him deal with the intruders personally. That secret must not be known to outsiders.”
Pope Croft the Sixth left behind simple secret instructions in his exclusive office and said nothing else after that. His trusted aides who received their orders quickly left. Whatever the pope sent them to do was likely something that can’t be aired out under the sun.
After all his men left, Pope Croft the Sixth was left alone in the room. He stared at the papal crown on the table as if he was remembering something from the past. He seemed to be muttering something to himself under his breath. Now that no one else was around, nobody would know what the pope was muttering to himself.
“Mistress (teacher), you are far too excellent. Please don’t blame me. If I don’t do that, then I won’t have the chance to hold this position.”
Octavia Empire, in the mysterious city at Victor Prairie. Bella, who had already entered the city by the extreme way of hurling herself in, had no idea that she had inadvertently been dragged into another of the Radiant Church’s secret matters.
Even if she did find out, Bella would likely have no fear. She had already forcefully pushed down two of the Radiant Church’s female popes, as well as a large number of the church’s high-ranking female members. As a Demon King, Bella wouldn’t be afraid of the Radiant Church at all. Knowing the secrets of the Radiant Church could not be any more common for a Demon King.
“Bella, you rogue. Damn it, who kisses others first? Even if you’re going to kiss me, do it on the face, not the lips! It’s too weird…”
“Liath, you have been asleep for far too long and have fallen out with the times. Kissing etiquette is now on the lips. If you don’t believe me, you can try making another bet.”
“No more! You’re too evil, Bella. I really don’t know how they’re doing the knight assessments nowadays. How did they let you pass the knight etiquette test?”
This time, the only one entering the city with Bella was Knight King Liath. The other beauties were waiting outside. When she landed, Bella was unharmed as expected. As Knight King, Liath could only tacitly accept that Bella had won the bet and no longer mentioned it.
In case Bella tried to add any additional evil requests to their agreement, Liath won’t be able to bear the loss. Bella’s next request most likely won’t end at just a kiss.
Bella had actually seen all of Knight King Liath’s body when she saved her back then. However, Liath was still very pure at the time and had no idea what was wrong with Bella looking over her body with her strange gaze. After knowing her for such a long time, Liath gradually discovered the difference between Bella and other girls.
Bella did not see any of the Snow Wolves, Polar Ice Bears, or any of the other Demonic Beasts active in the snowy plains. Most likely the Demonic Beasts don’t dare to enter this strange city. The inhabitants of this city are not humans, but rather the Yeti Race who are believers of Snow Dragon Queen Eli Shelley.
The first time she saw the Yeti Race, Bella felt that their appearance was similar to that of ancient apes that can stand. These Yeti are more than three meters tall and have white fur covering their whole bodies, which looked similar to the fur on the Polar Ice Bears.
The intelligence of these Yetis is not very good, far worse than the believers of one of the other Six Pillar Demon Dragons, Thunder Dragon Queen Geleman. The Draconians have almost the same intelligence as humans, yet like the appearance of these Yetis, their intelligence was only equivalent to the primitive humans.
There were strangely shaped sculptures all over the city. As for what message they were trying to convey, Bella couldn’t decipher it. She was really incapable of understanding it. The gap between the Yeti Race and the Human Race was like heaven and earth. Right now, Bella just hoped that the appearance of Snow Dragon Queen Eli Shelley would be nothing like these Yetis. If she really did look like them, then that would be too terrifying.
It was not that cold in the city, the complete opposite of the frosty and windy environment right outside, most likely because a special protective barrier exists in this city, which was similar to the Frost Barrier.
As for the Yetis whose sex could not be distinguished by their appearance, they only eyed Bella and Liath warily when they saw them fall from the sky and did nothing else after that. Bella took this opportunity to quickly pull Liath away to a corner to evade the sight of the Yetis.
Bella couldn’t understand a word of the Yeti language at all. It was a completely foreign language to her. There was a lot of fur on the faces of the Yetis that almost covered their entire face. Only their dark eyes were not covered. Bella had no way of seeing their faces, much less trying to figure out their expressions when they spoke to guess what they were trying to say.
To be watched by a bunch of people who are no different from savages, even a Demon King like Bella was a little unsettled. The Yeti did not chase after them. After seeing Bella and Liath disappear, all of them resumed their activities. In the absence of orders, the Yetis generally do not take the initiative to attack humans. That they would capture humans was only a snowy legend. There was nothing to prove its authenticity.
The tourist experience in the Yeti city was very poor. After avoiding the sight of the Yetis, Bella and Liath moved towards the city center from the alley. Bella intended to search for the throne first, then look for Snow Dragon Queen Eli Shelley. Once she finds the guarded throne, Snow Dragon Queen Eli Shelley will likely not hide for long as the throne’s protector and will show herself.
The further they went, the more Bella and Liath felt that something was wrong. Usually, the city center is the most developed part of a city, but things were different here in this mysterious city. The closer they moved to the center, the more they felt that this area was not normal. The center that should have been the most prosperous area of the city was littered with rubblee as if a cataclysmic event happened here.
A fierce battle has likely taken place here. Bella found a large number of human weapons scattered on the ground. The swords and knight armor were not of low quality. Even after decades, they still glistened under the sunlight as if they were new.
There were all sorts of markings on the equipment. The markings of mercenary troops that have disappeared could be found here, and there were at least about a dozen different types. Behind those marks were dozens of mercenary regiments that were lost in the long history. These markings were all lined with gold or platinum, proving that the rank of the mercenary regiment was either A-rank or above. A-rank are signified by the gold edges while S-rank mercenaries had platinum edges.
The mercenaries that could make it to the center of the city should not be too low-level. If they were not at least A-rank, then they likely won’t even be able to beat the Snow Wolf packs or the Polar Ice Bears outside, much less enter the city.
Currently, the owners of this equipment were long gone. From the dried blood on the ground, Bella presumed that those mercenaries must have met with bad luck. Who knows what kind of treasure was buried in this mysterious city that these high-ranking mercenaries would rush over to their deaths.
In addition to the weapons and equipment of the mercenaries, Bella discovered that most of the weapons and equipment were from the Radiant Church and bore their symbol. The gold cross was simply too obvious, Bella was able to catch it at first glance. No mercenary group should dare to imitate the symbol of the Radiant Church, so this should be the real deal.
Bella had dealt with the Radiant Church plenty and knew a lot of their information. Just from the designs of the weapons and equipment alone, Bella can figure out what personnel they are.
There was a rich variety of equipment left behind here by the Radiant Church. From the armor and lances of the general knights to full equipment sets of the Red Priests. Bella even found a pope’s personal scepter. Bella had seen a similar scepter from President Maria, so this was most likely the Radiant Church’s papal scepter, no doubt about it. Only the pope and their successor possesses one of these, no duplicate exists.
“The equipment is so complete…The Radiant Church couldn’t have been defeated here all at once, could they?”
“I think so. But Bella, the papal scepter you’re holding, it was the female pope’s.”
“I didn’t expect that there would be another girl other than those two silly girls, Goldsmith and Roxanne, who went and became pope.”
Knight King Liath was from the same era as the first-generation Radiant Pope Goldsmith, so she naturally recognized that the papal scepter was the one used by the female pope. In her opinion, a job like being pope was far too boring for a girl.
Liath still has yet to know that Bella had already hidden away those two female popes. if she did know, then she wouldn’t have let a dangerous person like Bella come so close to her.
The center of the city was in ruins, and visually, it seemed like the defeat of the Radiant Church. In addition to the weapons and equipment strewn everywhere, life-sized human-shaped sculptures of different sizes could be seen all over that were extremely lifelike. They really looked bizarre here in these ruins.
The cold ice throne stands at the center of the ruins, surrounded by a strange sense of loneliness. However, there was still no sight of Snow Dragon Queen Eli Shelley around the throne. This throne guardian was seriously too neglectful of her duties. The intruders are almost touching the throne, but she still won’t show her face. Even if she was losing in terms of power, she would at least have done her duty if she showed up.
The beauty sitting atop the throne was not Snow Dragon Queen Eli Shelley. She had her eyes closed and she seemed to be sleeping. Her long black hair was draped casually over her shoulders, and under the light, her black hair was reflected in a gorgeous luster like that of silk, giving off a unique sense of beauty.
For now, Bella was unable to see what the beauty looked like. She seemed to have a layer of dark mist covering her face. Bella could not sense any dragons in the vicinity, so she presumed that this beauty was not the Snow Dragon Queen. However, this beauty was not human. The foreign scent she detected from her actually happened to be the scent of a demon.
A demon’s scent was not strange to Bella. The strange thing is that this beauty was wearing the clothes of the Radiant Pope, and they were by no means fake. Bella had seen the real thing from President Maria. The Radiant Church’s special symbolic cross was also hanging from her chest, and the design was much like First Female Pope Goldsmith and Fifth Female Pope Roxanne’s. Since when did demons get to become the pope?
