Chapter 100: The Church Union
A glowing teleportation array flared to life across the polished cobblestones. The Inquisitor, Melina, and Lonard materialized in the very center of the Holy Empire.
Towering spires of white marble pierced the clouds, while grand domes of pure gold reflected the midday sun. Statues of weeping saints and triumphant angels lined the sprawling plazas. Choirs of initiates chanted from the high balconies, their voices echoing over the bustling streets of the capital.
The sheer scale and architectural dominance of the city served as a showcase of the Church’s overarching power.
Lonard adjusted the collar of his white robes and looked toward the towering central cathedral. "Should I accompany you to the Union chambers to corroborate your findings?"
The Inquisitor shook his head. "They will not believe your testimony regardless of what you say. The moment I mention Balzac actively interfered with the interrogation, the pontiffs will consider your perspective entirely compromised."
Lonard scoffed quietly but offered no further argument. He turned on his heel and headed toward the lower administrative district.
The Inquisitor shifted his attention to his blindfolded disciple. Melina stood quietly, her hands resting near the top of her polished wooden staff.
"Return to the Saintess Academy," the Inquisitor instructed. "Your field trial is officially concluded for today."
Melina hesitated for a fraction of a second. She offered a brief, obedient nod and walked away toward the academy district without speaking a single word.
Left alone, the Inquisitor approached the grand cathedral. He walked up the sweeping stone steps and passed through the towering brass archways. The interior of the Church Union buzzed with calculated efficiency.
He navigated a labyrinth of specialized departments. Scribes hurried past the Archive of Miracles carrying tall stacks of freshly bound parchment. Heavily armored knights stood at strict attention outside the Heresy Tribunal.
The scent of burning myrrh and melting candle wax grew significantly thicker as he bypassed the public sectors and descended into the restricted central sanctum.
He arrived at a set of heavy iron doors guarded by silent sentinels. The guards pulled the doors open, allowing him to step into the Union meeting hall.
The chamber lacked any natural sunlight. A ring of low-burning incense braziers provided the only illumination. Twelve towering thrones formed a wide semicircle, elevated high above the stone floor. Thick, heavily embroidered veils hung from the ceiling directly in front of each seat.
The fabric completely concealed the physical bodies of the twelve popes. Only their looming, shadowy silhouettes shifted against the backlit silk.
The Inquisitor walked to the center of the room and dropped to one knee.
"Deliver your report on the eastern anomaly," a raspy, echoing voice commanded from behind the central veil.
"The spatial fracture collapsed internally," the Inquisitor stated, keeping his gaze fixed on the floorboards. "I successfully interrogated the student inside a closed domain and subjected his claims to the scales of divine justice. There is nothing worth investigating further. Church involvement is no longer necessary."
A different silhouette leaned forward. "And the holy relic? The dark greatsword of the paladin which the boy wielded during his broadcast?"
"I did not personally see the weapon," the Inquisitor replied smoothly. "The academy Grandmaster is currently safeguarding the artifact. He invoked a sovereign territorial clause to protect the student. Under those stipulations, any holy knight who wishes to reclaim the sword as Church property must formally challenge the boy to a duel and win."
A low, collective murmur rippled through the dark chamber as the silhouettes whispered among themselves.
"A formal challenge from an unregistered child," the raspy voice finally scoffed, the shadow waving a dismissive hand. "You are dismissed."
The Inquisitor stood up, offered a deep bow to the veiled thrones, and walked out of the meeting hall.
The heavy iron doors clicked shut, plunging the Union chamber back into isolated silence. Only the soft crackle of the incense braziers echoed through the grand hall.
"What should be our course of action regarding the academy and this supposed duel?" a raspy voice asked from the far left of the semicircle.
"There is nothing worth doing," a second silhouette responded dismissively, waving a shadowed hand. "It is a rusted, cursed greatsword wielded by an unawakened child. Diverting our holy knights to entertain a teenager’s death match is beneath our station. Let the Grandmaster play his little political games."
Silence settled over the chamber before a third voice spoke from the towering central throne. The tone was chillingly calm and resonated with absolute authority.
"The sword is entirely irrelevant. The true tragedy is that our primary objective was thwarted," the central figure stated.
The other shadows ceased their shifting and listened intently.
"Our diviners received confirmed reports of the spatial distortion and the resulting anomaly within the ruined Eden Kingdom over a week ago," the central Pope continued, steepling his shadowed fingers. "We deliberately chose to withhold that intelligence from the Adventurer Association and the Dungeon Regulatory Bureau. The sudden, drastic spike in difficulty was immensely beneficial to our long-term goals."
The figure leaned forward, his silhouette pressing against the embroidered silk veil.
"The plan was structurally flawless. The outer labyrinth was strictly designated as a beginner-tier zone. Any low-ranking scavenger foolish enough to wander inside would simply perish without ever transmitting a warning. Furthermore, any high-ranking adventurer or elite guild commissioned to explore Eden would bypass the outer labyrinth entirely and teleport directly into the central palace. There was absolutely no way for the public to discover the anomaly because the distortion strictly affected the beginner zones."
He paused, letting the calculated cruelty of the conspiracy hang in the incense-filled air.
"The new semester of the Live Streaming Academy has just commenced," the Pope declared coldly. "Their administration scheduled the first-year practical exams for this week. Tens of thousands of students were supposed to march directly into that labyrinth. They would have been completely slaughtered by the distorted environment and the unsealed entities long before they ever realized the true danger."
A low, collective murmur of agreement rippled through the dark chamber.
"Even if the Grandmaster deployed his elite rescue teams at the first sign of mass casualties, the anomaly’s spatial lock would have delayed their entry," the central figure concluded. "It would have been entirely too late. The academy would have lost an entire generation of prospective students in a single afternoon. The resulting global outrage would have permanently shattered the Grandmaster’s sovereign authority, allowing the Holy Empire to step in and forcefully reform the institution under our divine banner."
"Exactly," the central figure agreed. "That’s how it was supposed to go. At this very moment, our holy knights would have been preparing for the mission!"
